Time Management

Someone recently commented on how much I "seem" to accomplish in any given day. What with all of the sewing and domestic projects and kids and homeschooling....how do I fit all of this in? I pondered that for a bit and decided every woman fits in what she wants during the day and can be just as efficient with their time if they want to.

For instance, every woman has a hobby. Some women, it's shopping, or surfing the net, or talking on the phone, photography, watching t.v. or doing SOMETHING that takes time. I personally have an aversion to driving places, watching t.v., and more recently, do not like to waste very much time surfing the net. I'm not a big phone girl unless I HAVE to drive somewhere, then I will call everyone back who has called in the last month. But, really, 15 minutes of time is a valuable block and I will fit cutting out a pattern or sewing two seams, or organizing the kids closet into that little block of time. All of those little blocks of time add up and by the end of the day I will have sewn a couple of outfits, folded 2 loads of laundry, read 15 books to the kids, boxed up some goodwill, worked out, and gotten to pray over the business.

It's nice. Those little 15 minute "gifts" God gives us and learning to do with them the most efficient things possible that make your life what it is today. I have been blessed with help, so that gives me more time to execute what I want to do and to have done, plus, I am not so wiped out by the end of the day.

So, that's it. That's my secret to having a full and flourishing day. Lately, I like blogging at the kitchen counter while all of the kids clean up the kitchen. It takes them a long time to do this task and I generally don't have the patience to wait on them to do it...but I find if I can give orders while multi-tasking....then it's a winner for all.

A Week of Braxton Hicks

(I finished my diaper bag....yay!)

This week was interesting, to say the least. I always take "5-W" by Nature's Sunshine the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy, and this time, it gave me such intense contractions, that I had to stop. I guess once you get to the fifth pregnancy, your body doesn't need herbs to tell it what to do...it will just go into labor when it's ready.

What happened last week was, I upped my 5-w herbs to 6 a day. I felt the baby move down into my pelvis, and I had sex all in about a 6 hour span of time. That night my uterus (?) or some body part down there went into over an hour of spasms (I don't even think I would call it contractions) and kept me up most of the night. In the morning, I hurt. I was in so much pain I couldn't roll out of bed. THAT night, Mark rubbed my feet and about an hour later, I went into labor. The contractions lasted til 10AM. I can handle labor. I can't handle contractions happening on top of the most sore stomach muscles I have ever experienced. ANOTHER agonizing night with little sleep. The next morning, Mark made up a 60 oz. drink of "CALM" (my fabulous magnesium drink), and the contractions stopped. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant, so I guess it relaxed the muscles enough to make the contractions stop.

I had contractions on and off for the the next day and a half. But they weren't super consistent. IN the meantime, I called vitaminshoppe and asked the guy if I had done a million situps the night before, and now could not walk because my stomach muscles were so sore, what should I take? He told me there was an amino acid drink that gets the lactic acid going out of your muscles called "Extend". Mark went and got that drink and I started drinking it, plus lots and lots of fluids and gatorade. I have to admit, I have never been in so much pain in my life. It was the most painful experience I have ever gone through. Pain is an interesting thing, it wears you down on all fronts....spiritually, mentally, physically and takes you to a point mentally you thought you would never go.

In the meantime, the rest of my body was sore from bracing myself for the stomach pain. So now, my back, my arms, my chest, and my rear end were sore from "support". oh brother. Thankfully, I have help, and I was able to take 2 naps a day, plus, got some rest at night. I did NOT want to deliver in this condition and thank GOD the contractions stopped. I can't remember when the ordeal started, but, by Thursday of the week, I was feeling better, and by Friday, I was up and at 'em again.

In the midst of it all, the midwife kept checking me to see if there was any progression and had me go get a sonogram because she was nervous the baby was breech. The sonogram was our first. I thought it would take about 15 minutes, and they poked and poked and poked my stomach with the wand and took a good 45 minutes measuring and looking and typing. That was on Tuesday, and I was still in a "state", but the sonogram REALLY helped me mentally. Seeing the baby gave me a reality check that there was a real human being with lips and nose and hair and chubby cheeks that was coming out in God's timing.

Physically, I left in the same condition, but mentally, I had taken a turn for the better. The next morning when I woke up, I had a couple of contractions and just surrendered it all to God. A willingness to deliver came despite all of the negative conditions I would have rather not had there.

