All I do is Update anyway...

After some thought, we decided to disconnect from our internet and go to cell phones only. This will save us a fairly significant amount of money each month and considering our rural phone company doesn't have competition (other than cell phones), prices aren't cheap on internet service around here.
It is with deep regret that my blogging days will be very few and I'll probably just be updating when I can (no deep posting, to my regret) until we decide to reconnect with the world wide web again (if a good deal becomes available).
So, for a smallish update....
We had a very busy summer, and a fast one at that. We thoroughly enjoyed church activities such as youth camp and our annual campmeeting, both held at our church. We gardened this year, as usual, having a nice harvest of corn, a reasonable harvest of green beans and even a successful bout of tomatoes (although not enough to can or make sauce). We even took a nice vacation to the beach at the end of August and had a great time (maybe next time I can upload some pictures of our vacation/summer).
At the beginning of summer we announced to our family/friends that our FIFTH baby was on the way! After some complications (the loss of a twin) and some worries, I am now great with child (in my 25th week) and it looks like another 10 pound BOY will join us late December.
The kids are all doing great, in their 3rd week of school and we are honestly having a great school year. The Lord has really helped me to be able to plan our days effectively and given me a sense of peace about the rest of our days happenings. The two littles play and manage well while we do school. I'm really enjoying it and am managing to stay pretty organized with our schooling. Maybe it's the pregnancy? :) I'm already nesting...cleaning out my fridge top to bottom, cleaning out WAY overdue kitchen cabinets, decluttering (nothing like a successful yard sale to motivate one to declutter again). :)
We have just planted a few things for the fall--turnips, collards, kale, spinach, broccoli, lettuce, and a few fall flower seeds to the mix. :) Maybe, just Maybe my 2nd trimester energy will hold through until the third.
My littlest just turned TWO last week and she is such an absolute JOY! I figure I will end up with 15 kids because I just enjoy each child at each stage so much that I sure dread the day when I have no more two year olds!! :) I will try my hardest to update a picture of my sweet two year old mess! :)
Well, that is all for now. If I still have readers/commenters (can't blame anyone for leaving), I will try to blog once weekly if possible. :) I learn so much from my blog friends and feel you are a vital tool to my spirituality and general well being. :)
God Bless richly!

Bittersweet Milestones...

A soft whine escapes her lips as she drinks from the silicone nipple. Too rough, too cold.

She shakes her head, no, and sinks into my chest.

She wallows around, trying to get into a comfortable position.

A familiar position.

She looks up at me, sweetly, those big eyes gleaming, "Mama?"

"What, baby?"

"Nilks?"

Gone-gone

She settles down into my chest again, seeming to be wide awake.

It would have been easier if she would've just started kicking and screaming.

Mama?

What, baby?

Nilks?

The time has come.

It is a bittersweet moment.

This morning, she awakes, goes and gets her cup, drinks a bit and looks at me curiously.

She's hungry right away.

We have pancakes, early, before any of the others rise. She and I.

Now she is dancing on the table.

Silly girl.

Silly Big girl.

My Dearest Bella...

Turns ONE today!

This little girl brings sooo much joy to our home. What a sweet bundle of joy she is!

Happy Birthday, Ella Bella!

This & That

I guess I have been in a sort of blogging funk for a couple of weeks, but I think it mainly boils down to my not getting up early enough to blog and not taking the time to blog during the day.

My best times to blog are in the early morning when all is quiet. If I blog any other time in the day, it’s stolen time. Time from my housework duties or time from being teacher/mom.

Ella has been in a thing where she is in bed with us every morning during the time I would get up, nursing away. I know this phase will pass soon enough, probably sooner than I will want it to, really.

More and more I find that I am becoming content with the current size of my family. I honestly believe this is the right way for us in determining our family size. I haven’t felt this way with any of my babies (and not that Ella is a terrible baby or anything—she’s absolutely wonderful), but normally I would be already thinking about the next baby. Nowadays, it seems my thoughts are more focused on getting my family raised. Getting them raised right. Helping them grow up in the ways of the Lord. Enjoying them. My current children.

