Delightful Rock: Birth Story

8th October 2017

Our Delightful Rock is now ONE MONTH OLD, and it’s been such a fascinating journey ..full of many adjustments, and plenty of unique memories!

She is growing and changing on a daily basis, and is certainly adapting to the likes and the wonders of our crazy world: some clothes no longer fit her; she opens eyes more often, cries much louder than before, and has been through over 100 diapers.

I could list many more changes, BUT, I’m sure that you are waiting to hear the incredible story of her birth – so here we go:

(This is a scaled down version of the REALLY detailed version – so if you want that version, ask for the pdf!)

The week of her birth:

Sunday 3rd – We had a relaxing day and attended church, as usual. (I had mentioned to a few people that I couldn’t feel “Baby-J” moving as much, these days ..so) Since I wasn’t feeling much movement, I was encouraged to call the hospital! After doing that, they said that we should come in for a check up, so we ended up going to the hospital that evening. Everything went well and they were able to explain why I felt a decrease in her movement! (It turned out that the placenta was quite high, between me and the baby…so when we was kicking, it was the placenta, and I could feel much.)

Monday 4th – I spent most of the day resting and organising some baby things around the house. I also spent some time working on the upcoming Introduction Course, which was just 12 days away.

Tuesday 5th – After a “slow” morning, I went to my appointment with the midwife. (Everything was ok and she said that, since the baby’s head isn’t fixed…she thinks that the baby will probably come in another week or two. She booked another appointment for me and mentioned booking me in for an ultrasound on the 18th!!)

From there, I went to the Church office, where I worked some more on preparing for the Introduction Course. After that, I headed to a Women’s Gathering!

Wednesday 6th – This became my Laundry Day. Unfortunately, our washing machine had stopped working, so I had arranged to do laundry at the home of my Swedish family (who, thankfully, live quite close). So, between

11:00 and 19:00, I was going between the homes. When walking back and forth, I was lifting up the Lord’s name over the local area, and worshipping and thanking Him that I was still well and active enough to be able to move, carry and get the laundry done.

Thursday 7th – Béla was home from school, working on project, and I was pleased that he would have the next 4 days off! We stayed at home and I spent the day relaxing and working on the Introduction Course. My stomach had had moments of “hardening” all day ..which is some sort of contractions, but not the “painful” ones that I was expecting, so I continued working and getting things done!

However, later that day, my water broke. We called the hospital and went in, but after being checked…I was sent home.

Friday 8th – She was born, AT HOME, in the afternoon. Two ambulances came to take us to the hospital and we stayed there overnight!

Saturday 9th – The three of us spent this whole day in the hospital…gradually adjusting to our new normal =)

Sunday 10th – Once Naomi was 48 hours old, she was checked and we were cleared to leave the hospital. I hadn’t been given antibiotics when my water broke. Therefore, she was at a high risk of infection during those 22.5 hours – but Praise the Lord for His protection, and her good health. That night, we got home…and officially began life as a family of 3 + 1!

The Delivery Story

This will be quite a detailed tale, with a relatively accurate timeline and a bunch of notes that I’ve elaborated on:

17:10 – I randomly felt like I had a temperature, which was VERY unusual for me. Béla was kind enough to give me my usual fabulous back massage, and I intended to take a nap afterwards.

17:32 – My water broke!!! I called my mom to confirm.

17:45 – More water came …and then there were drips and gushes for the next few hours.

17:50 – I sat on the toilet and called the hospital…and was asked about the baby’s head, my due date, and about my contractions etc. They were relaxed and said that I should relax, take my time and come in later in the evening to check if the baby’s head is fixed.

18:00 – Béla and I decided to stay home for now. I wanted to send some emails (for the Introduction Course!), take a nice shower, eat our “last” dinner as a family of “2 + 1”, tidy up the house and relax 😉

20:05 – We headed to the hospital. I got checked and monitored – which showed that I was having contractions that were about 15/20 minutes apart. They confirmed that Baby-J’s head was low, down and fixed…her heart was fine, and we were sent home!! (Note: I wasn’t given any antibiotics, and they did not check how dilated I was!)

The nurse told us that the water would continue to leak, so I was DREADING the thought of leaking for another day or two No one ever told me that when you’re water breaks, you leak THIS MUCH. I was shocked that there was that much water in me!!!

21:45 – Once we got home, I was feeling super tired, but I wanted to send out some updates and prayer requests (to those whom I promised to update).

The contractions hadn’t been so painful for me…and I was wondering if/when I will actually feel that “REAL PAIN” that I had been hearing about.

23:20 – I finally slept!

00:05 – After less than 1 hours sleep, I was woken up by the first “painful” contraction! From then on, I began having contractions about every 13-15 minutes…and I was trying to sleep in between them. They were quite intense and painful, so I did have to REALLY breathe through them!

03:00ish – The contractions went up to every 7-10 minutes! I was feeling good though… lacking some energy, but I was comforted by the thoughts and the prayers of those whom I had updated

03:30 – I felt uncomfortable whilst laying down, so I changed positions by going to the bathroom every so often.

06:00 – The contractions remained every 7-10 minutes – so about 3/4 in 30 minutes! I was following the “Swedish Rules” and waiting for them to be 3 in 10 minutes (for 2 hours!) before calling the hospital.

