“Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” – Psalm 127:3-5
This morning, I am praising the Lord for his abundant and incredible blessings! We were blessed to welcome our sweet Calvin Seth to the family on Wednesday, 2.15.12 at 8:27am! He was 7lbs 8oz. & 19.5 inches long.
Chronological Birth Story:
(2.14.12) – 2:30pm: After a busy Valentine’s morning out to breakfast with Max and Andy, visiting a friend who just recently had a baby (chatting about, “wow, ours is coming in just one week,” haha), and playing at the library, I was resting and doing devotions during Max’s nap time when I noticed some mild contractions.
5:00pm: Contractions persisted and I handed off hosting and leading our ladies Life Group – just in case this was the real thing.
8:30pm: Contractions seemed to be more consistent and a little more “severe;” I started keeping track of their frequency and sure enough they were between 4-6 minutes apart for about 2 hours.
10:30pm: Called the Dr. office/hospital and were given the “okay” to head on in! Immediately called our friend, Nate, who so graciously came on over to spend the night with Max (who was thrilled to see him upon waking up in the morning).
11:30pm: Arrived at the hospital, got settled into triage and was “checked” – only about 3cm dilated and 60% effaced. Time to start walking around and get things moving in the right direction (which is what we did for a couple hours, checked again, etc.)
(2.15.12) – 3:30am: Measured about 4-5cm and was “admitted” from triage into the actual birthing unit.
5:30am: Still about the same measurements; Dr. broke my water (and as in the case with Max, things progressed much more quickly from here on out)!
6:30-8am: Contractions were coming more rapidly and growing in intensity; measured about 6cm. Unsure of how much longer and in pain, we requested to be put on “the list” for an epidural. There were apparently numerous women in labor at the same time and as I progressed, we never even caught a glimpse of the anesthesiologist. Baby was coming! Andy was a champ; he kept reaching out to comfort me and while I felt his encouragement and presence, I kept pushing his hands away. I couldn’t explain it at the time (as there was no small talk going on), but I recounted to him later that he was just SO WARM! I was boiling and every time he’d touch my skin or my cold rag it felt like a heat pack, haha!
8:00am: Felt the overwhelming & unbelievable NEED to push! Dr. checked and, sure enough, between 7-8am I had gone from 6-10cm! Now, baby was REALLY coming…PUSH!
8:27am: CALVIN SETH VOELTNER made his glorious appearance in what was one of the most amazing moments of simultaneous relief and joy in my life! What a strange feeling, at the same moment, to be just instantly DONE with such pain AND meeting my baby for the first time! He was immediately placed on my chest and I felt such joy at the Lord adding another baby BOY to our family! Andy called out the gender (which I don’t remember hearing) and then was able to cut the umbilical cord (and made a bit of a mess doing so).
In hindsight, I am SO happy that there was a “line” and I wasn’t able to get an epidural, the truth being that I COULD in fact give birth without pain medication and it was an awesome experience. It is completely indescribable, as my mind felt disjointed and yet perfectly clear. It is the strangest dichotomy. I cannot remember some aspects of the whole experience and yet can distinctly remember certain thoughts. The most prominent being, “Lord, you are my strength!” A few times the thought, “I cannot do this,” flew through my mind and I made a VERY conscious decision that those words would not cross my lips (because I in fact CAN do this, I HAVE to do this, and my body was MADE to do this!).
We didn’t have his name picked out right away, but ended up using what were the top two names on our list for most of the pregnancy. We chose “Calvin” for the theologian John/Jean Calvin (as well as Andy’s preferred reference to Calvin and Hobbs) and Seth for a variety of reasons. The primary two being 1.) Andy’s brother is Seth, and 2.) Seth means, “Appointed” because when Eve gave birth she thanked the Lord for giving her another child “in place” of the one she lost (we thought this beautifully fitting, honoring and life-giving after our miscarriage last year).
Today is Cal’s “due date” and I am so thankful that instead he has already been in our family for 6 days! This morning, after building Max a fort and packing it with toys, as I sat on the couch nursing Cal and reading my Bible, I was absolutely overcome with JOY and PRAISE that the Lord would grant me such wonderful gifts as I am blessed to be the mommy of these two boys. I am so excited for Max to have a little brother; to watch him develop in this new role and love his brother well; to learn who Cal is; and to be home raising my sons and taking care of my husband and our home. The days can be long, but I feel a definite urgency to love and train my children up according to the Lord’s Word and His righteousness. I am quite certain there is nothing I can do right by these boys apart from the Spirit’s leading; so I desire to seek Him with all my heart in order to be the woman, wife and mother He desires me to be.
Becca V
Latest posts by Becca V (see all)
- My New Favorite Carseat - September 16, 2016
- Quick Lit: April 2015 - April 15, 2015
- How’s It Going? - February 24, 2015
Hi Becca!
First, may I just say, Congratulations Mom! How exciting to have a second son come into the family. (Also, I am obsessing over his name.)
I can’t wait until I have an opportunity to meet this beautiful new addition.
Big hugs and kisses to all.
Rach
Thanks so much, Rach! and glad you like the name :) the more we know him/say it the more perfect it becomes!
GLORIOUS FATHER IN HEAVEN, CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF LIFE! WE REJOICE AT THE NEW LIFE YOU HAVE GIVEN TO ANDY, BECCA AND MAX…FOR THEY WILL ALL CONTRIBUTE GREATLY TO CALVIN SETH VOLTNERS TESTIMONY.
MAY CAL HAVE GREAT IMPACT IN THIS WORLD FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!
LOVE IN JESUS,
AUNT KIM <
[…] (Calvin’s Birth Story) […]
I found your blog today via FB, and I went scanning through and found some yummy recipes. This post though, this is fabulous! Thank you for sharing. It is encouraging to hear that you were able to birth without medication. We’re pregnant, and I’m hoping to do that this time around.
[…] we learned (and rejoiced) I was pregnant again! This pregnancy blessed us with our second son, Cal (who will be 18 months old tomorrow); we are so unbelievably grateful for the two precious […]