Everytime we are blessed with a pregnancy, I learn many things. Some pleasant, some not. Some practical, others spiritual. But all ultimately to bring me to a closer relationship to God.

These are what I learnt this time round :

1. God is in control. No matter how much we fight it, it is God who's in control. He was the one who opens the womb and He is the one who calls forth the baby to be born. His timing is perfect - always!

2. Our God wants us to have a relationship with Him. He therefore does not work according to a method. He is not the proverbial santa clause in the sky!

3. Each birth is different. No matter how many times one births a baby, it is always a different experience. The only certain thing is that God is there for you if you would let Him. Remember, The Lord is my Helper. I will not fear. Hebrews 13:5

4. No matter how prepared you are, you are never prepared enough!

5. Our bodies are made to birth babies. It is God's perfect design if we would allow God to be God. Many times, we defer to Man's wisdom and Man's ways and short change ourselves from experiencing God's Hand on our lives. This birth is proof that we do not need a doctor to birth a baby!

I am not doctor bashing. I have a lovely doctor and I have learnt alot from him and even from my other doctors. But the point is - in the end, who do we put our trust in? God or Man?

6. We need to be responsible for the health of our bodies - taking care of it by eating and drinking properly. This includes post partum as well. Since He is in control, when we have our next baby is in His Hands. But we have a responsibility to look after our bodies properly - all the time. If we eat junk food and stay unhealthily overweight and say that it is the close gap between the babies that is causing our health problems, we are in effect, blaming God for the state of our bodies.

7. Red Raspberry Leave (RRL) Tea is God's gift to women! It tones and strengthens the uterus. This in turn facilitates a more efficient labour and less post partum bleeding.

A personal story - I drank a lot of RRL mixed with Nettle leaves with pregnancy #4. My afterbirth contractions were very mild and bleeding was also minimal. With pregnancy #5, I decided that I didn't need to drink that much RRL tea . I bled much more and the afterbirth contractions were very uncomfortable.

For pregnancy #6, I decided not to stinge and drank RRL and Nettle tea consistently from the 3rd trimester onwards. I continued to drink it after birth. The bleeding post partum was noticeably less than after #4! This goes against common medical belief that the more babies you have, the more you bleed post partum and the more painful the afterbirth contractions.

However, on the day I returned home fom the hospital. I didn't have time to boil and drink the tea throughout the day. That day, bleeding and afterbirth contractions increased! Say OUCH! When I went back to drinking it the whole day the next day, the bleeding and contractions decreased again.

Moral of the story? Drink your RRL tea!!!

Amount to drink - The rule of thumb is 1 cup per day in the 1st trimester, 2 cups per day in the 2nd trimester and 3 cups per day in the 3rd trimester. Usually, it is 1 tsp of leaves to 1 cup of tea. BUT for those who had miscarriages before, it is highly recommended that you do NOT drink it till the last trimester.

For me, as this was my 6th birth, I increased my dosage a lot more. I poured 1 litre of boiling water onto 1/2 cup of leaves and drank it diluted with cold water throughout the day.

Don't just take my word for it. Do your own research! I am not a herbalist. But I know it has helped me.

8. It is ALL God and none of me. I can do this only because of what Jesus did for me (and you!) at the cross of Calvary. He took the sins of the world upon Himself that we may live in victory and not under the curse. I can do this not because it is my 6th birth. I can do this only because He is my Saviour.

Ask me to do it on my own and I will say "no". I am a chicken when it comes to pain. (The jab after birth to help the uterus contract was so painful!!! ) But I stand as a testimony to the power of the cross that there was NO pain - save the pain on my tailbone from birthing in that awkward position!

Truly that can only happen because it is ALL of God and none of me.

May you be blessed as I have been truly blessed!

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Other Birth Stories are found here.

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

Posted by Shereen

Hi Serene,
Congratulations on Baby no. 6. I attended the talk Experiencing God through Pregnancy that you and Henson conducted at the end of last year at Wesley. I'm about to deliver and was wondering where you get the raspberry and nettle leaves from.
My email address is ondineng@gmail.com

Posted by Anonymous

Would like to know what is the reason for delaying clamping or cutting the umbilical cord? We've decided to donate baby's cord blood to Singapore Cord Blood bank & wondering what is the impact on collection & delaying cutting the cord?

My baby is due in 2-3 weeks time, and have been very encouraged with your sharings.

Blessings,
Mae (mtan@ppg.com)

Posted by MamaLim

I do not have the stats with me. But I have read and heard from friends who are trained birth educators that it allows the full amount of blood to go to the bb when you delay cord clamping, This allows bb to get the full amount of iron This is especially helpful for premature babies. Google "delayed cord clamping" and you will get many websites to read off.

Drs tend to say that too much blood to baby increases jaundice but I will have to say that personally, our one baby that had the highest level of jaundice was the one who had his cord clamped EARLY!

Hth!

Posted by Anonymous

Hi. Thanks for posting about the RRL. Really hope to try it out (as I'm really keen on a natural delivery) but can't seem to find anywhere that sells the leaves instead of pills version. Could you email me at claudia2101@yahoo.com or perhaps make a posting to share where we can get it? That would really be helpful. Thanks. =)