"Enjoy the LITTLE THINGS in life for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things."


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Come on in and sit awhile while I talk about the "Little Things" in life. I will share my journey of everyday life.... homeschooling, raising my children, homesteading, gardening, health and wellness, and real life.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Is Your Tree Still Up?

Our tree is still up and we are going to need it here for the next few days to brighten up the gloominess!  The weather forecast for the next FOUR days shows cloudy, windy, rainy days.  Percentage of rain chances are 80%, 70%, 60%, 20% (Wednesday through Saturday).  Blah! 

Hmmm... I am thinking indoor "project time"!  Movie Time (watching the Love Saga series by Janette Oke)!  Cuddles with kiddos time! 

Sunday, December 26, 2010

What I Am Reading...

Sorry... this has nothing to do with our homeschooling.  I am actually reading something other than homeschooling stuff!  Amazing!  ;)  I have decided to spend my last trimester of this pregnancy reading books about childbirth.  I went to the library as a start and looked there and was surprised that have very little there, so I checked out the FOUR books they did have.  Yes, they only had FOUR books on the topic of childbirth.  These are the books I checked out:

Active Birth: The New Approach To Giving Birth Naturally by Janet Balaskas (1992)

A Good Birth, A Safe Birth: Choosing and Having the Childbirth Experience You Want by Korte & Scaer (1992)

The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth by Sears & Sears (1994)

Ina May's Guide To Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin (2003)


I am scanning through them all, but the book I am reading is "Ina May's Guide To Childbirth" right now.  I recommend this book to EVERY FEMALE.... anyone that could one day be pregnant, anyone that is pregnant, midwives, obstetriciatians, and nurses (or anyone else connected with birth in any way). 

This book is so empowering!  Just reading it confirms what I know... that the human body was designed to birth and that the alarmingly high c-section rate in this country is avoidable.  When this book was printed the c-section rate in the United States was 24% (2003) and now it is closer to 50% (2010).  In the area I live in the hospitals here have a 50% c-section rate.  I think they need the read this book because the midwifery center that is run by Ina May is less than 2%.  Wow!  That ought to make the medical community stand up and listen and want to learn from this!  And I must add that this center has been deliverying babies for over 30 years and has had thousands of births.  I am tempted to relocate to Tennessee temporarily for the month of March!  :) 

Please do yourself a favor and read this book!  I wish I could buy a copy for every woman I know and even the ones I don't. 

Friday, December 17, 2010

Negative Commentors.... GO AWAY!

I would put it mildly, BUT since some recent commentors have been so rude I will just say it....
GO AWAY !!!
I have been nice about it, but when you start directing your comments directly to my bloggy friends I will not tolerate it.  This a friendly blog.  I welcome SOME GENUINELY concerned comments, but rudeness will not be tolerated.  I will promptly and happily delete your rude comments.  Encouraging, Godly comments are always welcome on the other hand and I appreciate those that have a genuine concern in my situation.  If you are truly concerned and you are a Christian I ask that you cover my situation in prayer.  Please pray for God's will and the safest possible situtaion for the birth of my baby.  There are those that simply do not understand that my situation could be dangerous no matter what route we go and that is why I want it covered in prayer.  I believe that God will work it all out.  And when He does I will give HIM all the glory.  I will be happy whether He works it out in the form of a vaginal birth or repeat c-section. 

Again, rude comments will be promptly deleted.  Thank you very much and
 GO AWAY !!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Brith Control

Q:  Do I use birth control?
A:  Yes, I do... natural birth control.  By that I mean I am very aware of my ovulation time and menstrual cycle.  All of my pregnancies.... yes, all SEVEN of them... have been either planned or left to chance knowing that it would be possible to get pregnant. 

Q:  Seven pregnancies?  But you only have four children...
A:  Savannah in 2000, miscarriage in the 6th week, Sierra in 2004, fetal demise at the 20th week due to a previous fall, Caden in 2006, Sahara in 2008

Q:  Have I ever used synthetic birth control of any type?
A:  Yes, for almost ten years.  I got on the pill when I was engaged at the age of 18 and I thought it was the best thing ever.  I went from having extreme cramps during my period to a very little pain and I thought I had truly found heaven.  I never got off of it after that even when it was not necessary to have a birth control method.  I stayed on it for the fringe benefits of not hurting so badly during menstruation.  I stayed on it until I was 27 and my husband and I decided that we were ready to try our chances at being parents.