Well, I haven’t put my baby clothes in a yard sale or anything and I haven’t said we won’t have number 5, but I’m more content than ever with my family. And I’m more than happy to let the Lord lead me in that area just as good as any other area of my life. :)

Well, I said this would be This & That, so topics will be very random, I’m sure.

Our Garden is coming along hugely, I mean, nicely, and I have taken some pictures to show you in a Garden Tour post for the future. We have several rows of peas, corn, one really long row of potatoes (we already have our first pickins’), string beans, okra, tomatoes, and even banana peppers. I really love gardening and while tasks like hoeing are very time consuming, I love harvesting and even shelling peas and putting them up. This year I am going to put up more canned items..Fig preserves, Muscadine Jelly, Pear Jelly/Relish, etc…

My Piano Recital is tomorrow night and I’m really looking forward to my first Piano Recital. My students have been practicing hard and I can’t wait for them to shine. Each student is playing two pieces and I have five participating (one can’t come…), so it shouldn’t last but maybe 30 minutes. I am having a small reception for them afterwards. We are taking the summer months off from piano lessons/guitar and I’m really looking forward to having free Thursday evenings/nights. I know I’ll be ready for the extra money to start back up in September. ;)

We are still doing school. We didn’t start until mid-late Sept because of Ella’s arrival, so we are late finishing up. Last week, I had Em double up on Math and this week we are supposed to be doubling up on Language, but so far because of the things mentioned in one of the below paragraphs, we haven’t done any Language this week.

Speaking of school, I know I have mentioned before, but we love reading here at our home. We love to read aloud to the children and enjoy the books as much as the kids do. A few years ago, I discovered this website of book recommendations: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html. I ordered the first 2 or 3 books on the 4-6 reading level and read them to the kids. This was pre-Emory-reading. The other day, I discovered that book list in my Home Management Binder and I got excited about reading some of the books on the list. I ordered, The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck, Bright April by Marguerite de Angeli, and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Brink. We have finished The Big Wave and I’ve started on Caddie Woodlawn with Erin (she begs for more chapters—think “Little House” series). Truly one of the great parts of Homeschooling for me is reading great literature together. What are you currently reading aloud in your home?

We’ve had a bit of sickness in our home lately, but God has given us strength to make it through it. I had two bouts of Mastitis, then I have had 2 sinus infections within a month. Monday evening, Evan woke up with a really high fever, complained with a sore throat, and vomited before bed. Ella woke up in the night with a high fever. I very rarely take my kids to the doctor (I have my reasons for avoiding the dr.) but I knew Evan had Strep Throat from his symptoms. I wasn’t sure about Ella, but if she had it, I knew things wouldn’t be good with her being so little. She checked out okay, but is still running fever this morning. I guess she is just fighting off getting strep? Anyway, I know things could be worse, but I am ready to be well.

Overall, life is happening. I am busy trying to keep my home tidy, washing/hanging out clothes, cooking, & caring for little ones. All with trying to give my honey some attention, but not really the amount he deserves. :/

I’ve been enjoying reading your blogs. My current favorite blog from my blog list is Katy’s from Country Blossom. She has such a sweet spirit and I love to read about her days. She has some good archives too. Check her out.

May your day be filled with God’s love and your daily life be led by His Spirit. :) :)

Good things…

Since I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my mastitis relapse or my awful migraine I had last night, I thought I would post about some good things. I can complain any ole day, right?

Well, first things first. My ultimate good thing is in fact, not a thing, it is a he and it’s him:

My baby daddy :)

Last week was our poorer than an Ethiopian cat week (aka the end of the month) because we are at the end of our budget. I decided it would be in our best interest for me to not run out and buy diapers, so I pulled out my 7 year old cloth diapers. I did cloth dipes in the day and sposies at night. I liked it so well that I bought the small pkg of diapers when we did go shopping and I’ve done cloth dipes this week as well! Here is Ms. Almost 8 mth old in her cloth dipe:

And a Tush view:

Must be nice to have a Patriotic Heiny, right? I mean, Luvs don’t have nothing on a 4th of July Heiny!

