At the Watering Hole

The Birth Story of Ezra McCormick

2014-05-04T01:57:00.003-05:00

Ezra is 5 weeks old today. It has taken me this long to be able to write his birth story for a few reasons. One, life with 10 children is a little bit busy and two, it wasn't my dream birth. Not to mention my choice to be autonomous with both my pregnancies and births by doing my own self care and deliveries comes under much scrutiny. So many things about birth are uncontrollable and unpredictable. It leaves one feeling pretty vulnerable at times. Anyways, back to Ezra's birth.

A week before his birth I began having some uncomfortable contractions. This was different for me since I usually don't have discomfort with them unless I'm in labor. On top of that I also started losing a lot of mucus, too, and the only time that had happened while not in labor was with my last pregnancy and I went into labor two days later. But no. Not this time. My body decided to give me uncomfortable contractions and lots of mucus all week. Oh the anticipation and aggravation of not knowing. That and the middle of the night dance parties hosted by my “octopus”, as I affectionately called him, wore on my mental and physical state.

Two days before his birth I had contractions on and off regularly. All.Day.Long. Of course that repeated the day before he was born, too. *sigh* So, on the day he was born and said pattern started again I had visions of baby never being born and me being in a state of perpetual psych-out labor. Christina, my friend and doula, was checking up on me regularly. Of course I didn't know what to tell her besides, “I really don't know what's going on.” I didn't want to have her come over if it wasn't the real deal. I was hoping/expecting a quick labor and wanted her to be sure she made it in time. Did I also mention I was expecting a girl? Yeah. I wasn't right about that either. Lol

Christina had found a track from Hypnobirth called “Come Out Baby” and asked me if I wanted to try it. I had been curious about Hypnobirth anyways so I thought I'd give it a try. There I was that afternoon relaxing and talking to Rivka and telling her it was okay if she came out if she was ready. Yeah, despite this blaring mistake he decided to come out that day anyway. I didn't feel or sense anything different, but I was more relaxed. My body kept doing what it had been doing the previous week. More labor. More contractions. But no changes. Later that afternoon things kinda felt like they were getting into more of a pattern. I still wasn't calling Christina. I figured my body was still just faking me out.

I kept mostly to myself that afternoon as to not allow my irritation to bother anyone else and to help stay more grounded. I used my essential oils to help in this and drank some Labor Aid that I had made up for labor in case the contractions were just from being dehydrated. Things seemed to get slightly more exciting around 5:30, so I decided to call Christina, but I made sure to tell her that I still wasn't sure if this was really it or how long she'd actually have to stick around. Of course she didn't mind, but I hate putting people out.

By the time Christina arrived around 6:15ish I knew I was definitely in labor, but things were still spread out and progressing slowly compared to my last birth. Tom, Christina, and I talked, laughed, relaxed, and just rode the waves of this season. Labor went on uneventful. I mostly sat until I felt the wave come on and then I would get on my knees or stand and lean over something or someone through it. This went on slowly building throughout the evening. We called another friend who had requested to be there for my labor to come around 8:00. She arrived shortly after. Her job was to take pictures. She also did some massage on my back which felt great until things got pretty intense. Christina and Tom were there like my rock any time I needed them.

Around 11:15ish things were so intense that I just kept feeling like I would lose my mind from the pain. Everything before that was tolerable. I impatiently asked for someone to get me my Aconite homeopath because I could just tell I would need it to get through the rest of this journey. I went into the bathroom to use the bathroom again for the millionth time and felt desperate to be done with this crazy ride. Of course Tom just looked at me helplessly and acknowledged my feelings. By then I knew I wasn't going to be going anywhere else since the waves were coming right on top of one another. My plan, since it worked out so nicely last time, was to birth on the toilet. It helped me to relax my bottom and made for very little clean up. Yeah, I know. But I hate messes, even if I don't have to clean them up. I was really hoping and wishing my water would just break since I sensed this would be over soon if it did (not that I was right about anything else thus far).

Minutes later my water splashed out sounding like a giant water balloon hitting the floor. Not long after that I could feel that dreaded and welcomed feeling of pressure that only a giant Nitz melon could bring. I thought I might just sit over on the toilet and relax allowing that fetal ejection reflex to kick in like before allowing my baby to be gently and easily born into the world. Nope. Not going to happen. It felt like torture. Okay. How about squatting? Yeah. No. Not going to happen. Anything other than standing slightly leaned over felt like torture.

It was my plan to catch my own baby. The one that I grew. In my body. It only made sense to me that I would be the one whose hands would guide her (Ha!) into the world. I reached down and could feel a hairy head. Yay! This would be over soon. As my body told me to push and more head came forth I realized that I have T-Rex arms and would not be catching my own baby. During this pushing time I felt such a struggle going on inside me. It just really felt different. I wanted, needed to get this baby out. I looked at Tom who was sitting on the side of the tub in our tiny bathroom and told him he was going to have to catch the baby. He looked at me calmly and then looked at Christina who was standing behind me and told her that there is no way he can get over there and that she was going to have to catch the baby. Yeah, I don't care. Someone catch the baby please. Baby Rivka,er Ezra was born into Christina's hands at 11:53 a.m. She quickly handed me this slimy, floppy human who had a huge meconium bowel movement all over himself and me.

Time stood still while my heart went into a panic. My baby felt lifeless in my arms and as I looked down at him he was not moving at all, had no muscle tone, and was very pale except for his purple head. I squatted down looking at him. I rubbed him with a towel and prayed that my baby was okay. I had never experienced this before. I also noticed that I was bleeding a lot and passed 3 pretty big blood clots. Baby Ezra perked up, opened his eyes, and started crying. I knew then that he would be fine, but I was losing too much blood. In my mind I knew at some point during delivery my placenta had to have partially detached compromising his oxygen a bit and must be what was causing this bleeding. I did what I knew to do to increase oxytocin; held my baby skin to skin, smelled his beautiful head, and prayed.

I started feeling lightheaded and knew this placenta needed to come out now. There was blood everywhere. Tom just kept asking for towels to mop up the blood. I asked for cayenne pepper to help stop the bleeding. I handed Ezra over to Tom. I was feeling too weak to hold him. Next I asked for some Angelica to release the placenta and squatted. The placenta came pretty quickly after that. I was still bleeding but not as bad. My brain was pretty foggy at this point and I was just trying not to pass out. All I could think of was, “I'm covered in blood and birth goo. I don't want to have to call 911.” lol At this point Christina asked if I wanted the Shepherd’s Purse. I was glad she reminded me of it since I was having to concentrate so very hard to stay conscious. The bleeding finally stopped. I knew I was no longer in danger.

Now to make it into the tub to clean both of us up a bit. Somehow I managed to get in long enough to wash Ezra and I up. My brain was still quite fuzzy during this time and I felt very out of breath. Christina sat by my side keeping a watchful eye on us while Tom cleared the floor of the blood and towels. Things are pretty fuzzy from this point on, but I somehow made it into bed with my baby. We were both going to be okay.

Now, many people may read this and say that this is why they want to be in a hospital and that homebirth isn't safe. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I would have to say that I wouldn't change where I birthed. My baby was brought safely, gently, and in love into this world. No one panicked while I was in labor from a drop in fetal heart tones. No one scared me that my baby would die if I didn't birth him in their time. No one rushed me into a surgical birth that would permanently damage my body and make my recovery incredibly long and hard compared to the birth that I had. My baby was not robbed of the plethora of benefits from having a natural physiological birth. I take responsibility for my pregnancies and births with much thought, research, and prayer. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have gathered over the years. I am grateful I was home.