Q:  When did I realize how bad it was for my body?
A:  When it took NINE months to get out of my system (or mostly out... who knows what affect it still has on my body even now?!).  Yes, I said nine months and what I mean by that is that I was always a 28 day (4 week) cycle kind of girl.  After quitting the pill my cycle was like 8 weeks and over the next nine months slowly got back down to a 4 week cycle and that was the month I got pregnant.  I was very aware that there is no way that had been good for my body.  While I sat back and saw people all around me getting pregnant easily I had to wait for the pill to get out of my system.

Q:  Do I ever wonder if my first miscarriage was a result of the affects of the pill? 
A:  I do wonder.  And I suspect that it could have had some affect.  In the case of my miscarriage the egg did not implant high up in the uterus like it needs to.  Rather it implanted low down at the edge of my cervix.  Who knows why?  Only God.  I will never know, but one thing I did know is that I did not want to ever use the pill again, just in case it had been partially or fully the reason.  It was then that God really started to change my heart about who should be controlling how many children I have.  It is not me, but God.

Q:  Do I think it is "wrong" to use birth control, such as, the pill, IUDs, the patch, implants, etc.? 
A:  I think for me it is, because God has given ME a conviction about it. 

Q:  Do I think it is "wrong" to use natural methods of birth control?
A:  No, because I think God gives us these "signs" in our bodies that are not wrong to follow naturally.  If we are overwhelmed with what our life is, I think that we should use wisdom regarding adding more to our lives.  Or in some circumstances, like mine, I was very cautious about getting pregnant again after four c-sections.  For a while I just avoided "activity" when I knew I was ovulating.

Q:  Is it harder to avoid "activity" during ovulation? (And this may be too much info for some of you, but I am addressing it because in private conversations with other ladies it comes up and most are ashamed to talk about it.)
A:  I think God gives all of us a natural "animal instinct" and I find that it is harder to avoid "activity" during ovulation.  Much like animals in the wild I think men and women are drawn to each other during ovulation and it is much harder to resist.  I think it is just part of God's design that we "be fruitful and multiply". 

Q:  Do I ever wonder what blessings I have missed out on because of my choice to use the pill early on?
A:  Yes, when I look at my beautiful children I think about how there could be even more of them.  I think about it, but it is too late to spend my time regretting it.  My husband and I agree that we wish we had started sooner with having children.  I think about my older daughter that does not like being the oldest.  She wishes for an older sibling all the time and she does seem to be "not quite right" as an oldest child and that makes me wonder if maybe she wasn't supposed to be the oldest.  I wonder if one (or some) of those times that I was ovulating if an egg that was supposed to be fertilized was hindered from it by the pill and flushed straight out of my body without fulfilling it's intended purpose in life.

Q:  Do I believe synthetic birth control can cause abortion to a fertilized egg (AKA baby)?
A:  Yes, I do and I think it can happen and you never even realize it.  If you have ever had a very heavy period or one that lasts longer than usual it is more likely than you may realize that the egg was in fact fertilized (became a baby) for a brief time and was aborted by birth control and flushed out of the body.  It is a sad fact that few people realize when they choose synthetic birth control methods.  I never knew it was a possibility, but no one tells you about that part.  So, if you are pro-life and do not believe in abortion you might want to start rethinking synthetic birth control. 

Q:  What will I do in the future?
A:  I wish I knew.  I do not feel it is safe to continue having c-sections.  I am stepping out on faith and using a midwife for this birth, but if the end result is another c-section I might have some important decisions to make and that may include sterilization for one of us.  It will be a sad choice for me, if it comes to that.  I am saying it now and CLAIMING IT...  God is going to honor the choices I am making to attempt VBAC and I think it will be successful and I will not have to make any drastic decisions regarding sterilization.  And that is why I am writing this post on birth control... it is well on my mind right now and I have a huge internal struggle to sort out.  It is for all of you out there, as well, that might be going through a similar struggle or just do not realize some of the things that you might want to know.

I could go on and on.... if you have a question, please feel free to ask me.  In the meantime I encourage you to educate yourself more and not to simply trust others (friends, doctors, or even me).  This is not a topic that you can afford to make a mistake on.  And all of us are going to have to answer to God one day for our choices.  I recommend you pray about it.  And remember God forgives us for our past choices if we just ask.  Follow the convictions God gives YOU. 