06:27 – I moved to the bathroom to take a short walk and be able sit on the toilet again. I was there for about half an hour and had 4 more contractions. It was nice to change position and be upright! Whilst there, I was listening to two songs: Big Daddy Weave – Lion and the Lamb; and Voices of Lee – What A Beautiful Name. It was sweet and helpful to worship the Lord in the midst labour

07:05 – I was back to laying in bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it enabled me to “sleep”. At this point, the pain was actually INTENSE…but oddly bearable. The contractions lasted for about 90 seconds and they felt like a longer and more powerful version of period pains!!!

10:00 – FINALLY, the contractions were now 5-7 minutes apart! They became shorter in duration, but more frequent AND MORE PAINFUL!!!! The most painful contractions were the ones where I could feel her head/body moving down…it was crazy but SOO COOL.

10:10 – Oh wow, now they were like every 3/4 minutes….so like about 3 in 10 minutes. But, I had to wait and see if it continued like this for 2 hours – then I could call the hospital.

10:25 – I went to the toilet again …mainly to change position! But it seemed to also decrease the frequency of the contractions😕 Hmmm…I wondered if laying down might be better – or at least more helpful for speeding things up!

12:16 – It had consistently been 2/3 contractions every 10 minutes. So I called the hospital …but, surprisingly, they wanted me to stay home longer, until it was 3/4 in 10 minutes. FOUR?! That’s the first time I’d heard that – I thought I was aiming for 3! Anyway, the hospital gave me various helpful positions and movements to do in the meantime…so I was keen on trying some of those.

By now, I had definitely experienced that “REAL PAIN” that I’d been hearing about. Somehow it was bearable, and with the Lord’s strength, I was getting the through it! I was feeling really tired and would have LOVED to sleep for a few hours…but that’s unlikely when you get 3 doses of pain every 10 minutes 😕

14:00 – The contractions became more frequent, but also longer – so 4 in 10 minutes seemed almost impossible. I was confused about whether to call the hospital or not. So I choose to first change positions and movements by going to the sofa!

14:39 – I called the hospital to explain the problem with reaching 4 contractions in 10 minutes. It was really hard to talk to the lady because I was having contractions during the conversation. Anyway, this time I was told that, as long as I can feel the baby moving, I should come in when I feel like I need extra help or pain relief 😕 (I think that that is flawed and unrealistic advice …especially for people who have a high pain threshold!). I was also told that there are no beds and that they don’t even do water births – which was crazy because it was stated on my hospital notes and birthing plan that a water birth was my first choice, PLUS I was told that that was the only hospital in Stockholm that does WaterBirths!!!! That sparked some extreme sadness in me…I got so disappointed and devastated.

14:57 – The contractions continued, but with these new emotions, I approached things a little differently. I was sad and tired and ended up shouting through the contractions inside of breathing through them (totally NOT recommended!). I decided that I wanted to go to bed and just sleep (though that was relatively impossible considering the situation). My heart was hurt and I was very annoyed with the Swedish maternity care system.

15:41 – Béla called the hospital …and they said that if we come in an hour, we have a bed. He then called to arrange our transportation, and we FINALLY got into the mindset of starting to prepare to go to the hospital…

15:44 – HOWEVER, whilst he was on the phone, arranging our transportation, I JUMPED UP in the bed and started to feel like I needed to push. It was at that point that I felt like I should be close to the bathroom and the front door. So I asked him to help me go down the stairs.

15:50 – SHE WAS BORN – entering into life on the outside! First her head, then her shoulders, and then her body…all in the space of a few short minutes. WOW! As I lay on my side, I held her close to my thigh, and about 5-10 seconds into LIFE …we heard her first cry!!! Béla and I instantly looked at each other and felt a precious sense of RELIEF! It was official, “she had arrived“.

16:30 – During her first half an hour, two ambulances came. Béla cut the umbilical cord and I also delivered the placenta at home. We were eventually transported to the hospital and we stayed there for two nights!

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So there you go, that’s our story …I had an unplanned homebirth – which is very rare 😊 It was crazy and unexpected, but God’s Spirit was with us. His peace was so evident, and thankfully, Béla and I made a good team, lol!

Thank you so much for your thoughts, your prayers and your well wishes. Please keep us in your thoughts as we continue to adjust to our new normal ❤️

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The whole ordeal was definitely a traumatic, yet miraculous experience 😍 Labour was certainly painful, yet it was bearable and expected. Unfortunately, my biggest pain was absolutely the Swedish maternity care system. It’s in shambles!!!! There are a lot of problems, shortages and miscommunications in the system. I had such a bad experience.. and they still haven’t apologised and or even acknowledged their mistakes. Instead, they changed some of the documented times and information, to make it look like it wasn’t their fault. It’s not so comforting to live in a society that is not as patient/customer focused as what I am used to …but it’s immensely comforting to know that I have the grace and peace of the Lord on my side ❤

I’m intending on fileing a complaint and giving the hospital some feedback. Please pray for this process! Also pray for my heart, mind and body to continue to heal and recover well. I was so sore 😐 but that’s the beauty of childbearing..lol. However, I haven’t taken any medication, so I have really felt every single ache, pain, sting and contraction. It has been so COOL to see and feel how my body parts work and function so well together – a true reminder that God is such a perfect and purposeful Creator!

These were the thoughts of a Loyal Disciple... I hope that you were blessed -x-