Sep. 29, 2008 - What our day looks like...

We are starting our fifth week of homeschooling and while things are certainly not uninterrupted and consistent, they are adapted to fit our family's needs, mainly Leah’s needs.  We start at different times depending on how long Leah and I sleep but usually we start between 8 AM and 9:30 AM.  This is our school day...

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Sep. 28, 2008 - What to do with fast learners?

One challenge we have with Christopher is that he is a fast independent learner.  He learns things on his own quickly (good thing) but when there is a lot of practice of concepts (math), he does get bored with having to do it repeatedly and gets frustrated.  I'm not sure how exactly to deal with this.  On one hand I want to challenge him, but on the other, I don't want him to feel like everything he does is hard and then get frustrated with that.  The math book he is using is already one grade ahead of where most kids in his grade are, and it is "Singapore Math", so a way of teaching math that is used in Singapore, which is the highest ranked country for math test scores, so it's already advanced compared to the United States.  Although I think the math that he did at his public school in Nebraska seemed pretty similar, but maybe because his teacher gave him the advanced challenge worksheets to do. 

He also knows how to spell all of the words in his 2nd grade spelling book.  I ponder letting him start in the 3rd grade book, but it is then a different format and I like how the 2nd grade book has fill in the blank sentences that has him practice vocabulary as well.  I'm not sure the book used for 3rd-8th grade does that.  I guess I need to research it a little more.  He does have a separate English book, "Primary Language Lessons" that I really like.

So I guess since we are homeschooling, which is mostly to present Jesus Christ-centered education, I feel like I can teach him on the level he needs to be at instead of the rest of his class, but I just need to figure out the best way to do that!

Matthew's schooling is also going great.  The kindergarten reading curriculum is a review so far for him, learning letters and sounds, but he definitely needs practice with his handwriting so it is a good fit for him.  He loves the activities he gets to do.  It's a very gently and tactile (touchy) type of learning learning which I think benefits all young kids.  There is also Bible and science that he enjoys.  Since he participates in Christopher's Bible, history, science, and music and does his own extra art curriculum, he is definitely getting a broad kindergarten education.  Especially since he's really pre-kindergarten grade wise.

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Sep. 24, 2008 - Change-Not Fun

Okay, I guess sometimes it's good, but around here it hasn't been all that great.

Chris started full time work days this week.  For the past three weeks that he's been moved down here, he's been able to pretty much go in when he wants to do the few things he needed to when you move to a new base.  With starting homeschooling new this year and with Leah having surgery and being in a cast up to her chest now, that flexible schedule really was needed.  Monday and yesterday this week he's been going in 8AM to 4PM, still not horrible, I know, but that's eight straight hours with no break, namely from LEAH.  And she requires a break from as she cries and needs to be held ALL DAY.  She naps irradically and for short periods at a time and if I don't sit next to her ready to pop her pacifier in her mouth at all times, she'll wake up and cry after only a few moments of napping.  So basically, naptime does nothing but give me a chance to sit next to her and then of course I get to read aloud to my children or surf the 'net.  I do test her when I need to potty or get the kids snack/lunch but often I have to run back quickly when she starts to stir.  She has that 'mommy radar' where she can sense me even when she's sleeping. 

Sleeping....oh, another change that sucks...Leah started sleeping through the night at eight weeks old.  We moved out of our Nebraska home and into hotels when she was 12 weeks old.  That was it for the whole sleeping through the night thing.  The past week, not only is she not even CLOSE to sleeping through the night, but she wakes almost hourly to have a snack/cuddle/comfort nurse.  Can we say tired and grumpy mom all day long?  I do not function well when overly tired day after day.  I am a grump and it's harder to control how I interact with my children, mainly the volume of my voice and how much volume of their voices I can handle before my voice volume escalates.  With three young crazy monkey boys and a crying baby girl, I can tell you I've been using the tv more than I'd like for Gabe as well as letting them play unsupervised in the playroom more than I'd like...which results in a very messy playroom.  This morning we went for a walk to show how much farther the sun was from earth (eight minutes for light to travel here) than the moon from the earth (two seconds for light to travel from the moon to the earth  -reflected light I guess?).  Anyways, Gabriel rode his bike at about 10 feet a minute so we actually didn't get too far.  Christopher walked and Matthew rode his big wheels because he was tired of walking before we even left the driveway.  But it was a coolish morning and it was nice to get out in the fresh air.

On top of all this, a mom in my MOPS group's little 13 month old baby girl died yesterday suddenly and it keeps popping into my mind just about every minute.  The little girl got sick on Sunday and died on Tuesday and they don't even know what from yet.  Her brain swelled and she had a blood clot and that's all I know.  She has a five year old brother.  All I can think is this same thing could happen to any of my babies and even though it is God's plan, it's hard not to think how we don't like His plan very much.  That's where faith comes in though.  I've only met this woman once, last month at our MOPS meeting but as a mom, and especially a mom in Christ, there's a connection to her that way and I hurt so much for her.  She has a blog that she's been keeping us updated on and on it she said that she knows her baby is in Heaven with Jesus now and I'm so thankful that God has blessed her with that knowledge and comfort and I pray that she keeps it in her heart.  

We had a small group meeting last night for MOPS, and she is in our small group but of couse didn't come.  Some of the moms there shared their stories of losses of children and one's neice, and one's best friends infant.  It's so heartbreaking that the lives are stopped so short.

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Sep. 13, 2008 - Still Going Smoothly

Okay so the week started off with Leah and I in the hospital for her surgery (Bilateral open reduction for dislocated hips).  She is now in a cast from her chest to her toes.  Amazingly she's doing great and seems more comfy than in that evil Pavlik Harness (evil because after three months in it, her hips were worse!)  Anyways, I LOVE My Father's World (MFW) because I just handed Chris the teacher's manuals for the boys and showed him where I kept the supplies and he did everything with them for Monday and Tuesday and the science experiment from Thursday.  The boys did great and I'm just so relevied that Chris figured it out and didn't have a problem. 

