So, I feel like we're finally getting into somewhat of a routine (sort of). Since my mom went home, I have definitely begun to see the (at least for me) necessity of cooking ahead. Lately, I start working on dinner right after breakfast. It never fails that Benjamin needs to eat at 5:30 or 6 when I would normally be getting dinner ready. Having it mostly done ahead of time definitely helps tremendously! Anyway, I'm still keeping things relatively simple around here, though I do find I'm having a little more energy--this boy is going to be an entire month old on Friday! I can hardly believe it!
Anyway, here's what we're eating this week. What are y'all fixin'?
Breakfasts:
cold cereal (with raw milk)
baked oatmeal (with apples and cranberries), scrambled eggs
pancakes, scrambled eggs
cheesy potato pie, banana bread
Lunches:
sandwiches (egg salad, PB and J, PB and Banana, grilled cheese)
hamburgers
snacks
leftovers
Dinners:
Monday~Chicken Pot Pie (leftover from a meal a family from church brought on Saturday)
Tuesday~Swiss Steak, mashed potatoes, salad
Wednesday~leftovers
Thursday~beef tacos, rice and beans
Friday~leftovers
Saturday~lasagna, salad
For more menu plans, check out OrgJunkie!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
SIt up straight!
Yesterday afternoon I was laying on the sofa with Benjamin and I started having a lot of pain in my upper abdomen, across the front near my breast bone. The pain quickly wrapped around my back and before long was some of the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced outside of labor. I had no idea what could be wrong, and I was pretty seriously considering a trip to the ER (and as y'all know--I definitely prefer to stay out of hospitals). Before we took that measure, I decided to give my midwife a call and she said the symptoms sounded like pain she had once before when she pulled a rib out of place. She suggested I call the chiropractor and see if she could see me right away.
Thankfully, she was able to fit me in in the evening just before she closed for the day, and it turned out I did have a rib out of place, as well as a severe muscle spasm. She said there is a good chance that the cause was poor posture while breastfeeding! Apparently after childbirth, the hormones cause your ligaments to be much looser and with pressure on your back from slouching, they don't hold you together as well as usual. The adjustment helped tremendously and I feel pretty much 100% better today.
The chiropractor said some ways to remedy the problem are keeping a pillow behind my lower back while nursing and making sure to use my Boppy pillow
since it raises the baby up and keeps me from needing to hunch over. In addition, she said if I start to feel out of whack, try laying flat on my back on the hard floor to help things straighten out and apply moist heat (a rice sock or a microwaved wet towel) for 10-15 minutes at a time.
Just wanted to share that with those of you who will be nursing babies in the near future!
Thankfully, she was able to fit me in in the evening just before she closed for the day, and it turned out I did have a rib out of place, as well as a severe muscle spasm. She said there is a good chance that the cause was poor posture while breastfeeding! Apparently after childbirth, the hormones cause your ligaments to be much looser and with pressure on your back from slouching, they don't hold you together as well as usual. The adjustment helped tremendously and I feel pretty much 100% better today.
The chiropractor said some ways to remedy the problem are keeping a pillow behind my lower back while nursing and making sure to use my Boppy pillow
since it raises the baby up and keeps me from needing to hunch over. In addition, she said if I start to feel out of whack, try laying flat on my back on the hard floor to help things straighten out and apply moist heat (a rice sock or a microwaved wet towel) for 10-15 minutes at a time.Just wanted to share that with those of you who will be nursing babies in the near future!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Why homebirth?
On a recent post, a reader asked:
1) It's just as safe as hospital birth, with fewer unnecessary interventions.
For healthy women who are pregnant with healthy babies, it is very rare that birth turns into a medical emergency. Statistically, planned, midwife assisted home births are just as safe as low-risk hospital births. That said, a major benefit to being under the care of a midwife and giving birth outside the hospital is avoiding unnecessary interventions. Women who deliver in hospitals are much more likely to have episiotomies, medical inductions (which can cause the baby to go into distress, among other risks), c-sections, and of course epidurals (which, despite how common they are certainly come with risks). About 1/3 of women in America give birth by c-section, and this in particular was something we really wanted to avoid, mainly because it can complicate the desire to have a large family.
