Prayer Journaling for Your Husband and Children

Hi friends, it's Leah F! One of my dearest friends recently wrote about journaling and praying for your children, and I thought it would be a blessing to our Prayer of Hannah readers. Thanks for reading.

"So train the young women to love their husbands and children." - (Titus 2:4 ESV)

I learned this very well from my mentor, Phyllis, through the years as I've watched her diligently and passionately pray for her husband and children, and their spouses, and now her grandchildren.  As I've started my own for my husband, and now my Baby Boy Campbell coming in September, I wanted to share some thoughts and how-tos that I've learned from her over the almost 20 years of knowing her.

1.  Get paper.  I remember after my second date with my husband, I went to B&N later that night and got a moleskin notebook and started journaling and praying for him, knowing one day I would give it to him at our wedding.  And I did.  He is reading through it now.  But, really, ladies...you don't need a moleskin or fancy notebook.  You can use a journaling Bible (like this one from Crossway) and journal through your reading in there or just grab some loose-leaf paper and stick it in a folder (like we did back in high school, before everything needed to be turned through a computer).  The paper doesn't matter, the action does.

2.  Get a pen/pencil/crayon.  I have tried to steer away from pens that will bleed through the pages of my moleskin (almost done with a #2 right now) but sometimes a bleed pen is the only one around.  I would also challenge you to get a real pen and paper (not a computer) because you'll be able to cherish these notebooks for years to come and your children and husband can read them as well!  I know we are a techno world now, but I truly believe that some things are better hand-written.

3.  Get a Bible.  One of the MUSTS for this type of praying is that you pray Scripture over your spouse/children.  What Phyllis taught me is that I don't need books or even to be really creative, I just need God's Word.  She trusts in its sufficiency, and so do I.  You don't have to start a new reading  plan - just read.  If you want to, start with the Psalms or one of Paul's epistles or (gasp!) even the book of Deuteronomy.  Pray these Scriptures for your husband/children.  Here is an example from Psalm 112:

   Praise the LORD!
 Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
  who greatly delights in his commandments!
 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
  the generation of the upright will be blessed.
 Wealth and riches are in his house,
  and his righteousness endures forever.
 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
  he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
  who conducts his affairs with justice.
 For the righteous will never be moved;
  he will be remembered forever.
 He is not afraid of bad news;
  his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
  until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
(Psalm 112:1-8 ESV)

"Father, I praise you and thank you that you have given me a Psalm 112 husband.  Thank you for answering that prayer.  I thank you that E fears you more than he fears man and that he takes great delight in your word each morning, even as we are going through James this year as a couple.  I pray that our children, even this little one in my tummy right now, will be blessed to follow and know you and dwell richly and mightily in the land as they seek you wholeheartedly because of your grace and the display of faithfulness of their earthly Father (all because of grace).  Thank you for allowing my E to show me grace and mercy when I fail, and fail miserably at times.  Thank you also that he pursues you and righteousness.  Continue to weigh in his heart and his actions so that they might please you.  I praise YOU that E is a generous man who does not hoard the money that you have blessed us with but wants our giving and our home to be a place of blessing for others.  May we continue to live in that way.  I pray Lord, that even in difficult times, that you would make his heart strong and firm in you - knowing that you never change and that you will lead him in righteousness (Psalm 23).  Do not let him coward and be afraid, but be bold and know that you are God until the day that you make him triumph over his enemies for the glory of God in the world."

And you can take the same chapter and pray it for your children, as I will for baby Campbell.

4.  Pray.  I know this may seem like the easiest one to do, and I do pray for E all the time and pray for baby Campbell as well (honestly mostly in the shower), but do this.  I remember living for a time with my mentor and her family.  I remember waking up early in the morning and walking downstairs, and Phyllis had already been there for hours praying and reading for her soul and the soul of her family.  This was such a testimony to me.  I fail in this so much.  I need more grace to make it happen and to make it a glorious habit.

5.  Save.  Save your journals.  I will save mine.  Got an email from Phyllis this morning even that she has bookshelves and a chest full of these journals.  What a legacy for your children and spouse as they see a wife/mother who first loved Jesus then prayed and loved them as well all the days of her life. 

6.  Side note: I sometimes read these journals to E as a way to encourage him.  I let him read the first one (I gave it to him before our wedding).  I use it as part journal of our marriage too.  So for part of the journal I'm talking to God and part of it I'm talking to E, or baby Campbell in his.  I've already seen how encouraging this can be and how much fruit can be harvested from this daily duty of delight (see John Piper). 

7.  Baby Boy Praying: When I found out we were going to be blessed with a little boy, I immediately wanted to know how I could pray, as a mother, for him to grow into a young man who loved Jesus.  A former boss of mine suggested Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schulz.  I purchased it and have been reading the short chapters and prayer journaling my thoughts on the gospel and manhood for baby Campbell.  I hope it will be a blessing to him one day. 

PS...You can definitely read through books and pray those for your husband or children.  I remember reading through A Guide to Biblical Manhood written by SBTS Profs Dan Dumas and Randy Stinson and praying through those traits for E before we got married.  By all means, use other things, but let Scripture be your guiding principle!

May I encourage you to begin today to be a wife and mother who lives, has daily dependence on God and His Word and by communing with Him in prayer.  We fail miserably when we try to survive on our own!   Thankful the Holy Spirit works His Word in us and shapes and fashions us according to His Plan and for His glory!

Phyllis - thank you for praying for Billy, Jeremy/Katie, Jill/Matt and all your beautiful grandchildren - and for me.  You have truly been a Scriptural blessing in my life and continue to be so!  Proverbs 31 by grace, you are!   And if you have anything you would like to add Phyllis, please add it in the comments: I still have much to learn!

Kimberly Campbell is a wife, freelance writer and soon to be mom of a sweet baby boy due in September. She blogs at www.kd316.com

FLASHBACK: Packing your bag and stocking your cabinet--things to know BEFORE labor and delivery!

**I often send this information to friends having their first baby, so I thought it might be helpful to post it again today. This post originally ran in October 2009.**


Before my first child was born, a dear friend gave me a list of things to pack/not pack in my hospital bag. After my first child, I added my thoughts, and started giving it out to all my friends who were having babies. Hope you find this helpful!

What you DON'T have to pack in your hospital bag:
• diapers
• wipes
• baby clothes other than an outfit to bring the baby home—the hospital will provide tiny little white shirts for your little one
• baby blankets—the hospital will provide receiving blankets
• sanitary pads
• lots of underwear for you—the hospital has disposable underwear that you will, strangely enough, come to love after labor and delivery;-)
• multiple pairs of pants for you
• nursing pillow, unless you just want to have it; the nurses will assist you with helping the baby latch on using hospital pillows, etc
• bottles for the baby, unless you plan to bottle feed and want to use a particular bottle
• jewelry—you may have to take it off, and you don’t want to risk losing it
• long distance calling card—some places in the hospital say no cell phones, but the nurses do not mind you making the occasional call
• pillows—hospital has plenty!