Ezra McCormick weighed in at 10.3 lbs. and was 23 inches long.

Ezra at 5 days old

Ezra at 10 days old

Grabbing hold of the tzit tziot

A Doula's Perspective

2013-05-21T10:41:00.000-05:00

I recently was blessed to be able to attend my second birth as a doula. I have to say that I am addicted. What a fulfilling feeling you get from serving these laboring mamas! Outside of the calling of wife, mother, and sharing the Good News there is no other service that brings me such joy and peace.

This is my account of the last birth I was privileged to attend written for my sweet and very strong client, Denise.

A Doula's Perspective

I got the much anticipated call around 6:30 a.m., jumped out of bed, and readied myself for what the day may bring. I prayed on and off the entire 45 minute trip for this precious family's dreams of a natural, healthy, and peaceful birth to unfold before us. When I arrived Denise seemed to be in the early active phase of labor. She had a faint and hopeful smile and such a beautiful countenance about her. Scott was getting things together and was speaking in hushed tones giving his brother instructions.

I wasn't there but a minute or two and Denise had a contraction. They were short but breathtaking. She would start feeling the surge and kneel down at the coffee table to ride the wave of her contraction. She seemed serious, but completely in control. When it was over she mentioned how strong and hard it was. She was feeling all of the pain in her front to lower abdomen and was very nauseous on and off. She mentioned that she had thrown up before I had gotten there. Her contractions had started around 4:30 that morning. That made me start to think that she was further along than I had originally mentally assessed. Her contractions seemed to come one on top of the other with little rest in between. She breathed well through them moving from birth ball, kneeling, and to the bathroom. She seemed so in control and able to converse in between them that I had thought that surly things would be getting much stronger. Around 8:15 Denise's water broke. After the second time of her vomiting I felt strongly that we needed to get to the hospital. I let her and Scott know that we needed to get going now. For the record, Scott wanted to leave 15 minutes before that. Her contractions really started to build more and more and it was taking her longer than I wanted to get out the door and into the car. One of the sweetest memories I have of the labor is Scott supporting Denise with her hands around his neck through a contraction right by the back door. They finally got in the car and we were off to the hospital 15 minutes away.

We arrived at the hospital at what I would guess was 8:45. I walked into the emergency entrance to Denise gingerly getting into the wheelchair, Scott giving the desk information, and a nurse ready to wheel her off. Denise started having another contraction so I asked the nurse to please wait while I helped her breathe through it. I held Denise's hand and coached her to moan through it and silently prayed in my mind for Abba to please be with her during this very tough time to come. Poor thing! She was so uncomfortable for this bumpy ride and continued to have contractions closer together and decidedly more intense than before.

We got up to the room and a nurse handed her a specimen cup and a gown to put on. At this point Denise had already said a couple of times that she was having A LOT of pressure in her bottom and was feeling pushy. I reiterated this to the nurse who seemed to not be in any hurry at all and more concerned about her urine specimen. lol Denise breathed through contractions as she got undressed, got her gown on, and headed for the bathroom for that sample. Denise seemed frustrated by this, but tried to give it. She couldn't or just gave up and told me, "I can't do this right now." I told her jokingly that I don't know how in the world they expect a pregnant laboring woman to even reach to pee in a cup.

Denise made her way to the bed and got in the best she could saying the entire time how much pressure she was feeling. When her next contraction came she was half grunting half breathing through them. The nurse came in and examined her. She was complete and ready to push but the doctor was still en route. Denise asked for Scott who was still downstairs. The nurse kept telling her to breathe through the contractions. My heart went out to Denise who was truly felling such intense urges to bear down. It felt like torture to me to ask her to breathe through these contractions. But breathe she did, just like the powerful woman she is. The doctor finally arrived and they broke down the bed to my dismay since it left little room for position change. Scott finally arrived and I could sense the relief she felt. It's amazing the comfort a husband can bring a woman with just his presence. Somewhere around this time staff came in with all kinds of forms for Denise to sign. This was both comical and annoying to me at the same time. They're reading her all of this stuff and she's just trying to make it through contractions. She opened her eyes long enough to sign these papers that I doubt she even heard what they said and then took her fingerprint. It was amusing because they were so serious and insistent but annoying because they were breaking the mood and atmosphere of her birth.

Finally all of the red tape had been taken care of and she could get down to this business of birthing her long awaited son. I stood on her left coaching her and keeping her cool with a damp cloth and Scott stood on her right holding her hand and whispering in her ear. There was a lot of pushing and for what seemed a very long time. I'm not sure on the time period since I couldn't find the clock. She was so calm and controlled in between contractions. The doctor talked to both mom and dad asking questions now and then. At one point she had been pushing a while and the seriousness in the room seemed to increase...hope started to deflate. The doctor started asking Denise about how far she got with her last birth. You see, Denise was attempting a VBAC. It was her hope, her dream, her goal. We all told the doctor that the last birth, her sweet Kennedy, went about this far. I had so wanted to initiate a position change or two earlier but the doctor seemed determined to have her in the usual position. When it seemed to me that the doctor was going to suggest another C-section I asked him if he would allow us to help her push in a different position to which his response was, "You can, but I don't think it will help." Shortly after, he lowered the bed a little saying that he thought a more straight path would free baby up to come through the birth canal.

You see, right before that I think a miracle happened in the room. The doctor reassured Denise that baby would be coming out one way or the other. At first I thought it was just a cheap reassurance that we would get a baby even if it had to be by C-section, but then he said baby would be coming "this way" implying vaginally. Once again hope soared through the room and Denise was empowered with new strength, new resolve to bring this baby into the world. It wasn't long and baby Gavin came forth into this room and into his mom's capable arms who had prayed for him, hoped for him, longed to give him a beautiful and peaceful start on the journey of life. Denise was such a great laborer and her hard work and resolve had paid off. It was a blessing and a privilege to be a part in her journey and the beginning of little Gavin's. Thank you, Scott and Denise, for allowing me to serve you. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob bless your family and keep you through the days to come.

More on Planning

2013-01-02T09:09:00.000-06:00

Today I'd like to post a link to a guest post on Amy's blog Raising Arrows. I enjoy quite a bit from Amy's blog. It's one of my go-to blogs when I need tips or encouragement. Today she posted an article by the creator of Daily Planner on how to use a planner. It's very informative for those who don't know how to use a planner or just can't seem to make one work.

"Written schedules are not laws that can’t be changed, but rather they serve as guide to help you plan what is reasonable. Freely modifying your schedule is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength. It is important to make wise choices that are best just for today."

She is also offering free shipping for her 2013 planner. I've never used this particular one, but you might like to check it out.

The How and Why of Using a Planner in 2013

Shalom,

Julie

30 Days of Soup

2013-01-01T13:30:00.001-06:00

This coming month I'm doing 30 days of soups. It's just that kind of weather and we love soups. My husband and kids aren't the types that need meat at every meal so I get no complaints from them. Soups are also a great way to stay hydrated during the winter when we typically drink less.

As I said in my post Meal Planning Saved My Life it makes for an easier cooking month to double and freeze half of the months meals. Below is my menu. DF means double and freeze. PL means planned leftovers. If a soup has cream in it it is better to take out your PL and freeze before you add the cream. When you reheat your soup you can add your cream in at the end so it does not curdle when reheated.

I've included links for most of the recipes for your ease and enjoyment.

May you have a blessed time as you use your heart and hands to serve your family!

