Book Themed Baby Shower!

We had such a great time putting together a Children's Book Themed baby shower for my sister-in-law. Pinterest was such a help during the planning process!! I pinned tons of ideas on my Baby Shower board. But a few posts in particular played a big part in deciding what we did. ;-) 

This post inspired our invitations which were made using this free downloadable library card template.

And what is a party without awesome food? Taking notes from posts like this one, this one and this one, each item on our menu corresponded with a children's book.

 We printed cupcake toppers and mounted them on skewers and cardstock. These printables are similar to what we use.

 And of course... there were games. We loved the Baby Shower Price is Right!

The best part was having all of us all together and being able to bless the mom-to-be! Congrats to Jenny and Kyle!

A Very Special Cinco De Mayo!!

And then there were THREE!! FINALLY!! We are happy to announce the arrival of our new baby! Part of me wondered if I was ever going to give birth or if I was going to be pregnant forever! ;-) We are thankful and excited to welcome our third child into our family.
Last night (Tues) around 8pm I started having contractions every 8-10 minutes apart. I was afraid to get too excited in case it wasn't really "it". The girls and I took a walk around the neighborhood around 11pm as things continued to progress the contractions had gotten 5-6min apart and a little more intense. I spent time on the labor ball and we contacted our birth support team to give them a heads up. Isaac and I took a walk at 1am and I was a little teary imagining 10+ hours left in the labor (given that Nate's labor was 26hrs and Joe's was 19hrs). The contractions were getting stronger still when we got back to the house and we called my doula and my mom to come over.
Around 2am-ish I migrated upstairs and got in the labor tub. Isaac joined me and was a wonderful support during the difficult contractions that followed. My mom and Julie (the doula) were both great at helping to provide counter pressure the ease the back labor I was experiencing. My sister and two friends who were there were all awesome as helping with whatever we needed, drinks, supplies, taking pix, etc. We were expecting the labor to take awhile but when it became clear that things were moving quicker than we anticipated we called the midwife to come over (just before 3am). I continued to labor in the tub and began to feel the urge to push but tried as best I could to breathe through the contractions rather than push too soon. I felt the water break a little after 3am and things moved quickly after that. I was able to feel the baby move down much more clearly than I did with Joe (pushing was a slow process with him - inch by inch for about 2hrs). It was really only a few contractions/pushes that moved this baby down the canal and out into the water. The midwife walked up the stairs just in time to "catch" the baby as she floated up to meet us. I was in such a state of relief and everyone was checking the baby to see if they were doing well it was a moment or two before I noticed the sex. I gushed "its a girl!!".
Our beautiful Christine Anne joined us via a gentle water birth at 3:34am on Wednesday, May 5th!! She was 8lbs 6oz and 21 3/4in long. She has alot of black hair and is quite possibly the most perfect looking baby I have ever seen! Not that I'm bias or anything! ;-) The boys slept through everything. Nate woke up around 6am as things were settling down and was very excited to meet his new sister. He said "She's just what we wanted"! He is a doting big brother to her already, constantly saying "Isn't she beautiful?". Its clear that he is completely taken with her. Joe is intrigued by her as well, though not so clearly as Nate. I'm sure she'll have all the men and boys in our family wrapped around her finger in no time.

Side note: With Nate I was in labor all day on Thurs and had him around 3:50am on Friday morning. With Joe I was in labor most of Wed and had him around 3:40am on Thurs. With Christine I was in labor Tues evening and had her just after 3:30am Wed morning. All three of my kiddos have been born in the 3 o'clock hour of the morning! How weird is that? ;-)

TT - 13 Reasons I had a homebirth

My husband and I just watched The Business of Being Born. Its a documentary about the way America treats pregnancy and birth. Because we have studied on the subject so much on our own there was some information that we were already aware of but they went into more detail and touched on some things that we hadn't heard before. It just reminded me of all the reasons why we chose to have our second son at home (the first was an attempted natural birth in a hospital that ended in an unnecessary cesarean).

