Different people may receive different messages from this blog's theme scripture, Jeremiah 6:16. But to me, it means that peace can be found in the practices of yesteryear. Today, modern conveniences and technologies have taken us away from the way God would have us to live in ways we'd never think of. In many ways we are hurting ourselves and our children by relying upon certain modern practices and forsaking the old. By seeking and embracing old time principals and practices, I'm expecting to teach our children TRUE survival skills. I'm expecting to have a closer relationship with the Lord. I'm expecting to live healthier lives. I'm expecting to save money. I'm expecting to have less time for foolishness (internet, tv, phone chatting) because conveniences are being taken out of the equation. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for many of the conveniences and technologies of today, but I think many of us tend to go overboard. There should be a checks and balances.
Over the next 12 months, my family and I will experiment with various old time ways for one month each. I will give written and video journal updates along the way. We had a little help from friends to come up with this list. I am SO nervous to try some of these. Are my friends trying to help, or be cruel. Hmmm...
November: Purchase no snack food. Make/Bake everything from scratch with the kids. Also start the 12 month journey of all natural hair. No relaxer, no dyes.
December: Use a grinder to make flour for baking our own bread with the kids. No Wonder Bread for the month.
January: Eliminate all processed sugar. Teach the kids to be aware of these foods.
February: No dish washer or washing machine. (Yikes!)
March: Teach the kids to sew and make at least 2 things for each child to wear.
April: JRock (hubby) will teach the kids how to use power tools to make their own toys. They will work on toy building rather than play video games this month.
I'll add in the next 6 months of experiments later. Check in often to see our progress!
The Clan
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Belated Birth Announcement... Birthing "Praise"
This is certainly late, but too amazing not to share.
My husband had been out of work for almost a year, thanks to military budget cuts. He's in the reserves, but that's not enough income for a household of six and another baby on the way. But we were making it by the grace of God.
The baby was due July 21. In my mind, that meant that I'd go into labor 2-3 weeks early, as usual. To tell you the truth, I really didn't care if I went passed my due date. I was so overwhelmed with trying to get Jer-bear to finally sleep through the night and I would've liked the extra time to get prepared. Besides, I still needed baby items and it's hard to buy baby needs when you don't have any income, you know? Hubby was still putting in job applications daily, but no luck. We had no babysitter for the 4 kids either. Four kids was more than anyone we knew was willing to keep at a time. The people we knew who were willing to help only wanted to take 1 or 2 of the kids. Everyone lived so far apart and it would take us at least 2 hours to place every child! We attempted to hire on-call sitters, but the idea of a stranger keeping our kids didn't feel right. So we decided to take the kids to the hospital with us.
I went to my 38 week appointment and was told that I was 3.5 cm dilated. I was nervous. The doc told me that if I make it to the next appointment, he'd send me to the hospital to speed things along. Since we live so far from the hospital and this was baby #5, he didn't want to take any chances that I could give birth in route. Hubby got a call from a potential employer. They wanted an interview right away. So he went and got hired!... but they wanted him to start the mandatory training on the day after I was supposed to be induced. So we tried everything in the book to get the baby out within days so that he could make it to the training. I was having tons of very strong contractions, but nothing consistent. So I made it to the next appointment. 39 weeks. Got a quick check and the doc seemed puzzled that I was still walking around and said he really didn't feel comfortable sending me back home. He never told me how dilated I was, but told me to go across the street to the hospital and tell them that my last check was 3.5 cm, but I was much more than that at this point. They usually like to have a week notice for inductions, so he had to conjure up a plan to get me admitted so that he could order the pitocin. I left hubby and the 4 kids in the lobby and Jear-bear started screaming because he wanted "booby time". He had never been away from me. The triage nurse checked me and was shocked that I wasn't screaming in hardcore labor pain. She told me that I was 6 cm dilated! I was surprised too. I was contracting here and there, but nothing painful. I was still smiling and talking. She immediately had me admitted and invited the family to come back. By the time I got to the L&D room, I had dilated a little more. It was 4pm at the time.
Jear-bear climbed onto the bed and I gave him some much needed "booby time" and that cause some more contractions. Hubby looked at me and said, "I guess I wont be getting that job now, huh?" I shrugged and apologized. "Give God praise anyhow, my dear."
Got the pitocin going and I was starving. Hubby took the kids to Taco Bell and brought me some too. I'm a rebel. I broke the rules and had a quesadilla and iced tea while in labor lol. I was starting to feel the contractions finally. The nurse checked at 6pm and I had reached 8 cm. The doc broke my water and he and the nurse decided to go have a quick supper. I got up to use the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet the pain got so intense that I began to call on Jesus and speak in tongues! Fortunately, the kids were very well behaved and distracted. We had movies for them to watch and new coloring books and crayons. The plan was to keep them in the room until pushing time, then hubby would step out with the kids. My body was telling me it was time to push. At 6:15, Hubby called in another nurse along with a student nurse. She tells me "It's not time yet, sweetie. You're only 8 cm and your doctor went to eat supper." She then tells the student nurse to offer me some ice. I yell, "No! I don't want ice! This baby is coming!" They ignored me. I couldn't hold back any longer. I ripped the bed sheet off of me and out popped the baby's head. As soon as hubby realized what was happening, he grabbed the kids and headed for the door. My 9 year old turned around to see what was going on and he caught a glimpse of the baby's head. "Whoa cool!" He shouted. Hubby pulled him out of the room.
