Michael Jonathan's Birth Story

As you may know by now, I had a show on Thursday morning and started having stronger, regular contractions during the day.  I started taking certain remedies to strengthen the uterus and pelvic muscles, to ensure, if it was real labour and prevent the contractions from stopping, like Raspberry Leaf tea. 

During the morning CJ and I worked in the vegetable garden.  Our first batch of beans was finished and we took out the remainder of it.  We replanted some of our herbs and prepared the soil of this second bed for the Rainbow Corn Heidi-Mari sowed in seedling trays a few weeks ago.  She sowed it in seedling trays, since we did not have space in the beds at that time.  I enjoyed the time in the vegetable garden with CJ so much, although I couldn’t actually bend forward or sit down or reach the ground, anymore!  CJ was such a star, knowing his mom needed the distraction and activity to get the contractions going, while he did everything I asked him to do.

By 11h00 we went into the house and every child started with his/her maths for the day.  During this half an hour the contractions got closer, about 6min apart and more intense.  Christo was at work and I had to keep him up to date by the hour.  

By 14h00 Christo came to fetch CJ for a horse riding lesson and since my contractions was rhythmic every 5-7 minutes and longer than 60 seconds, he decided not to go back to work but came home to keep an eye me.  We even went for a half an hour nap together, while the little ones were having their nap.

The rest of the afternoon I kept myself busy with doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, putting away stuff scattered around the house. I also took care of our organic fruit and vegetables which we receive every Thursday at Eirene Health Shop

and prepared dinner.  During dinner I realized that the contractions were not as rhythmic and strong as earlier the afternoon.  There were even periods of 15min with NO contractions.  I know from experience I have to focus when I am in labour.  My contractions can stop very easily, when there are too much distractions.  Feeding and bathing little ones fit the criteria to distract my focus from labour.  So Christo and I went for a walk at 19h00.  CJ, Heidi-Mari and Josua would clean up the dinner-table and kitchen, Danika would keep Andrew and David busy and Christo put Daniel in the ergo on his back so he could be with us.

We took a brisk 30min walk around the neighborhood and although there were a few strong contractions, they were not as strong as I would expect after 13 hours in labour.  But then they got stronger again and Christo and CJ started filling the birth pool.  

The birth pool takes 2 full geysers and they wanted to play safe to make sure they got it filled in time.  I was only 3cm dilated, but had a few very strong contractions 3min apart and I called the midwife to warn her that she’s possibly going to catch a baby sometime during the night.  Christo and the children were watching a DVD - “Wall E” while I took short naps between contractions, until I got one very strong one, that got me wide awake!

At 20h30 we put the little ones to bed and I put Daniel on my breast to enhance the labour.  During the 15min he was on my breast I had 5 VERY strong contractions and actually started panicking for the intensity and length of the contractions.  We called the midwife and she arrived at 21h30.  Again my contractions become irregular and the intensity and length was less.  I paced the house, became extremely tired and decided to lay down for a while, while Christo and Jenny sat chatting in the living room.

About an hour later a very strong contraction woke me up,  they were rhythmic and strong again.  By now I was 7cm dilated and quite excited.  I was ready to get into the bath and from previous experience, I expected baby to be born in the next 90min, possibly before midnight!

As I got into the bath, I again couldn’t believe the relieve of the pain I experienced from the warm water and effect it had on my tense muscles.  And then... the contractions stoped again!  I even fell asleep at one stage only to wake up and see it was midnight and I still didn’t have strong enough contractions to indicate baby will be born soon.  

By now Christo was giving me Caulophyllum and Cimicifuga every 10 minutes. You can read about the remedies during birth on his blog. Somewhere during this time I got a terrible pain on the left side of my back.  This immediately added to my stress of not being fully in labour.  With the little knowledge I have of labour it reminded me that back pain during labour, could be due to an incorrect birth position of baby. At 00h30 the midwife gave me a choice:  We could either let the process go on naturally, leaving me with another few hours of labour, or we could break my waters and speed up the process.  With all my water births the midwife broke my water at some stage, so without hesitation we decided to break my waters.  At this stage my body was in total shock with all the pain, especially the back pain, but Jenny kept reminding me baby was in the right birth position and I needed to ‘relax’ and trust the Lord.  I knew I had to trust the Lord and took all the mental strength I had left, to get myself focused on the Lord. The whole time while I was in labour we played Michael W Smith’s Worship DVDs and I took especially courage in his reading Ps 139 and his song “Everywhere I go I see You”! Christo also gave me some rescue drops, cell food and opened up a Coral 8 capsule and put the powder in my mouth.  Baby’s heart beat was high and my pulse was high too.

