The Bray Bunch

Update on the kids

2011-08-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

Kaleb is 8 and going into the 3rd grade. He has been struggling with some social awkwardness and seems to be very concerned about people laughing at him. He doesn't want to wear the new tie dye shirt I made him that is purple and dark blue (colors he choose) because he thinks the purple is too girly. Sigh. We are working on just getting him to love himself and be himself. He is looking forward to starting school and making new friends. He had been in a class that looped from 1st to 2nd grade. In third grade he will be in a class with a different mix of kids and we are both very excited about that. He loves to read and loves science. He made me google umbrella birds and xray fish this morning and read him the facts about each.

Jasmyn just turned 7 and will be starting the 2ndgrade. She is a social butterfly and Harlie's second Momma! She has a BFF named Rachel whom she plays with all the time. Thankfully they get along great and it is a sweet little friendship. Jasmynhas been experimenting alot with makeup and nail polish this summer. I have some funny pictures of her covered in eye shadow and blush. She loves mascara too, but is really bad at putting it on. LOL! She often looks like spiders have attacked her face. I bought her a package of makeup removing wipes so she can get it off when she is done playing. Works like a charm! She is super loving and caring with Harlie. He will cuddle with her on the couch and fall asleep. They are super sweet together!

Mason continues to be my most challenging child. He is stubborn and gets his feelings hurt very easily. He is a sensitive child but explosive at the same time. He has a great sense of humor and really gets comic timing. He just turned 5 and is starting Kindergarten in September. He still struggles with colors and letters so I am a tad worried about him starting Kindergarten. But I Figure if he has a hard time and it becomes clear he needs to repeat K then we will do that. Him being born July 19 makes him one of the youngest in his class. I worry about his social and behavioral skills holding him back from learning. He might just need another year to mature. Or he may just surprise the socks off me!

Harlie is 22 months old. He is all boy. He likes to play in the dirt. He loves to go to the park and dig in the sand/mud area. I was starting to become concerned about his lack of verbal skills. But just in the past month he has added new words and phrases to his vocabulary. His favorite is "mine". The first time he said it he held the toy behind his back and looks defiantly at Jasmyn and said "Mine". It was so cute! My other favorite is when he wants to nurse and says "other side". I don't know why that is what he choose to call it. I guess it is probably because when he finishes on breast I would ask him "Do you want the other side?" Apparently it stuck! So now he will climb into my lap and say "other side". He even gets picky about what side we start with. LOL! Last week he fell in the hallway and hit his head on the wall. He ended up with a smallish gash on his forehead but it split open in a star pattern and the edges wouldn't close. I took him to urgent care and he ended up with 2 stitches. I am sure that is just the beginning of the trips to the urgent care for him!

Jasmyn & Mason Grandma Mary & Harlie
Mason
Jasmyn

Family Picture

Kaleb
Jasmyn & Harlie
Harlie

The story of Kali

2011-06-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

Kali

January 1, 1996 - June 15, 2011
May you rest in peace.

I bought Kali for Tim as a Valentine's Gift in 1996. She joined us at home at my Grandma's house with our other cat Zoe. Zoe and Kali became inseparable and went on to have 6 kittens and grow old together. Zoe preceded Kali in death in July 2009.

As a kitten Kali was smaller than the average kitten. She was feisty despite being smaller than Zoe. I loved her cream colored strip on her nose and the way that her eyes looked like someone outlined them with eyeliner.
Kali's favorite place to cat nap was above my head on my pillow. Well anyone's head really. I remember Grandma making us lock her down stairs with us at night so that she would not "nest in my hair". Kali continued to enjoy sleeping on my pillow for the duration of her life.

Zoe and Kali had a love affair. They were together every day until Zoe died. They bathed each other. Played with each other. Shared everything. When Kali went into her first heat Zoe was the only one around to make babies with! LOL! We had thought up until then that Zoe was a female cat. Ha! Weren't we surprised when 60 days later Kali had 6 kittens. When Kali went into labor with her kittens she climbed onto my pillow and would slowly purr with each contraction. She was very calm and content to be petted and loved on. I got to witness all 6 babies come into the world. Kali was a good momma. She cleaned each one off and let it begin to nurse. She was super protective of her kittens. She would not let Zoe around them until the kittens eyes were open and they could walk with ease.

Tim, Zoe, Kali and her kittens
Once the kittens were grown and gone out into the world to good homes Kali and Zoe settled back into their routine. Their love and companionship being the constant.

They moved with us from Sandpoint to Coeur d' Alene to Seattle to Renton to Spokane and then to our home in Spokane Valley. They never ran away or even resented us for making them move. Every night Kali would sleep on my pillow and Zoe would sleep at the foot of the bed. All was right in their world.

A few years ago Kali was diagnosed with Mammary cancer. The Vet said that cats that have had kittens and nursed them are at a higher risk to get mammary cancer. She asked me if Kali had been spayed. She had been but not before she became a mother. Who knew that allowing her to have kittens way back then would potentially kill her today? I don't think Kali would have had it any other way. She loved her kittens and was sad to see them leave. We decided to treat her cancer with surgery. 6 months after the surgery the cancer reoccurred and we had another surgery and then another. She did well for about 1 year. Then I noticed a small lump on her tummy again. We waited and watched. It grew very slowly over 4-6 months. Then in a few weeks time it grew so fast. The Vet said that it is likely on the 4th re-occurrance that the cancer is spread throughout her body. We could run some expensive tests but the prognosis was not good. We choose to take her home and provide hospice care.

She got fancy soft food. The kids were extra gentle with her. She got lifted onto our bed to nap. She got extra pets and love. She was spoiled rotten!

But then I noticed she wasn't enjoying things like she used to. She no longer had the strength to jump up on the ledge where we kept her food (away from Harlie). She no longer slept on my pillow at night. She stopped cleaning herself. She started to limp. She stopped purring. She stopped eating.

It was time.

I made the appointment with the Vet. I told the kids very gently that she was going to die. I told them she would go peacefully. I asked them if they wanted to go with me to the Vet. We took pictures. Tons of pictures. I cried. I looked through my photo albums for pictures of her. I started writing this blog entry. I cried again. I held her and pet her and rubbed her under her chin and between her ears. She rubbed me back. I cried into her fur. The kids got home from school. They cried. Kaleb helped me find a box that will be her casket. We covered it in brown paper. The kids decorated it. We found a soft blanket to put inside of it. Kaleb asked me questions about caskets and pillow when people die. We took more pictures.

Pictures from today.

It was time to leave for the Vet. Kaleb wants to go with me. He wants to hold her paw when she dies. I hold Kali in a towel while I drive. She doesn't fight me. We get to the Vet office. We all cry. Kaleb decides he doesn't want to be with her after all. He says goodbye and pets her one last time and heads to the waiting room. I cradle her head in my hand and kiss her head. I whisper softly how much I love her and wish her well on her journey. The Vet pushes the medicine. Almost instantly her head relaxes in my hand. Peaceful transition.

Kaleb comes back in a gives another pet. We gather her up in a box and carry her to the car. Kaleb insists on holding her in his lap. We arrive home. Jasmyn Mason Harlie and Tim say goodbye. We all cry. Kaleb wants her collar for a keepsake. I remove it and give it to him. It is raining outside. Kaleb and I take her to the hole Tim has prepared. Kaleb puts her in the ground and we use shovels to bury her. Tim comes out to hold an umbrella. We say goodbye again and it is done.

Kali and Jen
Forever in my heart.

Kaleb's Teeth 2

2011-03-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting for a while for a molar to come through Kaleb's tissue so that Dr. R can anchor the 1st appliance to it. We have been waiting since October. In early January we went to the dentist and had an x-ray done to see what the progress was. At that time the dentist thought that Kaleb's tissue was pulled to tight for the tooth to erupt. The treatment for that was to cut into Kaleb's gum tissue and manually expose the tooth.

Kaleb was a trooper trough the process. We started off with some oral medications to relax Kaleb. After about 30 minutes we went back to the dentist chair and they put some topical medicine on the gum tissue to numb it up some. After that took effect they put some Nitrous gas on Kaleb. I stayed with Kaleb the whole time and held his hand. I kept reminding him to breath through his nose so that he would get the full effects of the Nitrous. The dentist then injected the Novocaine into his gum. Kaleb did not feel a thing! It was fantastic! After a few minutes they took the nitrous off him and then the dentist just cut a slit in the gum line. He also used a dental instrument to push the tissue back around the tooth to help it erupt. Kaleb was amazing through the whole thing and did a fantastic job of holding still and listening to the instructions from the dentist and his assistants.

Fast forward to last week. I was still having some concerned about the tooth. I would check it fairly often to see if more of the tooth has erupted. I could see no change. Last Friday Kaleb has a routine dental cleaning and X-rays. The dentist compared the films from 6 mos ago, to 2 mos ago to the current X-ray. The tooth has no moved. It is growing but it is not moving. The roots are growing longer and into the jaw line, but the tooth is not moving up into it's place. The dentist said we need to go back to the Orthodontist Dr. R and let him know what we found. Basically the tooth is going to require some kind of intervention to get it in place. I am sure it will be another appliance of some kind and that probably means more expense as well. Sigh.

I called the Orthodontist today to get an appointment scheduled and they have one available tomorrow March 15th. So keep us in your thoughts as well start the process with the Orthodontist.

Grandma's Popcorn Balls

2010-11-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

13 years ago on November 7th, 1996 my Grandma passed away. My Grandma and I were close. She was an incredible woman. She loved Popcorn Balls. So on the anniversary of her death my kids and I decided to make popcorn balls in her honor. I also got to tell the kids stories about her and how much I loved her as we cooked together. It was really sweet.

I thought I would share the recipe and some pictures of us actually making the popcorn balls. Here it is.....

1 large bowl of plain popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 sm package of jello
1/4 cup of butter (for your hands)

Step 1: Pop the popcorn. We use an air popper to pop our popcorn. We filled a huge bowl with popcorn. I popped it into the green bowl and then separated the un-popped kernels from the popcorn and placed the popcorn into the white bowl.

Step 2: Then you set up the area to actually make the balls. You will need a small bowl of butter to put on your hand to form the balls. You will need a place to put the balls after they are formed. I use a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.
Step 3: Make the sauce. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup in a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly to avoid scorching.

After boiling for a minute then add a sm package of jello mix. Jasmyn helped with this step! Stir the jello mix into the boiling sugar and mix thoroughly. Bring to a complete boil.
Step 4: Pour the sugar mixture over the popcorn. Then mix the popcorn and jello together. The sauce is HOT so be careful.
Step 5: Butter your hands. This will keep the sugar from sticking to your hands and burning you. It will also keep the popcorn balls from sticking to your hands. Then press the popcorn into balls. Press hard to help them keep there shape.
This recipe makes about 12 balls.
Mason on a popcorn ball sugar high!Kaleb enjoying the spoils!

Kaleb's Teeth

2010-10-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took Kaleb in to the dentist for a checkup. The Dentist took routine X-rays and did an exam. He felt that Kaleb would benefit from "early orthodontic intervention". hahaha That is code word for: start saving your money for braces!

Today was our consultation appointment with the Orthodontist. Kaleb did great! He normally has a bit of white coat syndrome and freaks out as soon as the Dr. or nurse gets close. But today he did great! He was cooperative, friendly and polite! I love it when kids act like they were raised to act! They took a panoramic view xray of his mouth/jaw and then some actual photos of his face and his teeth.

After the photos and x-rays we spoke with Dr. R about what he suggests to correct Kaleb's dental problems. Kaleb's problems will require 2 phases of treatment. Phase 2 will happen once his baby teeth are all gone and his permanent teeth are all in. This is probably 3-4 years down the road. And doing Phase 1 treatment will make phase 2 easier and we willhave better results. But Dr.R wanted to show us what the problems are before discussing Phase 1. It is kind of a laundry list.

* Crowding on the bottom which is preventing the eruption of a tooth
* Teeth on bottom that have not come in yet are allowing his other teeth to shift out of place
* Molar not yet erupted- unknown reason
* Recessed lower jaw
* Overjutted front upper teeth with large gap
* Crowding on top which is preventing the eruption of a tooth

Here are some photos to illustrate the above points. The Molar in the back that is "missing" is not truly missing. It is simply not through the skin/gum yet. (you can see it on the xray. It is tooth marked with the # 1) Dr. R says it could be a variety of reasons from overcrowding to it being stuck in the jaw bone. We need to wait to see what happens in the next few months with this tooth as it's placement it crucial in the use of the first appliance Dr. R wants Kaleb to use.

The other missing incisor in the front is again not "missing" but rather just not able to push up because of over crowding. You can see it on the xray as well. Dr. R thinks that because Kaleb actually had that tooth knocked out instead of the other tooth pushing it out is the reason the permanent tooth is not through yet. (Kaleb had a series of mouth injuries that resulted in him prematurely losing this tooth). But this tooth is critical in that it is missing. Because it is no longer there it is enabling the other 4 front teeth to shift over making his bottom teeth off the mid line.
This photo shows the missing upper incisor. As you can see on the Xray the tooth is under the gum but there is no room for it to come through. If we do nothing that tooth will continue to come in but it will turn and come in sideways. We need to gain some space on the upper jaw.
And lastly the front teeth for whatever reason are overjutter (buck teeth/stick out) and have a gap between them. Over crowding of the teeth from the molars forward cause the front teeth to jut out. Again... we need to gain some space in the upper jaw.
So Dr. R went over the treatment plan he has to correct Kaleb's issues.

Phase 1

Step 1
We have to wait 4-6 months to see what is gonna happen with the lower molar that is not through the gum line yet. We have a recheck planned for January to reevaluate that tooth. We need that tooth to be in place so that the 1st appliance can set against it. We are hoping that in the next 3-4 months we will see that tooth erupt through the gum line.
If the tooth does not come through in that amount of time we will go back to the dentist (who referred us to Dr. R.) and they will do "gum contouring" to expose the tooth and investigate why it is not erupting. Once they figure out why then there are other courses of action that could include pulling the tooth. We want to avoid that.
So keep Kaleb in your thoughts that this tooth will work its way through the gumline by the end of January.

Step 2
Kaleb's first appliance is called a Schwarz appliance. It looks like a retainer that is removable. Only it has a mechanism in the center that we will turn daily/weekly that will help us gain space in his lower jaw. The point of this appliance is to slowly push the teeth into better position and move soft tissue. I am not sure it this actually encourages jaw growth or not. He would wear this all the time except for eating. It is removable, in fact he removes it so we can adjust the mechanism. Here is a picture of what the appliance looks like in a mouth. Notice the BEFORE and AFTER.

Step 3

The second appliance would be a Palatal Expander. This one is glued into his mouth and can not be removed. We would again adjust the mechanism daily/weekly to gain space for his teeth. Here is a picture of what his expander would look like. Notice the BEFORE and AFTER pictures.
Basically the reason for doing the 2 appliances is to gain space in the jaws to avoid removing permanent teeth later. Our Dentist was right that Kaleb will benefit from early intervention. Kaleb's jaw is still mold-able and is still growing so these appliances are only effective for children of Kaleb's age.

Step 4
Kaleb will also get some braces on the front upper teeth at some point to help hold the position of the teeth once we gain some space in the jaw.

He may require other appliances and or braces during the 1st phase of his treatment. We will have to see how Kaleb's mouth responds to the treatment.

Phase 2

This is basically full braces with an appliance glued to the top braces that pull his lower jaw forward. This is timed with an age appropriate growth spurt that will enable his body to grow more lower jaw bone and correct his recessed jaw and help his teeth become aligned for a proper bite.

Honestly I can't wrap my mind around Phase 2 yet because I am still trying to figure out how to pay for Phase 1. LOL! We do not have Orthodontics Insurance. Honestly I am not sure such a thing exists! LOL But we do have a few months to save for Phase 1 since we are waiting for Kaleb's tooth to grow in. And Dr. R does offer payment plans and even outside financing. We are trying to avoid both those options because if we pay in full at time of treatment we receive a 5% discount.

Also Dr. R. has a discount for Phase 2. Basically they will take 50% of your phase 1 payment and apply it to Phase 2. This is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it is a big chunk of money but a curse because if they discount it THAT much then what is the whole fee????

Sigh. I hope that Kaleb is happy with his smile and appreciates our efforts to get him there once phase 1 and 2 are complete!

Baby Steps!

2010-09-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

For both Harlie and me! We will start with Harlie....

He has been standing up on his own for a few weeks now. By that I mean he will be sitting on the floor and stand up on his won without steadying himself on anything. Then he will stand and smile a big smile like he is soooo proud of himself!

He is still to scared to just take off and walk though. He will do the transfer from one piece of furniture to the next, but stops short of actually walking across the floor. But today I did see him take 4 or 5 steps while he was concentrating on holding some cars in his hands. It is just a matter of time before he takes off. It is so exciting!

As for me.... I am taking some steps towards becoming more healthy. In the past 8 years I have spent 3yrs pregnant and another 4yrs+ breastfeeding. In those same 8 years my weight has fluctuated up and down by 50 pounds. I lose weight while I am pregnant and then gain it back while I am nursing. Then lose it when I wean but then I usually get pregnant again. Lather rinse repeat.... until now. No more babies will be born from me. Harlie will be weaned within a year, probably closer to 8 months. This is the beginning of me reclaiming my body for me. It is about time!

So my first step started last night.... No more eating after dinner! I am a snacker. I love to snack in the evenings. Now this wouldn't be too bad if I was snacking on carrot sticks, but we all know that I'm not snacking on carrot sticks! I tend to get busy online or reading a book and realize after it is too late that I ate half a bag of chips or way too many Hershey kisses! So Baby Step #1 is no eating after 8pm.

Second baby step is no more soda. Or at least no more regular soda. I might have to break down and drink diet on occasion. I drink soda out of convenience. I will be planning ahead and making herbal ice tea or keeping fresh lemons and limes on hand to refresh plain water.

And third baby step is to get regular exercise. This is a big step on many levels. Let me explain.... I have tried many times to get on a regular routine of exercising. But that would usually involve me taking kids with me on a walk or bike ride. We even have done exercise DVDs in the living room. Or occasionally I would sneak away for a walk on my own while Tim watched the kids. But these occasions because less and less frequent and when I did exercise with my kids it was a lot of catering to their speed/ability and thus my workout suffered. I had a hard time getting into a rhythm of even walking when I was stopping to tie a shoe, get a sippy cup or yell at one of the kids to stay to the right to avoid the cars. It was honestly more of a hassle to go then to just stay at home. And it was not enjoyable. at. all.

And really this is a symptom of the bigger issue in my life... I just don't take time for me. I used to think that it was Tim's responsibility to make sure I got my time. But now I realize that he is fighting for his own time. Asking him to take over for me so I can get time really takes away from his time too. And that breds resentment and anger between us. Obviously we are a team, and we each need blocks of time to just do what we need to do to recharge. Tim and I do a pretty good job of doing that when time allows. But what we are both realizing is that it is just not enough. We need to take time a few times a week to recharge not a few times a month. And given Tim's work schedule and the kids school schedule, Tim does not have enough hours in his week to give me the time I need. I need to fulfill this need with in myself on my own. I need to find a way to exercise and take care of me that does not effect Tim's schedule in any way.

As the kids have gotten older I now have a great opportunity for some time to myself or at least time when I only have to deal with 1 child. Kaleb & Jasmyn are in full day school this year. Mason is in half day Preschool Monday -Thursday. Suddenly I had an actual shot at making a change for the better. I had more options because I only have Harlie to occupy.

My friend Char had told me about her gym. So today I decided to check it out. They had a family plan with unlimited day care included for a very reasonable price. The gym has lots of amenities... pool, sauna, hot tub, big locker rooms with private shower areas, tanning beds, weight room, cardio machines, circuit training, spin classes, aqua Zumba classes, a full basket ball court and an on site day care! And I am sure I am forgetting things too. So Tim and I joined the gym today. Woot!