Note: Absolutely no negative comments will be allowed or responded to, so don't bother.  Keep it friendly or keep it to yourself.  My blog, my right to express my view and that is not an invitation to for opposing views.  ;)  Let's keep it friendly and God honoring on here, please.

A Full Week

We are going to do a full week OF SCHOOL this week!  I don't think we have done that in a while.  We have had some crazy weeks and some stressful days for Momma to work through.  Sometimes it was the things weighing heavily on my mind that kept us from doing a full week of school, but mostly it has been things on our schedule.  Sometimes you just have to roll with it.  If it is going to make life crazy, then it is better to not be crazy.  Last week we had a week that went something like this:

Monday was free.
Tuesday the older two girls had an invitation to go to a play with our neighbor at their homeschool co-op.
     That night would be 2+ hours of practice for our church musical.
Wednesday was free during the day, but church at 5:45 - about 8:30 with more practice for the church musical.
Thursday my husband took off work to spend the day with us and go to Seussical The Musical.
Friday was our Homeschool Co-op day.


From the beginning I knew we would only have Monday and Wednesday to do schooling, so two days does not make much for a week.  I decided we would do some review work rather than try to tackle a week of work in two days.  In reality my stress level was reaching all time highs about needing a caregiver, so we did one day of schooling in the end. 

This week there is nothing on the schedule at all... even Wednesday night church services have been cancelled for the next two weeks.  We will do a full week of school for both girls and then, my husband will be off for his public school Christmas break until January 3rd and so will we.  So, it is going to be a "full week"..... happily, it should be an easier week for us, though.... since we don't have a crazy schedule.

Okay, so you might want to see a pic from our church musical....

Sierra is the one in the really large burgundy costume front row.
Savannah is all the way to the right.
Cody is the tallest one on the right side (He played the role of Cascius, the tax collector and had a lot of lines and some singing parts... He was nervous, but never missed a beat!)
The whole cast was awesome and put in a lot of hours of work on their parts and the real live Baby Jesus just made it so beautiful!  Our church is a huge blessing in our lives!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

What The Kids Are Getting For Christmas

Since I posted about what the kids all want for Christmas, I thought I might post about what they are actually getting this year.  I have the shopping done for them, so there should be no changes.  I am not just posting this to tell the world about their presents.  It will serve as a great reminder for me of what they are getting.  I was thinking that it might also serve as ideas for others out there that need ideas for their own children.  Or there may be families out there that wonder what a family with four kids buy their children. 

First of all, I want to say that we don't set a dollar amount for spending.  On average it probably turns out to be $50 a child, but we don't focus on that.  Last year I think we spent under $30 on one of the kids and $70 on another.  And I don't worry about that because my main focus is on getting something that is their "heart's desire" (heart's desire item = an item that will make them really happen... even if it is not something they asked for).  My kid's have never gotten a really large ticket item from us and I don't want to set the expectation that they are entitled to that.  The grandparents have done some pricey gifts, but that is out of my control and not something that thrills me. 

THE FOLLOWING IS WHAT THEY WILL GET FOR CHRISTMAS (approximate cost is included just for curiousities sake):
Savannah:
Rapunzel Barbie (Tangled) with Forest Friends that braid the hair ($34)
One of the Barbie Flaries from the Barbie Fashion Fairytale Movie (Shyne, Shimmer, or Glimmer) ($10)
One of the Littlelest Pet Shop Pet Sitter Sets ($13)
PJs ($4... special purchase)

Sierra:
Fashion Fairytale Barbie with light-up wings ($20)
One of the Barbie Flaries from the Barbie Fashion Fairytale Movie (Shyne, Shimmer, or Glimmer) ($10)
One of the Littlelest Pet Shop Pet Sitter Sets ($13)
PJs ($4... special purchase)

Caden:
Blue Guitar ($32... to replace the well-loved one that he wore completely out)
Fisher Price Whirling Airplane ($10)
Blow Up Punching Bag ($4)
PJs -- Two sets ($4 each... special purchase)

Sahara:
Pink Cowboy Boots ($12.... Yes!  At the Dollar General Store!... and soft rubbery soles!)
Pink Ukelele ($10... so she will have a "mini-guitar" like brother)
One of the Barbie Flaries from the Barbie Fashion Fairytale Movie (Shyne, Shimmer, or Glimmer) ($10... so she will get a big girl doll like her two sisters... and was easier to buy all three dolls than deliberate over which to get)
PJs ($4... special purchase)

Stockings will have various age appropriate things in the them.  The older three have some $1 craft kits, bubble gum tape, novelty chocolates, funky socks, ring pop suckers, or whatever seemed fitting.  Sahara's will have a tiny cheap baby doll in it, a novelty chocolate, and ring pops. 