This is Sunday, Father's Day, and the only contractions I have had have been due to dehydration. As soon as I drink some water, they stop. I feel 100 percent better and am ready to go. Probably, I would not have gone through all of that if I had not been quite so bullheaded about the herbs. I knew in my heart I was pushing the envelope taking them, but I just kept at it. AND, I kept having continual Braxton Hicks all day starting the day I took one vitamin a day...so upping the dosage when I was already experiencing a level of discomfort was not smart.

Well, you live and learn. That's one less herb to take should I get pregnant again. Ha Ha.

3.5 Weeks and Counting

Well, I woke up this morning to a looonnnggg contraction. I guess it was so long it woke me up. Just a Braxton Hix, but it was quite intense. I googled a little bit and was reminded if you are having tons of BH contractions to drink lots of water. I drank a bunch of water and it calmed down.

At the end of each pregnancy, I have taken 5-w by Nature's Sunshine. Holly got me started on that with the first one and I have done it every time. This time, I have had so many BH contractions, I've hesitated taking it, but when I googled it, lots of women described births like my last one and they attributed it to 5-W or a similar herb concoction which readies your body for birth 5-6 weeks before the birth. One of the ladies said that she was having lots of Braxton Hicks and then around her due date her midwife checked her and she was already at 8 centimeters. I know this is what happened to me last time, and I am sort of suspicious of those "get ready herbs" getting me ready alright. I would REALLY recommend these herbs for moms on their first birth. THey are supposed to ready the body and eliminate such long labor.

The only thing is, when you burp after taking them, it tastes like really strong celery. But, I guess it's not THAT bad.

I had a baby shower this past week for one of my friends and it was so much fun! I thought it would make the time go faster for my pregnancy, and I think it may have worked. Three and a half weeks doesn't sound very long. I have been sewing and sewing. I sewed her a diaper bag and blanket, and now I am working on my diaper bag and blanket. After the contractions this morning, I realized I did not have any baby clothes washed or ready for the baby, so at 5:30 AM I threw some onsies and socks in the wash.

I need to find the infant cloth diapers in the attic somewhere and get those lined up and we should be good to go.

Patience..Letting Birth take its' Natural Course and Conserving Energy

Memories come rushing in on me as one of my friends is in the midst of her first birth. The first birth is a funny thing. No matter how much you try to control it, you can't. And most women who try to control it with drugs, end up in a c-section. Some don't. Some get their way...but the recovery is normally a little longer and the baby got some drugs, too. So, what's a woman to do? My firmest belief in birth is that one must respect their body and respect the baby. In doing this, one of the best "gifts" given to me in birth is a hearty dose of what the baby's personality will be like.
My first birth was the hardest by far. Long and hard. Thankfully, it started at 4AM with my water breaking and contractions starting. So, I had had at least a medium night's sleep. Contractions got close together quickly and stayed right there all the way up until the birth. They never let up. When the midwife checked me at 7 or 8AM, I had not dilated AT ALL. In fact, my cervix was as hard as a rock. This is something a woman does not want to hear.....ever. I had had contractions previous to the water breakage and then all of those contractions from 4AM, what was that about? My instructions were to walk about a mile. Thank goodness I was in shape! So, slowly, slowly, I crept around the block with Mark, squeezing my combs every 2 minutes breathing and taking breaks. I get back to the apartment, they check me again, and I am fully effaced, 2 centimeters and they instruct me to walk another mile (while they went to Starbucks and were having a grand 'ol time). Discouraged, I got in the bed and pulled the covers over my head. I decided to side lie and do some deep breathing. After a few minutes of this, I decided to hop into a hot bath with some chocolate covered almonds. Nothing felt quite so good as that hot bath with the chocolate covered almonds....I have to admit. The second I was in the water, all of my nerves relaxed, I think I even dozed....and life was good. So, that's where I stayed for most of the day.
The midwives would make me get out of the tub every so often to speed things up, and then I would get back in again. Thankfully, my family and Mark and everyone surrounding me were so helpful and loving to endure a whole day of my groaning. I started groaning pretty early in the day and it felt so great, I just groaned all day long. Mark thought it was pretty scary and called in the "backup" troops when he'd had enough groaning. I may have done it more for attention than anything, but once I started groaning, I couldn't stop. I haven't groaned on the other births that much, but in his memory I groan every time. I guess it was a bad memory moment for him.
ANYWAY, the whole point of the story is that I had no idea my labor would be so long. I lifted weights and walked the whole time I was pregnant, plus, I had read every book available to me, so naturally, I thought I would have this really zippy birth. When a zippy birth did not happen, I just held on until the last moment, but, in retrospect, I probably would have relaxed a little more had I known it would take19 hours.
After the first birth, I got a little panicky when the next birth started at night. We had been at Sea World all day, sweating it out, and just as I lay my head on the pillow, my water broke. THIS time, I kept my cool. Actually, I was nervous Holly (the midwife) would make me get on the treadmill and get it going, but she encouraged me to sleep as much as I could until the morning, and that's exactly what I did. That little nap gave me the rest I needed and the next morning, I was ready to go again. I fed the 1 1/2 year old, put her down for a morning nap, called the midwives, and then went into an overdrive birth from 10AM to 1PM when I pushed out number two. All this to say, conserving your energy is a good thing. Your body is super smart and will go into labor on its' own....just CONSERVE energy for transition and pushing as much as you can. The hardest part about that labor was pushing-it was very painful when her head came through the birth canal (the others weren't like that), and maybe it was because it was SO fast, that I could not get a breath. Anyway, that child ended up with my personality.....she go go go goes....and still needs naps at 5 years old, because she is so active.

