Case of the Missing Midwife

Amy’s brains turned mushy this past year. Keith says kid’s brains turn to mush when they turn 13 and don’t solidify until sometime in their early 20’s. I now have three teenagers with mushy brains.

After five hospital births, we decided to try a homebirth. We chose a busy, skilled, faith-filled lay mid-wife from South Dakota.

We felt totally comfortable with everything until the week before Amy’s birth, when Judy shared her schedule. To my dismay she had something scheduled almost every day that week. Although she assured me that she rarely missed a birth, I knew in my heart she wouldn’t make it to ours.

I started to worry. I had enough faith for a homebirth, but not enough for a homebirth without a midwife.

Judy’s apprentice lived 40 minutes away. I’d never met the lady but knew someone who did. On Friday afternoon, I had my friend ask Kim if she could come if Judy couldn’t make it. Kim said to give her a call.

I kept praying throughout Friday and God gave me peace that He’d take care of things.

God decided it would be best for my character development if labor started while Judy was five hours away at a conference. There was no way our midwife could make it in time.

Labor began at 3:00 am Saturday morning. Judy suggested we call Kim, who had helped deliver many babies, but never all on her own. Short of going to the emergency room, what other option did I have? Keith called and woke up a total stranger out of a dead sleep in the middle of the night and asked her to come.

Kim said yes but had to leave at 7:30. Keith said we’d take any help she could give. Judy also called another less experienced apprentice who came to help. Both ladies arrived at 5:30.

At 6:30, Keith’s sister took our other children to her house. Talk about pressure, I had one more hour to pop out a baby before Kim left.

At 7:15 am (Thank-you, Jesus) another little girl joined our family. Breathing. Beautiful. Healthy. Except for Judy’s no-show, we had no problems. Kim left at 7:30 and the other apprentice took over.

She was born at sunrise. I looked out the window at the sun coloring the eastern sky and thanked God for being so good to us. Keith suggested the name Autumn Dawn. Which is a beautiful name, but I wanted to wait and make sure.

When seeing she was a girl, the first thought that popped into my head was, “How in the world can someone have so many girls? Now I’ll never make it to church on time.”

Except for the missing midwife, I really liked having a homebirth. It was much more relaxed and enjoyable than a hospital birth. The apprentices were angels in disguise and went above and beyond the call of duty to help in our time of need.

After everyone left, we laid down for a long nap. Keith claims that’s one of the best naps he’s ever had. We both look back fondly on her birth day. A beautiful peaceful warm fall day.

Until…Keith’s sister brought our other kids back at 6:30 that night. Good-bye peaceful day. Shoot me for being honest, but one drawback to a homebirth is if you’re home, your kids assume you’re open for business. Something about seeing Mom in a hospital sends a message that she needs to take it easy and could use extra TLC.

From the perspective of having had six hospital births and one homebirth, I like having babies at home better, but I like recovering in the hospital better.

Normally Keith and I would have freaked out when the midwife couldn’t make it and we were in the hands of an apprentice with a Cinderella curfew. But God gave us both a peace that He was in control and would take care of things. He invented childbirth and we rested in knowing God Almighty was aware of our situation and would act on our behalf. He blessed us with a safe problem-free birth and a sweet healthy baby girl.

Said baby went six days without a name. She just wasn’t an Autumn Dawn. Work, six kids, and visiting parents didn’t give us time to discuss names.

On Thursday Keith came home from work and said, “What do you think about the name, Amy?”

“I love Amy. But I suggested it for the other girls and you never wanted that name.”

“They didn’t look like an Amy. She does.”

Put that way, it made perfect sense. “I don’t think we’ll have another boy,” Keith continued, “so I want her to have my middle name.” Lucky for Amy, Keith’s middle name is Linn.

Amy Linn Vik. Born at sunrise in her parent’s bedroom, one of seven children, blessed with bright eyes, a big smile, a bouncy personality, and a friendly spirit. She unconventionally breezed into our lives on the wings of prayer, faith, good people, and the grace of God.