Laura's Birth Story

Laura Roessler Rousseau is another friend from long ago. I found her on Facebook a few months ago, and was led to her blog, A Little Miracle. I was shocked to find out that she was expecting her second child and that baby Claire had Spina Bifida. There were all sorts of complications related to her birth, the least of which being that the family had to relocate from Canada all the way to Cincinnati (where Laura is originally from and where her family still lives) just because the doctors at Children's Hopsital are the greatest in the land! Since her story is on her blog, I'll copy my favorite parts, but before I do, I want everyone to know that I think Laura is one of the most inspirational women I know. Her fortitude, strength, and FAITH are astounding! Just read a few entries of her blog and you'll see for yourself!
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[Katie] took Paul and I back to the prepping room and started everything. As we were walking back, I couldn’t help but think how weird it was that in a couple of hours my baby would be out of my stomach, without any work on my part. The whole “Scheduled birth” is such a foreign concept! Ha, Katie had someone else put the IVs in because she didn’t want me to hate her after all of these years! The prepping time took about an hour. Katie kept me calm by telling me funny family stories. While we were sitting there, I started having contractions, and I could feel them in my back. I still wonder if the amnio was what caused them. They eventually wheeled me into the operating room.
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The whole atmosphere of the surgery room just seemed so peaceful and prayerful. It seemed almost that God hand picked each person who was present for the birth. Everything was as perfect as it could be.
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Once they were ready to pull her out, they lowered the curtain so I could see her little body emerge from my belly. The cord was around her neck, and her head, I thought, looked a little blue, but a couple seconds later she cried. I knew then that she was fine. We were all surprised when we saw that her lesion was completely covered in skin! YAY! She even scored a 9 on her APGAR test! Fr. Nick, the hospital’s chaplain, was there for the birth, and baptized our baby soon after she was born...The nurses took pictures and video taped the whole thing, and even prayed along with us when she was baptized. At the end of the baptism, there was a loud “Amen”. It was awesome!
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After about an hour Katie wheeled me down to the NICU to see and hold Claire before she was transferred over to Children’s hospital. She was beautiful, but it was so sad to see her little arm poked with an IV. I couldn’t help but think about how cozy and safe she was inside of me, only to be pulled out and poked as soon as she entered the world. At the same time, I was Ok with everything that was happening. When thinking about this moment in the weeks prior, I pictured myself crying when they took her away. I don’t know if it was all of the prayers that everyone had been offering, or if the mental preparation helped at all, but I was totally calm and at peace. It was just something that had to be done, and I was ok with it.

Claire is doing much better than expected and you can read up on her status on Laura's blog. The sweet little girl is scheduled to have surgery TODAY at 9:15, so I thought this would be a good day to post my own little tribute/prayer for a safe and successful surgery. Now take a look at the cutest pictures you ever did see!

Oh, she is just SO SWEET!

And here she is with sister Eva and Daddy! This one gives me goosebumps. Precious!