Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Gratituesday


Good morning everyone and Happy Gratituesday. The day we set aside to thank God for all of our blessings. Last week Rich and I were blessed to drive down to Kentucky to see our son Gabriel and his family. As most of you know, they moved into an Amish like community last year around this time. It has been a challenge for them to get up to speed on the simple things of life done without electricity, or cars or indoor bathrooms.  

They moved into a cabin inside the community when they first got there that was a mere 392 square feet, talk about tiny!  In that time they grew from 3 children to 4. So if you think your home is small try putting 6 people into a itty bitty cabin. Think smaller than Little House on the Prairie cabin!

In the picture above is our newest grand baby, Laurel. She was born very quickly on that cabin floor 6 months ago. I was there for her first 2 weeks of life and then had not seen her since. I don't think she looks like anyone in the family. My first grand baby that is not white haired. She is such a happy baby, smiling any time you make eye contact.

Son has been working diligently to get his family out of the tiny cabin for months. He is turning a large workshop into a home. The land he is buying inside the community is great farmland. There was a garage door that was taken out and a real door put in. They made a loft that has two bedrooms. A lovely staircase going up into the loft. Downstairs they made a kitchen and a narrow place for their table. It also has 2 bedrooms, one has the bathtub in it. There just simply was no other room to put it.

He built a summer kitchen which will be wonderful all seasons since he put a metal roof and screened it in. Of course he built an outhouse first. I have never used a brand new outhouse before, very nice. 

Rich and I slept in the ever evolving house, amid all the sanding dust. We put cots in one of the rooms. The second night we were there I went outside to get our gear and looked out amid the rolling hills. I felt so blessed to be with our son and daughter in love and share hugs and kisses with our grandchildren. I looked up and saw hundreds of stars shining brightly against a pitch black sky and I quietly thanked my Father for this moment in time.

I am truly blessed and for that I am very grateful. What about you? What are you thankful for?Let me know.







Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".


Thursday, March 14, 2013

Baby "L" and the Challis



Baby “L” and the Challis
This was the second baby for this Mama. Her first was a little girl that was born at home. Mama and Dad were trained in Hypnobirthing. We have had several women use some of the techniques from hypnobirthing but never had anyone go all the way through labor using it. Like the name suggests, a laboring woman centers herself from all outside distractions. In this case Mama listened to a CD that was quite calming.  A woman’s voice is heard along with some background music.  All very soft and comforting. The voice is telling the Mama that her body is her own. She can trust her body to deliver the baby.  At one point the voice says, “Your body is a challis, ready to pour out the contents.” The challis thing really got me! Never heard of such a thing.

We got the call that Mama was in labor but contractions weren’t very strong. I chose to get up and get dressed anyway. Good thing I did. Less than half an hour later Mama was in full labor so I dashed out the door. From my house it was about a 50 minute drive. I thought since I had already gotten dressed I would be the first one there, I was wrong. I was the last one to arrive so I quickly went upstairs and found everyone in the bathroom.  Mama was in the tub, eyes closed and not making a sound. The only thing we could hear was this tape being played in the background. Wendy was on her knees bent over the tub. I got some of the equipment organized and then just stood listening to the tape. Note to self, don’t listen to the “challis” tape while at a birth. It can relax you right to the point of sleep standing up! 

Within 30 minutes after arriving the baby was delivered without a sound into the bathtub. It was probably the quietest birth I have ever attended. This is one strong Mama. They had no idea if they just had a boy or girl and Mama looked down and said, it’s a boy. Now normally that would be taken at face value for all those present, but not this time. You see, last time Mama thought she also had a boy and made the same mistake I had made at my first birth. You have to look closely and not get fooled by the cord. Well at her first birth she announced a boy and Dad just sobbed with joy since he had really wanted a boy. Imagine his surprise a little later when he did NOT have his boy but a girl?  So, this time when Mama announced a boy Dad was not going to take her word for it again. He actually didn’t see the baby fully till about 30 minutes later since Mama was in the middle of delivering the placenta.

When Dad finally got to hold his son he confirmed that yes indeed, he had his boy! Both sets of parents were downstairs waiting for the signal to come up so when Mama was helped out of the tub she was tucked into bed with baby. I love just stepping back and watching the family welcome a new blessing into their lives. We try and stay in the background as much as we can.

Everything went so quickly and smooth. The bathroom got cleaned up and I took the placenta and examined it. Apparently Mom had not seen her last one so she was curious to see it all. Even the grandparents got in on the examination and I explained all the different things we check for.

I got to do the newborn tests and failed to report a heart murmur. Apparently some babies are born with very benign murmurs that simply disappear in the next several days. When I listened I thought I had heard something so I moved the stethoscope to listen in another spot and then didn’t hear anything. I wrongly assumed I had just imagined it. Thankfully Wendy, my boss listened before we left and heard it. She referred the parents to a doctor to have it checked out. The next day it was barely there and the doctor said all was well.

The lesson I learned is this. I f you ever have any question, don’t assume but ask for help. We usually go out for breakfast after a birth and we talked it through and hopefully I will do better next time.  I also learned that hypnobirthing is one really cool way to cope with the pain. It was a delight to witness. 

Till next time.
In Christ Alone,
Jill



Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Gratituesday

It seems like it has been forever since I came on my blog and wrote.  I have been studying very hard for school and getting alot done.  I did participate in the birth of Baby "L" and really need to write the story, that is rather short and get ready for the next 4.  We have three mama's due around the 25th of the month and then one the beginning of April.

My computer died and I have had no success in getting off the data I need for the blog. I hope to get back to it sometime this week so I can get my pictures back on here.

The best gratituesday though is about this past weekend. Rich and I drove down to the Plain Community where our eldest son and his family live. Three day of hugging on grand babies that I haven't seen in months. Oh the joy to hold those little ones close!  I will write an entire post on the experience very soon.

I thank God today that my husband was well enough to travel with me to see our son's family.
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

What are you grateful for today?


Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning Satan says, "Oh crud, she's up".