Belt Holes and Sashes

Who knew little people could be so picky about their attire? I'm sure my oldest three girls had their moments of being picky but, for some reason, it doesn't stick out in my mind. Sure, now that they are teens/tweens, they definitely have their preferences but as little people, I just don't remember them being the way children 4, 5, and 6 are. Child #4, our first son, started showing strong preferences for boots and jeans at around six years old. He began refusing to wear shorts...even though the knees in his jeans had giant holes in them, they may as well have been shorts.;-) He is growing out of that, now, at 8. So, we move on to child #5, our fourth daughter. She can be quite cantankerous at times. Prissy, one moment, and elbow to elbow, in the dirt, with her brothers, the next. She has always liked prissy little skirts with lots of volume. She has never had a problem with froo-froo dresses...until lately. She is 5, going on 16, I think. She now detests fluffy skirts. "Plain", not fluffy ,skirts are fine but they better not have too much poof. And dresses...oh man. The sash had better be very, very thin or, preferably, non existent. Do you know how many dresses she has like this? Hardly any. Sunday mornings tend to be a little (read majorly) dramatic. I try to keep from flashing forward to those pre-teen days, that, from experience, I know can be quite tragic if we don't have the right look. I'm thinking about loaning her out for a few years in there....;-). Wonder how she would feel about jeans and boots....

Next up, child #6, our second son. He is at the ripe old age of 35 months, one month shy of 3. He is rather particular about his wardrobe. It tends to be a little on the interesting side. Belt "holes". That's belt loops to everyone who is not 35 months old. He HAS to have belt holes. Might as well burn all shorts/pants without them. He has taken to wearing a belt and, while once, putting the belt on without the holes, worked, he has gotten too wise for that. A major meltdown is sure to occur if he doesn't have his belt holes. And, while clomping around in red rain boots used to be one of his favorite activities, he now insists on wearing his church shoes that tie...everywhere. He insists on having them retied, even when they don't really need it. He likes to wear a watch, sometimes a ball cap, and even a tie with a t-shirt, from time to time. I don't mind his eccentric choices in attire, so much, except when I'm in a big hurry and all three of his belt hole shorts are dirty or one of his "tie" shoes are missing...I will then listen to wailing all of the way to my destination, at which point I am wishing we had lots of money to purchase lots of belt "hole" shorts and "tie" shoes....

Can't wait to see what little Miss #7 insists on wearing...

I am blessed.

Isabelle's Birth Story

Having previously given birth six times, I should know everything there is to know about pregnancy, labor, and birth, right? After all, I had read that book (you know the one) and I had watched that show(again, you know the one). I was actually fairly obsessive about "reading up" on the subject. Pouring over the pages multiple times, each month. And you know the doctors, they were always ready with a wealth of knowledge conc

erning pregnancy and childbirth....I, sadly, was always the ideal patient. I just took what they told me and always followed their suggestions, believing they were always steering me in the right direction. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't always have horrible doctors...I had had a total of four throughout my six pregnancies. I had a couple I really meshed well with and a couple, well, not so much. I was terrible about asking questions and expressing my concerns or bringing up any problems I might be having. I just never felt comfortable with it or if I mustered up the courage, I always felt silly for asking.