With both of my pregnancies, there is a good chance medical induction would have been pushed if I had been under the care of a doctor. My labor with Katie was long and slow (about 36 hours from the start of early labor to her birth) and Benjamin was a week past his due date. Both situations were uncomfortable, but my babies and I were healthy and didn't need medical assistance to speed the process. I'm so glad we avoided it.
2) Lower risk of being exposed to infection.
Hospitals are for sick people, and though the staff generally attempts to create a sterile environment, it's not always possible. While the environment at home is certainly not sterile, it is generally free from dangerous and even deadly bacteria and viruses. Babies born in hospitals are four times more likely to suffer from infection than babies born at home. According to this article, more people die every year from hospital-acquired infection than from all other accidental deaths combined.
3) Midwives give better care.
This is, of course, subjective and probably depends greatly on the specific midwives and doctors. In general, midwives are known for their very personal and intimate care. I know my health care providers from both pregnancies quickly became (and have stayed) friends. They took time to talk and answer questions at each prenatal appointment and were very accessible in between appointments. Additionally, the postpartum care was excellent. The midwife who took care of me during my first pregnancy was instrumental in our breastfeeding success, which I am so thankful for!
Also, midwives are trained to deal with problems naturally using herbs and homeopathics rather than automatically resorting to pharmaceuticals. I much prefer natural methods whenever possible, and being under the care of someone trained to use them properly is a big plus for me.
4) It's more affordable.
Of course if we thought the hospital was a safer place to be for birth, this wouldn't be an issue and we'd gladly spend the money it would cost to deliver in the hospital. However, in our minds, we're paying much less for something far superior. All of the expenses for my care over the course of my pregnancy with Benjamin were under $4000 (and were paid in full by other families who are members of Samaritan). As you may have read if you've been around this blog a while, Katie was born at the hospital after a transfer. The expenses were much higher.
All that said, my hospital birth was not a bad experience and I was still able to have the natural birth I had hoped for. However, after giving birth at home, I would never choose anything different. However, if the need for medical intervention were to arise, I'm really thankful we could get to a hospital and have that care relatively quickly. It really is a blessing for it to be available in case of emergencies.
What about y'all? Do you prefer to have your babies at the hospital, a birthing center, or at home?
I have never birthed a child and I am just curious as to why so many people are choosing home births now. I imagine it's nice to be in a familiar setting, but I was wondering if you could fill me in. :)The decision to give birth outside the hospital surprises a lot of people these days, when just about everyone gives birth in the hospital and wouldn't imagine they'd want it any other way. When we found out I was pregnant with Katie, our research led us to the decision that out-of-hospital birth was the best option for us for several reasons.
1) It's just as safe as hospital birth, with fewer unnecessary interventions.
For healthy women who are pregnant with healthy babies, it is very rare that birth turns into a medical emergency. Statistically, planned, midwife assisted home births are just as safe as low-risk hospital births. That said, a major benefit to being under the care of a midwife and giving birth outside the hospital is avoiding unnecessary interventions. Women who deliver in hospitals are much more likely to have episiotomies, medical inductions (which can cause the baby to go into distress, among other risks), c-sections, and of course epidurals (which, despite how common they are certainly come with risks). About 1/3 of women in America give birth by c-section, and this in particular was something we really wanted to avoid, mainly because it can complicate the desire to have a large family.
With both of my pregnancies, there is a good chance medical induction would have been pushed if I had been under the care of a doctor. My labor with Katie was long and slow (about 36 hours from the start of early labor to her birth) and Benjamin was a week past his due date. Both situations were uncomfortable, but my babies and I were healthy and didn't need medical assistance to speed the process. I'm so glad we avoided it.