The back pain was so bad, that I could hardly feel the contractions.  When thinking back now, I think this was the worse part of the labour.  With contractions you have a rhythm, the contraction comes, works itself up to a climax and gives you a few seconds of relief before the next contraction comes.  With the intense back pain, there weren’t any moments of relief.  It was a constant pain, with contractions in between.  

Half an hour later there was still no progress.  I could see Jenny was becoming worried about baby and me, but baby’s heart beat was back to normal again and my pulse too.  It was 01h20 and I was still only 7cm dilated and my cervix wasn’t softened out and baby’s head still needed to move down about 3 cm. I was exhausted and panicking - how was I going to get this baby out?

It was then that Jenny suggested that with the next contraction, she’s going to manipulate the cervix to see if it will help baby’s head coming down.  She put on one glove and with the next contraction was ready. Christo was supporting me from outside the pool.  I’ve also decided that with every contraction, I would just push this baby down.  I remember Jenny asking, “Do you feel like pushing or are you just pushing?”  I was just pushing.  Within seconds I felt baby’s head crowning.  The moment Jenny pushed the cervix back, baby’s head had enough space and came down!  There wasn’t even time for Jenny to put on another glove, baby was ready to be born!  As I was pushing, I could feel baby coming out, but then we got stuck!  There was no contraction, but I heard Jenny and Christo urging me to push. I didn’t know it then, but baby’s shoulder was stuck!  Christo afterwards said, he could see Jenny’s muscles bulge as she literally had to pull Michael out. After what felt like hours (according to Christo about 2min) and with the help of another contraction, I felt the amazing relief of baby being born under the water! This was the most amazing moment of my life!  The next moment Jenny lifted our little baby out of the water, and with great curiosity checked if it was a boy or a girl!  Praise the Lord, our perfect little boy was safely in my arms!

  

For the next ten minutes I could only cry out in relief to my Lord and Savior for the amazing thing He had done!

Right through the delivery all the children were fast asleep!  The children were a huge concern of mine. Daniel is cutting molars and he woke up every night during the past two weeks, before Michael’s birth, between 03h00 and 05h00. We had a plan for the older children on what to do if he woke up, but it wouldn’t be without Daniel crying and he would be totally out of his sleeping routine.  I have the custom to fast coffee the last 40 days of every pregnancy and lay before the Lord all my fears and concerns.  Some of my concerns that I put before the Lord were the timing of the day that would make it the easiest on the little ones, the fear for the pain, a safe delivery and a healthy mother and baby.  The Lord was so faithful, as usual.  After we praised the Lord and where sure baby was okay, Christo went to call CJ, Josua, Heidi-Mari and Danika.  

CJ, who’s room is at the total opposite side of the house, said he woke up at 01h20 and couldn’t go back to sleep. This was the exact time when Jenny decided to give a hand with the cervix.  I also heard from two other close friends, how they woke up at exactly 01h20 and where prompted to pray for us.  Danika, who is sharing a room with Heidi-Mari, right next to our room, said she heard baby’s first cry and was just waiting for Daddy to come and call her to meet her new brother/sister!

It was so special to see their faces of adoration when they first laid eyes on their newborn baby brother!  

Then they quietly went back to their beds.  The little ones didn’t have an idea want happened and slept until 07h00 the morning!

As soon as Heidi-Mari could get CJ out of his bed, she bombarded him to help her put up the ‘It’s a Boy’-banner she’d made to let the neighbours know baby has arrived. 

They are so proud to tell the world they got another brother!

This was my most difficult birth yet! Even with my recovery taking longer, looking back I just realized again - It is such a miracle and I will do it again!  Without my loving husband’s constant encouragement and support, 

my competent midwife and the Helping Right Hand of the Lord, I could never have done it!

Praise the Lord!

Why a Water Birth and Assembling the Birth Pool.

The births of my first two children were traumatic experiences!  I still have to write their birth stories, but for now you can believe me, I never ever want to experience it again.  Both were in hospital, an over-exposed, public place, with many distractions and stresses, due to electronic fetal monitoring devices, results in less effective labour. Now in retrospect,  it isn’t difficult to understand why I needed the assistance of oxytocin drugs to stimulate (in CJ’s case) and induce me (in Heidi-Mari’s case) in labour, and an epidural to block the pain and an instrument assisted birth (CJ).  Praise the Lord that in my foolishness He protected me with CJ and Heidi-Mari from caesarean sections!