Shalom,

Julie

6th- Sherried Tomato Soup & Grilled Pesto, Tomato, and Cheese Sandwiches

7th- Cauliflower Soup & Focaccia Bread

8th- French Onion Soup & Caesar Salad

9th- Italian Meatball Soup

10th-Vegetable Soup and Cornbread

11th-Homemade Chicken and Noodles

12th-Baked Ziti, Caesar Salad, Rolls, and Cake (James' Bar Mitzvah)

13th-Corn Chowder w/Chilies & baked potates

14th- Italian Chicken Soup

15th- Broccoli Cheese Soup in bread bowls

16th- White Chicken Chili w/Mexican Cornbread

17th- Brazilian Chicken Soup

18th- Savory Kale, Cannellini Bean, and Potato Soup & Challah

19th- PL Sherried Tomato Soup & Challah

20th- Corn & Cheese Chowder in bread bowls

21st- PL Sherried Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

22nd- PL Italian Meatball Soup

23rd- Lentil Chili and cornbread

24th- PL Homemade Chicken and Noodles

25th- PL Corn Chowder w/Chilies & Challah

26th- PL Italian Chicken Soup

27th- PL Broccoli Cheese Soup in bread bowls

28th- PL White Chicken Chili w/Mexican Cornbread

29th- PL Brazilian Chicken Soup

30th- PL Savory Kale, Cannellini Bean, and Potato Soup

31st- PL Corn & Cheese Chowder

1st- Cheeseburger Soup & Challah

2nd- PL Vegetable Soup & Cornbread

3rd- PL Lentil Chili & Cornbread

4th- Taco Soup served w/sour cream and tortilla chips

Meal Planning Saved My Life

2012-12-24T09:43:00.000-06:00

Meal Planning Saved My Life

(or just saves me gobs of time)

Many ladies have asked me about my once a month meal planning. I promised to post my menu from last month on Face Book, but I’ve decided to blog about it instead. I hear all the time from other mamas about how they should be better at meal planning or how they could never plan a whole month at a time. It’s really not that difficult. It just takes a 2-3 hour commitment once a month, a good day planner, your collection of recipes, and some peace and quiet. I know that last part will be the hardest to come by :oD

Before I post my menu from last month let me give you a few tips and ideas to maximize your efforts.

1. I’m sure you all do like me. You print out a recipe you find on the net and then it disappears, gets thrown away, or ruined. Well, no more! Get a 3” three ring binder to place all of your recipes in. Buy clear report sleeves to slide in your recipes. This keeps them clean and easily organized. You can also conveniently tear a page out of a magazine with a recipe on it, slide it in your sleeve, and try it out when you feel inspired. Organize your recipes in any way you like. Mine are in this order; breads, soups, main dishes, sides, desserts, drinks, and “to try later”. I also have a box of recipes on index cards.

2. Go through your recipes and find your favorites. Now is the time to plan for a small budget or upcoming holidays in mind.

3. Get a nice Day Timer. I use one from Walmart called Family Plus. It’s a perfect weekly/monthly all in one planner and will fit most needs for being organized.

4. Plan out holidays or special meals first. This allows you to get the hard stuff out of the way and gives you an idea of how to budget the rest of the month’s meals. For me I go straight for the holidays - and there are a lot in the Bible :D- and birthdays, again there are a lot when you have nine kids. After that I just start planning out the rest of the month saving Sabbath meals (Saturday) for planned freezer meals. This keeps my prep day more gratuitous, if you know what I mean.

5. As you pencil in your meals for the week, write down the grocery list directly at the top of your planner (if you use the one I suggested there is a place for this). This saves time and keeps some of the monotony at bay. I shop for all of my non-perishables and freezable foods once a month. This tremendously cuts down the time I spend during my weekly shopping trips. Not everyone can do that, but you will still have your weekly list already made out for you. It’s so nice not to have to worry about it on a weekly basis.

I’ve always wanted to do the whole Once a Month Cooking thing, but cooking 30 meals for 11 people sounds like a breakdown just waiting to happen. What I can do is double quite a few of my meals to freeze for another time in the month. It takes very little extra time to double your meal since you’re already chopping, peeling, sautéing, etc. anyway. For example; one of my meals was Fettuccini Primavera, Salad, and Garlic Knots. I doubled the veg part of the Primavera, bagged half in a freezer bag, and labeled it Fettuccini Primavera. It was then put in the freezer for whatever day we would have that meal later in the month when I would thaw it and prepare the rest of the meal. All that was left for me to do was boil pasta, throw a salad together, and make garlic knots (these can also be pre-made and frozen). The other nice thing about having pre-made meals in the freezer is when you don’t feel like having whatever is planned out that day you can grab one of your freezer meals instead. This works out nicely when you have a particularly taxing day or kids get sick.

So, here it is:
November Menu

This will give you an idea of what I do and how it works. I’m not including recipes. THAT would be too much work ;) If you want you can just Google the recipe and find one that will work for your family.

I hope this blesses your home as it has blessed mine.

Shalom,

Julie

I Love Fluffy Bottoms

2012-12-14T00:21:00.000-06:00

Yes, I love fluffy bottoms with leopard prints. I never, and I mean n e v e r, thought I would be that weird, crunchy, cloth diapering mom. I mean that’s just sick. Ya know! But here I am. Sitting back watching all those other moms with their babies in those old plain, white, noisy diapers with the exact same character on them as everyone else’s kid and thinking to myself, “my baby sure does look super cute in her awesome fluff that makes her bottom look twice as big.” You want to know what’s worse?!? Come a little closer and I’ll whisper it. Shhhhh! I make and use reusable baby wipes. There. I said it. I know what you’re thinking, cause I thought the same thing. Gross, right?! Not even close.

Cloth diapering has opened up a whole new world to me. Anyone who cloth diapers or has looked into cloth diapering these days knows that there are about a jillion different options and levels of commitments. Seriously! It’s mind blowing. I began this adventure almost a year and a half ago and if you read my original post My New Adventure you’ll know that I made a commitment to CDing no matter what. Well, I stuck to it and it’s been almost too easy.

A jillion different options. You think I’m kidding!? Just do a search for cloth diapers and see how many different companies, types, fabrics, colors, shapes, sizes, etc. come up. The list goes on and on. I’ve used just about every type of CD that’s out there which is important since every baby is different and every momma’s needs and preferences are diverse. It’s good to find a friend or CD community that you can draw knowledge and experience from. I had a friend give me multiple types of diapers, so I was able to get a feel for what I liked best.

What am I using a year and a half later? Pretty much the cheapest pocket diaper out there. I started out using pre-folds and covers. I thought they were nice and easy until I ordered two KaWaii bamboo minky pocket diapers from theluvyourbaby website. Is it possible to fall in love with a diaper???I do believe it is :o) And it was love at first sight. Anyone who has gotten fluff mail can tell you how exciting it is to open up that package and pull out the coolest accessory a baby can wear. It was so soft and fluffy and bright and….well, I know... it’s just a diaper, but it felt like the Ferrari of diapers to me. These diapers cost me less than $11 each which is a great price considering the piece of junk Fuzzibunz brand diapers cost me $20 bucks a pop. Those things didn’t hold in vapor.

My KaWaii bamboo minkies are soft, absorbant, easy to use and care for, adorable to look at, and nowhere near as bulky as most CDers. I have about 20 of them and they’re just as beautiful and functional as when I first purchased them. They come with two inserts and I use them both. I have a toddler and a two y.o. who wear them at night with only a rare leak to speak of. That’s way less than when I used disposables. What’s even more amazing is in almost a year and a half I’ve only had one blow out of the back of the diaper and it happened just the other day. A.MAZE.ING. I’ve never had a disposable hold in messes like these do. The few times that I’ve used disposables since my journey in CD Land I've found myself grumbling under my breath about how I "hate stupid disposables." And I sure hate throwing money in the trash, too!