What you DO want to pack in your hospital bag:
• hairband or clips to hold your hair back, if necessary
• anything that helps you relax for delivery and afterward—an IPod with your favorite music, a book, a scented lotion
• change for the snack machines or a bag of snacks (especially for your hubby)
• at least one nursing bra (a sleep bra is a must, and maybe another one to wear coming home)
• nursing pads—during the first few days, I would recommend Lansinoh Brand Ultra Soft Nursing Pads (Babies R Us carries them). They are more expensive, but they are the softest I have found, and when you start nursing, your breasts will appreciate the softness of those pads. You will be able to move to other pads later
• Tums if you are prone to heartburn. I was not prone to it, but had horrible acid reflux during labor. The nurses would not give me anything, but I could have taken the Tums if I had some with me
• camera, extra batteries/charger, film (each hospital has different regulations about videography during labor, so check for their policies)
• cell phones and chargers
• comfortable, loose tops or short nightgowns. Look for something that buttons down or is big enough to pull up for nursing ease. Pants/bottoms are not necessary—you will be bleeding enough after the delivery that you might mess up the bottoms anyway. A light-weight robe is nice—I used a short robe that I pulled on over a tank top, and that worked great
• moisturizing body lotion—if you should have an epidural, your skin may itch as it wears off. Lotion helps!
• flip-flops for the shower
• your favorite toiletries (i.e., scented shower gel from Bath and Body Works if you like that), your makeup, lotions and perfume—anything that will help refresh you and make you feel better
• slippers or socks—the hospital floor can get cold!
• name of the pediatrician you plan to use—they will ask you this in labor and delivery
• book/magazine (something light and fluffy) for you; book/magazine for your husband—you may need this during labor and delivery while you “wait” to dilate, or to help you relax at the end of the day when visitors and family have left
• list of people to call with their phone numbers
• outfit to bring the baby home
• outfit for you to wear when you leave the hospital—look for comfortable, loose fitting separates: you will not be able to fit back into your pre-pregnancy sizes immediately! Though it is no fun to wear them after the baby comes, maternity pants may feel the most comfortable (or something with a drawstring waist)

Coming Home from the Hospital:

Have someone fill your pain prescription as soon as you get home—taking the medication regularly will make a huge difference! The day that you leave the hospital you will feel sore—it will be the first time you have moved around so much since the baby was born, so expect to be tired, sore and emotional.

Make sure your bathroom cabinet is stocked with these items:
• sanitary pads (no tampons)
• moistened, unscented wipes *optional*(this sounds crazy, but Pampers makes a Sensitive Skin baby wipe that works great—you just cannot flush them)
• Tucks Hemorrhoid pads *optional*--Tucks pads are cooling and calming
• Pericolase medication (stool softener and gentle laxative)—helps keep you regular and prevents your bowel movements from being painful
• Spray bottle (from hospital) for cleaning yourself
• Dermaplast (also from hospital), a topical numbing spray that is such a blessing when you are sore

Your first night home from the hospital will be really rough, but you will survive! Expect to cry a lot at first. Know that every woman experiences these emotional ups and downs, and it is normal. The baby blues last through the first couple of weeks and then things stabilize—but they will suddenly pop back up at random times! It’s normal to cry, however, if you feel like your baby blues are unmanageable, or are lasting a very long time, please reach out to friends and family for help.

In your budget, you may need to plan for an additional expenditures in doctor’s co-pays (this varies according to insurance plan depending on if you have a co-pay for well-visits/maintenance visits). Your baby will visit the doctor approximately 4 times in 2 months (though this varies by office): 72 hours after discharge from hospital, 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months. Each of these visits will cost you an office co-pay, and if you do not plan for those fees, it can catch you off guard.

Above all, relax and enjoy this time. Labor and delivery may be painful, but it is the most rewarding thing you will ever experience. It is exciting! Look forward to it with anticipation and joy, and know that your friends and family are praying for you, supporting you and ‘cheering you on’ during this wonderful time.

Ask Our Readers: When the Child Doesn't Want To

We have talked a lot about teaching our children here at POH, as all of us are in the throes of teaching our children to read and write.

But what do you do if your child doesn't "want to"? As in, to quote my daughter, "Mommy, I don't want to [work on that]. Reading is HARD!" She is willing to work on our reading lessons for a brief time, but she quickly tires of it and complains that it is too hard. I have explained to her that reading is hard, but there are great rewards that come with learning to read. I am not certain how to proceed. Should I enforce a certain 'reading lesson' time limit? Should I try a different method? Should I take a break?

Just to put this in context, Georgia is five years old. We are currently working through the Hooked on Phonics workbook (given to us and recommended by my sister, an elementary school teacher). She knows her letters and their sounds very well. She can write her letters fairly well. She loves books and stories, but in general she does not like to work hard, even when there are rewards at the end of the work (I hate to use the term lazy, but she is definitely not a 'driven' child). Her lazy tendency comes naturally--I have not been regularly working with her on the reading either, but I am trying to be more diligent about that.

I would love your thoughts!

A spin on our toddler bed

A year and  half ago, I bought an antique head/footboard from a lady in North Carolina. She had cut the legs off of this bed and didn’t have any side rails to go with the bed. That was fine with me because, I  wanted to make a bench out of it.  However, after cherishing its antiquity and doting over the detail in this bed, I could NOT entertain the thought of taking it apart and making a bench.

Plan B was now to make a toddler bed out of it.  My baby was just 10 months old at the time, so I knew I had to hold onto it for a while.

When we moved, I toted it with me. DH tried to get me to get rid of it, and I looked at him like he had two heads. This bed was a work of art in my mind. I had great plans for it, and wasn’t going to keep it stashed in the garage forever.  I just had to wait for the right time.

Well, today was the day! The right time had come, now that little bits was in need of a toddler bed.  I wanted to use both the headboard and footboard and assemble the bed to look just as it would if I had a big, full mattress in the bed, but use a crib mattress instead. My handyman hubby did a great job building a foundation for the crib mattress to sit on, since we didn’t have side rails.

Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE how the bed came out?

Ta-dah!

We have to do a little bit more work on the bed on the sides to keep the mattress from scooting, as well as keep her from scooting upward in her sleep.  I just love it!  When she outgrows this bed, which won’t be too long, we’ll keep it in the girls’ room as a reading couch for them or put an   actual full mattress in the bed instead of a crib mattress.  They will love making forts/tents from the bed posts.

Can you tell the girls just love it? Big Sis wanted to sleep in it too tonight. She also loved jumping off the bed onto the floor in a “geronimo-style” fashion, like doing a "can-opener" onto carpet. Little Bits likes to go down the white stairs on the right, but I’m sure she’ll be jumping before I can blink.  We both laid down in her new toddler bed tonight at bedtime. Her smile couldn’t have gotten any bigger. Just melts my heart. I had thought about the girls sharing a bed at one time, but a full bed seemed a bit small for both of them, since they are both rambunctious sleepers, toss’n and turn’n every which way. A queen bed would probably work perfectly, but then again, I think I still like them having their own space since they share a room. Any thoughts on same gender siblings sharing a bed? I’d love to hear it!