The nurse called for immediate back up and told me not to push. I didn't listen. I grabbed the baby's head and neck and gave one last push, one last scream, and I pulled the rest of the baby's body out onto the bed. The nurse and student nurse looked at me with dropped jaws. Speechless. The baby laid there on the bed crying, and I laid my head back with my eyes shut. 5 back up nurses and a backup doctor came in and saw the baby laying there. I lifted my head and said, "My crotch hurts."
I had just delivered my own baby without assistance. No epidural. No nothing.
Only hubby and I knew the baby's gender. After I was all cleaned up, we were proud to introduce our little BOY to the world. Judah (Hebrew for 'praise') Immanuel was born on 7-11 and weighed 7lbs11oz. We give God praise for this little boy.
The next day, hubby called the employer and told them we had no one to keep our children while I was in the hospital. They were so understanding. They put him on payroll anyway and allowed him to spend a week with me and the new baby WITH paternity leave pay! They let him start the training a week later. Praise be to God!
My husband had been out of work for almost a year, thanks to military budget cuts. He's in the reserves, but that's not enough income for a household of six and another baby on the way. But we were making it by the grace of God.
The baby was due July 21. In my mind, that meant that I'd go into labor 2-3 weeks early, as usual. To tell you the truth, I really didn't care if I went passed my due date. I was so overwhelmed with trying to get Jer-bear to finally sleep through the night and I would've liked the extra time to get prepared. Besides, I still needed baby items and it's hard to buy baby needs when you don't have any income, you know? Hubby was still putting in job applications daily, but no luck. We had no babysitter for the 4 kids either. Four kids was more than anyone we knew was willing to keep at a time. The people we knew who were willing to help only wanted to take 1 or 2 of the kids. Everyone lived so far apart and it would take us at least 2 hours to place every child! We attempted to hire on-call sitters, but the idea of a stranger keeping our kids didn't feel right. So we decided to take the kids to the hospital with us.
I went to my 38 week appointment and was told that I was 3.5 cm dilated. I was nervous. The doc told me that if I make it to the next appointment, he'd send me to the hospital to speed things along. Since we live so far from the hospital and this was baby #5, he didn't want to take any chances that I could give birth in route. Hubby got a call from a potential employer. They wanted an interview right away. So he went and got hired!... but they wanted him to start the mandatory training on the day after I was supposed to be induced. So we tried everything in the book to get the baby out within days so that he could make it to the training. I was having tons of very strong contractions, but nothing consistent. So I made it to the next appointment. 39 weeks. Got a quick check and the doc seemed puzzled that I was still walking around and said he really didn't feel comfortable sending me back home. He never told me how dilated I was, but told me to go across the street to the hospital and tell them that my last check was 3.5 cm, but I was much more than that at this point. They usually like to have a week notice for inductions, so he had to conjure up a plan to get me admitted so that he could order the pitocin. I left hubby and the 4 kids in the lobby and Jear-bear started screaming because he wanted "booby time". He had never been away from me. The triage nurse checked me and was shocked that I wasn't screaming in hardcore labor pain. She told me that I was 6 cm dilated! I was surprised too. I was contracting here and there, but nothing painful. I was still smiling and talking. She immediately had me admitted and invited the family to come back. By the time I got to the L&D room, I had dilated a little more. It was 4pm at the time.
Jear-bear climbed onto the bed and I gave him some much needed "booby time" and that cause some more contractions. Hubby looked at me and said, "I guess I wont be getting that job now, huh?" I shrugged and apologized. "Give God praise anyhow, my dear."
Got the pitocin going and I was starving. Hubby took the kids to Taco Bell and brought me some too. I'm a rebel. I broke the rules and had a quesadilla and iced tea while in labor lol. I was starting to feel the contractions finally. The nurse checked at 6pm and I had reached 8 cm. The doc broke my water and he and the nurse decided to go have a quick supper. I got up to use the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet the pain got so intense that I began to call on Jesus and speak in tongues! Fortunately, the kids were very well behaved and distracted. We had movies for them to watch and new coloring books and crayons. The plan was to keep them in the room until pushing time, then hubby would step out with the kids. My body was telling me it was time to push. At 6:15, Hubby called in another nurse along with a student nurse. She tells me "It's not time yet, sweetie. You're only 8 cm and your doctor went to eat supper." She then tells the student nurse to offer me some ice. I yell, "No! I don't want ice! This baby is coming!" They ignored me. I couldn't hold back any longer. I ripped the bed sheet off of me and out popped the baby's head. As soon as hubby realized what was happening, he grabbed the kids and headed for the door. My 9 year old turned around to see what was going on and he caught a glimpse of the baby's head. "Whoa cool!" He shouted. Hubby pulled him out of the room.
The nurse called for immediate back up and told me not to push. I didn't listen. I grabbed the baby's head and neck and gave one last push, one last scream, and I pulled the rest of the baby's body out onto the bed. The nurse and student nurse looked at me with dropped jaws. Speechless. The baby laid there on the bed crying, and I laid my head back with my eyes shut. 5 back up nurses and a backup doctor came in and saw the baby laying there. I lifted my head and said, "My crotch hurts."
I had just delivered my own baby without assistance. No epidural. No nothing.
Only hubby and I knew the baby's gender. After I was all cleaned up, we were proud to introduce our little BOY to the world. Judah (Hebrew for 'praise') Immanuel was born on 7-11 and weighed 7lbs11oz. We give God praise for this little boy.
The next day, hubby called the employer and told them we had no one to keep our children while I was in the hospital. They were so understanding. They put him on payroll anyway and allowed him to spend a week with me and the new baby WITH paternity leave pay! They let him start the training a week later. Praise be to God!
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