A Broken People

Hey Everyone,

So…my son, Aiden Taylor Van Peursem born September 3, 2009 at 7:28am 8lbs and 20 inches long.  It was quite a crazy story and I have told it so many times and expect to tell it many more so I thought I’d type it here to remember it for myself and to let you all know how Great our God is and the way he worked!

The whole thing began on Wednesday September 2, 2009 @ 2pm when our Dr. told us that Aiden could come that night if we wanted to induce.  We thought that sounded like a great plan and began to prepare!  My wife checked in and we got the cervidil going.  They examined her at 11pm, 2am & 5:00am and nothing!  So we began to pray that he would come so that we would not have to abandon the process and come back another day.  Be careful what you pray for!!

At 5:30am I was sitting at my wife’s side and the contraction of all contractions came along and peaked the meter for 15 seconds then released.  After watching my wife tremble and cry her way through it I asked her what the heck THAT was??  She said, “I dunno” and BAM another hit just like it.  Immediately after, she told me that she thought her water broke so I looked under her sheet.  Underneath her bed sheet I saw a huge amount of blood.  Not good.  I calmly said, “OK, great!” and left the room to go get a nurse.  Our nurse came in, took one look and said, “Uh oh”.  Then, it began.  Doctor after doctor came in to look at my wife.  All the while I am standing there asking them how my wife and son are and NOBODY would answer me.  All they said was, “You’re in a Hospital, the best place”.  Well, duh!!

The biggest problem was not the initial blood storm, it was that she continued to push blood with every contraction…not good.  My wife is crying thinking she is going to die, I am tearing and trying not to loose it and the phone rings…the Dr., for me.  I answer and this is what he says:

“I have been doing medicine for 26 years and have never seen what just happened to your wife.  She’s bleeding a lot and it’s not good.  She’ll be fine and I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” – reassuring…kinda.

5 minutes later the Doc arrived, gave Kirsten an exam and exclaimed, “This baby is coming out now!”  Emergency C-Section.  He tossed me a space suit and told me to get ready. They prepped Kirsten and off we went.  20 minutes later, Aiden was brought into the world.  He was perfect!  Great color, good lungs & a 9.9 on the Apgar!

My wife made it through great and went to recovery for about 2 hours.  I was with Aiden for a bit but then left him with the nursery because I was so dang worried about my wife.  They brought Aiden in about 30 minutes later and we were all able to bond as a family.  We got to our room and began our 4 day stay here at the hospital.

It was the most terrifying 2 hours of my life and ones I surely won’t EVER forget.  I prayed more then I can remember and God showed up HUGE!!!  We found out later that it was a prematurely ruptured placenta that was being passed before any dilation, labor or induction.  Not normal.  We were also told 2 days later that what happened that morning most likely was not a result of the drugs and would have happened anyway so could you imagine if my wife woke up to that @ 5:30am in Ventura needing to drive to TO?  There, my friends, is a blessing from God!

Our son is perfect and I can say that cuz I’m Dad .  I have cherished quiet moments with him sleeping on my chest or looking around responding to my voice.  It is truly a miracle and one that blows my mind every moment of the day.

We are still here at the hospital for a few more days.  We appreciate the many calls, texts and Facebook notes we’ve received from our friends, family and church family.  We love you all and are so thankful for the prayers you offered that night we went in.

Our God is big.  He is Perfect, Gracious and in Control.  We have been so blessed by this experience and look forward to sharing with you the many memories that we’ll share with him over the years to come.

With Love,

Matt, Kirsten & Aiden