Choosing permanent birth control

The below story was emailed to me from my friend (and the wonderfully named), Leah Thomas. I hope you find her story helpful and encouraging.

I am a wife to a wonderful husband and am a mother of two amazing little boys.  One of my sons, Joseph, is 3 years old and the other one, Isaac, is 9 months old.  I work from home as a wedding planner and I run a reasonably successful wedding venue.  My husband, Joe, and I are also in the early stages of planting a church in the Central Florida area. 

My husband and I have not chosen the path of permanent birth control.  However that is not to say we would never.  Stating that I know now that I will never be in a situation that might lend me to question the wisdom of having more children down the road is a statement I am not willing to make.  I hope I never have to ask that question, but I will not say never.  I love and am completely and totally smitten with my children and would potentially love to have more.   

My parents however did make that choice.  I have a younger brother and it is just the two of us siblings.  My mother began having strange symptoms after I was born and they continued on through her pregnancy with my brother.  She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  MS can take many different forms and the severity is very different for everyone.  My mother had an extremely progressive form of the disease and was wheelchair bound in just a few short years after diagnosis. 

MS complications caused her very sudden death three years ago.  I say sudden because we weren’t expecting it right then.  However, through most of my childhood she was in and out of the hospital and it was always in the back of our minds that she would die young and possibly at any time.  The uncertainty of her life expectancy combined with the difficulty of living life with, for her, a paralyzing disease is one that made them question the wisdom of having another child. 

It was an extremely difficult decision for them, but it was unclear what the strain of another pregnancy might do to her system and she was in “survival mode” trying to raise two young children.  So they chose a permanent form of birth control.  They say hindsight is always 20/20 and I believe she would say she was devastated to have never been able to have more children, but that she did best for her family.

My parents were amazing examples of how to live by faith and demonstrated Christ centered lives.  Both of my parents believed that children are a gift from God and they also believe that God is sovereign in all things.  That does not mean that there is never a time to pray and seek God’s will for your family as it pertains to planning when and if it will grow.

Random thoughts on birth control

Disclaimer: the big Finnlings woke up with a stomach bug this morning that laid them OUT and so my grand plans for putting together a more 'formal' blog post before they woke up didn't happen. I really should plan ahead more! Meg and Christina have already given us so much to think about, pray about, and discuss with our husbands in regards to birth control. I am grateful for Christina reminding us of this article on Desiring God's website: Does the Bible permit birth control?. After reading over it, I had to pull a few quotes that stood out to me:

The Bible nowhere forbids birth control, either explicitly or implicitly, and we should not add universal rules that are not in Scripture (cf. Psalm 119:1, 9 on the sufficiency of Scripture). What is important is our attitude in using it. Any attitude which fails to see that children are a good gift from the Lord is wrong.

Just because something is a gift from the Lord does not mean that it is wrong to be a steward of when or whether you will come into possession of it. It is wrong to reason that since A is good and a gift from the Lord, then we must pursue as much of A as possible. God has made this a world in which tradeoffs have to be made and we cannot do everything to the fullest extent... And for kingdom purposes, it might be wise to regulate the size of one's family and to regulate when the new additions to the family will likely arrive. As Wayne Grudem has said, "it is okay to place less emphasis on some good activities in order to focus on other good activities."

Although it is true that "blessed is the man whose quiver is full of [children]," we need to realize that God has not given everyone the same size quiver.

God is just as much in control of whether you have children when you use birth control as when you don't. The hands of the almighty are not tied by birth control! ...The "trust God, therefore don't use birth control" thinking is based upon the incorrect assumption that what happens "naturally" reflects "God's best" for our lives, but that what happens through human means does not.

I will be honest and tell you that Nathan and I do not have a concrete decision about the number of children we want to have. I love how as soon as one child is born people start asking if you are "done" or if you  want to have more. That is not a flip decision, people:-) These things must be weighed, and prayed over (and over and over) and discussed. I am grateful that the article above reminds us God is the one in control of all matters.

A couple of other random things to point out (some very important, some not so much):
*Birth control, according to Wikipedia, is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or interrupt pregnancy. So though our brains automatically jump to "you must be talking about the birth control pill", a discussion about birth control means all methods including natural family planning.
*A decision about birth control is not essential to your salvation. Having children (be it 1 or 20) WILL NOT save you. And deciding to prevent or delay childbearing WILL NOT condemn you. We are already condemned because of our sin nature and sinful actions. We are saved through the life-giving blood of Jesus Christ that he offered for us on the cross. We do not deserve it, and can do nothing to earn our salvation--it is because of God's grace that we are saved. Remember that when engaging in discussions with friends, family members, co-workers, your spouse!
*Two negative side effects of a hormonal birth control pill that are not discussed before you start taking it: weight gain, and loss of your sex drive. Though each pill affects people differently, after talking with several of my friends, I was surprised to hear that many women gained a little bit of weight when they went on the pill--only to lose it when they came off. I was on the pill for 3 years, and the month I came off the pill I dropped 5 lbs (I am not big, and it was very noticeable when I gained it and lost it!). The biggest side effect of the pill that I did NOT know was happening was a reduction of my sex drive. Because the pill regulates your hormones, it often suppresses your natural sex drive. Trust me, you don't want this to happen! I was shocked and pleased at the difference in my desires once I came off the pill (honest truth: so was my husband :-).

These are a few of my random, unorganized thoughts about birth control. Thank you as always for reading. Please feel free to 'chime in' with any thoughts, concerns, opinions, or stories. We love to hear from you! You can see past blog posts on Birth Control under that label on the right-hand menu. And don't forget:


Would anyone like to write a guest post about what they chose as far as permanent birth control? Or why you did not choose this option? Please email us if you would like to share.

Triumphs and Struggles

Parenting has an ebb and flow--there are frequent ups and downs, and when you feel like you have something under control, something new and unexpected 'pops' up. Bad habits seem to be conquered and then they reappear--good habits and tendencies look established, but then one bad day throws it all. It should continually remind us that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Rom. 3:23), but that Christ became sin for us so that we might be made righteous in His sight (2 Cor. 5:21). We must turn to Christ and rely on him for our salvation, and for the strength to parent our children! In an effort to 'keep it real', I thought I would share some triumphs and struggles I am having with each of my children. Perhaps something my family is going through will be an encouragement to you, and we will all realize that there is nothing new under the sun!

