Tender Mercy 3: Tender Mercy of the Hospital Change

I am so excited to share a story from my friend, Natalia Garcia Davis. She is an amazing woman and mother. She's my first guest blogger, and her story is truly AMAZING. Here, in her own words, is the story of the tender mercy of a prompting that ended up saving her newborn daughter's life. Thank you Natalia for sharing!

I feel as though Heavenly Father has his arms wrapped around me.  Protecting me and blessing my life in a way that not many people in the world get to enjoy on a daily basis. One of the evidences of this is the miracles that occurred in bringing our daughter into our lives. 
First, I felt guided to change the location of her birth to IMC instead of Riverton hospital. I felt strongly prompted to do this a few weeks before my due date. IMC happens to have some of the best neonatal doctors and medical teams especially for complications during birth, as well as an excellent NICU and staff, which will be important later on in my story. I went into labor about 3 pm that day but didn't know it because it just felt like back pain. Then, around 8 or 9 pm that night I knew I was in labor and my water broke, but again I didn't know my water broke. This was because it wasn't a gush or spurt like most people I had talked to, but a slow, very gradual leak. Because of this I didn't admit myself to the hospital until about midnight when the contractions were getting more intense. 
Our daughter was born 3 and I/2 hours later. It was a very fast birth, way faster than I expected. When she came out she was not breathing and the intensive care "crash team" immediately came in and got to work resuscitating her. I found out later the cord had been wrapped around her neck and was choking her as I pushed her out. Because of this,  I am so grateful that I happened to be at a hospital that dealt with this so well and was especially prepared for these kind of situations.  She was breathing well within a couple minutes. 
I also found out later that if I had stayed with my former provider,  they did not have the same kind of staff and unit ready and had a much smaller intensive care unit, and that they would have life flighted her out to a different hospital and they would not have let me in to see her so shortly after her birth.  I got to enjoy precious hours with her after her birth because I was at IMC. 
She also developed a serious bacterial infection where her white blood cell count was 23 and it should have been no higher than 1.5! She was admitted to the intensive care unit and was well after one week. I am certain that she would have died, if this had happened in a different time without all the available care and technology that we have now. 
I also felt that I was surrounded and supported by many deceased family members beyond the veil, especially my sweet grandmother who passed away the fall prior. I felt the presence of her loving, quiet strength throughout my most intense moments of labor. For all these reasons, I know with a sure clarity that God extends tender mercies to us all, especially in our darkest moments and challenging experiences. He doesn't take the trials or problems away, but he does extend tender mercies!

Natalia, her husband Micah and their daughter Eliza :)