Wednesday and Thursday went well.  I just held Leah or Chris did and she did great.  She can't really sit anywhere that well so we'll be holding her A LOT.   Supposeldy her cast only weighs 3 pounds but she feels like it's more than that. 

Christopher learned more about Jesus and we read a lot of verses from the Old Testament that told about Jesus being born to save us.  I love learning the things I don't know about along with Christopher.  It's so exciting also to have so much proof just in being told so long before he was born and crucified.  We also learned about Christopher Columbus and the history book we have been reading, called "American Pioneers and Patriots" is a wonderful book.  It presents history as stories and Christopher wants to read the whole thing right now.  I need to get him more books from the library about the subjects we learn about.  I'm supposed to but our library here doesn't have much on the MFW list.  One thing about me, I like to do things EXACTLY as presented.  I need to branch out and get other books that aren't neccessarily on the list but still the same topic.  Christopher has a 'History Notebook' that he puts his papers he does in.  He keeps asking when we'll do more papers that he can put in it.  MFW has a good amount of worksheets but I think Christopher would like more.  He's great at writing and reading and likes to do it.  His favorite subject in 1st grade public school was handwriting so that says a lot.  So far for writing he's had to write short summaries of what we've read about the subject (Vikings last week and Christopher Colombus this week).  Also, I think Chris will be the hands on teacher of the two of us.  Christopher had to make aluminum foil boats with masts to represent the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria and float them in the pool.  Yah, Chris did that with them as well as the science experiments for the week.  I'm sure I'll be doing some but will make sure I delegate that to Chris when possible.  Christopher also started math this week, which along with reading to himself, is the only thing that is done five days a week.  Again, what he is doing is basically review, but looking forward in his book (Singapore Math 2A), he'll be getting into multiplication soon.  While he understands how to do multiplication, he hasn't memorized the times tables.  He'll also do addition and subtraction of three digit numbers which we haven't done much of either.  With Singapore Math, kids are usually at a lower level than what their grade is (grade 2 would be in level 1a or 1b) so by doing this level that he tested in to, he is doing slightly advance math for his grade.  Anyways, he's been complaining that he already knows how to do what he's doing but still does once his complaint is out. 

Matthew finished up his Creation book and has two more days of the Creation section (re-reading his book among other things) and he'll start the letter lessons.  He also listens in on Christopher's history and Bible studies and of course the science. 

Gabe continues to do school with us at the table and when I said one day, "Okay Christopher and Matthew, time for school," Gabe corrected me with a, "Mom-meee, I doing schoolt too!"  in his exagerated way with putting his hands up in the air.  (He also adds the 't' sound on to a lot of words.)

Leah did well this week with being held and being on her pain medication, Tylonal with Codeine.  She's been napping well also for the first time in her life.  She's usually in good spirits, sweet little girl.

Oh, I almost forgot...so Friday is our light day every week and Matthew has the day off at home and Christopher just has math and reading.  We went to co-op and Christopher did like it better.  He really liked the science so maybe that's why.  Also scheduled for Friday is a nature walk.  Since our church has lots of trees and naturey stuff, we took a walk around there and the boys both drew a picture for their nature journal.  Christopher drew a great picture of a plant with grass and trees around it.  Matthew drew a rock.  Not even colored in.  He's also a great drawer but I'm letting him do what he wants with his journal so I asked him if he was going to add anything and he said it was complete so I didn't push him.  He's a funny guy.  He even sat down by the rock he drew to get a good look at it.  Someone told us about a river area at a park in Cibolo so the boys want to try that next week.

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Sep. 6, 2008 - First Week of Homeschooling

Our first week went well.  Monday and Tuesday went smoothly and we finished in about 1 1/2 hours each day!  I am following My Father's World curriculum schedule exactly and so math doesn't start until next week and handwriting review (in place of english this month) didn't start until Thursday. 

Matthew's first ten days (four days a week) is spent studying Creation.  He's making one page of a seven page book each day corresponding with each day of Creation.  He cuts, colors and glues and what else can a 5 year old ask for?  Letters are introduced but he knows them all so it's review.  We also have song time and he listens in on Christopher's things too.  Christopher's curriculum includes an art book called "I Can Do All Things" with art lessons in it and I copied the whole thing (the copyright allowed for this for home use) and Matthew is also doing the art book along with Christopher.  He and Christopher are just awesome drawers so he's doing really well with it. 

Christopher's theme for the week was that his name is special.  So he learned the meaning of his name and why we gave him that name.  We learned about what the Pledge of Allegiance means and he also went over maps of North America and the world with continants and oceans.  It's all review for him but he still enjoyed it.  We also started science and did an experiment on Thursday which all the boys were so into.  All we did was mix one glass of water with salt and leave one glass of water plain and see which one the egg floats in.  They thought it was pretty cool.  I have to say that the activity that Christopher enjoyed the MOST is the timeline.  He loved putting it together after I laminated it and we only but one piece up this week (we learned a little about Vikings) and he asks when we will put more pieces up.  He also has a spelling workbook which takes him no time to do.  He's pretty advanced with his spelling so I was thinking of giving him the next level book but decided to try this one first.  He doesn't even need to study the words for the test and gets them all correct.  We'll see how that goes and if I decide to challenge him more.

Gabriel is really interested in what we are doing and when I say it's time to sit at the table for school, he climbs right up into his booster high chair and is ready for me to give him his stuff.  It's so cute.  I give him paper, crayons, scissors and a gluestick and he's happy.  He "finishes" before we do and gets down and goes and plays.

Leah has been sitting in her reclining booster high chair at the table also most of the time.  If she gets fussy I just pick her up and hold her and she's happier. 

