Our Christmas Gift

Maren's birth story

“I just really wanted a 2025 baby.” I cried to my husband as we threw yet another negative pregnancy test into the trash. “There’s still time, Babe,” he reassured me. “No, because we can’t try next month, it wouldn’t be fair. We can’t risk having a Christmas Baby.”

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Several weeks later, after convincing myself it was okay to try because “I’ll probably never get pregnant without medication,” we saw the word “pregnant” appear on a tiny digital screen. I promptly downloaded an app and entered the dates. We were due on December 20, 2025.

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Relief flooded my body as the ultrasound tech picked up a heartbeat that we could see flickering on the screen. Our baby was okay, and the bleeding I was having wasn’t threatening. “Your baby is also measuring ahead, so we’re going to change your due date to the fourteenth.” I smiled. December 14th was so far away from Christmas.

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December 14th came and went. That’s okay, I thought. I was originally due on the 20th, so that’s probably when she’ll come. December 20th rolled around, and labor was not in sight. We went to our favorite coffee shop and tried out a new Saturday routine.

Because my due date had been changed, I was officially 41 weeks on December 21st. I had an induction scheduled for Boxing Day.¹ On December 22nd, we had another ultrasound, and Baby Girl was measuring LARGE. She was an estimated 10lbs and 3oz and “sunny-side up.” Not ideal conditions for the natural birth I had been planning.

I felt defeated, discouraged, and worried. What if I have to be induced and she hasn’t flipped and she’s huge and I need pitocin—that’s going to hurt—and then something bad happens, and I need a c-section? Adrian only gets two weeks off from work. I can’t recover from major abdominal surgery with a toddler and a newborn by myself, especially if she’s too big to lift. These thoughts and more rolled through my brain.

On December 23rd, the predicted 1-2 inches of snow turned into 6+ inches. My husband, son, and I enjoyed life inside our snow globe. I tried to turn off the fears and instead began to surrender this experience to God.

I was pregnant during Advent—what a gift. As Mary anticipated the birth of her son, who would also be her Savior, I was anticipating the arrival of my baby girl. While I had valid fears and worries, I also live with the blessing of modern science. I knew no matter how labor began, we would be safe. Mary had to trust that God would protect her. If Mary, a child at the time she was pregnant, could do it, I could too. I could trust God and surrender. I could give all my preconceived notions and ideas to Him about what a perfect birth looks like and embrace whatever was going to happen with this one.

On Christmas Eve, we donned our best² and went to church. I braced myself for the unhelpful comments. The “you’re still pregnant?” or “when’s the baby going to be here?” questions that well-meaning people share but aren’t helpful AT ALL. There were none. Instead, we were met with smiles, hugs, and reminders that no matter what, our girl would be here soon. We sang about Jesus’ birth, and Wesley fell asleep in Adrian’s arms. It was the perfect Christmas Eve.

After stuffing stockings, we put on The Fellowship of the Ring and ate ice cream. As disk one of the extended edition ended³, my contractions began. We were going to have a Christmas Baby.

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Sleep was unsteady. I slept from 10:40 pm until about midnight. I called my mom to give her notice that we would not be hosting Christmas. I told her we’d call her once we were closer to leaving for the hospital. She arrived around 3 AM and went to sleep in our bed while I continued laboring downstairs.

By 4:30 AM, it was hard to talk through contractions, and they were coming every four minutes. We called the hospital and finished packing the bags. When we arrived, I was checked and was officially in active labor.

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When the shift change happened two hours after we arrived, we learned some things:

1. I wasn’t dilating as quickly as they anticipated for a second-time birth, but I was becoming more and more effaced.

2. I had 2/3 markers for pre-ecclampsia.

3. Baby was still sunny-side up, and the back labor was more painful than I could have imagined.

Because the “cure” for preeclampsia is birth, I knew we needed to have this baby as quickly as possible. Continuing to let labor progress on its own wasn’t really wise in our situation. Instead, we decided to break my water.⁴

Before they came in and broke my water, however, I decided to be brave enough to get an Epidural.⁵ There were several reasons why we came to that decision, but ultimately it was a combination of needing to have this baby quickly while also trying to minimize tearing. Talking it over with my midwife, we knew that if I was in tons of pain because of back labor, potentially having to add Pitocin, etc., I might not be as controlled and calm during pushing and would risk having 3rd degree tears like last time.

I’m not one of those moms who thinks you get an award for natural labor. I truly am thankful for my unmedicated birth in 2023 and this labor with the Epidural. Both served me well in their respective situations, and honestly, if I have a third child, I would consider either option equally.

That being said, getting the Epidural was 100% the right choice for this labor. Before breaking my water, the nurse worked with me to flip the baby. We thought we might have gotten her to turn slightly, but once the Epidural was in, my body relaxed enough for her to turn fully, and that’s when labor ramped up.

I napped on and off, watched videos of my son opening gifts at his Grammie’s house, and by 2 pm, I was in transition and would be pushing soon.

Pushing was a completely different experience with the Epidural. I was able to connect both with my body and breath. I was also able to register what was happening and be present the moment my daughter was born.

At 2:43 pm on Christmas Day, we got the best gift.

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If I’m honest, I don’t know how we’re going to make her birthday special when she’s older. But on the day, it felt beautiful and profound. There was joy, laughter, and tears as they placed her on my chest, but ultimately, the best part was feeling God’s nearness through every stage. On the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth, I truly knew Immanuel, God with me.

Through the pain of every contraction at home, He spoke reminders of love over me. Through what could have been a scary diagnosis, He brought peace. Through every decision, He gave us discernment and clarity. And ultimately, through it all—the labor, the pregnancy, the months of delayed fertility and unknowns—He brought us joy.

He gave us the best gift: Maren Lee, our baby girl.

1. Let the record show that my OB asked me what I would like to do, and I asked to be inducted on the last possible day that was wise, which was the 26th. They did not purposefully avoid the holiday like the internet would have you believe.

2. Or the best we could do because mom was 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant and very tired.

3. Yes, we watched on DVD.

4. We also did this last pregnancy after 24+ hours of being stuck at 7cm dilated.

5. The needle terrifies me, and tbh it was the scariest part of the day.