Four Years ago I had My Miracle Baby, Part 2

14 minutes ago
5 min read

Finally I was pregnant! After years of trying and waiting and hoping, after all the disappointment and hopes dashed, we were having a baby.

If you missed part 1 of Four Years ago I Had My Miracle Baby, go here and read about all that led up to discovering my pregnancy.

Waiting for Berkley was a long wait, but she was so worth all of it. I love being her mom. I love watching her grow and learn and become her own person. I wanted to write this post to celebrate her, but also to help others who may be going through periods of wait. Your wait most likely looks very different than mine. Maybe it's waiting for marriage, for the right man or woman to come along whom you want to be with for all eternity. Maybe it's waiting for better health. Maybe it's waiting for that better job or better home or anything.

Wait is hard. It's frustrating and heartbreaking. I hope your waiting comes to an end. And I hope that maybe this post helps you in some small way.

How Do We Make a Pregnancy Announcement?

We had been waiting for so long that in a lot of ways we had given up. I didn't truly expect to be thinking about how to tell our family and friends that we were finally expecting a baby. But here we were.

For many it makes sense not to say anything until they reach so many weeks, knowing that the baby is thriving. But I wanted, needed, to tell someone. So we told our parents first and asked them to not say anything to anyone else.

Needless to say, they were very excited for us. And i'm sure it was hard not to say anything.

A few weeks later we let our brothers and sisters and closest friends know. And very soon after that we found out the gender of our baby.

Back Story Time

Years ago, soon after we were married, Scott and I were dreaming of our future family. We cuddled on the couch looking through a baby book I had in my writers library. We went through names, both boys and girls, and discussed what we liked and what we didn't like.

That was the day we came up with Berkley's name. We came across it randomly in the book and fell in love with it at once. Years later I realized that the meaning to the name had more significance than I realized. Berkley means "birch tree meadow." Birch is part of a name my dad created a long time ago that he would use if he ever published a book. I love this connection to my dad.

We picked a boys name too, but through the years we changed the boys name. Berkley, however, never changed. We always knew if we had a girl her name would be Berkley Ann.

When We Learned the Baby's Gender...

We didn't do anything special. We sat in front of the computer with my camera recording us and read the email from our doctor. We scrolled down past some other information about our bloodwork and came to... It's a girl!

I would have been happy no matter the gender. But there was something uniquely special about having a girl since the girl name we picked out years ago had never changed. And we knew from that moment that her name would be, and rightfully so, Berkley Ann.

My Pregnancy Came and Went

It felt fast and fleeting and long and hard at the same time.

I was extremely stressed through most of my pregnancy because it was during the time we were going through out financial hardships. We were trying to make new decisions and shifting how we dreamed of our new life in Missouri. Scott got a new job that paid significantly less than what we were used to, but it was a job with good benefits and great insurance. I applied for jobs and did a bit of side work where it could. Ultimately, we decided to hold off on my finding a job, at least for the duration of the pregnancy.

I never understood pregnancy brain until I was pregnant. One side job I worked on was writing content for a website. It was the hardest job I ever took on, mostly because I had the hardest time pulling information from my head. Yes, I get it now.

Also during my pregnancy, I decided to do the splits. I didn't think anything of it when making that decision. I could do the splits just fine before I became pregnant. And I wasn't that far along. But, what I didn't take into account was my widening hips. Into the splits I went and popped a groin muscle that pained me throughout my pregnancy and almost a year after.

I also developed a fibroid and gestational diabetes while pregnant and had to be carefully monitored toward the end of my pregnancy. This all led to being induced a week earlier than our due date.

And that leads us to four years ago from last Sunday when...

I Had My Miracle Baby

The night before Berkley was born, we walked into the hospital with our masks (pandemic times) and were ushered to our home for the night, a labor room with a bed and comfortable seating form Scott.

The nurses got me all set up with two different methods of induction--I wont' go into the specifics--and Scott and I settled in for what we thought would be a long night and day. But an hour or two into the night, my water broke and I went into full labor.

I actually had a great labor. I went with an epidural because I don't do pain if I don't have to, most of the time. And I had a great epidural. Only once during the night did I have to ask for an adjustment. After that they said they wouldn't be able to and it didn't matter. I was feeling great.

Our doctor came into our room in the early morning and said she expected the baby to come in the afternoon. So we set into wait. But Berkley was not about to wait. At 11, just before lunch, she started her journey into this world.

The second to best part of the entire delivery was when one of the doctors announced, "I can see her head. Do you want to touch it?" With his help, I reached down and touched the top of my miracle baby's head and sobbed. I waited so long for her and here she was, real, and almost in my arms.

The best part, was when they laid her in my arms. I stared down and my precious Berkley and she looked into my face. I'm so happy that moment was captured.

I was tired and so, so happy.

Four Years Later

Berkley is a spunky girl with so much energy and imagination. She is very observant, happy, and playful. She loves to play Barbies and to make up her own games, such as Bats, Monsters, and Police. (Most of these games involve r

unning, a lot.) She loves to go to the playground and makes friends immediately. She's in ballet and the class clown. (Scott and I are not sure if she thinks she's in soccer instead of dance from her Christmas performance tonight.)

Berkley is my joy and my miracle. I love her so much!