I think they are going to be thrilled!

ooohhhh... also, I picked up some funky toe socks for my older two, so that will be an "extra"... I could not resist!  And I got a $10 Nativity Scene Set!  I could not pass that up either, because I have not been able to find a Nativity set at all locally. 

Look at me.... I seem to be posting this week.  ;) 

All I Want For Christmas Is....

Well, I don't actually have anything I want for Christmas, but I thought I would post my kid's requests just for fun.  BECAUSE they are so unique!  I love it.  We don't make a big thing about asking them what they want or what they want Santa to bring.  I can say that was really drilled in Savannah's head when she was really young by the relatives and it made for some greedy past Christmases.  But obviously that sort of thing can be turned around and there is hope that you can get the greedy out of them.  So, without further ado I will start with SAVANNAH'S requests.  She wants chickens!... and a male rat terrier (dog)!  Pretty odd requests I would say.  Over the past few months we have gotten three rabbits and she loves them and has always loved animals.  I guess she thinks chickens would just be fun to have and she talks about us having eggs that we would not have to buy (...I have made this poor child ultra frugal it seems...).  The male rat terrier is because she wants to have puppies by one of our other three female rat terriers.  She is a total animal lover.  She also wants to move to a farm.

Now the others are not nearly as interesting, but I am impressed.  Why?  Because they are so simple.  No big flashy, splashy, high dollar requests.  Just simple things.  And I might mention that we no longer have our Dish Network as of last June, so they are not getting commercials streaming toys at them all day long anymore.  It is quite refreshing!  SIERRA wants any kind of Barbie doll.... maybe two.  She has listed a couple of specific ones, but when asked which one she wanted most she easily narrowed it down to the Barbie Fashion Fairytale Barbie with the light-up wings.  An easy $20 gift and she will be pleased... not bad.

CADEN doesn't even realize he has options and will be happy with any boy thing like a helicopter ("hopper copper"), airplane ("a-plane"), tractor, etc..  Pretty easy.

SAHARA is also clueless that she has options and will be happy with any variety of baby doll.  In fact, I had a $10 doll picked out and she chose a $3 over that one.... and it is like one she already has.  Whatever she wants, I supposed. 

It is going to be easy to satisfy them all and that makes me one happy Momma!  Not because it is all cheap stuff, but because they are easily satisfied.  And, just in case you wonder, they are getting more than they requested and I have all the shopping done for them.  ;)

So, Why Does It Matter HOW A Baby Comes Out?-- UPDATED

Ahhhhh... the question everyone seems to want to know these days, yet few understand.  Let's face it... in the United States most areas have a 50% c-section rate and most people have just gotten use to the idea of c-sections as part of birth.  Some even prefer it, so they can "plan" it.  I will never understand that, but it is the outlook for many women today.  In my case I only "planned" to have two children originally.  Even so, I still wanted a natural birth, but ended up with a c-section for my first birth.  A couple of years later the hospitals started changing their policy to more of a "once a c-section, always a c-section" philosophy and started BANNING VBAC births.  After my first c-section I had no options that I knew of and had to (or thought I had to) have a repeat c-section.  Life changed and God changed my heart about children.  I absolutely loved being a Momma.... and loved my children.  In fact the first moments I held Savannah for the first time I said, "I could do this three or four more times!"  Most women don't say that immediately after birth, whether it be via c-section or natural delivery.  And when people ask how many children we will have I say, "I don't know, but I just take it one pregnancy at a time."  At this point in my life, though.... it is a bit different.  After FOUR c-sections there is more to it..  Is it safe to continue having c-sections?.... No.  There is no doubt about that.  If I am going to have more children there is going to have to be another way.  If I can not have a natural birth I am going to have to reconsider having more children.... for the safety of the babies... myself... and so I will be here for the children I do have.  So, for ME that is why it matters how a baby comes out. 

