TRUSTING GOD BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING

TRUSTING GOD BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING

Posted by justopen on June 6th, 2010

On September 24, 2009 a
beautiful little boy, our fourth child, Andrew, was placed into his
daddy’s arms after being under oxygen and doctor’s care for nearly ten minutes. Fortunately, we were at the hospital.

We had chosen homebirth for our two previous children, Alexis and
Jackson. Both were born safely with no complications with help from a
wonderful Christian midwife team in California.
When my wife, Kristy, first became pregnant with Andrew, I felt certain we
should have another home birth as both previous births went so well. She
prayed and felt certain that we were to have a hospital birth this time.
She began seeing an OBGYN, but did not feel comfortable with him.
Finally, at twenty weeks, she agreed to look into a home birth. We
started with one midwife, but we weren‘t feeling comfortable with her, so we
called around to check out other midwives in our area in Georgia.
Kristy still had an unsettled feeling about the homebirth. She went into
the restroom in the middle of one of the “interviews” with a new
midwife and prayed (after realizing she couldn’t figure this out on her own)
and heard quite clearly, again, that this baby was to be born at the hospital.
That night she and I talked for quite a while as I was adamant about having
another home birth. We ended the conversation with both of us agreeing to
pray over it and trust that God will guide us.

The following day Kristy called the hospital, asked a few questions, and was
directed to a website for a supposedly good Christian OBGYN. She called
their office to set up a visit and from that very first phone call, she felt
that she had found a great doctor. I went to the first visit and came out
agreeing that if we weren’t going to have this baby at home, then he definitely
seemed like a good choice. We kept on schedule with our appointments as the due
date grew closer. With our previous children, all of them came a week or
two early, progressed naturally, and Kristy had felt very comfortable that
everything had proceeded well.

As we progressed towards our due date for Andrew, though, Kristy began
feeling unsettled again…”why isn’t my water breaking?”
“Why am I not progressing?”. This created a feeling of anger
towards God in her. After talking with a friend she realized that
her anger towards God was really a sin. She was not putting her trust in
Him to carry her through, so she sought His forgiveness and then carried on.

At her final doctor’s visit before Andrew’s birth, the doctor told her that he
felt okay having her come in to be induced since things weren‘t
progressing. The night before the scheduled induction, Kristy felt the
temptation inside to try different methods to bring on labor (Kristy had used
various methods to help bring on labor in all 3 of her previous pregnancies,
including Castor Oil, which did work positively for her), but I remember
clearly her telling me that it didn’t “feel right.” The next
morning, September 24th, we left for the hospital to be induced.

On the way to the hospital, Kristy turned to me and said “Dave, you may
think I’m crazy or weird, but I was just praying and I saw Jesus, clearly, and
he’s holding me and the baby.” We had NO IDEA what this meant!
The doctor broke her water and placed Kristy on Pitocin. After Kristy’s
first contraction, about 3 nurses came rushing into the room and began
frantically working. Neither Kristy nor I had any idea what was
happening. She was then placed on oxygen and told to relax. At the
next contraction, they showed us that the baby’s heartbeat dropped, and it
continued to do so with every contraction. They had Kristy roll to the
other side, but it still kept happening. Because the heart beat kept
rising in between contractions, they weren’t “too” worried, though
the nurses did keep a strong monitor on Kristy and the baby.

Within an hour or so, Kristy labored to the full 10 cm and felt the urge to use
the restroom. The nurses began prepping the room for delivery while
Kristy got up to use the restroom. While in there, she turned and looked
at me and we realized the cord was out. Both of us just thought this
meant that the baby was coming. We told the nurse, who (after her eyes
bulged a good 3x their normal size!) began yelling down the hall various
commands all followed by a “STAT!” Next thing I knew both
Kristy and I were being rushed (literally! I had to run to keep up!)
through the emergency hall to the operating room in which case they put Kristy under
to have an emergency c-section (I was not allowed into the room in case our son
was born dead).

A prolapsed cord is very rare – less than 0.6% of all births are prolapsed
cords. The dangers include stillbirth and organ damage from the lack of oxygen.
Emergency C-Section is usually the only alternative. With the cord being
pinched with each contraction, there’s no doubt in our minds that Andrew would
have died as his heart wouldn’t have had the chance to rise back up after each
drop. As it was, Andrew required oxygen for several minutes to be
resuscitated immediately after birth.

I decided to share this story with you as both Kristy and I learned a new level
of trust. Kristy didn’t lean on her own understanding…she trusted in
the Lord. She prayed over every decision (from home birth vs. hospital to
Castor Oil vs. Hospital induction). We are not against home births nor
various methods used to help induce labor; in fact, God willing, we hope to
enjoy another home birth in the future. In this case, God led us against
our own understanding and because of her trust in Him, we have a thriving and
very healthy and beautiful little boy!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not
depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do and He will
direct your paths.” Proverbs 3: 5-6 (emphasis added)

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About David Edmisten

David Edmisten is the President of justopenthebook.com, an
online ministry encouraging others to develop a closer relationship with God by
opening and studying His word. After
years of living in the world’s ways, this self- described “heavy metal guy” found
and accepted Jesus Christ as His savior in 2005. With God’s help, he has overcome addictions
and learned to live by faith to serve God.

After more than ten years in the financial services
industry, most recently as a Financial Advisor, David felt called by God to
leave the corporate world and start on online Christian ministry. A native Californian, David and his family
moved sight unseen to Cumming, GA
(north of Atlanta)
in 2008. David lives with his wife
Kristy and their 4 young children, where they enjoy homeschooling, outdoor
activities, music, games and family fun.
David has earned the Accredited Asset Management Specialist designation
from the College for Financial Planning and is a graduate of the University of California,
Santa Barbara. He is a member of High Tech Ministries in Atlanta and has led small
groups in men’s and financial ministries.
He enjoys playing guitar, writing, speaking, and sharing God’s
word. He is also author of the Faith
Takers blog (http://justopenthebook.com/faithtakers),
which is the journal of his walk of faith since leaving the corporate world to
follow God.Learn more at:
http://www.justopenthebook.com