Just About Three Weeks Ago...

We welcomed baby number 7, and boy number 6 to our family!  We're overjoyed to welcome Gideon Thomas!

My labor and delivery with him went well, but was rather long.  My sister had come into town to help out and be with me (as I was incredibly blessed to be with her two months earlier as my niece arrived into the world!), and on Monday (August 13, a week and a day before Gideon's due date) we decided to travel to Tennessee to visit the aquarium, as a fun outing for the kids.  It's a 2+ hour drive, but always fun, so well worth the drive.  That night, around midnight, Rachel woke up with a stomach bug, so I spent the night rocking her, cleaning up, doing several loads of laundry, and, go figure, after being on my feet all day, contractions started - real contractions, not Braxton-Hicks, accompanied by some spotting.  I was NOT excited at that point, to say the least!  I woke Michael up to let him know things were looking like they were starting... he took my place on "sick toddler" duty and let me go back to bed.  I took a quick shower, during which the contractions slowed some, and then went back to bed.  Contractions continued, but much more spaced out than before, so I was able to get some much needed rest.  (Oh, and thankfully, her stomach bug lasted less than 12 hours!)

All day Tuesday, the contractions remained continual, but never very consistent.  Sometimes they'd be 10 minutes apart, sometimes 30 minutes would go by without any.  Finally I gave up trying to track them and went about my day.  The problem with these contractions is that they were really strong!  Usually, I don't experience terribly painful, strong contractions until closer to transition, so I was really confused about what was going on.  I happened to have an appointment with my Midwife that afternoon, so I was eager to see if any progress was being made.  And, my hopes were quickly dashed when she said "no progress, we'll see you next week!"  Over 12 hours of painful contractions, and NOTHING?!  :(  I was so disappointed!  But, having been through false labor with Judah, I knew that even though progress wasn't being made, *something* was happening, anyway.  I just hoped it wouldn't go on for another week with the terrible contractions!

Throughout the night Tuesday and into the morning on Wednesday, the contractions continued.  Strong enough to wake me up every 10-20 minutes (with the occasional break for some longer rest here and there), but never really establishing a pattern.  Wednesday morning my sister and I decided to go for a nice, long walk.  We went to a local park with a 1.75 mile trail, and, slowly at times, made our way around the path.  During our walk, the contractions definitely picked up - 5-8 minutes apart.  But, once I got into the car to come back home, they again slowed down.  I had no idea what to think!  We went about the rest of our day, and made dinner together, and during dinner making, things definitely picked up again... now ranging from 3-5 minutes.  I was still really cautious about calling anyone, as I didn't want to give a false alarm.  Finally, though, Michael insisted, and I notified my homebirth "team" around 6:30 pm.

Everyone arrived by 8 pm - my midwife, her two assistants, and two of my dear friends.  Michael said he would have set up bleachers somewhere had he realized there were going to be 7 people attending the birth!  But having people close to me who I love and bring me joy is so helpful to me during labor.  We can laugh and chatter and enjoy the time together, which helps me to focus less on the pain!  And that's what we did!  I wanted to get into the pool, but still be unsure about how far along I actually was, I didn't want to get in too early.  During Rachel's homebirth, I was never checked for progress, but this time around, I needed some reassurance.  So my midwife checked me, and I was at a 7!  We got that pool filled ASAP and I got in - during those few minutes of waiting, the contractions really picked up in intensity, so things were moving pretty fast.

Once in the pool, it was immediate relief.  So relieving, in fact, that the contractions stopped briefly, which was such a nice break.  However, once they started again...!  They came on strong and LONG... the first one felt like it would never end, and at that point the baby gave a good kick, and my water broke.  The second one, I felt the baby come down, and all of the sudden, his head was out!  I had been kneeling at that point, but then I sat back a little and asked the midwives to help catch him... but my midwife calmly said, "Oh, you've got this!" and so I reached down and brought my little boy out into the world, up out of the water, and into my arms!  It was *incredible* to experience the delivery that way!  Really, I can't even describe how amazing it was.

