We welcomed our third baby - an adorable little boy, Abel Matthew, at the end of March!
This is not my typical blog content, but it was such a wonderful birth experience - a beautiful testimony of our loving God and the way he wants birth to look - that I know it needs to be shared!
I also wanted to write out Abel's birth story so I don't forget any of it.
It was definitely the supernatural child birth I had been praying and believing for! I still smile every time I think back and remember how he was born. Supernatural truly is the only word to describe it.
Back before I had any babies, one of my best friends told me I needed to read the book "Supernatural Childbirth" by Jackie Mize. It completely changed the way I thought about birth and pregnancy.
Jackie has such a powerful testimony she shares.
If you are a follower of Jesus and plan to have children or continue to have children, I highly recommend this quick read. The idea is basically that you can have an easy, fear free pregnancy, labor, and delivery through what Jesus has done for us.
So, without further ado...
On March 31st I was 39+6 days (yes, baby was due on April Fools, and I was really hoping he wouldn't come then because I didn't want to deal with all the jokes!) I started cleaning up from dinner and having the usual braxton hicks contractions that typically came at that point in the day.
It basically felt just like braxton hicks but on my front and back side so I didn't think much of it.
But at 7:13 PM I made note of the time on the stove while I was loading the dishwasher. I thought I'd better just keep an eye on the time and mentioned to my husband that they felt slightly different.
By 7:36 I was still consistently having them, so I thought, "I'll go sit down and see if they go away. If they do, then it's just braxton hicks. If not, maybe we should call the midwives."
I went and sat on my son's bed and watched him and my daughter play. I mentioned to them they better start picking up the house just in case this was it!
I told them we were going to need a clean house to lovingly welcome the new baby to.
They proceeded to make a mess, while I sat and realized the contractions had in fact stopped.
Just as I was thinking there was nothing real going on I felt a little gush that made me jump a bit and let out an, "OHH!". My husband came to the bedroom door and I told him I either just peed myself or my water leaked a little bit. This was around 8:00 pm.
I waddled to the bathroom where I spent a good while trying to decide if it was just pee leaking or in fact amniotic fluid. (I have heard stories of the pee thing happening to women as a false alarm, and this baby sat soooo low that it wouldn't have surprised me if I did just pee myself a bit! hehe)
My husband just stood studying me in the bathroom doorway. There were no major signs of anything.
I did feel baby do one big flip type move (which I now know he was sealing the water bag off, because my water didn't leak or gush anymore after that - and it was in fact my water that made the small gush.)
At this point I was feeling a bit confused as to what exactly was happening. With the strange, almost nonexistent feeling with contractions plus the little gush I was getting nervous I didn't quite know exactly what was going on. So, I made a little joke with my husband. I looked down at my belly and said, "now don't you be difficult baby! You just shoot right down that waterslide!" He laughed a bit and then went back to the kitchen.
He went back to the computer to look things up and remind himself of what point he needed to call the midwives.
While I was alone in the bathroom I started praying for comfort, guidance, clarity and wisdom in the situation. I also started declaring - quietly but still out loud. I said, "I'm not sure if this is it, but if it is, then Satan and all of your demons you have to leave this house and property now in the name of Jesus. You are not welcome here. This baby will be coming fast and easy and pain free - in the mighty name of Jesus!"
[You see, I have always recognized the spiritual warfare that surrounds childbirth. Satan has a deep hatred for new life, as well as women. We are so clearly under attack in this area - especially in the US. The amount of fear that surrounds the idea of birth and motherhood is crazy and increasing with each generation. We also have the highest infant mortality rate AND maternal mortality rate of any developed nation. This just shouldn't be. The rate of birth by cesarean section and our miscarriage rate are through the roof and unfortunately still on the incline. Who's to blame for all this? The enemy is -
There is so much birth trauma, birth pain, fear, and decisions made based on fear happening all around, and it is ABSOLUTELY coming from the one who is out to steal, kill, and destroy. He's a coward that fights dirty, so he's not scared to target the most defenseless and innocent of humans - babies.
We know from the word of God, that having babies is in fact God's will. And living without fear is also his will.
I say this without a doubt, because I have experienced, twice now, what birth looks like completely dependent on God and his strength and completely free from all fear. It is absolutely incredible!
The fearful way the majority of babies are brought into this world is NOT God's design.
With every supernatural childbirth testimony, you will hear over and over again the mom saying,
"THIS is the way God wanted birth to be!"]
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7
So, I recognized that the enemy was naturally going to want to attack as labor started, and I told him off. Then I got up off the toilet and went and got my phone (about 8:15 pm) to text my mom and say hey, maybe you better come take the kids and dog for a sleepover "just in case".
She then called and said she was on her way and that she thought it would be a good idea to call the midwives, right away to keep them in the loop.
