Violet Penelope's Birth Story

Violet Penelope was born on the 20th of November, but I had been sure that she was coming at least twice before then! I had been having Braxton-Hicks  contractions for weeks before she was born. But on Sunday afternoon the 17th they started getting much stronger and closer together. I was so sure she would be born that night. Rodrigo asked me to stand up in front of the window so he could get a few last minute pictures of me being pregnant. Those are the pictures I posted on the morning of the 18th here. I was having contractions the whole time he was taking pictures. We decided to go ahead and go to bed and try to sleep for a little while, so that I might be at least a little rested before things got too intense. Much to my very great dismay I woke up at 5:30 Monday morning still pregnant. I had slept the entire night through. I was still having contractions but they were much milder. I got out of bed and they started coming a bit closer together and getting stronger again. When Rodrigo woke up for work a little while later I told him I thought he should probably stay home to be with me. He called in and told them that it was time... Fast forward a few hours and the contractions started coming less  and less often even though they were still consistently strong. I got frustrated and realized that it was not going to be happening any time soon. So I told Rodrigo that he might as well head to work. 

He left and I stayed home and posted pregnant pictures of me at 40 weeks on here, and caught up on laundry. And mostly I tried not to think of it too much, giving birth really makes me nervous. Well, the anticipation of it, and trying not to think of things that could go wrong, but realizing so many things are just not in our control, and what we would need to do if something did happen, but trying not to dwell on it too much. It all just kind of makes me kind of nuts! Once I am really truly in labor I don't think about it much at all, I just try to do what my body wants and what feels best at the moment. 

On Monday afternoon I had an appointment with my midwife at the birthing center. When I told her what had been going on she checked me and said that I was already 4 cm dilated and about 75% effaced. So that was good, at least those contractions were doing a little something other than just setting my nerves on edge! 

Those strong totally irregular contractions lasted all of Monday and while they did wake me me up during the night mostly I slept through them, and woke on Tuesday morning to the same thing. Rodrigo went to work and my mom came over to keep me company and try to help me keep my mind off of how things were not really progressing. 

I woke up very early on Wednesday morning the 20th. I realized that the contractions were actually coming about every 5 minutes apart. Well that was an improvement! After an hour of laying there waiting for them to go away I decided to wake Rodrigo up and tell him that this time I thought it was really time, not like the last time I thought it was really time! So we got up and had breakfast and he called in again to say that he wasn't going to work then either. 

As soon as the sun was up on Wednesday morning, Rodrigo and I bundled up and went outside to take a walk. The contractions stayed coming about 4 or 5 minutes apart and kept getting stronger. I had slept well the past few nights so I was feeling great and full of energy. The kids stayed inside playing together and keeping the little ones happily occupied. We walked all over our land. Up and down the hill, down to the road and through the paths in the woods. I contracted and he held my hand. It was getting to the point to where I couldn't talk through them and mostly wanted to stop walking and stand still for a minute when I was having one. After an hour or two we went back inside and I decided to make cookies with the little ones. Claire and Emmett love helping me cook, so they climbed right up on the counter and we made a batch of double chocolate cookies. So good! I tied on Claire's apron over my belly, since I didn't seem to have any of my own clean and put away in the kitchen and really I didn't feel like searching at that point. I probably looked ridiculous, but I really was beyond caring and they certainly didn't care! I had to keep pausing in my work, when I would have a contraction. I explained to Claire that mommy's belly hurt because it was almost time for the baby to be born, and Emmett just understood that mommy had a belly ache and not to touch me for a minute. I made a huge batch of cookies, and we baked half then froze the other half as dough to make later when the mood for fresh hot cookies struck us again. :-) 

The big boys made sandwiches for everyone for lunch, but I chose not to eat at that point. I have a history of throwing up during transition if I've eaten too recently. That was something I was really hoping to avoid this time around if possible!  After lunch we put the little ones down for a nap and Rodrigo and I headed back outside to walk a bit more. We pulled dead plants out of my raised garden beds, well mostly he pulled I hung onto the branches of a huge crepe myrtle bush/tree next to him and wiggled my hips around during the contractions because that made them hurt less. I found that walking around (especially outside) and at very least being upright during the contractions really helped me deal with the pain. It didn't hurt nearly as bad. Maybe it was just the distraction of being outside and having my mind on something else, but it really did help. Every time I sat down, I felt like the pain was too much and I couldn't stay on top of it somehow. So walking around was the theme of the day! We tied big red velvet bows that I made on every single fence post along the road in front of our house to decorate for Christmas. I collected acorn caps, we petted the dogs, and watched the little ones play when they got up from their naps. I really never sat down for more than just a minute or two all day long. I was just so much more comfortable up and moving.