I had felt strongly all through this pregnancy that it would be a boy, so I wasn't surprised in the least when I took a peek and saw my suspicions confirmed!  We were overjoyed!  Gideon Thomas was born at 9:06 pm, almost 48 hours from the first start of contractions.  The "pushing" phase lasted all of 4 minutes, during which I actually did no pushing at all - he just made his way into the world.  It was beautiful!  But, I'll admit, I was very glad for it to be done, lol!  This is my favorite picture from the birth - it was taken with a phone camera, so it's not the highest quality, but it's still my favorite:

And now we're settling in to "life with a newborn and 6 other kids".  It's a wild ride!  Michael has been able to be at home with me for the past two weeks, which has been a huge blessing.  All the kids have adjusted well to having Gideon around, even Rachel, who I was a little nervous about!  Gideon himself is having a bit of a struggle adapting to life in the outside world - he's a little on the "high needs" side of things, and spends most of his time awake being rather unhappy about it.  But, I am thankful that I've gone through this before and have learned a few things - First, that babywearing, breastfeeding, and co-sleeping are lifesavers during this time, and second, that it will get better!  Otherwise, he's doing just fine - nursing well, gaining weight, and being super cute!

Here are a few more pictures:

All wrapped up next to me - his favorite spot!

Snoozing

One of the first I was able to catch him with his eyes open!

Waking up from a nap (1 week old)

What I wake up to every morning!

We thank God for the blessing of another wonderful little boy!

Treasures of August

August was a treasure trove of excellent blog posts! There's a lot listed here, I hope you can make the time to check out them all - you will be blessed!

Motherhood is Application at Desiring God - if you only read one of these links, read this one!

Three Under Three with a Newborn at Large Family Logistics

Are Moms Adequate for the Task of Raising Sons? at thatmom.com

25 Ways to Provoke Our Children to Anger at Counseling One Another - Ouch!  I have failed this test many, many times! :(

Impacting Eternity at Making Home - beautiful!

As a Mom at Graceful Abandon

A + B ≠ C {a parenting equation} at Brooke McGlothlin

Trust Your Body? or Control Your Birth? at Birth Sense

Consolation at Thoughts from an Overthinker - SO good.  Read it!

Gossip at The Gospel Coalition

From At the Well:

• We're All Bad Moms (and What the Gospel Can Do
• Be an At-Home Momma 

Don't Forget Your Purpose at Large Family Mothering

Guest Post:  7 Keys to a Successful Homeschool at Charlotte Mason Home Education

The Mission Field in My Yard at Lambs in His Arms

The Not Really Kindergarten Post at In the Heart of My Home - Yes, yes!  Love this!

Do You Have Time to Home School? at Heavenly Homemakers 

Is It Worth It? at The Better Mom 

Dangerous at Books and Bairns 

From Raising Arrows:

• Tips for Homeschooling a Large Family 
• Weekends in the Word - Over and Over and Over Again

Fitting it In at A Family Revised

What My Pre-K Student Needs to Know at Christian Homeschoolers Taking a Stand

If Feeling Inadequate Was an Olympic Event... at True Woman

You Can Never Afford Them at The National Catholic Register

From Passionate Homemaking:

•  Good Things Come in Squirmy Packages
• What Man Can Relate to a Stay-at-Home Mom? 

A "Jump Start" to a Joyful School Year at Crosswalk.com

God Will Never Give You More... at Femina

What Kids Really Need at God Made... Home Grown

Not a Kid Person? at Get Along Home

From Like Mother, Like Daughter:

•  Self-Control and Where to Get It
• What Can Children Do?  A Guide 

Uncertainly Certain at (in)Courage

Preparing our Daughters for Real Life (Hazaq V'Amatz!) at Raising Homemakers

5 Highly Effective Habits Homemakers Have to Keep a Clean House at Joyful Mothering

a harvest in my lap at For Kith and Kingdom

7 Quick Takes - Volume 4

In case you haven't noticed, my blog has officially become... boooorrrriinnnggg! If it wasn't already! I have had, well, less than no time to post anything now that we're back into school full-swing and little girl is quickly advancing past "sleepy newborn" phase. So, I apologize that I haven't been more faithful in posting, but higher priorities have been consuming as of late!

Speaking of school, we're up and going full-swing again! Phew! It isn't going exactly as I had hoped/planned in this post, but it is going, and going reasonably well, praise God! I came to the very obvious conclusion that it's just better to save most of the "sit down and listen" type stuff for when Judah is napping. He gets plenty of "sit down and listen" training when we have our family devotions, are in church, and other various opportunities that pop up. Trying to toddler train and keep everyone focused and stay on track and juggle a newborn baby just can't happen during schooltime! That small change has brought SO much more peace to our school day!