Baby Step # 3 is to get to gym at least 3 times per week!

I plan to blog about this journey I am on as I walk it. I hope that you all offer me support and encouragement! I am sure I will need it!

Tie Dye Cake

2010-09-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

My friend Sara turned 35 in August. She had not had a birthday party for herself in YEARS. So I conspired with our mutual friend Sarah to throw Sara a Surprise Party! And we LOVE theme parties. We threw her a 60's/tie dye theme party. And what better way to make a party a success than with an AWESOME cake. Behold... The Tie Dye Cake! Many people have requested the recipe on how I created this awesome cake. I can't take full credit as I did Google it and got some hits and some great ideas. But below is my recipe and instructions for "Sara's Tie Dye Ice Cream cake"!

First of all you need:

Lots of food coloring
Spring form pans
lots of bowls/spoons
Wax paper
White cake mixes
patience and time. Cake has to set up overnight!

Step 1: Preheat your oven to the temperature on the cake mixes. Grab your white cake mixes. It is up to you on how many to use. I was making LOTS of cake so I used 3 mixes. I needed enough for 3 layers but I overestimated how much I needed (I will explain later how I handled this problem). You be the judge. The amount of cake mix you make does not effect the tie dye effect. You just need enough pans to bake the cake mix. So back to step 1.... mix up your white cake mixes exactly as the recipe on the box states.

Step 2: Figure out how many colors you want to make. I went with 6 colors. I took out 6 small bowls and 6 spoons to mix with. I split the mixed cake mix equally between the 6 small bowls. Then I added the color to each of the bowls and mixed the colors up. I used the gel food coloring you buy in the baking section of the grocery store. I used 2 boxed of the food coloring.

Yellow (upper left corner) and green are mixed already. The other bowls of cake mix are waiting for colors.

Don't be shy with the food coloring. Having bright and vibrant colored mix makes the cake look awesome once it bakes! I use a whole tube of food coloring for the red cake mix. I did not want it to look pink.

I made purple by using red and blue food coloring. It turned out almost black in the bowl but it looks purple once the cake is baked.

All 6 of my colors. (I used yellow and red to make the orange)

Step 3: Prepare your pans. I used 2 spring form pans and one small regular cake pan. I wanted a 3 layer cake with 3 different size layers. I sprayed some "Bakers Joy" spray on my pans to prevent the cake from sticking.

Step 4: Starting with your darkest color pour 1/3 (or 1/2 if you are only using 2 pans) of your purple into the center of the pan. Add your next color, green in my case to the center of the purple. Then Blue, then orange, then yellow and lastly red. As the colors land on each other they push the darker/previous color out towards the edge of the pan. Repeat this step to fill all of your cake pans.

Here is what 2 of my cake pans looked like when I was done.

Optional Step.... You could reverse the colors on the second pan. So you pour red, then yellow, then orange, then blue , then green and last purple so that when you put the layers together in the finished cake and ice it it is opposite. It might make for a funner reveal when the cake is cut and eaten!

Tower of dishes!

Cake pans ready to put in the oven!

Step 5: Bake your cakes. While they are baking do your dishes and clean your counters so your cakes have a place to cool once they are done. (can you tell I am a clean freak?!?!)

Here is a picture of my 3 cakes about 1/2 way through the baking time. The colors are melding into each other! So cool looking!

I used 3 different size pans so I had to watch my cakes carefully to take the smaller ones out as they got done. I just put a knife in until it came out clean. The cakes baked exactly like they would have without the food coloring. It tastes the same too!

The baked cakes cooling. Make sure you cool the cake completely!

Optional Step: I way overestimated how much cake I needed. So when I pulled the cakes out I realized that they were way to tall for me to add ice cream onto as well. So I just grabbed my long serrated knife and cut the cakes in half as seen below.
Then because I did not need that much cake for the party I double wrapped the layers and froze them for a latter date. (which reminds me.... I should pull those out and eat them this week!) As seen below:
Optional end step: At this point you could just ice your cakes with your favorite frosting and watch with a smirk on your face as the guest of honor cuts into the plain white cake to discover a wild pattern of colors inside. Or if you are an over achiever like me you can ....

Add ICE CREAM!!!!!

Step 6: About 15 minutes before you prepare to make your tie dye ice cream cake, place your ice cream of choice on the counter to thaw. You need the ice cream to be soft enough to spread.

Step 7: Prepare your pans and cakes. I put wax paper on the bottom of the spring form pans and lined the smaller cake pan as well. Then I snapped the spring form pans back together. Next place your cooled cakes back in the pans.

Step 8: Place your now thawed ice cream into a bowl. Using a wooden/sturdy spoon stir the ice cream until it is soft enough to spread on your cake.
I used chocolate on the bottom layer and then cookies and cream on the top layers. For my cake I used a 1/2 gallon on the bottom layer and then split the 1/2 gallon on the other 2 layers.

Spread the ice cream across the top of the cake until it is covered and smooth.

Step 9: After your ice cream is spread then cover the cake with wax paper making sure no air is between the wax paper and the ice cream. No air will prevent ice cream from getting "freezer burn" in the freezer.

Step 10: Cover the whole cake pan with tin foil to prevent freezer burn. Place the cake(s) in the freezer at least overnight, or you could leave them longer as long as great care is taken to prevent freezer burn.

3 layers ready to go into the freezer!

Step 11: I don't have pictures of this step because I was doing it right before the party and did not have my camera handy. I will do my best to describe how to do it! I frosted my cake with Cool Whip. You could probably use actual frosting, too. I made sure the Cool Whip was spreadable, then I pulled the bottom layer out of the freezer. You have to work quickly because the ice cream will start to melt. I opened the spring form up and pulled all the wrapping off and placed the frozen layer on a cake platter. Then I quickly spread the cool whip all over the cake. Then I got the next layer out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and placed it on top of the first layer. I used some long skewers to push through the layers to prevent them from sliding since the ice cream was starting to melt. Then I added cool whip to that layer. And then repeated those steps with the top layer. Then I quickly put the whole thing (uncovered) back in the freezer to set up again.

To decorate my cake I had purchased some birthday candles that were on tooth picks because I wasn't sure if real candles would go through the ice cream layer. My candles spelled "Happy Birthday". I actually stood in front of the freezer and decorated the cake while it was still chilling! We did not light the candles because we knew that would just make the cake melt faster!

I had told Sara it was an "ice cream cake" but she had no idea it was a tie dye cake until she cut into it! It was so fun to see the expressions on people's faces when they saw how cool it looked! It really was awesome and fit the theme to a T!

Yummmy!

The only thing I think I will do different next time is make the ice cream layers thicker. The top layer of cake only has about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice cream on it. It would have been nicer to have a bigger layer of ice cream since it was such a hot day!

Anyway I hope you enjoy making this cake or at least seeing the process of how I made it for Sara!

Harlan's water birth

2010-05-22T01:45:00.000-07:00

So I have put together a video of Harlan's waterbirth. It is mostly a picture montage of photos taken during my pregnancy and also my labor and the birth. There is a 30 sec video clip in the middle of the montage of the actual moment of birth. It is not "graphic" but you do see my butt! So if you would rather not see that then don't watch the video. I will say that is is taken from the side and is very tasteful! The whole video is in B & W. The music is nice and all in all I am very proud of the work I put into this video. Enjoy and please comment!

Harlan at 6 months

2010-04-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to create this post for about 3 weeks now. Technically Harlan turned 6 mos on April 7th. We have had lost going on since then so I am just now getting this posted.

Harlan has acquired a few nick names but the one that has stuck is Harlie. In fact if you follow me on Facebook you will see that I almost always call him Harlie. I think it is cute and fits him!

Here is a picture of all my kiddos!
They all love Harlie so much and love posing for pictures with him!

At his 6 mo well-baby visit he weighed 15 pounds 4 ounces
And was 27 1/8 inches tall. Long and lean!

He is a very happy baby that rarely cries.
He smiles alot and likes to watch his brothers and sister run amuck.

Harlie has a great relationship with each one of his siblings. He espeically loves to roll around with Mason on the floor. And Mason has the ability to make Harlie laugh out loud!

Harlie has 3 teeth. 2 on the bottom that he got in his 4th month and 1 on top that he recently cut. He is working on the other top tooth. Teething has been a challenge for him and teh only time really that he is inconsolable. He responds well to pain relieves though.

Harlie is also eating soild foods like a champ. We started with jarred purees and now have moved onto table foods. He likes fruits and veggies and loves to self feed. He really loves pancakes smeared with my homemade strawberry jam and cut into little squares that he can self feed.

Harlie is such a joy and has fit seamlessly into our family. I am so happy that he has completed our family so perfectly. At the beginning of the month Tim got a vasectomy so we are done having babies. It just feels so right and we are thrilled to have taken that step. I am just savoring every baby moment with Harlie. They grow so fast and he is the last of my babies!

Basement Bedroom is COMPLETE

2010-04-28T09:32:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago we got all the furniture moved in and the kids moved! It went very well! My brother Dave came over to help Tim move the furniture. Then I sent in and unpacked and organized all the stuff. I am very happy with the way it turned out. They do need some more wall art but we are gonna work on that soon!

Here is Mason standing on Jasmyn's bed

Jasmyn is obviously excited!

Jasmyn's area. She needs art on the wall!

Kaleb's area. He has lots of art work!

The room!

And the transition of the kids sleeping down there went way better than I expected. They have enjoyed sleeping downstairs and love the new bedroom! It is just awesome!

Basement Bedroom Part 3

2010-04-08T23:04:00.001-07:00

Work has continued on our basement bedroom project. The floor proved to be a huge challenge. When Tim pulled up the linoleum that covered a portion of the floor he found it very securely GLUED to the floor despite having been there since ... well forever I think! The plastic layer came up but the paper backing stuck to the concrete. Here is what it looked like:
Obviously it needed to be removed before we could put new flooring down. The new flooring is an adhesive plank type flooring that is moisture resistant and rated for sub level concrete. So thus began our quest to remove the mess from the floor! We bought an industrial size floor scrapper from home depot. That didn't work. We bought a floor stripper that was supposed to remove the glue and paper. That didn't work. We did find a solution eventually. A 4 inch wide wall paper scrapper with removable razor blade type blades, lots of water, get on your hands and knees, and apply lots of elbow grease!

We took turns scraping while the other one used a push broom to wet the paper and glue to help loosen it. The kids picked up the scraps of paper and put them in a bucket. In about 2 hours the floor was clean enough! The next step was to let the floor dry. We turned on a space heater.

Tim then spent a few nights after work painting the doors and trim white. Then he painted the ceiling and 3 walls yellow and one wall green. The colors came out great!

The next day I went down and swept the whole room and then mopped. After the floor was clean I let it dry completely again. Then we needed to use a concrete preparer to help the adhesive planks stick to the floor more effectively. I got the job of rolling on the floor paint.

After the floor was dry again we were ready to start laying the flooring down. Thankfully Tim had some help from my brother Dave. It took the two of them about 3 1/2 hrs to lay all the planks and then Tim still had some finish work to get done as well.

Here are a few pictures of the floor and the pain now that it is done. The kids as you can see are thrilled with the new room! The space heater is still in the room helping the adhesive cure to the floor.

The room is very long and narrow. It should work great as a dormitory type setting for the boys! Well and for Jasmyn too until her room is finished upstairs. We do still have some work to do before we move the kids into the room. We need to get some baseboard trim painted and installed. All the outlets in the room need to be replaced with new plate covers. The light switches need to be replaced and they need new cover plates as well. And we have 2 low profile ceiling fans to install as well. And the cover that goes over the water main needs to be sanded, painted and installed. We are getting closer to being done! I can't wait and neither can the kids!

Harlan's 1st Solids

2010-03-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Harlan is 5 months old and seemed like he was interested in what we are eating. He watches the fork from our plates to our mouths and drools. LOL! He has been doing this for a few weeks now. He can sit up when supported and has good head control. And he is very expressie when he is unhappy and can convey when he has had enough! All of these things are signs of readiness for solids. A few days ago we decided to try to introduce solids to him. So I smashed up some bananas and mixed some organic whole grain rice cereal with some formula for him. Tim got ready with the camera. We were little over zealous considering what happened next!

His first bite!

It did not go over well. He was NOT inpressed with it AT ALL.

Notice his little frown.

This is NOT the face of a child loving solids.

But we tried a few more spoon fuls.

And he made it CLEAR it was done with it by arching his back and tying to get away from me.
He did like it when I let him hold the spoon.

And he enjoyed chewing on it!

So we will wait a few more weeks to try again. In the mean time I am letting him chew on the spoon when he watches us eat dinner. And I am gonna start putting him in his high chair (as soon as the seat cover gets finished) during meal times as well. Hopefully these things will help him get excited about eating solids.

Also one of my online friends gave me a link about allowing babies to feed themsleves instead of spoon feeding them purees. It is an interesting concept for sure. Here is the link in case anyone is interested.

Basement Bedroom Part 2

2010-03-11T18:53:00.001-08:00

More pictures of our basement bedroom!

Here is the window just set with no trim on the inside. Studs are exposed still.

Here is the outside of the window with Trim and the well in place.

We still need to add a weed protecting sheeting, sand and gravel in the whole to prevent weeds and grass from growing and to facilitate water drainage.

Here is the inside of the window with the dry wall in place.

Here is the window with the mudd/joint compound on the wall. The mudd has to dry and then Tim will sand the mudd smooth. And then he will prime and paint the wall.

We still have 3 other walls that need to have drywall repair done on them. Once all the mudd is dry, Tim will sand it and then prime it. I can't wait until we can paint! Painting is what I am excited about!

I am so thankful to have an handy hubby! I love that he is doing the work. Work that we are both proud of!

Basement Bedroom part 1

2010-03-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before we are doing some room reconstruction to create a bedroom for our boys. Here are a few pictures of the "before" and also the "after" the window was installed. We still have lots of work to do, but hopefully within a few months the kids will be moving into their new room!

Here is the view standing in the doorway facing the window. As you can see the window is small and not up to code for a bedroom window. All of Tim's tools are still out as we are still in the midst of the project.

This picture is taken from the other angle. My back is to the window and I am facing the doors. The left door leads out into the playroom and then to the upstairs. The right door is a door into a storage room that currently holds Tim's tools and our camping gear! Eventually those things will be in a shed outside, but the shed is not in the budget till next spring!

This picture is taken from the same place but just captures the opposite wall. The hole on the right wall houses our Water Main. Tim is going to have to construct a locking cabinet to keep the kids from messing with it.

This is the outside of the house. The guy in the hole is setting up his cutter to make the hole in the concrete to place the window.
Here is the view from the outside after the window is set. They still need to do the frame on the outside and set the window well in place. This work is done now, but I have to still take pictures of it. By the time they finished it was dusk and my pictures would not have turned out. So I will take some more tomorrow.
Here is the window from the inside. Tim is going to do all the trim work inside. The window adds so much light to the room. It is really gonna look awesome once it is all done!

And this last picture I took with my cell phone so please excuse the quality! But here is the window in the room! And you can see how big the window is in comparison to the kids!

More pictures to follow as the work gets completed! Wish us luck and that we can get it done quickly! I am anxious to have this room finished so the rest of my house can get back to normal. We had to empty that room of everything to do the work so the "everything" that was in that room is now "everywhere" in the rest of my house! I hate clutter and disorder. So this project may very well be my undoing!

Update of sorts

2010-03-06T22:36:00.001-08:00

I have lots of stuff in my head so I am gonna just put one big update out there and hopefully cover all of it!!!!

~~~
Harlan will be 5 months old tomorrow. He recently achieved another "first", although this one is one that I was dreading.... his first cold. Well this cold is extra special, it is actually croup. Croup is common in children and causes swelling in the throat, voicebox and upper airways into the lungs. Usually the child has a "barking" cough and a raspy hoarse voice. It can get serious because their airways are so tiny. It is nothing to mess around with at all. In fact when Mason had Croup at around 18 months we actually ended up in the ER and he was admitted overnight for steriod treatments because his oxygenation was declining due to Croup. It was very scary and not something I ever want to go through again. Last Wednesday I took Harlan to the Dr. because I suspected he had Croup and a possible Ear Infection (EI). He did have croup but no EI. They gave him an oral steroid and sent us home. On Friday he was worse. He lost his voice completely. It is really scary to see him crying but no sound comes out. So back to the Dr we went. The Dr agreed that he was worse and decided that he needed breathing treatments to help open up his airways. They gave us a nebulizer and a prescription for Albuterol with a treatment schedule for the next 2 weeks. Wow the treatments have made a HUGE improvement in his croup. He still has no voice when he coos or cries but he can breath so much better and therefore can eat better and is just a happier little guy!
~~~
We are making a bedroom downstairs for the kids. We have a big rec room downstairs that accounts for about 1/4 of our house's square footage. Up until this point is has served as storage and a place for my crafts. But mostly it is a place to put stuff when we don't know what else to do with it! Our Rec room had become our WRECK room! The other reason we had never used it for a bedroom is that the window in the room did not open, nor was it big enough for a rescue person to climb through in the case of a fire, nor was it low enough for the kids to reach to climb out. Clearly something needed to be done with the window before we could put a child's bedroom down there. We had checked into having an Egress window put in a few years back and it was quite expensive. But due to the economic downturn, contractors are pricing things a bit more reasonable to get work. We were able to hire a contractor to do the work with money we received from our income tax return. The window should be in next week.

We also needed to empty that room of all its junk and get my craft stuff out of the room. :ast weekend Tim removed the utility shelves from the room and moved them to another area of our basement and then I moved all my stuff out of the (w)Rec(k) room. Stuff is kinda spread around the house in a holding pattern until the room is done and we move the kids downstairs. Once the kids move downstairs it will free up a bedroom upstairs for my craft room.

Now that the room is empty and the window will be in next week we can start the rest of the project which includes painting, new flooring, new trim, and a new door. Also some drywall needed to be patched and our water main in in the wall in that room so we have to install a locking cabinet door over the main to keep little fingers from messing with it. So yesterday we went to Home Depot and picked out an interior door, paint colors and some other odds and ends. Tim and Dave are going to work on the drywall patching today and Tim has actually already installed the new door. I am going to try to get some before pictures taken so we can see the huge difference all of Tim's work made in making this room for the kids.

And when I say "kids" at this point I mean Kaleb Jasmyn & Mason. Ever since forever Kaleb & Jasmyn have shared a room. They just feel safer and more comfortable sharing a room. And I understand this because Dave and I shared a room for a lot of years when we were the same age. So for now the 3 older kids will share the basement room. But eventually that room is for just the boys and Jasmyn will get a girlie princess type room upstairs. Right now Harlan is too little to be that far away from me at night, and the 3 older kids are still enjoying sharing a room. And I can't have my whole house torn up with room remodels. So we will wait until summer of 2011 to do Jasmyn's princess room upstairs.
~~~
I am also just overjoyed to have my craft room upstairs! I will be able to start a project and leave it out to work on when I have time. Currently I have to drag everything out and put it away when I am done working on it. It just isn't convenient, and thus my projects never get worked on, which is why Kaleb is the only child with a semi completed baby book! And his is only done up to like his 6 month of life! I have lots of work to do it get these done and I will soon have the space to make it happen!!!!!
~~~
Today Harlan is 5 moths old. We are getting close to starting solid foods. He thinks he is ready! Well lets just say he watches us eat with lots of intense staring and plenty of drooling! But I am really wanting to wait for a few more weeks. Mostly because he has been slow to gain weight and starting solids will replace some of his feedings of breastmilk or formula. And nothing I can mash up or thin down is as nutritionally dense as breastmilk or formula. I am concerned that solids will slow his weight gain down even further. But I know that developmentally he needs to start experimenting with textures and flavors. I also need to make a new cover for his high chair. Sigh. I wish I had my craft room set up already!
~~~
At the end of the month is Spring Break. Dave and I decided we should take a family vacation the likes of which have never before been attempted by our family! We are taking both our families and all our kids and Grandma to Seattle for 3 nights 4 days of site seeing and touristy stuff. We are buying "city passes" for everyone that allows us access into 6 attractions around Seattle. We are gonna go to Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Space Needle, and Pacific Science center for sure. The kids are overjoyed with anticipation and I have to say.... so am I!
~~~
So I realize that I need to post some more pictures and I will try to get to that later. But right now Harlan is crying, though not making noise, and I need to get breakfast made for the troops!

