A long week...

Well, it's been quite a long couple of weeks. It feels like when one child has a rough week... they all adopt a rough week!
We've had non-nappers, tummy troubled toddlers, hair cutters, party planners & teeth sprouters... not to mention our grammy broke her foot... so this momma has been surviving on caffeine & string cheese!

Haha! Do you moms do that? I sometimes get to the end of a day & realized I've had granola bars, string cheese, a lot of coffee, and an apple. So I load up on water & calories half-way through the day. It's terrible!!

I wish there were a way to keep moving throughout a busy day, yet still have hugged every child, read to them, nursed the baby, and YES, eaten 3 full meals plus snacks for a nursing momma! It's exhausting trying to fit it all in!

Our new "schedule" is maintaining the bare minimum, but I have so much more that I would love to fit into a day!! There just aren't enough hours!

I guess that means the fall baking, crafts, and extra school stuff is out... because I'm not about to sacrifice those hugs. Maybe a meal, but never a hug!! :)

Good luck in your upcoming week mommas! Personally, I have TONS of laundry I'm behind on, my own momma in a cast for the next 8weeks & a huge list for an "American Girl Spa" party I'm giving my soon to be 6 year old for her birthday! It's gonna be a wild week... bring it on!!

Top Ten List... BACK TO SCHOOL

Top Ten
BACK TO SCHOOL edition

We started back to school last Tuesday. I really liked having a real summer "break" & then making a big deal out of the FIRST DAY back to school! My oldest really needs that. So, here are the top ten things I LOVE about going back to school...

10. First Day of School Pictures
Usually I make them all stand outside or doing something cute... this year we did a chalkboard. I wrote their grade & what they want to be when they grow up.

9. My 4 year olds answer to "what do you want to be when you grow up?"... a cheetah. Or a lion. He just couldn't decide & no matter what his big brother said about how "humans cannot become animals", he was still convinced of this as an actual possibility! :)

8. New school supplies. You know on the movie "You've Got Mail" when Meg Ryan's character talks about her love for fall & receiving "a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils"? Well, I have a similar love. Sharpened pencils, notebooks, crayons, glue sticks, OH MY! I can't get enough! And mom, I'm really sorry but... I still sorta want a new backpack every year.

7. Classroom rules. Basically these are normal, household rules with a large family. I add on "raise your hand". Trust me, when our lessons get interesting, there are more comments & questions than I can handle. Hand raising is a must, even if you do go to school in your kitchen!

6. Our new curriculum!!!! I am in love with SONLIGHT! My little readers can't get enough of this literature based curriculum. No more workbooks. No more busy work. Real history & Bible lessons. And the best part? Instructor Guides all ready done for me!!!! Again I say... I'm in love!

5. Memory verses. It takes me back to my days in Christian Elementary School. I still know most of those verses by heart! :)

4. Using "school" as a reason for my oldest to finish filling out thank you notes... handwriting assignment!

3. My children are exhausted every night now! Brain exercise is amazing...

2. Crockpot meals are saving my life!

{check out my original post of freezer/crockpot meals here: http://www.laundryeveryday.blogspot.com/2012/08/freezer-meals.html?m=1

1. I really do enjoy teaching my little ones things about History, Bible, Language (my fav) & Science... Math not so much, but that's why we have daddy, right?! ;)

PRETTY COLORS!

I thought I'd share my secret to keeping my kids (& their stuff) straight! COLOR-CODING has saved my life.

Each family member (me & daddy included) has a color. We have our color in everything...
CUPS
PLATES
JACKETS
HATS & GLOVES
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
BAGS
TOWELS
TOOTHBRUSHES
LAUNDRY HAMPERS
SOCKS
(sometimes even clothing or other things)

I am even able to color-code the columns on our "Today I Ate A Rainbow" charts & our daily schedules.

It might sound like over-kill, but when I see a blue towel on the floor... I know whose it is (& who needs a little more training)! When ladybug can't find her jacket, we know we're looking for pink! It REALLY helps the smaller children. They see "their color" everywhere & feel a responsibility for it!

...I see "their colors" everywhere & want to buy each one! Haha! Anytime I see things with color options in {green, purple, blue, pink ,orange} I have to have it! ;)

What things help you mommas? Do you have any tricks that help you keep track of things??