I believe God designed our bodies and He designed our bodies to birth vaginally.  There is a place for doctors when they are needed, but I do not believe pregnancy is an illness.  I believe too many interventions are taking place by doctors and their staff that are creating an epidemic of c-section births.  I also believe that one day they are going to answer to God for it.  They have a chance to change things and now is the time, but as the doctor I saw about a VBAC delivery clearly stated that they just don't want the commitment it takes.  Once a VBAC patient goes into labor the doctor is required to stay by her side to monitor her for a possible rupture and that could mean hours of waiting.  Midwives are the only ones willling to do this it seems, but even they are put in an uncomfortable situation by hospitals that have banned VBAC births.  That means midwives that take on VBAC clients must take on the extra risk of not having a hospital OR (operating room) down the hall in the event of a rupture.  Even with ACOG (American Congress of Gynecology) stating that a trial of labor is always the safest way to attempt birth. 

If you are facing your first birth... or second, etc..., it matters how that baby comes out because even if you think that may be the only baby you ever have life changes and sometimes your mind changes or and accidental pregnancy happens and you never know what that first c-section will mean for your future in birthing your babies.  The more natural you go the better and save the interventions for when they are necessary.  So, that is my view.... it matters how a baby comes out and I am proof. 

UPDATE:  In the above statement that I made about doctors having to answer to God about all the c-sections I was not referring to those doctors that are making that decision when it is necessary.  I do believe it is sometimes necessary.  I am referring to those doctors that are misleading their patients are rushing to do c-sections as a matter of convenience.  I have also become aware that some doctors actually use a method called "Pit to Distress" to cause a situation where it is necessary to c-section.  It is never my intention to offend anyone on my blog.  This is simply a place for me to release the thoughts in my head (journal) because I have absolutely no one in my life that I feel I can share all these things with now.  One day I want my children to be able to read about my thoughts in hopes that it will help them in some way.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Finally... A Care Provider!

This has been one crazy little journey and just when I was at the brink of giving up... and having a breakdown... I finally have a caregiver.  Last night I got a return call from a midwife literally as I was on the brink of throwing up my hands and giving up.  You know it is really hard to not have a breakdown in front of your kids and I have managed to keep it together regarding the caregiver issue in front of them, but I was holding back the tears and holding on by a thread last night.  At one point I told my husband I needed a rescue and needed him to make dinner.... AKA pancakes or something very simple, which midway he decided that hotdogs (bleeeechhhh!) were a better option for his cooking abilities and time limitations.  I am just glad they all got fed something, if it is not what I would have fed them.  I got to have a long conversation with this midwife and was so surprised she agreed to take my case on. 

So, I have written a couple of posts recently on this subject, but to update everyone on why this is such a big deal I will give a quick rundown of the situation.  First of all current stats... I am at 27 weeks and my due date is March 16th, 2011.  I have had four previous c-sections.  My situation is a bit extreme because I have had so many c-sections that is dangerous to continue having c-sections.  On the other hand it can be dangerous to attempt a vaginal deliver due to risk of uterine rupture.  I am at a crossroads in my life.  I never thought I would want to have children, because my completely devoted mother always complained about motherhood.  I was convince that was something I never wanted to experience for a long time.  At the age of 27 I decided that it was not a part of life I wanted to miss out on with regret and my husband and I decided we would have our American Dream family... two kids and be done.  They would be grown by the time we were both 50 years old and then, we would do whatever 50 year olds do when their kids are grown... move on to grandchildren, planning for retirement, etc.... who knows.  It was a plan of sorts.  Except, we quickly learned that our life is not always going to go according to our well laid out plans.... and THANK GOD FOR THAT!  God has had a lot to teach us over the last eleven years.  One... things don't have to go our way.  Two... our plans need to align with God's plan and the Bible.  Three... well, the list goes way beyond three points, but I am going to end it with this one... The world is likely to think you are crazy.  ;)