Harlan's first teeth!

2010-01-27T12:46:00.001-08:00

Harlan has been teething for a while now. It actually did not take that long for these teeth to come through. The first one came through and was followed by the second tooth within 3 days. He is now working on the top teeth. But it seems he teethes for a few days and then he gets a break and then a few days later he starts the drooling and chewing on everything in sight again.

He is such a cutie pie!

So far he has done OK with teh teething. He likes to chew on my finger. I wrap it up in a cold wet washcloth first so that his sharp little teeth don't hurt me. Tylenol seems to take the edge off the pain as well. He has actually tolerated teething fairly well.

Harlan's 1st Haircut

2010-01-25T19:32:00.001-08:00

Yup at the ripe old age of 15 and 1/2 weeks he needed a haircut! No not because it was too long or getting into his eyes. This was purely a cosmetic haircut. See Harlan was born with a full head of hair. He was my first baby ever to have ANY hair. The older 3 kids were bald until well over a year old. I was thrilled to FINALLY have a baby with hair. And then.... it all started to fall out. Not only did he rub some of it out on the back of his head but the top of it fell out too. But it did not fall out evenly. It fell out in stripes on top leaving a Mohawk. And he had the "newborn bald spot" on the back of his head from always being placed on his back to sleep, rubbing his head on the car seat, swing etc. So what was left was a "comb over" on top and a "ring" above his collar. It looked horrible! Here are a few pictures:

The comb over The ring above his collar and "bald spot"

The Mohawk in the front

So I cut it! He did just fine with the clippers. He did not even cry and that way I wouldn't cut him if he moved the way I might with scissors. The clippers has a guard that prevents cutting the skin. The kids took pictures of his haircut!

The small amount of hair that I cut off. I kept a lock of it for the baby book!

Doesn't this look better?!?!?!

He is the cutest baby ever with his new hairdo!

Harlan = growing up so fast!

2010-01-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

So I took Harlan to an appointment today and had him weighed and measured. He weighs 12lbs 2 oz and is 24 1/8 inch long! He is a long and skinny little guy! We have been watching his weight to make sure he is gaining properly after all his problem initially with breastfeeding because of his tongue tie issue. But I am happy to report that he is doing great!!!!

He is currently 3mos and a few weeks old/ He weighed 8lbs 14 oz at birth so he has gained 3lbs 4oz in 15 weeks. He was 21 1/2 inches tall when he was born so he has grown 2 3/4 inches in 15 weeks!!!!

And he just cut his 2nd tooth. He has both bottom front teeth now! What a cutie pie with his new teeth! I will try to get pictures posted soon of his little pearly whites!!!!

Harlan feeding issues

2010-01-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

Harlan came through the tongue tie surgery with flying colors. They did the surgery 1 dy shy of he being 1 month old on November 6th. They did not use an IV or breathing tube. They just sedated him for the procedure and it was done within 10 minutes. Hrlan did not seem to be in any pain during his recoevery period but it did take about 7-10 days for him to fully heal and get use to using his tongue effectively. He still has even today at 3months old a bit of a heart shaped tongue from where the frendulum attaches to his tongue although his tongue is now freed.

It took us a while to get off the bottle and pump and back onto the breast. We did a "nurse-in" during a long weekend and we did nothing but nurse and sleep and cuddle. By the end of our nurse in my breast milk supply was well established and he was brestfeeding very well. We did use nipple shield for week or so but he quickly weaned off that to just nurse on my breast.

At his 2 month well baby check up we noticed he was not gaining well. He was maintaining his weight but not gaining. So the Peditrician and I decided that we should add 4-6 oz of formula every day until my milk supply increased and he started to gain. We did that for 2 weeks and he gained 13 oz. Perfect!

Our next appointment is in February for his 4 month check-up. Hopefully he will be gaining enough and we can discontinue the formula.

timeline and update on Harlan's feeding issues

2009-11-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

As some of you may have read on Facebook, Harlan is tongue tied and has to have surgery this week to have his fredulum clipped. This has been a long journey and one that I will probably forget in a few months just out of pure sleep deprivation. So I figured I would write it out so that I can remember but to also explain to our family and friends and those that love Harlan on how we got to this place. So I figure the easiest is to explain it by time line. Here goes....

10/7/09 ~ Harlan is born! He weighs in at 8lbs 14oz. He initially latches well onto the breast or so I thought. I have not breastfed in 2+ years so I am a but rusty. Our Midwife thinks he is latched well and getting breastmilk.

10/9/09 ~ Our midwife comes to do our home visit to check on Harlan and I. Harlan weighs in at 8lbs 5oz. He has lost 9 oz since his birth. At this point we figured this was just typical newborn weight loss and that he would start to regain once my Breast milk was fully in.

10/10/09 ~ My milk comes in but not to the extend that it has in the past. With all my previous children when my milk comes in I usually run a fever and get really engorged. This time I can feel the milk but it is not in huge abundance like I had previously experienced. It planted a seed of doubt about Harlan's latch in my mind, but I figured I would wait to see what the next few days held before panicking. I figured the most he nursed the better my milk supply would get.

10/13/09 ~ Our Midwife comes to do another home visit. This time Harlan weighs in at 7lbs 14oz. He has lost a full pound at this point. And he is still trying to clear meconium from his bowels. This is the first time that I am starting to question whether or not he is getting enough milk. He also seems very orange from the jaundice. My midwife seems to think that he is doing OK and that we will weigh him again in a week. She encourages me to nurse like crazy and wake him up every 2-3 hrs around the clock to feed.

10/14/09 ~ I develop a large painful blister on my nipple. It is bleeding and it hurts very badly to latch (an indication that his latch is not right and therefore gave me a blister). I decide that I should pump to allow the breast to heal. Usually this would take 24-36 hours and then it would be fine to resume nursing. But once I discovered is that once I started pumping that my breast milk supply was very low. This confirmed in my mind that he was NOT getting enough food. I was barley getting 1 oz out at each double pumping session. I knew I needed to increase my supply and that Harlan needed to have his bilirubin checked. His Jaundice was not getting better and I was starting to worry. So I called his Dr. and made an appointment. Also I realize that he does not really bottle feed that well. He seems to chomp on the bottle rather than "latch".

10/15/09 ~ I had been pumping for 24 hrs and I was still not seeing very much milk. I check one of my breastfeeding books and according to his current weight he needs 3 oz of food at each feeding in order to start gaining weight. We were NOT getting that much breast milk. So I decide that until my milk supply increases and we get the jaundice under control that I need to supplement with formula. I go to Wal-mart and buy a can of formula. I cried at the check stand. I HATE using formula, but I know that I need to "feed the baby first" and worry about supply and all of that later. His jaundice needed to be under control before anything else. Later that afternoon I took Harlan to his Dr. Appointment. Dr. W agrees that he is way to orange and that he needs to have his bilirubin tested. He also weighs in at 8lbs 3.5 oz. I contribute his weigh gain to me pumping and bottle feeding as well as the formula. Dr. W tells me to continue to supplement with formula and to pump to get my supply back up. Dr. W also orders a bilirubin test. She tells me depending on the numbers she may have to put Harlan in the hospital for photo therapy lights to reduce the bilirubin. Later the night we got the bilirubin results back and his level was at 15.9. Dr. W wants to recheck his levels tomorrow before doing anything. Basically she needs 2 values to compare to see if his bilirubin is going up or coming down.

10/16/09 ~ We take Harlan back in for a recheck on his bilirubin. His weigh is doing great at 8lbs 6.2 oz! The formula and pumping is working to get his weight back up! We test his bilirubin and it is down to 14.2. Woot! It is down! And he has cleared all the meconium from his bowels and now he is pooping the mustard colored stools that comes with breastfeeding. Finally he is getting enough to eat! Dr. W tells me that now that he is getting enough to eat and the meconium is cleared from his system that his jaundice should go away. It will not go back up, it will just continue to decline. She tells me she wants to see us again in a week or so.

During the next week I pump and feed and we supplement until my supply is reestablished. I start taking fenugreek and drinking mother's milk tea to help stimulate my supply. I see a dramatic increase in my supply and we slowly decrease the formula until we are no longer using it because I am able to pump 3oz at each feeding. Yay!!!!

10/22/09 ~ We have a follow up with Dr.W. Harlan weighs in at 9lbs 2oz. Woot! He is doing great with his weight gain and his jaundice is basically gone. Dr. W decides that he is just fine and that he does not need to have a repeat billirubin test. She gives me the go ahead to try to get him back onto my breast.

I decide to rent a baby scale to do before and after weigh checks to see how much breast milk he was getting from straight nursing. I am bummed to find that he is not getting hardly anything from my breast. I continue to pump for him.

Soon after this I start running a fever and my left breast starts to hurt. I was not sure if it was the flu or mastitis or what was making me sick. Within a few days I as so very sick and my breast was so sore.

10/24/09 ~ I got up at 6am to pump for Harlan and my breast was so sore and my fever was back. I decide that I probably have mastitis. But it is Saturday so I have to go to Urgent Care. After a long wait I finally get to see the Dr and she says yes I have mastitis and gives me antibiotics and some pain meds. She tells me to keep pumping and to rest as much as I can. I decide to wait until I am over the infection before trying to get Harlan back on the breast since it hurts so bad to even pump.

10/28/09 ~ I am feeling much better now after a few days of medicine. I decide to call the lactation consultant to see if they can help me get Harlan on my breast. At my appointment we try everything we can to get him to nurse. He just does not seems to be able to latch. At the end of the hour long session the lactation consultant takes a look at his mouth and tells me she thinks he is tongue tied. I go home and look up tongue tied on the Internet. It seems that it is a simple fix with an office visit to get his tongue clipped. I call his Dr to get an appointment for a consult.

10/29/09 ~ Dr. W takes a look at his tongue and agrees his frendulum is restricting his tongue motion. She refers us to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist to have them clip it. The earliest appointment isn't until Monday. Dr. W says that most often once the clipping is done that babies have dramatic improvements in the ability to breastfeed.

11/2/09 ~ We got to the appointment with the ENT. Dr.M. takes a look at Harlan's frendulum. He looks for a long time. When he gets done with the exam he tells me that Harlan's frendulum is quite thick. Usually the band is just the width of a flap of skin. But in Harlan's case the band is thick and involves blood vessels. Clearly a simple clip is not an option because of the potential bleeding risk. Harlan needs to be in a controlled environment where they have the tools to control the bleeding if it occurs. Dr.M is concerned not only about his inability to breastfeed, but also that he does not bottle feed very well either. When we feed Harlan you have to lay him down almost flat to get him to coordinate his tongue enough to get the milk out of the bottle. If you sit him up he fights with the bottle nipple and chokes and swallows lots of air. Also Dr.M is concerned that the severity of the tongue tie could cause speech delays when he starts trying to speak. Suddenly this problem is not just about feeding but about his ability to learn to talk. Clearly we have to have the procedure done. Dr.M puts Harlan on the schedule for Friday to have the surgery done at Sacred Heart Children's hospital. We are hoping that he will just use gas to sedate him without the use of a breathing tube or an IV. But that is up to the anesthesiologist. We won't know for sure until the day of the surgery and we meet with the anesthesiologist.

So that brings us up to date. I will keep everyone posted as things progress.

Fall Fun

2009-11-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

I have posted a bunch of pictures on my Facebook profile of all our Fall activities. Pumpkin Patch, pumpkin carving, Trick or treating, and just some fun pictures of the kids together. Youshould be able to access the photo album even if you are not a member of Facebook. Just click here!

Enjoy!

Harlan's birth story

2009-10-19T10:21:00.001-07:00

Harlan’s Birth story

On October 6^th I went to my regular prenatal appointment. I was 40w2d pregnant. At the appointment my MW Linda examined my cervix and also stripped my membranes. I was dilated to 4cm, my cervix was 40% effaced, and baby’s head was at -2 station. My cervix was stretchy and very easy to reach. Linda said it was lined up with my birth canal. She did a thorough stripping that caused some bleeding and cramping. Our baby was still posterior but because he was still at -2 station we felt he would turn once labor begun. She told me that she was not going to make me another appointment for 41wks because she felt that I would give birth before next week. I left her office and was hopeful she was right.

Tim, the kids and I went to Red Robin and had a late lunch. I ate a huge cheeseburger and we all shared a Mile High Mud pie! It was awesome and a really cool memory to make with our family before we added our new baby. After we ate I was feeling full and uncomfortable. We decided to take a walk and let the kids ride their bikes. We walked around the neighborhood and I had contractions the whole time but they were not that strong. When we got home we just did our regular bedtime routine with the kids and then Tim and I watched some TV. I was still cramping and having some bleeding from the membranes stripping. My lower abdominal muscles were very sore from holding up my pregnant belly and I had made it worse by going on our 1.5 mile walk through the neighborhood. Tim and I talked about our baby’s name and looked through a baby name book to see if anything else struck our fancy. We contemplated a few other name options and then I decided I wanted to go to bed around 11:30pm.

At some point in the night Mason woke up and climbed into bed with Tim and I. I think Tim came to bed around 2am and Mason came sometime after that. Around 4am I woke up and needed to pee. After I used the bathroom I climbed back into bed and snuggled with Mason. A few minutes later I felt the first contraction. It was painful and in my back. I thought it might be a fluke. So I waited for a few minutes. I had another contraction. This one hurt and was in my back and I had to breathe through the pain. I did a few more like that one and thought that I didn’t know if it was real but I DID not want to do any more of them alone. So I woke Tim up. He was groggy as he only had been asleep for 2 hrs at that point. He came around the side of the bed and sat behind me to rub my back. After that contraction I knew I did not want to lie in my bed anymore. We got up and went into the living room.

I brought my birth ball and a pile of pillows into the living room. Tim started working through our homebirth checklist to prepare our house for the birth. I got on my hands and knees and started rocking through the contractions. I was still not sure this was really “it”. Tim was. I didn’t want to call anyone to early and then have labor stall. And I figured that I would “know” soon. Tim encouraged me to call Sara and let her know since we knew she would be willing to come over and not be upset if it was a false alarm. At 4:36am I called Sara and she told me she was on her way. I waited a little bit longer and had a few more contractions before Tim suggested I start calling a few more people since it seemed like the contractions were picking up. At 4:45am I called Megan. She was disappointed because she could not take the day off of work due to her boss being on vacation. She wished me well and that she loved me. I was disappointed as well, but understood. Next I called my midwife. Linda and I both expected that my labor would be quick because I was already at 4cm and my last labor was so fast. Little did we know how wrong our predictions would be. Linda said she was headed here. At this point I handed the phone to Tim who called Sarah, my Mom and my brother. I updated my Facebook status, sent out an email, updated my blog and posted on a babycenter.com message board letting my family friends and online friends know that I was in labor. I also called my Aunt Kathy. I was unable to reach Kathy but did talk to Uncle John. He was so sweet. While I was on the phone with him I had a contraction. He coached me through it, told me to “breathe” and stayed quiet until the contraction was over. He got a message to Kathy that my labor started and wished us well and sent us his love! At this point I got busy with contractions and stopped caring about the cell phone or computer

Around 5:16am Sara arrives. Then around 5:30am Linda arrives. I am still on my hands and knees leaned over the birth ball. I am talkative and excited between contractions and am managing well. I get up and go pee and change my clothes. Tim has most of the house preparations done for the birth. Mason and Kaleb wander out at this point. We think they were awakened by the Hypnobabies CD that was playing on the CD player. During the contractions I would call for Tim and he would slow dance with me. Mason wanted to be held so Tim had double duty of holding Mason and holding me up. Finally Mason was content to help Tim fill the pool with water.

Around 6:18am Linda checked me and my cervix was dilated to 5cm and 80% effaced. Baby was still at a -2 station. Linda also took my blood pressure and also took baby’s heart tones. Baby’s heart rate was around 150’s and it seems that baby is now anterior position! Yay!

At some point Sarah arrived and I moved onto sitting on the birth ball and bouncing up and down to get contractions into a closer and stronger pattern. We were hoping that the vertical position and the open pelvis position would encourage baby’s head to come down and press on my cervix helping contractions be more effective in opening my cervix. At this point I discussed with Linda what our plan was since it seemed that labor was moving slow. I knew she had clinic and also had a Dr. appointment for herself as she had a minor surgery scheduled for the following day. We came up with a plan for one of her birth attendants Victoria to come and labor-sit with us so that Linda could go to her Dr. appointment as well as do some of her clinic appointments while we waited for things to pick up with my labor.

Victoria arrived around 7:30am and Linda briefed her on where things where and what was happening. Jasmyn wakes up around now and wants me to cuddle with her on the futon. My birth team gets me settled in on the futon with pillows and heating pad for my back. Jasmyn and I snuggle in and cuddle for a few minutes. Jasmyn decides that she wants to get up and open her Labor Day gift bag (bag of puzzles, color books, toys etc for the kids to play with while I labored) with her brothers. Tim took Jasmyn’s place and hung out with me for a few contractions. 8am Victoria listened to the baby’s heart rate during a contraction. A few minutes later we hear the door open and to our surprise Megan walks in! She decided to blow off work and come hang out with us to photo document my labor! I immediately started crying tears of joy and gratefulness. It was so awesome to see her and I felt such love from her. It was one of the highs of the day!

At this point the contractions are starting to spread out and get less intense. I decide that I should get dressed and walk around the back yard to see if I can get them going again. Our birth team is feeding themselves and the kids some breakfast. We have smoothies and bagels and cream cheese. Walking around the yard the contractions are closer together and stronger. Sara and Tim stayed with me as I walked. Sara rubbed my back and Tim slow danced with me through each contraction. Megan was there to take pictures. Sarah was inside making sure the kids were taken care of. After a while I decide to come in and sit on the birth ball for a while. As soon as I sat down on the birth ball the contractions spread out again. I was getting so frustrated. Victoria suggested that I try some nipple stimulation. After some convincing on my part I got Tim to help me out with that. LOL! 9:45am We ended up going into the bedroom and taking some private time. The funniest part of that whole situation was that the lubricant that we had on hand was edible Strawberry Cheesecake lube! LOL! I will never look at that tube of lube the same! Anyway, the nipple stimulation worked very well. It made the contractions come strong and hard and close together. We did that for about an hour. At that point I was d-o-n-e with nipple stimulation! And I smelled like Strawberry cheesecake! I came out and sat on the birth ball for a while and bounced. Again I was trying to get baby to come down and apply pressure to my cervix. I was also complaining at that point that I felt pressure in my cervix and that it was constant pressure. I wanted to relax into the pool. I went to the bathroom and emptied my bowels and bladder before stepping into the pool. I listened to my Hypnobabies CD while laying in the tub.