My wonderful MIL ate with us on Sunday which is rare (shame on us!) because we love going to her house so much. This, of course, has nothing to do with her being a wonderful cook. Absolutely nothing. And nothing to do with the fact that my kids will throw a fit with the best of ‘em when a Sunday trip to Gran-Gran’s is interrupted.

I’m sure my MIL noticed I mentioned to my MIL that I did not currently (post-kids) own a set of matching dishes, complete with saucers, cups, etc. I was planning to keep an eye out at yard sales for a cheap reasonably-priced set. Monday evening, she brings over this set for me to have:

and

Eat your Heart (er, plate) Out!

And, Amy, don’t be too jealous and all because I was really desperate for dishes. Seriously. And you know you’ll get all the first-rate antique plates. And crystal. And stuff. Okay, feeling better? :)

I have been a terrible mother. I have failed to tell you about the latest member of our family. As if. Meet Dixie:

Okay, she deserves another picture:

She is a Border Collie and very smart. And very much an outside dog now. Sorry, Dix, I just got too comfortable with just having one baby in diapers.

I don’t have any pictures, but May 1st officially meant Time to Go Swimming for our family. The kids AND dad went swimming and 10 minutes later, dad was drying off, teeth chattering, and well, the kids were still hard at it. Nothing phases kids. Not even sub-zero water temps.

Time for Mom to hand over the computer for Wednesday is Movie Day at our house. I’m about to bake some Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies and that’s a good great thing.

*Special thanks to Martha Stewart for her That’s a Good Thing quotes. Not that she’ll be reading this blog. In this decade. Or in my lifetime. Okay. Ever.

Feminine Friday

Okay, post yo’ Feminine Self!:)

I sorta cheated and had my son take a pic of me after church Wednesday night. I love this top…it is so feminine and comfortable. :)

PS I will announce the winner of my giveaway hopefully tonight or in the morning…grocery shopping today…all day.

I would LOVE for you to link up!!

with Ella….

YOUR turn….:)

Budgeteer couldn't get her link to work, so I'm going to post her pic for her. Doesn't she look feminine and lovely? Thanks for sending the picture, Leslie! :)

I’ve gone to bed with a heating pad..

Doesn’t that sound romantic? :) Yesterday started out wonderful because my Super Dh was off for some Holiday (Confederate Memorial?) and we loooove to have Daddy home with us.The day was spent doing some outside chores..cutting grass, weed eating, working on scraping boards for our bathroom remodeling project, with the kids playing outside all day long.

In the evening, I begin to notice that my breast began to get extremely sore (sorry, male readers!) and I started getting really chilled. By nightfall, I knew the diagnosis for the all-to-familiar-feeling: mastitis. I began to take the proper steps for optimal comfort: a grand-sitter, an hour long bath, a heating pad, an enthusiastic baby, and lots of rest. Oh, and an ibuprofen.

So, here I lay (lie?) with the heating pad still going and the chills still happenin’. I’m waiting on my mom to bring me a few natural remedies from the health food store, which include high doses of Vitamin C and Echinacea Root Tincture. And let’s not forget whole cloves of garlic for me to ingest. I’m all about swallowing raw garlic on a regular basis, you know.

So now you know the scoop regarding my love affair with my heating pad. It’s a Burnin’ love.

Fabulous Feminine Friday

Well, thank the Lord it is Friday. As you have read, I have been really sick this week and as of right now, it is truly a miracle that I haven’t broken a rib from all the coughing I continue to do. Ugh. I have felt so weak (sorry, folks, it’s my blog and I have a right to tell you my complaints) that I’m just wondering around with a baby on my hip trying to do something but not really get anything done, yk? Ella is 7 months and not walking, but not crawling really well, so I’m having (choosing to over her crying…i.e. spoiling) to hold her a lot.

Anyway, I can still be sick and by Feminine!! :)

Here I am today:

There is a reason this photo is not close up. My face is very puffy and I do not have contacts in therefore I am squinting because I have Matty Eye Syndrome and I lost my glasses and I’m wondering about in a fog and how’s that for a run on sentence?