If you want to know all the mesmerizing details of my CD life (the how tos) you’ll have to check out my next post :o)

Shalom,

Julie

Yom Kippurim

2012-09-28T02:07:00.001-05:00

Yom Kippurim

Lev 23:27-32 “On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart gathering for you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה.

“And you do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before יהוה your Elohim.

“For any being who is not afflicted on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people.

“And any being who does any work on that same day, that being I shall destroy from the midst of his people.

“You do no work – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

‘It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you observe your Sabbath.”

This is how we spent the last 24 hours, “afflicting our being.” Each year we fast, pray, repent, focus on the atoning work of Yeshua ha Moshiach, and read the book of Yonah/Jonah. This year started out as such a blessed time. We tuned in to Passion For Truth Ministries'live Kol Nidre service. Each member of our family went around hugging and asking forgiveness of each other. Asher 5 and Analise 3 especially blessed this momma’s heart by going around at random times and asking for forgiveness. It was such a sweet time and we could really sense the Ruach’s/Spirit’s presence.

During the day we spent time reading the Word, praying, meditating, and reciting the Al Chet prayer (which has become a very special prayer to us). All fasted from Brice 8 up. Asher 5 said he wanted to, but could only make it to lunch. We were all so proud of Brice and Asher : ). We have adopted the tradition of reading the book of Yonah on this day and so I centered some children’s activities around it to give the adults time to be by ourselves uninterrupted throughout the day and to keep them somewhat occupied.

I borrowed heavily from this site for our children's activities. Below are some pictures from our day.

Shalom and may your name be found in the Book of Life!

Julie

Asher coloring our "big fish".

Analise

Daddy encouraging Bricie that he could make it until the end of the fast and telling him how pleased he was of him :)

Joel reading Job

Bethany highlighting some meaningful Scripture

Dylan and James studying

Asher and his Book of Life coloring page

Bricie with his Yonah coloring page

A game of "Pin Yonah on the Big Fish"

Analise made it in the fish

My Zippy giving it a try

They asked to play multiple times. I guess it was a hit :)

They don't look too afflicted do they? Don't worry. They were afflicted when I told them no movies several times throughout the day. lol

Zippy eating his natural lollypop for pooping on the potty!

They played a game of "Throw Yonah Overboard" in which they had to toss their Yonah into the "big fishes" mouth.

Zippy's turn!

Yaffa's 1st Year

2012-09-25T01:12:00.002-05:00

Yaffa Joy

Today Yaffa is 1 year old!!! She has been such a blessing, a joy, my easiest birth and easiest baby. Thank You SO much, Abba, for this reprieve. This has been a trying year in so many ways, but Yaffa was not one of them.

. 1.I’m thankful that Yaffa has been sick only once in her first year.

2. I'm thankful Yaffa wakes each morning so excited to see me.

3. I’m thankful for her chubby little arms that she throws straight up in the air for me to pick her up.

4. I’m thankful for long legs and cute toes that demand to be chewed and sniffed while nursing.

5. I’m thankful for our sweet cuddles at bedtime as she lays her head on my shoulder and pats my back.

6. I am especially thankful for the Beautiful Joy she brings to my life.

Abba, may You bless her and guide her all of her days. May she live her life in the way of our Moshiach, Yeshua. Pour out Your Spirit upon her to live a kadosh and righteous life.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…

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Family Update

2012-09-18T10:45:00.000-05:00

Fun Family Update

It’s been QUITE a while since my last post. Summer was hot hot hot and a wee bit…..distracting. There are so many things that seem to take priority over writing and rightfully so. I’d rather be known for living life than just writing about it. But there are times when you know you need to sit down and document what’s going on around you before you’re pondering where the years have gone and trying to remember who did what and when. This post is a family update on what’s what and who’s who lately.

Bethany

Bethany will be 18 in December O.o (yes, those are my eyes bugging out!) Where has the time gone??? There were times when I thought we’d never get through her childhood and times when I could feel the eminency of it creeping up on me.

Bethany is turning into such a lovely young lady even though she has had to overcome (and still is overcoming) many struggles over the years. Isn’t that the way a butterfly forms? I know our Heavenly father is perfecting her beauty for His great name’s sake! Her passion for the Word and dedication to purity is unrelenting and a great example to the rest of the family.

Bethany’s duties, which she rarely needs reminded of, are: the family laundry, helping with dishes, setting the table, keeping us all on task (she calls herself our “day planner”), and mom’s babysitter. She’s always on task and likes to get things done, l o v e s books of all kinds, writes book reviews and stories, and ponders much about her future. I don’t know what Yahweh has in store for her, but whatever it is will be a great testimony of His faithfulness.

Dylan

Dylan just turned 15 last Friday, is taller than his dad (yes, little Dilly Willy), ~~hates school~~ is not educationally minded, is bow crazy!, wears nothing but camo –well mostly-, has mad survival skills, can build a mean fort, and is THE hardest working 15 year old I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Dylan works about 25 hours a week with his dad, donating most of his earnings toward helping his family out with bills. He’s managed to buy himself a few things, too, like a new bow for deer season. He’s planning on filling the freezer this fall. He’s also quite generous and has bought his brothers new airsoft guns so they can run around pelting each other with them.

Anyone who knows Dylan knows how he loves babies. Yaffa is no different. He carries and coddles her daily. He just can’t turn down her pleas to be picked up and played with.

James

Jordan, who prefers to be called by his first name James now- which is just so hard since he’s always been my Jordy (sniff sniff)- is such a wise and responsible young man (most of the time). He is 12 and takes much responsibility on himself. He’s chosen to be Zion’s buddy and takes that very seriously. He thoughtfully takes into consideration other’s needs and feelings, usually before his own. He’s well-mannered and very friendly. His never-met-a-stranger personality is heartwarming and inspiring.

~~Jordan~~ James loves all things outdoorsy, especially gardening. He aspires to either be a farmer or an herbalist. He does much reading and field work on the subject. It’s amazing what that boy has picked out of the yard and put into a smoothie :o) He also enjoys spending tons of time with Dylan and Joel building, destroying, playing airsoft, or doing some kind of death defying feat. James is also working on a long list of bar mitzvah requirement for his upcoming 13^th birthday since he’s decided to publicly become a son of the commandments. He’s studying very hard (as usual). James is passionately teaching himself to play the mandolin, fiddle, and harmonica. My favorite thing about my Jordy is he always has a hug for me and can always lift my spirits.

Joel

Joel is my resident aspiring chef and Bobby Flay wannabe. He’s just turned 11, but he already knows he wants to own his own kosher restaurant. He’ll be great, too! He’s relentless at learning his way around a kitchen and is currently taking a Wilton cake decorating course. He’s internally motivated –which is the best kind of student.

Joel does his school work with minimal complaining and is a good student. He’d rather be out climbing a tree or playing airsoft though. He’s teaching himself the guitar in his spare time along with the harmonica. We have some fantastic friends who have given the oldest boys some instruments.

Joel struggles at times with being one of the middle children, not quite fitting in with the older boy’s maturity at times, but too old to enjoy the younger one’s company for extended periods. He always tries to make the littles happy by taking them out to play or swing, getting them drinks or snacks, and chasing them around and being crazy. He can be quite thoughtful at times. My Joel always wants to please and is usually very respectful.