2) Lower risk of being exposed to infection.
Hospitals are for sick people, and though the staff generally attempts to create a sterile environment, it's not always possible. While the environment at home is certainly not sterile, it is generally free from dangerous and even deadly bacteria and viruses. Babies born in hospitals are four times more likely to suffer from infection than babies born at home. According to this article, more people die every year from hospital-acquired infection than from all other accidental deaths combined.
3) Midwives give better care.
This is, of course, subjective and probably depends greatly on the specific midwives and doctors. In general, midwives are known for their very personal and intimate care. I know my health care providers from both pregnancies quickly became (and have stayed) friends. They took time to talk and answer questions at each prenatal appointment and were very accessible in between appointments. Additionally, the postpartum care was excellent. The midwife who took care of me during my first pregnancy was instrumental in our breastfeeding success, which I am so thankful for!
Also, midwives are trained to deal with problems naturally using herbs and homeopathics rather than automatically resorting to pharmaceuticals. I much prefer natural methods whenever possible, and being under the care of someone trained to use them properly is a big plus for me.
4) It's more affordable.
Of course if we thought the hospital was a safer place to be for birth, this wouldn't be an issue and we'd gladly spend the money it would cost to deliver in the hospital. However, in our minds, we're paying much less for something far superior. All of the expenses for my care over the course of my pregnancy with Benjamin were under $4000 (and were paid in full by other families who are members of Samaritan). As you may have read if you've been around this blog a while, Katie was born at the hospital after a transfer. The expenses were much higher.
All that said, my hospital birth was not a bad experience and I was still able to have the natural birth I had hoped for. However, after giving birth at home, I would never choose anything different. However, if the need for medical intervention were to arise, I'm really thankful we could get to a hospital and have that care relatively quickly. It really is a blessing for it to be available in case of emergencies.
What about y'all? Do you prefer to have your babies at the hospital, a birthing center, or at home?
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Adjusting
I can't believe my wee little baby is already three weeks old. The time is just flying by! Our life has certainly changed a lot in the past three weeks. My mom was here for the first two weeks of Benjamin's life and it was such a blessing to have her help and fellowship! She left last Monday and I've been 'on my own' with of my children. Life with a two year old and a newborn has certainly presented its own set of challenges, but the blessings are manifold. I am so thankful to the Lord for my two sweet babies!
Once Mom left, I tried to start doing everything--all the chores in my Motivated Moms Planner, cooking all our meals, keeping the house clean and keeping up with a busy toddler while nursing a newborn several times a day and a couple times during the night. I very quickly learned I wouldn't be able to keep up. And, that's okay--thankfully, my husband agreed. So, I've been just trying to keep up with the most important chores (cooking, keeping the kitchen clean, and laundry) and I've had some help with the rest. ;)
Our meals have been simple, we've been eating lots of leftovers, and our house has been far from spotless. We've even been using paper towels and paper napkins. And, that's okay for now. Eventually, I'll be able to keep up with things like I did before. At the present, getting rest and snuggling my new baby are far more important--as I learned last time around, babies just don't keep.
Once Mom left, I tried to start doing everything--all the chores in my Motivated Moms Planner, cooking all our meals, keeping the house clean and keeping up with a busy toddler while nursing a newborn several times a day and a couple times during the night. I very quickly learned I wouldn't be able to keep up. And, that's okay--thankfully, my husband agreed. So, I've been just trying to keep up with the most important chores (cooking, keeping the kitchen clean, and laundry) and I've had some help with the rest. ;)
Our meals have been simple, we've been eating lots of leftovers, and our house has been far from spotless. We've even been using paper towels and paper napkins. And, that's okay for now. Eventually, I'll be able to keep up with things like I did before. At the present, getting rest and snuggling my new baby are far more important--as I learned last time around, babies just don't keep.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
A few pictures
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| Benjamin at an hour and a half old |
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| Meeting her baby brother for the first time |
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| I sure do love my babies <3 |
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| our family and my parents |
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| My midwife gave us this onesie--so thankful for our homebirth! |
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| Ben, Benjamin Jr., Ben's Dad, and Ben's Grandfather--four generations of Murch men |
Monday, January 17, 2011
Menu Plan, January 17-23
So, last week was my first week back in the kitchen since Benjamin was born. My Mom went home last Monday. It was so nice to have her help and sweet fellowship while she was here! Needless to say, I'm keeping our meals relatively simple these days--and shooting to have them mostly prepared before Benjamin's 5/6 o'clock feeding so we can still eat at a reasonable hour. Here's what we're eating this week.
