Noelle's Birth Story

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 I realize I haven't posted on here in over a year.  It has been a busy year!  Here is a quick update!

1. I got really sick and ended up having my gallbladder removed in December 2012

2. Pregnant!

3. We moved into a larger place.  

4. I had baby Noelle on Nov. 19!

Here is Noelle's birth story.  I figure if you read a birth story you are prepared to hear a little bit of gore.  So I didn't edit that out too much (not that it is very gory as far as births go).  I know this is coming three months after her birth and I've wanted to do it just about every day since.  There is little free time these days but tonight I decided I just had to do it. So that said, here you are:

With Noelle I assumed that I was going to have an early labor.  I had Owen 5 days early and the girls were 3 weeks early (although they are twins).  I also started having semi-uncomfortable contractions around 37 weeks in the evenings and some mornings.  I would time them at every 10 minutes and then they would eventually go away.  So when my due date came and went I was, as most pregnant woman who go past their due date probably are, discouraged and frustrated.  We hadn’t gone anywhere too far from Jackson and there was a couple events I didn’t go to all because I thought she would come early.  My doctor also turned out to be very pro-induction because of the fact that it is more “convenient” for everyone.  However, Noelle was doing great in there and although I started seriously thinking she would never come we decided not to intervene before 41 weeks.  I also really wanted her to come because my mother in law had come down when I was 38 weeks pregnant and was leaving a few days after I would be 41 weeks.  I didn’t want her to be here for three weeks and get very little time with Noelle.  My due date was November 17, a Saturday, and on Sunday when I went to church I felt silly that for so long I had told people I thought she’d be early and there I was past my due date and as pregnant as ever.  I really didn’t think she’d come without my being induced.  At my last dr. appointment I knew that I was 2-3 cm dilated but only 50% effaced. Monday morning I woke up at 4 a.m. as was usual (I was struggling with pregnancy insomnia) and was having mild contractions every 10 minutes or so.  I decided at first not to even time them.  I was over being excited about labor when everything turned out to be false labor.  I just tried to go back to sleep.  However, I kept having contractions and they started to get a little more intense and a little closer together.  I started timing them and the intervals went from about every 10 minutes to every 5-6 minutes.  When I went to the bathroom I saw some blood which made me think this might be the real deal. Around 5:50 I woke Matt up and told him he might want to get ready just in case.

Now, we have to back up a bit to what happened with my labor with my twins.  I was already at 5.5 cm when he broke my water to put me into labor.  I had very mild contractions for about an hour after that and started to feel pressure.  I said I just needed to use the restroom and they got frantic and rushed for the doctor.  I was embarrassed because I was not having painful labor at all.  I was only mildly uncomfortable and I didn’t want the doctor to come in just to find out that I needed to poop.  I was 8cm dilated at that point and 10 minutes later I was at 10 cm.  The transition from 8 to 10 cm was intense as I went through transition but that was the only part of my whole labor that actually was painful and felt like labor. A couple pushes later on the first contraction and Adelyn was born.