Brice

Brice is now 8 and very smart. Most things come easy to him except knowing when to stop. Sometimes it’s hard to know when to pick my battles as to not break his spirit. He’s got a lot of energy and a love for all things electronic. He would sit at a computer all day long if we let him. Brice also loves playing board games. His most asked question would be, “Do you wanna play a game?” He’s really into Risk and Scrabble right now. He’s worn us all out on Chess. lol

Brice has a heart to serve and is always trying to help. His responsibilities are emptying the trashes, and rinsing dishes. On our cleaning day, he is also eager to vacuum, sweep, and mop and is disappointed if he doesn’t get to do at least one of them. Brice is memorizing the Ten Commandments and usually asks to say the blessings on Friday night (I think he just likes to wear his daddy’s tallit) .

Asher

Asher means happy and boy is he! If you need a smile or a hug, he’s got about a dozen for you. Asher and Analise play with their stuffed animals just about all day long. They have quite the imagination. Asher also likes to play video games with Brice and climb trees in the yard. Asher turned 5 in February so we began his K-5 curriculum. He can already read a slew of one vowel words and sentences. He really enjoys his school and is especially good at math (a first for my kids, besides maybe Brice who’s just good at it all). We’ll probably be starting 1^st grade work in January at this rate.

Asher has a heart for prayer and passionately prays at the dinner table, family devotion time, in bed, and whenever else prayer is needed. On Friday nights when it’s time for husbands to bless their wives, Asher always comes over with Tom and lays his hand on my head and prays along with his dad. Blesses.My.Heart.Every time!

Analise

Princess Analise is…. well… quite the princess. Both her first and middle names mean grace. And BOY do we need it with her! She’s very sensitive and wants what she wants exactly when she wants it. She is most times entirely not amused. Came out of the womb that way. I pray every night that Yahweh will help her to be content and joyful…..He must still be working on that. She and Asher are the best of buds doing all things together. She mimics most of what Asher says and does except being joyful and content (funny how that works).

Analise likes playing with her stuffed animals and baby dolls dressing and undressing, diapering, and carrying them around the house. She really likes playing Feeding Frenzy on her brothers Xbox and would like to play games on the computer if we let her. One of her funny moments was recently when she meowed her prayers and on another night when she prayed, “…and help us not to hit or throw people through the window…”. I about choked trying not to laugh about that one. You can tell she has 6 brothers can’t you?

I really enjoy having another girl in this house so full of overflowing testosterone. Tom is convinced that all girls have major drama issues after raising Bethany and now observing Analise for almost 4 years, but I think Yaffa will prove him wrong : )

Zion

Zion is our 2 year old ray of sunshine. He wakes up happy and ready to fill the day with excitement and adventure. He has a craving for all things soft; blankets, clothes, diapers, stuffed animals (LOTS of stuffed animals), my robe, the end of my braid…the list just goes on. He’s cuddly and sweet. Talks eloquently (for a 2 year old) and is the most photogenic child we have. He amuses me with his sweet and loving disposition every day. I could just contentedly watch my Zippy be Zippy for as long as my life will allow.

Yaffa

Yaffa Loo, as we call her, is an amazing baby! She snuggles and gives sweet hugs. Mostly, my babies have not been snugglers, so, I’m thoroughly enjoying this time I have with my snuggly girl. She’s always smiling and is most of the time content. She loves going outside and being in her swing. Her favorite sibling would be Dylan (all my babies loved Dylan). Yaffa is just beginning to walk. I thought she’d be walking way before her 1^st birthday on September 25^th, but she’s savoring her cuddle and carry time with everyone. I am very much enjoying my time with my Yaffa Loo and hope that time can slow down even just a wee bit so that I can take in all of the beauty and wonder of motherhood.

I hope you enjoyed the update on all the kiddos. I look forward to the many adventures, memories, and journeys ahead.

Shalom,

Julie XO

May 7 A Smell You Adore

2012-05-09T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hands down a freshly bathed baby would be a smell I just adore. The newer the baby the better, but even the smell of my 7 month old after a bath is intoxicating!

Tom took the first two pictures since Yaffa was so cranky (teething, bleck). I took the rest.

May 7 Someone Who Inspires You

2012-05-08T09:55:00.003-05:00

Someone who has inspired me is definitely my daughter Bethany. For a very long time my husband and I had gone back and forth about whether or not it was immodest to wear pants or not, never being able to really come to a conclusion on the matter. Meanwhile, Bethany began wearing skirts on a regular basis. I noticed how pretty and feminine she looked when in a skirt or dress as opposed to shorts or pants. That's when I decided that I'd like to look as pretty and feminine as she was looking.

I've also had others who inspired me by their pretty femininity with their quiet examples. A special thanks to the Bounds ladies who are impeccably beautiful, inside and out.

So, I wear skirts and dresses because I am a woman and should look like one at all times, which automatically takes care of the modesty issue of pants or skirts.

I hope we can inspire you to take the "One Week Challenge" to set aside your pants and shorts and wear a skirt or dress for just one week. Pay attention to how you feel and how others look and treat you. Leave me a comment and let me know how it went.

Shalom,

Julie

May 6 You

2012-05-08T09:33:00.000-05:00

As you can see I skipped May 5. I was too busy studying Scripture on Shabbat to sit out and wait for a bird to capture with my extremely slow camera. So, onward and upward to May 6 : )

May 6 picture is titled You. I had all kinds of ideas, creative, too, but time and life got away from me. The picture below was taken on the 7th after taking my Someone Who Inspires You picture. I just happen to catch a glimpse of my shadow and thought, well that's me. The sun didn't leave a very figure flattering shadow, but here it is :oD

May 4 Fun!

2012-05-08T09:11:00.000-05:00

When I think of fun I think of Erev Shabbat dinner, blessings, followed by praise and worship with dance. Each week there's always someone begging everyone else to get up and do the Hora with them. It's such a blessing to see my children joyfully worshiping with dance before YHVH.

Brice asked to lead the blessings last week.

Jordan, Bethany, Dylan, Brice, and Joel doing the Hora.

May 3 What I Wore Today

2012-05-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

What I wore today are symbols of things very close to my heart. The first being my wedding band from Israel inscribed with "Ani L'Dodi, v'Dodi Li" (I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine), which is the most well-known quote from "Shir HaShirim," or "The Song of Songs," written by King Solomon in the language of a beautiful, romantic declaration between a husband and wife, as an allegory for the love between the people of Israel and YHVH. The second, also from Israel, is my Am Yisreal Chai necklace, meaning "life to the people of Israel" or "live people of Israel". I couldn't decide which picture I liked the best so I decided to post all four. You can let me know which is your favorite.

Shalom,

Julie

May 2 Skyline

2012-05-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

This is the night time skyline from my deck. It was very cloudy and had rained on and off most of the day.

Julie

May's Picture a Day

2012-05-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

Someone posted a list of picture a day prompts for May on Facebook and I just loved the idea and motivation to get out and take pictures. All of my pictures will be shot with my HP camera with six measly megapixels, but just know that my heart thinks I'm shooting with my dream camera : )

I have also given this as an assignment to my four oldest children who will also be blogging about their daily photo. I thought it a perfect opportunity to stretch their creativity, work on photography, photo editing, grammar, writing, and a load of other skills. Gotta love homeschooling! My oldest son isn't too happy about it, so, my husband had to remind him how blessed he truly is to be home schooled. He still doesn't quite get it, but hopefully someday....