The kids took turns using a cup and pouring water over my belly. 12:30pm - At this point I got kinda cranky. I told the adults to stay quiet since we couldn’t get the kids to be quiet! I also started asking for Linda to come back. Victoria called Linda and she said she would head back over. I really thought that things were picking back up. I felt a constant pressure in my bottom. I thought it could be the baby’s head. Linda arrived at our house around 1:15pm. I was relieved to see her. At this point I felt that my bladder was really full but I could not empty it. Linda suggested I change positions. I got onto my hands and knees and was finally able to pee. But my contractions were spacing out again. I was so frustrated. I had Linda check me again and I was 6cm and still only 80% effaced. And we discovered that the bag of waters was bulging in my cervix preventing the baby’s head from applying pressure directly on my cervix. At this point I decided to do another round of nipple stimulation. So Tim and I got into the shower. I wanted to get clean since I was sweaty and smelled like Strawberry cheesecake still! LOL! I was really hoping that the nipple stimulation would get the contractions strong enough to break my water and the standing position in the shower would help apply more pressure to the bag. While we were in the shower I lost a huge chuck of my mucous plug and Tim was so grossed out! It was hilarious! Again the nipple stimulation worked and I had lots of strong contractions. After a while I was again d-o-n-e with nipple stimulation. I kept thinking that being on the “freight train of labor” is one thing, but asking for the “freight train” is a whole other thing. So doing nipple stimulation or being in positions that caused stronger contractions just seemed tiring. I was losing steam and I just wanted the whole thing to be OVER. But I knew that I had to keep trying to get contractions into a good labor pattern.

After the shower I got dressed again and decided to walk around the yard some more. Kaleb walked with us and he expressed his impatience with the whole process! He just wanted the baby to be born so he could cut the cord! I suggested that Kaleb and Jasmyn go to the park with Sarah for a while. By this point Mason was taking a nap. So Sarah loaded the kids into the truck and took them to the park for some distraction. We told them we would call if anything changed or if I got close to being done. Instead the weather changed suddenly and it started to rain which pushed me back inside and the kids home from the park. Once I was inside I stayed standing and paced around the house. After a while I started to feel sick to my stomach and realized I was hungry. I ate some grapes for a fast sugar boost and felt immediately better. Around 3pm I was really losing steam and just wanted to be done. I asked Linda what my options were and she and I discussed breaking my water. At this point I just felt I was up against a wall. I had been laboring for 11 hours. I had done everything “right” by staying vertical, sitting on the birth ball, being on my hands and knees since that seemed to make contractions stronger, and 2 rounds of nipple stimulation. And I was still in active labor but not in a good labor pattern. I kept saying that I was the tortoise from the “Tortoise and the Hare” story. I keep thinking “slow and steady wins the race”. Linda was concerned about my energy level since I had only gotten 4 ½ hrs of sleep and had only lightly eaten all day. I wanted her to check me again and see where I was before I agreed to have her break my water. She told me that if I decided to have my water broken that she would want to break it during a contraction so that the baby’s head is as far down as possible to prevent cord prolapse. So we discussed the risks of breaking the water and what the benefits would be. The risks would be slim because I was so far advanced as far as cervical dilation and the baby’s head was low. We talked about what happened in my previous labors when my water broke. In all 3 labors as soon as my water broke labor kicked in full force and I birthed the babies quickly. Linda thought it was highly likely that the same thing would happen again. I agreed but still wanted her to check me before I agreed. So we readied the area for water breaking and Tim and Sarah topped off the birth pool with hot water.

Linda checked me and I was at 7cm and still only 80% effaced. Baby’s head still was not applied to the cervix and the bag of water was bulging into the cervix. Clearly, the bag was preventing effacement and dilation. It was now3:15pm, and I had only progressed 1 cm in 2 hours. My labor would stall if I wasn’t actively doing nipple stimulation, bouncing on the ball or standing. And I was exhausted. So I told her to go ahead and break my water. We waited until my next contraction. Linda had her hand and the amnio hook inside waiting. All the sudden my water starts to leak and then break. Linda is surprised because she did not hook the bag. All we can figure is that at the start of the contraction, the bag bulged against the hook or her fingers and broke. Whatever happened really didn’t matter because I had agreed to have my water broken and it broke! In my next breath I asked “is the water clear?” Linda said “no, you have mec”. I immediately started crying. I had never had meconium in any of my births. And depending on the severity I knew it might be a reason to transfer to the hospital. Usually babies only release mec if they are distressed during labor and that means that the baby might not be tolerating labor well. Not to mention the complications it can cause the baby if the mec gets into his lungs. All of these thoughts went racing through my head at the same time. Linda said that it was slight mec staining. She told me she wasn’t worried about it because it “was not a labor event”. At the time I was not sure what that meant but I did ask her later after the birth was over. The mec was well dissolved and the water was only slightly colored. It absorbed well into the chux pads and was basically liquid not at all chunky. What she meant by “not a labor event” was that she felt that since our baby’s heart tones had been consistently at 150’s the whole labor every time they checked it, which was often and the fact that the mec was so well dissolved she felt that he had released the mec days prior and that it was not due to distress during labor. At any rate, the mec was present and I was upset. But I did not have time to dwell on that fact since my labor kicked in full force as soon as the water was broken. I got into the pool and tried to find a comfortable position. I tried sitting on my butt and that just was not working. Pretty soon I flipped over onto my hands and knees. I stayed in this position for the duration of my labor and birth.

This is where time gets very fuzzy for me. I know that all my birth team was there and my children were there (except Mason who was still napping). Sara was kneeling in front of me and Tim was pouring water over my back at each contraction. I remember thinking that labor was still manageable, and I could do this. Then the next moment when the contraction hit I was scared again. I kept saying “owie” and “it hurts it hurts it hurts”. Someone kept handing me a cold washcloth. It was for my face but I ended up chewing on it as I worked through the last of my labor. It was very primal. I have never chewed on a washcloth before and doubt I will again! But at the time it was the only thing I could do. I told Sara and Tim that I was scared and that it hurt. They talked me through it and reminded me that I was almost done. I felt like pushing but Linda was not sure I was complete. I asked her to check me so that I could start to push. As it was I was grunting and pushing at the peak of each contraction. Linda checked me in the position I was in. She said she felt a cervical lip. She told me that she could try to push it over his head during the next contraction if I wanted her to try. I knew it would hurt but I wanted this to be DONE. I told her to try. She had us turn in the tub to a better position so she could reach more easily (the pool was up against the wall and my butt was facing the wall and she was having to contort herself to reach me). I had Tim switch positions with Sarah so he and Sara were right in front of me and Sarah was pouring water over my back with Jasmyn’s help. Kaleb was running the video camera taping the whole scene! At the next contraction I pushed and Linda pushed the cervix over his head. I was finally complete. His head came down like lightening! LOL! I could feel his feet pushing on the top of my uterus. I was immediately reminded that we were a TEAM and the he was working with me to be born. It made me happy and reminded me why I was doing this… for my baby. I started to push in earnest at this point. I was doing a lot of screaming and trying to get away from the pain. Linda, Tim and Sara were encouraging me to stop making noise and focus the push into my bottom instead. I could feel his head coming down and bulging my perineum. Linda wanted me to reach down and feel his head but I was too scared and moving in that way made the contraction hurt worse. I pushed through a few more contractions and I could feel Linda supporting my perineum trying to get it to stretch. I could feel the ring of fire. It burned and I wanted to stop pushing but I knew that it wouldn’t stop burning until I pushed him out. It was at this point that the word EPIDURAL popped into my mind! LOL! I reached down with my hand and felt his little head crowing. I could feel my skin stretch at the top and Linda suggested I support the top and she would support the perineum below. As soon as I could feel the progress when I pushed I KNEW I could get him out. I was so close. I did not wait for the next contraction. I just pushed so it was just my strength instead of my uterus and my push. I figured it would protect my premium better that way. So I pushed and supported the top of my vagina. I could feel his head slip out. Linda told me to slow down. But it was too late. His head was out! I said “Pull him out Linda”. She said “you have to push him out”. I pushed again and felt his body slip out into Linda’s hands. As soon as he was clear I carefully flipped over and lifted my leg over him and untangled myself from his umbilical cord. Linda handed him to me.

I was so elated! I was practically yelling. I was telling him how happy I was that he was here and that he was OUT. Linda gently reminded me to lower my voice. LOL! Time of birth was 4:45pm on October 7^th, 2009. I took a good look at him. He has the cutest face and full kissable lips. He didn’t make much noise at all. But he was breathing and his heart rate was good. I felt for his cord and found that it was still pulsing, so I knew he was still getting oxygenated blood.

I lifted his leg to verify his was in fact a boy! We hung out in the pool for a bit and I loved on my baby. I told Kaleb & Jasmyn that his cord was still pulsing and they put on latex gloves and felt the cord. That was so cool to see them feel his pulsing cord. Both their little faces lit up with excitement.

At this point I asked for someone to go get Mason. When he woke up he started crying so Tim went to comfort him.

After a few minutes the placenta was born. And then Kaleb cut his umbilical cord with the help of Auntie Sarah since Tim was holding Mason.

After the placenta was born and the cord was cut I wanted out of the pool. I handed the baby to Tim and he took the baby directly over to Jasmyn who got to hold him first before anyone else. Then Mason took a turn and then Kaleb.

While the kids and Tim were bonding with the baby I got out of the tub, got dried and dressed. I made my way over to the futon in the living room to lay down and watch the kids. My new little family all snuggled with the baby and each other. After a while Linda and Victoria did the newborn exam on the futon next to me. Our baby weighed 8lbs 14oz,

and was 21.5 inches long. Linda also measured his head and found it to be 37 cm but there was no molding of the bones in his skull.

Basically that meant that his head did not give at all during the birth process which was probably why it took so much effort on my part to push him out, and why I had a 1^st degree tear. After the exam Tim got our baby dressed while Mason watched.

We took pictures of our birth team with our baby and me.

And we took our first Bray Family picture.

After that people were starting to leave. We were so tired and just wanted to go to sleep. We all ate some dinner and then the last of our birth team left.

Tim and I were still unsure about what to name our baby. After everyone left we discussed his name with the kids and then we came to a decision. We named our baby Harlan Michael Bray!

less orange

2009-10-18T15:39:00.001-07:00

Harlan has been having a hard time feeding. His latch was not great and so we starting using a nipple shield. But even with that my milk supply diminished. As a result of not being adequately fed Harlan developed a fairly bad case of Jaundice.

This pictures was taken at 1 week old. Notice the "whites" of his eyes are quite yellow.

Then we started supplementing with formula and I was pumping/nursing like crazy. We started out with 1 oz of breast milk and 2 oz of formula per feeding and now we are at 2oz of breast milk and 1 oz of formula. We are hoping that within a few more days that he will be getting just breast milk.

This picture was taken a few hours ago (11 days old). Notice he is more red than orange and also the "whites"

of his eyes are closer to white instead of yellow! Please ignore the case of baby acne he is getting! LOL!

Anyway, I am just pleased with his progress and wanted to share!

Harlan Michael Bray is here!

2009-10-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

I will write his birth story later but I know that pictures say so much more! So here is a link to my Facebook photo album of the birth pictures. Nothing graphic... maybe a bit of blood but nothing graphic!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126757&id=550292154&l=a1d3b7850c

Harlan Michael Bray

October 7, 2009 4:45pm
8 pounds, 14 ounces
21.5 inches long
37 cm head (with no molding. Ouch!)

Labor has started

2009-10-07T05:05:00.001-07:00

4am pst... will update later once baby is born.

Pregnancy Update 17

2009-10-06T21:16:00.001-07:00

Hi all! I had my midwife appointment today! I am 40w2d pregnant as of today. My appointment went fine. I have been cranky though because I am just D-O-N-E being pregnant! I like to feel his little kicks and all, but I really would like to hold him and see his little face. But he will come when he is ready....

My urine screen came back negative for both Glucose and Protein. I have gained 1/2 a pound since last week. My blood pressure is a bit higher than my normal but still within average range at 132/72. The baby is doing great! His heart rate was in the 140's. He is growing and my fundus is measuring at about 41cm. This little stinker is still posterior, but we are hoping he will turn when I am in labor... when ever that may be.

I did have my MW check my cervix and also strip my membranes. Stripping of membranes can be read about here if you have questions as to what she did. So my cervix is dilated to 4cm (out of 10cm) and was 40% effaced (out of 100%) and the baby is sitting at -2 station. My cervix is easily reachable which is an improvement from last week where she really had to reach for it. And my cervical texture is soft and stretchy. SO all of these things are an improvement from last week's check. And she did the membrane stripping so hopefully that will help things get started.

I have been having cramping and some contractions since then. Tim, the kids and I went to dinner and then when we got home we took the kids on a bike ride/walk. Tim walked, the kids rode bikes and I waddled! LOL! Really I don't know what else to do to get labor going. My house is ready. My floors are clean. My birth team is ready to go. Tim did not work tonight. I have been having contractions. I took a 1.5 mile walk. I have eaten well, stayed hydrated, and am well rested. Everyone keeps telling me to have sex..... ummmm well that isn't a very comfortable situation at this point.... so I am not sure what to do! LOL!

I probably just need to wait it out. baby will be here soon I am sure. My MW did not even make me another appointment because she is convinced I will go into labor on my own before next Tuesday. I guess we shall see if she is right.

Tim has a theory that I always have my babies on odd number days. Kaleb =29, Jasmyn =15, Mason =19. So tomorrow is the 7th.... so maybe then. I say that if I went into labor right now I would probably birth after midnight which would be on the 7th! LOL!

Tomorrow is Jasmyn's Pumpkin Patch field trip. Part of me wants her to be able to go. So maybe I will go into labor after that! She will be home by 11:40am.

Keep your fingers crossed that I will do something soon! And in the meantime.... here is my 40wk belly picture! Enjoy!

Pregnancy Update 16

2009-10-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my Midwife appointment. I was 39w4d at the time of the appointment. I have gained 1 pound since last week. Hopefully that is NOT all from the baby! LOL! My urine was negative for Glucose but +1 for protein. We retested at the end of the appointment after I drank a bunch of water and my urine was negative for protein at that point. We think that the protein is from me being dehydrated since I have no other symptoms of anything else. My Blood pressure was a 122/78 which is great! It is a bit higher than my average but not too high. Baby's heart rate was in the 130's and my fundus height is at 40 cm which is down from last week. But it probably has everything to do with his position and not his actual growth.

Linda checked for the position of our little baby and he is/was posterior. This is the second week in a row that they have mentioned that position. Last week was with a guest MW so I was less convinced that she was correct. But when my regular MW Linda said that baby was ROP or Right Occiput Posterior I knew that I better pay attention. *sigh*

So baby is in the ROP which is on the far left of the examples below. We want him to flip to LOA or ROA. Basically anything OA which stands for Occiput Anterior.

So ways to get him to turn are hanging out in hands and knees positions, pelvic rocks, lunges, stair climbing, walking, sitting on a birth ball, and doing an inversion. The inversion is where I have my body on the couch for instance and then put my hands on the floor so that my hips and butt are 24 inches higher than my head. And I hold that position until my head feels like its gonna explode or 2 minutes, whichever comes first. LOL! Apparently it helps stretch the ligaments on the sides of your uterus and encourages the baby to flip around, so his back is out and he is facing my spine.

I also had the MW check my cervix. It is still long (meaning NOT effaced) but soft. It is dilated to 3cm which is 1.5 more cm than it was 2 weeks ago. But it is still high and posterior. Baby's head is at -3 station. The baby's head being at -3 station is why my MW is not concerned about him being posterior. He has not engaged in my pelvis yet so he can still flip around. She also feels that because I am a 4th time Mom with a "proven pelvis" that even if he stays posterior that I can push him out on my own. But that most likely he will turn into a OA position either during early labor or before the onset of labor. She told me not to stress about doing pelvic rocks or birth ball sitting unless I really felt compelled to since most likely he will turn on his own when labor begins.

My opinion is that labor may not start until he is in a good position and his head settles down into my pelvis and onto my cervix. So I am gonna do the exercises and all to help him move into a better position. Besides the fact that the exercises help with lower back pain anyway. It is a win win in my opinion. And it helps me relax to be doing SOMETHING to help him get into is position.

I do feel like my ligaments are relaxing because I am sore and feel like my hips are all out of joint. And I am waddling. Yes.... like a duck. It is really sad. And getting out of bed and off the couch or really moving in general is becoming more difficult and painful.

So due date is Sunday. Sunday is also the full moon. Send me good position for baby and labor vibes!

Clarity turns 4

2009-09-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Clarity is turning 4 on September 30th! Since the 3oth is in the middle of the week Dave and I decided to get together with the kids over the weekend and have a little party with her. She recently was in an accident and her leg got broken. So having a party with her was especially important since she can't really move much and is in a body cast from the waist down. So we started our little party with a craft. We decorated crowns and visors with glittery stickers. It was alot of fun.

I helped Clarity get the backs of the stickers off so she could stick them to her crown.

Jasmyn and her crown

Kaleb hard at work

Princess Clarity

The girls!

Claity kicking back watching the boys play a video game

Jasmyn hungout with her pretty much the whole time we were there! Mason too!

Clarity showing me how far her cast goes up. She can't even sit up right because teh cast keeps her hips immobile. She is such a trooper.

Her bean bag is her favorite spot to sit!

Opening her birthday gifts

My Little Pony!

Jasmyn and Clarity sharing a color book

The girls are so cute!

Taking turns coloring!

The Fearsome Five!

It was a fun day and one that she enjoyed! The kids were happy to get to see her and to have a play date. Happy Birthday Clarity! We love you!

pregnancy fun!

2009-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

How about we make some predictions on when I will give birth, how much baby will weigh and how long the baby will be?!?!?! Just a fun little poll to see who gets bragging rights! So to help you make your predictions.... I will give you some stats on my previous pregnancies.

Here is a picture of me at 41 weeks pregnant with Kaleb

Kaleb's Stats:
Due date: 12/18/02 He was actually born 12/29/02... 11 days overdue (induced with Pitocin)
Birth time: 11:47am
Kaleb weighed 9 lbs 2 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long

Here is a picture of me right before we left to go to the hospital with Jasmyn at 40w 3 days

Jasmyn's Stats:
Due date: 7/12/04 Born 7/15/04 she was 3 days over due (I self induced with Castor oil)
Birth Time: 5:09am
Jasmyn weighed 8lbs 1oz and was 20 1/2 inches long

Picture of me 40 weeks pregnant with Mason

Mason's Stats:
Due date: 7/13/06 Born 7/19/06 he was 6 days overdue (waited patiently till labor started on its own)
Birth time: 6:39pm
Mason weighed 7lbs 7 oz and was 21 inches long

a Picture of me currently pregnant! 39 weeks

Baby #4 Stats:
Due date: 10/4/09

Here is where you get to guess! Send me an email at kalico24@hotmail.com or leave a comment on this blog or on facebook with the following:

Birth Date:
Birth Time:
Weight:
Length:

You don't win anything other than bragging rights on who is closest! And this little game will help me pass the time until I go into labor!

Thanks for playing!!!!!

Belly Compare - same dress!

2009-09-28T08:59:00.001-07:00

Even though 1 picture the dress is black it is the exact same dress just in 2 colors. The first picture is at 29 wks, then 30 wks, then 37 weeks then 39 weeks! Crazy how much bigger a 10 weeks makes!

29 weeks pregnant

30 weeks pregnant

37 weeks pregnant

39 weeks pregnant

I am ready to POP any minute! I swear I don't want to get any bigger.... if I do I won't be able to breath and I will live in the bathroom peeing every 5 minutes! LOL!

Ugh! Yup I am STILL pregnant!

2009-09-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

This should come as no surprise to anyone especially me. I cook my babies like a crock pot: slow and steady and slightly overdone. But oh how I wish I had a little Microwave in me at this point. LOL!