BIRTH MARATHON... Ezrah RE-POST

As promised... Here are

PART ONE http://laundryeveryday.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-journey-to-ezrah.html
and
PART TWO http://laundryeveryday.blogspot.com/2011/12/birth-story-part-2.html

of my sweet baby boy's home birth!

HAPPY LABOR DAY FRIENDS!

BIRTH MARATHON... Caleb's birth

Check out Melissa's blog at http://3geigersandcounting.blogspot.com/

Caleb’s Birth

Joshua 14:10b-11 -Today I am 85 years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight was well as I could then. (The strength of Caleb)

Thursday, March 29 I had not been feeling very well. I even told John I just felt raw and uncomfortable down there. I really just thought nothing of it assuming that was just part of how the few weeks were going feel as Caleb began to get into position for birth (turns out I was dilating and was unaware of it.

Friday, March 30 I woke up at 6 like always and looked at my phone and checked my baby bump app that read you are 33weeks and 7days, 43 more days to go. I thought to myself 43 that so long and 43 gee we have a lot to do. I was procrastinating that morning, not really wanting to get in ready for work so I was on the computer a little and got in the shower pretty late. At 6:40 John called me and we talked for a min about taxes and stuff and then I got dressed. I was just leaving the bedroom and going to pack a quick lunch when I felt a rush of fluid. My first thought was OMG I just peed myself. When I checked to see how bad it was I realized there was blood in it and then I got scared. I first called John and told him (he was already at work). He asked if he should come home I told him not yet that I would let him know after I talked to the midwives. Second I called school and this was at 6:53 I called Nedra and told her what had happened and she told me she would take care of the school end. I then called Missy and Martina to tell them what was going on.

Missy told me, no I had not peed myself, that most likely my water had broken. This really scared me thinking, what this is so bad my water can’t break this early …infection… etc…Missy and Martina told me to go straight to the hospital. I called John to tell him and she said he was almost home. He had left anyway.

When John got home he was trying to rush me out the door to go to the hospital. I wanted to change my pants first. I changed and we left. Missy texted me and asked me if I was having contractions and if I had felt the baby move. Again this scared me. I didn’t really know if I was having contractions, I had never done this before. I also had not felt the baby move that morning and so I was worried what that might mean. John was driving and I thought I had begun to have contractions which felt like period cramps. I texted Missy and told her I was having contractions. She asked me how long and how far apart they were. I didn’t know since I hadn’t really been timing them we just wanted to get to the hospital.

John pulled up at St. Francis and we went up to Labor and Delivery. A nurse was just about to let us in to the unit when we told her our Doctor was Dr. Caruthers. At that she informed us Dr. Caruthers did not work out of this hospital but St. Francis Bartlett (which we knew but had gone to the wrong one anyway). We headed back outside to try and make it to Bartlett. As John was getting the car to pick me up I felt Caleb move and this made me feel much better. I texted Missy and told her, she was also relieved. 

Back in the car I began to time my contractions using John’s phone to time how far apart and mine to time how long. When I started doing this they were 30-35 sec long and 2.5 min apart. I thought I must be doing this wrong or I am confused about what a contraction feels like. But the longer I timed them the closer together they got and the longer they lasted. By the time we reached the hospital they were 1 min long and 1 min apart.

We arrived at the hospital around 8 am (that is my best guess). We went up to Labor and Delivery. I walked up they asked if I wanted a wheel chair I said no. Looking back I probably could have used one. From here on out everything was a blur. They made John go downstairs and fill out intake paper work. It seemed like he was gone forever, but we have deduced that it was probably only 15 to 20 min. They took me to a holding room where I changed into the gown. At this point we are still unsure of what is happening. We didn’t really know we were coming in for a birth. I changed and was being asked many questions about med history and the like. Martina arrived around this point and began helping me breath through contractions. I think to sign paper work I went through 4 contractions. They were coming very fast. The doctor arrived right after that and checked my cervix. He told me I was 6 cm dilated and that there would be a baby today. I couldn’t even really focus on that news. That was the point I wanted John back. I told Martina I had to pee and she took me to the rest room. I told her I also felt like I had to poop and asked if that was the baby and she told me it was. Right after getting back from the restroom John arrived and I was so happy to have him back but I still couldn’t really focus on him.  Around then Martina told me to tell her when I felt like I wanted to push and I immediately told her I felt like pushing right then. She told the doctor he checked me out and said that indeed I was ready.