Breakfasts:
Eggs with toast (x2)
Baked oatmeal with scrambled eggs (x3)
Cheesy Potato Pie and banana bread (x2)
Lunches:
leftovers, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, beans and cornbread
Dinners:
hamburgers, homemade fries (x2)
ham, mashed potatoes, salad
Italian Roast Beef with pasta, salad
Southwest roll-ups
leftovers
dinner at the farm
PS: I *plan* to post more pictures of our sweet boy this week. I've been meaning to, but haven't actually gotten around to getting them off the camera! {{whoops!}}
For hundreds more menu plans, head over to OrgJunkie.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Benjamin's Birth Story
I plan to be back to normal blogging next week. Thanks for putting up with my absence! I am thankful to have recovered quite well from birth and am feeling really good, aside from the sleep deprivation that comes with being the mother of a newborn. :)
On December 20, the day before my due-date, my midwife came over for a prenatal check-up. When we scheduled one for the following week, we both assumed it was just a formality--surely my baby would make his appearance within the week! To our surprise, the morning of December 27 found my mom and me making the trek to Lynchburg after contractions over Christmas weekend failed to get my little guy out (though they did manage to be consistent enough to cause my midwife to leave her family Christmas gathering over two hours away).
When my midwife did an exam, we found that I was 4cm dilated, 80% effaced, and Baby was pretty low. We decided to go ahead and give castor oil a try, quite confident it would do the trick. Mom and I stopped to pick up a few things (castor oil included) on the way home. When we got home, we had some lunch and then around 1:25 I mixed up 2oz. of castor oil with some kefir smoothie in the blender and gulped it down--not too bad. Katie went down for a nap and I took a hot shower, got on some cozy sweatpants and a t-shirt and took a seat on my exercise ball. An hour after the first dose, I took the rest of the bottle of castor oil--another two ounces. Within about 20 minutes, I started having some stronger contractions. Yes!
Over the next hour, my contractions continued and we decided I didn’t need to bother with the third dose of castor oil. I walked around the house, bounced on the exercise ball and the contractions continued to get stronger. Around 7, I talked to my midwife and we decided she would come after Katie went down for the night. My contractions were strong and close together, but not lasting a full minute like we thought they should be. My midwife arrived just before 10. Katie was tucked into bed and my contractions continued to get stronger. I started having some back pain as well. Leslie checked me and I was still at 4, but Benjamin was much lower and I was completely effaced.
Shortly after that, Ben, Mom, and Leslie started getting the birthing tub set up. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the water hook-up and it would only fill it with cold water, so they had to fill it with boiling water from the stove! Ben did eventually get the hot water working, but by that time, the tub was almost completely full. My contractions were getting a lot stronger, and I really wanted to get in the water, so at midnight, Leslie checked me and I was at 5. I was definitely hoping to be more dilated than that, but was relived to have progressed enough to get in the tub.
For a while (I‘m told it was around 20 minutes, though I don‘t really remember myself!), the hot water provided some very welcome relief. After that point, however, my contractions got much stronger and the back pain became pretty unbearable. Up until then, having someone rub my lower back had provided some relief, but now it seemed like absolutely nothing would help with the pain. At some point, I decided to use the bathroom and never ended up getting back in the tub. Leslie and Dorcas--another midwife who was assisting her--took turns squeezing my hips really hard and that took some of the edge of the back pain. The also had me try a couple different positions to see if that would help open things up a bit. Finally, Ben brought the ball into the bedroom and I sat on that through one contraction.