Oh, and speaking of Judah, he turned 2 this month! Wow! Can you believe he's gone from this:

To this:

SO fast?! He's talking up a storm, although I'd say only about 52% of it is understadable to the general public. He's adjusting wonderfully to being a big brother - in fact, his first question every morning is "Where's Rachel?"... or, if she's awake already, he wants to give her hugs and kisses before he even gets out of bed! I adore the precious love he has for her already!

And since we're on the topic of Miss Rachel, she is almost 2 months old already!! Sheesh! She is, as expected, the object of everyone's affection and doting. She's a very happy baby - except when she's in the car. Apparently, the car is the death trap from Satan himself because she screams in total terror and despair whenever we're in it. It *is* getting better, but needless to say, I have limited my outings! But really, that's the only complaint I can make, and it's such a minor one! She's healthy, growing well, sleeping GREAT (averaging 7 hours a night already, a practical miracle in itself!), smiling and cooing, and just so sweet. I love watching her grow and change! It seems that with each baby, I see the miracle of God's handiwork more than I did previously. It's so awesome! I am so blessed to be a mama!

Do you see how chubby she's gotten?! I love her cheeks and all the little rolls I find on her now!

As a shameless plug for myself and the companies I love... take a peek over to the upper left - do you see the "I Recommend" label over there? The companies I have listed are all ones that I use, love, recommend, and am (mostly) an affiliate for. Of course, I'm not an affiliate for Compassion, but I love the work they do, love being a part of what they're doing, and highly encourage others to get involved, as well! The other companies' banners also come with high kudos from me, and if you're interested in taking a peek at any of them, it does benefit me, as well. Just sayin'... ;-)

Now that I've had two months to think over my homebirth experience, I wanted to try to put into words what a difference it made for me. Yes, I loved being in the comfort of my own home, I loved not having to fight off unwanted interventions or treatments, I loved that our life wasn't "interrupted" with a hospital stay, and so on... but the biggest thing I learned from my homebirth experience was this: awe. Utter amazement at the birth process and God's beautiful design in how life is brought into the world. I know, I've had 5 kids already, shouldn't I have realized all of this by now?! But here's the thing. My midwife was really hands-off. She didn't check my dilation, she didn't hover over me... she listened to the baby's heartbeat once in a while, and otherwise... stayed really low key. At first I was nervous - I thought "how will I know how far along I am?", "what if I'm getting close?", "what if I'm not making any progress, how will we know?". Intellectually, I thought I had to "know" my status. But you know what? I didn't! Because God designed my body to do what it needed to do without my total consciousness of every intimate detail. Instinctively, I knew when we were getting closer. Pushing happened without anyone telling me to, and without counting to 10 and holding my breath. My body knew all of this without my intellect having to know. Truly natural birth is such an amazing, awe-filled experience. It brought me to a level of faith that I hadn't experienced before. I'm so, so thankful I got to experience it.

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks! We'll be enjoying our second-ever Sonlight Box Day (I'm ordering Core E plus Science!), as well as going to our local homeschool convention. I haven't been to a convention in several years, but this one seemed too good to miss - we'll be able to hear both Ken Ham and Voddie Baucham speak, as well as lots of others, and of course, feast our eyes on the wide variety of vendors! My first experience at a convention was totally overwhelming, but now that I've got a good few years under my belt, as well as a solid view of our curriculum choices, I think it's going to be just plain FUN! And many of our friends from church will be there, too, so we're likely to run into a few folks we know, which always makes things nicer.

Well, if anyone is around who still reads my boring old blog, thanks for stopping in! Maybe one day soon I'll be able to get back on the ball. For now, I'll drop a note whenever I can!

Rachel's (Home) Birth Story

I apologize for taking so long to finally type this up. Go figure, life with 5 boys and a newborn is keeping me busy ;-) So... as for the details of Rachel's birth - here it goes! Just a warning, though - it's a bit long!

My due date with Rachel was January 29. My parents came to stay with us to help with the kids the week before, and were planning on staying about 10 days. Well... January 29 came and went. It was the very first time I'd ever seen my due date and still been pregnant! I was trying to keep a positive outlook, but when you add up all the people who were staring at me all day long (Michael, the boys, my parents...) and asking if I were in labor yet... it wasn't always easy!

Two things my midwife had mentioned had stuck with me - that babies tend to come on new moons, and that low pressure systems (storms) tend to bring babies, too. I checked the calendar and saw that the new moon was Wednesday, February 2. As I watched the weather, it also happened that a low pressure system was coming through that day, as well! So I started telling people that I thought Wednesday would be the day (half jokingly, but totally hopefully!).