There were no rooms available so they wheeled me to the OR to deliver. I was wanting to push but I didn’t really feel confident that I could or that I was doing it right. The doctor had his fingers in my cervix and kept telling me to push them out. This made no sense to me so I really just focused on John and on Martina. I knew John was praying for me but I really needed to hear him so I asked him to pray out loud, he did and I instantly felt the Lord’s strength to push the baby out. At that point I knew I could do it and I was able to push with more confidence then I had been. Martina was telling me to get behind it and push down. This made total sense to me. I could really feel what she was talking about. She was coaching me and telling me I was beautiful and I just kept praying Jesus let the baby come fast. At one point John told me he could see the head and I thought I want to see the head. The worst pain was when the head was crowning and I waiting between contractions with his head half out. But Martina reminded me this was good to let him stretch and not to push to avoid tearing. The next push his head was out and he was mid shoulders.  This time I knew I wanted him out and pushed him out the last push with no contraction. 

I looked down and they were pulling him out and I think I said, “Did that really just happen?” I could not believe it. His actual time of birth was 9:09 am March 30, 2012They brought him to my chest while John cut his cord and then took him away to check his breathing. John went with the baby, while Martina stayed with me and the doc while I delivered the placenta. Which at that point actually felt good and like a relief.  They brought Caleb back for a sec let us take our first pic and give him a kiss and the off he was to the NICU.

They took me into a room which was cleaned while I was delivering.  My mind was blown at how fast everything was. I was in good spirits and did not really begin to get tired until afternoon.

That’s the story of how Caleb arrived in about 2 hours.

BIRTH MARATHON... Annabelle

Our next birth story from Danielle at http://liferenovated.org

April 14, 2012: The culmination of the most difficult and yet rewarding 35 hours of my life. The moment when we finally got to see our baby girl’s face and hold her in our arms.

If you have read the posts about our birth plan (HERE), you will see that things did not go as we had envisioned. Every step of the way we had to re-evaluate what we believed to be the safest/best route in light of our circumstances. We had to make some difficult decisions and deviate from our plan.

April 13, 3:30am – My water broke! I wasn’t really contracting consistently, so we spent the next couple of hours doing things around the house and making sure we had what we needed for the hospital.

5:30 am – We drove over to the hospital, but then sat in the parking lot for quite a while debating whether or not to go in! We were so torn because we had planned to labor at home as long as possible and I still wasn’t having significant contractions, but we were concerned about the risks associated with premature rupture of membranes.

6:15 am – We finally decided to go ahead and go in to the hospital. They got us all checked in, put in a hep-lock and hooked me up to be monitored for the first 45 minutes. Everything looked good, but when they did an exam I was only dilated to a 2.

We spent the next 12 hours alternating between being monitored for 45 minutes & walking around for 30. The adrenaline and excitement began to fade around mid-morning. My contractions were very inconsistent – getting 3-4 minutes apart for 30-45 minutes and then slowing down and even stopping at times. It was not the quickly-progressing labor I had hoped for.

6:15 pm – After talking to my doctor extensively about where we were at, we decided to go ahead and see if pitocin would help get my contractions going more consistently. I was reassured that we would start the pitocin slowly and give my body time to react before gradually increasing the dose.

This was such a difficult decision because pitocin was one of the key things we had hoped to avoid. However, the reason behind avoiding pitocin was that it could lead to a c-section and we were already headed in that direction anyways.

April 14, 3:00 am – Nearing 24 hours of labor and after almost 9 hours of pitocin, my contractions certainly had become much stronger. As a matter of fact, the contractions became so intense that I could not relax even between them. Even though the contractions had gotten stronger & more painful, they still weren’t consistent. I made good use of a birthing ball, but I was exhausted and overwhelmed. After another exam revealed that I was still only dilated 3 cm, with tears I confided in Kevin that I didn’t think I could make it when it came time to push. He was so encouraging, but I had just reached my limit.

I started asking the nurse about an epidural and told her about my concerns (mainly that an epidural can slow down labor). She shared with me that while that can happen, she had seen an epidural help progress labor just as often. Since my labor still seemed to be stalled there really wasn’t much reason to worry about it slowing down, so I opted to get one. Within an hour of getting the epidural my contractions had evened out and become consistent – I was shocked (and relieved!).