We got slightly off schedule when we had to go to a doctor appointment on Wednesday to check on Leah's hips.  Long story short, both hips are out of socket and Dr. Ritchie wants to do surgery on Monday the 8th.  We spent a total of six hours in the hospital going to various offices to sign forms for the surgery.  It sucked.  I had all four kids with me.  I had brought school stuff with us and the boys did a lot of it but once I found out about the surgery, I was in tears and it was hard to concentrate on making them do their schooling.  We ended up finishing the remaining Wednesday work on Thursday afternoon along with Thursdays work.  We had our monthly MOPS meeting Thursday morning so we worked around that as we usually do school in the morning.  So it worked out and isn't that one great thing with homeschooling...the flexibility?  We'll see how we handle next week with Leah's surgery on Monday.  I'll have to stay with her all day Monday and into Tuesday also. 

Friday we started a co-op at our church.  It is three hours every Friday morning for nine weeks.  I teach the craft in Gabe's room and then help in Leah's room too.  And one free hour but I spent it with Leah in her room.  Christopher and Matthew do different subjects in their classes like P.E., science, art, etc.  Christopher was unsure about and didn't enjoy it that much so hopefully next week will go better for him.  His main dislike was not knowing how to play the games in P.E.  Matthew loved it as he's more comfortable with new things.  Gabe did great too.  He was funny when I came into his room and told me I wasn't allowed in 'his classroom'.  Then when we did the craft he wanted me to color his for him and cried when I didn't (so I did ).  Hopefully he won't be like that next week.  If so I probably won't teach in his class again next semester!

Chris' schedule has been great so far, with only having to go to work for inprocessing stuff.  He won't have to start actual full day work hours until September 22nd.  So he was home and actually took care of Leah on Tuesday while we did school.

Well I'll try to journal every week with how it's going.  It could get busy here (imagine that with four kids seven and under) so I'm not promising anything!

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Aug. 25, 2008 - Does this work?

I'm just trying out how to upload pictures.  Here is me a year ago before getting pregnant with Leah.

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Aug. 25, 2008 - Found My Books!

I finally found my homeschooling teacher's manuals yesterday!  I've been looking for them months.  Before we left for our move down to Texas, I looked in storage for them so I could bring them in the car to start planning.  Climbed small mountains of boxes in the hot storage room and couldn't find the box I thought they were in.  Then once our things were delivered last Wednesday, I looked a few things through the boxes I thought they might be in.  Saturday night I was in the garage for TWO HOURS looking through every box, having to climb over rows of boxes to no avail.  I opened every single box in the house as well and couldn't find them. 

Finally, yesterday, right after I told Chris that they are probably in a box right out in the open, I found them.  In. Matthew's. Kindergarten. Homeschooling stuff. Box.  Yeah!  and UGGHHHH!  It was sitting on the dryer and while I had opened it up and glanced in it, I just KNEW that I didn't put them in there so I didn't look hard.  They were on the very bottom which still perplexes me.  I had them out before we moved, trying to read through everything and I just can't remember ever actually putting them away.  So now I'm excited and making lists of supplies and everything.  I want to set the printer up so I can make copies of everything I need and figure out how to organize everything.  However, Chris won't be home until Friday and I am waiting on him to decide where to set the desk up.  I might try to just set the printer up and see if the copier part of it will work without being connected to a computer.  It should, right?  I am awesome on working on the computer but I need my hubby when it comes to figuring out how electronics work. 

Speaking of which, after the kids went to bed I had a new bookshelf that I wanted to put together.  Well to make it less boring I wanted to watch a girly movie while I did it.  I'd already carried the shelf box up to the playroom where it needs to be so I needed to hook the DVD player up in there to that TV.  I could not get it to work.  Then I had to search the house for the remote (the dumb tv doesn't have the TV/Video button on itself).  I knew that I'd seen the remote somewhere.  I never got that DVD player to work but luckily we had another crappy one that did work.  So, after about an hour of setting everything up, I started to work on the shelf!  Does anyone else ever look back on their own actions and just shake your head in pity and think, "Why do I do these things to myself?" 

So I was going to do some more unpacking when I was done, but Leah woke up so I just went to bed with her.  The past two nights she has been waking a lot and not wanting her pacifier or the breast to eat.  She was back to sleeping though the night once I let her sleep in her bouncy seat.  I think her harness might have been too tight so I loosened it this morning and she's been so much happier.  Poor girl.  I hate when I do things like that to her...not reading her right and then she suffers.  Yesterday at church when I went in between services to feed her the teachers said she had been crying quite a bit.  That's because she only wants Mommy to hold her.  I ended up crying because it's so hard to move while a sweet little baby wants nothing but for me to hold her.  All day long.  I did leave her for the second service and I felt bad but I know that she needs to learn to let others hold her.  And the teachers said that she slept most of the second service anyways.  I will PRAY that she'll let Chris hold her without screaming when he comes home on Friday. 

So back to homeschooling...it looks like I will wait until after Labor Day to start.  So in one week from tomorrow.  Christopher and Matthew are kind of disappointed that we aren't starting today like I thought we might, but I don't have what I need for the first lesson.  Plus I'd like to start out the school year organized rather than have to catch up later.

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Aug. 23, 2008 - We're in Texas!

A lot has happened in the last month and I just have to remind myself that God is in control and will take care of us.  Our house is not sold but the new buyers are living in it currently and it looks like we will be renting to them until they are able to buy in 3-6 months.  That hasn't really bothered me, but it's one more thing on the pile! 

Here's what happened with the move...Chris flew down to Texas in late July to look for a house to rent.  He found an awesome house and flew back home without actually signing a lease because the owner was on vacation and so the owner told Chris that he'd send the lease when he got back on Monday.  Well by Wednesday we hadn't heard anything so our realtor in Texas called them about it and the house owner told him that he had decided to rent to someone else that woule buy the house in a year!  Didn't even bother to let us know!  So we go into panic mode about what to do.  We were planning on staying in Nebraska until August 20th and Chris' mom was going to fly to Nebraska and drive down with the kids, dog, cat, and I while Chris stayed and had to work another week.  We had already bought her ticket. 