My shirt is not maternity even though I did wear it when I was 10 months pregnant. :) A black skirt is a modest girl’s MUST have! I think I have 5 black skirts.

Well, cm’on ya’ll and link up today! Link directly to your post so we can see how Feminine and how lovely I’m sure you look! :)

God Bless!

My Morning..Monday

Well, ladies, I had to choose Monday for the day I will showcase. Most Mondays, here, are probably similar at your house. Just another manic, frantic, madhouse, laundry-killing, getting-back-in-the-mode Monday.

The day started out early. Very early. 4:14 to be exact. Rocking the baby. Laying her down. Three times to be exact. Her waking up all three times. A zillion thanks to my dear husband for getting up and rocking her with his magic touch. Oh, did I mention the rocking took a solid hour? So, by now, it is well into my prayer time/devotions. I get into the Living Room with my hot cinnamon/apple spice tea (oh, and a, urm…honey bun leftover from some junk food snacks purchased after Sun night church), get into Exodus chapters 10-13 and really enjoy what I’m reading. It is very chilly in the living room, so for my prayer time, I bring up a chair by the heater and begin dozing…uh…I mean, praying. I fall asleep so many times (I promise, it’s not like this always…:) that finally I tell the Lord that I will get back to Him during my many rocking sessions (which make for some great prayer times, btw) and snuggle on the couch (could it have been the honey bun?). I set my timer for 40 minutes and awaken when my dear hardworking, breakfast-deserving, husband comes in the living room, ready to head to work. 7:40. Yipes. I see him off, reluctantly, as usual (I tell him daily, “Just stay home, please?). And thus my day begins!

These messes greet me this morning…

Getting the weekend outta the house, yk?

Youngest son is the first one awake. He even beats Ella. I wonder why? :) She has a reason to sleep in! I put on Smile of a child TV on for him to watch, but he comes in the kitchen to watch me instead. I don’t mind. :) Notice he still has on his Sun Night church clothes. Tell me I’m not the only one who does that occasionally. Whew. Thanks.

He loves to sit in Ella’s Bumbo.

I start a load of towels and washcloths and then begin unloading the dishwasher.

I cook breakfast, which will be toast from this bread made the previous night, and

this…

While breakfast is cooking, I make a quick call to my honey to ask where the checkbook is so I can make the van payment.

At 8:30, oldest son is up and we have breakfast. I started getting the kids up at 8am, but I usually allow them 30 or so minutes. My oldest daughter had had a rough time going to sleep the previous night, so I allowed her until almost 9 to sleep in.

By this time, I have had a few slight discipline issues with youngest son (2.5 yr old) so I’m thinking this is a ‘testing’ day. :) He is very sweet and respectful, but he likes to sneak in a disobedience. For example, if I told him yesterday that I don’t want him standing on the counters, then he will try it the next day to see if I remember. :)

We have our ‘gummies’ and whole food vitamins and some other things as we all have sinus issues going on…

At 9, everyone is up and it’s time to nurse the baby. My oldest daughter doesn’t care much for breakfast, so she chooses not to eat. They sit on the couch with me while I feed the baby and we read our daily Proverbs. Then, they choose another book for me to read. Today it is a book from the Sesame Street Treasury about “Oscar’s Bad Dream”. :)

Oldest son has kitchen duty with me (each day the kids take turns), so he clears the table and sweeps under the table.

At this time, I reboot the laundry, folding as I go. My first batch of clothes folded looks like this:

Ella plays good during this time. She is really a good baby until she is sleepy. She lets ya know when it’s time to rock. :) I make my bed, pick up in the room while Ella plays on the bed. I get dressed and since I’m including every detail with the exception of our bathroom habits (lol), I’ll tell you what I wore. I had a long sleeved brown T-shirt and a straight khaki skirt. It is very cool today. I keep on my house shoes. In fact, here is a pic of Ella and I after I dress her and me:

And, no, I don’t usually fix my hair unless I have to go somewhere. In case you thought it was fixed.