My days seem to be all running together. I get up in the morning and feed kids breakfast, make Kaleb's lunch, do Jasmyn's hair. I take the kids to school. Then Mason and I come home or maybe run some errands, but even the errands are few and far between because there just isn't much going on at this point. Mason has been watching and re-watching the cartoon movie "Bolt" every morning while we wait for Jasmyn to be done at Kindergarten. At 11:40am we pick Jasmyn up and then head home again. We wake Tim up when we get home and then we all eat lunch/breakfast together. I usually cook. Ugh. I am so tired of cooking and eating and cooking and eating. Then Jasmyn and Mason hang out with Tim while I lay down for a rest. My body is just tired these days. Eventually Tim picks Kaleb up from school and then he gets ready for work. Tim is usually out the door by late afternoon and I am on my own with the kids, internet, dinner, dishes and bedtime.

Before bedtime I have this routine where I pick up the whole house. The kids pick up the toys, put away dirty clothes, unload the dishwasher, take a bath, get into PJs and we do bedtime routine. After they are in bed I finish cleaning the house. Everything has a place and everything in its place. Because I do this routine every single day it takes oh about 20 minutes. But I just know I can't relax until it is all done. And my desire to have a stress free labor and birth at home inspires me to keep my house looking like a museum.

See my kitchen has to be clean so that if I go into labor that I can rearrange the kitchen table to put the birth pool in place. The kitchen sink needs to be clean so that we can hook up the hose to fill the tub. The table has to be clean so the midwife has somewhere to set up her supplies. The living room has to be clean so I have a place to lay down if I decide to labor out of water. The futon has to be laid down so I can cover it with water proof sheets to prepare for the possibility of the birth happening there. The bathroom has to be clean so it can be used during labor and afterwards. My room has to be clean so that I can relax in there and rest after the baby is born. And anyone that has been in my house knows the only other rooms upstairs are the kids rooms and they have to be clean because that is just the kind of Mother I am!

But if I am honest with myself and really think about when I actually need to start with this ritual of cleaning I would realize I could put it off for oh.... like...... another 10-15 days! I know I won't be pregnant forever... but at this point I would love to zap this baby OUT OF MY BODY!

And why do MW and OBs give women due dates? They don't know when you are gonna birth. More often than not they are WRONG with their "due dates" anyway. In fact my MW and I currently don't agree on my due date. She says 10/6 and I say 10/4. But since I was actually there for the conception I am sticking with my "due date". But really what does THAT mean anyway? Not even the experts can agree on how to calculate a due date. Some say it is 280 days from your LMP (last menstrual period). Some say you take your LMP, then subtract 3 months and add 15 days.

So by first method..... 280 days from my LMP which is Dec 28, 2008 would put my due date at 10/4.

By the second method I would take Dec 28 and subtract 3 months which would be Sept 28th. Then add 15 days to Sept 28th which puts my due date at 10/13.

A variation is that you take the LMP and subtract 3 months and then add 10 days if the women has had previous births. Since I have had previous births, that would put my due date at 10/8.

So my theory is that if I go by my LMP + 280 and then average how far overdue I went with each of my previous babies I would come up with a "due date". So with Kaleb I went 11 days overdue. Jasmyn a mere 3 days over. And Mason was a whopping 6 days over. So that is the average of 6.66 days over due. If you add that to my 10/4 due date that puts my AVERAGE due date at 10/10.

This puts a range of "due date" from 10/4 all the way up to 10/13. Then you add in the stress and pressure of NOT going over the MW's 42 week mark which according to them would be 10/20.

So really I have a due MONTH not a due date. Anywhere from 10/4 to 10/20. That ladies and gentlemen is a LONG spread of dates. As of today... I could be pregnant for another 3.5 weeks.

And I can't even drink any wine to help me pass the time.

Pregnancy update 15

2009-09-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Had a midwife appointment with a fill in MW. My regular MW is on vacation/honeymoon. The back up MW was attending 2 births. So that left the back up back up MW. LOL! It was an adventure in Midwifery to say the least! LOL! I was 38w2d pregnant at this appointment. Only 12 days till my due date! I have gained 1 pound since my last appointment which is right in course for me at this point in my pregnancies. My urine was negative for Glucose but my urine came back with +1 protein in it. So not trace but the next square up (for those that have seen the test strips). But my BP was normal at 122/59. I have no swelling or edema and no headaches or anything. MW's explanation for protein in my urine is that there is protein in vaginal discharge and she thought that since I was at 38 weeks that I was probably starting to have an excess in discharge. I had never heard of this before. I will touch more on this topic in a bit as this post continues.

Then she was asking me how I felt overall. Well lets see.... I am 12 days from my "due date", the baby's butt is squarely under my ribs so I can't really breath or get comfortable, I get up about 3 times a night to pee, cold water gives me heart burn, and I am still doing all my normal activities with taking care of the kids, house and husband. So I am gonna sum all of that up and say.... "I feel tired". LOL

MW says.... "well honey you have a ways to go before you have your baby" I ask "why is that?" Now remember this MW has never met me before, just glanced at my chart and is not gaining my confidence since the whole -protein in my urine- discussion. She goes on to say that since i was "big boned" (nice way of calling me fat! LOL) and tall (a whole 5ft6in) that I would gestate a baby longer than a 120lb petite woman. HUH?!?!?! Now I know I gestate babies longer than most considering my babies have been 11days, 3 day and 6 days over due, respectively. But I had no idea that this was because I am "big and tall"?!?!?! I mean my Mom and both my maternal aunts that have children all carried their babies overdue. All 3 of which are shorter than me. Granted we are all on the larger size as far as weight but I would not say that any of us are "big boned". LOL! SO I would say the longer gestations are more family history that "big boned". Yeah this midwife is not making friends or influencing people at this point.

Moving on.....

Then she has me lay down to check baby's heart rate baby's position, etc.... So she starts to feel for the baby and easily finds the head in my pelvis. Baby has been head down for like 8 weeks or more so no big surprise there. Then she feels on my left side and says... "I think this is his butt". I am like "No his butt is firmly planted under my ribs on the RIGHT side". I guide her hand there and she agrees. Then she says that baby is POSTERIOR. WHAT???? Ok baby is head down. Check. Baby is laying on his side with his butt under my right side ribs. Check. Knees and feet on the left side. Check. How does THAT equal POSTERIOR???? Beside the fact that she mistaken thought his KNEE was his butt. I would like everyone to feel their knee and then reach around and feel your butt. Do YOU feel a big difference???? I know I do.

So I am really just chalking this appointment up to an adventure in Midwifery! LOL.

And by the time I got home the baby was in a nice butt pressed out against my belly position, clearly NOT posterior.

So today I decide I should call my actual midwife and ask her about the protein in my urine. I spoke to Beth and she agreed that while some additional vaginal discharge can cause TRACE amounts of protein in my urine it should NOT be +1 protein. So she asked me a few more questions and we determined that the protein is probably either from me being slightly dehydrated at the time of the urine test or I could be getting a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Clearly with my BP being fine at 122/59 and no swelling or headaches we do not need to worry about pre-eclampsia. She told me to drink at least a gallon of water a day and to consider taking Cranberry supplement capsules daily. We will test it again next Tuesday at my regular appointment. If there are any other issues we will go from there. Tim was sweet enough to go to the store to pick up the Cranberry capsules and he has been keeping my water bottle filled.

The only good news I got from the 3rd string MW was that my Group B strep culture came back Negative. That means that I do not have any live cultures of Group B strep in my vaginal canal so we are all clear for a homebirth!

I have been having lots of contractions and cramping. But I have to say I had the same cramping at the same stage of pregnancy with both Jasmyn and Mason. So I am thinking this is just how my body does the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. I am more emotional and just in general more cranky, but again that is par for the course at this point.

Stay tuned for more pregnancy updates as I get closer! I am honestly hoping the next one I post is a birth announcement.... but we all know that is unlikely! My next MW appointment is on Tuesday.

Henna Belly painting - Mandala

2009-09-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

My beautiful and talented Aunt Kathy designs Mandalas. She has created Mandalas for each one of my children. She has created Mandala's for the 2 babies that I miscarried before I got pregnant with Kaleb. Kaleb's was not intended to be painted in henna but it is beautiful just the same. Jasmyn Mason and now this baby's Mandalas were designed and created with the purpose of painting on my belly with Henna. My dear friend Sara painstakingly paints the henna on my huge pregnant belly. It is a labor of love for all involved. But such a cool way to honor our baby and to allow my Aunt Kathy to take part in such a special time in my life. You can view a selection of Kathy's Mandalas on her website here. The miscarriage mandala is called "origin". Kaleb's mandala is called "moment of kindness" Mason's is called "mason's welcome". Jasmyn's mandala is not pictured on Kathy's website so I have uploaded a picture below:
Kathy dreams alot of the images that she uses in her mandalas. Her website explains a bit more about the process and she is always open for questions and comments on her healing artwork.

Here is the Mandala she created for this blessed baby we are awaiting

The process of getting the artwork from paper to belly is tedious! You start by making a copy of the artwork the correct size for my belly. This involved a trip to the copy store and some trial and error. Once I got the size correct for my belly size I then trace the artwork onto tissue paper using a washable marker. Here I am tracing the artwork onto white tissue paper.

Then you rub your belly with a lemon water solution to prepare your skin to accept the henna. With a slightly damp belly you apply the tracing to your skin. You dip a washcloth in lemon water and ring it out. Then you apply the damp cloth onto the the trace paper and press the ink onto your skin. Carefully remove the washcloth and then peel the paper off your skin. What should be left is a washable marker tracing of the Mandala artwork. You are then ready to start applying the henna to the skin over the tracing ink.

Here is Sara starting to apply the henna. You start at the top and work down so you always have a place to rest your hand. We figured this out using trial and error! But henna is NOT forgiving. So extra care must be taken to keep the henna only on the lines. It stains quickly and is difficult to remove.

Almost done. You can see the blue tracing marks. Sara is doing a fantastic job!

All done with the henna! Now it just has to dry.

38 weeks pregnant belly!

Close up of the henna side view

After the henna dries you leave the dried paste on for atleast 6 hrs so that it can stain your skin. I left mine on overnight. After Sara was done I was tired and my back hurt so she fixed me up a nest on the futon to get some rest and not smug the henna.

The next day I picked the dried henna paste off my skin and I was left with this beautiful Henna Stain tattoo of Aunt Kathy's Mandala!

It should also darker over the coming days.

38 weeks pregnant! So full of baby and so full of happiness to be pregnant and gratefulness to my family and friends for your support during my pregnancy!

Mud Goddess

2009-09-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

This pregnancy seems to be coming back full circle to Sara and I's day in the woods that happened over a year ago. Here is the link to read about what all that included. A few weeks ago Sara and I traveled back up the river where we orginally did our fertility ritual to revisit the beautiful scenery and also to collect river stones to remind me of the river during my birthing time. Sara has also written a birth meditation journey that included elements of this special spot on the river. You can read her journey here.

We started out by making mud. We gathered dirt from the side of the bank next to the river. We added some of the mud we made at the original ritual to our jar and then we added river water to make mud. We stirred it with a tree branch until the right consistency was achieved. Then Sara spread the mud on my belly.

My view from above

Then Sara took the stones we had gathered from the original ritual and started to draw the Mud Goddess on my belly. She had wild beautiful hair.

And large full breasts that are able to nourish her child.

And a big pregnant belly full of baby

The star with the swirl represents our baby. This image originally appears in the birth Mandala created for me by my Aunt Kathy. I will post pictures of that belly painting in another blog post.

See the river behind my belly? So beautiful!

The full view of our Mud Goddess

View of the beautiful scenery beyond my belly.

It was an awesome experience and was shared with my dear friend Sara. She has been such a huge support to me during the course of my infertility and also this pregnancy. I love you Sara and thank you for all you have done to help me heal and to celebrate the new life growing inside me.

Belly Paintings by Sara

2009-09-22T09:47:00.001-07:00

Sara painted my belly to look like Candy!

Since the baby is due to be born in October we figured a Pumpkin was a great way to celebrate my growing belly and the birth of our baby!

And since our baby is a boy and will certainly be the "prince" we figured a frog prince was a sweet way to celebrate that!

I got Tim beat on size but he totally beat me with hairiness! (thankfully)

My view from above!

My beautiful and talented artist Sara!

Love it!

Lady Bug Belly Painting

2009-09-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

It has been so much fun being pregnant. Ok minus the lack of sleep, 2am potty breaks, and lower back pain! LOL My dear friend Sara has gone over and above the call of duty in doing things to make me feel loved and special during my pregnancy. And my loving husband and kids have also bend over backwards to make this a special time for me and us as a family. One of the things that they have done for me is BELLY PAINTINGS!!!! Below is a bunch of pictures of Tim and the kids doing a belly painting of a Lady Bug. Sorry for picture overload, but I just wanted to share the fun! I will also be uploading some other belly painting pictures that Sara has done in another blog post!

Pregnancy Update 14

2009-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I had a MW appointment. I was officially 37w2d at the time of my appointment. My urine was negative for both glucose and protein. I have gained 1 pound since my last weigh in 2 weeks ago. BUt I am still down from my pre-pregnant weight. The baby sounds awesome. He is still head down and his heart rate was in the 135's. He is also growing like a weed and my fundus measured 41cm. The only thing that was not great was my blood pressure. It was a bit high at 122/84. This is considerable higher than my average BP during the course of my pregnancy. Both the MW and I feel it had everything to do with the level of stress I was under that day. We will continue to watch my BP and see what happens. 122/84 is still within the range of normal for pregnancy, it is just higher than what my average BP had been up to this point. If it continues to be a problem we will ave to address why that is and come up with some solutions for it.

I also have been having lots more contractions. These are not the typical Braxton Hicks (BHC)type contractions. For me anyway BHC are usually just in my belly in the front. They are not painful and really are just a tightening of my uterine muscles. The contractions I have been feeling are more in my lower back, slightly painful and are more menstrual crampy feeling. Basically like how early labor feels for most people. But because I know my body and I have been through this a few times I realize what I am probably experiencing is Prodromal labor. Basically where you have early labor for days or weeks until you finally get to the active labor part. I have done this with all my pregnancies. In Jasmyn and Mason's case it just meant that when active labor hit it was fast and intense. I truly feel that it was due to prodromal labor for the weeks leading up to my birthing time that made my actual labor go so quickly with Jasmyn and Mason. I was only in active labor with Jasmyn for 5 1/2 hrs and only 3 hrs with Mason. I think that because Kaleb was my first baby that the prodromal labor I experienced with him just did not have enough time to truly kick in before I agreed to an induction. But for an induced first time labor I would say that even that was short and sweet at only about 16 hrs.

So when I mentioned my contractions to my MW she thought it would be a good idea to check me and see how far dilated I am. Since my labor with Mason was so short they just want to be sure I am not in active labor yet. So I allowed her to check my cervix. I have to admit I was curious as to what she would find. My cervix is dilated to 1.5 cm. It has to get to 10cm before I can start to push so I have work to do there. My cervix is considered "ripe". Basically an unripe cervix feels like the tip of your nose. A ripe cervix feels like your bottom lip. Your cervix has to get soft and ripe in order to efface and open. My cervix is "ripe", but long, meaning I am not effaced. And the baby's head is at - 3 station. -4 would be floating above my pelvis. -2 or -1 would be starting to engage. 0 station wold be right in the middle of my pelvis and anything +1through +4 would be during actual labor. So baby is still sitting high. Which I already knew since I can't seems to take a deep breath! LOL!

The only other complaint I have at this stage in my pregnancy other than the contractions is that I am just so tired all the time. But I realize this is par for the course. I always get tired at this stage. It takes so much effort to even do things like roll over in bed and do housework. So I am back to taking a daily (OK sometimes twice daily) nap. Thankfully Tim is understanding about my need to rest and has been picking up some of the slack around the house and with the kids. He is such a great husband and Dad.

So my next appointment is on Tuesday. I am getting closer and closer to my due date. But Tim and I are anticipating that I will go over due. I figure in about 3 weeks or less I will be holding my baby!

Pregnancy update 13

2009-09-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well I am officially "full term". Basically I have made it to the point where baby is 100% viable if born at this point! If I went into labor I could have my home birth and everything would go smoothly in terms of lung development and such! Yippie!

Last week my MW came to do a homevisit. She wanted to familiarize herself with how to get to my house, how my house is laid out and where my birth supplies are. She also did a prenatal check up on me and baby! This was also an opportunity for our whole birth team to meet the Midiwfe. Beth is most likely gonna be at my birth since the other MW Linda is on her honeymoon and has to have surgery the first week of October. Sara and Tim had never met Beth before so it was good to have everyone met and start creating a bond. It was very exciting!

The nitty gritty of the appointment was my urine was negative for both protein and glucose. My blood pressure was good. I think it was like 112/60 or something but I did not write down the actual numbers. My fundus is measuring at 39 cm which is right on track since my last appointment in terms of baby's growth. We listened to the baby's heart rate and actually got video of the heart beat again. His heart rate was in the 140's. Baby is still head down!

I also got tested for Group B Strep. I will not find out the results from that test until sometime next week. Since I tend to deliver quickly we came up with some alternate plans for making sure our risk is reduced if the test comes back positive for Group B strep. It is unlikely that the MW would be able to administer the IV antibiotics in time for them to be effective, simply because the antibiotics take 4 hrs to take effect and my last birth was only 3 hrs. So we discussed our options for that. Hopefully I won't have to deal with it at all. I am hoping the test comes back negative!

We are now at the point where I see the MW every week! (eek! it is getting close) So my next appointment is tomorrow the 15th. I am still thinking I will go another 3-4 weeks until I actually birth, but up until then I will be seeing the MW every week.

I also noticed that I have not put up a recent belly picture in a while so on the right >>>>>> side bar there are pictures of my every growing belly at 36 and 37 weeks! Enjoy!

Also coming soon are some pictures of a recent trip Sara and I took up to the river. It was very fun! I will be working on the pictures and getting them posted in the next few days!

Birth Necklace

2009-09-03T21:49:00.001-07:00

Above is a picture of my birth necklace. You can read more about the birth necklace and why it was made for me here. Also if you want to send me a special bead to show me your love and support, I would be honored to add it to the necklace! Just email me and I will send you my address! I wrote the names down next to the beads so I would remember all the love that was shown to me!

Thanks for reading and wanting to be a part of my special Mother's blessing, pregnancy and upcoming birth!

Mother's Blessing Part 5: Favors

2009-09-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Jen's Mothers' Blessing Favor Bags

******these bags were given out at my Mother's blessing, but the meaning behind them was so cool I wanted to share with all of you!******

This little gift is filled with a candle and a few natural items I gathered from the forest for you to enjoy......each representing one of the sacred elements.....and each having a special place in reminding you to think about Jen as she continues her pregnancy and prepares for labor and birth. Each piece will remind you of Jen's journey to her place on the River....and will take you outdoors and into the forest, surrounded by the beauty of Nature. I invite you to place these items where you will see them throughout your day to remind you of Jen....so you can send her loving, positive and feminine energy for her pregnancy and labor. Here is a description of each item and why each is important.

~The candle represents the element of Fire…..passionate and primal....like the incredible energy women find within themselves as they labor....like the ancient women before them. In Jen's journey, we send warm light and loving energy into a circle around Jen....light from the warm sun surrounding her on the bank of the River as she relaxes and prepares for birth. As she goes into labor, everyone will be contacted and invited to light their candle. Jen will know that her circle of women have been gathered in spirit and have begun sending their energy as she labors.... lighting your candle will help create the bright circle of our energy and warmth around her. Jen also has a special blue birth candle I gave her to light when she goes into labor, connecting her candle flame and energy with all of ours.