We were already living in a hotel when they told us about the house.  The military pays for a hotel for us for ten days when we move and we were going to use them all in Nebraska so we could stay with Chris longer since we already had a house we could move in right away.  Instead we decided to use the paid hotel nights in Texas while we looked for a house.  We drove down on August 11th after church (three days after we found out we were homeless) and Chris took a week off to come with us.  We got to Texas on Monday evening, went househunting (in the rain) on Tuesday, filled an application out on a house on Wednesday and signed the lease on Thursday.  Phew!  We stayed at the hotel until Friday to use up our tenth free night and then slept on an air matress in our empty house.  Chris flew back to Nebraska on Sunday afternoon to finish up working.  And now he can't leave a week early and has to stay until this Thursday and get here on Friday. 

So we bought Chris mom another plane ticket to come on Tuesday because the movers could deliver our things on Wednesday and I couldn't do everything on my own with all the children, namely Leah.  So we were in an empty house from Friday until Wednesday...ugh.  So the movers came on Wednesday and since Leah wouldn't let her grandma hold her without crying anyways, it was still hard for me to tell them where to put things, what to unpack, and what to put together.  So our house is a mess and I can think of so many things I should have had the movers do. 

Chris' mom left today (Saturday) to go home.  I felt so bad that Leah cried whenever she held her.  She also cries most of the time I put her down, so really I can unpack for five minutes at a time during the day and then after about 7:30 PM when she goes to sleep for the night.  The kitchen is unpacked and everything else is partially done, except the garage that is completley FULL. 

But it's really not too big of a deal and I can thank the Lord for blessing me with the gift of not stressing out so much lately over all of these annoyances.  I think going through a stressful pregnancy with the health of my daughter in question makes me realize how trivial these other matters are.  So it'll probably be two years and time to move again by the time I have enough time to unpack everything!  No, Chris will be home on Friday and then he can spend all that quality time with his daughter while I unpack.  Or I may be tired of it by then and let him do everything.  Being the control freak that I am, I doubt it though.

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Jul. 26, 2008 - Getting Closer to Moving Date

So it's been a while since I last blogged as things have been pretty busy around here with a newborn and three young sons, all while selling a house and vacationing for ten days in Michigan. 

Well we sold our house but aren't closing until August 6th.  The buyers are trying to get us to put new windows in, which we are not going to do.  The movers are coming August 1,4 & 5th and we will start liviing in a hotel on the 4th.  Chris has to continue working until September 2nd but th kids and I are going down to Texas on the 17th of August.  My mother in law is trying to work it out so she can fly up here and drive down to Texas with the kids, dog, cat, and me. 

I'm thinking we won't be able to start homeschooling until September.  My curriculum is in storage so I can't really do any planning but I think I'll get out my teachers manuals before the movers pack up our stuff.  I'm excited about it and have a schedule made up but we'll see how that works out once we start with it.  Leah is a needy baby and doesn't like me to do anything but hold her and hold her pacifier in while I'm holding her, which leaves zero hands free for other stuff.  She is so beautiful and sweet though and I love getting to look at her so much since I'm always holding her.  How am I typing now?  She is sleeping next to me on her Boppy with her face towards me so her pacifer is being held in by the side of my tummy. 

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May. 26, 2008 - Leah's Birth Story