While my husband, Matt, called the midwives and let them know about the gush of water and the "wrap around braxton hicks", I got the kids' bag ready and during this time I started to have REAL contractions. However, they were only 10 to 12 seconds long! I would literally just pause what I was doing and count to 10 in my head. I was even talking through them for quite a while.
They were not painful at all - my body was just doing a lot of work...and I started to get excited!
My midwives both left their houses once hearing from my husband. Midwife Savi said she was in the car and driving 6 minutes after the call. She lives 1 hour from us.
Midwife Dana is about an hour away as well but on a different route. They both headed our way immediately! They knew, based off of my last birth, that things weren't going to take too long.
I headed back to the master bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face so I would be all set for bed once baby came. I also wanted to make sure I went to the bathroom, cause I didn't want to deal with that during birth. While I was brushing my teeth my mom got to the house. She came and gave me a hug in the bathroom - probably boosting my oxytocin levels! I had a strong (but short) contraction that made me feel a bit nauseous and almost break a sweat. I thought for a moment that maybe I should jump in the shower? But then never did. Looking back, I now know that this contraction was transition. Again, NO PAIN - thank you Jesus! Just my body doing a lot of work. I think that's why it's called labor. ;)
My mom got the kids and was heading out. I said goodbye to her and my daughter. Then I sat back down on the toilet to try to go more and yelled to my son, "wait, come give me a hug goodbye!"
He came around the corner with my mom and gave me a hug. I said, "Okay, you pray that the baby comes easy." and he said, "I will." Right after/during hugging him I let out a few lower "Huuuuh" sounds, and I remember seeing my mom furrow her brow a bit at me before gathering my son and heading down the hall and out the door with him, my daughter, and my dog.
(I later learned that the toilet is called "the dilation station" during labor! I guess your body just knows to relax there. haha!)
I went to the bathroom more and found myself not being able to sit. I stood up a bit and my body let out some deep roars (open mouth, open cervix y'all!). I reached down to see if I could feel baby's head at all but could not. At this point I could tell things were happening quickly, and I started to wonder where the heck my husband was. I then heard the toilet flush in the other bathroom behind me.
I wondered no longer and knew he had heard the roaring and knew it was go time.
He came around the corner, on the phone again, and I remember him saying, "Umm Savi, things are progressing pretty quickly now. She just had like a minute long contraction!"
In my head I thought, "Nope, that was not a contraction, that was baby coming down the birth canal!!" but I did not use the energy to tell him that. Instead I stood all the way up and said, "you wanna check for baby's head?" Because I was starting to feel that oh so familiar "ring of fire". The kind of burn-y feeling of the baby crowning. It's an exciting feeling for me, because I know I'm about to meet baby real soon! Matt walked forward and set his phone on the bathroom vanity. He squatted down in front of me, looked, and said in true Wisconsin fashion, "OPE! I see a head!"
I clearly remember hearing my midwife on speaker phone say, "You see a WHAT!?" She's a very calm lady, so just her ever-so-slightly raised tone of voice when she said "a what!?" made me laugh a bit."
She kept saying over the phone, "okay Olivia.... and you're walking to the bed. *Pause* Are you to the bed yet? You're getting yourself to the bed". My husband informed her I was not moving. I just kept shaking my head no. The thought of walking the 10 feet over to my bed (that was never made up for birthing) with the baby's head half way out of me just didn't sound appealing.
Plus I did not want to climb UP onto the bed, and on top of that I didn't want to ruin all of our nice bedding with blood and amniotic fluid! haha!
Since I was already in the zone I just held onto my husband's shoulders as I was standing.
(I remember reaching down and feeling a little head of hair at one point.)
I was using his shoulders for support since my legs were shaking quite a bit. I leaned into him and I started SMILING, almost giggling for a moment, as I pushed. What a gift it all was!
I very vividly remember starting to push out baby's head more with a huge grin on my face and saying, "Yes Jesus!"
When I think of Abel's birth, that's the moment I think of. The veil was thin.
Holy Spirit was so present, and I was just tickled that God was answering all of my prayers - down to even the secret one of it being just my husband and I there at the baby's birth so it could be a meaningful moment in our marriage. "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"! There was absolutely no fear in my mind about it being just the two of us. Matt did such a great job staying calm and working with me and God to get baby out into the world smoothly!
We jokingly have called him "the Midhusband".
In my mind, birth is just such a natural, normal thing that there is no reason to call 911 and treat it like an emergency situation. Plus there was no time for that!
I'm not exactly sure what was being said on speaker phone - I don't think much of anything, but my husband quietly asked if I wanted to get down on my hands and knees (since I wasn't budging about moving to the bed). And I shook my head yes. I was happy he must have remembered me ranting about how wonderful of a birthing position that was. It opens the hips right up!
