Little Adam

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Home Birth

I don't know how many of my readers know that I have my babies at home. Yes, with a midwife. I had a friend ask me one time why I had them at home. In the moment I couldn't really think of a good reason other than because I wanted to.

Now, after Adam, my 4th child, I know why. I have four kids and all of them have been home births. I have had 3 different midwives and this last midwife is probably my favorite.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to write the details of the delivery and share them with the world, but I want a record and typing is much faster than writing in my journal, and gosh dangit, I worked hard to get little Adam here.

My husband and I were watching "The Dark Night" on Friday the 1st. It was about 11:30 and I was dozing in and out of the movie when a contraction happened. At first it seemed more like a period cramp but then quickly moved into contractions. I started silently timing them and by the end of the movie I told my husband that we might be having a baby soon. He smiled and we started talking and timing the contractions. They were about 5 mins apart and lasted about 1 min in length. It's been almost five years since my last baby so I didn't know if that was good or bad.

After about 20 mins of timing the contractions we decided that we were going to get some rest. My three other deliveries were very long in the labor part. Isaac, my 3rd child started a whole 24 hours before he was born so I was expecting the same, but by 2 in the morning the contractions came much harder and I told my husband to call the midwife. I was sitting on my bed and stood up to go to the bathroom and felt as though I might have broken my water (which is another something that never happens with my deliveries) I went to the bathroom to find a bit of blood. Um.... not good I thought... not good at all. Doesn't blood mean placenta previa? Or something scary? I called my midwife she asked some questions and determined the blood was not a bad thing. I hung up the phone, told my husband to call his mom and get her her quick just in case we had to go elsewhere, like to the hospital... After he called his mom I asked him to give me a blessing.

I am very aware of my body and what is going on inside my body. I talk to my hormones, my organs, my brain, my heart, even my emotions. I like to know what is going on inside my body and what I am feeling so I talk to it. During the blessing I began to ask my wonderful organs if it was my placenta that was trying to deliver first. I kept getting told no, so I stopped panicking. My midwife came looked at the blood and told me again she wasn't worried.

From that point everything went like clockwork. We filled up the birthing pool and I started contracting heavily. My husband kept telling me we were going to have the baby by 4. I kept thinking there's no way it probably won't be until 9 or 10 when the kids are up and there is more commotion, but to my wonderful surprise that isn't what happened. During the contractions my midwife was rubbing my back and I was wanting to push. She said the most beautiful thing to me. She reminded me that when I went through the veil in the temple I wasn't pushed, I was took the time I needed to walk through. From that point on I was so much more relaxed.

I'm not sure the time frame at this point, but my husband was sitting outside the pool and I was in it. I told him I wanted him to get in so he ran and got his shorts on. I start having a contraction and he grabs my leg with one leg in the pool and the other leg outside the pool... and then I yell.... "here he comes" (the baby). My husband didn't know if he should get in or stay out. Luckily he listened to the midwife. She told him to get in, during which time the baby is moving straight down my vagina and it hurts like hell. I kept yelling for help and couldn't figure out why no one was reaching in there to pull him out. Guess there are some things you have to do on your on, eh? A couple of pushes and there was his head.....ya... ya... hurts just thinking about it. Then the shoulders, another ouch... then the flop and he was here. My beautiful baby was here.

I found out after I delivered the placenta that the reason I was bleeding was because I had conceived twins and I was trying to deliver the first undeveloped placenta and parts associated with it. The crazy part was at the beginning of my pregnancy I kept thinking I was having twins and people kept asking me, or joking with me that I might have twins.

My midwife was amazing and she took great care of me. If I were to have another I would wish it would be similar to this pregnancy. Overall it was incredible and very relaxed....

Now... my beautiful baby is crying for some attention. Thanks for listening/reading!

Emotional Check

So, um, ya... new baby is doing SUPER! He sleeps great, he is adorable and I want to gobble him up! Of course, I won't because that would be weird, but he is so adorable. He coo's and goo's and, ummm... just beautiful.

