Oliver's Birth Story

Our little man is a week old today. Here is the story of how he came into the world. Enjoy!

We spent most of the day on Friday, January 1^st, in a birthing class along with several other first-time expectant couples. It was like drinking from a fire hose, but the material was so helpful and I, for one, felt like I had stepped into a completely different universe. The woman who hosted the class does free classes for expectant folks in the region as a ministry; she has lived in Thailand for many years and has her own Thailand birth stories to tell. Not only does she offer the classes, but she also offers coaching and support as expectant mothers go into labor (she’s a big help to the dads, too).

We finished our class mid-afternoon and planned to come to another next week on “Baby Care.” The lady running the class joked that we should have our baby early so that we could use him as a model for the session.

In the evening, Melissa had this sudden burst of energy—lots of energy. We walked all over the neighborhood (with her setting the pace, mind you) in the cool evening air, and she kept talking about how she thought the baby might come early. We got back to our room at our organization’s office to go to bed, but Melissa felt pretty restless so we were up for a while. Right around midnight, she felt a contraction—the very first she’d had during her pregnancy.

By one in the morning, the contractions were picking up the pace, and closer to two, they were steadily growing closer together and increasing in intensity. I started counting how close they were and how prolonged around this time, while Melissa continued to bounce on the ball or sway against the wall. By 3 A.M. we were starting to feel she was entering labor, despite everyone telling us to expect at least 6-12 hours of early labor before every leaving for the hospital. We called our friend who was leading the birth class and she agreed that Melissa might be heading into labor. Now, admittedly, just two days ago I wouldn’t have known the first thing about labor signs (other than movies), but having just had a crash course on the whole process, I felt pretty confident it was time to go. The hospital was not far, and our friend encouraged us that walking would be really good for Melissa. So we walked the roughly 1.5 kilometers to the hospital in the dead at night, with only a few noisy rats as company on the way.

Around 3:45 we were checked into Sriphat Hospital, and discovered Melissa was already at 4 cm (if you’re new to this like me, she needs to be at 10 cm in order to push, and typically many first-time moms experience up to 24 hours of labor before getting ready to rumble).

At 4:30 we called our friend from the class again and asked for support, since Melissa’s labor seemed to be accelerating and her contractions were extremely close together (it got hard to tell when one stopped and another started). She hopped in her vehicle and headed our way. By the time she arrived, Melissa was close to 7 cm and really feeling the heat. Our friend was an awesome coach and guided us through each contraction as I held Melissa and we walked through each and every breath.

The sun started to come up over the mountains that encircle Chiang Mai, and about this time our friend pulled back the curtains to reveal an astounding red sunrise overlooking the city (we were on the 12^th floor, so the view was pretty incredible…not that we were real focused on that or anything).

Right around 7:15, Melissa was fully dilated and ready to push. She was awesome. Our friend and I coached and encouraged while the Thai doctor and her staff got to work. But Melissa did the rest, and as we prayed continually we felt the Father’s strength and protection over her and our son. At 7:54 in the morning, Oliver David Seibert entered the world. Melissa had gone from no contractions to holding her son in just under 8 hours.

As I type this, a flood of emotions that I just haven’t had time to listen to are beginning to settle on me. Reality is also setting in. I’m a dad. Wow. That’s nuts.

Mom and baby are safe and sound. I’m not sure I could have pictured a more seamless birthing process (not at all trying to minimize the immense effort and hard work Melissa put in today). We are so, so grateful for this day and how it’s unraveled. And I’m so in awe of the miracle of life. Like many have told me, you really can’t describe it unless you have experienced it, and even now I still don’t know how to put how I feel into words. So, for the moment, I’ll just leave it at this: I am astounded by the love of the One who makes all things, who creates all persons, who establishes all life, and who delights in the things he has made.

-R

First family photo! (Maybe 5 minutes after birth)

Dr. Supreeya, who delivered our little fella