Sure enough, Wednesday early morning, a little after midnight, I woke up to use the bathroom and noticed I was having some uncomfortable back pain. I took notice of it and went back to bed. I woke up about an hour later with the same feeling and knew it was the beginnings of labor! Knowing it was still really early, though, I went back to bed to get some more sleep. At about 3:30, I woke up, and couldn't get back to sleep. Instead, I got up and starting walking around and timing contractions. They were coming every 6-8 minutes! After about an hour, I woke Michael up and told him that it was the day! He wanted to me to call Debbie (my midwife) just to "put her on alert", so I did, and she said to call when we thought she should come over. After that, I tried to get more sleep, but discomfort and excitement didn't allow me much.

Another hour went by (it was 5:30 am or so by this time), and contractions were coming every 4-6 minutes, so we decided to start making official notifications. We called Debbie back, who said she was on her way, and I called my friend Jennifer, who I had invited to come to be a part of things, and we woke up my parents. There was lots of excitement! We had already had the pool I wanted to use for labor inflated, so we started filling it with nice hot water. We ran out of hot water when it was about halfway full, so we heated some pots of water on the stove to add to it. And, yes, we joked about having to boil water to have a home birth! ;-)

Debbie, her apprentice Whitney, and Jennifer all arrived, and there was lots of chatter and joking. Even though the contractions were coming more frequently, the intensity of pain hadn't gotten too bad (meaning, I was still smiling and being friendly, lol!). Here's Debbie checking the baby's heartbeat, notice my happy face?


(I wanted to jump in here really quickly and say that there's something to having some female company during birth. Michael is a great, great labor partner - he keeps me comfortable and keeps me laughing, but having a woman who has been through it before herself is such an added benefit! I really appreciated having Jennifer there, acting as an unofficial doula! She helped me keep my mind off of things, and when labor finally kicked into high gear, was so encouraging! My mom was also great - she helped keep the kids occupied for a bit, and then held my hand (or, was in my death grip) for the actual delivery. She wasn't sure she wanted to actually witness the birth at first, but when the time came, she was brave!)

Eventually, time became a bit of a blur, but at sometime after 8, there was a change. I had to use the bathroom, and when I sat down, a really hard contraction hit me - I had to moan through it and it felt like it lasted forever!! I knew transition was happening, and sure enough, the contractions picked up to about every 2 minutes, and some lasted nearly that long, too! I was having to moan through them, and my "labor support team" took turns rubbing my back as I leaned over my exercise ball. I decided I'd better get into the tub before it was too late, so I told the midwives that's what I'd be doing, and got in. The hot water felt SO good! And it immediately took away my back pain, too. I'm not going to lie, though - the contractions were still painful! See my "not so happy" face?


Once in the pool, I knew I wasn't going to get out. I had been on the fence about having a water birth - I had heard great things about it, but hadn't really decided that was what I wanted until that point. I had a few more contractions, and then suddenly, while I was kneeling and leaning over the side of the pool, I felt the baby drop! It was such an interesting sensation - in all of my hospital births, I've never experienced the "urge to push" - I always pushed whenever the nurses, midwife, OB, whoever, said I could. So allowing my body to be the one to tell me was amazing! There was one more contraction and I felt the baby about to crown... another contraction, and her head was out! My water broke at that point, although I couldn't tell. One more contraction, and I had to work hard to get her shoulders out, and then... she was in my arms! Michael and I looked right away to see who our new baby was...


And were SHOCKED!!! to see that she was... a she! Shocked really doesn't even describe it, actually. Amazed, delighted, awe-struck, stunned, thrilled... so many emotions all at once! I honestly never truly thought it was possible! The room was filled with tears, shouts of joy, excited exclamations... it was beautiful!

One very elated Daddy!

After a few minutes, I decided I wanted to get out of the pool (I'm going to interject here and share something that I've never seen or heard anyone else talk about when it comes to the whole waterbirth thing. There is, what I call, a "mess factor" involved. Birth is messy. It can be gross. Sitting in water in that mess - definitely a little gross for my taste. During labor I didn't care. Once it was all said and done, though, I wanted out! So there you have it, the plain truth from my perspective. Would I do it again? Absolutely! But just so y'all know, there was a definite yuck aspect to it.).

