Health Talk Webinar

Since September last year my Husband, a Clinical Nutritionist and Health Shop Owner, have been presenting Health Talks once a month at Eirene Health Shop, our Health Shop, in Durbanville. Over the months many of our clients around South Africa, requested the talks online.

So, after a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ sweat, we are happy to announce that we will be hosting our first Webinar on Monday Evening, 13 February, at 7pm live from Eirene Health Shop.

The seminar will be on “How to Maintain your S3xual Health - Naturally”

Through this Webinar you will learn how to:

Improve Libido

Avoid PMS

Correct hormone related depression

Have a healthy Prostate

Prevent Breast Cancer

Eliminate Dryness and Pain

Balance Hormones

Eradicate Erectile Disfunction

Enjoy your intimate life to the full

We have created a Registration form via which you can register for the seminar and you can log in just before 7pm - Click here to register for the Webinar.

You will receive a Registration Confirmation by e-mail and the link to login 15minutes before 7pm to give you able time to log in.

Please take note: On the Registration form for the live Webinar you will also find a link to check your computer’s ability to view this Webinar. If you copy, paste the link it will check if you have all the plug-ins to run a Webinar.

We hope you can join us for this live talk.

Much love

Linnie

First Do No Harm

A few weeks ago I had to pay a visit to the dentist.  We thought I needed only a few basic repairs.  I had tooth ache on the one side of my mouth, which most probably only needed a replacement of an old filling. I needed the amalgam to be replaced with a composite filling last year, but we postponed it, since I was pregnant with Michael and we didn’t want to take chances with heavy metal poisoning from removing of the mercury filling. 

Unfortunately the visit didn’t turn out to be a few simple repairs.  After about 20 X-rays, trying to locate the cause of the pain, it turned out that I needed a root canal in the one tooth, which would clear some of the pain. After evaluating different options, it also included the extraction of my one and only wisdom tooth!  I don’t have much knowledge about dental procedures, but I realized that I’m in for some pain! 

The local anesthetic was applied and 10 minutes later the right side of my mouth was numb. During the next 2hours my dentist had to increase the anesthetics, my throat was totally numb and I could only pray that I will not die in the dentist chair, due to inability to breathe!  

I was so relieved when he announced that he was finished and I could rinse my mouth and I was still alive! Little did I realize that the worse was still to come!  My friendly dentist, very concerned, asked me if we had any pain tablets at home and then wrote me a prescription for one.  We don’t have any chemical pain tablets at home, only natural remedies like Injura and Traumeel S drops and ointment (which works wonders for painful gums) and White Willow tablets (for any kind of pain).  I couldn’t see myself make use of the prescription, but didn’t want to argue with a numb mouth.

Our dentist is at the opposite of the mountain, in Camps bay, and after the hour long drive home, I was exhausted. The feeling was returning to my mouth, and I could feel a serious pain making its way into my skull!  I decided to go for a nap with little Michael, hoping to wake up after an hour, feeling much better and ready to start preparing dinner.  Wishful thinking!  An hour later I woke up with a pain I’ve never experienced before!  I could hardly breathe or talk due to the pain in my mouth, which made its way up into my skull. I tried to lay still, cover my mouth and be a big girl, but it was impossible.  

Blinded with pain, I got up, carefully, not to wake little Michael, who was fast asleep next to me and got to another room.  I needed help and I needed pain tablets, something I haven’t used in the last 15years!  I Skyped Christo.  I was covering my mouth and could only nod my head, not able to say a word. He promised me he would get the pain tablets and bring them as soon as possible.

It was now 15h20 and I, after trying a hot water bottle and ice cubes, decided the ice cubes maybe bring some relief, but not nearly enough for this unbearable pain!  Hour after hour I was waiting for Christo.  Convincing myself he is on his way with the pain tablets and I most probably only needed to wait another 10 minutes.  By 17h30 I was discouraged and sorry for myself.  How busy could my husband be to not hasten home to his wife in pain?