Around 4:00 in the afternoon Rodrigo suggested that we could go feed the chickens, emus, goat, pig and rabbits since I probably would not feel up to it later. Haha, such a funny guy that man of mine! So I got the little bucket of scraps for the pig from the kitchen and we headed down the driveway very slowly to go feed the animals. The contractions were very very strong by now, but still only coming about every 4 minutes and lasting about one minute. So I figured it would probably be at least another 2 or 3 hours before she was born. I was still laughing and talking and feeling fine in between, but I wanted to have him right next to me so I could hold onto his shoulders during the contractions. We fed everything and collected the eggs and headed back up towards the house. It's only about 100 yards from our back door to the barn and pasture gate, but it took us at least 5 minutes to get back up the hill to the house. 

When we came inside the kids where all downstairs watching a movie, so I told him I was going to go wash my hands and go to the bathroom. I was standing in the bathroom washing my hands when my water suddenly broke. My first thought was "I am so glad I took my boots off at the door, that would have been a real mess to clean up!" I called to Rodrigo and told him that my water had just broken and could he please come clean it up. The floor seemed very, very far away at that point, and if I had bent down there I wasn't sure I'd make it back up! He came in and was mopping up the fluid from the floor when one of those "oh-my-gosh-this-is-going-to-rip-me-in-half-welcome-to-transition" type contractions hit me like a freight train. I leaned forward onto the sink and groaned. I think I said something but I can't remember what and I'm not 100% sure I'd want to write it here for all of posterity to remember anyway. But it hurt like a son of a gun! 

Almost immediately I had another contraction just as strong and long as that one. As soon as it was over I had him help me to the bedroom. We had made the bed up earlier with a plastic sheet covering our good sheets and some very old sheets over top of that, and old pillowcases on all of the pillows. So the bed was fully protected. I asked for my big ball and he put it on the bed in front of me so I could be on my knees leaning forward on it for support. No sooner was I on the bed with the ball and I had another giant contraction. I was moaning. I had felt great all day, but this was so much harder, faster and stronger than they had been before! 

No sooner had that contraction ended than I realized that Rodrigo had his hands on my back and on my belly and was praying for me. He prayed for peace, and protection for the baby and for me. That we would have an easy birth and that we would rest fully in God's hands the whole time, he thanked him for giving us this new life. I felt peace and suddenly the transitional contractions stopped and my body just started pushing. I only had to push a few times and she was born. About 20 minutes after we came in from feeding the pig! :-) 

The baby came out screaming, which is always a wonderful thing! Rodrigo grabbed her up from the bed and wrapped her in a clean towel and quickly wiped her face clean and suctioned her mouth and nose to make sure that her airway was as clear of fluid as possible. She didn't like that one bit! He handed her to me and helped me to lean back onto the pillows after a minute. I started contracting again almost immediately and the placenta was out just a few minutes later. We clamped her cord off after that and cut it after it had stopped pulsing.

Once we were sure that she was OK, and I was OK, Rodrigo called downstairs for the kids to come up and meet their new sister. They were shocked that she was here already! (So was I to be honest!) I had planned on telling them when she was about to be born so they could come see her as soon as she came out, but everything happened so quickly that I didn't have a chance to tell them what was going on. 

We didn't decide on a name for her until about half an hour after she was born. I've always wanted a Violet, With Logan, Matthew, and Ethan, each of them was going to be Violet until we found out that they were boys. And somehow when Claire was born she just looked like a Claire Rose, not a Violet, even though that name did make it to our short list. And Emmett, well, obviously he wasn't a Violet either. But really while Violet was on our short list of names again, while I was pregnant I didn't think she was going to be a Violet either. But the more we talked about what we should call her during those few minutes after she made her grand appearance in the world, the more she really did seem like a perfectly perfect Violet. Violet Penelope to be sure! As soon as we had settled on a name I texted a picture of her to several family members and friends letting them know that she was here and safe and sound. I hadn't wanted to tell them before until we knew her name! 