I have to add here that I am so impressed with how my doctor and the nurses respected my birth plan and specifically my wishes that they not offer me pain medication until I asked for it. Once I made the decision on my own to go ahead with an epidural, they expressed relief and explained that they were confident I was headed for a c-section if I hadn’t made that choice.

For the next several hours I slept for 30-45 minutes at a time and then a nurse would come in to “flip” me. Did you know an epidural is subject to gravity? I didn’t. Basically, if I were to lay on my right side too long, that side of my body would be numb, but not the left side, so… I needed to roll from one side to the other periodically (a difficult task when you can’t feel the lower 60% of your body!

9:15am – I was dilated to a 5 & almost 100% thinned… encouraging news after so many hours without any progress!

11:30am – I asked the nurse to check again because I was feeling a lot of pressure and could tell that something had definitely changed. Sure enough, I was at an 8!

12:30pm – I was finally at a 10! We decided to wait another hour before pushing to let Miss Annabelle work her way down a little more on her own.

1:40pm – Time to push! The nurses brought in a mirror and I got the first glimpse of my little girl’s full head of hair. After all the hours and hours of waiting I was so overwhelmed to finally see my girl. Less than an hour of pushing later & I had her in my arms.

2:33pm, April 14, 2012: The culmination of the most difficult and yet rewarding 35 hours of my life. The moment when we finally got to see our baby girl’s face and hold her in our arms.

This birth was challenging to say the least, but I was happy to have such supportive care givers. I look forward to trying for a more natural birth next time!

BIRTH MARATHON... Annie's Elias

Elias Joshua – my God is the Lord who saves and delivers

Tuesday, June5 – I had several contractions throughout the day, but nothing regular.  We had waited over 2 hours at the DPS office to get our new Texas driver’s licenses and had driven over an hour each way to get to the DPS office.  I let midwife Nanci know about my contractions and the swelling in my feet and ankles and slightly elevated blood pressure.  We joked that the DPS office would send anyone into labor!  She said to rest and put my feet up and eat lots of cucumbers and watermelon, which would help flush the excess fluid out of my body.  The contractions subsided as I rested that evening, but it was very comforting to know that my body was at least getting ready to have a baby soon.

Wednesday, June 6 – Jeremy had to work, so the boys and I had a lazy day watching Cars.  I could tell my body was ready to slow down.  For the last couple of weeks, I’d kept busy so as not to think too much about my approaching due date and to stay mentally prepared to go a couple of weeks late, as I had with Corban.  No contractions, but enjoyed the rest.

Thursday, June 7 – My due date!  We had an appointment with midwife Nanci.  No concerns about blood pressure and swelling.  Everything looked good.  We went to Costco to walk a bunch, then home to rest.  Late in the afternoon, I started having contractions and started losing the mucus plug.  I was trying hard not to think about them too much, and knew my body would let me know when I needed to pay attention.  We had plans to have dinner with some friends.  After rescheduling twice with them, I really didn’t want to miss it!  We drove an hour to their house, having contractions the whole way, but still not timing them.  When we arrived, we let them know I was having contractions in case we needed to leave suddenly.  The contractions continued for a while, but eased up throughout the evening.  I had a few more throughout the evening, and again they subsided throughout the night.  However, I didn’t sleep well, since I was cramping all night.

Friday, June 8 – My midwife reassured me that my body was warming up and that we just needed to be patient and trust God’s timing.  What a blessing to have this reminder!  She also said several times that I needed to get a nap today.  Well, just as I was about to fall asleep for a nap around 3:00 pm, I felt a slight “pop” and realized that my water broke!  I texted my mom and Nanci and told Jer to get our bed ready and start getting the birthing pool ready.  I sent the Romers a message letting them know that my water broke, but the boys were still napping and we’d let them know when we needed them to come get the boys.  I also messaged Jamie Istre, who was going to come take pictures for us.  About 30 minutes later, I laid in our bed and started timing the contractions that were picking up in intensity, and they were 8-9 minutes apart.  Nanci was about an hour away, so at 4:00 pm, I told her that I there more intense and she said she was coming.  By 4:15, Jeremy had everything ready, and I asked him not to leave me.  I went to the bathroom to relief some pressure from the contractions, and Jeremy noticed that the baby’s umbilical cord was coming out!