By 18h00 he rushed into the house.  I could not hold back anymore, and tears was running down my face.  I’ve never experienced such intense pain in my life!  Christo started to explain how he was trying to get pain tablets which was safe for nursing mothers, but I didn’t mind if it was the tablets on the description or not, I only want the tablets NOW!  It was only then that he, with much compassion told me, actually there isn’t any safe tablets  for me to use!  What! Was I supposed to just bear this pain!?  Only then I saw him open a box and bring out a machine, about the size of an A4 book.

He pushed some buttons and put a probe on my collar bone, after two minutes he asked me where the pain was and started moving the probe over my jaw.  

All the time he was explaining to me how he, a friend - who was dependent of pain tablets and morphine for 8 years before he got healed from lupus, another friend - a Homeopath and the local pharmacist in Durbanville, researched the whole afternoon to find a pain tablet suitable for a nursing mother. All the pain tablets contained a mix of seriously toxic and potentially harmful chemicals and could cause serious kidney damage (amongst others) to little Michael.  The best they could find was (Schedule 5) tablets which would cause ‘hallucinations’ and they suggested I use it only if I could not sleep during the night!  But our Homeopath friend told Christo about this little machine he had, for the treatment of pain.  He was on his way home and would drop it off at the Health shop.

Christo was sceptic about the machine.  Apparently it sends out different colours of light, infrared ‘laser’ and magnetism. He treated me with 4 different frequencies over a period of 20 minutes and asked me how I felt.  To his great disappointment I didn’t feel any different.  I just remember telling myself I need to get a grip on myself, there is nothing we can do about this pain and I’m not planning to drink tablets that will cause me to hallucinate - I have a baby to take care of during the night!  Graciously, while thinking all this, I fell asleep.  

Half an hour later I woke up and realized the pain was gone!  Seriously, I had NO pain at all!  My family was busy having dinner (which CJ and Heidi-Mari prepared) and the only pain I was aware of, was in my tummy, because I last had breakfast and was very hungry! Christo cut the chicken and quince  in tiny pieces and together with rice and gravy, I ate my whole plate of food!

After dinner, Christo gave me another treatment with the RIKTA machine and by 20h30 I was helping Heidi-Mari making a card for her card making challenge. I didn’t have one moment of pain since I fell asleep before dinner!

As I was pondering the care of my husband, friends and pharmacist, I couldn’t but help to wonder what went wrong that we believe only chemical medicine can bring relief to pain and heal.  Hypocrites said: “First do no harm.”  The pain medicine that was prescribed to me would cause beyond others, organ damage to my baby and hallucinations. Do you have any un-natural medicine in your house, that has NO side-effects? What went wrong that doctors don’t even care anymore that the medicine they prescribe can cause serious side-effects? What went wrong that we, the public, so trust the medical professionals that we blindly use the stuff they prescribe without even investigating the side effects? Where is, “First do no harm?”

I’m just thinking about anti-depression- and hormonal medicine, that almost every woman, who walks into Christo’s health shop, takes!  In 90% of cases it is only a lack of Omega 3 in women’s bodies, that causes the imbalance in their hormones.  The side-effects of anti-depressants and hormone replacement is more than what you can ever risk your life on, but still we take them and trust our ‘caring doctor’ BLINDLY! 

I don’t even want to talk about the VERY poisonous chemotherapy stuff (prepared by “scientists” in white coats, wearing gas masks and cloves) they inject into cancer patients to ‘heal’ them. Don’t think I don’t know what I’m talking about! For weeks I sat next to my Lung-cancer-diagnosed-dad while they injected these poisonous ‘medicine’ into his veins! The medical personnel wore cloves the whole time while they were preparing the intravenous drips. Chemotherapy has a less than 2% efficacy over a period of 10 years.  Exactly 4 years after my dad was diagnosed with cancer I had to tell his grandson, he doesn’t have a grandpa anymore.  Since my dad had cancer, we learned mind blowing facts about cancer and alternative methods of treatment (with 80% healing success)! But, that’s “un-$cientific - read more about this in Christo’s latests blog posting - Homeopathy and the Christian.