Eleanor, age 9 months

Triumphs: Eleanor is the sweetest, easy-going baby a mom could want. She loves her big siblings, and is good natured enough to go to just about anyone who wants to hold her. After 'army crawling' for a couple of weeks and rolling around like crazy before then, she crawled a few paces last night. The world is changing for her, and that is very exciting!
Struggles: E has been battling a cold, and as such her sleep during the day and overnight have been erratic. She is still very sweet for the most part. The only other major struggle we have is that 'people food' sometimes makes her constipated. Having a little baby who struggles to poop is sad :-(

 Baxter, age 3 years

Triumphs: After taking a long time to form words, Baxter's vocabulary is exploding and he can hold conversations and tell stories with the best of them. His imagination is growing, as is his appetite! Overnight it seems that he just can't get enough to eat. I am glad to see it, though, because he was a fairly picky eater who didn't consume much...and now I can't keep him satisfied! He takes in much more than I realized, as I recently quizzed him on the catechism we use with Georgia and he knew most of the answers! B is very affectionate, and loves snuggle times with Mommy and Daddy, and of course we don't mind that.
Struggles: Though he talks A LOT, he has a slight lisp which can make some words hard to understand (especially for someone who is not mom). He struggles with controlling his temper, and is entering a "being belligerent and testing parents" phase. Also, we have dealt with this several times in his life, but he has a hard time going back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night. And he wakes up screaming or saying "OW!" or both. We have to put Georgia in a separate room to sleep while we help sort Baxter out. We are right in the middle of this right now, and it's exhausting. He is doing the same thing at naptime and the only time he complains about something hurting is when he wakes up from sleep OR is about to be disciplined. Pray for us to figure out what to do.

Georgia, age ALMOST 5 years (birthday Oct 21)

Triumphs: Georgia is finding great delight in being a helper to Mommy, and loving on her younger brother and sister. She plays so well with B and E both! She never minds if E pokes her face or pulls her hair (as long as it is not too hard). Her imagination is exploding, and she is making up wonderful stories and imaginary worlds and scenarios for the kids to play. G too is a loving, affectionate child who just wants Mommy and Daddy to pay attention to her and be close to her. She is asking a lot of great questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, and heaven.
Struggles: G continues to be a drama queen, especially if she hasn't slept well. Though she is exercising more self-control, she still pitches a spectacular fit if she has to be spanked (screaming, struggling and more). Her talking back has taken on a sassier tone as she has aged, and she has started throwing in some "that's not fair!" and other accusations when she does not get her way.

So that's my kids! I wanted to type up some of our triumphs because it is so very easy to be distracted by the struggles in our lives. I am always thankful for God's grace in the trenches of parenting. What triumphs or struggles are you dealing with right now?

Sleeping Through the Night

Let's just make an abbreviation for this one...STTN.

Anna in her Rock n' Play. She slept well here for a while. Things went downhill when we made the move to the crib.

I will not lie. I am not one to gush over rocking my baby for hours on end, especially in the middle of the night. And this one, our third baby Anna, may have needed the most middle of the night rocking yet. She is wearing me out!

I am editing this to add that although this is tough for me, I am thankful for those times of just me and her with no siblings to interrupt. Getting to pray for her and have sweet quiet time is a blessing. Maybe she just wants the quiet time with Mommy too and I should be flattered that she is still not STTN. :)

Our first was a sleeping champ. He was the dream baby! He had a schedule from very early on and we honestly did very little sleep training. He loved to sleep and it came easily. He STTN at 12 weeks (and he was a preemie that was 7 weeks early!).

Our second was our fussiest. Sleep did not come as easily and still to this day she needs less sleep than her brother. She required the carseat on the dryer to sleep for the first several months of her life. However, after about 12 weeks or so, she would stay asleep easily at night once you got her to sleep. She also probably STTN around 3 months. (Too bad I don't have true record of this!) Eventually we had to let her cry it out at bedtime, around 4 or 5 months old. But I knew that once she went to sleep, she'd sleep through the night.

Enter the third child. Not our fussiest, but easily the one who has had the most night wakings. The longest stretch of sleep she has given us was 8 hours at about 9 weeks old. However, it happened only one time after a traumatic ER visit when she was pretty sick and feverish. It was totally a sick thing. Since then, the longest she's gone is about 5-6 hours. I know that doctors consider that STTN, but I don't. :)

The biggest problem is how long it takes her to fall back asleep after waking to eat. She is 4 months old now and one night last week I was up with her from 12-3:30am!

Let me give two key pieces of info now:

1. She still falls asleep in her swing for all sleep times. Naps are 100% in her swing (which is completely against the advice of my FAVORITE sleep book...but with the third, you really do whatcha gotta do!). Swaddle, paci, swing and she's out. At bedtime, I move her to the crib an hour or so later. She's down for the night around 6:30 or 7, but wakes between 12 and 1am and then often after that.

2. We were not ok with letting her cry too long due to the hoarse voice she has had since about 5 weeks old. We didn't want to make it worse by letting her cry for an hour at bedtime and naps (something I am totally ok with, though I know - and completely understand - that some aren't!). We think its due to reflux and she's been on a stronger med for a few weeks now.

I'm fairly certain these two things have contributed to her night waking frequency. I cannot wait for her to sleep from 6:30pm to 6:30am.

I tell you all this to preface the poll I've added to the right sidebar! Maybe this is selfish, but I think I want to know that my other two STTN on the early side and that our third is only slightly spoiled. :) Meaning, she's more average in the fact that she still hasn't STTN at 4 months. Please, tell me that is true and that I haven't ruined her sleeping habits for the rest of her life.

Since you can't vote more than once, just pick one of your children. (Maybe the one who STTN the latest?? :)

We are officially going to be crying it out at bedtime tonight. No more swing for bedtime. Once we master bedtime, then we'll move to ditching the swing for naps. She has a good routine, so hopefully this won't be too painful.

Pray for us! And offer your own stories that will give myself and others hope that babies do eventually STTN.

Loving the Little Years...a post from Rachel Jankovic

I've heard this little book called Loving the Little Years recommended MANY times. I have not read it yet. (Stay with me...there is a point to bringing up this book!) I'm pretty sure Hollie just read it actually...Hollie? Did you like it?

Anyways...my friend Christy just sent me a link to the article I'm about to share. She thought it would be great to share with our readers and I couldn't agree more! I was very excited to realize that the blog post below was written by the author of this book, Rachel Jankovic! It's a blog written by her and three other ladies. (Sound familiar? Oh, wait...none of us have written a book. Ha! :)

I'm going to share the contents of the post below. It's titled On Women, Divisiveness, and Hobby Horses. Please, please, please go visit her blog, Femina. It seems as though it is a great read!! So, here it is. Let me know what you think!

We all know that women are pretty much the worst at getting tangled up in heated, personally charged arguments about things (things being pretty much everything pertaining to children). Someone comes along to say that breastfeeding is the way the truth and the life, and people start throwing stink bombs. Someone barges through saying that epidurals are the only answer to the problem of pain, and before you know it, churchwomen will be driving cars with “Ban Sally from Mothering” bumper stickers. Some poor woman makes a comment at a baby shower about how she is scheduling her baby’s feedings to try to get more sleep, and women will begin making pointed comments about baby wearing and co-sleeping, and when the next la leche league meeting is. People start using words that are too big for the situations and start alienating Christian sisters over whatever they have decided is a monumental issue.