May 1 Peaceful

When I first saw that they had hayed this field down the road from my house I knew I just had to get a picture of it. I love the look of a freshly hayed field with all those perfect looking round bails dispersed throughout. There's just something serene, almost perfect about this scene to me.

Julie

Are You With Me? Part 4

2012-04-02T09:04:00.000-05:00

And the results of my "Are You With Me Challenge" are.....drum roll please!

A whole nine pounds! Okay, so, it's not a huge amount, BUT I did meet my goal to get into the 150s. This morning I weighed myself and I was 159. I really would have liked to get down to 153 by the end of the challenge. I did lose somewhere around 6 1/2 inches total from my thighs, butt, hips, waist, tummy, and chest. I didn't start measuring until week two so I could have lost more. I was getting disappointed with the scale so I decided to start checking results from my actual body.

Even though I didn't lose all I wanted, it has been a good learning experience. I did learn that I am not addicted to food. I also learned that my liver seriously needs detoxed. I believe I would have lost much more had I been able to do the liver cleanse along with the program. I do plan on doing a liver cleanse after baby turns a year or after she weans. You can read more about the effects of a toxic or fatty liver here.

Another great thing is that I've already lost more than all the baby weight from Yaffa and she's only six months old. I have NEVER lost all of the baby weight before my babies turned a year. NEVER. Now I can start losing some of the accumulated baby weight from some of my other lovelies : D

I am going to continue my P90X workout routine. I love that it doesn't get boring since there are so many videos and types of workouts meant to be rotated. Boredom is one of my biggest excuses for lack of exercise. I am also going to start adding other grains besides wheat into our diet.

So, thanks, Shoshanna, for this great experience. I hope I win your Making Babies series, but if not, it was still well worth it.

Shalom,

Julie

Are You With Me? Part 3

2012-03-15T10:56:00.001-05:00

Oh bother! Feeling a little like Eeyore today. Lost a big fat zero pounds this week :/ Discouraged? Yes. Giving up? No way! Pounds are not the only way to measure fitness success. So, I'll list a few of this week's successes.

1. We ran/walked a 5K! How fun is that! Earth Fare hosted it's 2nd annual Ketchup Family Fun Run last weekend. The entire family got up before 6:00 a.m. to be in the parking lot by 7:00 for registration. That in itself was an accomplishment. lol So there I was with two children in a double stroller with "Chunky" (aka Yaffa) wrapped around my body ready to run, er, walk a 5K. I jogged a whole minute and a half until I got in front of the really old people so I wouldn't be the "rotten tomato" of the race. I finished my "power walk" in 56 minutes. Not bad. Oh, btw, I wasn't the rotten tomato, but those two old people that I wanted to get in front of in the beginning passed me up in the last 3 minutes of the race. We all had a really great time and the family was immediately talking about doing another one very soon. Sheesh! Give a mom a break! Below are a few pictures.

2. I out endured my husband. Tom joined me for one of my workouts this week and could barely keep up. Yes, he's recovering from a back injury, but still! I could never have out done him on his worst day ever. Now for me, that's an accomplishment! Below are a couple of pictures Tom took of me doing my plyometrics (jump training) workout.

3. I feel stronger and have more energy. I'm sore just about every day. But somehow it's a good sore. Not so much that I can't function, but just enough to tell my mind that, "Yeah, you worked out and it makes a difference". My body reminds me that I am getting stronger and that my labors are not in vain.

I did have a couple of weak days. I really wanted to cheat and have some kind of yummy goodness, stuff I usually wouldn't even normally eat, BUT I had self control. I did not want to sabotage myself. Besides, I know from past experiences that it never feels worth it afterwards. It doesn't really fill that void or bring you comfort. What really brings you comfort at the end of the day is to be able to say with complete conviction, "I did my best!"

This week's lesson: Do your best and forget the rest!

Shalom,

Julie

Are You With Me? Part 2

2012-03-08T14:11:00.000-06:00

It's been one week since I started Shoshanna's Are You With Me challenge. I have to say it's been quite easy. I thought I'd really mourn the dairy (I've gone dairy-free before) and my beloved bread, but honestly it's been no big deal. We even went on a weekend getaway and I had no problems.

It's definitely a mindset. You have to be ready and convinced in your own mind that this is what you need to do. I know that I need to get this extra weight off. I know that I need to get in shape. I know that I need more energy. I'm a much more pleasant mommy and wife when I'm fit. So, here I am, plugging along on this life long journey.

So, what have I done this week? As far as food goes, I already have dairy-free options at my house since five of my children are allergic to dairy. I'm very aware of the foods that contain it. We went out to eat four nights this past week. I had a grilled chicken salad with oil and vinegar from Subway, a burger no bun and french fries from Five Guys, `Grilled Chicken with rice and corn on the cob from Chilis, and a Moe's naked (no shell) burrito eaten with my tortilla chips. Wednesdays are breakfast night at my house. We had scrambled eggs, potato and turkey sausage hash, and biscuits. I purchased a gluten free biscuit mix. The biscuits were yummy. I even reheated one today for lunch and ate tuna salad on top. Breakfasts and lunches have mostly been smoothie with protein powder and Erin's Green Drink Mix. I really enjoy smoothies. They're quick and easy.

I got in my one hour of exercise each day except two that we were in the car all day traveling on our trip. I did my P90X workouts and walked on the day we were on vacation.. Tom even bought me a heart rate monitor that tells me when I'm in "the zone" and how many calories I've burned during my workouts. I feel much better when I get in my exercise. It's nice just knowing that I'm doing something so great for my body and being a good example to my children.

In addition to this week's diet changes and continued exercise I have been gently cleansing my body by taking bentonite clay capsules and drinking lots of water with lemon or lime. I would like to add some extra fiber next week, but I need to order it. You can watch a video by Shoshanna on cleansing while pregnant or nursing here.

This week's results have been more than I had expected. I have more energy, I have learned that I have more resolve than I had thought, and I lost five pounds! I'm so happy with this progress.

This coming week I hope to add another half an hour a day activity that will get the blood flowing, try some new gluten free recipes, and add in the extra fiber. Oh and did I mention the family will be running/walking in a Fun Family 5K this weekend? Uh huh. Sure are!

Are you with me? It's never too late too improve your life.

Shalom!

Are You With Me?

2012-03-01T15:11:00.001-06:00

I order most of my herbs through Bulk Herb Store and get their weekly e-newsletters. Last week Shoshanna posted a challenge, Are You With Me?. It's her diet and exercise challenge. Basically she's going wheat, dairy, and sugar free and exercising for 1 hour a day for the entire month of March. I've been exercising, but I get terribly bored with the same things all the time and am always looking for ways to change up what I'm doing. This sounded like a great challenge for me since I've gone sugar and dairy free before, but not wheat free. Now I'll be doing all three! Great! I'm up for that! There's an added bonus. Whomever makes the most progress at the end of the month will win Shoshanna's Making Babies DVD Series. You have to document your progress, so, I'll be doing that here.

My starting weight is 168. We'll see how many pounds I can shed by the end of the month.

Are YOU with me?

Julie

A Doula's Perspective

2011-11-09T12:54:00.000-06:00

This was written by Leigh, my friend and my doula. I will always cherish my birth experience with little Yaffa Joy, thanks in part to my wonderful team, which Leigh was a part of.

Julie,

I was excited to be asked to be a part of your baby’s birth. After we talked early in your pregnancy about the uniqueness and significance you sensed surrounding this baby, I prayed that your Holy Father would give you wisdom and peace in walking through this pregnancy and that His Presence would fill your home during the labor and birth experience.