Then, finally, I laid back on the pillows and rested! My parents came by a little while later and brought dinner for us, which was great because since breakfast I had eaten one double chocolate cookie and one tangerine all day! And I felt like I was starving now, but hadn't realized it until I had a plate of hot food in my hands. 

I am so very thankful that everything went so well. It was actually a very easy labor and birth. I felt such peace after Rodrigo prayed for us. Tomorrow Violet will be one week old. She only lost one ounce below her birth weight, and has already gained it back. I am feeling so much better already, the recovery so far has been pretty easy. I have been careful to really rest and take it easy. I had to leave the house for a little while today, but mostly I haven't left my bed or the sofa in the living room.

I've been content just to sit and cuddle with my beautiful new baby girl and read millions of books to the little ones, who need lots of reassurance right now that everything is just as it should be. Ah, adjustments, not the easiest when you are two years old and were perfectly happy being the baby of the family! But Emmett really does adore his new baby. He climbs up to kiss her about 50 times a day! So do all of the other kids. Everyone is completely smitten with little Violet 'Nelope! (That's what Emmett calls her!) She is a joy to our world!

Look what we made!

Violet Penelope

Born at 5:00 pm today (November 20th, 2013) She was born at home after a pretty easy birth. She weighs 7 pounds and 3 ounces and is 18 inches long. We are all in love with her! She and I are both doing good. 

I am very tired right now, but just wanted to pop in here and share our happy news. I'll try to get back soon with more photos and a birth story. 

Us at 40 weeks

Today was our baby's due date. She's still hanging out inside, stretching and nudging my ribs. Putting on a little extra weight and getting ready to make her big debut. I am so looking forward to meeting this tiny girl I've carried under my heart for the past 9 long months.

Expecting

A few months ago Rodrigo and I found out that we will be having another baby this November! One week ago today I sat in my midwife's office and heard our baby's heartbeat for the very first time. It took the midwife a few minutes and several different Dopplers to find it. When that tiny sound finally filled the room I burst into tears. I felt such relief and pure joy listening to my baby. This is a gift I will never take for granted. The poor midwife was a bit shocked I think. After all I've already done this a few times now (5 actually!) I guess maybe she thought I might not think it was such a big deal. But it was, and is a very big deal! I still cry when I think about it...actually I'm crying as I type this out while Logan is behind me in the kitchen preparing lunch for himself and the two little ones. He knows I'm a bit (extremely) emotional, so he just asks if I'm ok, gives my shoulders a quick hug when I assure him all is fine, and keeps serving babies lunch. So that is our very exciting news. Rodrigo is thrilled about it and has already told every single person he has contact with. I've kept it fairly quiet so far, but it felt like a good time to let everyone on here know finally.

I've spent the entire first trimester either sleeping or wishing I could be sleeping. More of that one I think, with five kiddos and a zillion animals to care for, sleeping during the daytime is pretty rare for me. The first trimester exhaustion as also the reason things have been rather quiet here on my blog. I am already 14 weeks along as of yesterday, and I am starting to feel so much more like my normal energetic self. Hopefully I'll manage to get caught up on laundry now that I am feeling like I can get up and down the stairs with out wanting to stop for a nap in the middle! Other than being achingly tired, I have felt fine. No morning sickness, or any other pregnancy related symptoms. I generally have pretty easy pregnancies, and only with one have I had morning sickness...with my only girl. So my guess is that this newest little soul is a boy! In another 6 weeks or so we'll find out if I'm right!

*all pictures from Logan's Ipad...my camera simply would not turn on this morning. I hope that the batteries are just really really dead and not something much worse... I'd be lost without my camera!

Welcome to the world my sweet baby!

I am so very happy to announce the birth of our fifth sweet baby, Emmett Morgan! He was born last night. Well, early this morning actually, around 3:10am. Like we did with his big sister Claire, we chose to stay home and have him here instead of going to the hospital for his labor and delivery. Surprisingly he came a few days before his due date! That has never happened to us before, everyone else has shown up for the party late!

Important Facts:

Born: Sept. 13, 2011

Time 3:10am

Weight: 7lbs 10oz.