Me, on the other hand....pfff.. I'm not near as cute, I don't goo and coo and lately my voice seems louder than normal. What's up with that?

For example, today husband made a wonderful lego table for the boys. It's great, but he started this ball, a ball called once you remove and item the whole bedroom HAS to be cleaned before you can bring the table back in... you can not put new furniture in a messy room, which also means it's time to clean out the toy box, organize the closet, clean under the bed and change the sheets. Why? I don't know, it's just something that you do... isn't it?

Well, the problem was I couldn't talk in my regular nice voice. I was barking orders at the boys, and the husband, only to find out that they were doing what I had originally asked them to do it just wasn't what I wanted them to do because I wanted them to do something else...I know, right? I'm crazy.

All during my pregnancy I was yellow mellow... I went with the flow (for the most part) I could keep my emotions in check, and I didn't raise my voice near as much as I have the last 3 weeks. What's up with that? I want my yellow mellow back... please, somebody, help?

Guess I can always sit and meditate, write down my feelings, all that good healthy crap... but... oh fine, I'll do it!

Baby Is Here!

Finally baby boy #4 entered the world on 1/2/2010. Big sister and big brother love the baby. He's so cute too. He coo's and makes the most adorable noises.

All I did today was hold the baby. My fab Mother In Law cleaned my house, did my laundry, mopped my kitchen floor, cleaned some of the base boards in the kitchen, cleaned out my freezer... she ROCKS I tell ya' just rocks. She likes to keep busy, and lets face it, no matter how clean my house is, or would have been before she came she would still find something to do, so knowing that, I just left it dirty enough that she wouldn't be bored.

I love my MIL! Thanks Mom for all the help!

Hearts it is!

If you noticed I changed my profile background. Ya, that's right! How on top of things am I? Totally!! Actually I figured once the baby got here I'm not sure I would be doing much typing and background changing, so I figured I would do it now.

I think that I am only a couple of days away from bringing this new baby into our lives. What a miracle it is! I was talking to my midwife today about pregnancy, and mojo, and feel good feelings. I've been worried about who's going to be here for the birth, who I want here for the birth, and if there will be to many people. She said babies have a way of bringing who needs to be here, here. So, I'm letting that happen. We actually starting talking about a lot of other things too, but ended up on a conversation about how wonderful this pregnancy has been for me. Let me tell you why.

My first three pregnancies in the first trimester were absolutely horrible. I hated it... I puked, felt sick all of the time, wanted to die rather than continue on, and with my 3 child to the Lord I was done after I had him unless he made me not get sick anymore because I couldn't handle the puking. It is so difficult for me to be sick, because I 1) don't like to be sick and 2) if I am sick have an arsenal of things that make me better in no time. That doesn't work so well with morning sickness.

After I had #3 I went on a journey of cleansing my liver, both physically and emotionally. Your liver is your filter of all things... emotions, crap you put in your body, stuff like that. If it isn't working properly, well, you can guess what happens, you just don't feel good and in my case, I was an extremely angry person especially when pregnant with all three kids. Just onry... I mean go ballistic at the lady that's staring me down in the grocery store onry.

So, cleansing my liver, balancing my hormones was a goal I had, and for the past four almost five years I have been working pretty steadily at doing that. When we finally decided it was time to have #4 I dreaded the morning sickness, except this time... it didn't come with a vengeance. I think that I threw-up one time and was able to function just about normally. I still had a few times of a queasy stomach and acid beyond belief, but I felt tons better.

And... I have been so calm and peaceful I have surprised myself. I know that my emotions have been heightened but I have been in control and calm most of the pregnancy, and to me, I have felt very mellow. Bliss, I tell ya, pure bliss. My midwife even made a comment about how mellow I have been. My husband may not feel the same way, but... he does realize I have been a lot less 'mean' than before.

I discovered that during the four years of cleansing, that livers also process your hormones and if your liver isn't working when you get pregnant you have a harder time dealing with all the progesterone, so, just because I wanted to cleanse my liver I actually helped myself with this pregnancy and the Lord (in a sense) did make me better. Of course, I was the one that had to do all of the work, but let me tell you... it totally paid off!