~The sea salts represent the element of Water….ebbing and flowing like swelling waves of the beautiful ocean….like the intense wave of every contraction we experience in labor.....like the salty and warm water within our wombs where our babies are nourished and growing. These salts come directly from the ocean and connect all of us to the powerful energy harnessed in those waves of water. The River in Jen's journey flows along in it's own journey out into the waters of the great ocean. Soaking in the salts is a wonderful and relaxing way to enjoy the ocean's nourishing minerals, detoxify your body and refresh your spirit.......it will connect you with Jen as she soaks in warm water as she labors at home. You can send her your relaxing energy and strength so she feels empowered and relaxed through her contractions.....and send her baby your love as he floats in the "ocean" of her womb. Enjoy your sea salts as a refreshing foot bath or two....add some fresh flowers or leaves, or your piece of cedar bough....as we did at Jen's blessing.....or draw a nice warm bath, add the salts and relax.

~ The river rock represents the element of Earth....ancient and grounding and solid....a beautiful piece from the Earth, tumbled by the rushing water and down the mountains into Jen's place on the River. I spent a part of a day walking in the cool water and selecting the beautiful rocks to give to each person in their bags. Each rock carries with it the energy of the rushing waters of the River.....and the calm and grounding energy of the Earth that formed the rocks so long ago. Jen and I love these rocks. Every time we visit the River, we take time to walk in the clear water and pick rocks for our gardens, it's one of our favorite parts of going up there. It is meditative and relaxing. We will be making one last trip to the River to select rocks for her to have in the room during her labor. I also gave Jen a beautiful rock I found from the River, it's a blue-green heart shaped rock as a gift for the baby.....and continues the tradition we have of giving birth rocks to each other. You can place your rock in a favorite place in your home, or carry it with you.....connecting you with Jen.....knowing it is a piece of her favorite place.

~ The cedar branch represents the element of Air.....the lacy boughs stretching and reaching tall into the sky as they grow towards the sun....their sweet scent carried in the warm breeze.....a piece of these ancient and wise trees that have been growing for hundreds of years.....their roots running deep into the moist and nourishing Earth below. As you walk into the woods up on the River, you feel the presence and beauty of these tall pines all around you.....as you breathe-in the clean air, you can enjoy the sweet and refreshing smell of the cedars and other pines, mingled with the wildflowers and cool Earth. Your cedar bough will dry out, but you can gently crush the needles and gently release the sweet scent.....letting your mind drift into the green, lush forest....and up onto the River .....reminding you to breathe deeply and calmly, relaxing with each breath.... just as I will remind Jen to breathe while she labors, following the natural rhythms of her body.

~The pine cone represents and celebrates fertility, birth and new life. The tiny cones are beautiful to look at, but are also the seed and life-force of the tree......the beginnings of new life are contained within each seed inside each cone. Each tiny seed may someday grow into a beautiful and tall pine tree. When I found the cones scattered on the forest floor, they were so tiny and closed, I almost missed seeing them. After I gathered the cones, and brought them home and into the warmth, they began to open and "flower" into the cones I gave each of you. I found this to be a powerful symbol of the relaxing and dilating a woman must go through before labor and birth, she must feel comfortable and loved and supported before her body will share the new life inside her. Let your pinecone be a tiny symbol of the beautiful and tall pine trees in the forest, a reminder of the fertility and life within all living things.....and the joy of celebrating a new life. This loving energy you send out to Jen will help her to feel comfortable and supported.....so her body can relax and open itself to labor.....and let her baby come peacefully into this world.

Pregnancy Update # 12

2009-08-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

I had a Midwife appointment last week and it occurred to me that I have not posted the results on that here yet. I also have received the final test results on my Glucose Tolerance Test as well! So here goes!

My MW Appt was on Aug 25th with nmy MW Linda. I was 34w2d pregnant at that time. I have gained 3 pounds since my last appointment 2 weeks ago. My urine was negative for glucose and protein. I rocked my Blood pressure at 112/64! It has been very consistent my whole pregnancy! I am very happy about that. In my past pregnancies that has not always been the case. Linda measured my fundus and it is still measuring a bit ahead at 37cm. It should be around 34cm, but 37 is within the range of normal. The biggest thing Linda is looking for is to make sure it is still growing. I had a 7 cm growth spurt between 24-28 weeks and since then it has leveled out and I have been growing 1 cm a week like expected. I think that is pretty normal for my kids. We listened to the baby's heart rate and it was in the 120's. Jasmyn came with me to the appointment, so I captured her hearing the baby's heart rate on video using my cell phone. Click below to hear it!

Pretty cool, huh?!?!?!

I also got the results of my GTT. Basically I body did just fine with the glucose overload! My numbers were fine so my MW Linda and my Dr. of endocrinology Dr. L both agreed that I do not have Gestational Diabetes!!!! So everything seems like it is going well. My next appointment is the 9th of September. My primary MW Linda is taking the month of September off to get married and go on her honeymoon so her MW partner Beth will be covering all the on call for the month of September and some of October. So Beth figured that since she has never been to my house that she should come and do a home visit so that she can find my house, see how it is set up and check to make sure I have all my birth supplies in order. I am excited for my homevisit simply because it is milestone that shows that I am close to the end of my pregnancy and getting to meet my baby! After my Home visit I will then start seeing the MW for prenatal appointments on a weekly basis. Eek! It is getting close! I am both excited and a bit anxious!

In preparation for my upcoming home visit Tim and I have been getting our house and the birth supplies ready! It is exciting!!!! We have the supplies in a 3 drawer portable dresser in our dinning room. The birth pool is filled with air and stored in our basement ready for my birthing time. We have the faucet adapter on the kitchen sink to hook the hose up to fill our birthing pool. I have the baby's clothes folded and put away. I bought diapers for baby! And Oh My Goodness those things are tiny! Mason is still in diapers/pullups but there is a BIG DIFFERENCE in size between a newborn diaper and a 2T/3T pullup! But we are getting things together and I am relaxing more and more as each item is checked off the to do list!

So I thought I would leave you with a belly picture! This is my 34 week belly picture!
You can compare my belly growth using the pictures on the right sidebar. >>>>>>>>

Mother's Blessing Part 4: Tying Hands with Yarn

2009-08-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is the final blog about my Mother's Blessing! I have written up 4 blogs in total to tell the story! It has been so much fun sharing all the details of this fabulous celebration that my friends created for me! I feel an immense amount of love and support from the ladies that were present for the celebration and the ladies that have participated in the Blessing after wards. Here is yet another opportunity for my friends and family that were not able to attend to take part in this awesome blessing!

The last piece of this Mother's Blessing was the tying of our hands with yarn. It was a way to unite us all in love and support around myself and the baby. A way of recognizing that we are all connected by the ancient women who came before us, who were strong and wise, that birthed the way Nature intended.... free from restrictions, interventions and surrounded by their village of women offering them support as they brought forth their babies. Below is Sara's description of what tying hands of yarns is, why we do it and how to do it:

We sit in a circle around Jen, surrounded by Nature's serenity and beauty, in tune with the Earth Mother. Let’s join hands to create a circle of light around Jen to give her our love and feminine energy. We have created a complete circle, and even though we break our hands, the circle will continue around Jen through her pregnancy and birth, reminding her that we are her circle of women, giving her love and strength and courage and sending her our energy for an easy and peaceful birth. I would like us to join in an ancient tradition of tying our hands together into a circle, each woman wraps the wrist of the woman next to her, and as she winds the yarn around, we all say "From women we are born into this circle, from women we are born unto this Earth". A single yarn will connect all of us. Our circle is complete; we are all connected to Jen and each other as her circle of women. Now we will each go around the circle and cut the yarn between our hands, but even though the yarn is cut and we separate, our circle is still there. When Jen goes into labor, each of you will be contacted and we will all break our bracelets and send Jen our feminine energy, blessings, prayers and thoughts as she peacefully labors.

We used a ball of cotton yarn with purple blue and green threads intertwined. Here is a picture of our circle: Here is my wrist wrapped with the yarn... connected to all the ancient women and to you!

If anyone is interested in wearing a length of the string that was bound in our circle at my Mother’s Blessing I would be happy to send you a piece (some of my close family and friends already have a piece being mailed to them as I write this). I invite you to wrap this string around your wrist or ankle to wear as a reminder of me and my baby as my pregnancy continues and as I prepare to birth. By wearing this string you are accepting your place with the ancient women whom we are all connected to, therefore offering your support, love and energy to me as I prepare to birth. I will think of you and your personal feminine strength joined with the strength of all the ancient women as I birth my baby. These feelings of strength and energy will provide comfort, love and support to me and my baby as we work together to bring him out of my body and into the light.

I will update my facebook status, post on this blog, send a text message and send out an email when my birthing time begins. At that time you may remove your yarn and send up your thoughts, prayers, and blessings to me as I peacefully birth my baby. Thank you for loving me and for being part of my circle.

Mother's Blessing Part 3: Beauty Bay, Foot soak and Journey

2009-08-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

The 3rd part of the Mother's Blessing actually started about a year ago. Tim & I had been trying to get pregnant for over 6 months with no luck. I was very upset about how long it was taking for me to conceive. Sara wanted to help me work through my stress and pain. In August of 2008 our families went out to our favorite camping spot for vacation. During the trip Sara and I got a chance to sneak away from the kids and husbands and get some time to ourselves. We choose to use that time as a partial "spa" time and also to hold a fertility ritual to help me work through my emotional difficulties surrounding this touchy subject of infertility/fertility. I have previously blogged about this special time Sara and I had in the forest. You can read it here.

During my Mother's Blessing Sara wanted to recreate some of the aspects of our original fertility journey. In part to pay respects to Mother Nature for allowing me to become pregnant, but also to take me back to the place where I feel the most comfortable and "in my skin". The spot where we camp is just the most beautiful piece of Nature I have ever been fortunate enough to stand or commune in. I feel it is a sacred piece of the Earth.

The other piece of this important journey is that in preparing for my birthing time I am studying hypnobabies. Hypnobabies is basically a childbirth preparation course that uses hypnosis to control the sensations of birthing your child. Part of the course is creating your own "special place" in which to retreat and find comfort. This "special place" can be an actual place or a made up one. I choose to have my "special place" be up on the river where we camp but specifically where Sara and I did my fertility ritual. That spot will always hold a special place in my heart in terms of my abilities to connect with the Earth and stay grounded during my birthing time, simply because of the time Sara and I spent there.

The first thing Sara did to "recreate" the special time we spent on the river was to hold my Mother's Blessing in Nature. We went to Beauty Bay off the Coeur d' Alene Lake. This is the same water that flows in our river spot. Here is a picture of the bay.

Secondly Sara wanted to make sure we were all relaxed and comfortable as we were the day of my ritual. We did a spa type foot soak by the river that day. We had sea salts and pieces of nature we picked along the way in our tub of river water that we soaked our feet in. So at my Mother's blessing Sara brought all we would need to do a foot soak. She brought some of the same type of flowers ferns and tree boughs, as well as salt to put into our water. She even brought warm water to make sure our foot soak was relaxing! Here is a picture of my foot soak before the water was added:Here is a picture of my feet soaking in the wonderful relaxing water!

After Sara got everyone soaking in their personal foot soak she then invited us to close our eyes and listen to her as she read a relaxation journey that she had written for me to use leading up to and during my birthing time. It was a magical time being in the wood by the river, soaking our feet and listening to Sara's beautiful voice as she read these special words. I want to share with you the journey she wrote for me. Below is the "River Journey" she wrote as well as some pictures to help you visualize my "special place".

....Jen's River Journey....

.....please imagine with me a bright circle of light that we are creating as we gather around Jen as part of her circle…..imagine this to be a peaceful light full of our loving energy for Jen and her baby…..warm, welcoming, peaceful light. Now lets imagine this warm light as the sun above us…..gently bringing all of our energy….from wherever we may be while Jen is birthing….. and shining it down on her as she gently and peacefully births her baby. As Jen begins to feel the familiar and intense tugging of her contractions….she remembers and honors the amazing power within her sacred womb…..her baby feeling each gentle hug …. and working with the natural rhythm as he snuggles down for his journey. She will begin to feel the warmth of this loving and peaceful energy….the warmth letting her relax deeper and deeper with each contraction. She will smile knowing that these women in her life…..who all love her…..will be thinking about her….sending her their energy and sending courage and strength to help her get through her birth….sending love so she feels safe…..and nourishing her spirit. She will think about the women who came before them…..who gave birth so they could be with her now…..and the long line of women who came before her…..who gave birth, time and time before…..with strength and courage and peace. She thinks about how powerful this imagery is....of all the women before her birthing...and how amazing our bodies are, to be able to bring life into this world. She will feel comforted by these thoughts….as we send them to her as healing, loving light as she births. As she thinks about this light….like the warm, relaxing light of the sun…..she will begin to drift to her sacred and peaceful place….up in the mountains….up on the River. She will slowly drive the winding road….taking in the beautiful scenery and smelling the fresh air…..so peaceful and serene.

She will pull onto a hidden dirt road…..knowing she is almost there….and get out and start walking to her special place. Through the old and wise trees…. along the narrow path, sunlight dappling the ground beneath her feet...along the old fallen cedar log and the to the edge of the clear river. she will continue along the embankment……the path is not so clear now, but she knows it. A log across the river creates a deep, clear wading pool, inviting and cool....but she continues on and climbs over it…..she is almost there.

Now she has arrived to the second log….she thinks about how her contractions are like climbing over the logs….how her hard work will get her there….and smiles knowing the work her body is doing is productive and satisfying. She gently climbs over the last log and she has arrived to her place in the mountains.

She stops on the side of the bank, to sink her feet into the rich moist Earth beneath….it feels cool and firm....grounding her to the Mother Earth…...giving her deep strength and courage in her core…..making her feel powerful like a Goddess…...yet peaceful and bringing her a reassuring calm…..letting her feel the gravity with each contraction…..again it is a satisfying sensation…..knowing the baby is coming down and will soon be in her arms. Now, she begins to fully experience the beauty around her…..using all of her senses….she focuses intensely on these sensations while she relaxes into each contraction…..and lets the power she felt from the grounding earth, give her body greater strength to bring her baby down.

She gazes into the river…..sparkling in the sunlight….and gently steps in. She feels the familiar smoothness of the river stones…..soft purples, greens, and browns rippling beneath the clear water…..

she knows these rocks are sacred and wise and have come from far-away places.....gently tumbled and shaped by the rushing mountain water….finally settling into their place in the long and winding river. She imagines that pieces of these rocks….even tiny grains of the sand….have wandered their way into the great, powerful and beautiful ocean. She imagines the tides and the waves…..gently ebbing and flowing with her contractions…..she smiles knowing the river she is standing in feeds those waves. It is a powerful image.

As she eases into her birthing pool at home….she imagines she is wading into the river water…..but the water is warm and inviting…..she lays back and and relaxes…..feeling the water support and comfort her…..feeling the water gently flow over her. The water carries away any tension, negativity, or fear....she gives these emotions to the river and lets it fill her with positive, strong and loving energy. As she continues to feel the contractions deep inside her womb….she relaxes more and again focuses on the sensations around her…..she feels calm and happy and peaceful. She closes her eyes….but she can still see the light of the warm sunshine under her heavy lids. It feels warm and loving and encouraging…..she knows we are all sending it to her….and again she smiles. She breathes in deeply and slowly…..following her own body's rhythms…..she can smell the crisp mountain air…..so fresh and pure…..the warm sun releasing the sweet, familiar scent of the wise pines, the cedars and the cool Earth…..it is a comforting smell…..it mingles with the delicate scent of the mountain wildflowers….she imagines them swaying and dancing in the gentle, warm breeze. She listens to the water slowly wandering over the rocks…...over the log into a gentle waterfall….and into the inviting pool. This sound is so soothing…...again, familiar.....she loves falling asleep to this sound....and it brings her into a deeper state of relaxation. She hears distant birds flying high…..amongst the vibrant blue sky….dappled with wispy white clouds. Again she feels the warm sun and the water gently caressing her….supporting her beautiful and amazing body as she continues with her birth. She thinks about the wise pines…..the lush green plants thriving below….the smooth and serene rocks under the clear water…...the warm breeze dancing with the wildflowers….the cool and grounding Earth…..life abounds all around her. In this place she is completely warm and relaxed…..yet powerful and beautiful….she has no fears…..she feels supported and loved.....she is at peace...….she feels serenity…....and can just... be. She is now fully relaxed and fully immersed in her place on the river.

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Sara leaves us with a final thought:

Every woman is an Earth Mother…..a Goddess…..we are sacred and powerful and beautiful and magical!

Mother's Blessing Part 2: Intro Birth Affirmations and Birth Necklace

2009-08-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

I thought I should post more information on my Mother's Blessing. I have received such awesome feedback from all who I have told about my special day I just think that more people should know about this special rite of passage ceremony so that more pregnant women can experience it!

Below are some photos of the invitation that my friend Sara created:

Inside the invitation was a slip of paper with the following explanation of what a Mother's Blessing is:

What is a Mothers' Blessing? A Mothers' Blessing is a wonderful alternative to the traditional baby shower and is held to celebrate the journey of all mothers and the creation of a new life…..to celebrate the Mother-to-be! A Mothers' Blessing is a North American Indian tradition that marks a woman's transition from Maiden to Mother……a sacred right of passage for a woman entering into Motherhood. It is a time of receiving, a time where she is nurtured and honored by her community of women. The blessing acknowledges the commitment and energy of being a mother and gives her a time to gather and receive energy from women around her….a beautiful and powerful way help her prepare for birth….a safe and sacred setting for her to express any fears or worries and receive the support to work through them. This ceremony can be given to a woman each time she has a child, as with each child comes a new level of commitment and surrender. Traditionally, she invites the women she is closest with, surrounding herself with her "village"….. a gathering of women, a celebration, a gathering of their good energies. These are women who share their wisdom, love, and encouragement…...who comfort her and make her laugh when she really needs it…..who give her strength and support to embrace and enjoy the weeks of pregnancy ahead…..and who give her the positive energy to have an easy and peaceful birth with her baby and family. As women, we are amazing and powerful and beautiful…..we possess a deep understanding of each other and have a profound way of uplifting those that we love. I invite you to take part in this very special time for Jen……and to celebrate her pregnancy and birth ahead!

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During the course of the Mother's blessing I was showered with love and support! It was truly an awesome experience. During the celebration (which ended up being a 2 day event because of a storm on Saturday night that rained out of outside venue) my village of women created a few very special gifts for me. Here is the explanation of the Birth Affirmations Book:

We are going to create a Birth Affirmations book for her, this is something she can read every night before bed up until labor, or when she's feeling anxiety, and I can read it to her during labor to keep her calm and relaxed. I will have a scrap-book with background pages that are loose and we will be decorating the pages. I have lots of photos of "up on the River", where Jen likes to camp and where she has visualized her place of "Zen" for laboring. Everyone can decorate a page using a photo or two, and colorful papers and pens, and their affirmation for Jen and her baby. Please think of a birth affirmation you would like to add to Jen's book and remember to bring it with you to the celebration! A birth affirmation can be a single word, several words, a poem, or simply a paragraph of your words to show Jen you love her and are supporting her during her pregnancy and birth, or words of wisdom. Be creative and speak from your heart, and don't feel like you have to say something profound, something as simple as "I am thinking about you" is perfect. We will then pass the book around and each tell of the picture we chose, and words we chose and why….and maybe share other words of wisdom while she relaxes! After our celebration, I will invite Tim and her kids and other family to create a page as well, this will be a fun keepsake and a daily reminder that we are all with her and supporting her. Examples of affirmations: "peaceful"…."strong"…."amazing" "you are beautiful and powerful" "you birth will be perfect in every way" "your baby is content and warm and loved, growing inside you" You can Google "birth affirmations" and see more examples and to see how these powerful little messages of love can help Moms focus and stay happy during pregnancy and birth!

