Let me start at the beginning…
11 days ago, I came down with the flu. Which I do not recommend having when 38 weeks pregnant! In the midst of all my coughing and nose blowing, I had a couple of hours where I didn’t feel my baby moving. So, I went in to the hospital to make sure everything was alright. Of course, as soon as they got us on the monitor, she moved quite and bit and we knew she was alright, but her heart rate was very high. By this time I had a fever and was feeling quite sick. So I stayed for 2 nights at the hospital, monitoring baby and resting to get over the fever and flu. It was so hard to not be at home, but I’m so thankful they could keep monitoring baby and make sure she was stable while I was so sick. In any other situation, I would not test for the flu, I’d just treat the symptoms. But since I was at the hospital, I did test positive for flu.
We went home on Monday and my mom arrived Wednesday morning from the US. She was due to arrive anyway to be here for the birth and postpartum time. Thursday we had a good day at home, I was feeling stronger and it was nice to be with my mom. The same on Friday, with a trip to the library around the corner.
Then on Friday night, I woke up at 1:30AM to a minute-long contraction! I timed them until 2AM and they kept coming every 5 minutes, so it was time to wake up my husband and mom and call the midwife. I labored in a warm bathtub for the next couple of hours, just chatting with my mom in between contractions (they were still coming every 5 minutes and lasting for a minute). Then I moved to the edge of the bed and the midwife arrived.
The midwife took my blood pressure and it was high. So we began discussing transferring to the hospital or the birth center for the extra support that would bring. Then she stepped in the next room to call ahead. It was almost 6AM at this point and I had more contractions on the bed while she called. When she came back we also tested urine and it had protein, so we decided transferring to the hospital was best and started getting dressed and packing up to go.
Then I had the biggest contraction yet and said out loud, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” Exactly what I had said before delivering my son. My mom and the midwife both knew then that the baby was coming at home and there wasn’t time to transfer. The midwife hadn’t had time to call the second midwife to come, so she called for an ambulance as soon as we could tell I was having the baby at home. They arrived while I was pushing and were so helpful! I laid on the bed and she was out within the next couple of contractions, by 6:45AM.
I had a few special minutes of holding her and showing the family. Then we cut the cord. But I felt horrible, I didn’t have more contractions, just lots of stomach pain. The midwife checked my blood pressure again and it had skyrocketed… All I saw was that the top number was 170… “I could have a stroke!” was all I thought. So the midwife said, “We need to go to the hospital now.” And that’s what we did. Thankfully, the ambulance was just outside cause the paramedics were already there helping. Somehow I got a bathrobe on and walked downstairs and into the ambulance… Must’ve been my adrenaline working for me!
The ambulance ride was the worst part. I was in so much pain and knew that my blood pressure was high. My midwife reassured me that it would just take 10 minutes to get there and then I would get medicine to be alright. But those 10 minutes were long! All I could do was recite Psalm 23 over and over. But we did arrive and then I was whisked inside and given medicine and lots of needed attention, so thankful!
My placenta had not come out and then when it did, it didn’t come out fully. So even though my blood pressure stabilized with medicine they did have to remove the rest of the placenta which brought out a huge blood clot behind it as well. I lost almost 2 liters of blood throughout the whole ordeal. I stayed overnight at the hospital, but have since come home and been recovering here with the baby. Who, by the way, had her own ride in a second ambulance behind mine with my mom! She was even held by my mom right next to me the whole time I was being taken care of, what a blessing!
Because I was in the hospital the week before and tested positive for the flu, I was kept in my own room instead of on the ward which is 6 to a room and curtains in between. This also meant that for the overnight stay, my mom could be there with me, that made everything MUCH easier!
One of the books I read in 2025 was The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel. In the final chapters, he encourages us to recount God’s providences as we see them in our lives. And I can’t help but recount some of the providences in this birth story: My mom arriving in time for it, the midwife coming in time, the baby coming out when she did, not delivering in the ambulance, the ambulance waiting outside to take me quickly, the fact that we live close to the hospital, being diagnosed with the flu previously and getting our own room, my mom being able to stay… The list could go on and on.
Recognizing God’s care even in what was a scary situation for me has been such an encouragement. He will always provide what we need and we can trust in that, friends.
Big sister and big brother are so excited to have their baby sister at home now. And I am slowly recovering from the blood loss here at home. We happily watched big snow flakes fall this morning and we’re all set with my mom’s help for another two weeks. We’re settling in to being a family of 5! Here’s to all the baby snuggles in store for us as we get to know our new little person! Thanks for following along.