I got dried off and into my nice, warm bed. I tried nursing her, and she latched on right away and has been a great nurser from the very start! Then, Michael and I cuddled up together to get to know our little daughter.

After a little while, I was able to get up and take a shower while everyone passed around the baby and took pictures.

My mom and Rachel

Jennifer and Rachel

At that point, too, the sheets were changed, so my nice clean self was able to climb back into my nice warm bed with nice clean sheets. Heaven!

The kids came in right after that and were over the moon to meet their new sister. Isaac has been wanting a sister since, oh, about 4 babies ago, so he was almost in tears, and literally jumping up and down and shouting about how excited he was! It was so awesome, lol!

Judah, especially, is in love with her. He asks about her whenever she's not in the room, and is so gentle and sweet with her. I can't wait to see how close they'll be as they grow up together.

The midwife did the newborn exam while all the kids were in the room, and I loved being able to watch everything she did, and listen to her explain everything she was doing. The whole time, Rachel was quiet and peaceful. In fact, I don't think she cried at all for the first 3 hours of her life!

Rachel's in there! It's how she was weighed!

The homebirth experience was really everything I had hoped it would be. The best part is, Michael really enjoyed it, as well. He had said from the time he agreed to allow me to have a homebirth that it was a gift to me, because I wanted it so badly. Now, he's fully on board and told Debbie himself that we'd be calling her again for any future babies! I've also overheard him telling others about how great it was and how we'll do it again... awesome!! I truly never, ever thought I'd see the day!

The 8 of us!

I am so thankful to the Lord for our new, healthy, beautiful addition, Miss Rachel Susannah! She is already cherished and adored by all of us! :-)

Worth the Wait

Introducing our first daughter!!!!!

Rachel Susannah

Born February 2, 2011 (4 days late)
9:25 am
Born perfectly in every way at home and in the water!

8 pounds and 21 inches

Needless to say, we are are thrilled to pieces - not to mention a little shocked!
Who ever thought a girl would finally join the family?!
I'll post more pictures and the birth story soon!
Meanwhile, we're enjoying her sweetness and the overflow of pink coming into the house ;-)

Waiting...

I've got only 12 days until my due date. If this baby were Ezra, it would be here by now! Everything is ready. I've gotten all my supplies together, did a test run with the birth pool, the midwife has come by the house to make sure she knows where everything is... and now we just wait!

The odd thing about this pregnancy is that normally by now I'm on pins and needles, waiting, waiting, waiting, feeling like the next few weeks will be torture! But this time around, it feels differently. I don't feel this impending sense of anticipation - in some ways, I don't feel close to giving birth at all! Yes, I'm HUGE, and yes, I'm running to the bathroom all the time. Braxton-Hicks are my constant companion, while sleep is not... but I feel good, have energy, am not too sore, and my spirits are up. I haven't hit that "end of pregnancy" exhaustion wall (at least not yet, lol!). I'm at peace.

I find myself very contemplative - I look at my calendar and wonder "which day will it be?". I find it fascinating that one day I will wake up and that day will be the day a new life joins our family - and that, for now, I have no idea when that is! The more I think about the upcoming labor, the more I marvel at God's design and the beauty of new life. And I remember, too, that the birth isn't THE event. A new child is coming! A new baby to nurse, diaper, cuddle, soothe - a new person who will grow and soon be running around with the rest of us, chattering up a storm, introducing us to their own personality and quirks. I love getting to know my children!

What a blessing life is, from the giver of all good and perfect things, the Creator of life itself!! I am overjoyed and thankful, and relying on Him during this soon-to-be-over time of waiting. He is certainly my strength and my peace, for which I am ever thankful!

(Oh, and don't forget to enter a guess in our baby pool! Thank you to all who have voted so far, it is so fun to see what everyone thinks! Interestingly, there is one date that no one has picked at all yet... hmmmm...)

Want to Play?

I've started an online baby pool for friends, family, and blog readers to take a gander at when #6 will make his or her appearance! My official due date is January 29 - will this one come early, like all the rest? Or throw things off a little and take his or her sweet time? What about gender - are we in for boy #6, or will we need to do some shopping for pink things?

The pool also has a place to enter a guess at weight, length, and even time of birth! Please feel free to join in the fun... and I'll have a little gift for whoever gets the closest!

Just for some background, here are my babies' stats (although, I admit I don't remember anyone's length, sorry!)