Because of how my labor with my twins went I knew that I could possibly have a very fast labor and not feel like I’m in real labor until I go through transition- but by then I would be too late to try to rush to hospital. However, I also knew I was not as dilated as I was with them.  I didn’t know how long I should labor at home or if I should wait until it was hard for me to walk/talk through contractions just like everyone else does.  My doctor told me I could labor at home for a little while so I wasn’t sure exactly what I should do or when I should go. I was able to almost completely hide when I was having a contraction, was able to smile and talk through them normally, and was able to walk around normally.  I was being ridiculous, I know, but I felt embarrassed and did not want to go to the hospital in that state.  I didn’t want everyone to get excited for it only to be false labor again.  I didn’t want to be told to go home or be pressured to induce since I was already in the hospital and potentially dilated enough to be admitted even though I wasn’t in real labor.  Matt, on the other hand, was frantic.  He wanted to rush to the hospital right away.  He did not want me having a baby at home.  So the scene at home was him literally pacing around trying to get me to hurry up and me taking my oh so sweet time getting ready.  I put on make up, I got dressed, I made sure I had everything I wanted while Matt begged me to hurry and not put on makeup.  Maybe I was being unsubmissive, well, probably.  Again, I just did not think there was any rush.  This couldn’t possibly be a big deal yet.  If it was the real thing I didn’t want to have to labor at the hospital for too long.  When I was finally ready I asked him if we could please just watch a movie and wait longer.  No was the firm answer.  We left, got to the corner of the street, and I begged Matt to go back so I could get a banana.  I knew they wouldn’t feed me there.  He reluctantly turned around.  The hospital is literally a mile from our house so we were there in no time.  We got there at about 6:40 and I walked up to the counter.  I’ll never forget the look on the nurses face when, with a smile, I announced that, “I think I might be in labor, but I’m not sure.” She graciously gave me the “Oh, honey, you just have no idea” look and asked if I had checked in at the emergency room counter.  No, I hadn’t.  She told me I probably should do that first.  I said, “Well, this is the deal.  I had twins a few years ago and I was like this (smiling and in very low pain) up until I was 8 cm dilated and then was at 10 cm 10 minutes later. I have no idea what is happening right now.”  Her face dropped and went a little bit paler and she rushed me in the room to check me.  They had me change into the gown and while I was changing they pulled my chart.  I guess there was a warning put into my chart.  I forget the word they used but they basically put a note in my file that they shouldn’t mess with me as I deliver quick.  They started knocking on the door asking me to please hurry and change.  When they checked me I was at 6 cm and was still only 50% effaced.  I had some more time but they weren’t going to let me off the hook.  They were still afraid I would have her any minute and would not let me walk around at all. We called Tiffany (my sister in law) and told them her it was the real deal and she should come over now.

 They put me in a room and got the monitors hooked up and put the iv in.  The nurse put the iv into a nerve the first time and it hurt, badly.  She tried to adjust it and left it in but I asked her to please take it out and do the other arm.  For weeks later I would still have shooting pain down my hand and fingers from that damaged nerve.  My doctor was out of town so another doctor was going to deliver me.  She wanted to break my water and said that the baby may come by 7.  I couldn’t believe that.  She broke my water but there was not really any water that came out.  My water had not broken before and the doctor was very confused as to whether or not she even broke my water.  She was wondering if I had felt leaking or anything like that.  I hadn’t.  When Noelle was born there wasn’t really any water that came out either.  I’m not sure where all her water went as just a few days before that her fluid levels were checked and were fine.

From here on out I didn’t pay any attention to time really so everything is approximate.  I just remember the order of events. Tiffany got there within just a few minutes.  Thankfully it was her day off. They checked me again a half an hour or so later and I was 7-8 c.m. dilated but still 50% effaced.  They decided to let me walk around a bit.  They could tell when I was having contractions because of the monitors and would ask me if I could feel them.  I could, but they didn’t really hurt.  I was still able to walk, talk, smile, and laugh through them.  They couldn’t believe it.  About 45 minutes to an hour later of walking the contractions started to get more intense and I was starting to have to concentrate through them.  I announced I was no longer going to smile through contractions. They were maybe on the 4-5 scale for pain.  They checked me again but I was not progressed any further. They said she was still pretty far up there.  I thought that finally I had it coming and I was going to experience real labor; that I would actually labor for awhile the way real woman do.  I just stood there for awhile after being checked in the delivery room unsure of what to do.  I could feel the contractions were starting to get very painful and I didn’t know what to do.  I said that I just wanted to kneel down on the ball.  They suggested putting the ball on the bed and that is what I did.  I put the ball on the bed and put my arms and head down on it and told Matt to put pressure on my back.  I thought I was having back labor and that she was turned the wrong way and figured I would have to do this for awhile.  For about 20 or so minutes I panted and cried a little through back to back contractions.  I looked up at the monitor at one point and saw that the contractions were rising sharply then a long plateu.  Over and over. I knew that meant transition.  I almost said out loud that I didn’t want to do it anymore and I wanted them to make it stop.  I decided that would be foolish though as this was the only real pain I had been in and it was only a few minutes.  Most women go for hours and hours of that.  I thought of my friend Leslie who went through 40ish hours of hard labor.  I assumed I still had hours to go but the doctor checked me and her head was right there.  I didn’t even feel her come down.  I wasn’t mentally prepared to start pushing. They told me to roll over and I told them no.  I did not want to move.  I thought of my friend Becky who had a big baby just before me and how painful she said it was.  I thought Noelle would be big and I just wasn’t ready for that just yet.  They made me turn over and I made a quick resolve to be courageous and do what had to be done.  I started pushing.  Maybe for only about 10 minutes or less.  He head came with only a few contractions.  Her shoulders then got stuck and the cord was wrapped around her neck but was quickly pulled off. The doctor had to tug a little to get her shoulders out and then she was born!