The kids make their beds (my helping the 5 yr old and making the 2 yr olds) and clean their sections (we divide the room into 3 parts and they have to keep their part clean)

I’m not really sure what the kids have been doing during this time, but I think they were just playing imaginary games, you know with their toys and such. They didn’t start school until 12:00, so they were playing during the late morning hours (couldn’t go outside…too cold). Oh yeah, Evan was getting into his sister’s lipgloss. He had it everywhere!

What the living room looks like now:

Get Ella back to sleep for late morning nap around 11:15.

I reload the dishwasher and start it back. I also clear off the counters, wipe them, and sweep. Then I turn off the light in the kitchen (I absolutely love to do this…anyone else?), stand back and admire it being clean. For 30 minutes, maybe. It is 11:45.

My hardworking man comes by to get the computer for a presentation he is presenting to our Homeschool Asso. Chapter on the Parental Rights Amendment. Very proud of him for his speaking out for our parental rights. I didn’t go to the meeting because I just really didn’t want to. It was cold…I just wanted to be home. I don’t go to every one, just about every 3 mtgs. Anyway, we are always glad to have Daddy come by!

Well, that’s all for my morning. Come back to read about my afternoon! :)

Signs of Spring…

I hope you are enjoying the warmer temperatures as I am. One day earlier this week, I went out and took some photos of some signs that spring is on its way. A few signs I didn’t photograph, such as the heaters being in the OFF position, the coals in the fireplace being black, people aren’t huddled under blankets, and we aren’t scurrying around to get socks on our feet before they freeze to the floor.

I also hope you like my new blog look. It can be a real pill to change everything, but I was ready. I’m still not finished with it (must add color somehow to the header), so bear with me, please.

If you are a new follower or reader to my blog, I’m so happy to have you. Leave me a link if I haven’t visited your blog already and I’ll be glad to take a look-sie!

S-P-R-I-N-G: (click on the pictures to enlarge them. If you don't want to, please click on the one of the cutie at the bottom. You won't have regrets.)

Daffodils….

More flowers…(I’m not going to pretend that I know what this is called…)

Is that Laundry on the line?? Be still my heart!

Almost…

Immodest children…lol (oh, and GREEN grass!)

Firewood getting low…

Lilies!

Spring Banner….(yes, handmade)

Let’s get it up close….

And again….

(Sorry, it’s just been that long since I’ve been crafty!)

And last but CERTAINLY not least, Cute, cool-dressed SIX month old babies mean SPRING!

More cuties…pigtails…grins…spring, right?

Now, as I type this it is very chilly outside and in. I have the gas heater going and I can feel things slipping slowly back into the winter mode. However, the Time Change tonight (why, oh, why am I up late) and the fact that it IS March assures me that the cold has to flee sometime! Right?

On Pottytraining a little all along....