• #1 - 8 days early, 7 pounds, 6 ounces, born at 5:56 pm,
• #2 - 12 days early, 6 pounds, 10 ounces, born at 10:48 am
• #3 - 3 or 4 days early, 8 pounds, 3 ounce, born at 5:50 pm
• #4 - also 3 or 4 days early, 7 pounds, 7 ounces, born at 9:56 am
• #5 - 10 days early, 7 pounds even, born at 9:55 pm

And, of course... they've all been BOYS! ;-)

So, what do you think? Click on the banner above or in my sidebar to place your vote, and feel free to leave a comment here, too!

Once baby comes, I'll enter in the information and the Baby Pool will automatically generate whose guess is the closest - I'll post the winner here after the birth announcement!

Thanks for playing!!

Preparing

A few friends have asked what I am doing in order to prepare for a homebirth. Actually, there's not a whole bunch that I need to do! While having a homebirth is slightly more preparation on our part (rather than simply packing a bag and driving to the hospital), it is really not very complicated.

My midwife has a list of supplies we need to have on hand - many of them are common, everyday type items, such as juice, hydrogen peroxide, washcloths, and such. There is also a Birth Kit which is ordered from a specialty website, and that has all of the supplies the midwife needs, such a chux pads, cord clamps, rubber gloves, etc. I have to wash and prepare sheets, towels, the baby's clothes, diapers, and receiving blankets. I'm attempting to get extra food on hand in the freezer, so that food is readily available to my midwives, helpers, and me! after the baby is born.

Some friends of ours loaned us a birth pool, and while I'm not set on a waterbirth, I think it will be a wonderful luxury to labor in the pool - I've never labored in water before and I've heard nothing but awesome things about it! So we're trying to figure out the best place to set it up, and then we're going to do a trial run of inflating, filling, and draining the pool just to make sure it all works like we'll need it to!

All of this might seem like a lot more extra work, but it really isn't. And what work and organization it does require is good for me as I tend to get very antsy during the last few weeks - I'm terrible at waiting! So it is very nice to have projects for me to be working on.

Physically, I'm doing my own preparing by drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea and taking Evening Primrose Oil to help get my body ready for labor. I'm doing lots of squats and stretching, trying to make sure I drink enough water and get enough rest. Those are things I do before every labor, anyway, because I've found them to be so beneficial.

I find I'm having to prepare mentally, as well. After 5 hospital births, the reality of this being a homebirth is still sinking in! I am so relieved that we will not have to be trying to determine when to leave for the hospital, what to do about childcare, and endure a car ride while in labor! But it also means I have to be confident and comfortable with this decision. After desiring a homebirth for so long, that hasn't taken much effort, but since it will be a new and totally different experience than what I've been used to, the excitement of wondering what it will be like can be overwhelming sometimes! I'm *so* looking forward to finding out what it is like.

The only thing left for me to do is... wait! I'm officially "full-term" (37 weeks) as of tomorrow, but I know that doesn't mean baby is coming soon - it could still be another 3 or even 5 weeks! So we're chugging along with school, trying to keep up on housekeeping and organization, and waiting on the Lord's timing for when our new family member will arrive. We're all so excited and can't wait to meet this little one!

Why Homebirth?

When I tell others that we have decided to go ahead with a homebirth, I get many different reactions. I have friends and family who are extremely supportive (some who have had homebirths themselves, others who would want to, and then friends who are just supportive despite their own opinions), friends and family who don't really understand why I'd even want to try something like that, and others still who are completely against the idea. I can understand each position, especially the last two, as homebirth is something rather "against the grain" - considering less than 1% of women in America deliver their babies at home.

So, I wanted to go ahead and address some of the reasons I've desired a homebirth for so long, and am excited that we will be having one!

Unlike some who are pro-homebirth, I have, thankfully, never had what I would consider a bad birthing experience in the hospital (although Joel's birth was one that definitely changed my perspective on things in a lot of ways). I've always been able to deliver without medication, without excessive intervention, and the outcome has always been a healthy baby and mama, of which I am extremely thankful to the Lord for.

However, with each pregnancy and delivery, I've felt more and more as if things could actually be... different. Better, even. Natural, rather than medical. Peaceful rather than rushing to get to the hospital, being poked, prodded, questioned, monitored, told what I could and (mostly) could not do. With each child I've had, the hospital has felt more and more like a battlefield rather than a birthplace.