Length 19.75 inches

Head: 13.25inches

He is fat, with dimples in both cheeks, and he smells heavenly!!

He is our second post vasectomy reversal baby, and our second VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean-section) baby. And our second baby born in the USA. (Our first 3 boys were born while we lived in Guatemala.) Our fifth child, fourth boy! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my boys (and my girl <3)? 

Claire is smitten with "her baby" as we all are! She asks to "hold it, the baby" constantly. 

I might get back on here in a few days and post Emmett's birth story. But for now I am going to rest and bask in the sweetness of getting to know my newest little one!

Are they ALL yours??? Or where did those extra kids come from???

Those are two questions we've been asked a whole lot in the past month!

The rambling story of how we became foster parents or: Why I've not posted on here in such a long time, Why my garden is knee high in weeds (it's really bad, trust me!), Why my laundry has doubled in the past month, Why even though my workbasket is full of half finished dolls, sewing and other crafts that I really want to work on, and my brain even more full of ideas for more crafts and blog posts... not much seems to be happening on the creative front!

{B and J}

A bit of quick background about us: My parents where missionaries. I met my husband while living on the mission field with them. Once we were married we decided to become missionaries as well. My husband is from Guatemala and our oldest three children were all born there while we worked as missionaries. We helped run a children's home there. In Guatemala there isn't a foster care system in place like there is here in the USA. Children that are removed from their parents for whatever reason are placed in group homes or orphanages instead of with individual foster families like they are here. So most of the kids in our "orphanage" were not actually orphans, (though there were several that were) most of them were placed in our care due to abuse or neglect by their birth families. At one point I had 9 babies under one year in age including one of my own (Matthew) that I was caring for! At it's fullest the children's home hovered around 40 children under the age of 12!

Rodrigo (my husband, for those of you who didn't already know) did laundry for all of the children and we didn't have a clothes drier there for years, so all of that laundry was carried upstairs to the rooftop and hung on the line every. single. day. (The washer was located in a tiny little wash house situated just outside of the main big house and the clothes lines were all on the rooftop of the big house as the land the children's home was on was shaded by huge trees and that was the only place that got direct sunshine) Oh, the rainy season was hard! Some days he couldn't do laundry at all because there was no way to get it dry between downpours! Imagine what it was like with 40 pairs of socks to wash, hang out and then get off the line and pair up and fold each and every day! Then of course there were their underwear, shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, and on the "Big Laundry Days" Sheets, towels, and blankets. Because we spent pretty much every waking hour at the home, we also took our own laundry to wash there so he dealt with that was well! So my poor man has done more than his fair share of laundry, these days I never ask him for help in that area! :-) I guess I mentioned this because today I have about 5 loads I have to wash! Laundry on the mind today!! I try not to let it pile up, but somehow it always does! Excuse me a minute... I need to go switch loads from the washer to the drier and put another on to wash! I do have a clothes line and I use it a lot! But I refuse to let myself feel guilty when I don't use it. We have a clothes drier for a reason, and getting laundry finished on a very rainy Sunday afternoon is one of those reasons! I do actually enjoy hanging clothes out to dry though! It's one of my quiet times... I get to be by myself for just a few moments in the warm sunshine, listening to the birds, thinking, being calm(!), and getting myself back focused on what's important. Many, many prayers have gone up while I stand before that little revolving clothes line, and by the time I am done, I am better able to deal with the many "challenges" that every mama faces throughout the day.

In the Autumn of 2003 we moved to the USA. Ethan our youngest (at the time) was just a baby of 4 months old. He has no memory of living in Guatemala. Matthew was about 2 and a half and Logan was 6 and a half years old when we came here. Logan was completely bi-lingual in Spanish and English and very much remembers living in Guatemala and playing with the kids in the home. Matthew pretty much only spoke a few words of English and Spanish at the time and really doesn't remember living there either as he was so little when we came here. Fast-forward a few years to March 2009 Rodrigo had his vasectomy reversed and in December of 2009 our little miracle Claire was born!

