The Birth of Raylan Truong

Oh where do I begin. The birth of my grandson was amazing in so many ways. Birth.. in today's society we've stripped women of the spiritual experience that it really is. God has something to show us, to take us through, to accomplish in each and every baby that is born. We walk through more than we had thought we would and we deal with more than we ever, ever thought we'd deal with. To know you have a God that loves you and is there for you is how you grow. The answer today from the medical community is simple.. epidural.. take the pain away.. take the suffering away. But it comes at a cost for so many. Not for everyone, but it is known that induction, epidurals, and such lead to C section for many women. And more importantly it takes away from the growth that God has for you through the process of birth. It is an incredible time in life to see the hand of God and to walk away feeling empowered and see growth in so many ways you never thought were possible!

I have this amazing daughter that wanted a natural birth. She did not want it to be invaded by doctors time lines and schedules and intervention. Even before she hit her due date she was being pressured to schedule an induction.. just so she would know there would be an end date. The Bible says.. there is a time to be born. Is it really so bad to wait for His timing? For His plan? My other daughter, Hannah, went 43 weeks and 4 days.. waiting for God's time.. and it was a beautiful birth. Emily knew our family has a history of being late. So she was prepared for this. She ended up being 13 days late.

After walking through every minute of this with her I can only say that I have NOTHING but the most admiration for her. She is much stronger than she ever thought she was.

From the beginning I felt like God had a plan for this baby's birth. HE had something to accomplish in all of this. I felt a total peace about this. I told her.. while every woman walks through the same process.. every woman has a different story.. their birth story.. and God was writing her birth story and we needed to just move through this and take it all in. Don't think about all the contractions you've had, or how many more are coming.. just deal with this one.. the one you are having, right now.

My daughter had a very, very long and hard labor. It was, undeniably, hard on this mama to watch at times. I've had 8 babies, I've attended many of my friends births, I've been with most all of my children for their births, I've delivered 2 of my grandchildren. I'm no stranger to labor and birth. And this one took the prize for endurance from everyone, especially mama.

She was in labor for 48 hours. Yes, 48 hours. From the time we had time-able contractions until this little man was born was.. 48 hours. We had a trip to the hospital when we felt things were moving along only to be told she was at 1cm.. and sent back home.. to labor more.. we walked, we rested, we fed her, we held her, we cried with her, we took every step with her. I would not have missed this for the world.

I saw my son in law as the most amazing man ever.. never left her side, encouraged her and helped her through each and every contraction. At one point she could not talk or walk through her contractions and would just stand and put her arms on him and he would rock her back and forth .. and after 3 hours of this he said.. “I know this is the longest slow dance we've ever had”.. aww.. how that touched me.. I saw love, real, powerful love. You make a baby and then you bring them into the world. It's a complete cycle. And the sweetest thing to walk through but even more precious to watch your child walk through.


She pushed for an hour and half. When she, I'm sure, thought she had nothing left to give to this process it was time. And she gave it everything she had. And finally, we had a baby.. laid on her tummy.. the reward for all that work, for all that pain, for all that love... a baby.. the sweetest reward imaginable.

Little Raylan Troung weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 21 inches long.

He was born on Thanksgiving Day... what a blessing!! While Emily was in labor we got hungry and the guys (my hubby and Em's hubby) went to seek out some food for us. The only place open on Thanksgiving was McDonald's... and that was our dinner.. It will go down as one of the most memorable Thanksgiving's for all of us!

I was surprised once again that the nurses in the hospital were so in awe that she was having a natural birth. I remember when my daughter, Hannah, was was having one of her baby's in the hospital. There were 2 student nurses that came in to watch and see a normal unmedicated birth.. because it is such anomaly today.

In the end all I can say is that birth is an empowering and spiritual experience for women. It is robbed from SO many women today. God has a plan, He created this process, it is normal... it is God's plan. He has something to accomplish in each and every birth.. if we let Him. And to have the blessing of experiencing this myself and then to watch my children experience it... is nothing but amazing to me. My heart is overflowing with God's love and grace.