I got down on the bathroom floor and started trying to remember how to push. I gave a little practice push and thought yep, that's it! I pushed again and could feel his head come all the way out. Woohoo!
Now, I wasn't paying attention to what was being said between my husband and my midwife, but she had told him to check for the cord around the neck. Of course, a midwife would probably announce that that is what she's doing, but my husband just stuck his fingers right up there and it made me jump. I yelled, "gaaaa! what are you doing!?" He explained, and I was relieved because for a moment I had thought he was trying to push the baby back in a bit! haha!
I heard him tell the midwife the cord was not around the neck, so I gave another push and out came all of baby! My husband was not fully ready for that or for how slippery baby was! Honestly, I thought I had a couple more pushes yet. I forgot once the head is out the rest is easy peasy pushing.
My husband started rubbing up baby's back to get a cry. I remember glancing up at the digital clock by the bathroom mirror and seeing 9:07 PM. I heard baby start to cry and my husband say, "Aww, hey buddy!" To which I sassily said, "IS. IT. A. BOY?????" Because we never found out the gender and it felt like a flippin' eternity waiting for him to announce it. He was mostly focused on getting baby to cry I know, but STILL. He kinda left me hanging for a moment. When he said "buddy" I knew though.
My husband excitedly told me that yes it was a boy, and I was like, "well, can I see him now?"
I was trying my best to stay patient while things were getting situated but wanting so badly to see my new baby!
My husband handed him though my legs and I sat up holding him, while my husband laid towels down on the bathroom floor. Still grinning from ear to ear and in absolute awe of what God had just done. My exact prayer had been answered! It was, "Lord would you please do it again? Would you please bless me with another beautiful supernatural childbirth that's fear free, pain free, fast, and easy, in the name of Jesus? Amen."
I prayed that often in the third trimester, and I was just giddy that he answered ALL of that!
I felt so loved in that moment. I just laid on the tiny bathroom floor for probably 20 minutes or so holding my new little love and praising God.
My husband was cleaning up a bit. I remember him grabbing a washcloth and wiping up my legs with warm water. He was still on speaker phone with the midwife. Our call had never been dropped despite her driving through a major dead zone for a while.
Matt got the bed ready, helped me up while I was holding Abel, and we slowly walked to the bed and snuggled in. Baby Abel was content to be nursing away, and Matt delivered the placenta as Savi talked him through what to do.
We just hung out in our cozy bed and took some pictures - our house felt so peaceful! It was beautiful. We facetimed my mom who was in bed with big brother and sister. She squealed when she saw there was a baby already! He was born before she even had made it back to her house with the kids.
Midwife Savi showed up soon after and was amazed. She told us she had missed a few fast births before, but never by this much time. Midwife Dana showed up shortly after that and they check on baby while we went over the whole birth story again. Everyone was in awe!
One hour of active labor, with about one hour of mild braxton hicks type contractions before that.
100% fear free, pain free, and definitely ohhh so easy.
What a good and powerful God!
That kind of labor and delivery is ONLY possible in and through Him.
About 20 to 30 minutes after birth
We as women were created with strong and capable bodies, perfectly designed to grow and birth tiny humans. But, I truly believe the design of birth is to be fully dependent on God our father.
Being strong in the Lord and the power of HIS might (Ephesians 6:10).
Being completely surrendered and not trying to do it in our own strength!
When I first read Jackie's book on supernatural childbirth, back before I had even conceived a baby, I remember thinking, "Is this lady crazy, or is there actually something to this!?" My idea of childbirth was so warped by the world, I was sure it had to be awful. But what really got me believing, was the testimonies at the end of the book! Realizing that there were other God fearing women out there that had experienced what she was writing about... that had me believing it must be true!
"They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11)
And now with social media, I was able to read testimony after testimony of pain free, supernatural childbirth. It truly is so beautiful to read and see more and more sisters in Christ realize the lie we've been told and discover the truth of the word of God that's applicable in this area of life.
Standing in faith and resisting the schemes of the devil!
Being a follower of Christ in this world is a lot harder for us in many ways,
but childbirth doesn't have to be one of them!
I'm so thankful for the addition of my sweet little Abel Matthew boy. He is absolutely the chill baby we prayed for. We prayed he would be a peacemaker and a peacekeeper in our home and family, and he already seems to be that. Such an incredible gift from the Lord!
I look at him and thank God over and over for his goodness and the love and beauty and grace he showed in how Able entered the world. All glory goes to Him!
What a mighty God I serve!
This stunning painting was done by my sister!
A beautiful gift to baby Abel from his loving Aunt Maddie.
Thanks for reading! I hope you found this testimony to be an encouraging proof of God's love, power, and goodness!
Blessings,
Olivia