Giving birth is a very basic involuntary primitive instinct, controlled by the hypothalamus (the most primitive part of the brain) rather than controlled by the mind.  A successful, natural birth is all about the highly sensitive balance of hormones and it was only after I’ve understood this sensitive balance between birth hormones, that I could help my body functioning optimally to bring on labour and have a ‘relaxed‘ birth. 

God designed our bodies so amazingly!  

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.”

Ps 139:14

If we would only listen to our bodies and allow our bodies to function the natural way, God’s way.  One of the biggest drawbacks of unnatural (evolution based) medicine, specifically in labour, is that it works against the natural workings of the body. This is the reason it’s called allo-pathic medicine - meaning against the natural body.

This is also part of the reason why I, ever since those first births, now choose water birth.

The Birth hormones are Prolactin - the ‘mothering hormone’; Endorphins - natural morphine-like chemicals that bring pain relief in labour; as well as Oxytocin - the main birth hormone.

It is very interesting to know it is the baby that decides when it is time for his/her birth! As I’m currently getting closer to my due date, my body is automatically increasing the secretion of oxytocin, the main birth hormone, preparing my uterus for contractions (I’ve already experienced this numerous times over the past few weeks!) by triggering the release of estrogen, while prostaglandin softens and ripens the cervix. 

But it is ONLY when the baby’s lungs are fully matured and ready to breathe, that they produce a hormone that reaches the mother’s bloodstream and sends a message to her brain that it’s time for labour to start.   This message has the physical result of more oxytocin, released in pulses into the mother’s bloodstream - each pulse resulting in a contraction. 

Emotionally, the effect of high levels of oxytocin during labour, is to make the mother draw deeply into herself, as she concentrates her energies on the overwhelming sensations she is experiencing.  During this stage it is extremely important to protect the laboring woman from disturbances such as bright lights, talking and asking questions or giving her a feeling of being ‘observed’.  When the mother is disturbed, feels anxious or becomes afraid, her body is likely to produce adrenaline, the ‘fight of flight hormone’.  During labour adrenaline counteracts the release of oxytocin and can therefore slow or even inhibit labour.  We should aim to keep the level of adrenaline as low as possible during labour, by giving the mother a protective, intimate place of birth.  Woman in labour have a need to withdraw and cut themselves off from the world of ordinary events, and one can tell that a labour is going well when this is observed. 

In a modern hospital setting and sometimes even at a home birth, adrenaline is likely to be released in response to too much noise and activity, emotional stress, unsympathetic surroundings and in more extreme cases fear and distress.  In this situation, the halting or slowing of contractions may lead to the need for a arsenal of medical interventions to deliver the baby.  

Towards the end of labour, there is a sudden shift in the mother’s hormonal balance as the birth approaches.  A kind of ‘hormonal storm’!  I’ve experienced it every time just after full dilation of the cervix. It may also happen just before or at the time of full dilation.  The high oxytocin levels produce long, intense contractions with only brief intervals between them.  At this point a high level or rush of adrenaline is released, which now, paradoxically, has the dramatic effect of stimulating contractions instead of slowing them down, as would have happened earlier.  As a result of this, you might notice a new restlessness in the mother in contrast to the relative passivity of late labour. In my case I experienced my body going in a spasm.  Christo then normally supports me from outside the pool, allowing me to float in the water. The rush of adrenaline, combined with the mechanical pressure from the baby’s descending head on the pudendal nerves deep inside the pelvis, has the effect of stimulating the rapid birth of the baby.  

But a rapid birth, due to adrenaline rush, doesn’t occur in all labours.  In particular, when there is too much well-meaning ‘support’ for the mother, the necessary primal anxiety is suppressed.  In this case the mother need to consciously make the efforts to ‘push’ the baby down the birth canal.  Christo and my midwife help to make the birth as easy as possible for me and baby by minimizing disturbances to help along a spontaneous birth.

And this is the main reason why I prefer a home birth.  I need to feel secure during labour, spontaneous and uninhibited, dominated by my involuntary primitive instincts, rather than controlled by my mind, afraid of what people might think.

Since I’m a very private person, the birth pool gives me a sense of privacy.  I feel enclosed in my private space, protected by the gentle barrier of the water and secure from unwanted contact and more in control of my body.