They put her on me and I just got to hold her fluffly little chub chub body and look at her sweet face.  I put her up to nurse but she just licked and moved her lips.  She never really tried to latch on.  The nurse assured me this was ok.  I was in bliss being able to hold my baby.  With Owen they quickly took him away from me to measure him and then didn’t return him to me for over an hour… wanting for my blood pressure to go down (I won’t get into that to refrain from anger here) and with the girls being twins I didn’t get to hold them at all until we were all moved into another room.  I was just loving being able to hold, snuggle, and kiss on my sweet baby girl for as long as I wanted. She was just like I thought she would be from how she acted in the womb.  Sweet, content, and laid back.

She was born at 8:26 a.m. 8 lb 7oz 20.5 inches.

I just can’t get over what a little blessing she is.

Walking the halls

Feeling a little silly

I am not going to smile anymore

Just born

My little chub chub blessing.  Oh how I love her!

Some past cell pics

Introducing your sin

This is a really wonderful article. For lack of time I am just going to post it and hope you read it without giving any further explanation :)

Advent Calendar

I realize I have been pretty much silent on here for a couple of months. I apologize for that if you've hoped for more. Unlike the silence on our blog life has been bursting at the seams and God has been always good to us. I have gotten much insight, encouragement, and good ideas from moms striving to be faithful and I hope that I can be a blessing to others too as I funnel some of the things I've learned from others and what the Lord is teaching me.

I started reading Noel Piper's book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions and have been encouraged this Thanksgiving and Christmas season to do some structured things to point our kiddos and their parent's hearts to Christ. My neighbor, Colleen, did a Thanksgiving Tree where she cut construction paper leaves to write things that they were thankful for on and hung the leaves from a cut branch. We decided to do the same and I think it will be an annual tradition now. We did this tree on Thanksgiving day but I think it would be nice next year to start the 1st of November and write out something we are thankful for each day.

It also gave me a nice glimpse of my sweet son's unregenerate heart that still needs much cultivating for Christ. He "wrote" on one leaf, trying very hard to make legible writing, which of course looked just like scribbles. We asked him what he wrote on the leaf that he was thankful for. "Christmas trees" he said. The next leaf was, "Presents". When asked what else he was thankful for, and after giving him some ideas, he ran off exclaiming, "Nothing else!" We have some work to do :).

Owen is absolutely excited for Christmas. He anxiously asks if the snow is going to melt- afraid that if it does Christmas will not come. However, presents are the only thing on his mind. I want him to truly see and hopefully believe that JESUS is our greatest treasure and our greatest gift.

My neighbor also does an advent calendar each Christmas season with her kids. Each day is a little devotional. Noel Piper also talks about this in her book. Noel shows a picture of one that she made where there is a character for each day that you put up correlating with a story that she put together from the biblical account. I scoured the internet looking for that advent and story. She is sold out of the calendar this year (I was planning on making my own anyway) but the real jewel of the advent, the story, she put up on her blog.