Over the years there were amazing discoveries in the medical field on treatment of the human body, and as in my case, relieving pain, without harmful side-effects.  For almost every chronic medical condition there is a natural alternative, but most of the time, there is no or very little money involved.  For example, the cure for 90% of sinus related problems, is simply eliminating dairy and wheat from your diet.  This kind of treatment don’t bring in any money for pharmaceutical companies, and money is what the medical world is all about! (My Dad’s cancer treatment cost R 1 000 000 eight years ago!)

“First do no harm”.  Makes you think, doesn’t it?  Since my root canal, Christo got hold of the company who imports this little machine from Russia and we plan to get one for our family in the relieve of pains and injuries, and to help other people with it.

I want to leave you with a challenge: Go search for the pamphlet inserts of all the un-natural , chemical medicine in your house and count the cost of using the stuff. Then try to find a natural alternative that, ‘first does no harm’!

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!

Countdown and Another Birth Story

I am now 30 weeks pregnant! This is always a special milestone in my pregnancy. A time to celebrate! From now on it is downhill. I can still remember my first midwife drawing my attention to the countdown in single digit weeks. She told Christo to take me out on a date and celebrate it! She was such a special lady.

Since I'm in the countdown zone, I'm thinking a lot about the births of my children. Here I've shared a bit about Josua's birth. He was our 3rd baby, but first home birth with a midwife and what a blessed, God-honouring experience.

The birth of Danika, our 4th baby was an even more God-honouring experience, but not nearly as easy and relaxing. But let me start at the beginning.

After Josua we thought our family was complete. I desperately longed for a 3rd baby, but shortly after his birth our business went nearly bankrupt. We had to down scale radically and ended up living in a small 2 bedroom granny flat.

When Josua was 2years and 1month old, my dad died of cancer. It was a very traumatic time in my life. Because of the stress and pain of my huge loss, my hormonal cycle went out of rhythm, our natural family planning plan failed and I got pregnant!

It was traumatic! People crucified us! How could we be so irresponsible? We just started surviving our financial disaster, but still needed another year or two to get back on track again. Christo's health shop was two years old and showing the potential of reliable, consistent income, but he still had to work very hard, we still had to live on a very small income and we still needed lots and lots of prayer to pull us through financially.

I was devastated. There was nobody I could turn to for support. I felt like I've dropped my husband in our attempt to financial survival. With not one of my previous pregnancies did I ever suffer morning sickness or fatigue, but from 5 weeks I had severe pregnancy symptoms. This continued for 4 months. Then one day (in the middle of February) as I was lamenting our hopeless situation with Christo, he told me that he believed as soon as I made peace with this baby, my symptoms would stop - he was at peace with this baby since day one. He trusted the Lord for financial provision and he glorified the Lord for blessing us with another baby. I knew Christo was right. I made the decision to praise the Lord for this baby and stopped taking notice of people's negative comments. Children are a blessing, a reward from the Lord.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Ps 127:3

Almost immediately my health improved. With the knowledge I’ve gained since then to my current pregnancy (#8), I now realise the stress and bitterness lowered my body's pH and caused all the problems with my health. The moment I chose to live in praise and trust of the Lord, my pH improved.

A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Pr 17:22

A few days later I had a revelation from the Lord. The Lord revealed to me that He didn’t want His people to blend in, to be ‘balanced’ people. He wants us to be ‘off balance’ – we must stand out. If I’m seeking His will for my life and longed to walk in His ways, I will not blend in with the world and in most areas I will not even blend in with the average Christian.

Within 2 weeks (!) our financial situation improved. We didn't have a vehicle of our own up till then, a friend's dad gave us a vehicle to use for as long as needed, but we needed a seven passenger vehicle when baby was born. At the end of February a friend gave us a loan for two thirds of the money we needed to buy a seven passenger vehicle, interest free, and gave the remaining third as a love offering. We were also financially able to rent a 3 bedroom house.