My first pregnancy, sixteen years ago, I was a young mother. I knew very little, only what I had seen my step sisters experience. I was not surrounded by natural minded people and was never encouraged in that direction. That labor and delivery was my most traumatic of all of them. Honestly, I wouldn't say any of the others were traumatic...just your "routine" hospital, obgyn led births. My first labor was extremely long. I was under a lot of stress during the whole thing and I now believe it slowed it down. After many hours, I finally begged for an epidural. I no longer "felt" my body. I was now at the mercy of the hospital staff...them telling me when it was time to have my baby and how and when to push. I couldn't even lift my legs. I gave birth to a beautiful, full term, baby girl. Shortly after, I hemorrhaged, to the point that I lost consciousness. It was a very scary experience, especially for being so young (I was a little shy of 19). The experience I had with my next daughter, three years later, was so different. I was a little more educated and had decided to "try" to give birth naturally. I am not kidding when I say it is something I had never been encouraged to do. But I wanted to give it a try. My OB, for this pregnancy, was not my cup of tea...at all. However, the one positive thing I can say about him is that he did not push me into being induced when I hit the forty week mark or for having a "big" baby. I carried her to 41 weeks and 6 days and went into labor naturally, in the middle of the night. I was fully prepared for a terribly long labor, like the last one. However, it seemed things were moving along pretty fast, with contractions coming every couple of minutes. By the time we arrived at the hospital, I was dilated to a 7 and in transition. I wasn't even aware that my water had broken. 45 minutes after checking in, our second daughter was born, epidural free. It was the most amazing feeling I had ever had. I had done it. I realized I was strong enough to do and I loved the feeling of being in control of my body, of being able to feel what I needed to feel to birth my baby. I rode the most amazing birth high. I was told that my daughter contracted Group B strep. She never became very ill, just ran a fever and stayed in the hospital for a couple of extra days. This would set me up for a future of unnecessary interventions. For my next four children, I allowed myself to believe that I needed to have IV antibiotics, during labor, to keep my children safe. I was told, by my ob, once you test positive for GBS, they always consider you positive and there was no need for future tests. They then put you on the antibiotics. From that, I allowed myself to be convinced, that, because of my rapid labor and delivery with my second child, it was best for the safety of my baby to be induced so that it was more controlled and I would have the chance to get the antibiotics. So, sadly, those next four children, were prematurely ejected from their home in my womb at between 38 and 38 1/2 weeks. Despite being hooked to Pitocin, I was still able to labor and deliver without the use of an epidural. But it definitely didn't feel natural. Being hooked to the machines, having to unhook every time I had to use the restroom, not being able to walk around, being tied to the bed, on my back. I would tell my husband, before heading to the hospital with each one, I really didn't enjoy that experience...I much preferred the experience of going into labor naturally. But I truly believed I was doing what was best for my baby...having not done enough research on GBS. I knew, in the most severe cases, it could be deadly and that scared me to death.

Skip forward to May of 2012. I was feeling those all too familiar pregnancy symptoms I had experienced with my other six. We weren't sure if we wanted any more children and certainly hadn't made a conscious decision to have another, right then. But, sure enough, we were expecting Lucky #7. We were in a new town, now, with no established doctor. We were set to soon leave for a much anticipated vacation, several states away.  All of the riding in the car gave us time to discuss future plans. I had brought up to my husband, on a couple of occasions, that if we ever had another, I thought I might be interested in looking into a homebirth. Don't laugh, but I had watched an episode of "19 Kids and Counting" where the Duggar's daughter-in-law had given birth to her second child, at home. It was the most beautiful thing...so peaceful. I cried. I wanted that experience. I also have a friend who, after having a less than savory experience, with too many interventions, with an ob, had a midwife assisted homebirth with her second child. She really inspired me. So, on our vacation, we discussed our options, off and on. I had already looked up a couple of midwives, before we left, and had decided on one I wanted to look in to. My husband was so supportive of my desire to use a midwife and go the homebirth route. While still on vacation, I began emailing the birth center. I loved how helpful and friendly April came across. I set up a meeting and tour of the birth center for after we got back home. I was so excited to explore this new adventure. When the time came, we toured the birth center and met with Heather. She was so easy to talk to and answered the few questions I had at the time. I was about to learn just how very little I truly knew about pregnancy, labor and delivery.:-) My friend, the one I mentioned before that had had a homebirth, led me to a natural birthing group, online (Birth Without Fear). It was there that my eyes were opened to a whole world of information I had no idea existed. I began to learn about delayed cord clamping, not birthing on your back, natural remedies, and much, much more. It equipped me with questions I could ask my midwives. I was so accustomed to not asking questions...to just going with the flow. My midwives were always so helpful and supportive and didn't treat me like was silly for asking questions. I remember Heather having a special little gleam in her eye and saying to me "This is going to be fun. It is always fun to watch mothers who are used to having hospital births go through this experience." I learned that GBS comes and goes...just because I had it once, doesn't mean I always have it. And if I did, there were natural ways to deal with it, I was not destined to be hooked to an IV during labor, though I could have antibiotics if that is what I chose. When I asked her about delayed cord clamping, which I had only recently learned about, she said "Oh yes, that is routine, here." and explained it to me. I felt so at home and was so excited to discover this whole new world I never knew existed!