When our 7 yr old, Emory, was born, we were sort of clueless about parenting anything other than the 'traditional' methods. Even on disciplining, I really didn't have a clue other than going by what I thought I should do. Thankfully, the Lord rescued me and led us to some wonderful parenting resources and childrearing material. But, that is another post for another time.
When it came time for pottytraining, it was really hard work. Frustrating. Emory was 3 years old, weighed 40 or so pounds and size 6 diapers were getting too tight. Finally, he pottytrained at a month after he turned 3. He would still have occasional accidents on up for months after he trained.
With Erin, 4-year old, she seemed interested in the potty at about 10 months old. She would see her brother use it and the little potty was still in the bathroom at that time. I started sitting her on there before bathtime. She would potty. I think if I had been consistent and hadn't thought she was too young to train, she would've trained at around a yr old. She was trained a couple of months before she turned 2 years old. She even night trained at the same time.
When I was pregnant with Evan (2yr old) I had read articles like this about training babies from birth to go potty. I even bought a book about Elimination Communication (I let a friend borrow the book so I don't remember the title). It was no longer strange to me anymore.
When Evan was 2 weeks old, I put him on the potty. He was so cute sitting on this great big potty, his skin all wrinkled. He went. I just about told everybody. I remember when he was 4 months old, we were sitting at the table eating breakfast. He was in my lap and I heard and felt him starting to grunt. I had just changed his diaper, so I thought, why let him soil this new diaper when I can take him to the potty? So I ran to the bathroom, put him on the potty and he went! I think this was his first poop in the potty. I was stoked. :) It was not his last.
At this time, my mom kept my kids for me while I taught school. She thought the idea absurd and she and my sister concurred that I should just let him be a baby and not try to grow him up so fast. So, I could only take him to the potty during the afternoons and the weekends. This wasn't consistent enough, so I pretty much didn't try any harder than taking him occasionally on the weekends. Even so, he was not scared of the big huge potty when it was time to train. He was comfortable with going on the potty. When it came time to officially train him (I wanted him trained all the way before the new baby came), I put him straight into underwear. He had about 6 accidents the first day (Monday) and from then on that week, he had accidents every day, but they got less and less. By that Saturday, he was telling me when he had to go. He was trained a month shy of 2 yrs old.
Now with Ella, I have stayed home with her from the beginning. I have started out taking her to the potty. Even more so now since she is more agile and has developed muscles in her neck. The first time I put her on the potty, she went. Just like that. It was as if she just knew to go! Amazing. (Sorry, I still have'nt got used to the fact that babies can be potty trained...it still makes me excited). So..even though I haven't totally trained her to NOT go in her diaper, she still goes on the potty every time I take her. She is harder to get on there for poops because she doesn't give me as much of a warning as Evan did. :)
Some books and articles like this one, say to have a special sound you make to train the baby to 'go' when she hears the sound. I haven't been too consistent with that because she just goes as soon as I put her on. :) I have recently started saying 'Shhh' but I think that will be a problem. I need to save 'Shh' for when we are in church and she starts making noise. :)
To sum up, here are some helpful hints for early training (keep in mind, one can be more rigid and it is possible to totally train your child at a very young age, but this is more flexible. My goal is just to get my kids comfortable with the potty and to hopefully develop an early-trained child):
1. From the earliest point possible, take your baby to the potty. You can start off taking the baby with you while you potty. She will learn from your example.
2. Take your baby after each diaper change and before baths. If your baby wakes up and she feels dry, hurry and take her before she pees. Also, you can find success in taking your child about 10 minutes after feeding her.
3. To prevent from having to change so many poopy diapers, take your child at the first sign that she is about to have a bowel movement. Go with the first grunt. :) As weird as it sounds, sometimes I just know when my babies are about to go 'potty'. Go with that intuition.
4. With older training, don't be afraid to go straight to the undies. Pull-ups can be a training child's worst enemy. Don't worry. You won't have to clean up pee and poop more than around 5 or 6 days. :) Then it will be sporatic for awhile. You will be so proud of your little girl or boy. All while the Pull Up wearers will still be peeing and pooping in their Pull Ups! :)
I hope this was helpful. Training doesn't have to be a sudden process. It can be a smooth, easy, and gradual transition.
I mean, how would you feel if all of the sudden, one day, someone place you over this huge hole with the likelihood that you might fall into this big water abyss?
Have a happy, wintry Saturday and Happy Training!

This Little Girl...

has 2 new front teeth...

rolled over from back to front...

loves for you to sing a 'certain' song her Daddy made up for her...

is loved so much

My Lil Ella Bella

Birth Story

The birth of Ella Annabelle....