It was during this triumphant time that I unfortunately started to experience a terrible fear for my life, when giving birth to this baby. I've never before experienced such fear and had no reason to fear, since the last birth was so relaxed. I had the same very experienced midwife. Still I had this certainty that I was going to die, while giving birth to this baby. After a few days I had to share the fear with Christo and we started to pray for God's hand of protection on our baby and myself.

Financially, the Lord blessed us abundantly during the next 5 months, without any extra work or effort from Christo's side. But I was experiencing complications in my pregnancy. Baby was laying breach and we needed to plan for a caesarean or at least a hospital birth, since our midwife wasn't sure if I would be able to give birth at home with baby laying breach. We prayed for weeks and had a prayer network over the whole globe. Then at 35 weeks, 3 days before my appointment with a gynaecologist, during which we would discuss a caesarean, baby turned into the right birth position! A miracle in itself, since I was already 35 weeks pregnant!

But only days over after this victory I all of a sudden, in the middle of the day got very strong contractions. I immediately contacted Christo and my midwife who both arrived within an hour. I was in early labour, 3cm dilated and progressing. Being only 36 weeks pregnant, she suggested we get an ambulance to wait out in front of our home to take us to hospital as soon as baby was born. She didn't want to transport me during that stage.

In the meantime Christo got hold of a homeopathic remedy that apparently could stop contractions - Spascupreel. He gave me one tablet every 10 min and within an hour my contractions stopped! For the next 3 weeks I took it almost every day and finished 2 bottles! By now I knew there was a serious battle raging over the birth of this baby and we intensified our prayers!

At 39 weeks my water broke around 9 o'clock the Friday morning, but all of a sudden there were NO contractions. My midwife visited me at 18h00 and suggested I take castor oil, lemonade and ice cream (for the taste!) in order to try speed up the contractions. I didn't know it then, but once your water had broken you have to give birth within 24 hours, less you may get infection - endangering the babies' life. By 23h00 I still had only mild contractions about 30 seconds long, 10 minutes apart and serious discomfort of diarrhoea due to the castor oil. By 4 o' clock the next morning the contractions had become stronger with shorter intervals, but still not strong and long enough to put me in full labour.

I was so caught up in labour and didn't notice the stress of my midwife. By 8'O clock she broke the news. I'm not progressing and we need to get to a hospital for a caesarean. She made the necessary calls and by 9 O'clock we were on our way to Mowbray hospital with the gynaecologist and theatre waiting for us. I remember my exhaustion after being in labour for hours already, the pain of the contractions now 2 minutes apart, but I was at total peace with the rest of the situation.

As we got into our Kombi, she suggested that I go down on all fours on the middle seat, with her kneeling in front of me, supporting me with her body during the trip. She was afraid I would give birth on the highway and standing on all fours would slow down the labour. I remember holding both her hands while taking the 30 minute trip to the hospital, counting the contractions (there were exactly ten) and her urging Christo to stay within the speed limits.

As we stopped at the hospital (a state hospital - in SA not in a very good condition) they brought, what was in my opinion, one of the oldest wheelchairs to fetch me. As I sat down in the wheel chair, it felt like I fell right through, but experiencing another contraction, I didn't even complain. Within minutes I was laying on a bed, ready to be pushed into theatre. It was during that few minutes that my body went into a stress and I immediately recognised it as the same reaction I had with Josua minutes before he was born. Christo and my midwife recognised it too, and gave me Rescue drops. At the same time I also felt the distinct urge to push! I told my midwife (it was still only the three of us in the room) and she immediately examined me, only to discover that I was fully dilated and ready to give birth! Baby’s head was ready to crown!

The next few minutes was like a scene from ER24. The midwife making calls to the active birth unit (at the opposite side of the hospital) informing them, she was on her way with a mother who needed to give birth immediately, while grabbing her bag with stuff, Christo getting me back in the wheel chair, grabbing the baby’s bag. The midwife was pushing the wheelchair, while calmly giving Christo instructions to pull the chair in front, to prevent me from falling out of the chair, due to the speed they are running with me and giving directions to the birth unit. I just had to breathe in and out, listen to my midwife’s voice: "don't push", while experiencing another one or two contractions!