Leah Nichole was born on Tuesday, May 20^th at 6:00 AM.  When did labor start?  Hmmm, that’s a good question.  I started getting slightly crampy contractions on about the Wednesday before she was born (so almost a week of labor?).  They were sometimes regular but I could only feel them very low so I didn’t think they were “real” contractions that would do anything.  This continued until Monday the 19^th.  I had an OB appointment on Monday morning where I found that I had gone from not dilated at all the week before to 2 cm and 75% effaced, so those little contractions were doing a little bit.  Throughout the day, the contractions started getting a tiny bit crampier, but still stayed localized to the very bottom of my uterus so I didn’t think much of it.  By the evening they started getting stronger, but I still didn’t think they were real.  I went to Target and walked a bit and wasn’t too uncomfortable.  I went to bed at about 10:30 PM, then woke up at 11:00 PM because they were a bit stronger but I still did not think I was in labor because it still was not my whole uterus contracting, only a small part of it.  They slowly got stronger to where I had to make myself relax through them and I could not sleep and was even moaning from them.  I still didn’t think I was in labor.  Chris woke up at about 2:30 AM and after a few minutes suggested we start timing them because he could see I had to breathe through them and concentrate on relaxing my body.  I still was not convinced I was in labor.  We started timing them at 2:52 AM and they were between 3 and 5 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long, which I knew wasn’t long enough to be good contractions, even though they were so close.  Soon after that they got even more painful, but still only the bottom of my uterus so I still didn’t think I was in labor!  At about 4:00 AM, I told Chris I wanted to wait until at least 6:00 AM before we went to the hospital so that I didn’t have to wake my friend up too early to take the kids to her house since I thought that they would send me home anyways.  Contractions got to be about a minute long and 2-3 minutes apart.  About ten minutes later something told me that we needed to go now.  We dropped the kids off at my friend’s house at 4:30 AM and drove to the hospital.  I even made Chris run a red light and still the whole time I was thinking I would probably still be only 2 cm dilated even though my contractions were really strong by then.  We got up to the L&D floor at 5:00 AM and they took me to a room immediately and checked my cervix.  I was 5-6 cm dilated!  I was very surprised and excited that this was actually it.  My contractions were really strong now and I was having trouble remembering to breathe and relax but Chris and the nurse did great at reminding me.  The nurse put my IV in, asked if I wanted an epidural (to which I said no) and was waiting for the antibiotics to be brought up from the pharmacy for my GBS+.  After about 15 minutes I told them my body was starting to push so they checked me again and I was 8 cm.  I knew I couldn’t start pushing hard yet because I wasn’t fully dilated so I kept breathing through the contractions but not fighting the pushing my body was doing on its own, just not helping it.  My doctor got there about then, checked me again and I was 9 cm.  My water still hadn’t broken and the doctor asked me if I wanted him to break it and I remember saying that I would hurt even more if he did but he said that it would probably make that last bit of cervix move out of the way so I told him to break it.  There was meconium in the water which scared me.  My contractions were really close but I still got about a minute break in between each one.  During one break they asked if I was banking the cord blood and I told them no but that I wanted them to wait a few minutes to clamp the cord so the baby could get some of her cord blood.  After they said there was meconium I asked if they could still do that and the doctor said they’d have to see if the baby was limp or breathing and decide then, which was fine with me. The urge to push was extreme by then so a minute later he checked me again (after I was screaming at him that I couldn’t stop pushing) and I was 9 ½.  He didn’t tell me not to push so I started pushing but not as hard as I could because I knew it might hurt my cervix if it was in the way.  He checked me again and I was 10 cm so I started pushing hard then.  I don’t remember how many times I pushed before she came out, but probably about ten minutes.  I remember it hurt so badly and I kept asking if her head was there yet and they kept saying not yet.  Finally they said she was right there and I felt her head, which at the time I thought was harder than I thought it would be.  After a couple more pushes she was out and the doctor held her below me so the blood from her placenta would flow into her while he suctioned her out.  Then he gave me Leah and I started nursing her.  Apparently I was losing a lot of blood from tearing in two different spots on my perineum but there was another source of blood coming from somewhere inside me and the doctor was trying to find out where it was coming from.  He kept using gauze to soak up the blood and told the nurse to start up Pitocin, which I really didn’t want but the doctor said I had to have it to help stop the bleeding.  In the meantime I could feel that my body was pushing to get the placenta out so I pushed twice and it came out and asked the doctor if the whole thing was there and it was (it hadn’t broke apart like Gabe’s did).  The bleeding wasn’t slowing down so the doctor had to put his hand in me with the gauze to find where the bleeding was coming from and it hurt so much.  I told Chris to take Leah because it hurt so much and spent the next fifteen minutes yelling at the doctor to give me more local anesthetic while he stitched up the tears down low and how much he was hurting me while looking for the other blood source.  He was talking about needing a blood transfusion if the bleeding didn’t stop but thankfully he either found what was bleeding and fixed it or it stopped on its own.  That whole ordeal was the worst thing about the whole delivery and very similar to what had happened at Gabriel’s birth except with Gabriel’s after birth ordeal I had the epidural still so couldn’t feel it.  The local anesthetic did nothing for the pain of his hand in me!  I remember telling him I hated him and to get out of me and all sorts of swear words and he would tell me he had to find what was bleeding or I would bleed to death.  I knew that but it hurt so much that I couldn’t stop myself from yelling and crying.  The nurses had Leah in a warming bed and had given her Vitamin K but not the eye gel or Hepatitis vaccine because Chris told them we didn’t want those things.  Once the doctor was done and I was calm enough, they brought Leah over to me for skin to skin contact to warm her and nurse her some more.  I got to hold her for a long while then which was so nice.  She nursed like a pro from the beginning and when not nursing, she was sucking on her hand.  We were going to hold off on a pacifier until three weeks but decided to go ahead with it since she is so good at nursing and obviously have a very big sucking need.  So all in all, the birth went just how I wanted it.  We labored at home for most of the time, no pain medication or Pitocin while in labor, had Leah an hour after we got to the hospital, she got her cord blood (although because the doctor pushed all the blood into her before he clamped it, she’s really red from too much blood), I delivered my placenta without it getting pulled out, she didn’t get the Heptatis B vaccine yet (she’ll get in when a little older), she didn’t get the gel put in her eyes (since it’s for STDs anyways, which I don’t have), and I got to nurse her right away and get skin to skin contact.  I think that was everything in my birth plan and I didn’t even bring it.  There were some other things that couldn’t be helped that really sucked, the meconium in her water and tearing and bleeding so much, but I’m glad that I went through a natural childbirth.  I loved laboring at home with Chris (even though I didn’t believe it was really labor), it was wonderful to not spend a lot of time in the hospital before being able to push.  Everything that happened with the baby I am happy with.  The nurses have all been great here, better than I could imagine.  With time, I will get over my doctor being so darn painful.  I did apologize for the mean things I said to him when I saw him the next day and he said that OBs make it a rule not to take anything to heart that is said when a woman is naturally delivering a baby.  To be honest, I’d have to think about having another natural childbirth.  Having had two births now where the afterbirth part was so traumatic, it defiantly helped to have that epidural with Gabriel’s birth.  The pain afterwards of stopping that bleeding was just too much and really takes away from the beauty of giving birth naturally to Leah.  But then again, she arrived in this world drug free, which is really important too.  Since this is our last baby, I’m glad I don’t have to decide.  Oh, and I consider this labor to be seven hours, from 11 PM to 6 AM.

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Apr. 29, 2008 - My Wish Birth Story

Okay, here is my birth story (or what I wish it will be while still being realistic!)