My edd was February 1st, 2013. I wasn't sure I would make it that far. I wasn't sure if my body would remember how to go into labor on its own. Heather assured me it would. I wasn't really impatient to have my daughter, though I couldn't wait to meet her. But as the big day got closer, I started getting so anxious. My nerves were getting the best of me. Having a homebirth was a new experience for me...almost like the first time, all over again. I was scared to death of bleeding out. Though I had only technically hemorrhaged with my first, I bled heavily with all of other children, as well, and had Pitocin to stem it. Since we live in very small, rural area, I was afraid if something went wrong I would not be able to get to help in time. I had, on a few occasions, expressed my fears to the midwives and they were always so good about making me feel better but they continued to pop up. For a couple of weeks, leading up to my edd, I began having prodromal labor. It would have just about every night. The contractions would start, coming every few minutes for a couple of hours. I would get so nervous and the anxiety was almost unbearable. I had an appointment on Monday, February 4th, with Heather. I remember her asking me what would be the ideal situation for me...when would I prefer to go into labor, day or night. I told her I thought I would like to go into labor during the day because I felt that I would be less nervous...I wouldn't worry so much about whether they would make it in time...remember, I have a history of rapid deliveries. Also, I could make arrangements for someone to help out with my younger children. Although cervical checks were not routine, I requested one. I guess I felt I needed the reassurance that my nights of contractions were doing "something". I was still fairly closed toward the back of my cervix but the front was dilated to a six. We still felt like it would be a couple of days but, once again, I was reassured that everything would be alright. I don't know what it was about that appointment, but I just felt the most relaxed I had felt in weeks. We left there and did a little shopping. We went home and I had no nerves. I was calm and not nervous for the first night in weeks. I was awakened at around 2 a.m. with some major flipping around by my baby girl. It was harder than normal. Went back to sleep after about an hour or so. Was awakened again around 5:30 with some contractions. At first I thought it was just more of the same thing that I had experienced for the past couple of weeks. However, it was happening at a totally different time of day. After a few, I began thinking that perhaps these were the real thing. Remember, I hadn't experienced a natural labor since the birth of second...I wasn't sure if I would recognize the real thing. I got up and went to the bathroom and had some bloody show and more contractions. My husband was sleeping on the couch, downstairs,  so I called him on the phone. I apologized profusely for waking him up for what might not be the real deal but told him I thought he should come up, just in case. He did and watched me for a few minutes and decided it was time to start filling the birth pool. I began to get nauseas and got sick. My pattern has always been, once I start getting sick, baby comes pretty quick. At that point, my husband began to sweat a little. He started texting Heather and Sandra and then gave them a call. He let them know I was contracting, regularly, every 3 to 5 minutes. They said they would head our way (we live an hour away). We were praying the baby would stay put until they made it. I began swaying back and forth, while holding onto my bed, during contractions while I waited for the birth pool to fill up. It felt so nice to not be confined to the bed, on my back. After the pool was filled, I climbed in. The water was soothing. The contractions continued to come, right at three minutes apart. A family friend came to pick up our three youngest children. During labor, I need silence from those around me while I am  contracting. I knew I could not handle the stress of little ones around while I labored. It was decided that our three oldest daughters, ages 10, 12, and 15, would stay for the birth of their sister. Once Heather and Sandra arrived, things really started to pick up. They milled around and got things prepared for the birth. I continued to labor in the pool and they would periodically come over and check baby's heart rate. I think the thing that surprised me most was that I never once had a cervical check to see how dilated I was. Have you ever had one of those mid contraction? Not comfortable, at all. It was a relief to not have that to worry about. I began to have the urge to push. Guess what? No one told me not to! I couldn't believe that! My body was truly in charge. My water still had not broken...and no one broke it for me. I would have the urge to push through