1. FAMILY HISTORY - I am the oldest of five kids all born at home. I was there for sisters 2 & 3's births. It was probably a little more natural for me to choose homebirth than for most women who have not been exposed to it their whole lives.
2. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - I tried a hospital birth with my first son and was sorely disappointed in our experience there. Hospitals (in general) are were sick people go. They operate a certain way and don't care about the patient's desires, they stick to their plan because thats what they do.
3. RITE OF PASSAGE - For me personally, I felt pregnancy and childbirth to be a rite of passage in my personal journey through womanhood (to a certain degree). I felt robbed when my first son's birth was taken from me and our successful VBAC at home was a very healing experience for me.
4. STATISTICS - The cesarean rate in the US is 1 in 3. If you have already had a cesarean then the rate goes up from there. See the CDC statistics report here.
5. COMFORT - There is so much freedom and comfort in having a homebirth. There are far less interventions so your chances of avoiding an induction, breaking of waters, an IV, etc are better.
6. CONTROL - You are in charge with a homebirth. You don't have a doctor watching the clock telling you your body isn't working according to their timeline and pushing you to have interventions that you don't want. A properly trained midwife helps you let your body and the baby do the work instead of working against what your body is naturally doing.
7. CONVENIENCE - Its much more convenient than having to travel while in the throws of labor. You get to labor and birth in the comfort of your own home, with your own bed, etc. Only the people that you choose will be present, no nurses changing shifts in the middle of your labor/birth.
8. CNM - We were very thankful to find a Certified Nurse Midwife in our area to attend our homebirth. She read the notes from our son's birth and she agreed with us that there was no reason to suspect that my body was less than capable of birthing vaginally.
9. SUPPORT - We also had a doula (labor assistant) and my mother there to help during the labor and after the birth. They were both great support.
10. BACKUP PLAN- I had been to an OB/GYN at the hospital near us and we really liked her. She was supportive of our decision to stay home and she agreed to be our backup should the need to transfer to the hospital arrive during labor.
11. EDUCATION - We read alot about natural birth, VBAC and homebirth while I was pregnant. A few books I recommend are: Homebirth, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, and Adventures in Childbirth - Tales from Women on the Joys, Fears, Pleasures and Pains of Giving Birth Naturally.
12. LOW RISK - I did not have a high risk pregnancy. When we got pregnant with our second son I actually weighed 30-40lbs less than I did when I got pregnant the first time. There were no red flags during the pregnancy, mom and baby grew very healthy all the way through.
13. UNITY - My husband was hesitant about the idea of a homebirth in the beginning. But he too was frustrated with our hospital experience and after he was more well-read on the subject he and I decided together that we wanted to stay home for the birth. I would never have been able to do it without his full support.

*Disclaimer: I am not saying that everyone should have a homebirth. It is a very personal choice and I wouldn't push it on anyone. However, I do believe that the system doesn't try to educate women on their birth options and that is what makes us "radicals" turn to homebirth. The healthcare system doesn't care about the patient the same way they used to. Its a billion dollar a year industry now.

For more about our first birth experience click here. For more about our homebirth click here.
For more Thursday Thirteen check out: www.thursdaythirteen.com

