The Osburns’ pregnancy and home birth represent redemption after loss
Story by Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker
Photos by Katelyn Peek

In the midst of tragedy, priorities often shift. This happened for Suzy Osburn when, on July 23rd, 2022, her brother, Christopher Trumble, passed away unexpectedly. The family was shattered by the loss.

“I remember telling people that was the worst day of my life,” Suzy said. “I had never experienced loss quite like that. I have lost grandparents, but the loss of a younger sibling before their time . . . it’s just stabbing. It is devastating.”

A few weeks later, Suzy’s husband, Kyle, sat her down to discuss a serious matter—his desire to add a baby to their family.

“My jaw hit the ground,” Suzy said. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? I had been praying for another baby, and now you’re telling me that you secretly wanted another baby the whole time, too?’ I almost could not believe it.”

However, Suzy and Kyle knew that having a baby was not going to be an easy task. The parents already had three children, all stacked close in age. After their third child was born, the couple decided their family was complete, and Kyle had a vasectomy.

“We made that decision together,” Suzy said. “But, when all of the kids were 5 and up—it’s like you don’t have a baby anymore. No one is napping. Everyone’s out of diapers. Everyone can swim. You don’t have to have your eyes on them for every second. So that’s when I started to want another baby, and I started regretting our decision of the vasectomy.”

The couple researched vasectomy reversal, and they found a doctor in New Braunfels, Texas, Dr. Loddie Roeder, who performed vasectomy reversals as his “ministry.” This appealed to the Osburns, so they set up an appointment.

“We called and found out that Dr. Roeder was retiring, and he had one more appointment available,” Suzy said. “And it was for the week of our wedding anniversary. What are the odds?”

Kyle underwent the procedure in October 2022, and the family prayed for a positive outcome.

“There were no promises that the reversal was going to work,” Suzy said. “Kyle had the vasectomy for seven years. We were trusting God and knew that if it was meant to be, it would happen.”

One year later, it did. In November 2023, Suzy found out she was expecting, and their family was elated. For years, she had dreamed of having a baby, and her kids dreamed of having a new sibling.

As they talked about the birth, Suzy and Kyle decided on a home birth, as it had always been Suzy’s dream. She had tried to convince Kyle to have a home birth with her previous babies, but he wasn’t sure. However, after having seen Suzy birth three children with ease, he felt more comfortable with a home birth this time around. They researched and interviewed different midwives in the area. They ultimately hired Gabrielle Thrailkill of Genesis Home Birth Services. Gabrielle has served as a midwife for 42 years and assisted with roughly 1,000 births.

“She had a lot of history and a lot of knowledge,” Suzy said. “She told us, ‘If for any moment I think that something’s wrong, we will go to the hospital.’ We just felt like we trusted her, and we trusted her judgment.”

When Suzy went into labor on July 22nd, 2024, at 10 p.m., her immediate family, extended family, and friends, as well as a photographer, all made their way to the Osburns’ Douglasville home.

“When Gabrielle arrived, she said, ‘Are we having a party?’” Suzy recalled. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, pretty much.’ It felt like a party. Everyone was just hanging out on the back porch. My mom was baking cookies and making sandwiches for everyone. I was completely fine in between the contractions. When I had a contraction, I would just kind of walk away and let the contraction pass.”

Labor intensified around midnight, and Gabrielle realized that the baby had his hand up with his fist positioned on his chin. Because of this positioning, and because he was a larger baby than her other three, Suzy was in a lot of pain. She had to get in and out of the birthing pool and change positions a few times, but after a few hours, Arrow Joel Osburn made his debut into the family. His name was inspired by Psalm 127:4 (“Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one’s youth”). He was born on July 23rd, 2024—the second anniversary of his uncle’s death.

“My other brother texted our family group and said, ‘Just like that, God restored the day, and now this day is good,’” Suzy said. “There are no coincidences, only God. He gave us joy for mourning, beauty from ashes. And now, on that day, I’ll never forget just what God did. He knew the perfect time to bring this boy to our family and when we needed it.”

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A Day Restored