Joy In Suffering

We were visiting with some of Lisa's cousins today. Mark and Emily are really good friends of ours. (They were even spying on us while I was proposing to Lisa.) The conversation migrated towards having children. I come from a large family and I am extremely grateful that my parents didn't stop at seven. (I am the eighth of nine.) We talked about how difficult it must have been to raise so many children.
Then Lisa began talking about an experience that she had at church, a few weeks before Logan was born. She was sitting in church looking at the congregation. (She was the ward chorister.) She realized that every single person that was has ever been born owes it to a woman that went through pregnancy and labor to get them here. Obviously, I have never experienced the "joys" of labor and pregnancy, but I have experienced living and loving someone who was going through it.
Lisa's experience was difficult. As far as the pregnancy went, it was pretty uneventful. Don't get me wrong, she was uncomfortable quite a bit, but it wasn't extraordinary. When it came time to deliver, it was a different story. Our doctor was out of town, and there were several other women in labor at the hospital that night. When we arrived, (9:30 p.m.) we were greeted by a nurse that said she would be taking care of us. Lisa dilated quickly and it seemed like Logan was on the way. (12:15 a.m.) The epidural was given and we began pushing. The nurse was being very positive about the progress she was making, but after an hour and a half, she told us that Lisa could finally take a rest. A half an hour later, we resumed, and the nurse continued to say that we were making progress.
I could tell that things were not progressing, like the nurse said they were. After 45 more minutes, or so, of pushing, I told the nurse that I felt like we needed a doctor in the room. Lisa was exhausted. She was literally falling asleep between contractions. When the doctor came in, he checked Logan's positioning. He was posterior and the he offered us the option of doing an emergency c-section. Lisa wanted to finish what she had started, if that was possible. So two other doctors came in. One of them attached a vacuum to Logan's head and another pushed down on Lisa's stomach from above. The other doctor was standing by, just in case.

Suffice it to say, Logan was finally born (4:33 a.m.) and he was healthy and normal. I didn't have a good appreciation for what Lisa had gone through until several months later. Because of the circumstances of her delivery, her recovery was much longer than usual. I don't know if Logan will ever fully appreciate what his mom went through to bring him here. It is a sacrifice that only a mother could make. I am so grateful for Lisa and all of the sacrifices that she has made, and makes every day, for Logan and me. I know that through our suffering we can experience joy. Lisa is walking proof of this.