Love Lets Live

While we were at the Pro-Life Music Festival we saw and heard alot that made us think about our position on the subject and how our position should make us respond.
I've always been pro-life so I don't always stop to think about it much. And the statistics that they gave us really got me thinking about the sad reality of the issue. And its become such a political issue, detached from the personal nature of it. It shouldn't be a political issue: its an issue of the heart. How sad it is that so many women (and men) are comfortable taking a life in this way. Who are we to decide which pregnancy should fulfill its God given purpose and bring a life into this world and which ones should be "terminated"?
A guy from Stand True said something that stuck out to me. He said the key to stopping abortion is a matter of the heart. And if we bring all the doctors and mothers who are performing and having abortions then there won't be anyone left to do them. How cool would that be?!?
Here are a few stats I found on Abort73.com:
- Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).
- On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).
- 95% of abortions were known to have been performed by curettage (which includes dilatation and evacuation [D&E]). Most curetage abortions are suction procedures(CDC).
- 54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Amont those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use (AGI).
- 40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI).
- 17 states (AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) do use public funds to pay for abortions for some poor women. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds (virtually all from the state) (AGI).
I like what Abort73 had to say here:
Abort73.com, believes that "secular" arguments are invaluable and even sufficient to demonstrate that abortion is an injustice of historic proportions, one which systematically destroys the most innocent and helpless members of the human race. You needn't believe in God to oppose abortion. Anyone who cares about human rights, and understands that the right not to be killed outweighs the right not to be pregnant, cannot support abortion. At the same time, we believe that there is no such thing as a truly "secular" argument. Human rights must come from somewhere, and if they're not God-given, they're arbitrary and baseless. Public policy can never be established outside of some kind of absolute moral framework.

Here are a few more great Pro-Life organizations if you are interested in helping to make a difference to the 4,000 unborn babies that are aborted every day in the US. ** some of these sites may have graphic images of abortions and aborted babies.
Stand True - Christ Centered Pro-Life
Rock for Life - A Project of American Life League
TeensForLife - a pro-life website just for teens
American Family Association - America's Largest Pro-Family Action Site
Survivors... of the Abortion Holocaust
Life Centers - formerly Crisis Pregnancy Centers
After Abortion - help for those who are healing after having an abortion

Comfort Food!

So, when we were planning our homebirth my mom said she'd cook us a meal to have ready for us right after the birth and she asked if I wanted anything in particular. If you ask a pregnant woman what she wants to eat generally she'll have some kind of preference, and believe me, I did. Immediately I said I wanted my mom's homemade chicken pot pie. Its always been one of my favorite dishes that mom makes. It is not a secret family recipe or anything, its Betty Crocker's (but I checked and I could not find this particular recipe on their website). I think I ate it for every meal the first day after Josiah was born. I LOVE IT! So, while its still this cold yucky winter weather (here in the midwest it is anyway) you should try this out and let me know what you think.



Chicken Pot Pie
1/3 cup margarine, bitter or chicken fat
1/3 cup all-purpose four
1/3 cup chopped onion (optional - my husband doesn't eat onions so we do without)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken or turkey broth
2/3 cup milk
2 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey
1 package(10oz) frozen peas and carrots
*we usually add some frozen corn also

Heat margarine ove rlow heat until melted. Blend in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and frozen vegitables; reserve.

My Grandma's Pie Crust Recipe - maybe its from a cookbook, I don't know - but its so flaky.
- cut in the following ingredients:
5 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups shortening
- add all at once
1 egg (beaten) in a measuring cup - then fill cup with water to equal 1cup
Mix until even consistency. Roll out and put into pie pan 9x9x2 in; pour chicken filling into pastry-lined pan. Roll remaining dough into 11in square; place over filling. Roll edges under; flute. Cut slits in center to allow steam to escape. Cook uncovered in 425degrees oven until crust is brown, 30-35 minutes. 6 servings - give or take

Business of Being Born - Part II

Sniz's comment was so right on. There are alot of parallels to the birth and school debates. I really think they are both such a personal thing and so much weighs on what is available to you where you are at also. Some doctors and hospitals are better than others and some teachers and schools are better than others. You have to do what you feel is best for you and your family whatever that may be. That is why I try to emphasize women educating themselves about labor/birth etc rather than just getting on my soap box about natural and home births. I get so frustrated at our society and media who push "tolerance" and acceptance (homosexuality, religion, etc) but they themselves do not practice tolerance when it comes to certain subjects: Christianity, homeschooling, homebirth, etc. Why should we be told by anyone what is right for us? I don't think its right for women who are seeking a natural birth in a hospital to look to their doctor for support and instead receive unwanted interventions. Or for a family who has chosen to homeschool to be accused of truancy. What happened to freedom of choice? Does that only apply to certain areas and not others?