But here is the real big issue: Christians are not allowed to have hot button issues which they use to stir up trouble. Sure, you may care about things. Yes, you should have reasons for why you are doing what you are doing.




But have you gotten so involved in an “issue” that you cannot fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters who think it is silly? Are you so caught up in teaching your kids phonics while they are in the womb that you need smelling salts when someone laughs about it? Does it stress you out to see a “christian” mother feeding her children easy cheese? Do you long to pelt her house with copies of Nourishing Traditions with important parts highlighted? Are you the wrath of God as pertains to birthing methods, educational systems, and nutrition?


Now here is the thing. Principles are the things that God lays out for us. Love your children. Serve the Lord. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Children are a blessing. Be fruitful. Methods are the tools we use to try to accomplish these things.


Methods vary, even when the people involved are all following God. Do not get caught up in method camps and chisel away at the number of saints you can fellowship with every time you read a new article about that thing that has become the most important thing. Do not build for yourself an arsenal of inflammatory topics. Do not be quick to fire off heated comments.


The thing about principles and methods is that if you agree on the principle, the method is not such a big deal. But most of us know this – we understand the difference between the two, and yet we still get all wangled into madness about it. Why is this?


Here is my theory: If principles are the content of what is being said, methods are the languages used. We agree that a good principle is “love your children.” So we each say it to them in our own language. Some of us might say it in schedule feeding, and some of us might say it with a sling. The problem comes in when someone overhears someone else “talking” to their children. Quickly translating into her own language, she overhears something like, “I do not love you, and you are a fink!” Outrage ensues.


We want to hear people speaking in our own languages. We have labored over all our translation manuals, worked to have just the right accent, and so it grates on us to hear someone come say the same thing in pig latin. We often refuse to admit that it is the same thing – it just can’t be.


Now the point of this is certainly not to say that there are not objectively better ways to communicate to our children. Some people may be speaking in pig latin, some in a random smorgasbord of cliche sayings, and some only speak to their children in Italian sonnets. Some methods are better. Some methods are dumber. My point is not that we shouldn’t have an opinion about methods, but that we should be comfortable with different languages. When people speak in different languages, it ought to give us joy. The world is a crazy place. The church is a crazy place.


So, next time someone says the clearly outrageous, just remember this: there is a wrong way to be right. There is also a right way to be wrong. And there is always a greater right than being right.

Fuzzi Bunz Deal!

Don't miss the GIVEAWAY post! Click here to leave a comment and enter a giveaway for 15 preschool busy bags! Ends Thursday at midnight!

So, let's be honest here. Anna has worn very few cloth diapers in her short little life. Every time I feel like getting in the groove, something throws me off! It is hard to find time for laundry with three. I'm not giving up yet and I'm considering revamping our stash. 

It seems that its MUCH easier for me to rely on pocket diapers such as FuzziBunz or BumGenius. I still love both, but don't have enough of them to use pockets as my main diaper. Previously, I'd used prefolds as the bulk of our stash, but they are a little more difficult to put on and be out and about with. 

When I heard about this GREAT DEAL offered by FuzziBunz, I decided it was time to sell a few diapers in order to get some more of my beloved FuzziBunz! The deal is that you get two totally free diapers when you buy 6. One is a solid and one is a never-before-seen-print! 

You can get a six pack of Fuzzi Bunz at Cotton Babies in either the "perfect size" (small, medium, etc.) or the new "one size." Economy shipping is free on any order at Cotton Babies. I've never tried the one size diapers, but you can use your two free diapers to try them out! The free deal is offered in either a size medium or one size!

And if you want to sell your diapers to fund new ones, Craigslist is an easy option if you don't want to ship them. I've also used Diaperswappers for a long time now and never had a negative experience. 

Is anyone else struggling with staying motivated to use cloth? Or am I the only one!? I hate purchasing disposables when I KNOW I have plenty of cloth in our drawers....so here's to sticking with cloth for the third time around!

Teaching Honesty

Our oldest, Will, turned five in June. According to one of my weekly emails from babycenter.com - lying is not an uncommon problem at this age. (Speaking of those emails...I cried the day his changed to read "Your Big Kid This Week" instead of baby, toddler or preschooler. Can we figure out how to stop the growing, please!?)

While it's nice to know it's not uncommon and my child is "normal" for learning to tell lies (he is a sinner afterall!), we cannot dismiss it and must teach him the importance of honesty and telling the truth. Proverbs 22:12 says: "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful."

The first place I always turn to for bible verses related to a specific behavior is this handy chart by Ginger Plowman (author of Don't Make Me Count to Three). The chart not only includes bible verses, but heart probing questions and specific verses that help the child to know the behavior they should be showing instead. I cannot recommend this one enough!

I decided to seek out some additional helps in reinforcing honesty. Here are some of the resources I've found helpful.

Have you heard of Adventures in Odyssey? My husband grew up listening to these stories (on cassette tape or the radio, I'm sure!) but I hadn't heard of them until a few years ago. It's a ministry of Focus on the Family and they are fictional, character building stories that were created for ages 8-12. However, we decided to download one about honesty for Will and he thoroughly enjoyed it and completely understood the message. That may not be the case with all of them, but I look forward to getting more for car rides and quiet times! (Adeline, age 3.5, did not really follow the story well at all. Just an fyi...) 

The single episode I downloaded (The Tangled Web!) is more than 20 minutes long and was 1.99. However, there is a free one out right now about a little girl that wishes her brother was never born and then gets her wish! You can see it on the main Odyssey Page.

**Update: Just wanted to add that I discovered many free episodes in the itunes podcast of Adventures in Odyssey as well. I just searched for AIO on itunes and subscribed to the podcast. There are many archived episodes that are all free! 

Speaking of Focus on the Family, you can also find a helpful story about honesty that includes questions and activities to do with your kids. The activities were a little too old for Will, but the story and questions are perfect!

Lastly, is this book by Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love). Halfway Herbert is written for ages 4-8 and though I haven't actually gotten my copy yet, I'm excited to read this book to Will. Here is the description on amazon:

Halfway Herbert never completes anything.  Homework remains half done, his room stays only partly clean, and dinner is never finished.  Halfway Herbert somehow gets by. But when he tells a half-truth, he learns the importance of honesty and of following God with all his heart.

 Do you have any helpful advice for teaching honesty to our kids? We'd love to hear it! 

Newborn Product Reviews (after 8 weeks of use!)

Hi readers! One day I'll return to posts about topics other than newborns and babies, but for now it's what I'm living so its the easiest to write about! I thought I'd update on the baby products we are loving the third time around. I wrote a post about 3 months ago about the baby products I was excited about. Consider this the sequel!

As you can see in the first two pictures, our snugabunny swing has been a BIG hit and HUGE lifesaver! Based on how much my first two loved their cradle swings, I'm not surprised. I am disappointed that the swing's motor seems to be wearing out! It started after using the swing for only a few weeks. I haven't gotten around to calling yet, but plan to call Fisher Price. I'm certain they'll send me a new motor. Thank goodness because we use that swing many hours per day! It calms her down (when combined with the sound machine, swaddle and paci!) and helps her sleep better than anything else!