Jeremy immediately went into paramedic mode, very calmly but firmly, giving me specific instructions to get on our bed on my hands and knees and put my head down.  He put his hand inside of me to hold the baby’s head off of the cord so it would cut off the blood flow and oxygen to the baby.  He called Nanci and then called 911.  I texted the Romers to come immediately!  In the meantime, Jeremy is getting more and more firm with the 911 dispatcher, who obviously didn’t understand the severity of the situation.  I’ve got my head buried in our sheets praying in tongues and trying to relax through each contraction, but the pain massively intensified having Jeremy’s hand inside.  The Romers arrived in only a few minutes. Dan took the boys to the garage so they wouldn’t see or hear anything.  Susie sat on the bed with me and cried out to Jesus for me and for the baby.  It was amazingly comforting and brought and unreal amount of peace to have Susie with me, knowing that she’d had a prolapsed cord with Harry, she knew the baby’s life was in danger, and she also knew the pain and panic I was feeling.

Nanci and the paramedics (all 6 of them!!) arrived at the same time.  Nanci took over for Jeremy, holding the baby’s head off of the cord.  She got her doplar out to check on baby’s heart rate, which was really strong and brought even more peace to me to hear!  The paramedics were very slow to do anything.  It felt like they stood around for an eternity trying to figure out what to do.  Nanci and Jeremy made an amazing team coaching me through the contractions and the increasing pain.  Nanci was trying to work the cord back into my uterus around the baby’s head in between contractions, but so much of the cord had prolapsed that each time she’d get part of it back in, another part would come out again.  At this point, I began crying out in pain during the contractions and while I couldn’t help it, I was so worried that the boys would hear me and be afraid.  Nanci and Jeremy were telling the paramedics what to do since they were just standing around and couldn’t decide what they should do.  Nanci said that I was fully dilated and asked if I could push.  I told her I could, and she ordered the paramedics to be prepared to resuscitate, because we were delivering the baby.  So, for the next several contractions, I pushed with everything I had knowing that we didn’t have any time to lose.  I grew more worried as I pushed, because I could hear Baby’s heart rate slow tremendously.  After each contraction, the baby’s head would slide back some and the heart rate would pick up again.  Nanci knew we didn’t have much time, but would have enough to get to the hospital.  The paramedics were still deliberating over how to get me downstairs since the stretcher wouldn’t fit up our stairs, so, again, Nanci told them what to do.  I then ran down the steps and jumped the stretcher and resumed the knee-chest position and Nanci again held the baby’s head off of the cord.  They covered my exposed backside and took me out to the ambulance in the pouring rain.  Trying to hold on to a moving stretcher on my hands and knees, butt in the air, in the middle of a contraction, with Nanci holding the baby’s head felt like a circus act!  Once we were in the ambulance, one of the paramedics took over the dopplar, but had a hard time finding Baby’s heart beat.  I was still praying in tongues, while another paramedic put an IV in the hand that was holding onto the stretcher rail with everything I had just to keep my balance as we bumped along.  Nanci had me lay on my left side to see if they could find the baby’s heart beat there.  That was SO much more comfortable.  My arms were shaking from holding so much weight and balancing.  I was so glad that they found the heart beat right away so I could stay in that position.  The ride to the hospital felt like an eternity, especially as I overheard the paramedics radioing the hospital only to find out there was no OB at the closest hospital!

When we finally got to the hospital, Nanci stayed with me as they pushed me up to the Labor & Delivery floor.  The L&D nurses took over for Nanci and the paramedics and they transferred me to a hospital bed before they took me to the operating room to get ready for the C-Section.  Little did I know that the nurses had been praying for me since they got the call from the ambulance.  The whirlwind of events seemed to slow once we reached the OR.  I continued to pray and tried to relax through each contraction while one nurse held Baby’s head and another held the dopplar and another prepped the room for surgery.  The anesthesiologist asked me a million questions, which I did my best to answer.  I heard someone on the phone asking if there was a general surgeon in the hospital.  Then I began to get a little nervous that a general surgeon wouldn’t do as good of a job as an OB would with the surgery.  While there was a calm in the room, it felt like we were there forever before the doctor arrived.  The OB on call finally showed up (she was stuck in rush hour traffic in the rain!).  I remember very clearly that the nurse holding Baby’s head had to climb over the operating table before me WHILE holding the baby’s head.  Then I had to help them get myself onto the table in the middle of a contraction while the nurse was still holding the baby’s head.  That was an extremely painful process.  Once on my back, someone put a mask over my face to knock me out.  Only 6 minutes elapsed from the time the doctor arrived to when she pulled the baby out.  When he gave a loud cry, I later found out that all of the nurses and staff cheered for him!  The Lord had protected him and delivered him!  Our sweet baby was born at 5:50 pm, but it would be a while before I woke up to meet him.