I woke up having contractions that weren't too bad yet, 10 minutes apart, but we still knew they were the real deal so I got my son ready for school and my dh took him to his bus stop.  We made the phone calls to all our peeps (school, friend who will pick my son up from school, friend who will watch my other children, dh's work to say he won't be in).  We got the final things ready to go to the hospital and ate a nice healthy breakfast.  My contractions started getting closer together, seven minutes apart and more intense so I laid down in my relaxation postion to work with the contractions.  My dh took the kids to our friends house then.  After a while, they got to four minutes apart and two minutes long so we decided to head to the hospital.  My water still hadn't broken so even being Group B Strep positive, I wasn't worried about getting on the antibiotics.  When we got to the hospital and situated in our room, my contractions were right on top of each other and my water broke.  I immediatley felt the urge to push and they checked me and I was 10 cm and I started to push.  After a few pushes, our daughter came out.  They put her on my chest and I was able to breadfeed her right then.  As previously discussed with my OB, he let me deliver my placenta naturally without pulling on it and it was fine (it had broke the last time).  Since her exposure to me after my water broke was minimal, they were not worried about the Group B Strep exposure and let her stay in our room with us.  We went home the next evening with our baby daugter. 

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Apr. 28, 2008 - OB Appointment

Okay, I've been happy with my doctor pretty much but today at my 37 week OB check-up, he kind of disappointed me. 

He was going over my chart and mentioned getting the antibiotics for Group B Strep and then said, they'll also give you a Rubella vaccine.  WHAT?  So I asked him why and he said they found that I am not immune to it and that it won't be until after I deliver.  I think it just bothers me that he said it like that and didn't "reccomend" it or anything, just told me I'd be given it.  They tested for it I guess a couple of weeks ago because my kids all got parvovirus (Fifth Disease) and they tested to see if I was immune to that (I am) and I guess they tested for Rubella as well.  So I don't care if I need one since it won't affect the baby, but I'd rather he phrase it differently.  Hormones anyone?  Haha. 

Anyways, I just don't like when doctor's think they control people so this bothered me a little bit.  I was happy that when I told him about how with Gabriel's birth the doctor pulled on my placenta and it broke, and I asked him whether he pulled on it or let it come out on its own, he said he usually did something in the middle (?) and kind of "guided" it out but since mine has broken before, he'll let it come on it's own.  He said he'll probably remember, but remind him just in case he doesn't remember.  I did forget to ask him if they'll have a problem with me wanting a hep-lock for the antibiotics or if they'll try to get me to get an IV.  Next week for that question I guess. 

I was reading my Bradley Birth Method book today and when it talked about watching your baby being born and the physical emptiness you'll feel, I started bawling because I thought about how I will never be pregnant again.  I really hope I won't get post partum depression if I'm already this way. 

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Apr. 24, 2008 - Birth Story - Matthew

Matthew was due on August 4th, 2003.  On July 16th I went to bed feeling like crap.  I had the worst headache I've ever had and I kept waking up through out the night because of it.  Whenever I moved it got worse.  In the morning I couldn't do anything because my head was in so much pain.  Chris took me to the base hospital and I went up to the labor and delivery floor.  I could barely walk and actually don't remember too much of it.  Once up there the doctors didn't know what was wrong with me and gave me morphine to help with the pain.  They then took me down for a MRI where I remember throwing up into a trash can but the morphine was helping my head feel better.  They didn't find anything with the MRI so they took me back up and did a spinal tap to check for menigitis.  They also discovered that I had a fever and I was having contractions, which I didn't feel any of. 

They took me in an ambulance to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.  There they did more spinal taps and finally said I had viral meningitis caused from an enterovirus.  I'm not sure what was up with my spine, but at both hospitals the doctors had a hard time getting the needle in correctly and took forever to do the spinal taps.  While at Creighton they put me in a room and everyone who came in had to wear masks and I felt like a freak.  They did an ultrasound to check on Matthew because I couldn't remember the last time I felt him move (I was thinking more about the pain in my head) and they decided that Matthew wasn't moving around as much as they wanted so they decided to induce. 

The doctors started the Pitocin at 9 PM on the 17th.  It sucked and hurt really bad right away.  I was NOT allowed to have an epidural because of all the spinal taps they did and they said the risk of infection of my spine was high.  I got some Stadol right away and HATED it.  I was so loopy and saying crazy things to Chris and he couldn't even understand what I was saying because apparantly I was incoherant.  But I was getting irritated at him for not being able to understand me.  Anyways, I didn't continue that pain medication, but I was able to go to sleep because of it.  When it wore off I was pretty far dilated and it was about 6 AM when I woke up.  Contractions at that point were unbearable and I used everything I could from reading my Bradley Method book to try to relax my body through the contractions.  I remember my nurse going near my IV once and I yelled at her not to up the Pitocin amount.  I was repeatedly  counting to 20 and back as fast as I could to try to get through each contraction.  I also remember singing kids songs to try to get my mind off of the pain as well.  When I finally had the urge to push, the nurses told me not to because there was still a lip of cervix left.  I told them I couldn't stop pushing, which I couldn't, and they told me I had to stop or my cervix would swell up and get infected.  That scared me and somehow I managed to stop but through out that last half hour of labor I was begging for a c-section!  Finally the lip went away and I could push and pushed him out in about two pushes, or about five minutes! 

Matthew was 6lbs, 11 oz and 19 inches long at about 37 weeks gestation.  He was pretty skinny compared to how Christopher had been but he was still beautiful to his Mommy.  (I can say that because he is so beautiful now!)  Anyways, because he was exposed to the enterovirus (that caused meningitis in me and is deadly for babies) they took him to the NICU and put him in an isolated room with heart monitors, IV antibiotics and I don't even know what else.  They bottle fed him because I wasn't allowed to breastfeed him until I had been without fever for 48 hours and couldn't even see him for 24 hours.  They brought him to my room once the next day but Chris could go down to see him and took video and pictures of him for me to see.  I pumped and dumped since he couldn't eat my breastmilk and when I went down two days later to breastfeed him, he had no problems with it. 

I went home that night (the 20th) but he had to stay in the NICU until the 22nd in the evening, so five days in the NICU.  He never had any problems from being exposed to the enterovirus but had diarreah and diaper rash from all the antibiotics they pumped in him (even though it was viral and not bacterial).  He also ate mostly formula during that time since I wasn't up there all day to breastfeed him.  I still pumped and when my milk came in it was apparant that I had pumped WAY TOO OFTEN because he would drown everytime I fed him.  It took a few weeks for things to get back to normal in that respect but I had plenty of milk stockpiled in the freezer because of it.