You can see our sound machine in the top of this picture. That's my next favorite. She will instantly calm at the sound of loud...very loud...white noise! We take this sound machine everywhere! It rides in her carseat when we are out. If we are in the car, I use a static station (which the big kids hate!) instead.

This picture (and the last) show that she is finally starting to take a paci! Especially when she is hungry, but I think she's also starting to learn to use it when she needs soothing to fall asleep. Hallelujah!! I prayed for this, literally and I'm soooo thankful for this answered prayer. (She even likes the Nuk, my favorite. :)

Because we went through about two weeks of "colic" (see my last post on breastfeeding - which is going great now!)....the Moby became our biggest help in accomplishing stuff around the house. The Moby is her favorite, but she will tolerate and even sleep in the pouch sling as well. We could not survive with the Moby and it too goes everywhere with us!

 

The last two products are ones I've discovered since she was born. This is the Fisher Price Rock N' Play and it is approved for sleep. Anna was having a seriously difficult time staying asleep, especially at night. We even packed up her BIG snugabunny swing for a long weekend of travel recently. We were that desperate! She would not sleep in her pack n' play! She has some serious reflux that doesn't necessary cause a lot of pain, but does cause a lot of congestion. When laid flat, she would get super congested and wake up coughing and sneezing within 5 minutes. This product has been another lifesaver for me at night! When she sleeps here, she does not wake up! Two nights ago, she slept from 10:30-8:30 and only woke up to eat ONCE!

I had heard of Gripe Water with my last two, but never used it. This go 'round a friend gave me a bottle that she hadn't used with her last baby. I put it away and didn't think much about it...until we entered Anna's few bad weeks. I thought I'd give it a try and it really seemed to help! This is the brand we have. I have noticed (while looking for more to buy) that each brand has slightly different ingredients. Because of that, I can only speak to "Mommy's Bliss" brand, but it has really helped Anna! 

Do you have a "must have" baby item that you discovered after baby was born? Please share! 

Do I ignore this behavior?

My family spent the last week on vacation visiting friends in Colorado. We had a great time catching up with old neighbors from our seminary days and then visiting with close friends that are serving with Athletes in Action this summer. We collected many memories, photos, and souvenirs. But one thing we picked up that I wasn't expecting was a new habit of Samuel's.

Mid-week Samuel (almost 5) started dropping his "r" sounds. Let me tell you, it is super annoying. He consistently changes all "r" sounds to a "w". I know lots of children do this, but it's not as if this is how he's always spoke. He has had no issues with this sound, or any speech, before this week.

I have a couple of ideas of where he picked this up. One, it may be from friends he has here at home that don't pronounce their "r"s. But I don't know why he would start doing it on vacation when we are away from them. Two, the family we visited on the first half of our vacation has a 4 year old daughter with a few speech problems. She doesn't pronounce her "l", "k", or "r" sounds. Maybe he got it from listening to her? But why? Three, I have been reading Wonder Pets books to the boys and the duck, Ming-Ming, doesn't pronounce her "r"s and so when I read the book I change the "r" sound to a "w". But we didn't have any of those books on vacation with us.

Less important than where he picked this up is what to do about it. My husband says to just ignore it and he will stop. But it's driving me crazy!!! I've been very good about not showing my annoyance at it. I just keep going with him as if nothing is different. But I don't know how long I can hold out. And I'm afraid the longer he does it, the harder the habit will be to break.

So, what's your advice? Ignore the behavior? Ask him about it? I just don't know what to do and I'd love to hear some opinions. Thanks!

Too much milk! (And other things I learned breastfeeding...)

My first breastfeeding experience was difficult - as many are! The learning curve was HUGE and I was totally unprepared after Will's early arrival. I was determined to breastfeed and thankfully the NICU nurses and doctors were very supportive. I just didn't realize how hard it would be! I'm very glad to report that we did end up successfully breastfeeding after overcoming the many hurdles...

-pumping 24/7 the first two weeks of his life

-learning to feed a 3lb baby using a nipple shield (I do not endorse this product. :) 

-still pumping after every feeding because of said nipple shield

-nipple confusion because of the many bottles (with fortified breastmilk for weight gain) and nipple shield

-pumping at work from months 3-10

-severe reflux (another preemie thing) that caused major issues with feeding his first year of life

Fast forward to my second breastfeeding experience. At first, it was a dream compared to the first! Adeline was an excellent nurser and being full term had no weight gain issues or reflux. The only problem we had in the first few newborn days was my overactive let down, but we learned to wait until the milk was slower before latching her on again. Our biggest problem after that was that she never took a bottle! However, she was our super colicky baby with nightly scream fests lasting from 6-11pm until she was about 4 months old. 

Long after I quit nursing Adeline (at 15 months), I learned about the importance of the balance between the "skim" foremilk and "fatty" hindmilk. (Thanks to Krista and another friend!) I also learned that having too much foremilk can throw a baby's digestive system out of whack. They will be fussy (Adeline). They will have green, frothy poops (Adeline). They will act as though they are in pain (Adeline during her nightly spells). 

I was sad that I didn't realize this earlier and could have helped her be more comfortable for all those months! The solution is simple - be 100% sure that you are allowing the baby to empty the breast and not switching too often. Otherwise, baby will fill up on foremilk and not get enough of the fatty hindmilk. Even offering only one breast per feeding is ok! Your body will gradually adjust, producing less milk. You can also pump a little milk before feeding - but this will actually add to the problem in the long run as you're not signaling to your body to slow down the milk production!

I'm now 5 weeks into nursing Anna. She is showing the SAME signs that Adeline did. Fussy nights, green poops, pain, etc. The docs don't worry about green poop, but it does signal that something might be off in baby's system. Just today I started only nursing her on one side per feeding and I'm still waiting to see a yellow poop again. 

Today I did some more research and wanted to share some articles in hopes of helping someone else! I was floored to find an article (through LaLeche League) discussing some research done that suggests a relationship between imbalance of fore/hindmilk and COLIC! 

This morning, Anna and I were at the pediatrician for her one month check up. The little chunker weighed 9lbs! She's up more than 3lbs from birth. I asked about the green poop (really just to see what our doc would say!) and he was, as I suspected, not worried. He did give me all the reminders about colic..."We don't know what causes it"..."It comes at 2-3 weeks and passes around 2-3 months"...etc. I'm hopeful that she and I can work this out and she will not be as colicky for as long as Adeline was! Here are the articles: 

Finish the First Breast First - article from LLL on the relationship to colic

LLL on Oversupply

LLL - Too Much of a Good Thing - a personal story

LLL on Foremilk and Hindmilk - including how it is produced

Do you have a breastfeeding experience you'd like to share? Something you learned that may help someone else? Please share!! 

How to get your kids to eat their vegetables

One word for you: FROZEN.