{Claire "eating" her deviled egg, nothing to do with this post... just thought it was cute!}

Since moving to the USA we have talked about becoming foster parents. Last year we began to look into it seriously, and began taking classes towards that end in October 2010. We had to attend 12 weeks of classes in order to become state certified foster parents. We filled out mountains of paperwork, had background checks preformed, paperwork was sent to most of our friends and family members asking lots of personal questions about us and what kind of people/parents we were. Great fun and lots of red tape all around! Our classes ended on January 3, 2011.

About two weeks later we found out that I was pregnant with baby #5! We were thrilled, but at the same time I worried that it might affect our chances of becoming foster parents (in the DCS's opinion).

We waited for DCS to begin our home study. And waited... And waited some more. Finally, about 5 months after our classes ended they began the official home study, we had been told during class that it is Departmental policy to begin all home studies within 30 days of completing the classes! HaHa... just a taste of the Department of Children's Services efficiency! Thankfully once they actually began, it really didn't take very long to complete our home study and become certified. Our case manager called us to let us know that we were state approved, and the very next day we were being called by the person in charge of children's placement with 2 little boys who needed a safe place to live until their case can be resolved, brothers ages 18 months and 30 months.  So since the middle of May 2011 we have been foster parents to B and J. We suddenly had a house full of toddlers under the age of 3! (Claire is 18 months old now too!)

So for the past month, life has been full of doctor's appointments, therapy, visitations, and days spent at court with these little boys. We did take a vacation last week and took B and J along with the family. I'll post about that as soon as I get a chance! It was so wonderful to get away and not have to worry about referring to my planner several times a day, every single day! I knew it was going to be a bit more hectic once we had foster children, but some days the busyness feels almost overwhelming to this homeschooling mama that enjoys quiet days at home the best!

I plan on continuing to post on here as I have the time and energy. I am still planning lots of fun creative things to do with the kids and I've got about a million "crafty" works in progress right now, that hopefully I'll figure out how to finish now that we are so much busier with these extra little ones! And if I actually manage to find the time and energy to actually do something, maybe I'll even be able to find a few extra minutes to blog about it! I've been taking tons of pictures over the past month, but I have to be extra careful to protect these little boys placed in our care, so if a photo includes them either I wont be able to post it... or I'll have to figure out how to blur their faces. (Anyone have any ideas of how to do that? )

So for now I am trying to be more patient with myself and not stress the small stuff, and as much as I have fun posting on here, it is one of the much smaller things on my list of priorities right now, so I'll do it as I have a chance and not worry to much about it when I don't! I'll be online though, and I'll be sure to answer any emails that are sent to me! Comments too, if they need answering :-)

{The frog that lives in our lily pond}

Boy or Girl???

Well today I am going for my 20 week ultrasound scan. We are hoping to find out what our newest little blessing will be! (Along with all of the other important information the doctors want to find out during the scan.)

From the very beginning of this pregnancy I have felt like it must surely be a little boy. It just "feels" like a boy pregnancy to me! After all I have had 3 of those already and only one girl pregnancy to compare it to! With the boys I never had any morning sickness at all, nor did I really have any other "pregnancy symptom". When I was expecting Claire I felt nauseous for the entire first three months! I also was completely exhausted the first trimester with her. Now with this baby I did feel really, really tired the first few months (I feel pretty much completely normal now, Thank God!) But I never had even a moment of morning sickness. So based on that, I am guessing that it is a little boy that I am carrying now! I am also guessing that the tiredness I have felt during the last two pregnancies can probably be chalked up to my "advanced maternal age" after all, I was pregnant with the 3 boys during my 20's and with Claire when I was 33. And that was just over a year and a half ago!So maybe that has something to do with the first trimester tiredness.

I'll let you all know this evening sometime what we find out! Did any of you ever "know" what you were having? We are really excited about finding out!

*For the record... I've never been right about the sex of my babies before! With the first three I had no idea what I was going to have until their ultrasounds, and with Claire I was positive she was going to be a boy!  By then I figured whatever girl making parts we had must not work! When the ultrasound technician told us she was a girl I didn't believe her! I made her check again!!!Ha! When we decided to have his vasectomy reversed and have more children  I just figured we would be one of those families with 6 or 7 boys before it was all said and done! You know, our own personal soccer team! As it is I haven't had to open a door for myself even when my husband isn't around for the past 6 or 7 years, with all of these little gentlemen. They are always racing to the door ahead of me to hold it. Claire indeed is a blessed little girl to grow up in a house full of such good boys!

