Baby Praises

On Tuesday morning, Don went in to work early so that he could get home just in time to drive to the hospital. We planned for him to meet me at our house after my OB checkup and take me to external version appointment, since I was uncertain whether the medications and discomfort would prevent me from driving.

In the afternoon, I dropped the boys off at my sister-in-law's, not knowing when I would return. I drove 30 minutes to the doctor's office and went in for another ultrasound to check the baby's position. Immediately, the technician said, "Well, the head's down." Apparently, without any attempts from me at special exercises, luring with light or sound, or physical manipulation, our little girl found her way to the right position in time. Praise the Lord!

According to the technician, she still has room to wiggle, but my midwife thinks that at this point, baby probably will not flip over again. I am so thankful that she did turn in time, just like her brother before her. As I drove back to pick up the boys that day, I wondered why God should be so good to me. There I was, driving a nice new vehicle (more on that another time), to my very own house, full of new things that Don and I have been able to buy - all material things, but recent blessings nonetheless for which I am grateful. I have had three healthy, relatively easy pregnancies. I had just a few days to worry about complications instead of the lifetime some people have to live with them. The Lord has given me so much.

Even the afternoon was a gift. I got to relax at home with my children (I had finished all the day's chores that morning, not knowing what time we would be home). My husband came home early, and instead of driving together to an uncomfortable hospital procedure, I enjoyed some rare moments of intimate conversation with the man I love. Again, I am thanking God for the abundance of blessings He has given me.

My hope, of course, is that baby stays in a proper vertex position until she makes her arrival sometime in the next few weeks. With only two weeks until my due date, I know that labor could come any day, or delay for nearly a month. Today I have been feeling pokes and pressure in places I had not felt them before, which I hope is a good sign that baby is settling into place.

And while I do pray for a smooth and easy natural labor and delivery, I can thank God for the short-lived trial He allowed in letting me wonder about having a breech baby. Those few days reminded me to trust Him completely, with my body, my baby, and my desires surrounding childbirth. Apparently I did not learn this lesson well enough last time, when we had the similar scare with Hayden!

Again I turn to the Psalms to express my thoughts:

But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
Psalm 71:14-18

Another member of the next generation will be joining us soon, and as she grows, I will tell her of the marvelous Creator who brought her into the world. In the meantime, I am praising God for a healthy pregnancy and a lack of complications. I am thankful for friends who loaned me their maternity clothes, so that I have something to cover my bulging belly. I enjoy sleeping, undisturbed, in my comfy bed, or running errands easily during this time before a needy newborn joins our family. I am blessed by all the clothes that has been given to us and the extra items that we have been able to purchase for baby.

And I am rejoicing that God has not forsaken me, but continues to show His power and love and grace in my life. Though I know not the measure of His goodness, may I declare, like the Psalmist, "I will praise you more and more!"