Birth Story #6

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As we prepare to give yet another talk on Experiencing God In Pregnancy this Saturday 29th March 2008, I realised that I had not posted our 6th birth on the website. I’d only blogged about it shortly after the baby’s birth.

So here it is to encourage those who are about to birth or perhaps is afraid to birth. And this is the verse that the Lord impressed upon me as I waited to birth the baby :

Hebrews 13:5 – 6.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So we may boldly say : “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Birth Story #6

Birth #6 was an extremely exciting one, one that is given as a testimony to the faithfulness & awesome-ness of God the Father, through Jesus His Son. All glory to Him!

Baby #6 joined the family 6 days past EDD, weighs 3.34kg and is 50cm long.

Timing

4pm – I have had so many false alarms since Week 38 that I have lost count of them. So when contractions started at 4pm, 6 days past EDD, I just ignored it. Even though they were 10min apart. But the intensity was rather strong so I thought – well this could be it! So I got dinner ready and started preparing to bake Banana Bread for the next day’s breakfast.

6pm – As I was eating dinner, the contractions were strong enough to cause me to perspire. Hmm…this probably is IT! So I sms-ed my dad and told him to eat his dinner and prepare to come over. I finished up my dinner, went upstairs to pack all the last minute stuff – toothbrushes, comb…and showered. The longer I stood showering, the stronger and closer the contractions got. I got out of the shower & sms-ed my dad to start driving over.

About 7pm – I told dh that we should start bathing the younger children so that we could put them to bed earlier. I lay down at the couch to rest while he bathed them. The contractions continued at 10min apart but lasted longer & were definitely stronger.

8pm – My parents sms-ed me that they will wait downstairs till I was ready to leave. They can’t come upstairs to wait or the children will get too hyped up to go to bed.

8:20pm – Got the children upstairs to pray and ready for bed. Contractions now 7min apart.

9pm : Started to sms friends to start praying for me!

9:30pm – asked my parents to come up and wait. Dh opened up the sofa bed in case it is a long wait ahead – ha! Contractions now 5min apart, lasting 1.5min. Prayed for a sign to leave.

10pm – Laid on sofa bed. I’d always preferred to labour lying down sideways and usually fall asleep between the contractions. Contractions now lasting almost 2min long but still 5min apart.

Should I leave or not?

Contractions then moved to 3min apart. Just as I decided that we should leave, the contractions went back to 5min apart!

Then I felt the urge to push. Hmm….leave now? Then nothing. So I continued to wait. Another urge to push. Time to go, I told dh. I made my way to the toilet to relieve myself and discovered that a huge amount of mucous plug had been discharged! Oops! I may have waited a bit too long!

10:25pm Made way very slowly to the lift and car. Told dh that he needed to push back the middle row seats for me. The moment I climbed in, I felt the need to PUSH! I got onto all fours immediately (with 1 leg on the floor to stabilise myself).

In the car

Throughout the car ride, I felt the urge to push several times and then suddenly, pop!

“My bag has burst! Pass me the towel!” I told dh.

Thankfully the towel was packed right on top. Dh could continue to drive with one hand and toss the towel to me with the other.

At that moment though, I thought that the baby was about to be birthed there and then. Dh kept telling me that we were about to reach the hospital. But what I really wanted was for dh to stop the car somewhere for me to birth the baby!

When we reached Mt Alvernia, I thought dh rushed out to get someone to help me out. But he told me later that he just grabbed the nearest wheelchair he saw and with that, a male nurse came with him. But …. The baby is pushing out of me and they want me to sit on the wheelchair? How?!

Go park the car?!

The silly male nurse then told dh to go and park the car – like that is the most important thing to do at that point in time?! But he suddenly changed his mind and told dh “You better come with me!”

In between contractions, I managed to sit on the chair for them to wheel me into the lobby area. But because the urge to push was so strong, I pushed myself off the chair to try to labour on firm ground vs a shaky wheelchair.

But the same male nurse actually hauled me up back onto the wheelchair! So I shouted “The baby is coming out!” But of course no one believed me. He told me, “No, no, cannot!” Excuse me?! And tried to wheel me into the delivery suite.

Someone finally realised that the baby IS really coming

One of the more alert nurses at the lobby must have decided that I was telling the truth as she quickly directed the wheelchair into the nearest examination room of the 24hr clinic of the hospital where I could see the baby’s head crowning as we passed the doorway.

And with everyone standing around and not knowing what to do, the baby’s head emerged. This comes the surreal part.

No one knew what to do.

Everyone stood standing and staring! I told dh, “Go and hold the baby’s head!” But before he could react, I saw the 24hr clinic doctor stepping forward and felt the the baby’s shoulders pushing through at the same time. The dr caught the baby and I heard her cry loudly!

Stunned silence.

Give me my baby!

The doctor continued to hold on to the crying baby. I had to say three times, “Give me the baby!” before he reacted. Then like in a slow-motion movie, everyone reacted. All talking at the same time.

And all they know what to do then was to keep saying “Cut the cord, cut the cord!” Dh had the presence of mind to remind them to wait for the cord to stop pulsing first! Meanwhile, baby was crying on and off while I held on to her. I tried to nurse her but she was too busy crying!

I asked dh to take pictures to document this interesting birth but realised that the camera and video were all still in the car! So he had to run out to get it. Then he got one of the nurses to take photos of him cutting the umbilical cord.

After birthing in that awkward position (sitting on my tailbone!) I tried to move into a more comfortable position. But guess what? They wouldn’t let me! They insisted that I had to sit that way while they wheeled me to the Delivery Suite to birth the placenta and clean up!

What a mess!

I was then wheeled to the Delivery Suite. I looked back and saw the mess I left behind. A huge puddle of mess! We then had to wait for more than an hour for the stand-in doctor to check me! My own doctor was on holiday in Bali!

Meanwhile baby was nursing happily and helping my uterus to contract. When the doctor finally came, he helped to birth the placenta and checked my perineum. He then pronounced that I did not have any tears!!! There would be no need for any stitches!

That was totally miraculous to me considering the awkward position I had birthed in and the speed with which baby was birthed! Praise God!

Reflections

I stand in awe of the obvious hand of God on this whole birth process.

On 6th June, Henson & I got together to pray that :

• Baby will be born by 7th June
• Labour will be quick
• No tearing, no episiotomy
• Little disruption to household routine

Many people had asked if they should pray for baby to come only when my doctor is back in town and I have always told them that it didn’t matter. I was given Hebrews 13:5 and I rested in the assurance that The Lord is my Helper. I will not fear.

And truly – The Lord helped to birth this baby!

So for all moms-to-be, may you be encouraged as you prepare to birth. A painless, easy, quick birth IS possible – with God’s help.

Related post : Things I Learnt From This Birth

Read my other birth stories…

• Birth Story #1
• Birth Story #2
• Birth Story #3
• Birth Story #4
• Birth Story #5
• Birth Story #7

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