For several weeks I had been having contractions, but I knew they were not the ones that I would be having during the throes of labor. I have never been in the throes of labor without the help of Mr. Pitocin, so I really wasn't sure of how regular, natural contractions were going to feel like. The Friday night before Ella was born, I experienced pretty strong contractions that were pretty intense in my back. We went to the hospital because, once again, I wasn't sure how mild natural birth contractions were and I wasn't going to fool around getting to the hospital. Once there, I found that I was about 3.75 cm dialated, which was disappointing. I was having regular contractions, but they weren't getting any stronger. The doctor on call was nice enough and she decided to strip my membranes (which had already been done by my midwife earlier in the week) and walk me. This was a terrible combination. I immediately started having severe cramping and still some intense contractions. The cramping was horrible and I wasn't able to walk through them. After an hour, I went back to be checked and there was no change. The doctor sent me home in this awful pain and told me to come back if the pain worsened or if my water broke. I was sure I would be back later on that night because my contractions were so strong. I was near tears because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get back in time if my contractions were going to get worse. However, after we arrived home (and it was SOO good to be home for some reason), I decided to get into the bathtub and I started relaxing some and the contractions slowed. A little after midnight, they pretty much stopped. I realized then that the awful cramping/contractions was just from the membrane stripping. I was relieved that it wasn't labor pains and I would have to let them get 'worse' before going back to the hospital. Saturday and Sunday was pretty noneventful. I was sort of depressed on Saturday and on Sunday I had my family over for soup and fellowship. I was having some pretty strong contractions that night while my family was over. The next day was Labor Day and I woke up having contractions all day at regular intervals. They weren't strong, but they were regular. We went and celebrated at my Grandmother's, spending good time with my family. I pretty much ignored the contractions. At home, I rested for awhile, being lazy and all of the sudden I felt like I had to get up and do something! I was overwhelmed, so I made a list of things that needed doing, cut up them into strips, and would pull a chore out of the 'hat'. This made it fun for me and I started working like a madwoman. Dh took the kids to his moms for a little while and I continued working on my list, washing, folding, sweeping, cleaning the porch, cleaning the van, washing dishes, putting sheets on the bed, etc.... All the while, I was having contractions, regularly. I totally ignored them, focusing on my tasks. After Dh got home, we put the kids to bed and I determined to stay up and put up a few butterbeans and pears that were in the fridge. About 12:30, I finally decided to go to bed. I really didn't know how I would sleep because I was really contracting and this felt like labor. I slept until about 2:10 and finally got up. I got on Facebook for a few minutes and starting timing my contractions via a website I found. It was neat..had a start/stop button. My contractions were every 1-5 minutes. There was definitely a pattern. It was like, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and would start back over. I decided to wake Dh about 3, but then decided to wait until 4. I laid back down for a few minutes, but got back up to wait it out. Finally a little before 5, I decided I would wake Dh at 6 and we would head on over, no matter how I was feeling. I decided to put some clothes in the washing machine and maybe get into the tub until time to go. Contractions at this point were not unbearable, but I would have to stop walking when I was having one. Yes, getting into a hot bath sounded divine. I sat on the edge of the tub and reached down to turn on the water. Immediately I felt something pop inside me. It wasn't my bag of water, but something was different. I turned off the water and the pain from my contractions did a 180. I went into the bedroom, told Dh, "We need to go now", and started throwing on some clothes. I would have to stop doing anything with the contractions. He called his mom and we were in the car by 5:10. The clothes washer hadn't even made it to spin cycle. :) The ride over wasn't terrible, we averaged 80 mph and had the opportunity to pass the slow Joes. I can tell you just about every place I had a contraction. I had the tightest grip on the door handle--I'm sure you can see fingernail marks! When we got there, Dh went in to get a wheelchair (funny how the following Fri night I was not getting into one and this time I demanded one to be brought to the van) and a guy came out and wheeled me in (stopping when I had a contraction). I signed my name to one paper and a nurse wheeled me on up (seeing my urgency). Of course I had to get into my gown (working like a madwoman between contractions) and they hooked me up and checked my dialation. I was between 4 & 5 cm. I was pretty devastated because I knew I did not want to be in pain all the way to 10cm. I started asking for something for pain. The nurse said she would let Dr. S know and that I had to get at least a bag of fluid in before I could get an epidural. Ugh, this seemed like it would take forever, but