With this upcoming baby, Michael and I were going over our "list of things we don't want done" (this list has grown and been added to as we've continued to research the "standard procedures" of hospitals and their actual purpose and safety)... such as:

• mandatory IV or IV port
• limited laboring and pushing positions
• restricted eating and drinking during labor
  
• clamping the umbilical cord right away
• pitocin after birth to help expel placenta
• tugging at umbilical cord or pushing on uterus to help expel placenta
  
• newborn Hep B vaccination
• newborn eye ointment
• newborn Vitamin K shot
• any separation of mother and baby at all while in hospital
• constant (every 2 hour) wakings at night to check vitals and such

All of these things are considered part of the package deal when delivering at a hospital, yet all of them carry their own risks that patients are not even informed of! It was not until I started asking "why" to these things, and doing my own research, that I discovered the risks, as well as the more natural ways that God has put into place to accomplish what the hospital is trying to do artificially.

As you can see, there are alot of things we'd be "fighting the system" on - which gets exhausting and stressful, at times, and there are certain things hospitals and doctors just DO anyway, citing policy, regardless of the patient's desires about it.

That's when the casual mention of homebirth came up... and the rest is history!

I'd like to address the biggest concern I hear about homebirth - and that is the issue of safety. While there are many studies out there that are available proving that birth at home for women who are not considered "high-risk" is just as safe (if not safer) than birth in a hospital for the same group (if you are curious, just Google it!), I'd like to share my personal conviction about birth in general, and why I am comfortable pursuing a homebirth.

I have always, from the beginning of my first pregnancy, believed deeply that birth is natural. I believe that God designed and created the female body specifically with the ability to nurture, grow, and ultimately deliver babies. Just as digestion is a natural process that God gave the body the ability to do, so is birthing. Granted, since we are now in a fallen world, there are times that pregnancy and birth can have complications. There are times when our digestive systems can have complications. For both situations, it is a blessing to have good medical care available to help solve these problems. For that reason, I am not "anti-hospital".

However, with digestion, I do not make sure I am at the hospital every time I eat "just in case" something goes wrong. I trust my body to do what it needs to do. The same with birth - I do not feel the need to be in a hospital every time I have a baby "just in case" there are complications, which (praise God) I have yet to have. An experienced midwife has the knowledge and skill needed to assist birth without requiring all of the "routine" interventions that hospitals require "just in case". And, an experienced midwife will also have the knowledge and skill to recognize when a complication has arisen and a mother or baby *is* in need of a hospital's care, and will know when to make that call. Rarely (although popular media likes to portray it differently) is birth an "emergency" situation!

In fact, it can be argued that taking a low-risk woman to the hospital to give birth actually introduces more risks than if she were to stay home to deliver. Interestingly, although America's homebirth rate is very low compared to other developed countries, our maternal and fetal death rates are extremely high in comparison! That's an interesting statistic to really take a look at. The hospital has unfamiliar germs, and many of the interventions that are considered routine in the hospital setting (some of which I listed above) easily lead to more interventions, which can lead to a complete interruption of the natural labor cycle, leading to further interventions that can result in a longer, more difficult labor, fetal distress, or even Cesarean section. Although C-sections have become more "normal" in today's world, that doesn't negate the fact that a C-section is serious surgery, with its own risks and recovery issues.

For those who are personally concerned with my choice, the midwife we have chosen is well-experienced. She is certified nationally as a Certified Professional Midwife as well as through the state of Tennessee. She has delivered over 2000 babies in over 30 years. She is also very active in midwifery activism, which means she understands her reputation is valuable - she will not take unnecessary risks! I trust her abilities as well as her judgment. Also, in case a transfer to the hospital does become necessary, I am preregistered and my previous maternal care provider is aware of the situation. My bases are covered, so to speak.

A movie I highly recommend regarding the issue of maternity care in the United States and the safety of homebirth is The Business of Being Born. It is available through DVD or Watch Instantly on Netflix, as well as YouTube (broken into 10 segments). The documentary is very well done, although I must give the warning that there are graphic birth scenes (ie. nudity) so discretion must be taken when watching it with little ones around.

I also really enjoyed the book "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth"... some of the birth stories highlighted are a bit "hippy" for my taste, but as far as addressing natural birth, the safety of homebirth, and well as natural ways to deal with things that come up during labor and delivery - the book is a wealth of information. I recommend it as reading for all pregnant mamas, even if you're not interested in homebirth! Its that good.