So, here I am seeking out a VBAC delivery (VBAC = Vaginal Birth After Caesarean) for my fifth birth.  My motivation is controversial to some and honestly most people do not even believe why I want this.  I want the SAFEST option, but most people seem to think that this is about me wanting to have a "natural" vaginal birth.  SAFETY is my first priority and I am tired of having surgery, IF it is not necessary.  IF it turns out that it is necessary, then I am 100% for surgery.  I just do not believe it is and the only way to know is to attempt a VBAC birth and a TOL (trial of labor).  So, in the beginning of this pregnancy I contacted a midwife, Diana, that I knew had done a recent delivery for a friend of mine who was a VBA4C.  After much consideratin, research, and tested she decided to take on my case with the understanding that the plan could change if she became uncomfortable with the situation and that I knew that the result could end in an emergency c-section.  Unfortunately, a terribly tragic string of events have played out over the last 6 weeks that have made it impossible for her to continue with my case.  None of these events are directly related to me, but greatly affect her decision that she can not continue with my case (and I totally understand!).  About six weeks ago Diana had a VBAC client in labor that started screaming in pain and grabbing her incision site.  With any VBAC client there is a risk of uterine rupture and they made the judgement call to transfer to the hospital, which resulted in an emergency c-section.  The client did NOT have a rupture, but the fear of losing the mother or the baby was very traumatizing for the midwife.  She contacted me to let me know that she needed to reconsider my case and that she was also leaving out of time for the birth of her grandbaby and would be gone for about a month.  All was well, but I needed to start thinking through the possibility of a new plan.  I wanted to give Diana space and time to be with her family as they prepared for her grandbabies birth, so I was determined not to call unless necessary even though she said to feel free to call.  I did call her after about a week because my anxiety about the situation was starting to rise.  She told me at that time, if I needed an answer now that the answer was going to have to be know because she did not have peace about it.  At that time I decided to start searching for a doctor that would do a VBAC.  Some do, but they are rare and most will not even consider my case.  I had a couple of possiblities, but in the end... long story short.... the answer was no.  Not because it is not possible, but because the doctors do not want the commitment it takes.  With VBACs once the patient goes into labor the doctor must stay with the patient until birth is complete.  Even if you can find a doctor that is willing to take on this commitment, then you have to consider their On-Call backup doctors.  If they won't do it, then you are taking a huge chance since you have no idea of when you will go into natural labor.  I had one doctor give me the lowdown on how high the risks of uterine rupture were as he explained why he can not take my case.  A few moments later he proceeded to tell me that before hospitals changed their policies he did VBAC deliveries all the time with no problems.... Contradictory.  He did not even realize he had killed his own case trying to convince me to c-section.  Anyway, in the end I decided to give Diana time to deal with the trauma in hopes that she would decide to continue with my case.

Fast forward a few weeks as the wait was on for the birth of Diana's precious grandbaby.  Finally, the mother went into labor on November 30th, but it ended in tragedy.  The baby was stillborn.  Horrifying!  Obviously, it was not a proper time to contact her about my own dilemma.  My dilemma over what to do could and would have to wait.  This past Monday I received a call from Diana to discuss my case and little did I know there was so much more to this story.  The day her grandbaby was stillborn one of Diana's fellow midwives had attended a funeral for baby that was the result of a uterine rupture.  Diana was obviously not going to continue with my case.... and even attending any birth for her would be very difficult. 

So, left with few options I began to try to sort through this all in my mind.  I felt God was still wanting me to continue with a midwife, but I just did not even know where to begin searching now.  Few midwives will even consider a case like mine, but Diana had given me a couple of names to try.  I had the support of no one.... no one... not even my husband at this point.  Actually, he was not even capable of having a rational conversation about any of this.  He has a difficult time dealing with all of my pregnancies... he is a worrying to the extreme.  And that is a whole other very long story.  My option at this point was to call my preexisting doctor.  I had called his office the week that Diana started reconsidering my case and they said they would take me since I was an established preexisting patient there.  So, I called and they said they could not take me after all.  !!!  Seriously, are they kidding me.  I actually laughed in hysterics as I told my husband later.  ;)  There recommendation was that I go to the clinic and schedule a c-section for a hospital in Galveston, TX over two hours away.  My first question was, "What do you mean by a clinic?"  Hello!  Clearly my options were becoming the most limited imaginable.  After discussing this with my husband I decided that for now my concern needed to be on getting prenatal care.  We both agreed that the idea of going to Galveston for the birth was not an option we were going to consider.  Even if I HAD to use a clinic for prenatal care I was not going to schedule a c-section in Galveston.  I would just wait until I went into labor and go into the hospital of my choice locally for and emergency and take the Doctor On Call.  I have been through that before anyway when I unexpectantly went into labor with Caden.  At least there would be some chance I would get my preexisiting doctor who is an excellent surgeon.  With that thought in mind I did a few online searches and found listings for midwives that were connected to this clinic they suggested, but apparently these listings were internet errors.  While making those calls I was told that at least one branch of these clinics would not even take me at this point in my pregnancy.... Again, I laughed slightly hysterically as I told my husband.  Imagine the possibility that not even the clinic would take me.... this is true craziness. 

