Warning: Long Post! short version of my Birth Story

I was going to do this as a live video, but I’m too emotional. So let me start from the very beginning. I found out I was pregnant back in June of last year and to be 100% honest, I wasn’t the most thrilled. Luckily, I have some awesome friends that helped me to see the blessing in a fifth child, my “Grace baby” (five is the number of grace)! Time goes on and everything seemed to be great, until my 20 week scan... Kevin was at work so my cousin went with me to my appointment that day. I knew something was up because normally I just get the scan, they give me two pictures and send me on my way. This time, they made me wait for almost 20 mins until a doctor came in with results. He walked in and I literally felt all of the air in the room being sucked out with every step he took. He sat down and said “Mrs. McCaskie (I haven’t legally changed my last name yet. Don’t ask..), one of her femurs is bowed. I don’t mean to alarm you, but this is typically common with children born with skeletal dysplasia.” My heart sank. I asked him what that meant for her quality of life and was told that there are different types and the type she had meant she wouldn’t live very long after birth. I told very few people & cried silently for MONTHS! I didn’t want a baby shower. I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything for her. I feared the worst. Pastor Max Ware had a “First Fruits” conference a few weeks ago and the very first night, Pastor Horace Sheppard Jr. preached a message that put my entire heart and mind at ease. He preached about when God told Abraham to take Isaac up to Moriah to be given as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed. And the very moment Abraham raised his sword to slay his son, God stopped him and provided a ram in the bush. In that moment, I felt God convicting me... “Don’t you trust Me?” From that moment on, I started to get excited about Symphani’s arrival. I mean excited FOR REAL because I was fronting for social media for months.

Now let’s fast forward to last Saturday, Feb. 3rd. I started having ridiculous contractions and told Kevin I think it’s time to head to the hospital. We arrived at L&D; around 12:15am. I was still dilated to 2cm and hooked up to the monitors. I remember hearing a very steady, healthy heartbeat and then all of a sudden it rapidly began to slow down. I’m talking 150bpm to 120... 100... 60... 50... and everyone comes running in. All I could say was “Jesus!” Almost instantly, her heart-rate came back up to 150bpm. After breathing a sigh of relief, of course they admitted me. Now here’s where the frustration came in... I was under the impression I was being admitted to have a baby, but little did I know that I was being placed on bedrest. I never knew what was going on until 24+ hours later or being admitted. Yes, I asked questions. Yes, I asked to speak to a doctor several times. I didn’t mind staying to be monitored. I mean, who wouldn’t want a few days of chilling in bed and being waited on hand and foot!? My thing was JUST LET ME KNOW WHATS HAPPENIN’ CAP’N! Well, it was now Monday night and all of my visitors, including Kev, left and I really wanted to get some sleep. I watched YouTube videos until I fell asleep and finally got into a deep sleep. At 2am Tuesday morning, everything changed... I was abruptly awoken by a doctor telling me to turn over to my left side quickly. Let’s face it, at almost 37 weeks pregnant, I couldn’t do anything quickly! Every min that passed, another doctor and nurse entered the room. I started to panic. “Mrs. McCaskie, we need you to sign here, here and here, giving us consent for an emergency c-section.” All I could hear in the background is my baby’s heartbeat on that monitor, dropping lower and lower and I burst into tears and said “God, please don’t let my baby die!” I called Kevin and told him to get to the hospital ASAP! I signed the papers and was wheeled out of my room at 2:47am and headed to the OR. All types of emotions ran through me. I was scared. I was alone. I was anxious. I texted my pastor and closest friends (shoutout to #TeamPP!) and asked them to pray for us! They placed me on the operating table. Told me to bring my legs together and stretch both arms out on the wooden planks on either side. One of the nurses smiled and said “You look like Jesus on the cross!” I promise you, the moment she said that, I felt the presence of God lay and stretch out on me - hand over hand, leg over leg. There was such a peace and comfort that came over me. I took a deep breath and said “Yes, God. I trust You.” Before they began the operation, I asked them to give me a minute to pray and they did. At 3:12am, Symphani Joy entered the world, SCREAMING, in spite of the umbilical cord being wrapped around her neck and feet twice!! They cleaned her up and swaddled her up. They brought over the most perfect baby. I cried like a baby.

After being taken to recovery and speaking to the pediatrician that examined her, I asked him how she was doing. He said “she’s perfect! 6lbs 11oz and 18.5” long.” So I asked, what about her leg? What about the skeletal dysplasia? He said “what? That was a thing for her? Mrs. McCaskie, she’s perfect.” He handed me my baby and he was right: SHE WAS PERFECT! He couldn’t even tell which leg was bowed. By far, this was the SCARIEST experience I’ve ever had and I’ve been through some crazy stuff! But what I can tell you is that God never left my side. This recovery process is painful, but I’m surviving. I just thank God for being faithful to His word and bringing us both through this surgery alive and well 💗.