by the time they wheeled me to the L & D room, put in my IV, asked me some questions,ugh... Oh, this is funny now, but I remember the no personality nurse asking me, in the middle of a contraction, when was my last bowel movement. I didn't say anything because I could.not.talk and she proceeded to ask me again in the same monotone way, when was your last bowel movement? I remember looking helplessly at my Dh, whose hand I am squeezing so unmercifully, and him looking like, "I don't know when it was" and then his looked changed to understanding, "Oh, yeah, you want me to tell her to please be quiet until this passes". :) Before I knew it (thanks to 'anticipating' contractions every 2 minutes), my fluid bag was out and also the antibiotics (GBS +) and immediately Dr. S came in to start the epi (he deserves a golden crown in Heaven!). It takes a while and thanks to my curvy spine, he had to reinsert a couple of times. Finally, the numbness enveloped my legs and ahhhhh, blessed relief. This was 7:30am. I had been in intense pain for 2.5 hours and I hadn't lost control! I was so proud of myself and so was Dh (last time I had asked him, in between my screams, to kill me). I will go ahead and say that I contribute my ability to make it through this time to my husband--he never left my side and allowed me to break his hand through each contraction--and the relaxing environment of the room. I had a great, great nurse that came on duty during shift change and the doctor and midwife were absolutely wonderful!! Nobody was panicky this time and everything was at my own pace.
Okay, now things are progressing, my mom is with me, my granny comes in, and my former pastor and his wife. We chat and chat and before long, it is time for them to check me. I am between 7 and 8 cm. Wow! I'm getting excited. The only bad thing I'm experiencing now is the shakes and itching (allergic to the Fentanyl? in the epi). I have a small bag of waters left (I had been leaking w/ each contraction) so my midwfe gently breaks the bag. Around 11:15, I am ready to begin pushing. My midwife gears up and asks me if there is anything special I would like to be done, like immediately have her placed on my chest, etc. I have never been asked what I wanted before!! I said yes, I did, and I also wanted us to wait until the cord stopped pulsing before cutting. No problem. We start pushing and there is noone saying, "Push, push, push, push, push" while I'm pushing. The nurse just calmly counts to 10 while I push. The head is out after just a few pushes and then she tells me to stop, the baby needs a little suctioning--she has already had a bm. There was no, "We've got to get this baby out NOW" deal like I had last time my baby had a bm while in utero. Everything was calm and relaxed. Next, the shoulders got stuck (shoulder dystocia), but again, there wasn't panic. We all worked together to get the shoulders out. After that, the baby slid out and simultaneously, I felt a huge gush and my stomach go flat. I don't think there is a word to relief like that. Oh, my epi had started to wear (off on the left side) about 15 minutes before pushing, so I did get to feel the actual exiting of the baby. While the nurse and MW cleaned up (they didn't anticipate such a gush of fluid), I got to hold my new baby. Wow! After the cord stopped pulsating, Dh cut it and the baby was taken to the warmer. The MW started to work on delivering the placenta. There was no tugging or pushing down on my stomach or anything to hurry it along. After it came out, I got to see it--which I had never been able to before--and that was amazing.
The baby had to be taken out to be weighed and it took awhile to find out, but we knew she was another big un'. 9 lbs. 7.5oz and 22 & 1/4 inches long. The baby nurse was very slow and they kept her in the nursery wayy too long, one time for over 4 hours, but I think that was the only downside to my birth. After that evening, I had her in my room all the time.
The Lord's hand was all in my birth, from the timing (my MW had not been on call that wk end should I have delivered) , to the health of the baby, being with me through the pain (oh, there had been no anesthesiologist on call the Fr night I had gone in for false labor), and just all around, He was with us. The MW and nurses respected our decisions about no vaxxing and we never had any trouble with that. God was good. God is good.
We now have 4 children, how about that?

'Additional' News

My dear husband has the three oldest children outside and I'm supposed to be sleeping, but it seems I have to take by force my blogging time, so here I am. It has been 2 months since I've put up a blog, and I don't even know if I have any readers now (who likes to read a dead blog?), but I will try to attempt to restart my blog. I decided to change my URL since I have 4 kids now instead of 2. :) Makes sense, doesn't it?
Our newest addition made our family a family of SIX! Can you believe that? It is really unbelievable. We are sooo blessed to have our newest baby, Ella Annabelle, join our family this week, 9/8/09. She was a hefty 9lbs. 7.5oz. and 22.25 inches long. She is a real beauty and we are so in love with her. The kids love her and ask to hold her constantly! I feel that my heart is bursting over with love. Having a new baby is 'just what the dr ordered' for our family. :o)
I will try to get my birth story on here ASAP as it really was a wonderful experience. I'll leave you with a picture of my beauty and then I must go obey my husband and rest....... :o)
Thanks for reading!