The Ministering of Angels

On my path to prepare for the birth of my second daughter, I have been seeking healing from trauma caused by my first daughter's medical issues.  As I sought Heavenly Father for help  to accomplish this, I was prompted to study two things: First, my own self worth.  I studied the scriptures Doctrine and Covenants 138 and Abraham 3.  Second, the ministering of angels.  For this I studied scriptures on angels in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine of Covenants.  I also read a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland entitled "The Ministry of Angels."

I learned a lot about me, my children and angels.  I also felt prompted to pray for angels to minster to us during my labor and delivery.   Here is a list of the way angels ministered to us.  First some background, my husband is a roofer.  The day Camilla was born, he had to work on a job that was 40 minutes from our house, up a windy mountain road with no cell signal.  This summer has had so much rain, it makes roofing scheduling really difficult.  This was also the day that the Spirit told my husband Camilla would be born.  I do not really feel the contractions until I reach the transition stage, so once I actually feel a contraction there is very little time.  There is no medical services in the county where we live, so I choose to go to a hospital up the mountain, about 40 minutes away.

How the Angels Ministered to Us:

• I was able to listen to my body.  
• On my daughter's birthday, I went about our daily activities of playgroup and storytime at the library. My body only wanted one position to be comfortable, so I maintained that position.
• My 3 year old daughter let me take a nap (in her room, while she had quiet time.)
• Around 6:00 at night I had a sudden urge to go on a walk.  My husband was still not home.  I went on a 3.5 mile walk to the opposite side of town and a stop at the park for my daughter on the way home.  
• I did not realize I was in active labor.  This allowed me to not worry about getting hold of my husband or having to drive to the hospital by myself.  My husband even had me time the contractions (I could feel slight tightening, but this had been going on for a week).  The contractions were lasting for about 30 to 50 seconds and every 2 to 3 minutes.  At the time I thought there was no pattern and told my husband it didn't fall into any of the "official" categories.  (This was before my walk.)
• Before the baby came, my husband wanted to finish the roof, take a shower, and eat dinner.  He got home while we were at the park and took a shower.  When we got home (just before 8, my daughter's bedtime) we tried to figure out what to do for dinner.  I was feeling discouraged that I was not any closer to having my baby and wanted to go out to eat.
• We drove to a nearby town for dinner (hoping it was still open at 8:30 pm).  We ordered, my husband ate quickly. After using the restroom, I thought I was walking funny.  I sat down again at the table, mentioned it to my husband.  He took his last bite of food and then my water broke! (Just like he said it would on the way to the restaurant.)  How could that timing not be influenced by our Heavenly Father?  So we proceeded to drive home to grab a few things and then proceeded up the mountain to the hospital.
• There was a horrific car accident earlier that day on the freeway involving 3 cars and a semi-truck.  The westbound lanes were both completely blocked (and one eastbound). The accident occurred right by the chaining station before the pass, so traffic could be diverted through that.  This is right before the on ramp to our small mountain town.  If the accident had occurred just a little further west, the freeway would have been shutdown.  There would be no other way to access the westbound interstate.  The only way to get to the hospital would have been to take smaller mountain roads that would take at least two to three hours to reach the hospital.  
• The midwife I wanted to deliver my baby was on call.
• After getting to the hospital, I discovered that their was meconium in the water.  When my daughter was born, she cried before she was fully born.  That cry told the pediatrician and the midwife that she was ok.  This allowed my husband to still be able to cut the umbilical cord before the midwife gave my baby to the pediatrician to check out. And I was able to hold my baby after a few minutes.  
• My daughter was born 70 minutes after we got to the hospital, just as I wanted.
•  Hannah fell asleep on the way to the hospital, and fell back asleep on the couch in my room. She woke up 2 hours after Camilla was born to meet her sister.  It was the perfect timing.  Then she went right back to sleep. It was the sweetest thing to watch them meet for the first time.

Whenever I think about my daughter's birth, I amazed at how perfect it was!  I have no doubt that angels of the Lord were their ministering to myself, my husband and both my daughters.