The Business of Being Born

I was watching the Today show this morning and Anne Curry was interviewing Ricki Lake (who looks great by the way) about a documentary she produced called The Business of Being Born about the American way of birth and how its changed and the flaws in the system and the benefits of using midwives and even Ricki's own homebirth. I was so excited to see someone addressing this important issue. I was unhappy to hear how bias and almost attacking Anne was in her questions to Ricki. Why is society so anti natural birth? Anyone who reads the statistics will realize that if you have a normal healthy pregnancy then homebirth is not as "risky" as the doctors and hospitals will have you believe.
We tried to have a natural birth in a hospital with our first son and were not fully supported in our decision to do so by the staff in spite of our "birth plan" and sadly ended in a c-section because my labor wasn't going according to their timeline. Every woman's body is different, every labor/delivery is different. Who are they to put a time limit on how each and every stage of labor should take on any given women? We did not want to have another experience like that and when we found out that we were pregnant again we prayed alot and found a Certified Nurse Midwife who was wonderful and supportive of our decision to have a home birth. There were mixed reviews from our friends and family. What a vastly different experience the homebirth was! I was much more relaxed and I was able to move around and eat and we used a labor tub to help me relax throughout the labor. I felt confident in myself and my body and empowered - I know God was holding me close to Him through the loving support of my husband, mother, doula and midwife. Anyway, I'll stop before I get too preachy.... needless to say, I am very passionate about women (at the very least) educating themselves before making decisions about their bodies, births and babies.

Our Baby Joe is Finally Here!

Wednesday late morning I started contractions that were fairly mild and not too close together. But throughout the day they got more intense and closer together. By evening we had called our support team to come over. When we finally had the midwife come we had her check and see how far dilated I was and I was already 8cm and 95% effaced! That was very encouraging since Nate had been stuck at 7cm for several hours before his c-cection. We labored for awhile longer and then ended up pushing for about 2hours. Obviously this was the first time I'd gotten to the pushing part of labor.... it was a whole different ballgame! But after 19hours of labor at 3:50am when our beautiful baby boy finally came out of me and was slipped up into my open arms it was all worth it. He was 8lbs 8oz and 21in long.(Nate was 7lb7oz) He's so precious! Nate has lots of hugs and kisses for him, but probably doesn't really get how much his life is going to change now because of this new little guy. Well, we are all still resting from the long day yesterday but we wanted to let you all know about the new life that has joined our family!

* Obviously this was the abbreviated version of the story. For those who are really interested in birth stories let me know and I'll send you a word doc with the long version.

Welcome Our First Son!

Well... at 2:30am on Thurs 7-7-05 my water broke. Contractions started shortly there after. My mom and our backup doula, Paula(Julie was on vacation), came over late morning to help with the labor process. We all worked well together and things progressed. We decided to head over to the hospital around 4:30p or 5p. When the CNM checked me we were dilated to 6cm(thats good). We labor for awhile longer, trying different positions and things to be as comfortable as possible - we made it to 7cm dilation. Eventually progress stopped and it seemed that we were running out of options to stick to our birth plan. There were concerns about the baby's heart rate and the fact that labor had slowed and we hadn't dilated any more after several hours of labor. After about 24hours of labor and trying many things we felt we needed a c-section in order to keep a healthy mother and baby. The surgery went well and we have a beautiful baby boy!
Our Baby Nate was born Friday July 8th, 2005 at 3:20am. He was 7lbs 7oz and 21 1/2 inches long.
He's got a head full of dark hair and we're totally in love with him already. The hospital staff was wonderful - they took good care of all of us. Little Nate and I are still getting the hang of breastfeeding, but we're working on it together. We were released late this morning and we're all tired but glad to be home. Here are a few pix of the handsome new Penrod boy! Thanks for your continued prayers as we settle in with our new joy.

*This was obviously an abbreviated version of the story. For those who really love hearing birth stories I have the long version in a word doc if you are interested.