The Longest Night at the Hospital

It was a warm humid afternoon in July and I was 9 months pregnant and had just finished an exhausting day of work; I was eagerly awaiting a soothing shower. But, while preparing for that shower, I felt a sharp pain in my abdominal area of my body. I was very scared and called my OB doctor. They instructed me to go to the ER, so I drove myself to the ER and called every family member and close friend to tell them what had occurred.

I was frantic because the one person I wanted the most was not here-my husband. He was out of the country, in Denmark for 7 days on a business trip. To make matters worse, his ticket was non-refundable and would cost over $1000.00 if he had to make changes to his flight schedule.

As I took the elevator to the OB floor, my heart was beating so fast and I was saying to myself, "Will I have to deliver this baby alone? Without my husband to witness the birth of his son?" More questions went through my already cluttered head.

The nurse checked me in, she asked me where the father was, and I told her, Denmark. And she said," Denmark, SC?" I didn't know there was a Denmark in my state. I emphatically said," No the European country." She then asked me if anyone else was coming and I told her my manager at work and a close friend. I just didn't know when.

Another nurse took me into a beautiful room and had me lay down. It was at this point that the nurse told me I had dilated 3 cm and that the baby was coming tonight. I looked at her and without cussing and yelling but in a stern tone to get a point across I exclaimed," NO WAY!" "My husband is in Denmark, not the Denmark in SC, the country of Denmark. He will not be back until Saturday".This baby must stay inside of me, period!" The nurse gave me a disturbed look and in her bewildered voice she calmly said, " We will do the best we can to keep your son inside you, but if he comes, he comes."

My emotions were raging and my brain was in autopilot. All I could think was why did my son have to come now? Can I REALLY keep him inside me? Can all of this advanced technology and medicine really work? I realized that I had to rely on more than my logic and modern medicine to keep my son inside of me. I had to rely on a higher power...God the Creator...the one who created my son and me.

Several verses of scripture came to my mind while I sat there all alone. One was, "God is not the Spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." Another verse was, " I will never leave you nor forsake you." But my favorite passage of the Bible that I quote whenever I am scared was the 23rd Psalm. I then started breathing deeply like I had learned in my birthing class and closed my eyes and cried out to God with an earnest, heart-felt prayer of desperation that if it was His will, please let my son stay inside of me.

That was the LONGEST night of my life. The nurses gave me different drugs and watched my vitals throughout the night. My manager and my close friend sat and told me funny stories to help me take me away to another place for a few hours. As I dozed off and on, I felt like that I was living in a dream.

The next morning I woke up and my baby had stayed inside of me. I knew then that it was God's will for him to stay inside the womb. Now, if only my son would stay in there long enough until my husband landed his plane that weekend. But, I had to have continual faith that God was still in control.

The Attending Doctor came in the room and asked me if I wanted to deliver my baby. I was upset. Did these people not realize my husband was in ANOTHER country? I once again told her NO, I was not delivering my baby. She told me I could go home and rest and to call my personal OB if there were any changes over the weekend or week to come.

I went home and my husband called and I told him we took a tour of the hospital room that week. He was startled and asked me why. I explained what had happened and he was shocked, scared, and relieved that his son and I were going to be fine.

What advice would I give to all of the future moms to be? Make sure you stand up for yourself like I did to the hospital staff and let yourself be heard. Make sure if you have a traveling spouse that you have a plan if something like this occurs during your pregnancy. Other than that, I wish all future moms the best!