Your friend Sunshine and I had met only once, briefly, before coming to your home a few weeks before the birth to discuss your birth plan. I knew quickly that she and I were well suited as team mates for your labor and delivery. I was more comfortable in the role of helping manage labor, and she in the role of birthing assistant, and we were both committed to submitting all to the control of the Father.

A couple of things stand out to me as unexpected in your labor and delivery of Yaffa Joy. The first is that I was very impressed with your calm and composure throughout the labor, but especially toward the end. You had told us to expect a little panic from you during transition. I would have expected it anyway, but I appreciated the humble warning. I was fully prepared to dodge unseemly remarks and rice socks, but you stayed focused and remarkably well-spoken concerning your needs.

Another interesting aspect to this birth was the seeming lack of a pushing stage. At one point, Sunshine and I could tell that things were changing, but we could not tell how close to the delivery we were. You were managing well and still wanting to change positions. During this time, after indicating that you wanted to stand up, you walked surprisingly quickly toward the bathroom. Less than a minute later you were calling for Sunshine, and little Yaffa made her appearance.

It bothered me that I was not able to get Tom before Yaffa arrived, and that he heard of her birth from her own little lips. I know it was a disappointment to him to not be with you at her birth, and I pray the Father gives him a special peace to fill that void.

I feel very blessed to have been a part of welcoming Yaffa Joy to your family. I know that there is a unique calling on her life and that she will be a source of joy and comfort to you all.

Because of Him,

Leigh

2011-10-26T16:23:00.000-05:00

It's Been 1 Month!

It never ceases to amaze me how time flies with a newborn. If only pregnancy would fly by that quickly :) I'm also amazed that even though this is the ninth life I've given birth to it still feels just as much a miracle as the first. How awesome Yahweh has been to me!

Each month I'm going to try to blog about little Yaffa and ten things I'm thankful for that are related to her being in our lives. I hope you'll enjoy our trips down memory lane.

I'm thankful for.......

1. The heavenly smell of a newborn.

2. The velvety feel of Yaffa's face against mine.

3. The dozens of times a day that I get asked, "Can I hold Yaffa?"

4. The way Analise wants reaffirmed every day that when her "Waffa" gets big "she play with me?"

5. Snuggles with her each evening as we spend family time together.

6. Getting to dress up a little girl again. (I L O V E putting bows in her hair)

7. Nursing and rocking her until midnight each night.

8. Eight wonderful siblings to love and hold their sister.

9. The way Daddy gets jealous if he hasn't gotten to hold his Yaffa much that day.

10. Eyes that can gaze so contentedly at this very special and beautiful life in front of me each day.

Thank you, Yahweh, for this blessed life You have given me!

Julie

Who's In Control?

2011-10-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

This is from a Note that I wrote for Face Book last year. I thought I'd add it to my blog. Enjoy!

A friend recently asked what my position on birth control was. Below is my answer. I though I'd share it with whoever was interested.

Wellllll.... my position is to not judge anyone. What my husband and I practice is to not use ANY form of birth control. We completely allow the Father to open and close my womb. It's a very hard decision, especially now.Eight seems overwhelming right now, but Father continues to give me strength and endurance. Isn't that what we pray for, strength and endurance? Well, unless we have to endure and lift something heavy, how can we grow? Anyway, just preaching to myself : )

Scripture says children are gifts, reward, blessing, etc.... Our Greek mentality cannot grasp that. We consider wealth, homes, cars, vacations as blessings. All of that will pass away, but our children will live eternally, either in hell or in the Kingdom to come. It's a great responsibility. Also, in Scripture you see over and over Yahweh talking about opening and closing the womb. My stance is that pregnancy is not a mere biological function, but something mindfully controlled by the creator. Do I have all the answers? NO! But I can see the Father's hand in so many ways through pregnancy, birth, and the lives of my children.

I read an article about how Scripture says "and the woman will be saved through childbirth". Yes, this is an implication of the Messiah, but I've also seen how the Father has changed me more like Him through out the years and I believe that it has been through my children. I just told a friend embarking on marriage over Sukkot that I believe that I am a better mom now than I would have been had we stopped with just two children. I explain this in this way: I could have ran an immaculate house, seemed to have it all together, trained my children, had plenty of time and cushion to be a wife and mother, but through being maxed out I've been able to see what's truly in my heart. I've yelled and screamed, been impatient, been ugly, and on and on. All of this was in my heart then and even now, but it would have been easier to cover it up with less going on in my life. My children have brought out the ugliness in my heart so that I would have to deal with it and change. Just when I think I have overcome these things, along comes a pregnancy and out pops more. You see there is no refinement without pressure. My children are the pressure that the Father uses to refine me. Could He use other thing? Of course, but He is using blessings to refine me. After I'm through with the refinement I still have these wonderful blessings surrounding me. Did that make sense? I also HIGHLY recommend the book A Full Quiver. It is great. It answers all those questions you have and that others will have of you with Scripture and statistics.


Seven of my nine children.

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Shalom,

Julie

Yaffa Joy's Birth Story

2011-10-01T16:20:00.001-05:00

Dad is helping Joel cut the cord while Analise and Brice watch.

On September 25 at 7:56, Yahweh blessed us with the birth of our ninth child, Yaffa Joy. Yaffa in Hebrew means "beautiful". She is our Beautiful Joy! Here is my birth journey.

The week before Yaffa's birth I had some very strong contractions, strong enough that I decided to time them. They were pretty regular so I decided to take a shower, go to bed, and get some rest in case this was it. I awoke in the night with even stronger contractions that I tried to sleep in between. This went on for about three hours. BUT I awoke in the morning like normal, no contractions, no signs of baby coming. Boy was that a bummer, especially since every time in the past when I had felt contractions that strong I was in labor.

Fast forward through a semi-hormonal week, some very cranky moments, and almost no contractions to the 22nd. During that week I could tell that the baby's head was cockeyed in my pelvis. I called Val, the doula I had with Analise, to ask what I could do to get her head to straighten out. The two tips she gave were to get upside-down for a little while to pull baby out and possibly she would settle back in straight or to put a cold pack where her head was and a heating pad where her head needed to be. I did the first and her head went back cockeyed after a couple days. I did the second a couple days later and her head seemed to straighten back out and stay.

The nights of the 22nd and 23rd I awoke with strong, but sporadic contractions that lasted about three hours both nights. One of the contractions was so strong it made me jump out of bed and breathe through it. I also had bloody mucus throughout both days. Those two nights wore me out and I was so confused by the way this was going. You see, compared to all of my other births this was so different. If I'm feeling pain during a contraction I'm in labor and I don't remotely lose my mucus plug until transition. I'm not at all good at not knowing. I can pretty much handle the whats of life as long as I know the whens. So, not knowing when labor would begin and having all of the "signs" of labor was really wearing on me.

Usually my husband delivers my babies, but this time, because of a back injury, I would need to find someone brave and who understood labor to not be a medical emergency but a natural bodily function to deliver my baby (homebirth with a midwife is illegal here in Alabama) and another naturally minded woman to assist her and help and support me. The first people who came to mind were my friends Sunshine and Leigh. Sunshine had had a natural homebirth with a midwife and advocates midwifery and homebirth along with the dangers and misuse of the medical field during pregnancy and labor. I thought she'd be the perfect person to ask to do the delivery. She was thrilled to get to help her friend out in this way. Boy was I thankful that Yahweh had brought this bold and sweet friend in my life. I had previously asked my friend Leigh to help with my last birth, since she had attended births for friends and done some doula training, so I asked her if she'd be willing to help this time. She said she would! Baruch hashem, Yahweh!

