Friday, June 29, 2012

Cousins

So I am reaallly bad about getting pictures up on time...like the photos I'm uploading today are from Father's Day! So please forgive me for being a procrastinator.

We had originally planned on visiting my father-in-law but turns out he was flying to California to see his dad. My parents were at the Farm fishing and we didn't have the time to drive down there :( Luckily, we were able to get my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to come to Ames to visit us! So we didn't even have to do the driving, hooray! Oh, and Kathy (MIL) brought her yummy cheesecake :) But what I was REALLY excited about was seeing my little niece, Genesis. I was there for her birth (pictures to be found here), and just realized I never did come back and give you the details of that :/ I ended up being her labor support person as her husband had to be out of town working until the very end (he barely made it in time for pushing) and her parents also had to work and get sleep. I was the only family/friend there with Jessica until it was time for her to push! It was a beautiful experience.

Anywho, so here are some pics of the little sweetie and my little man on Father's Day.


 Gabriel tentatively poking his new cousin.
 Jessica, Genesis, & Gabe.
 Gabriel carrying his dog Scout in Genesis' baby carrier :)
Jaime and Genesis

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Reminiscing

Is it just me, or does anyone else miss these shows? They might still be around (on some obscure cable rerun channel) but not on main television like Channel 11 anymore. 

Reading Rainbow




















Wishbone














Pippi Longstockings





















Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego?





















Aghh...and to think my children will miss out on these shows. They will be limited to weird futuristic cartoons featuring talking underwater shellfish, anime cartoons, and aliens. My hope is that in 5 -10 years, Channel 11 will still be doing reruns of Arthur and The Magic School Bus like they do now. At least my little brother still gets to see some of the good 'ol shows. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

You want to be a what!?

Many of you may know that I am currently a full time student at ISU. When I meet new people/classmates they often ask "So what are you majoring in?" When they hear that I'm a history major they then ask if I'm getting certified (to teach)...as if the only thing you can do with a history degree is teach high schoolers. The other question, now that I am a senior, is what do I want to do with my history degree? What jobs am I looking into? My response to both questions, "I want to be a stay at home mom, Lord willing." Their response, "What? But what about your degree?!" I mean, why go to college and then "waste" your education (and money)? The thing is, I don't see my 4 years (with a 1 year maternity break thrown in totally 5yrs) of college as a waste. The skills I have learned, the experiences I've had, and the friends I have made are all worth it. If it were not for my time at ISU I would not have learned the critical analytical skills required to research a subject in depth. It is this knowledge that helped me research my VBAC, home birth, becoming a doula, hospital birth, etc. that has led me to my journey to chose a vaginal birth after cesarean- even though society and many doctors pushed a repeat cesarean. It is the idea of having an open mind and never taking facts at face value- do the research and find out for yourself. My education has given me confidence in my abilities. I will use these things for the rest of my life.

Also, my babies won't be babies forever. One day they will all be off to school, and I will need something to do. Maybe I will go straight into the job market, or maybe I'll go back and get my PhD so I can work at a museum! If my husband looses his job or can no longer provide for us, then I have my education to fall back on and help me get a job to support my family. Just as important is the fact that I will be able to tell my children that mommy graduated from college, that education is important. I'd rather my children hear that mommy completed what she put her mind to instead of giving up when life got hard. Not only that, but the joy and pride I will feel when I can say that I graduated from college with two kids! 

So no, my time in college was not a waste. It has helped prepare me for the most important job in the world, being a good mother. 

 My best friends/cousins right after we moved into our apartment (1st year at ISU). 
 Beth and I on central campus- sophomore year.
Gabriel at about 3 or 4 months old representing ISU! 