Around 7:30, I was starting to wake up and at first didn’t know where I was.  The searing pain in my abdomen quickly reminded me where I was and what had happened.  I asked Jeremy to wipe my nose, because I couldn’t breathe and was totally congested from being upside down for so long.  I was completely overwhelmed from all that had happened.  My body was shaking uncontrollably, and I did everything I could to keep from crying knowing that if I did, my incision would hurt so much more.  Jeremy so sweetly asked if I knew if Baby was a boy or a girl, which I didn’t.  I didn’t want to know yet, because I would cry either way and was so afraid of the pain.  After a minute or two, he couldn’t contain himself and informed me that Adon, Gabe, and Corban had a little brother!  He asked if I wanted to hold the baby, but I was so shaky, I didn’t feel like I could.  So, Jeremy held Baby close so I could touch his cheek.  I had heard about the power of touch between a mother and her baby, but that experience was so much more than I ever could have imagined.  Immediately, my body stopped shaking and the overwhelming feeling dissipated as I stroked his cheek.  Jeremy held our sweet baby boy so his cheek was against my cheek.  That was the most incredible feeling in the world!  I felt like my body was melting and it was so reassuring to have him close and know he was alive and safe!

We didn’t actually name him until the next day, because we needed to find a name that would always remind us and him of what God did for us!  His name is Elias Joshua, which means my God is the Lord who saves and delivers.  He was born at 5:50 pm on Friday, June 8.  He weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 21 inches long.  We saw the hand of the Lord as He ordered our steps and the series of events that lead to Elias’ miraculous birth.

A few things God did for us along the way:

• Dr. Heiman had great respect for and was very warm with our midwife Nanci!  She even agreed to let Nanci do my postpartum follow up.
• We almost refused the health insurance through Jeremy’s new job since we planned to have a homebirth and they wouldn’t cover it.  We are thankful that the Lord prompted Dan and Susie Romer to ask us to consider getting the insurance just for this year, just in case we needed it.  Well, we needed it, and we are so thankful that the Lord went before us so we had it.
• A prolapsed cord is somewhat rare.  In 20 years of delivering babies, Nanci had never seen one (I was her first!).  Dr. Heiman hasn’t seen one in 6 years, and one of my postpartum nurses has only cared for 2 mom who’d had prolapsed cords in the 12 years she’s worked as a nurse.  As evidenced by the 911 paramedics, most don’t know how to handle it as they’ve never seen it.  However, Jeremy knew right away what to do as did Nanci when she arrived.
• Jeremy and Nanci made an incredible team fighting for me and the baby from start to finish.
• Dr. Heiman’s husband was able to meet her at the hospital to their children.
• Despite the chaos, God helped me to remain (mostly) calm and mentally alert through everything.
• And best of all, God saved and delivered our precious Elias!  The nurse explained that he had plenty of reserve when he was born.  He wasn’t deprived of any oxygen through the process!  While it wasn’t the birth we had planned, God ordained the events of Elias’ birthday so that He would be glorified.  Every time I look at Elias’ sweet face, I am reminded of how kind God was to us.

BIRTH MARATHON... Lemuel

Thanks to MELISSA for the first post of the birth story marathon...

Well here goes!  

The birth story of Lemuel actually begins about a year ago and in order to understand the significance of his birth to our family you have to know the background story, so here it is!  

Last year in May I had a miscarriage that was a turning point in my life.  It took me several months to reconcile the events of that pregnancy with what God had in store for our family and how a loving God could allow such a loss.  WHen I found out I was pregnant with Lemuel, I immediately felt fearful of another loss.  The entire pregnancy was a spiritual battle and an exercise in trusting God.  