I am more than thrilled to have a plan for this season to help turn our hearts more to Christ and what he has done for us. If my calendar doesn't look too hideous :) I might just post a picture of it.

Sisters Dancing

Family Dance Party

We decided to have a little dance party while listening to Disney Princess songs. Enjoy.

Owen's August Sayings

Here are all the things I wrote down for August since July was such a hit :). I realize some of them I seem to be writing to Owen and some I am writing about him. I will try to get my act together... later.

8/2/2011 Owen went over the gate and I heard screaming so I came to check. The scene was Anabel laying flat on the floor and Owen stepping over the top of her. I asked him why she was on the floor crying and his reply was, “I just went through her.”

8/3/2011 Owen runs right smack into the fish tank purposely and the fish scatter


Me: Owen, you can't hit the fish tank. It scares the fish.


Owen: They're scared now?


Me: Uh, huh


Owen: They want their mommies?

8/8/2011 We had to stop and wait on the road because a herd of bison was crossing the road. The first thing you said when I pointed them out to you was, “I want to shoot them!” As we dialogued about why you wanted to shoot them your reply was, “They are for shooting!” and again you said that you wanted to shoot them but also elaborated that you wanted to shoot them with a gun. We still aren’t sure exactly where you came up with this other than mommy and daddy talking to each other about hunting them but it had been a long, long time since that had happened.

8/14/2011 You woke up in the morning with a little bit of poop in your diaper. When dad asked you why you pooped in your diaper you replied, “I sneezed and then my poo-poo came out in the morning.”

8/29/2011You were told to go sit on your chair for squeezing Adelyn’s foot. I wasn’t sure if you were being outright intentionally cruel or not so I wasn’t sure if you should get disciplined or not. However, you insisted to daddy that you should get disciplined because you squeezed her foot.

8/ /2011 I was making bread and heard trickling in the sink. You were standing on the counter peeing straight into the sink with your face beaming with pride. A week or so later (8/29/2011) you were stripped naked in the mud room because you were playing in the puddles outside. You ran up the stairs faster than myself or sisters and came back to me beaming again that you had gone pee in the bathroom sink. Sure enough I had to clean it up!

8/30/2011- The girls and I came out of the greenhouse leaving you in it to catch an ant with your beloved jar. You come running out and I asked you if you caught an ant. You replied, “No, the ant said ‘No thank you’ so I didn’t catch him!”

8/30/2011- I did something I didn’t mean to do and I said “dang-it”. You replied, “Mommy, you shouldn’t say dang-it. You should say ‘*sigh*’ (or) ‘what happened?’ instead. You try again.” I complied and said “I’m sorry Owen. You are right. What happened?” You then encouraged me, “Good job mommy!”

8/31/2011- In a conversation about the previous night’s lightning storm in which you were afraid of the thunder you asked, “The lightning doesn’t like the loud thunder?”

An Open Letter to My Daughter

This blog post on The Cripplegate is absolutely wonderful. It is a father's letter to his daughter. I am going to print it out and put it into the girls' baby books because it is the heart of their daddy too and his prayer for them. I also hope and pray they take the exhortation in it to heart. An Open Letter to My Daughter

Cookies

A little after nap cookie.

And just in case you started to think everything around here is always happy and peaceful.

This is the rage and heartbreak that ensued when she was informed that she was not going to get another one.

She was okay in the end.

New blogs

I have come across two amazing blogs for which I am very thankful. The first is the Cripplegate blog. Some Master's Seminary guys do it and it is just amazing and biblical and informative.

The other blog is the Pioneer Woman blog. I like this blog for food. You may already know very well about this blog and wonder where I have been all this time. However, if not, I have shared with one other person. She has a cookbook that is really popular too. Click on the cooking link on the top to get to her recipes and such.