I'll update you later!

Daddy's Little Girl~ A birth story

Our little Claire is a miracle baby! The doctor only gave us less than a 20% chance of ever even conceiving her. You see, she is the very happy result of a vasectomy reversal!

Soon after our 3rd son was born in 2003 we decided that our family was complete, and my husband had a vasectomy. We had three wonderful healthy happy little boys to raise and that seemed just perfect at the time. Well within a year or so after his vasectomy I started feeling like I really would have liked to have had more children. (After all my girlhood dream was to have at least seven!) I mentioned it to Rodrigo a few times and he very gently told me "No". He had a few good points to go along with his answer, such as the ones we have are so great, why take a chance with the unknown... and, we really can't afford many more kids (honestly, who can afford even one or two??? You just do that's how!) Plus most importantly it was a decision that we made together after a lot of thought and consideration, and it is a permanent decision, not something simple like going off "the pill" or anything. And he asked me if I would please quit mentioning it to him because it bothered him that I wanted something that he couldn't give me. (And quite honestly I was all for the vasectomy originally, it's not like he went behind my back and had it done!) So I kept silent about it. But I never could stop longing for more children.

For a while I felt pretty miserable, wanting what I could never have. Then after nearly a year I woke up one morning and realized just what a treasure I already had in my three precious boys. So I made a choice that day. I would start enjoying each and every moment I had with them now, I would be content with what I have. I did still ache for more children. It was a daily choice that I had to make not to dwell on the permanent emptiness of my womb. Some days I honestly struggled with being happy. I called out to God during my quiet times. Why did I still long for more babies, I asked. Would He not take this empty feeling, this desire from me? He knew I'd never have another baby. Couldn't He see that I was trying so hard to be content with the children I already had? I just didn't understand why He wasn't helping me get past the longing for a larger family. During the next few years I spoke with no one about this.

Just after Thanksgiving weekend 2008 Rodrigo and I were talking late at night after the kids were in bed. Out of the blue he asked me how I would feel about having more kids! I started crying... of course I wanted more but how was that supposed to happen? We had made it permanent; I would never have any more myself. He had heard of having a vasectomy reversal and asked me to look into the procedure. The only surgeons I found around here charged a minimum of $17,000 to $35,000. We just didn't have that kind of money laying around. So we kept searching. We found a doctor in Oklahoma who would do the entire surgery for under $2000. I personally spoke with dozens of his patients who had had reversals through him and they all recommended him highly. He started doing reversals as a ministry and does his best to keep his overhead as low as possible. In case anyone ever needs this information his name is Dr. David Wilson of Muskogee, Oklahoma.

We really felt that this was the doctor that we had been searching for so we made an appointment. On March 3, 2009 Rodrigo had his vasectomy reversed. Dr. Wilson prayed with the two of us before the surgery and allowed me to be in the operating room while he worked. The Doctor told us that during the surgery he found no sperm at all. He also said that there was a very large amount of scar tissue. Between those two things he stated that our chances of ever conceiving were very very low. Less than 20% chance he said!

I drove us home from Oklahoma back to East TN. What a long trip!

By April 1, 2009 I felt different. I took a home pregnancy test and it turned out POSITIVE!!! The reversal had worked! After all of those years, crying out to God to take the desire for more children away from me he had done something even better! He was giving me another baby!

10 days before Claire was born!

During my pregnancy Rodrigo and I talked about where and how we wanted the baby to be born. I did not want to have a traditional hospital birth if at all possible. Our first two boys were born at home while we lived in Guatemala. Our third son was a planned homebirth turned emergency cesarean section also in Guatemala. In the beginning of this pregnancy I was going to the local midwife run birth center. But since this was my first VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section) they did not "feel comfortable" "allowing" me to have my baby there! So after I was "fired" as the midwife's patient we decided to have her at home unassisted as long as my labor was proceeding normally.

In Labor... Excited!

In Labor... Tender Kisses :-)

About 10 minutes old and ready to eat!

Claire Rose was born at home into her Daddy's hands on December 14th, 2009; just one year after Rodrigo asked me if I wanted more children! And even now if Daddy is at home she is happiest in his arms! She is Daddy’s little girl!

6 hours old, peaceful in Daddy's arms

Seven months old, playing in the lake together.