Very early in my pregnancy I felt that I really needed a scripture to stand on for this baby.  I started to search the scripture and feel that God gave me Psalm 126:5-6 Which says, 'Those who sow in tears will reap a harvest of joy."  If you know me at all you know that I"m not much of a crier.  I have to say though if there is anything that brings me to tears it is babies and specifically the issue of abortion and justice for the unborn.  So the verse about sowing in tears and reaping a harvest of joy is more then just about my own child but I see Lemuel as the first fruits of the harvest of joy that is to come.  

So with that we knew that we wanted a name that meant joy, but couldn't find one we liked so we called in Grandma!  Jeremy's mom who has helped us in the past with some of our other kids names stepped in again this time putting together a list of Japanese names that meant "full of joy"  So Lemuel's middle name Minobu means: Full of joy.  For his first name we had a handful of options and knew we wanted a hebrew name when we looked into Lemuel we found that it means: Devoted to God plus Lemuel is credited with writing Proverbs 31.  So now that you know the background and why this birth is so meaningful to our family here's the story of his birth.

We spent the day Wednesday in early labor.  My contractions were pretty erratic and far apart but being that my due date was near and I was already dialated 3cm we figured it was a safe bet that labor was near.  So we called in the grandmas and sent the other kids off for the day and spent a wonderful day together just Jeremy and I.  

It was such a change from my other labors, so relaxing.  We took a long walk, came home and called our doula who came over and made us lunch while we chatted, then we took a nap, and went to the park to walk some more.  I'm so glad for my wonderful family taking the kids so I could spend the day resting and hanging out with Jeremy.  

After the park my contractions were somewhat far apart so our doula went home for a few hours and we grabbed some dinner and headed back to our house.  A few hours later the contractions picked up some intensity and got closer together so we called the doula back and she came over.  We watched a movie and then all went to bed to get a few hours of rest.  This was the start of active labor, but God is so good He knows exactly what we need and I believe He knew I would need all the rest I could get in order to birth this baby.  

Each time I layed down for a rest my contractions either stopped or got light enough that I was able to get good rest.  At about 2 am Thursday morning I woke up to potty and the contractions started up again.  About 2:30 I noticed they were getting very intense and I was starting to shake (this is normal during labor and I remembered the same thing happening during my last labor)  So we headed off to the hospital.  

We arrived about 3 am and found I was only 4 cm which I was a little disappointed about, but Jeremy and Hollie my doula were wonderful encouragers to me and helped me to relax and assured me it didn't matter what the number was.  So we were admitted.  I have to say I had the best possible team to support me through this labor and even though they all kept saying what a good job I was doing, I would not have been able to make it drug free without my wonderful doula, Jeremy and our amazing nurses!!!  

After a few hours of walking the hall and sitting on the birth ball we deiced to lay down and rest.  Once again God is so good and gave me a much needed break from contractions!  I was able to nap for an hour or 2 I forget how long it was exactly.  But it was exactly what I needed!  About 11am things got a little crazy, this is about when I hit transition.  

It was at this point that I really wanted drugs, but I was 8 cm and knew it was too late for that so I was on my own and had to finish without drugs.  :-)    I wasn't watching the clock b/c transition takes all your attention it's pretty much all consuming.  Even this time though was a picture of God's grace to me. 

 In my last labor transition was fast and furious it lasted less then 30 minutes and the contractions were one on top of the other with no break in between.  That's what I was expecting this time, but God knows best and He knew I needed to transition differently.  So the process took longer, but it was much easier for me to manage then last time.  I had a little break in between each contraction so I could catch my breath and rest. 

Finally it was time to push.  All my other babies were born with 5 pushes or less, Lemuel being the biggest took that many just to get his head to crown.  Needless to say it was very painful!  My team once again was wonderful at encouraging me and reminding me to breathe and helping me remember how to push effectively.  Natural childbirth is hard, it hurts like crazy and it takes a lot more work then doing it with drugs, but I am so glad I choose to give birth naturally!  I was up and moving around on my own with in an hour of giving birth and although I am sore and tired I feel so good. 

Sorry this was so long.  Thank you to my wonderful family, my husband, my doula, my Dr., and my nurses.  But most importantly I am thankful to God for His grace in helping me through this birth, and in blessing us once more.  Lemuel is a precious blessing and absolutly perfect. 