Within minutes they rushed me into the most beautiful room (I remember it so clearly, because the rest of the hospital was in a terrible condition) and put me on a large queen sized bed. Our midwife was in and out of the room, fetching monitors, oxygen and everything else baby or I may need during and after the birth. Only 5minutes after arriving in the room with the soft pink walls and pastel colour curtains she informed me she is ready if I'm ready. There was a huge birth pool in the corner, but no time to fill it.

I just squatted next to the bed, Christo supporting me from behind and I gave birth to the most beautiful little girl! It was 10h05, only 15 minutes after arriving at the hospital!

After giving baby Danika some oxygen, our midwife filled the birth pool and we had a relaxed bath.

Christo had the privilege to dress her the first time, but halfway had to ask the midwife’s help, while I was still recovering in the soothing water of the birth pool.

Four hours later, still in the Active Birth Unit of Mowbray Hospital, the children could meet their little sister. We were dismissed half an hour later and could go home.








Our midwife with Josua and Danika, our two babies she caught. A year after Danika’s birth she quit the midwife profession and left South Africa. A huge lost to us.

Afterwards our midwife, confessed that Danika’s natural birth was a miracle. The reason that I couldn't fully dilate at home was because baby went into the birth canal with a flexed head, preventing strong enough gravitation pull to fully open the birth canal. I would not have been able to give normal birth to a baby in that position! The trip to the hospital, with me standing on all fours, caused baby to move back, out of the birth canal (a total miracle, since it is unheard of). As I got into the wheelchair, almost 'falling' right through due to its bad condition, baby moved into the birth canal at the right angle and from there I just needed to push!

I can still imagine God sending His angel to make sure the oldest wheelchair, would be the closest wheelchair available for me!

God is so good and He answers prayer! The only thing we need to do is to ask Him in faith!

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart
Ps 37:4

Swine Flu - Mother do you panic?

My husband wrote this article on the Swine Flu. Go read it, get all the facts, be prepared and don't panic like the rest of the world.

Another First Price for CJ!

On Tuesday the 16th of June, CJ took part in his third Cross Country Horse Riding Event in Stellenbosch. Here I wrote about his second Cross Country Horse Riding Event in which he achieved his first, First Place. This time he won again, but not without a spiritual battle!

On the Monday night before the event, CJ and Christo were trying to practically find the answer to the 9th Science Question of the Week Competition. In this question they needed to work out the minimum force a painter will need, to pull himself, with a single pulley and rope, to the top of a building. They constructed a system with a pulley, rope, piece of wood to sit on and a scale. First they tried it with Josua since he was smaller, but they couldn’t get an accurate answer. Then they put CJ on the piece of wood. First mistake: CJ wore socks. Since his legs were too long when he sat and the garage roof not high enough, he had to stand on the piece of wood. Everything went well, they even got a hint of the answer, BUT, then he slipped on the piece of wood and landed on his back. He would have been OK, if he didn’t let go of the other end of the rope (the second mistake). After he hit the floor (letting go of the other end of the rope) the piece of wood swung back and hit him on his head, where he was still trying to get up from his unfortunate landing!

Heidi-Mari and I were busy with the final touches of supper, Daniel was playing at our feet and Josua and Danika were bathing David and Andrew. The garage is next to the kitchen and we just heard the noise as CJ fell. I was uncomfortable with the ‘experiment’ from the start and, ran to see what happened. I was just in time to see the piece of wood hitting him on the head! CJ was groaning and his hand was covering his head and blood ran through his fingers, down his fore head. I was in total shock and could not think straight. Christo had trained the children extremely well in how to handle an emergency situation. Within seconds Heidi-Mari was next to Christo and CJ with the first aid kit.