Number three started at 3PM, which I thought was a pretty safe time. It just started with light contractiions, pretty far apart, and was so mild, I went out to a birthday dinner, only to decide I did not want to be there once I got in a hard chair with obnoxious restaurant music and gross restaurant smell (not much of a restaurant girl). I got home, called the midwives and they agreed I WAS in labor, although contractions never got closer than 10 minutes apart and I seemd to progress better lying down? This was VERY hard for me to fathom. I am by nature, a "doer". It is hard for me to lie down unless I am totally exhausted, but it seemed right, so I just lay down and slept between contractions, the midwives slept on the couch and I woke up to squeeze the combs every 10 to 12 minutes. I had 2 hard contractions around 2:30 AM, and then I knew it was time to push, so I got in the shower and boom, pushed 4 or 5 times and out came the baby. The big surprise on that one was the lying down and extra slow part. But that baby's personality is VERY methodical, organized, particular, and he licks his ice cream more slowly than anyone I know, enjoying every moment of life. The only way I could accept lying down to birth is by thinking of a horse lying down in a barn or a cow giving birth to her calf. I thought "animals do it, I guess humans can do it too". (This may sound strange to a hospital birther, but I'm used to walking around the block or getting in the pool or bouncing on my birthing ball...the bed is completely unappealing to me)

Number four was quick and easy. Actually, that one, the labor started at 2AM on two different nights. I labored for an hour and then , got a little tired, so I did the side lying (Childbirth Without Fear) and fell right back to sleep. I sort of assumed labor would pick up again in the morning and both times,...nothing. Well, it kind of bummed Mark out. He would get awake enough to get excited, and all of a sudden, I'm snoring. After two different nights of this, he kind of stormed to work and said not to ruin his sleep again, or something like that. I think he thought I was faking it or something????? Not sure. Anyway, again, SUCH a different birth. I was really due on September 11th, but did not want to come on that day, so I told everyone September 10th. The baby did not come on the 10th or 11th, so the morning of the 12th, I took a little bit of castor oil and that seemed to "do it" for me. I was in labor in 5 minutes and pushed about an hour later for 45 seconds. Again, another high energy baby with some fight in him. Everything about number four was a surprise. I was unsure of his sex (with the others I instinctively knew), and then the labor was like a game of hide and seek and he (more than the others) is such a funny jokester. SO funny and surprising. He came out of my body with blond hair and I thought I saw freckles....they went away, but I thought maybe he got them through my stomach since I was in the sun so much. Anyway, again, I am SO GRATEFUL that I did fall back asleep those two nights. Yeah, it was a couple of days longer that I had to wait, but I think my body got a lot done in those two "spurts" of time, and then when it boiled down to the day, labor was easier than making a batch of soap.

In the end, my advice to any woman about to give birth, is this. You have been forced to patience over 9 months....use all of the self control and discipline you have to be patient just a few more days or hours, whatever the case may be and your birth will be a more enjoyable and restful experience. If you push yourself to the max before you reach 5 centimeters, you will probably still have the baby naturally, but tiredness can have a negative effect on your rationale. Whereas, if you trust your body, respect God's timing, trust the baby (there's a chemical in the babie's brain that actuallly starts birth), then the fruit and the victory is that much sweeter and enjoyable. AND, the photos of you will be fresher looking.