The warm water helps me cope better with the pain during labour.  The water has a relaxing effect on my heavily pregnant body.  The buoyancy of the water supports my weight, enabling my body to relax.  The warmth of the water also has a relaxing effect on the muscle fibers, helping to dispel tension throughout my body.

I also experience a huge sense of relief when I enter the birthing pool.   The birthing pool is designed to hold sufficient water to provide buoyancy to support me comfortably and effortlessly in whatever position I choose, providing a feeling of weightlessness.  Since I’m free from the effort of supporting my body’s weight, the buoyancy also helps me to conserve energy so that I’m less likely to become exhausted.  The support of the water allows total relaxation between contractions, which are blissful and restorative.

While in labour I want to move my body spontaneously into the most comfortable and beneficial position at any given time.  In water, mobility is much easier to achieve and involves much less effort.  I am free to find the positions that alleviate pain, whether lying, floating or kneeling leaning forwards.

These are only some of the many reasons why I choose a water birth.

This weekend Christo and the boys assembled the birth pool. I periodically have heavy contractions, so Christo thought it safe to assemble the pool just incase the contractions become the ‘real thing’ and he doesn’t want to be caught off guard and cause extra stress on me.

CJ and Josua helped Christo fit the 4 fibre glass panels together to form the structure of the birth pool.

The pool doesn’t have a glass fibre bottom, only a piece of foam rubber inside.

They also checked the warm water urn and it’s placement.  Boiling water from the urn is necessary to regulate the pool temperature, after it had been filled with warm water out of the geyser. This size pool needs two fillings of a normal household geyser. 

I normally get into the pool when dilated 6-7 cm and then it takes about 2 hours before I’m fully dilated and ready to give birth.  The temperature of the pool needs to be exactly the same as body temperature for baby to be born safely.  Thus the need for boiling water to heat up the pool, incase the temperature had dropped under 37 degrees C, during the second stage of labour.

Oops!  They forgot to put down the plastic, to protect the carpet from spilled water, underneath the pool.

Building me a comfortable ‘chair’ inside the pool.  I’m a very strong believer in immediately after giving birth, finding a comfortable position in the pool to put my baby on my breast.  Baby’s first contact with the breast or first sucking, minutes after birth, stimulates more oxytocin secretion, as do all the interactions that happen between me and my baby at this time - me falling deeply in love with my baby!  This results in massive contractions that ensure the delivery of the placenta, the retraction of the uterus and the sealing of the blood vessels at the placental site.  Thus being in a comfortable position, having my baby at my breast, adoring his/her small fingers and toes, is part of the natural way to prevent hemorrhage and ensure the safety of my baby and myself.  We never allow the injection of vitamin K to prevent hemorrhage.  God put everything in place for a healthy body to ensure it’s safety and I don’t want to interfere unless otherwise advised by Christo or my midwife. 

‘Testing... testing...’  Don’t let the smile mislead you.  This is normally a very traumatic moment for me - getting into the pool to test the comfortability of my ‘chair’.  This is the moment when I’m confronted with the reality. There is now NO turning back. In here, I will go through the biggest trauma, as well as the biggest joy, of my life - giving birth and holding the baby I’ve carried for nine months under my heart!

Christo and the boys put the plastic cover inside the pool structure.  Only now the pool is ready to be filled with water.

Inside the pool, you will see another piece of blue plastic. This is special bubble plastic that will keep the temperature of the water, while I’m not ready to get into the pool yet.  If you get into the birth pool to soon, in may case before 6cm dilated, the soothing effect of the warm water can cause contractions to stop. 

The birth pool ready to be used.  The pool will be filled with the hose from our bathroom, as soon as I’m sure I’m in real labour. 

One of the biggest benefits of a water birth is the gentle welcome effect on my baby.  A water birth results in a gentle and sensitive entry into the world and thus a calmer, less stressed, more settled and content baby.  

I have no words to describe what it is like when my baby is born from the water of the womb through warm water into the world, and then gently lifted up and put into my arms. Every time I brought my newborn to my heart, tears of joy ran down my face.  All this, in a matter of a few seconds, seems to happen in slow motion.  These were the most moving moments in my life and I’m in so much anticipation to experience it again.

With every pregnancy I experienced roller coaster emotions during the last two weeks - emotions of fear and impatience.  Starting this pregnancy I promised myself to be patient and not to allow these emotions to spoil the last few days of my pregnancy.  But now I’ve realized it must be hormonal, I just can’t help it.  I’m ready to give birth, I want to hold my baby and it has nothing to do with impatience!