It was only then that I realized they needed my help and I pulled myself together. Heidi-Mari started giving CJ Rescue and Injura drops and we slowly moved him to the bathroom. We had to stop the blood running out of the 2cm long cut just inside his hair line. It was a clear cut and with some maizena powder, Wercesin Grace & Weeping wound powder and Silvermax we managed to stop the blood quickly. But then it seemed like CJ had concussion of the brain. He was nauseas and complained of terrible stomach ache. We gave him some sugar water (we now have glucose syrup for shock) and let him lay down on our bed. Christo also put some Traumeel S ointment on the wound.

At this stage I was convinced he would not be able to compete at the Cross Country Event and told them so. Christo started to check his pupils and told me he was fine, but I was not convinced…

Very early in our parenting years, the Lord taught me a lot on submission to my husband, through The Biblical Portrait of a Marriage. Submission was especially hard for me when it was concerning one of my children, but I learnt to trust the Lord. This was one of those moments. I knew I had to trust the Lord with my Son.

By bedtime I could see CJ was exhausted and it was definitely a serious injury and I was still not convinced that he was fine and able to take part in the Cross Country Event. On top of it, it rained the whole night. I was awake a few times during the night for baby Daniel, and every time I could hear rain coming down in buckets. Not just a nice drizzle.

Sometime during the night I started crying out to the Lord! Lord, my son needs your protective Hand when he got onto Silverball. I was not sure that he was fine from the head injury and the course was going to be very, very wet and slippery. Please Lord stop the rain and keep my child save, was my prayer. At some point I got peace and could sleep for a few hours.

When morning come, CJ needed to be at Camelot at 06:00, it was still raining and Christo declared CJ fit to go. Since it was still raining and very cold, only Josua went with Dad to support CJ and they left at 08h00. I was still a little worried, but I knew I could trust my Heavenly Father.

The rest of the morning I kept myself busy with cleaning the house, taking care of the little ones and praying all the time. By 9h00 the rain stopped and within 30minutes there was a clear, blue sky and a warming sun. In my spirit I experienced an expectation and I just knew the Lord was about to do something big.

Needless to say I was overjoyed when the SMS came through at 12h00 with the message, CJ got 1st Place!











For the rest of the day I was pondering on the greatness of the Lord, praising Him for His faithfulness and also wondering how different the day could have been if I didn’t cry out to the Lord in the early hours of the morning, to protect my son and change the weather. I once read, The prayer of a Mother for her Child is powerful!

This also reminded me of Nancy Campbell’s teaching Gate-Keepers of the Home. Mothers are Prayer Worriers. The enemy is always looking out for ways to rob, kill and destroy in our homes and our lives. We as mothers need to guard our homes and the lives of our husband and children. We are in a war and dear mother, never turn away from the battle, except victorious!

I would like to share with you a part of Nancy’s teaching, from Gate-Keeper of the Home:

Proverbs 8:34, "Blessed is the man (or woman) who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors."

I have always loved unique gates and doors. When visiting Israel on a number of occasions I was captivated by its gates. I have pictures of all the gates of Jerusalem in my photo album.

In Bible times the gates of the city were more than an entrance way. They were the busiest place in the city. They were a hub of activity. It was here that the elders sat to rule and direct the affairs of the city. It was here the judges and officers judged the daily matters of the people. It was at the gates the soldiers stood sentinel to guard and protect the city. It was here the people gathered to hear the prophets proclaim the Word of the Lord. Just inside the gates the markets flourished.

But where were the women? They were not in the city gates. They stood sentinel at the gates of their home, watching and guarding against any intrusion of the enemy. They used their God-given authority as mothers to direct the affairs of their home. The men were the city gate-keepers but the women were the home gate-keepers. This is still God's principle for us today. As mothers, we are to be gate-builders, gate-guarders, gate-protectors and gate-repairers.