Hopefully this clears up a few of the questions or concerns I've received about why I've longed for a homebirth. I'll be posting more as the time grows closer, about things I'm doing to prepare as well as more thoughts - I have lots of them! ;-)

7 Quick Takes Friday - Vol. 3

Over the past month, we celebrated two birthdays and have three more coming up in the next month! Mine was first :-) The day after Thanksgiving I celebrated my 31st birthday with Michael and the boys, and it was a wonderful, relaxing day. My big gift was a digital picture frame! I've always wanted one, but it was never one of those things I'd actually buy for myself, so it was the perfect gift. To be honest, though, I haven't even set it up yet - I have waaaaay too many pictures to go through and its really hard to narrow it down to my favorites! Speaking of pictures, here's one of me and the boys (goofy faces and all!) on my special day:

The next birthday in our house was another big one - Isaac turned 10!! It is so weird to think I have a child that is a decade old, into the double digits. He's growing soooooo fast! I think its going to be great, though - even though the challenges change as age increases, the blessings do, too. Isaac is such a helper, taking initiative to take care of things he sees needs to be done, and always eager to assist when asked. He's a voracious reader, and his appetite for books is hard to keep up with! While still young and carefree, his maturity is starting to peek out, and its such an awesome thing to think about what kind of young man he's quickly becoming. Here's his happy mug shot on the big day!

You know I've posted before about Motivated Moms and how much I love their inexpensive, easy-to-follow chore lists. Well... exciting news for those who are in the high-tech world, they've now come out with a Motivated Moms app for iPhone!! It looks so cool - the very features I wish I had on my paper list is available through the app - deleting tasks that don't apply, moving tasks to different days, that sort of thing. Here's a bit more info if you want specifics! The sad thing is, I don't own an iPhone. So for me, I'll be sticking to the regular pdf version for now, which is fine, since it has worked great for the past two years I've used it. But I can always dream of how fun it would be to have an iPhone and the new app!

School is going really well! I still love Sonlight, and we're finishing up our 16th week - already almost halfway done! My hope is to make it to 20 weeks before baby arrives, and then take a month or so off for some rest and recovery time. My biggest mistake is always trying to do too much too soon after a baby, which just ends up with me being exhausted, irritable, and burned out, so hopefully we can avoid that this time. Its been tricky trying to juggle our main curriculum choices with all of the neat things we've been able to review, but I'm practicing "going with the flow" and it seems to be working. All in all, this school year has been one of the easiest, most relaxed, but also productive, yet!

Speaking of homeschooling, I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but one of the reasons I love it so much is purely a selfish one - I *love* learning. And learning right along with my children is all the more awesome. I have discovered so much that I knew but had forgotten, or just never knew, by homeschooling. One thing that I've been loving is this year's science - Apologia's Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology. Wow! I am so enjoying learning more about the amazing human body that God has created and given us! This week we've started on the cardiovascular system, and here's a fun project we're making to help us understand the components on the heart a little more:

Ok, so it doesn't look exactly like a heart, but come on, how can colored frosting, graham crackers, and marshmellows NOT be fun? And everytime I walk past our creation, I find myself repeating what the different parts are - "atria, ventricles, pulmonary veins..." (Oh, and for those who have noticed, yes, there are important parts missing - we are finishing it up a little at a time!) It is just so exciting to me to be learning this stuff! I don't know where my brain was during high school anatomy, but I'm absorbing all this stuff like a sponge. I love it!

I love this!

(HT: Fish in My Hair)

I've saved the biggest and (for me!) most exciting news for last, as a reward for those who make it this far ;-) Over the past few weeks, after much prayer and discussion, Michael has agreed that this baby can be born in the comfort and intimacy of our home!!! I have desired a homebirth for at least the past 3 pregnancies, but he has always been reluctant. I resolved not to ever nag him or try to manipulate the situation and had pretty much given up on the idea (although the desire never died). Out of the blue, I mentioned it in a casual comment a few weeks ago, and that opened up the discussion. He agreed to meet with a Certified Professional Midwife that lives nearby, and after the meeting spent another two weeks in alot of thought and prayer... and finally told me YES! I was floored, to say the least. And I'm so happy that the decision came about on his own accord, not because of any nagging, manipulating, or driving him crazy that I did. The years of my patient silence actually paid off, and I can't wait! It is making the arrival of our newest little one all the more exciting, if that's even possible. You can be sure you'll be hearing (reading) more about this new development over the next few weeks!

That's about it at our house lately! Thanks for stopping by :-)