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Apr. 24, 2008 - Birth Story - Christopher

So I've been reading birth stories all the time now since I'm getting so close...three weeks to my due date.  But I want to write down my previous birth stories so I can remember them always...

My due date for baby #1 was March 6th, 2001.  On February 21st I started having contractions at home at around 3 PM.  At 4 PM I had to pick up my husband from his college class and I was still fine to drive as the contractions weren't that strong yet.  He did drive us home though.  At about 6:30 PM we decided to go to the hospital.  The contractions were regular, about 5-7 minutes apart, but still not that strong.  They hooked me up to the monitor and said that the contractions weren't strong enough to be admitted and I could either go home or walk around the hospital.  So we decided to walk the halls. 

About two hours later I could barely stand up through contractions so we went back to labor and delivery and I had only dilated to four centimeters.  I was already at 3 cm at my last doctors appointment, so I wasn't getting very far, but the nurses could see how much pain I was in so they checked me again on the monitor and the contractions were strong enough and long enough to be admitted.  I got an epidural and then they broke my water.  It was about 8:30 PM when I was admitted.  Nothing exciting happened through the night and then I was 10 cm dilated around 10 AM the next day.  I pushed for about 30 minutes and Christopher was born!  I had a third degree tear from his big ol' head and he was 7 lbs 14 oz, 20 3/4 inches long, and beautiful.  His head was perfectly round and everyone commented on that.  So from the time I started having "real" contractions to the time he was born (10:34 AM), was about 14 hours and is what I considered how long my labor was.

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Apr. 8, 2008 - Officially Homeschooling

Okay, not really "official" since we haven't started and Christopher's actually in school right now at the public school, but Chris and I went to the homeschooling conference in Lincoln this past weekend and bought $600 worth of curriculum from My Father's World for 2nd grade and kindergarten, so it's as good as done for this coming school year.  We're all excited. 

We found out recently that we are moving to San Antonio, Texas this summer although we're not sure when, which is actually pretty important to know when it comes to selling your house!  We are trying to get little things done and hope to be able to put it 'FOR SALE' by June 1st.  We want to wait until after the baby comes so there's a higher chance of me being able to keep it clean.  I'm just to tired and BIG when I'm nine months pregnant.  I am starting to pack away some toys though to make it a little easier to keep clean when the time comes.  We spent a lot of time cleaning out the garage and guest room/office this past week but there's still lots to be done around the house.

Allergies have struck our home already this year.  Gabe and I both are having issues with 'gunk' and coughing  and my face just plain hurts.  Ughhh.  I gave Gabe some Benedryl and Robitussin and he did better for a while, but I won't take anything with this baby in me.  5 weeks and 3 days to my due date but only 1 week and 3 days until I'm 36 weeks and she can come out safely.  I'm hoping for as close to May 1st (but not before) so I can still have a May Baby without having to go too far!  Whatever she decides (or more off what God decides) will do though.  I really hope I won't have to be induced this time.  I'd really like to try for a Bradley style birth (natural) this time since it's our last and the previous two times I wanted to do Bradley style and had to be induced so couldn't. 

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Mar. 22, 2008 - What a Day!

Oh my, what a day I've had.  I have to say this might be one of the most exhausting I've had, certainly because I'm so pregnant.  The morning was fine, Chris went to the store with Gabe to get parts to fix the toilet, which is clogged and needs a new seal to put it back in place.  Chris ended up finding Gabe's toothbrush, just like Gabe said that he had flushed down.  Yuck.  But now that is fixed and is flushing right again.  It had been clogging for a few weeks! 

Then I talked to my dad for a while about how to fix my Durango so that the engine wouldn't break, which happens to a lot of them when they have the oil pressure problems I've been having.  Then we went to a birthday party at the YMCA where the boys got to swim for an hour and I had to STAND there FOR AN HOUR!  Ugh.  I'm feeling that in my back now. 

Then on the way home we stopped to get all the supplies from the auto parts store for my Durango.  We got home at about 4:45 and I started straightening our messy kitchen so I could make dinner while Chris drained the oil from the Durango (something he's never done before) so he could put the cleaner in.  The kids were pretty good at this time.  Then after dinner I noticed the dog had not eaten his food for dinner and realized he was missing.  So we rounded everyone up in the truck to go look for him.  Everyone had to go because if we found him, there's no way he would get in the truck because he hates car rides.  Well after driving for about ten minutes, we came back home to check here again and our neighbor was driving up our street to find us and told us that Chase (the dog) came home and he had put him in the backyard.  So then we had to go find a neighbor boy who was also out on foot looking for him.  Then we came home, the boys did the dishes while I got the egg coloring stuff ready for dyeing eggs since Easter is tomorrow.  Chris did that with them while I took pictures.  Trying to get Gabe to not peel open the eggs was a task!  So when we were done with that we made Resurrection Cookies and that was fun.  The boys took turns putting the ingredients in while I read the Bible verses.  It was pretty neat.  Last year Chris did it with them and the cookies never hollowed out so hopefully we'll have better luck this time.  We'll see tomorrow.  So now the boys are in bed and I'm exhausted.  Once they fall asleep we still have to put there baskets together and fill eggs. 

We do Santa Claus for Christmas and have always done the Easter Bunny stuff for Easter but this year it's hard for me to get into the "Easter Bunny" spirit.  I hate that it takes away from the most important part of Easter, of what a gift Jesus gave us and how much he sacrificed for us.  I would probably tell the boys the truth about the Easter Bunny (and Santa) if it weren't for Chris.  He just thinks it's a harmless thing for them to do, which it is maybe, but even if I told them the truth, I'd still let them participate and do the fictional (pagan?) activities, but they'd at least know what the holidays are really about.  I haven't really explained to Chris my point of view so I can't complain about him really. 