In the book of Nehemiah it tells us how Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem was in ruins - the walls were broken down and the gates were burned with fire. He was devastated. He prayed and fasted and God opened up the way for him to go back to his city and help rebuild the walls and gates. In Nehemiah chapter three it mentions all the gates that they repaired. There are only eight gates in the walls of the old city of Jerusalem today but in Nehemiah's day there were twelve gates, just as there are twelve gates in the heavenly Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:10-13, 21)

As we look at these gates in Nehemiah chapter three, we will relate them to our home. Will you check with me to see if these gates are in good repair? Or could they do with a little repairing?

Nehemiah 4:14, "Do not be afraid of them, Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."

The eighth gate, was the:

THE HORSE GATE (Nehemiah 3:28)

The horse gate was the gate through which the soldiers marched out to battle and returned from battle. In the Word of God the horse always speaks of war and battle. Read the magnificent picture of the battle horse in Job 39:19-25. It is imperative that we keep our horse gate continually reinforced and repaired. We are in a war! We are in a battle against the enemy who seeks to creep into our homes with his subtle deceptions and evil connivings. He is the one who comes to "rob, kill and destroy" and his greatest joy is to destroy our marriage and family life. We cannot sit down. We must stand up and guard our homes.

John's revelation of the heavenly city reveals that the twelve gates of the heavenly city are "guarded by twelve angels." (Revelation 21:10-13,21) Wow, if each gate of our heavenly home is guarded, surely we need to guard the gates of our earthly home.

There are two aspects to motherhood. Firstly, motherhood is tender, caring, loving, comforting and nurturing. As we pour out these beautiful virtues to our family, we reveal the picture of God's maternal heart which He has divinely placed within us. There is nothing more beautiful to behold than a mother tenderly nurturing her children.

However, there is another side to motherhood. It is the war-like, watch-dog, lion-like, horse-prancing spirit that roars at any enemy that would come to devour her marriage or her children! This woman is ready to fight. And she will fight hard to protect her family. She will not give up until the enemy is demolished. When God told the Israelites to fight their enemies, He told them to "drive out. destroy. dispossess. and desolate." (Numbers 33:52-53) We should have this same vocabulary.

Balaam prophesied God's purpose for His people, the Israelites. "These people rise up like a lioness: like a majestic lion they stand. They refuse to rest until they have feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered." (Numbers 23:24 NLT) We, as a child of God, and especially as a mother, should have the same anointed attitude against any attack against our marriage or family. We should see the enemy as a foe to be defeated and utterly routed. God calls His people "My battle axe and weapons of war." (Jeremiah 51:20) We are sweet and gentle in our mothering, but a battle axe against the enemy.

God describes the bride in Song of Solomon 6:4 and10 as "terrible as an army with banners." Other translations use the words, "formidable, awesome, frightening, majestic, utterly captivating and awe-inspiring! My husband says, "Don't mess with this woman!" What an awe-inspiring sight to see an army of soldiers on horses, banners waving high in the air, marching home in victory. The people in the city wait to see this sight and how they cheer as the soldiers march through the horse gate in victory.

Are you standing sentinel at your horse gate? Are your banners waving high? Or is the enemy laughing in your face because he has grabbed them from you? Don't stay groveling in the dust. Come on, dear mother, get up again! You are the guardian of your home. Fight. Regain your banners. Hold high the banners of love, truth, righteousness, purity, faithfulness and commitment in your home. Banners are to wave high, not drag on the ground. Just as the men guard the city gates, God has placed you on duty at your home gate.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Lord, please help me to be sweet, tender and loving as I care for my family each day. But also help me to rise up and fight every evil force that attacks my home. Help me to roar like a lioness at my enemies, just as you roar at your enemies. Save me from lagging in the fight. Thank you that in the powerful, authoritative name of Jesus, I have power over all the power of the enemy. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am a banner holder and I will not let go my banners!

By Nancy Campbell

PS.
On Tuesday evening, CJ submitted his answer to the Science Question. He got the answer right and was one of only four teens in the world to get this one right!

OK, I supposed not every one is willing to pay the prize of a head wound to get the right answer!