Since my youngest was about 10 months old and teething, I have given my kids frozen fruits and vegetables. This is a quick, simple way to get vital nutrients to your kids in a fun and delicious manner.

When Samuel was 10 months old I had a friend recommend giving him frozen peas and carrots to eat. The cold veggies felt good on his teething gums. And the small size provided great development of his fine motor skills (the pincher grip). Since the veggies are pre-cooked, they are actually easy for a baby to chew and swallow.

Even now at ages 3 and 4, my boys love frozen fruits and vegetables. I love it too because it's easy to keep a few bags on hand and shake them on their plate at mealtimes or for a quick, refreshing snack.

Some of our favorites:
Sliced Carrots
Peas and Carrots
Whole Green Beans
Blueberries
Strawberries

My boys hands-down favorite is Frozen Blueberries. They love this simple snack. It is especially great in the winter when it's harder to get quality fresh fruit.

Do your kids enjoy frozen fruits and veggies? What are your favorites? Does this post encourage you to try it?

The Wisdom of a Mentor (advice on dealing with Back Talk)

A friend stopped by tonight to encourage me in my efforts to train up Samuel. What a blessing! She brought over the book "For Instruction in Righteousness" by Pam Forster (published by Doorposts). This is a gem of a book! The index lists a multitude of sins that you may see in your child. Each chapter is about 3-4 pages long. To give you an idea of how the book is laid out, I decided to look up the chapter on "Scoffer/Scorner". The chapter gives:

General information and commandments about this sin - a list of 11 Scripture references.

What happens, or should happen, to the scorner - a list of 17 Scripture references, some with additional ideas of how that consequence may look in the life of your child (for example, Pr. 13:18 Poverty and shame - take away belongings and rights).

The sin of scorning is likened to - a list of 3 Scripture references and a teachable idea (ex. Isa. 5:24 Root as rottenness, blossom as dust - Examine the roots of shriveled plants in the garden; observe what happens to flowers after they are picked.)

Stories that illustrate the consequences of scornfulness - 11 stories to read from the Bible.

The blessings of humility and a teachable spirit - a list of 8 Scripture references, some with ideas (ex. Pr. 19:25 Reproof leads to understanding - help the child to see his own growth and progress as he correctly responds to discipline)

Stories that illustrate the blessings of a teachable spirit - 2 stories to read from the Bible.

Verses to memorize - 4 verses

Scriptural principles to follow when dealing with a scoffer - a page and a half of Biblical wisdom/insight as well as ways to pray for your child.

Isn't that awesome?!

Also, Ellen shared with me some experiences of raising her own three children as well as fond memories she has of them growing up. She allowed me to talk about how I'm feeling about things and what I'd like to see. Then she prayed with me and for me.

This was such a sweet encouragement for me and a challenge to be a godly mother. My plan is to sit down with Samuel in the morning and talk about the issue of talking back, look through the Bible together to see what it has to say about it, and then agree together with him on a consequence for disobeying as well as a promise to be looking for him to answer with respect. Hopefully we can really focus on this this week and then move on.

As for the new book, I am definitely going to be ordering one of these and keeping it on hand! It is such an awesome resource!

How to deal with Talking Back

Have any of the following conversations ever taken place at your house?

Mom: Son, eat your sandwich please.
Son: No, YOU eat your sandwich.

Mom: Son, it's time to pick up our toys and go to bed.
Son: NO!! I'm NOT going to pick up my toys. It's NOT time for bed.

Mom: Son, please don't call your brother names. It's not kind.
Son: No, my BROTHER's not kind. HE's mean. HE's a stinky head.

Some variation of all three have transpired in our home over the past two weeks. My almost 5 year old has recently started talking back, sometimes as many as 10+ times per day. Talking back shows a lack of respect for mom as well as a heart that is hardened to receiving instruction.

My original attack on this back talk was to address it directly. As soon as Sam would talk back, I would get down to his level and say, "Samuel, that is talking back and it is not allowed. You need to respond 'yes, mommy'." He would say "okay, mommy" and we would move on. After repeating this over and over throughout the day I decided that my approach wasn't working.

So I took to the internet. I searched "how to discipline talking back". A lot of the information I found encouraged me to model positive behavior for my child (i.e. not be a back talker myself) and to ignore the behavior. I don't believe Samuel is seeing back talking modeled in our home. And I can't agree that ignoring the problem is the best solution. Back talk is the symptom of a deeper issue and ignoring it doesn't solve the symptom or the underlying sin. It allows the problem to grow and fester.

I sat down and tried to discern what was really going on. I believe talking back is a symptom of the deeper issues of not respecting a parent and having a foolish heart that doesn't receive instruction. Here are some proverbs I pondered:

Proverbs 10:17 - He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.

Proverbs 1:8 - Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 13:1 - A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

Proverbs 13:13 - He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.

My project for the next day or so is to come up with a new plan of attack on dealing with back talk in our home. I have been praying today for wisdom in how to creatively approach this as well as for tenderness of heart for my son and the power of the Spirit to change his heart.

A mentor friend is coming over tomorrow evening to talk with me about the issue and she's bringing along a book she wants me to read. I'll post about our conversation as well as the book after our conversation tomorrow.

Have you had to deal with back talking in your home? What did you do and what made you decide to do that? What has worked for you and what has not?

Anna's Birth Story

Believe it or not, here is a shortened version of Anna's birth story. I left out the beginning where I documented the complications we experienced this pregnancy. They were all the same as before with Will and Adeline...high blood pressure and/or preeclampsia, meds, bedrest, non-stress tests, etc. 

By 36 weeks, we had added an additional blood pressure med (hydralazine) and Dr. A had decided to move my scheduled c-section (as if we would make it that far!) to 38 weeks. On Tuesday May 31^st I saw Dr. Gray in the office. Anna failed the NST (with some heart decels, likely due to the bp meds) and got a BPP. Dr. G even wondered out loud if we were “pushing our luck” with waiting to deliver. So, that day my c-section date was changed to Monday June 13^th with Dr. A. (I would have been 38w3d).

At this point, Jacob and I thought for sure that when we saw Dr. A on Friday (June 3^rd, 37 weeks exactly), we would likely be delivering if she looked like she did on Tuesday. However…

That afternoon, Anna had different plans. After two (?) weeks on real bed rest, I was getting restless. Most days, we had babysitters watch Will and Adeline in the morning. They napped in the afternoon until Daddy came home at 4:15. This particular day, we were headed to Gigi’s for weekly dinner. Before that, I decided it was ok to make a quick trip with the fam to Target. So I walked around for 20 minutes or so as we got a few things. We then went on to dinner at Gigi’s.

That night, after the big kids were in bed, I started not feeling well. (In retrospect, I hadn’t felt well all day with some diarrhea and odd cravings…for coffee which I hadn’t had in months!) By 9:30, I realized I was having contractions, but thought they were due to the super HOT (upper 90’s!) weather and not drinking enough water. So I drank some water and lay down. They continued and I was questioning if they were really due to dehydration. (In the meantime, Jacob had already gone to bed...) I decided to get ready for bed and watch some tv from bed at 10pm. (Ok, I'll admit that I was watching 16 and Pregnant on MTV...)