This book is still in process of being completed. The ladies that were at the Mother's Blessing have completed their pages. But Sara is still gathering birth affirmations from some ladies that could not attend. If you are interested in sending her a birth affirmation she has graciously agreed to scrapbook a page for you and add your words (and name) to the book. You can email her at: sfbjork@hotmail.com Just put "Jen's Birth affirmation" in the subject so she know what it is in regards to. I invite all of you reading this to participate if this project resonates with you!

One of the other projects that the ladies created for me was a birth necklace. It is so beautiful and so very meaningful. Here is Sara's explanation for what a Birth Necklace is:

We will also string a "birth necklace" for Jen to wear during her labor, this is a traditional gift for the Mother-to-be, be strung and presented during her Mothers Blessing. Each person provides a special bead to string on the necklace so that she has a comforting reminder of each of us while she labors. I will provide a variety of natural beads, in stone or glass or wood, for this project. If you have a special bead you would like Jen to have, or one that has special meaning, please feel free to bring your own. I will use cotton or leather cording, so a larger hole would be best, and avoiding metal or pointy beads is best….she will be wearing this while in labor and moving around!

Here is a picture of the necklace that they created for me. My Children and Tim also added beads to the necklace. It is just beautiful!
Again this necklace is NOT complete. I have not tied it off yet as I wanted to open the invitation to you all to add a bead if you desire to my birth necklace. You can choose your own bead at your local bead shop or you can let Sara know what bead you would like from the selection below. She will be mapping the necklace (ETA: Birth necklace picture can be seen here) for me so that we will know who selected what bead. If you want to pick a special bead and mail it to me you can do so, as well. Just send me an email and I will send back my mailing address. I am willing to accept beads up until I go into labor! So that gives you some time.... 5 or so weeks!

Here is a picture of the beads that Sara has on hand

There is 2 more pieces of this Mother's Blessing but they are a bit long, so I am going to create a different post to give them the space and attention they need. So be on the look out for Mother's Blessing Part 3 & 4!

Mother's Blessing Part 1: Belly Painting!

2009-08-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago my best est friends threw me a Mother's Blessing. Basically it is to celebrate the women who is about to become a Mother for the first time or in my case for the 4th time! Sara planned the whole thing and really put lots of thought and energy into making it the most beautiful and special event I have ever had during the course of a pregnancy except perhaps the birth itself. It was incredible. I am still working on getting the whole outline of her "blessing" so that I can share it with all of you readers, but for now I wanted to share just one aspect of the Blessing.

Sara and I had talked about doing a belly painting on the day of my Mother's Blessing. We wanted all the ladies (and the children) at the blessing to take part in painting my belly. Basically painting a pregnant belly to me is a way of giving the mother and child energy and love and showing support to them. So I knew it would be special to have these special ladies paint on my belly. Sara and I started looking around for ideas on what to have the "theme" of the painting be so that collaboration would be possible. We found a beautiful belly painting on line of beautiful vines and all kinds of different flowers. We knew we had found the perfect theme!

The next step was to figure out what we would use to paint on my belly. Sara and I over the years have used a variety of painting supplies with varying degrees of success. We always end up with great belly paintings but our materials sometimes limit our creativity. We wanted to give the ladies at my Mother's Blessing the best possible platform for creativity, so the materials we used to paint with became VERY important. After much thought and discussion we decided that using something that was designed for skin was our best bet. I went to my trusty Wal-Mart and bought a whole slew of eyeliners, shadows, lip liners, lip gloss, and other makeup items. Thank goodness for brands like Wet & Wild that are quality makeup with a reasonable price!

As Sara and I talked about using the makeup it occurred to me how fitting using the makeup was going to be. Every woman applies her makeup with her own tastes, strengths, and skill. Applying makeup is such a personal and intimate art form for each women. So the idea that these strong women would be using materials in which they are familiar and artists at using on themselves, that they would be using those techniques on me to give me and my baby love, energy and support just brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful way to really personalize a belly painting even though it would be a collaborative effort.

Below are some pictures of the different women and their children and my children painting my belly at my Mother's Blessing!

Mason painting with the help of me and Sara

Sarah Painting

Landa Painting

Clare Painting

Group painting! LOL Clare, Mindy, and Sarah

Stephanie & Sara Painting

Mindy Painting

Sierra (Sara's daughter) painting

Isabella (Mindy's daughter) painting

Kaleb painting

Jasmyn Painting

The finished painting!

Front view
33 weeks pregnant

Side View
33 weeks pregnant

For pictures of the individual flowers, bugs, and berries you can view them here.

I also want to thank the ladies and the children at my Mother's Blessing for putting forth your energy and love and support that made me feel so loved and cherished.

Also a special thank you goes out to My husband Tim and Clare's husband Dale for watching the kids, cooking the food and being the best Hosts so that the ladies could focus on the Mother's Blessing. This would not have been possible without your help. Thank you!

Pregnancy Update 11

2009-08-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

So I went to another MW appt. I am not very thrilled with some of the results of the appointment... but I will get to that in a bit.

My gestational age is 32wk and 2 days at the time of the appointment. I have lost another pound since my last appointment 2 weeks ago. My urine is negative for both protein and glucose. My Blood pressure is AWESOME at 110/64. We got a good listen to our little baby's heart rate. It was just clipping along at about 140 beats per minute. Then the MW measured my fundus height and it was 35 cm. This is a growth of 2 cm in 2 weeks which is right on target. Baby is growing as he should be and all seems to be well. Oh and baby is head down still! Which is awesome news!

A week or so ago I was having more "practice" contractions than I thought was necessary. So my MW wanted to make sure I did not have a bladder or UTI infection. Sometimes these type of infections can cause contractions and cramping. So I went to my regular Drs office and had my urine tested. It is clear and fine. So my MW decided she should come and check my cervix to make sure I am not making changes to my cervix. She came by my house and checked me. My cervix is long and closed and firm. After checking that my MW thinks that my contractions are probably a combination of dehydration and the heat. Also they could be that this is my 4th baby and my uterus needs extra "practice" contractions to keep it *tone* for giving birth. LOL! At any rate I was instructed to drink more water and keep cool. Also the MW instructed me to take a vitamin suppliment called Magneseium. Mag is a smooth muscle relaxer, so it will help my uterus relax and not be so cranky. The good news is that the Mag and more water has helped keep the contractions to a minimum.

I also had my Glucose tolerance test (GTT) done. Basically that means that I fast overnight, first thing in the morning dink the Glucose drink, and then 1 hr later the MW draws my blood to see how my blood sugar levels are. It is a screening test to see if I have Gestational Dibetes (GD). I was slightly worried because the drink made me really sick and I felt weak and shaky. Today I called the MW to get my test results from the GTT and she sadly told me I "failed" the test. The blood sugar level should be 130 or under. Mine was 154. YUCK!

So I have 2 options at this point to determine if I actually have GD.

Option 1 - Take the 3hr GTT. Which involves fasting drinking the drink again and getting blood drawn at 1 -2 and 3 hr marks. If 2 of the 3 blood sugar levels are high that gives me a "fail" and a diagnosis of GD.

Option 2 - is to try to get "Real life" blood sugar readings. I would get a glucose meter and test my blood sugars 4 x per day. Once first thing in the morning, and then I would test 2 hrs after each meal, breakfast lunch dinner. These would give "real life" blood sugar levels instead of a "glucose overload" like the GTT is. MW would look at my readings and determine if my levels indicate GD or not.

So I have decided to do Option 2. Even though it is more finger pokes, at least it is "real life" eating and not a sugary drink that makes me very sick. I think Option 2 is actually more of an acurrate representation of what my body is doing as far as sugar levels.

The other issue of course is that I have already been previously diagnosed with Insulin Resistance related to my PCOS. I am on Metformin to help my body process glucose more easily. At this point I take my Metformin all at once. 3 500mg tablets for a total of 1500 mg at one time. And because of the intestinal problems it has given me I also take it at night. This method has worked to maintain my PCOS issues and I ws able to concieve and stay pregnant, but at this point perhaps I need to change that. So I have a call into my Endocrinologist Dr that has been managing my PCOS and insulin resistance as well as my thyroid to ask if I should instead take 1 500mg pill with EACH MEAL instead of all at once in one 1500 mg dose. His nurse called me back today and said Dr will review results and call me back tomorrow with an answer.

So at this point I am in a holding pattern waiting to see what my Endo Dr has to say and also whether my Ins will cover a glucose meter and how I go about getting one. I doubt these issues will be figured out until beginning of next week.

So until such time as I have an answer, I think I will just cut back on my carbs and re-read my "insulin resistance diet" book and reacquaint myself with the linking and balancing of foods it teaches. Since this is healthy for me regardless of whether I have GD or not and it IS the diet I will be put on if I do have GD I figure I should just go back on it. I should probably just commit to the "diet" as a new lifestyle of eating for life. Having Insulin resistance and GD puts me at a HUGE risk to develope full blown dibetes later in life.

Sigh. Sometimes it really sucks to be a grown up.

So on a lighter note.... I got my hair cut and colored today! You can see pictures of before and after here.

Also it is time for the latest in my belly pictures. I have also had 2 belly paintings done but I will post those tomorrow maybe. It is late and I am tired. So here are the 32 week belly pictures!
you can also see the week by week comparison on the right side bar>>>>>>>>.

32 weeks pregnant

Trip to Sanpoint and a Grandma story

2009-07-29T23:29:00.001-07:00

After our visit with Aunt Hallie we decided to head down to the Sandpoint City Beach to play for a while before driving back home. The kids have not been swimming in a lake since last year but they are loving the pool so much I figured the beach would be awesome for them. Thankfully I was right! They really did love it!

Here is Mason playing on the shore.

Jasmyn & Kaleb wasted no time jumping right in!

It was funny that they kept asking me about sharks and eels. They also wanted to know why there were no sea shells. It was a funny conversation.

They also packed sand shovels and buckets to build sand castles. They had fun finding pretty rocks and peices of drift wood to add to their sand castles. Kaleb found a leaf to use as a flag. It was very fun and really reminded me of Dave and I playing in the sand at the same beach.

Jasmyn

Kaleb
And here is one of all three of my munchkins on the beach! I love that you can see the beach, the water, and the mountains in the back ground. Sandpoint always has and always will feel like "home" to me.

One of my fondest memories as a child was a hot day in July when my Grandma walked my brother, my cousin and I down to the beach and took us swimming. My grandparents lived only 4-5 blocks from the beach. But Grandma was not very mobile. Her arthritis was very debilitating. She could not walk for very long distances, and was quite honestly house bound for most of my childhood. So the fact that she walked 4-5 blocks to take us swimming was a HUGE thing for us. I remember she sat on a bench in the shade and watched us swim. She chatted with other beach goers and had a wonderful time. After an hour or so she took us over to the concessions stand and bought us a popscicle. It was the best day of my summer that year. And now one of my most fond memories of my Grandma.

So after going to see Aunt Hallie and being reminded of some memories I had forgotten about Grandma, it was a real treat to take my kids to the same side of the beach, sit on a chair, chat with other beach goers and make my kid's day. We had ice cream at Serv-a-burger on our way out of town. It was a full circle moment. Thanks Grandma. I miss you so much and am so happy that today I got to visit you in my own memories.

Great Aunt Hallie

2009-07-29T22:49:00.001-07:00

Today my Great Aunt Hallie arrived from Alaska. She is in Sandpoint for her 60th high school reunion. Hard to believe that she graduated 60 years ago. She is just a spit fire and full of life. Aunt Hallie is my Grandma Jean's sister. Grandma has been gone since November of 1996. It was so good to see Aunt Hallie. I was, however, unprepared for the range of emotions I would feel in seeing her. First of all Aunt Hallie and my Grandma look so much alike. Not surprising considering they are sisters. But since Grandma has been gone, I only have a few pictures of her and while my memories of her face are vivid, seeing Aunt Hallie made them so very real. I so wanted Grandma to see her sister today. I wanted to see them chatting and laughing while they reminicsed about the past. Those girls have some funny stories.

Aunt Hallie is planning a trip with her life time best friend Noonie. Noonie and her graduated from high school together and after they celebrate their 60th high school reunion are also planning to spend some time in Montana and Wyoming retracing some of their steps they took in their youth. Noonie also joined us for part of the afternoon as we vistited with Aunt Hallie.

Aunt Hallie and Noonie

Listening to Aunt Hallie and Noonie talk was such a treat. They teased each other like school girls. They talked about visiting one of Noonie's ex-boyfriends while they are traveling and such. I think Noonie blushed when we asked her about the gentleman. It was cute. But the cutest antecdote was when Hallie and Noonie compared the length of each other's eye lashes! I guess growing up neither of them had much for eye lashes. But as they have gotten older both of them have been diagnosed with Glucoma. Apparently it was caught early for both of them and no damage was done to their vision. But the medication they use to treat their glucoma causes their eye lashes to grow to great lengths! Both of them are just tickled by that "side effect" of the medicine. They spent a moment batting their eye lashes at each other. It was very sweet.

Aunt Hallie reminds me so much of Grandma. They have the same twinkle in their eye, they even have wrinkles in the same places around their eyes. The same placed apple at her cheek. Aunt Hallie even tilts her head to one side when she smiles. Here are a few pictures of her just snapped as she talked.

This one I made her pause and pose for me. She is simply beautiful.

I also love Aunt Hallie's jewlery. She wore turquois earrings, necklace and rings on her hand. The rings were sinply amazing and of course she told a story about one of them and where she got the ring. She told this story about a family member and the way she told it reminded me so much of Grandma's story telling. She just holds nothing back. Even things that most people would leave out of a story, she shares. Things that would probably embarass the person it was being told about. She does not do it maliciously. Just very matter of factly. Very much like my Grandma (and me). But anyone that knows my family well would understand that these stories are part of our legacy and history. It was a story I had heard my Grandma tell before. They both had a twinkle in their eye when they got to the punch line. I just LOVED IT.
It was also strange that this morning I had this weird desire to wear my turquois necklace but decided againist wearing it because it didn't match my tank top very well. I know now that I should have worn it. Aren't her hands beautiful?!?!

Here is a picture of my Aunt Terrie, Great Aunt Hallie, My Mom, & my Uncle Dick.

It was truly a blessing to see her face and to hear her voice. I am so happy that I had this opportunity to spend time with her. It really did make me feel closer to my family and sparked some memories of my Grandma that I have not thought of in years. It was a fabulous day.

Pregnancy Update 10

2009-07-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day. I had a Physical Therapy appointment as well as a midwife appointment. I started PT last week. I have been having some pelvis pain. Mostly in my pubic bone and my sacrum. The PT has been working fairly well. The adjustments seem to help to loosen the muscles and help relieve pain. My favorite part is the muscle tissue massage they do. It is basically a 20 minute massage on my lower back. Awwwww Heavenly! I will be going once a week for probably the next month or so. The PT lady also gave me some exercises to do to help stretch the muscles and strengthen my hip.

Also today was my MW appointment. I am 30weeks 2 days pregnant. I have lost 5 pounds since my appointment 2 weeks ago. But the baby is growing as he should be, so I am Ok with *me* losing weight! LOL! My urine was negative for glucose and protein. My Blood pressure was awesome at 112/54. Our little man was very active today and his heartrate was all over the place! His heartrate started in the 170s and finally settled down into the 140's. Linda my MW also measured my fundus height at 33 cm. That is up 2 cm since my appt 2 weeks ago, which is right where it should be. Baby is also head down! Woot!

I also had some blood work done last appointment. My thyroid panel cam back a bit high so my Endocrinologist increased my thyroid meds up to 150mcg/day. My Rh antibodies screen was negative. My iron level was 11.1. Now my Endocrinologist says this is too low and that I am anemic. My MW says that at my 5 weeks check it was 11.5, and at 18 weeks it was 11.9. So 11.1 seems to be OK. It really hasn't changed very much since I first got pregnant. She said to just focus on eating foods high in iron. Red meat obviously being the best way to get iron. I have no problem eating steak! LOL! I may also start taking an iron supplement as well.

Linda also finally has an answer as to what is gonna happen to the MW service during the month of September. Linda is getting married and will be taking the whole month off. Her partner Beth will be doing all the on call births and some of the clinc days. They found another midwife named Margaret that will be covering the on call births 2 days of the wedding (Sept 6&7) and then covering clinic days for most of the month. I may or may not even see Margaret, so the change in call schedule is not really gonna effect me. I know Beth fairly well and am comfortable having her attend my birth if I go into labor in Septemeber. But knowing me.... I will go late and not birth until October. I would really like to birth October 10th or 11th! Those are Tim's days off and about 6 days after my due date. Seems about right! LOL! So for any of you who believe in visualizing what you want to have happen.... focus on 10/10/09 for me to birth!

We also took some updated belly pictures. We got creative with some B & W ones. These are my 30 week pictures. Youcan see the comparision pictures on the right side bar. --------->>>

Kids hands and mine

Tim & I hugging our baby

All of us loving on our baby!

30 week close up

30 week picture

Hope you enjoyed reading this pregnancy update!

Pregnancy Update 9

2009-07-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

It is that time again to update you guys after my last Midwife appointment! My Appointment was on Tuesday July 14th. I saw my Midwife Linda. And my Mom was able to come with me as well to the appointment. She was very excited to hear the baby's heart beat. It was fun to take her with me.

Anyway...on to the details: I was 28 weeks 2 day pregnant at the time of my appointment. I have gained 2 pounds since my last appointment 4 weeks ago. But I am still about 15 below my pre-pregnancy weight. My glucose and protein tests came back negative. My blood pressure is AWESOME at 112/60! Woot! The baby also sounded AWESOME at 130 beats per minute! Mom was amazed at how loud and strong his heart beat is.

Now come the part I am most miserable about! LOL! MW Linda measured my fundus. Basically this is a measurement from the top of my pubic bone to the top of my uterus. at my appointment 4 weeks ago I was measuring right on schedule at 24 cm. But at this appointment I was measuring BIGGER than normal! LOL! I have... well baby and I have grown 7 cm in 4 weeks! Holy Moly! that is ALOT! No wonder I feel like a whale! So my fundus measurement is 31cm. Typically a pregnant belly grows roughlt 1 cm per week of pregnancy. Growing 7 cm is about 3 cm too much!!!!

Now of course the MW is pleased that the baby is growing and that I am not gaining too much weight. She was totally unconcerned that I am measuring ahead. I am only upset about it because I feel like a whale! LOL! Anyway, she also said that she felt that I would even out in the next few weeks. We shall see I guess!

Linda also drew some blood to test for RH antibodies, iron levels and my thyroid panel. I will get the results sometime next week. She also gave me an injection of rhogam because I am RH -.

I have also reached the milestone of the 3rd Trimester. So now my appointments are every 2 weeks instead of every 4 weeks. My next appointment is on July 28th. I will also be doing my glucose tolerance test at that appointment. Yuck!

Here is my most recent Belly pictures as well. We took these pictures last night! 29 weeks baby!

You can also see my comparison picture on the right hand side of the blog. -------->

Bray Birthday Bash!

2009-07-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the photos of our Bray Birthday Bash!!!!!

We had an absolute blast!!!!!

Bray Birthday Bash

Happy Birthday to Tim who turned 33 on July 2nd

Happy Birthday to Jasmyn who turned 5 on July 15th

Happy Birthday to Mason who turned 3 on July 19th (today)

Happy Birthday to Jen who turns 30 something on July 22nd!

Belly Pic Comparision

2009-07-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

I have taken a few pictures of my belly wearing the same shirt. I thought it might be fun to see how much I have grown in the 4-6 weeks since I last wore the shirt.

22 weeks pregnant

Same shirt... 26 weeks pregnant!

20 weeks pregnant

Same shirt.... 26 weeks pregnant

Crazy huh????? Amazing how big a baby can get in just a few weeks! Hope you enjoyed my latest belly pics!