God’s First Revelation to me on the Blessing of Many Children.

A couple of years ago after my two children were born; we decided that we would not have any more children, although I dreamt of four children when I got married. After all, babies are hard work and a lot of stress. Heidi-Mari was a colic baby, who cried for six months before we learnt that she was diary-, wheat- and MSG intolerant. She was now two and a half years old and I was looking forward to have a live again. Heidi-Mari and CJ (then 5years old) were in playgroups and they were happy to be between their peers and getting the right stimulation from woman who had the talent and passion to work with little children (or that’s how I justified it to myself) I would then be able to start working in my husband’s business again and bring in some extra money to lift the financial burden. I would also be able to start hobbies again and go to woman bible studies without a toddler around my feet.

Then two friends of mine got pregnant with their third babies! Oh my! I was hooked! All of a sudden I wanted another baby! I tried to reason with myself. If I got pregnant again, I would be stuck at home again for another three years! And who in her right mind would want to do that to herself. I already had a boy and a girl, our parents only had two children, and everybody else I knew, except these two friends. Then the financial side. How does one provide in todays live for three children? Not even the church promotes more than two children. I must be crazy, I thought!

Everybody I talked to (even our pastor who had three children) advised me against having more children. Especially having three children! The middle child syndrome… was one of the main reasons! You either have two or four children. But I wanted another baby so badly! After two months of roller coaster emotions, I decided to ask God for help. I decided to pray and fast for 40 days and ask God to either take the yearning for another baby away, or to give me peace that it is OK to have another baby.

I must add that my husband didn’t mind having another baby at all, although his business was taking a lot of strain from the declining economy at that time. I wasn’t on any contraception, since I just couldn’t cope on any of the available contraceptive pills. For all the years of my married live, I had a very regular cycle and we used the rhythm method as contraception, with great success.

In the spring of 1999, I started my forty days fast of certain foods in my daily diet. Every morning and any other available time, I would read my bible, pleading with God for guidance and promises from His Word. It was an amazing few weeks in my life. God visited me every time I opened my Bible, revealing Himself to me and giving me the most amazing promises… and before the forty days was over, I was pregnant! I was overjoyed! With all the promises God gave me, I could just look forward to this new life and rely on Him to sustain us.

Since Heidi-Mari was a very traumatic hospital birth, miraculously NOT ending in a caesarian, we decided to have a home, water birth with a midwife. It was the most enriching time to go into labour on that evening of the 23rd of August and giving birth to a little boy in the early morning hours of the 24th of August 2000! Everything was so peaceful and calm. No rushing to a noisy hospital, nor leaving my small children at a family member, no bright, white lights in a hospital room, no strange nurses storming into the labour room every hour for observations, no interference with my bodies natural instinct to giving birth. Two hours after my baby boy was born, I was lying in my own bed, in my own room; my children had met their new baby brother and were back in a restful sleep in their own beds. The midwife left for her own hour or two of rest before dawn and Christo and I had time to adore our newborn baby over marmite toast and sandwiches!

The whole family 90min. after Josua was born.

Josua and Ingred Essl, and our very competent midwife. I’ve learned almost everything I knew about having babies the natural way and breastfeeding my babies, from this special woman.

CJ and Heidi-Mari proudly next to their new baby brother.

This was only the start of God’s blessing on our life through this baby boy. A few weeks after our baby’s birth, Christo’s business went down and we lost everything. We had to move to a small two bedroom granny flat, we had to borrow a family member’s car and Christo started a new business from scratch. But my baby boy gave me hope and a reason to live! Every time when I thought I could not do it, that the pressure and stress was too much, I would take my tiny baby into my arms and just love him. God renewed my tired, discouraged spirit by this baby’s dependency on me every time.

Today this tiny baby turned 9years old – my Josua! God truly used him to lead us into the Promised Land and taught us some basic truths about the blessing of children.

Do I still think babies are hard work? For sure! Do I still think they keep me from having a live? Never! They are the key to the life God intended for me from the start! Today my seven children are playing around their brothers and sisters, in the safety of their own home, having their mother, using her talents and passion to stimulate them and allow each one to grow into the unique person God intend them to be! And what about providing for all God’s blessings? God provides and He sustains us.
I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
He is ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
Ps 37:25-26

Thank you Lord for answering my prayers and hunger for your truths about children, over the past ten years, and giving me this rich and blessed live as a mother!


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