From 10-10:30, I had contractions about every 8-10 minutes. They were definitely feeling different with LOTS of painful pressure very low. I was getting a little worried and thought about calling the doc, but hadn’t woken Jacob yet. At 10:30, I had a contraction that was my most painful yet and I instantly KNEW what was about to happen…

I felt the pop and jumped out of bed realizing that my water had broken! I was only 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I shouted to Jacob that my water had broken. He was confused at first and didn’t believe me until he saw the puddles in the bathroom! At this point, I’m panicking a little as I had never considered this scenario as the way things would happen. I was also worried something was wrong that had sent me into labor. (Remember, she failed the NST earlier that day.)

I called the doctor to let him know we were coming in and Dr. Zimmerman was a little confused. He obviously had forgotten that we were not planning to labor and needed a c-section asap! Once he realized that, he said he’d meet us at labor and delivery. (Gigi came over to stay with the big kids.)

I continued to have contractions over the next three hours leading up to the c-section. Riding in the car with contractions is NOT fun!! They were eventually 5 minutes apart. In addition, no one had ever warned me that if your water breaks you will continue to leak – or in my case, gush…flooding L&D triage – until the baby is out! I was so relieved when they finally got her heartbeat on the monitors! I was also relieved when we saw Dr. Z who reasurred me that it was the pressure (literally) from my high blood pressure that caused my water to break early and baby was still doing ok!

I cannot complain though about this part, as it was always my hope to experience “real” labor to some degree since I had not had the chance in the first two pregnancies. (This statement is documented in Adeline's birth story!) At some point during or after the c-section, Dr. Z told me that all that “labor” had only dilated my cervix to 1cm when he delivered. Ha!

They got me prepped for the c-section and wheeled down to the OR. Then it was time to get my spinal…and thus the worst 20 minutes of the whole ordeal. I’d gladly labor and deliver med-free over experiencing that spinal again! Ok, maybe not.

The anesthesiologist said my back was swollen (along with the rest of my body) and she had a hard time finding the right spot. The first two attempts ended in excruciating, shooting pain down my entire right side. I was literally screaming, uncontrollably, in pain. NEVER want to experience that again and will likely have a panic attack if someone tells me I need a spinal again. (Thankfully, Jacob was not in the room yet. I was so worried he’d hear me and worry.) FINALLY, she got it on the third try.

The difference in this spinal compared to the first two is that I literally felt every touch. I could not feel pain or temperature, so they said it was still “working.” But I felt every movement and it made me very anxious! The last two c-sections, I could feel NOTHING except pressure in my lungs when they pulled the baby out. Because of this, I did not let Jacob leave to go with Anna when they pulled her out. I was such a baby! But I said, “She’ll be fine, I want you HERE.” So he stayed while they sewed me up. (The nurse anesthetist did eventually give me something for the anxiety in my IV…)

Anna was born at 1:27am on June 1st; three hours after my water broke. She was 5lbs, 14oz and 19 inches long. When Dr. Z pulled her out he lifted her over the curtain and made her “wave” at me. When he did, her bloody goop dripped down on my face! This gave us a good laugh. She was cute and tiny, but didn’t cry right away. She did cry just before they took her out of the room.

Once Jacob left me, he went and took some pictures of Anna. They found out she had low blood sugar, so she had to go to the nursery to get some formula. Because her blood sugar was so low, she had to stay there until she had two results in the normal range. She was there until 5am when they brought her to my room.

Being 36w5d (since she was born on Wednesday morning) she was considered a “late preterm baby.” The only other problem aside from the low blood sugar was regulating her temp. She had to leave us once to go under the warmer when they found her temps too low. After that, we were sure to keep her good and bundled up. She was a little “pokey” in her eating for the first 48 hours or so, but they said that was normal for 36 weekers.

We spent our time relaxing in the hospital, learning to feed her and visiting with family. Our last day in the hospital was Saturday. This was actually the same day as Will’s 5^th birthday party. Jacob left me and Anna to go be at his party. While he was gone, we found out that despite my slightly elevated blood pressure and incision not healing well, we were going home! Jacob got back to the hospital around 2pm and learned how to do “wound care” for my incision (it had opened up - I'll spare the details of this...). We were home by that afternoon and very glad to be there!

However, it didn’t last long. We knew my blood pressure had stayed a little high, so I restarted taking the procardia. In addition, the swelling in my feet, hands and face had not resolved yet. By Saturday night, I had a HUGE headache that lasted the entire first night we were at home. It continued all day Sunday. By Sunday afternoon, my blood pressure was 180/120 at home. So we called Dr. A who advised us to come back to Rex, via the ER – and with no Anna.

We headed back (kids with Gigi) and I was diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia. My blood pressure spiked to 198/115 while in the ER. I felt awful, but I remember I was sitting up for that reading and I couldn’t see the monitor. Jacob and Dr. A could and both were just staring at the monitor with blank looks and nervously laughed when I asked, “Is it good?” Ha!

My reflexes were very brisk showing that my central nervous system was going haywire. My liver enzymes were also elevated indicating the same complication (HELLP) that I dealt with during my first pregnancy. All of these things earned me 24 hours on Magnesium Sulfate – a miserable drug used to prevent seizures. Monday, I was still on the mag and they also added another blood pressure medication, Lisinopril. Monday night they stopped the mag, but decided to keep me overnight to watch my bp and be sure we were headed in the right direction.

Tuesday, Jacob went home and brought Anna up to me since we were in a postpartum room at Rex. She resumed nursing like a champ after having bottles (of mostly formula) for two days! I hung around the hospital that day and discharged that afternoon. My blood pressures were still not normal, but mostly lower than the first time I was discharged.

I’m still on Lisinopril and Hydralazine for my pressures and may be on bp meds for good at this point. My wound is also still healing from the inside out (meaning its open) and we have to change the dressing twice a day. They say this is more likely to happen the more c-sections you have. It's made recovery pretty slow with a good bit more pain that previous recoveries. I’m also still going to the OB for weekly appointments to check on my bp and my incision. At my first weekly visit, my bp was 130/90 – much improved! Though not great considering I’m on two bp meds! We’re praying that it will continue to resolve the further I get along in my recovery. 

Throughout this last (truly, our final one!) pregnancy, we’ve seen several answered prayers. First of all, we prayed for a June baby (to hopefully avoid the NICU) and we got her by an hour and a half! We also got a healthy baby and avoided the NICU, despite her being a little early. Second, I really did pray that some day I would get to experience labor to some degree. I got that with this pregnancy!

Although this third delivery and recovery has been my hardest so far, we are so thankful for the way it all happened. The Lord protected me and Anna and she arrived safely!! We have always loved my doctors, LOVED them...but are even more thankful for them now that they've seen us through three difficult pregnancies and deliveries.

Here are the proud big brother and big sister:

Thanks for reading and rejoicing with us in Anna's birth!