Friday, October 29, 2010
Baby is 33 weeks
Monday, October 25, 2010
Why homeschooling is so good
I went grocery shopping this morning. I didn't have to take any of the littles, as all the children were home and could take care of everything. It began raining quite hard on my way home and was still raining when I got home. When I pulled into the driveway, my nine year old daughter was waiting for me with an umbrella to escort me into the house. The boys brought in the groceries and put them away while I had lunch.
The children do school at home. But they also live here at home during the day, serving and doing things that need to be done. They aren't where they can't be available to their siblings or to us. They have the freedom to take care of more important things than school work because they are home. God designed families to serve each other and I'm so grateful that my children are learning to do that and not in an artificial environment where they are learning to serve themselves. God's command for parents to teach their children all day long sure benefits the entire family. Thank you, Lord, for showing us what our responsibilities are as parents and for blessing us with our children.
The children do school at home. But they also live here at home during the day, serving and doing things that need to be done. They aren't where they can't be available to their siblings or to us. They have the freedom to take care of more important things than school work because they are home. God designed families to serve each other and I'm so grateful that my children are learning to do that and not in an artificial environment where they are learning to serve themselves. God's command for parents to teach their children all day long sure benefits the entire family. Thank you, Lord, for showing us what our responsibilities are as parents and for blessing us with our children.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Baby is 32 weeks
Amazing. Just amazing how fast this pregnancy is going. I skipped quite a few weeks posting because a monumental event happened last month. My husband came home after being gone for 4 months!
I'm up to 107 pounds. And I feel it, especially after sitting for awhile and then getting up. Although this pregnancy has been pretty normal, I have been plagued by itchy red bumps on my belly. There's actually a name for this. It's called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP) or polymorphic eruption of pregnancy. I've tried using coconut oil and it seems to help a little, but it's still pretty itchy. I'd think that after 7 pregnancies, my skin would've gotten used to being stretched, but apparently not. Other symptoms I'm experiencing are vulvar varicosities and hemorrhoids. Getting older and being pregnant does have side effects, I guess, for me, but despite these annoyances, it's still pretty exciting knowing that my baby is growing and will be born soon. This is such an active baby that there's hardly a time when I don't feel either the baby moving or my uterus contracting.
I haven't been walking as faithfully but I did go out yesterday and it felt good. I took a bath last night and I am very grateful there's an inflatable pool waiting in the garage for the birth. The bath tub was just way too shallow. What's so nice about the inflatable pool is that the bottom is also inflated so it's not hard like the bathtub. I would recommend getting an inflatable pool just for laboring in because it makes relaxation so much easier to come by even if the idea of birthing the baby isn't that appealing. For me, I love that the baby is supported by water when s(he) is birthed and no one has to catch the baby.
I don't know what made me so sure that I wanted a water birth with our first homebirth. I didn't read any books specifically on water birthing, although a few books did mention using water as a relaxation tool. My husband says he loves it, too. He likes how everything is all in one place and how unmessy it is. I've heard some homebirthers say they didn't realize how messy childbirth was but that hasn't been our experience at all. We've never had to clean floors or sheets because of the birth. All Chris has to do is to let the water out of the tub and we're all done. Doesn't get easier than that!
I'm up to 107 pounds. And I feel it, especially after sitting for awhile and then getting up. Although this pregnancy has been pretty normal, I have been plagued by itchy red bumps on my belly. There's actually a name for this. It's called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP) or polymorphic eruption of pregnancy. I've tried using coconut oil and it seems to help a little, but it's still pretty itchy. I'd think that after 7 pregnancies, my skin would've gotten used to being stretched, but apparently not. Other symptoms I'm experiencing are vulvar varicosities and hemorrhoids. Getting older and being pregnant does have side effects, I guess, for me, but despite these annoyances, it's still pretty exciting knowing that my baby is growing and will be born soon. This is such an active baby that there's hardly a time when I don't feel either the baby moving or my uterus contracting.
I haven't been walking as faithfully but I did go out yesterday and it felt good. I took a bath last night and I am very grateful there's an inflatable pool waiting in the garage for the birth. The bath tub was just way too shallow. What's so nice about the inflatable pool is that the bottom is also inflated so it's not hard like the bathtub. I would recommend getting an inflatable pool just for laboring in because it makes relaxation so much easier to come by even if the idea of birthing the baby isn't that appealing. For me, I love that the baby is supported by water when s(he) is birthed and no one has to catch the baby.
I don't know what made me so sure that I wanted a water birth with our first homebirth. I didn't read any books specifically on water birthing, although a few books did mention using water as a relaxation tool. My husband says he loves it, too. He likes how everything is all in one place and how unmessy it is. I've heard some homebirthers say they didn't realize how messy childbirth was but that hasn't been our experience at all. We've never had to clean floors or sheets because of the birth. All Chris has to do is to let the water out of the tub and we're all done. Doesn't get easier than that!
Family Picture
We had a great time getting our family picture taken a few days ago. Really. Not just because we had such a good coupon, total paid for our 6 sheets was $9. And not just because we were given 9 ice cream coupons for the Dairy Queen next door to the photo studio. That helped, but the main reason the photo session turned out so well was because the photographer was fast and the children didn't have time to get tired of posing. I just wanted a family portrait so all she took were family shots. She didn't try to get different shots of the boys only, or the girls, or individuals. And then when we were selecting which pose to go with, there wasn't even a mention to buy more. I'm so glad we got to take this picture before the new baby is born.
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