LABOR DAY FUN!

It's LABOR DAY! I hope you all are enjoying spending time with your families. I plan to chill with my babies & then we are having a barbecue at the park with friends this evening.

BUT do you know what today reminds me of?? Anyone??

YEP! Childbirth.
The days I labored & birthed 5 of the MOST beautiful children in the world. (Biased? Probably.)

Now, I do realize that "labor day" has nothing to do with childbirth labor, but despite this holiday for all you hard-working individuals... let's have a little fun!

Throughout today, I will be posting birth stories. Some will be mine. Some are Guest-posts. At the end of today, I will RE-POST my most popular post yet... Ezrah's Birth Story.
Pretty much for all you birth-lovers out there... this will be the best Labor Day yet!

ENJOY!

My own hero

I woke up & realized what I had said: "Babe, let's just go home & eat dinner. I will go to the grocery store in the morning."

"With all 5 kids? Are you sure? Because we can go to the store after dinner!" he replied.

I should've said ok! We should've gone last night!

So here I am... alone, with 5 kids, desperate for groceries, on a SATURDAY! I don't go to many places ALONE with all 5: park, Target (on a good day), Costco & chiropractor. That's it! I also don't go out on Saturdays. It's like I'm asking for a miserable time!
We need food though...

I got up, got the kids fed & dressed, babies' diapers changed. Then I realized they were all ready, but I'm not! So I turned on a show in my room, put the baby in his saucer, and jumped in the shower... most days it's just throw my hair in a ponytail & hope for the best, but I already did that yesterday. So, I had no other option than to take a world-record mommy shower while Captain Hook learned to play put-put (this show cracks me up).

I am feeling good! A shower is a beautiful thing! We get in the car, buckle in, and turn on some music. I got a coffee & then sat in the parking lot to post this on Facebook:

{About an hour behind, but I have a coffee & I got a shower... "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Bring it on!}

At this point, I'm putting the Baby Bjorn on & hitting send. LITERALLY as I sent that, the heavens opened & rain starts POURING DOWN! Really?!

I got a cart, put the baby in the Bjorn, & hoped it would calm down. My children are in a panic. "Aaaah! It's raining! We are getting wet!" The 7yr old is tolerating it, the 5yr old is crazy like the rain is electrifying her, the 4 yr old is splashing in puddles, the 2yr old is crying "I'm getting wet ALL OVER!" & the poor baby is looking at me like [is this SERIOUSLY worth it?!].

We were this far... we are getting groceries!!!

Once we got in the store, poor ladybug's pigtails were dripping. We pushed our cart to the side of an aisle to dry off with the nursing cover. Mr. 7 yr old was horrified that I used a nursing cover to wipe his face off... "my arms are fine! Don't use that on my arms!" Haha!!

We went over the store rules, took a deep breath & a big drink of coffee... well I did.

They did great! I thought the dramatic entrance to the store would have sent us over the edge, but it didn't! I only had to give a few warnings to "stay by me" or "hands on the cart". They were helpful. They were obedient. They didn't run! All those rules & expectations I had given them? THEY FOLLOWED!

Of course, as we checkout the lady says "wow you have lots of little helpers! Are they all yours?" I of course answered yes. "They are! I am blessed with lots of amazing helpers!" (as the 4 yr old fumbles to put a heavy glass jar on the conveyor belt)

We are walking out. I'm feeling accomplished! I'm feeling like I'm not a huge mommy failure! Just then, my child (who shall remain nameless) stomped in a puddle and soaked my entire leg, filling my neon pink Gap flats with an inch of water.
*sigh* yep, that feels about right!

I loaded them in, unloaded groceries & took another drink of my coffee. I noticed my oldest buckling in all the little kids. My heart was happy! Then I squished my way to the cart return.

There was a woman next to me & she says " I have to tell you... You are my hero! My kids are older now, but seeing you today it all came flooding back! I could have never done that! AND they were so well-behaved"

I just looked at her, with my soggy shoe & dripping wet hair, thinking I could cry at those words "well-behaved"! I hope some day when memories of these years come flooding back to me I can remember this moment! I smiled, and told her "I was dreading coming here this morning! But thank you! In fact, I think today, I'm my own hero!"