Yes, she's here finally! But woah! What a way to enter the world! This birth story 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 on 7th June 2007 (6 days past EDD), weighs 3.34kg and is 50cm long.

4pm - If you had been reading Diary of Labour #6, you'd have known the number of false alarms I've had. So when contractions started at 4pm, Thursday afternoon (7th Jun), 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 & told him to eat his dinner & prepare to come over. I finished up dinner & went upstairs to pack all the last minute stuff - toothbrushes, comb...& showered. The contractions got closer & stronger. 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 & put them to bed earlier. I lay down at the couch 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 til I am 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 & 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 & 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 to tell dh to 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 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).

Throughout the car ride, I felt the urge to push several times and then suddenly, pop! "My bag has burst! Pass me the towel!" Thankfully the towel was packed right on top. Dh could continue to drive with one hand and tossed the towel to me with the other. Lol! 

At that moment, 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?!

The silly male nurse then told dh to go & 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 still tried to continue to wheel me into the delivery suite. One of the more alert nurses must have decided that I was telling the truth coz she quickly directed the wheelchair into the nearest examination room of the 24hr clinic 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 dr 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.

The dr 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 & 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 & 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!

I was then wheeled to the Delivery Suite. I looked back & saw the mess I left behind.  We then had to wait for more than an hour for the stand-in dr to check me! My own dr was on holiday in Bali! Meanwhile baby was nursing happily and helping my uterus to contract. When the dr finally came, he helped to birth the placenta and checked my perinium. He then pronounced that I did not have any tears!!! There would be no need for any stitches! That was miraculous to me considering the awkward position I had birthed in & 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 Wednesday, 6th June, dh & I got together to pray that :

1. Baby will be born by 7th June (Thursday)
2. Labour will be quick
3. No tearing, no episiotomy
4. Little disruption to household routine 

Many people had asked if they should pray for baby to come only when my dr is in town & 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!

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Other Birth Stories are found here.

Visit www.BuildingUpMoms.com for encouragement for the Christian SAHM.

Posted by Anonymous

Congrats Serene!

Can really feel your joy in welcoming the little one. You are awesome! So take care and have plenty of rest.

Posted by Anonymous

What a neat answer to so many prayers! At least this will help set this birth apart from all the rest :)! I loved the family picture too!

Angie

Posted by Anonymous

congratulations Serene!
A great birth story, too :)
With love from Simone in Australia

Posted by Anonymous

Congrats Serene!
Your story is very inspiring, enjoy your new baby and continue to share your blessing with us!

Posted by Chiang Ming Yu

What a wonderful story, Serene! Thank you for sharing! My wife and I are expecting our third child and we are so blessed by your testimony to God's goodness. Please tell us which hospital you went to - we do NOT want to go there!

Posted by MamaLim

To be fair, Mt A is a great hospital. I think the nurses at any other hospital would have reacted the same way! I would go back there anytime and rec anyone to go there!And I am not getting paid for this btw! :)

This may be a long short but are you Chiang Ming Yu from NJC????

Posted by MiikoGibson

Wow, what a cool story! Thanks for sharing. I don't live in S'pore now but I was from there. I even taught there (RI) for 10 years, LOL. Good to know there is a growing number of homeschoolers there now. I joined the Singaporehs yahoo group recently just to get the feel of things there. I have not been back in 7 years, but Lord willing we might visit family and friends next year. Would love to meet homeschoolers there then. Have a blessed day. Miiko

Posted by Anonymous

Wow! So awesome birth it was! When we stand in the confidence of the Lord, we have no fear! What a blessing you've shared.

Connie

Posted by Chiang Ming Yu

In answer to your question, Serene: yes, I am he (unless there is another Chiang Ming Yu who also went to NJC!). What a small place Singapore is. My wife Lilian says that you've actually met her at Catherine Soon's place and you said to her "Nice meeting you, Lilian. I wish to hear good news from you soon!" And so now, in a way, you have heard good news from Lilian (unless you had actually been talking to Catherine and meant "I wish to hear good news from you, Soon"!)

Posted by MamaLim

Hey! Small world indeed! Did you know who I was when you read the blog?! Anyhow, I will email Cat and ask her for your emails then. Otherwise, I can be reached at buildingupmoms@gmail.com. Let's catch up!!!

Posted by Anonymous

Praise God for the amazing arrival of DHL!

Your stories are an inspiration to us as we prayerfully anticipate a supernatural birth of our first child in about 3 weeks’ time. We will pray and “wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14) on the perfect time He has for us to leave for the hospital too!

Take good care. Recover well and soon.

TJ & Bellis
AMKMC