New Favorite Recipe

A friend from college started a blog called Next to Nothing in which she has a lot of good recipes. The blackened chicken salad is a must try I think. It has earned its place as a family favorite. The girls even loved the chicken- and that is saying something!

Betty Botter

Betty Botter

Betty Botter bought some butter,
"But," she said, "the butter's bitter;
If I put it in my batter,
It will make my batter bitter;
But a bit of better butter,
Will make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
Better than her bitter butter,
And she put it in her batter,
And it made her batter better;
So 'twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.

Owen cannot get enough of this poem. He wants me to read it all day long. I think I literally read this poem to him 3-5 times a day. When I get out the butter he quotes it and runs to get his poem book. He is also really into poetry in general right now.

In light of this poem (and because I just figured this out and I'm really excited) I will put up a recipe for spreadable butter. Yep, you got it. We use butter just about every morning- on toast, or muffins, pancakes, and waffles. I hate using hard butter. I don't have the time for it :). However, the spreadable butter at the store can be pricey. So I had the brilliant (or maybe just obvious) idea of making it myself. A little google here, a little reading there, and voila! Super easy spreadable butter. You may just want the recipe already.

2 sticks (1/2 cup each) butter

1/2 cup oil (I use canola because that is what the "expensive" stuff uses)

Let the butter get really soft, whip in the oil, and stick in the fridge in some container (we use our old container that we bought spreadable butter in initially before being enlightened... muhahahahahaha).

Done. And it is just as good as the other stuff.

A new choice instrument

Owen decided that he wanted to stage a dance party for Adelyn and I so he got his drum and a couple of colored pencils (his drumsticks of choice) and had us dance to his beat. Then he put his pencils together and did something I had never seen him do before- he started playing a made-up violin. I actually don't know where he had seen this played before. I grabbed the camera quickly and asked him to redo it.

Owen's Sayings

I have a document on my computer titled "Owen's Sayings". I try to type up all the funny things Owen says. It is by no means exhaustive but is my feeble attempt to try to grasp this special age for a bit longer. Here is this month's sayings.

7/2/11 – We got ice cream and were on our way home and daddy told you that you had to take a shower and you said that you wanted to take your ice cream in the shower. When we laughed and told you that you were silly you replied, “Oh, it will get wet?”

7/5/11- I told you that your friend Jake was going to come over (Jake Hintz) and you replied, “Jacob and Esau?” I laughed and we moved on. However, you continued to bring it up so I elaborated and told you that it is a different Jacob than the one in the bible. You replied, “Oh, oh. A different bible, a new bible?”

7/9/11- Owen's take on life after coming in from an outside adventure: "Mosquito bites bite but ladybugs do not bite. Butterflies are hard to catch, and dragonflies are hard to catch.”

7/15ish/11 Dad: “Owen, should mommy and daddy kiss?”

Owen: “No, that’s gross!”

7/24/11- Owen: "Mommy, can we go to the park?"

Me: "No, I'm sorry, Anabel is sick. So we can't go."

Owen: "Oh, you can give her medicine so we can go to the park?" and then later "I think Anabel is better now. We can go to the park!"

7/31/2011 Owen woke up soaked with pee after a diaper leak.

Me: Owen, do you have pee-pee? Oh! You have lots of pee-pee!

Owen: No, I only have one pee-pee!

Our New "Little Man"

Our neighbor made her little girls some really cute rag dolls and Owen got an opportunity to play with one yesterday. Then he decided when we had to give it back that he wanted one too. So, I looked for some free patterns online and he picked out the fabric he wanted from my scraps.