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Loosing It

Sometimes as a full time college student, mom, and wife I feel like I'm (not-so-slowly) loosing my sanity. Boy has this never been so true as this summer. Four courses that are excelled -- what I usually have 16 weeks plus a few breaks thrown in to learn I have 8 weeks, and in one class just 5 weeks, to learn everything. MY. MIND. IS. SPENT! If it ever seems like a good idea to you to take 4 summer courses (3 of them online -- online class are EVIL!) my advice is DO NOT DO IT! Or you will go crazy, your house will fall to ruins, and you will become a cranky mamma. But then I stop and remind myself that I'm doing this because I am determined to finish college...preferably sooner than later. With baby # 2 due in December my hope is that I will only have to go to school for 1 semester with 2 children. If...that's IF, I pass this summer semester, I will take the fall off and graduate next spring :) Considering how the semester is going I'm not sure this will happen and I fear it's all a waste and that I will fail...but thank God for faith and prayer because no matter what, no matter how the semester ends, or when/if I graduate from college, I have God and I have a family who loves me. Being a mom is not an easy job, it requires sacrifice and hard work, but it will be worth it :) 

10 week ultrasound of baby #2

On a happier note, I am now in my 13th week of pregnancy and will enter the 2nd trimester on Monday! I've lost 2 lbs so far (which is good because I still had baby weight to loose from Gabriel and only need to gain a total of 15lbs this pregnancy, towards the end) yet my tummy is rounder and my boobs are bigger :( Oh, how I'll miss my small DD boobies again. 

Friday, June 1, 2012

An Answered Prayer

I've posted before about my previous c-section, my desire to VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), and more recently about my frustration with trying to find a supportive care provider. I had visited Iowa City and LOVED them, however 2.5 hours is a long way to drive in December...in Iowa (especially with a 2nd labor which tends to go quicker). I started looking around for options closer to home and decided to look at the Methodist doctors in Des Moines as I'd heard at least 3 of them were very VBAC friendly. I was very much DISPLEASED with the doctor I met (find post here) and also discovered that anyone of the like 13 doctors between the 2 clinics could end up delivering me...talk about stressful hoping I get the supportive one! For a few weeks I racked my brain trying to decide what the best option was and feeling that I had been unfairly and for no sound reason put into a corner that no expecting mom should. After many prayers, tears, and talks with my mom, I decided to call up one last midwife that I'd found. Many things I had heard about her were not encouraging (she was repeatedly described as highly knowledgeable by fellow ICAN moms but said to be late often and have a messy office-- one of my biggest pet peeves is tardiness!) so at the beginning of my pregnancy I refused to even consider her. After running into so much disappointment, however, and many prayers, I decided to find out how she was for myself. This tidbit is from a post I did on the ICAN forum (because I'm too lazy to type up the story again, lol)....
I met her at the church/clinic and she was right on time. I was very pleased with how the meeting went. Sheryl answered all of my questions and then some. She was very straight forward that there were risks and if a complete uterine rupture does occur at home the baby most likely won't survive, which I appreciate her not sugar coating it. We spent about 1hr 1/2 talking about my questions concerning laboring at home, my previous c-section experience, and she shared some of her transfer stories with me and talked about homebirth in general. I walked away feeling enlightened and comforted. I know there are still risk involved with a VBAC, just like any regular birth but by going over the stats with her, discussing different research that had been done, and hearing that she had NEVER had a uterine rupture patient put my mind at ease. I KNOW I want a VBAC, I just was having trouble deciding where to do it. This really helped.
I hadn't even told my husband about her yet as I wanted to meet her first and have time to think about how it went. I have NEVER in my life received such personal and genuine care. Whether it be at my yearly pap-smear or the prenatal visits while pregnant with Gabe, my OB/GYN never spent this much time with me. She not only answered my questions but asked if I had anymore and spent as long as needed to answer each question. It was the most amazing feeling ever! And with a midwife, you see the same person at every prenatal visit and it will be that same person who helps deliver your baby. No "meeting all the doctors because we don't know who'll be on call for your baby" that all clinics have.

It was such an amazing experience to speak with a care provider who believes in and trust a woman's body and it's natural process to get pregnant, carry life, and give birth. To realize that some labors are slow and that's normal, that wherever and whatever position the mother is comfortable with is how she should labor and give birth, that essentially it is about the mother and the midwife is there to provide support and professional, competent care when needed (not based on hospital policy or what doctors "just always do- it's routine"). Needless to say we have decided to go with her. My husband met her for the first time this Tuesday (our wedding anniversary!) and loved her, I was so nervous about what he'd think! I am so happy and relieved right now that words cannot express it. The healthy, natural, healing birth I envision is within sight :)

Just a random pic of the hubby and I taken days ago, but it reflects our happiness :)