some contractions and then not for others. I just let my body guide me and Heather and Sandra encouraged that. That sat in silence during my contractions, knowing that is what I needed, and were encouraging in between. Finally, my body began having the urge to push baby out with every contraction. I leaned back against the back of the pool and pushed. My water finally broke. After a couple of strong pushes, my daughter's head emerged. After another push, it became clear to the midwives that her shoulders were having some trouble coming out. I was quickly pulled to me feet. I could tell there was a certain sense of urgency but there was no detection of panic. I leaned forward, against my husband, while standing in the pool. My daughter's head between my legs. Both midwives were behind me working to free my daughter's shoulders. After a few moments, she was out. I continued to lean against my husband, since the placenta was still inside and my daughter was still attached by her cord. She was not breathing, at first, and Heather and Sandra worked to get her breathing on her own. That part was a bit of a blur for me. I didn't see any of it, as I was leaning against my husband. I just continually uttered the words "Please, God." over and over. Again, if they were feeling any sort of panic, I couldn't feel it from them. They managed to keep me from being so scared. After, what seemed like forever, though I know it was only a few moments, my baby girl began crying. She was fine and never went without oxygen since she was continually receiving it through her cord. After almost exactly five hours of labor, our seventh child, Isabelle Amya, was born into this world. In a peaceful atmosphere. With her big sisters watching. She was a sturdy 11 lbs 3 oz of pure perfection. My body did that. My body birthed that beautiful little blessing. I didn't need anyone to tell me how, to tell me when. My body just knew. It is such a blessing that my daughters got to witness that, got to see how strong a woman's body is and got to see that it can be done. I got to hold my baby girl, right away, skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat. I got to breathe her in and provide her with nourishment. No one came to whisk her away from me. I didn't have to stay in the hospital while my family left to go home. We were home, together. It was the most natural transition I had ever had. I didn't have to watch my former youngest cry as he had to leave mommy behind. It was beautiful...just how I dreamed. My husband told the midwives that he wished he had known about homebirthing with our others because he would have done it with all of them. I can not beat myself up for choices I did or did not make with my other children. Their births were all special, too, in their own ways. But I love the saying "When you know better, you do better." and I did just that. I often wonder what the outcome would have been had I given birth in a hospital. Most likely, I would have allowed myself to be convinced to be induced. But if I hadn't, I imagine giving birth on my back as I had six times before. I imagine my large baby getting stuck and all of the interventions that would accompany that. I am thankful for my experience. I am thankful for my midwives and the knowledge they imparted upon me. Most of all, I am thankful to God for my seven blessings and for watching over them and me through every labor and delivery. I know God knew exactly what I needed, on this day, and He provided.

Well, I've obviously done a great job of updating...19 months later, I am finally getting around to adding something new on here.:P No longer will I be blogging about life with my 6 kids (not that I won't be blogging about those 6 kids), it'll now be about life with my 7 kids.

In February, we added another little blessing to our family...a baby girl, Isabelle. Grand total of 5 girls, 2 boys. The title to my blog page happened this way: when hubby and I were newly a couple and discussing marriage and children, we were each stating how many we would like to have. Hubby, coming from a family of 4 children, said he would like to have 2, maybe 3. Me, coming from a family of no full blooded siblings, said I would like to have 3, maybe 4. A larger family was a dream to me. Well, when we got to 5 children, we joked that we took his definite 2 and my definite 3 and added them to arrive at 5. That flew out the window when we had our 6th.;) Hubby then began joking that we just didn't know how many equaled a full quiver (Psalm 127) so we kept going.:) We are definitely very blessed to have been entrusted with the care of these seven beautiful souls. More later.

Well, I enjoy typing out my thoughts from time to time and having been contemplating blogging, for a while....so, I thought I would take the plunge.  I am sure my posts will vary in content but probably center around my life as a mom with my six kiddos.:-)