The night of the 24th I called my labor partners, Sunshine and Leigh, to give them an update and for some prayer and emotional support. They both encouraged me that it would be soon and that they would be praying. Just talking to them really helped me to relax a bit about the whole thing.

That night the contractions started up just like the previous two nights. I tried to sleep in between them thinking, here we go again, another night of contractions all for nothing :/ Around 3:00 a.m. they kept coming and seemed to get stronger and more regular. I couldn't sleep so I decided to time the contractions. They were coming about every five minutes and lasting about a minute. They weren't letting up so I woke my husband up and told him I was going to take a shower and call Sunshine and Leigh. I took my shower and decided to wait a while longer to call since I still was leery of the contractions just stopping. I didn't want to bother anyone for nothing at that hour.

My husband got me some pregnancy tea and he sat out in the living room with me while I sat on my birth ball and waited....waited to see if this was indeed going to be it. They did get stronger and so I decided to call Sunshine around 4:30 and have her come since she lived the furthest away. My husband put on our favorite Messianic radio station so we could have a worshipful atmosphere. It was really nice to concentrate on praise for a time while I'd still be conscious of the music playing.

Sunshine arrived around 4:45 and my contractions slowed a bit. I told her I figured that would happen. We visited with one another in between contractions until they suddenly got intense and I had to concentrate more. The best way I could handle the contractions was to stand up and lean on the back of the love seat. Anything else made the contractions unbearable. Sunshine rubbed my back and pressed on my lower back which really helped. I told Sunshine to go ahead and call Leigh at what I believe was around 5:30.

By the time Leigh got here I was in the middle of a very strong contraction. She came right in and got to business. She brought cold rice socks and placed them on my neck and lower back. It was a great relief, especially the one on my neck since I was feeling nauseous from the intensity of the contractions. She reminded me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. I seemed to be gasping through my mouth instead. Breathing in through my nose cut the pain in half so I was very grateful for the reminder. She continued to remind me of this throughout my entire labor. Leigh also was right there physically for every contraction rubbing my back, squeezing my hips, suggesting position changes, helping me squat and on and on. I never felt alone or like a watched pot the whole labor. Sunshine was there getting things and being the servant that she usually is. All three of us were flowing so well together, I thought. It was just beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a better team.

Tom was in and out checking on me. He came in once and was with me holding my hand. It was so sweet to have him there in that way even though I know his back was hurting so badly. It also was such a blessing to know he was out with the children and that they were taken care of by the best person who could do that.

I mostly stood and leaned on things while swaying my hips through my contractions. Usually I want to lie down during my labor and I did at one point, which is when my water broke, but it was much more painful to lie down, so stand I did, stand, sway, and breathe. I sat on a low stool for a while, but as soon as I would have a contraction I wanted to be on my knees leaned over or standing. Leigh suggested I squat and lean up against her for some contractions. I did and I could feel more pressure from the baby's head coming down. I told Sunshine to get her gloves on since I didn't know how soon it would be and wanted her to be ready.

I started to worry a little that it was going to be much longer since there was only about a half second thought of not being able to do this. Besides that, it was all very tolerable. I was still waiting for that "I can't do this anymore!, make it stop now!" anxiety to come. Like I said, besides that half a second it never happened.

Leigh suggested I get on my hands and knees so I got on my knees and put my elbows on the frame of the bed. I felt a lot of pressure and like my body was starting to feel "pushy", but I wanted to get to the bathroom in case it was just a bowel movement. I told them I needed to go to the bathroom and got up and sat on the toilet.

As soon as I sat down my body started pushing even though I was breathing through the contractions. I called for Sunshine and told her that I thought the baby was coming. I reached down and could feel myself opening up and I could feel the head coming down. I braced myself on the tub and sink counter while lifting myself up off the toilet for just enough room for Sunshine to be able to grasp the baby. She came right out in no time. My body mostly pushed her out on its own. I didn't even feel that ring of fire feeling when she crowned that I had always felt with my previous births. It was P E R F E C T! Sunshine lifted her to me and I held my baby with such gratefulness to Yahweh for his goodness and mercy to me.

Tom missed the birth. He didn't think it would be that soon. He had just been in not too long before and went out. He was telling my oldest son that he thought it would be another half hour or so and then he heard baby cries. He came in and was amazed that it happened so quickly. In the past I usually push for a while. Being upright must have really helped.

I sat on the toilet enjoying my baby while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and then Tom tied off the cord and cut it. Someone took baby while I got back in bed to await the placenta. I took angelica to help bring the placenta since it usually takes quite a while for it to come. I also took arnica to reduce any swelling. Placenta came pretty quickly, but was missing a baseball size piece and was very shredded looking. More of the rest of the placenta came out, so I took a dropper of Shephard's Purse and got up and went to take a bath. I was bleeding quite a bit so I showered instead. Yaffa was a mess, too, so I got to shower with her. It was such a sweet time together.

I lost quite a bit of blood and was having a lot of clots while showering. I got out quickly, got got dressed and got in bed. I tried nursing Yaffa to see if that would help, but I realized that I was still bleeding quite a bit. I had bled through all the way to the bed so I got up to change. Blood was pouring out of me. I got cleaned up again while Tom went to get the cayenne pepper capsules. I took two and laid down quickly since I was feeling very light headed. I don't know how long I laid there, but it wasn't long before I felt a bit better and could tell the bleeding had subsided. I'm very thankful for the cayenne and the knowledge to use it. I'm convinced that it would have been an emergency situation without it.

Looking back, I would not have taken the Angelica unless there was a problem with the placenta detaching. I believe it was what caused the placenta to release unevenly causing all the bleeding. Praise Yah, the bleeding was completely normal by noon that day.

After I was settled, they weighed and measured my "Beautiful Joy". She was 7lbs. 15 oz. and 20 1/2 in. One of my smallest babies! Both Bethany and Jordan weighed the same when they were born. No wonder I was so comfortable while I was pregnant! She was so small compared to my other births. The last one weighed 10lbs. 2 oz. : )

Sunshine and Leigh, my heroes!, with little Yaffa Joy

Besides being v e r y sick for the first 5 months of this pregnancy, it was the best and easiest pregnancy I've ever had. I really only started feeling half way miserable the week before she was born. I feel so grateful and blessed that Yahweh showered His great mercy and grace upon me. He truly only gives us what we can handle. Besides being such a great pregnancy, this was the easiest and least painful birth I've had. I'm a little tired since I'm getting a little less sleep, but besides my abdomen feeling a little sore I don't even feel like I just had a baby. I have no tears, swelling, or tenderness in my perineum. Not bad for nine births.

HalleluYAH!

Julie

One day old


Big sister Bethany and Yaffa

Yaffa at four days old getting ready to celebrater her first Yom Teruah

2011-09-01T12:55:00.005-05:00

This past Tuesday some very sweet and loving ladies from my MOPS group threw me a baby shower. I haven't had a baby shower in seven years. I was really needing some things. Over time things wear out or break, so it was much needed.

BUT more importantly, every baby deserves to be celebrated no matter what number he or she is in a family and the sweet fellowship that comes from a baby shower is much needed.

I am so thankful to Yahweh for all the ladies He's placed in my life. They have been such a blessing!I pray that I can also be a blessing to them.

Below is a Smilebox creation of some of the pictures from the shower. Enjoy!

Shalom,

Julie

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This free scrapbook design made with Smilebox