Pregnancy Update # 8

2009-06-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today was my 24 week check up with the Midwife. It was just your basic check up! Everything looks great and the baby is growing on schedule! My blood pressure is fantastic at 118/60! My weight is the same as it was 4 weeks ago. My urine was negative for both Glucose and protein. My fundus height was 24 cm which is right on schedule for my gestational age of 24 weeks. And of course we listened to the baby's heart rate. He was sleeping so it was in the 130s which is normal. My Midwife also drew my blood again for a thyroid panel. My last blood draw was a month ago and the results were within the recommended limits. My Thyroid Dr did not make any changes to my medications.

My Midwife also received the U/S report. Everything looks great on the report. Baby is breech at this point, but at this early in the game he will most likely flip over and get into position in the next 1-2 months. The U/S report also moved my due date up by a week making me due Sept 29th instead of October 6th. Which of course is all relative since I think my due date is the 4th. First U/S put my due date at Oct 4th which agreed with my dates. The October 6th date is the one that the Midwife came up with using her little pregnancy wheel thing using my LMP (date of last period). But as we all know... Baby decides anyway! So they can put their little dates where ever they feel like it and somehow the baby just knows when he is ready to be born! I will most likely blow all 3 "due dates" and go to the 11th or something crazy like that anyway! My Midwife told me I slow cook my kids kinda like a crock pot, instead of a microwave.

We talked briefly about the birth plan. We are still planning a home birth and since the U/S report shows baby is healthy and my placenta is out of the way of my cervix, all is set for us to continue that plan. We are very excited! Kaleb has expressed interest in helping Tim cut the cord once our baby is born. The midwife is on board with making our birth the most family centered experience she can while keeping both the baby and myself safe. She did say that some kids say they want to help and then at the moment of birth get scared or nervous. It left me with something to think about and to also talk to Kaleb about so he knows he doesn't HAVE to do anything he doesn't want to do. Thankfully the cord cutting can be delayed for a bit after the birth, so he can get settled in and all before he has to "preform". We will just see how he feels on D day!

I have been feeling really good overall. Usually by 20-22 weeks in previous pregnancies I have had pelvic and pubic bone pain. Mostly my sciatica starts to act up and keep me in lots of pain. Thankfully this time around I am just now starting to feel little twinges of pan in my hips and my pubic bone. Sometimes if I am in one position for too long or am doing a repeating motion my pubic bone feels like it is on fire. It is such an odd sensation of burning and pain.

I mentioned this discomfort to my Midwife and she suggested Physical Therapy or seeing a Chiropractor. But of course getting that done requires a referral from my primary Dr. I plan to call tomorrow to get an appointment with my primary Dr. Sometimes I really hate Insurance company hoops. But I guess I should be happy to be insured!

So my next appointment is in 4 weeks. At this appointment I will have to decide if I want to do the glucose screening or not. I am still debating on whether I want to do it. 3 pregnancy so far and I have always passed with flying colors. I have a bit more research to do on it though, before I decide. I will also have my blood drawn for another Thyroid panel, a iron level, and to screen for RH antibodies. I believe I will also get my 28 week Rhogam injection.

After this 28 week appointment I go from seeing my midwife every 4 weeks to seeing her every 2! It is hard to believe I am almost to the 3rd trimester.

I have also started to gather all my supplies for my home birth. I have a few more things to get and I still need to organize it all for the birth, but I am marking things off my to do list! One of the things we needed to figure out before baby is born is where are we gonna store his baby clothes and things. So over the weekend we hit a few Garage sales and found a 6 drawer dresser for $20. It fit perfectly in Mason's room. So Mason will use it and the baby will use Mason's old dresser. All the kids so far have used the same dresser as infants and then as they got older they graduated to a new (or new to them ) dresser. The dresser they have all used is one my Grandma Jean gave to my Mom who gave it to me. I have painted it and added some prettier knobs to it over the years, but it is kinda cool to have the baby's first dresser come from my Grandma. I wish she was still with us so she could see and know my beautiful children. But her memory lives on in stories such as the one about the dresser.

Pregnancy update 7

2009-06-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

My next midwife appointment is tomorrow, but I wanted to post my 24 week pregnancy belly pictures! I see a huge difference between 20 week belly pictures and my 24 week belly pictures. But I will let you be the judge! You can see the 20 week picture compared to the 24 week picture on the right side bar -------->.

24 weeks!

Jasmyn's year end Concert

2009-06-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some links to videos of Jasmyn's Preschool class End of the year concert.

Jasmyn is in the second row. Blond hair. Pink & White polka dot dress. Enthusiastic with the hand gestures! LOL!
First song is called "Dinosaurs in a car"

Second Song called "I like Me"

Third Song called "Bear Hunt"

And last song is a combination of "Chicken Dance", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "Head shoulders".

It was a very fun concert! Just thought you might want to see my baby girl at her concert! Enjoy!

Ultrasound ~ Pregnancy Update #6

2009-06-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today we went for our 22 week ultrasound. Tim and I took Kaleb with us as he was WWWAAAAYYYYYY excited to find out what we are having. He is fascinated with our early ultrasound and wanted to come with us and see first hand what an ultrasound was like. He was so well behaved and just *loved* every minute of looking at his sibling.

When the tech came in I told him we wanted to know what we were having. He said we would try to see. He puts the wand on my tummy and Bam! There is was! A clear shot between the baby's legs! I saw a little turtle head peeking out! There was NO mistaking it! Our baby has a PENIS!!!!!! I said, "oh wow! That's a boy!" Even the tech was surprised that we found the parts so quickly and easily! Our little munchkin really wanted us to know what he was!!!!! I suspect he was just tired of Jasmyn & I calling HIM a her! LOL!

So then he looked at all the parts. 3 vessel cord, 4 chamber heart, perfect cord insertion, both kidneys functioning, stomach, bladder and heart all looked great! Baby's brain is perfect and measuring perfect for my gestational age! Baby showed no markers for any abnormalities. He is PERFECT!!!!!! He was sucking on his hand and playing with his toes. He has a perfect shaped little face, even though they kinda look like aliens at this stage of the game!

The best part is that my placenta is in a perfect position! It is anterior and has moved up and away from my cervix. There is at least a few centimeters between my cervix and the placenta! WOOT! Everything seems to be in order for me to continue with my plans for a vaginal birth at home. My cervix is long and thick like it should be at this point!

Now is where I come clean about the anxiety I have been carrying around for the past few months. I am a member of several online communities as well as a follower of a few blogs. On these communities and blogs some of the women have NOT had perfect U/S or healthy babies. So knowing that it can happen to them make it a more real possibility that it could happen to me. I have been praying hard for these past few months that everything is OK with our baby. I was barley able to sleep last night as I anticipated our U/S today. And when I did sleep I had dreams about babies born with T18, T21 or T13. Or babies born with serious neural tube defects. I know that I will love our baby unconditionally, no matter what condition he arrived in, I am just so relieved and feel so blessed to have been given a healthy baby. I will continue to pray that our baby stays healthy and perfect and that my body continues to nourish and grow him to his fullest potential.

But I will also pray for the Moms out there that did not get a *perfect* report from the U/S. I will continue to pray for the Moms out there faced with unthinkable decisions and situations. I will pray that the babies don't suffer and that the people touched by their lives will cherish every moment. I will also send a special prayer for the moms that had to say good bye to their babies way too soon. May their hearts find comfort and peace.

And I will continue to rejoice that my baby boy is healthy and happy and measuring just a bit ahead of schedule. Maybe I will end up with a big boy (9 pounds) like I did with Kaleb?!?!?! Who knows. But I will take whatever I am given with a happy heart!

TL or Big V?????

2009-06-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yes we are D-O-N-E after our little bundle of joy is born. I was sitting here this morning watching a program on TLC called "A Baby Story". It showed this family that already had 5 children and she unexpectedly got pregnant at the age of 42 with their 6th child. It sent shivers down my spine. I think if that happened to us Tim would totally panic and need a jump start to get his heart going again! LOL! So it kinda jump started my thought process on what we are gonna do to prevent future baby Brays.

So why would we choose something so *permanent*? Well because the other options are just not all that great. Bear with me as I go over the options as much for myself as for your reading enjoyment(LOL)!!!

Hormonal birth control. This includes birth control pills, patches, rings, implants, as well as hormonal IUDs. I do not do well on these options. My blood pressure gets out of control and I get bad migraines. These symptoms are what made me go off the pill back in December of 2000. Oh not to mention I have mood swings from *HELL* on hormonal birth control. Heaven help us all!!!!

IUDs. Well to make a long story short I have a moral objection to how IUDs prevent implantation of the baby and thus preventing pregnancy. So the egg and sperm can still meet (and thus create a life) but the IUD prevents implantation. I have a moral objection to this method of birth control.

Barrier methods, sponges, film, etc... Do I even need to go here? I mean who really like taking a shower with a raincoat on? Not to mention there is a breakage factor.

Lastly is the Fertility Awareness Method. This method is what we have used since I went off Birth control pills in December of 2000. I of course love this method for myself during my childbearing years. But now that I am wanting to move beyond those years.....I want a more *for sure* method. Tim & I were always OK with the possibility of getting pregnant unexpectedly (in theory anyway LOL!) during the years between Kaleb and baby #4. But now...I am so NOT OK with that possibility! LOL! Which brings us to......

TL (tubal ligation) or Big V (vasectomy)!
Of course I would rather have Tim do the Big V since the procedure itself is easier on him that the TL for me. And hey let's face it..... I have birthed 3 going on 4 babies while his only complaint was sore feet and legs from standing on the hard hospital floor! LOL! So yeah.... I have taken 3 going on 4 hits for the team, it seems fair that he takes at LEAST 1! LOL!

Which leads us to the final issue...... Money and time to recuperate. For me to have a TL it would be covered more completely by Insurance. Not to mention I am already gonna be recovering from my birth. Tim on the other hand to have the Big V done would cost us more money out of pocket (he had different Ins than me) and it would also require him to be off work during his recovery. Tim is our "bread winner". We need him to work so we can do things like .... eat, pay our mortgage, buy gas, etc..... So the idea of him taking a week or more off to recover is just not very appealing! And we want him to use any available vacation time to spend with us as I recover after our birth.

So which leads me to seriously consider a TL. My Mom got a TL when I was about 2 or 3 (I think) and had NO problems. But since my mom (and maybe one of my aunts) pretty much the rest of our family has opted for the men to get the big V rather than the women to get a TL.

So this morning I schedule a consult with a OB that does TL and is covered by my Insurance. The consult is not until July, but I guess I will go to my consultation and see what our options are. And we will also go to a consult on getting Tim a big V.

Wish us luck!!!!

22wk bellies compared

2009-06-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

Thought it would be fun to post my belly pictures at 22weeks during each one of my pregnancies. My belly looks about the same but my butt and breasts looks different! LOL!

Here I am 22wks Pregnant with Kaleb

22 weeks Pregnant with Jasmyn

22 weeks pregnant with Mason

22weeks Pregnant with baby #4

Enjoy!!!

22 week belly pics

2009-06-02T21:27:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend I went out with some friends to listen to a band. I took the opportunity to dress up a bit and actually do my hair! I figured this was the best time to take my 22 week belly picture. I wanted to record my hair and makeup since it is likely to only happen a few times during this pregnancy! LOL!

Here is the close up of the belly:

22 week belly shot

Full body shot!

Round Lake State Park, Sagle Idaho

2009-05-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

I remember going to Round Lake State Park as a child and teen ager. I *think* we even went there on a field trip for grade school once. But I could be mistaken as it has been quite a while ago! Anyway, I decided that we should spend Saturday going on an adventure, since it was the only day of this long weekend that the kids and Tim had the day off from school and work. After googling Round Lake State Park to find out if the trails were open and if they were booked for the weekend. They were booked for camping spots, but still had plenty of day use availability. So we packed a picnic and headed up to check it out.

It was smaller than I remember. LOL! The beach area seemed smaller and the trails seemed shorter. Part of that is because the trails on the east end of the lake are still underwater and impassible. So we didn't make the whole loop around the lake, but what we did see was very beautiful and fun. We saw all sorts of different wild flowers, bugs, grasses, lily pads, fish, birds, etc. The kids loved throwing rocks into the lake and river. We also enjoyed going over the foot bridge that crosses Cocollala river. Jasmyn was a bit scared because the bridge sways slightly when you walk on it.

The hilight for me was just reliving my childhood memories and sharing them with my kids. I think that Tim's favorite part was when we saw the blue heron/Crane (we are still arguing over what it was actually). Tim got some very col pictures of the bird standing on a log with its reflection on the water and one of the bird flying past us. The kids loved playing at the beach. It is still very murky/muddy on the bottom, just like I remembered it. And the mud at the shoreline smells gross, but the kids did not care at all. They gathered rocks to bring home as a "reminder of their adventure".

If you ever get the chance, this park is a pretty cool place to take a nice hike and spend some time creating memories with your family. My only recommendation is to bring bug spray. The mosquitoes were brutal!

I posted a few pictures of our trip on my facebook page, but you can view them from the link below.

Round Lake pictures

Pregnancy update 5

2009-05-20T20:27:00.001-07:00

I had my midwife appointment today! I am 20w3d pregnant as of today! I have lost 5 pounds since my last appointment. That puts me at 7 pounds of weight lost since the beginning of my pregnancy. My blood pressure was good at 120/70. My urine was negative for protein and glucose! We listened to the baby's heart beat and it was in the 150's beats per minute. She measured where the top of my fundus is and it is right at my belly button. This is exactly on track for growth at 20 weeks. At the next appointment she will actually start measuring my fundus from the top of my pelvic bone to the top of my fundus with a measuring tape to gauge baby's growth.

I have been feeling the baby move fairly regularly for the past few weeks. I think I started to feel small movements around 16 weeks but still could not confirm movements of baby compared to regular stomach movements like gas! LOL! But now in retrospect I am sure that all those little movements where the baby!

We also drew some blood for a thyroid panel. I should have the results in a few days. If needed my Endocrinologist will adjust my thyroid medications within the next few days as well once he reviews the blood test results.

My ultrasound is scheduled for June 5th. At that point we will find out about the placenta and if it has moved away from my cervix.

I will update more as soon as I know! Love to all and thanks for taking an interest and reading about our growing baby!

20 week Belly pics

2009-05-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yup 20 weeks. Seems to be when I POP! I have looked back at my previous pregnancy belly pictures and it seems that once I hit 20 weeks my belly just POPS out and there is no denying that I am "with child"! LOL!

As you may have noticed over on the right side bar ------> there are belly pictures starting at 14 weeks going through 20 weeks (well every other week). These will stay there so you can compare as my pregnancy progresses!

Tomorrow is my next midwife appointment. I will update with all the information after my appointment!

Life is good for us here! We are so excited to be getting closer to summer. Only a few more weeks of school! Also for the summer it is looking like I will be doing daycare for my nephew Future. Our summer should be fun filled and super busy! We are already planning some camping trips, a garage sale, trips to Silverwood Theme Park, Swimming at Grandma's pool, and plenty of backyard fun in the sun! Now if I -in my pregnant state- can just keep up with the kids we should be good!

Happy Mother's day!

2009-05-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I started out this weekend in a bad mood. Tim is still out of town for work. He got stuck in Portland for another week. I was really looking forward to him being home and pampering me. Especially after I just spent the past week being a single Mom while Mason was sick, I had a few time pressing commitments to honor as well as a field trip for Jasmyn that was planned with VERY short notice. So when Tim called me on Thursday and told me he was gonna stay this next week I was BEYOND bummed. I really need(ed) a break. I really wanted to be pampered and loved on like only Tim knows how to do. He usually makes sure I don't have to cook, clean, change a diaper, get up with the kids, or anything for the WHOLE WEEKEND! (Don't worry I reciprocate on Father's Day!) I get to sleep in, do crafty stuff that I want to do, get a pedicure (sometimes given by Tim). Wow! Reading all of that and I really realize how much I am spoiled. (sssshhhhh don't tell Tim!)

So this morning I woke up to my little son Kaleb giving me a hug and saying" Happy Mother's day Mommy". (smile). Then as I am laying there waking up slowly I hear him in the living room talking to Mason. He asks Mason if Mason made me a card. No Mason hadn't. Then I hear Kaleb getting into the art cabinet. He is talking to Mason and helping him make me a card. (smile). Jasmyn gets up. Kaleb asks her if she wants to make a card for me. She does. So I hear them make another trip to the art cabinet for more supplies. I just lay there listening to them talk about the cards and Mother's day. After a few minutes I get up and get dressed.

When I walk into the kitchen and on the table is 2 gifts (the kids made at school) and 3 cards. Kaleb takes me by the hand and ushers me to my chair. He hands me the cards and the presents. How sweet! I open the gifts. Kaleb made a plaster hand impression at school. It is very sweet. Jasmyn made me a photo frame with her picture. It is a magnet with a clothes pin attached to hang a grocery list on. She has decorated it with a whole bunch of jewels! So cute. Then I look at the cards. Kaleb had written little messages on each one from him, Jasmyn & Mason. Then he drew a picture of each of the kids. They have the letter of their first name on their shirt. Mason's says : Frum Masan to MoM. On the inside it says: Frum Masam two Morm. The the picture of Mason with the M on his shirt with enormous ears and only 3 fingers! So adorable. Jasmyn's says: Frum Jasmyn Two MoM. I Love Yoow Mom. Her picture has pierced ears, and only 3 fingers in each hand, with a J on her shirt! Kaleb's says: Frum Kaleb Two MoM I love yoow Momme. His picture has long hair and a K on his shirt! So sweet.

Then Kaleb decides we should have something "easy" for breakfast so "Mommy doesn't have to cook". He decides on zucchini muffins (we made last night), banana and juice. He even helped pass out plates, silverware and juice. After wards he helped clean up the table and load the dishwasher.

No I did not get a free pass from diapers, a pedicure, or get to sleep in, but what I got was so much more meaningful. Kaleb fully understood what Mother's day was about. He in his own way honored me in ways that are BEYOND his years. He wrangled his siblings and made them understand the importance of the day as much as they could. I am so proud to be Mother! I am proud that Tim and I have instilled compassion, respect, love and appreciation in his person. He really showed me that all the examples and lessons we have tried to teach is really REACHING him. He is so sweet. I am so thankful that I get to be around such an awesome little boy!

Happy Mother's Day to all your Moms out there. I hope your day turned out as wonderful as mine!

Pregnancy update 4 Belly Pics

2009-05-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

I figured I should start posting my belly pictures. I have been taking them for a while but just recently began to feel like there is a difference to what I looked like before I got pregnant! So here is my belly pictures starting at 12weeks going forward to 18 weeks.

12 weeks pregnant

14 weeks pregnant

16weeks pregnant 18 weeks pregnant

Maybe not a huge change but enough that my jean don't fit anymore and my shirts seem to be a bit short. So I did have to dig out my maternity clothes to find something that fits and looks better. Ugh. I H-A-T-E Maternity clothes. But when you can't breath anymore in your regular jeans.... somethings gotta change! Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing how my pregnant belly is growing! Stay tuned... pretty soon I will need my own zip code! LOL!

Jen's Pregnancy Update 3

2009-04-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

I got my blood test results back and my thyroid levels are just fine. So I will continue with my current dosage of medications. My iron levels are fine as well. They have even improved slightly since the last time we tested at 5 weeks. Linda my Midwife said as long as I continue to eat high iron foods I should be OK without an iron supplement. We will retest my iron level in the 3rd trimester and see how I am doing. If there is any drops in my levels I will have to go on an iron supplement at that point. I think that blood draw will be done at 28 weeks. I am currently 15weeks 4 days pregnant.

I will be doing some more research on what high iron foods I can add or eat more of into my diet. If I can't get the recommended 30mg per day I will consider taking a supplement anyway. If anyone has suggestions for increasing my iron levels, please feel free to drop me a comment or email!