Since it was family night last night and I was alone for the evening because Matt and Owen camped in the backyard

I decided that I would spend it blessing Owen with his new "Little Man". I finished him this morning and handed him to Owen- sans the tie. He said, "Thank you, Momma!" and threw him into a crumpled little mess on the floor. I had wanted to make him a tie all along and took my opportunity. With the new tie Owen exclaimed, "He is going to go work at the bank!" All of a sudden it was a daddy-like "Little Man" and he couldn't put him down. This kid loves himself some daddy

Now meet "Little Man"

He was my first sewing project where I followed a pattern and I was a bit nervous- but it was fairly simple and I think he turned out great. Now I have to hold back because I want to make a million of these for everyone I know. You, yes you, might be getting one for Christmas :)

If you want to experience the sheer joy of your own little rag doll you can go here. Or you could wait for Christmas.

The Photo Shoot

Being blessed by John MacArthur

Our little church was incredibly blessed to have John MacArthur come to speak yesterday. He was in town for a meeting with some other staff and preached at our church while he was in town. It was SUCH a blessing having him here and was an incredible encouragement to have him commend our church plant both by his presence and by his words. He preached on Revelation 1 which is about how Christ is in the midst of his church. I literally cried through most of his message it was such a blessing to me. It was so encouraging to hear that in the midst of our hardest efforts and sacrifices, the blessings, and the pain that CHRIST is in our church.

Also, I got to meet him, thank him, and shake his hand for the first time. My life has been forever changed through God working through the ministry of this man and I am incredibly thankful. I well up with emotion every time I even think about him.

Such a huge blessing! You can hear his message to our little humble church recorded through our little humble recorder here. Just go to the podcast section on the right-hand side.

by the way- The picture credit goes to Tiffany and her iphone. Way to go T!!

Owen is three!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Owen's third birthday. We decided to set aside a day to do the things that we know he has been dreaming of.

We have been going through The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom in our preschool time. (We incorporate the Before Five in a Row curriculum as part of our preschool time- and The Big Green Pocketbook is one of the books the curriculum goes through.)

In this book a little girl gets on a bus with her mother and travels around town helping her mother with her errands. They go to an ice cream store, the bank, a jewelry shop, and many other places. Everywhere they go she puts some little treasure that had been given her from that place into her pocketbook (i.e. a receipt, a key chain, a box of crayons, etc. that had been given to her).

Every time we read this book Owen asks to ride a bus too and to go to the ice cream store. So for his birthday we fulfilled his dream to ride a bus and in some ways reenacted the story. We read the book to him before we left and he was so very excited. He brought along his backpack for his very own treasures.

He didn't say a word throughout the whole ride. He was just mesmerized. However, once we got off he couldn't stop talking about his experience and wanted to make sure that we were going to ride it again. When we confirmed that we would ride it back to our car he was ready to go to THE ICE CREAM STORE!! (dessert #1 for the day)

Our next three stops were the bank (to go along with his story and to purchase his savings bond from GG), the toy shop so he could pick out a toy, and the bar so he could have an emergency potty break :).

We got back on the bus and then went home for nap.

After nap Owen dream #2 was fulfilled: riding a horse! Since going to the fair last summer he asks to ride just about every horse he sees. So we went to a local ranch and he got to ride Brown Jug- the pony. T-T, Uncle Andrew, sisters, and Grandma Mumma joined us as well.

We then went to Sidewinders (a local restaurant) for dinner where he had dessert #2

Then returned home to have daddy's amazing cake made 100% from scratch! (Dessert #3!!) Matt is the new baker in the house and insists on being in charge of birthday cakes. Matt made, upon Owen's request, a dinosaur and a car out of modeling chocolate.

We are so thankful for you, Owen, and your zeal for life and compassion for others! You are such a joy to us and we are so proud of the little boy you are becoming. We love you!

Love, mom and dad

The tower

Matt just took this video and it was so cute in person I just had to share. Owen was building a fairly large tower and Anabel kept going back and forth delivering blocks to him. We got the tail end of it but over and over she would deliver a block, laugh, and then Owen would say, "Thank you!".

A few of the good ones

Somebody is walking!

Another concert. He grabbed a couple of colored pencils and had at it!

Nothing out of the ordinary. Just some normal cuteness!