So that was my day today.  It may not have been any busier than usual, but for some reason I am exhausted from it all.  

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Mar. 11, 2008 - Refreshing

My four year old son Matthew is so refreshing.  He loves to talk about Jesus.  He is constantly telling us how Jesus is everywhere we are and He is always in the room or car or where ever with us.  He told me that in the waiting room of the doctor's office yesterday and he's not a quiet talker by any means, so everyone had to have heard him.  I replied "You're right Matthew, He is here with us."  He's always singing Bible songs and tells me all the time how much God loves us, even when we are naughty and He'll love us no matter what we do.  I love how he loves to talk about Him everywhere and anywhere.  What a lesson to be taught to me and the rest of us who don't want to offend anyone or might get embarrassed by talking so casually about Jesus.  He talks to his friends (which is any child he sees) about God.  He doesn't understand why not everyone loves God.  Although he thinks it's the "bad guys" who don't love God. 

Matthew is also my most mischiveous child, the one who fills the bathroom sink with a whole soap container worth of soap bubbles and likes experimenting with food ingredients.  For example, he and two year old Gabe made muffins out of water, vanilla, cocoa powder and marshmallows about a month ago.  In his defense, he did ask if he could make pretend cupcakes and I heard them in the kitchen playing with the muffin pan and muffin cups.  I just didn't realize what he meant by "pretend" .  He's getting better though about obeying even when Mommy is not watching but I think the hardest thing for him is that he's "seeing what will happen", not neccessarily deliberalty disobeying (although he does sneak food sometimes which is deliberate and that's not so cute.)

It's hard that he likes his privacy when he's playing (door shut) but whenever I check on him, he's lining up his dinosaurs and other animals in a parade, totally innocent.  I think the main reason he wants the door shut is so Gabe doesn't go in there and wreck his parade. 

So anyways, Matthew is such a sweet boy and I hope and pray that he never loses his love for our Lord and that he uses his gift of sharing that love with those around him. 

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Mar. 11, 2008 - Ultrasound Results

So we had our follow up ultrasound yesterday to check on Leah's brain and it's good news.  It hasn't gotten bigger!  The doctor thought that was great and said he doesn't think there's anything to worry about now.  We go back in a month to check again.  Since it's such a low 'abnormal' measurement, he thinks it could be her 'normal'.  He reccommends a MRI for her once she's born, but doesn't think there's any big problems, if any at all.  So what a relief and an answer to prayer.  Hopefully it will be the same again next month.

Her kidney is also the same but I got the impression this doctor doesn't really care much about that.  Honestly, compared to having problems with her brain, anything wrong with her kidney is not a big deal to me either. 

Chris came with me to the ultrasound and it was fun seeing her again.  The picture we got printed out has her mouth open and it looks like she's smiling or laughing.  She's also estimated to be 4 pounds, 2 ounces which is the 66%.  She's getting big.  Her head was in a different spot than I thought it was but she probably moves a lot still, location-wise.  She moves bunches with kicks and pokes and all that.  It's fun to feel her but tickles sometimes when she gets me in those back spaces and makes me jump, especially when I'm driving or trying to sleep.  Silly little girl.  I am so excited to hold her in two months. 

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Mar. 10, 2008 - Menu Planning Monday

Every Monday I'll try to post my planned menu for the week.  Don't expect anything too fancy though, green beans are a staple in my house and I cook what will get eaten.

Monday- Spaghetti, Steamed Zucchini, Garlic Toast

Tuesday- Dinner Out Night @ Applebee's

Wednesday- Stuffed Shells, Green Beans, Buttered Bread

Pasta shells stuffed with...ricotta, mozzarella & parmasan cheeses, egg, thawed-frozen chopped spinach, spices and topped with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese

Thursday- Shake n Bake Porkchops, Buttered Egg Noodles, Green Beans

Friday- Pizza

Saturday- Crockpot Chicken n Dumplings, Buttered Egg Noodles, Green Beans

Sunday- Breakfast for Dinner: Egg Casserole, Toast w/Jelly, Frui

12 eggs mixed with a package of frozen Egg Sensations and cheddar cheese baked at 375 for 45 mintues then top with cheddar cheese

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Mar. 5, 2008 - Waiting

I think God is teaching me a little bit of patience at this time in my life.

We are waiting still to find out if our baby girl's brain is abnormal or not. All the tests from the amnio came back negative...but those are the things that they can test for. We have another ultrasound on Monday the 10th in the afternoon to see if there's any change in the amount of fluid built up. Even if there is or there is not, I think we won't know for sure if there is any damage to her brain until she is born or even after that. That's one thing that can damper the joy of growing a child in your womb...not knowing that she's mentally healthy. I'm sad that I am not enjoying this pregnancy as much as my other ones. I think about whether she'll be 'normal' mentally all of the time, which makes me want to push the thought of her out of my mind. Someone asked if she was moving around a lot compared to my sons and I truthfully said 'no', but I'm not sure if I just think she's moving less because anytime I want to feel her and she doesn't move around I wonder if it's because there is something wrong. Ten more weeks and we'll get to meet her. That's one thing I'm excited about though, meeting her, getting to lie with her and nurse her and cuddle with her. Even if she's not 'normal', all of those things I'll still get to do.

Another waiting issue...are we moving or not!!!? "They" were supposed to decide who's moving to Texas weeks ago, or so we thought anyways. My hubby keeps hearing things about it but nothing official. We have done nothing to get ready for our daughter as we don't know if she'll ever need a nursery in our current home. She'll sleep in a bassinet in our room for a few months so if we do move this summer, she will not have her own room here. So I am anxious to find out about that as well.

Hopefully the next time I post here, it will be with news about Texas.

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