So, Thursday I talked to a friend for the first time about this... I have kept most this to myself other than what I have posted on my blog.  She so sweetly listened to me ramble and said she would pray for me (you know who you are.... thank you for listening).  On Friday we went to our homeschool co-op meeting and there are some ladies there that have used midwives.  My mind was heavy with the thoughts of what to do and I had intended to make a phone call before leaving that day to contact one of the midwives Diana had told me about.  I was still quite confused about what to do.  I asked one of the ladies about her midwife and then, went in to do my nursery work for co-op.  One of the other helpers in the nursery has used a midwife and moved to our area about a year ago.  I was talking to her about the situation and confessed that I really had not called all the doctors around and she told me that it would be a waste of time anyway.  She had moved here during her 28th week of pregnancy and had called every doctor in this area.  She said that no one would take her that late in pregnancy even with prior prenatal care.  And that is why I have not made those calls... I know in my heart that it would be the same for me.  I have known that for a while, especially if it is for c-section.  Their c-section schedules are filled. 

So, I came home with the extreme burden of making those midwife phone calls and.... company dropped by.  Sometimes you start to wonder if you are ever going to have time for what you need to do.  ;)  And sometimes you just need to sit and visit, anyway.  So, I did.  By the time my husband got in from work around 4:PM I was feeling the urgency of making some calls before the weekend.  I called the first one... no answer.... left a message.  I called another and had a great conversation, but she said no.  And another... another great conversation and lots of recommendations and offers for support, but she also said no.  That is when I told my husband it was time for a rescue... I rarely ask for a rescue, but I was in need as I was holding back tears of distress.  And the phone rang!  She probably thought I was crazy because the first thing I said was, "I am so glad you called because I am seriously stressing at this moment."  We began to talk and I honestly thought she would also tell me no.... even after over 30 minutes of talking to her.  I really thought she was going to offer to handle my prenatal care, but nothing else.  Much to my surprise she said she would take my case.  She even told me a story about a birth she attended of someone who had a VBA4C in which the baby was over 11 pounds to encourage me that it can be done.  So, Sallie will be my new midwife.

And I have to share this because it is so sweet.  This is what is so different about midwives.  Sallie needs my records from Diana, so I will need to contact Diana in regards to that.  She wants to take Diana to lunch and try to be an encouragement to here during this traumatic time.  Also, there are always two midwives present at a birth nd she wants to see if Diana will be the second midwife in my case.  I just love the compassion that midwives have for their patients and fellow midwives. 

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Lobster and Maps Discussion and ... Skeletons

Today, while the rest of the homeschool world is making Christmas crafts we made lobsters!  You can follow this link to find some super cute directions for egg carton lobsters.  We studied Maine in our Adventures (My Father's World curriculum).  As I am not one to stick to the "plan" I added this cute lobster craft.  You are supposed to use PAPER egg cartons, but I had the styrofoam ones.  I just went outside and spray painted them red.  Within 10 minutes or less they were dry. 

Also, we discussed directions on the map.  The curriculum says to have the child(ren) find the state that is farthest east on the map.  The problem is that my kids know which way is north at our house, but they had the idea that on the map north changed depending on where the map was at.  Confused me a bit.... so, I thought this would be a good time to try to correct their misunderstanding.  It was quite funny, though.  Great teaching/learning opportunity! 

We might just have to hang those lobsters on the tree....  Hey!  They are red!  I am thinking that they will look very cute alongside our skeletons on the tree.  Well..... I guess I will have to explain that, also.  ;)  A couple weeks ago we started studying Colossians 1:18 for one of our memory verses ("And he is the head of the body, the church...") and the study extends to science and the body some.  I thought it would be great to do a skeleton craft that I saw here and label it with some "members" of the "church" (the people in our immediate family and extended family, church leaders and teachers, etc.... click on the pic to enlarge to see labeling).