Now, I am ready to have this baby.... ready, and I think he's ready to come! WOOO HOO!!! I'll let you know when he arrives! Wish me luck!

It's almost Time!!

It is almost time for two wonderful events. Christmas is almost here. I'm excited to see the children react, to feel the love and to play the Wii we bought them for Christmas. Last Christmas all three of the kids got the Chicken Pocks. At first I was really kind of bugged when I found out my son was exposed, but once it happened it was the BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER. When I grew up we were always going somewhere on Christmas day, which wasn't a bad thing because I loved seeing my cousins, but we were always at my Grandma's F.O.R.E.V.E.R.! I had toys to play with, cd players to use, and clothes to wear. Who had time to sit at Grandma's forever. Plus, I always wanted to go to a movie, but rarely could. ... any, getting back to my point here.... the kids came down with the Chicken Pocks and we spent the whole day together in our pj's playing games, watching movies, and eating way to much junk food. It was rad, though.

This year, since I am a week away from having baby, we decided that we won't be going anywhere on Christmas day. Just hubster and the kids home enjoying movies, wii, and loads of other stuff we got for Christmas. We may even go to a movie because, well, it's the bomb!!!

So... that brings me to the second item. It's almost time for this bundle of joy to come into the world. I'm ready. It's getting more and more uncomfortable to do just about anything. My husband is ready because, well, if mom ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, and the kids are getting excited.

We have a couple of names we are thinking about. We like Nathan, Samuel, David, Aaron... and that's all we got. I kind of thought about Adam last night, but that might be to close to my other son's name. I love to see what they look like once they are born and make a decision from that point. It's going to be fun. We will keep you posted, but for now... We are all wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season!

My Brother's Keeper

There have been a few things that have been rolling around my mind lately and I have questions. It's Christmas time and it's generally the time that we feel like we should lend a hand and take care of our brothers and sisters in need. In fact, the LDS church just came out with the fourth mission. Instead of the normal three, the mission statement of the church is now: Proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, redeem the dead, care for the poor and needy?

So, what exactly does that last part mean? I mean really, what does it mean?

There have been a few discussion here and kind of in this post that have really got me thinking about things. I mean, I get the whole idea of caring for those in need, but how do you decipher who is actually in need?

For example, you have a neighbor, friend, or relative that you know is having a difficult time financially, but they still have cable/satellite, 4 cell phones (only 1 needed for work), newspaper delivery, they go out to eat, (often), but yet they complain that Christmas is going to be small this year, and they complain that bill collectors want their money. So, how do you decide if they are in need? And if you are to give to them will it change the state that they currently live, or does it just postpone the inevitable? Or does it matter?

At some point we all have to fall. Some of us fall harder than others, and why is that I wonder? I have a thought. Example, it's a busy day, you have things to do, and not much time. You slip on a pair of shoes and see that one lace isn't done up, but you don't really care to bend down and tie it, so you run out of the house, immediately trip, fall and skin you knee. Now, there are those of us that would get up and think, well that really was stupid and something I don't care to do again, so I'll make sure that I tie my shoes from now on, and the problem is solved. Now, there are others of us that think, ouch that hurt, stupid shoes, maybe I should get a new pair because these ones make me fall. Another pair gets purchased, still the laces are untied, and yet again, we trip and fall, over and over and over and over again. Why not just tie the shoelaces?

So my question, how do you really know they are need? They maybe struggling, but the family has heat, coats, shoes, the essentials do you still donate? Do you put them on the giving tree, or do you just walk away and think, "they really should have tied their laces". I don't know, I'm really struggling with this one. Now, don't get me wrong, the food banks need help, and money and clothes and I have no problem donating my time and talents and money to those organizations. But, if they aren't really naked, do you need to clothe them? When they aren't really needy (because I mean really how many times have you gone to McDonalds with your family of 8 and bought happy meals for all the kids)?

Or, do you even worry about it? Do you stop trying to teach them a lesson and just let God take over?