After that contraction, I climbed into bed on all fours and felt a slight burning sensation, so I asked, “Do you see his head?” Dorcas rushed to get my mom and the assistant in the room. I never got an overpowering urge to push, and really did not put a whole lot of effort into pushing. It was like my body just took over. Within two minutes, at 1:48, Benjamin was born!
Since I delivered him on my hands and knees, Leslie placed him between my legs as soon as he was out. I was overwhelmed at the sight of my sweet son, and so thankful we had been able to stay home for his birth. Once Benjamin was wrapped in a towel and snuggled up with me in the bed, Leslie checked and I only had a minor tear that didn’t require any stitches, which surprised me since Benjamin was over a pound larger than Katie and came out even quicker than she did! My placenta was delivered pretty quickly and once the cord stopped pulsing, Ben cut it.
None of the things that went wrong with Katie’s birth--high blood pressure, tearing, and extra bleeding--came up this time. My labor was about 10 hours from the start of early labor to the birth. Giving birth at home was one of the sweetest experiences of my life. Leslie, Dorcas, and Allison were amazing; I couldn’t have asked for a better team of ladies assisting my birth. Ben was an amazing help as well--what a blessing to have a godly husband who knows exactly what I need during labor! And of course, I was so glad my mom was able to be there; I really can’t imagine giving birth without her right there. Besides the pain (which I suppose is typical of an unmedicated birth!), Benjamin’s birth was everything I hoped and prayed it would be.
We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with another precious child. May he grow up to be a faithful servant of Christ and be used mightily for the advancement of His Kingdom!
This post is linked to Finer Things Friday.
On December 20, the day before my due-date, my midwife came over for a prenatal check-up. When we scheduled one for the following week, we both assumed it was just a formality--surely my baby would make his appearance within the week! To our surprise, the morning of December 27 found my mom and me making the trek to Lynchburg after contractions over Christmas weekend failed to get my little guy out (though they did manage to be consistent enough to cause my midwife to leave her family Christmas gathering over two hours away).
When my midwife did an exam, we found that I was 4cm dilated, 80% effaced, and Baby was pretty low. We decided to go ahead and give castor oil a try, quite confident it would do the trick. Mom and I stopped to pick up a few things (castor oil included) on the way home. When we got home, we had some lunch and then around 1:25 I mixed up 2oz. of castor oil with some kefir smoothie in the blender and gulped it down--not too bad. Katie went down for a nap and I took a hot shower, got on some cozy sweatpants and a t-shirt and took a seat on my exercise ball. An hour after the first dose, I took the rest of the bottle of castor oil--another two ounces. Within about 20 minutes, I started having some stronger contractions. Yes!
Over the next hour, my contractions continued and we decided I didn’t need to bother with the third dose of castor oil. I walked around the house, bounced on the exercise ball and the contractions continued to get stronger. Around 7, I talked to my midwife and we decided she would come after Katie went down for the night. My contractions were strong and close together, but not lasting a full minute like we thought they should be. My midwife arrived just before 10. Katie was tucked into bed and my contractions continued to get stronger. I started having some back pain as well. Leslie checked me and I was still at 4, but Benjamin was much lower and I was completely effaced.
Shortly after that, Ben, Mom, and Leslie started getting the birthing tub set up. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the water hook-up and it would only fill it with cold water, so they had to fill it with boiling water from the stove! Ben did eventually get the hot water working, but by that time, the tub was almost completely full. My contractions were getting a lot stronger, and I really wanted to get in the water, so at midnight, Leslie checked me and I was at 5. I was definitely hoping to be more dilated than that, but was relived to have progressed enough to get in the tub.
For a while (I‘m told it was around 20 minutes, though I don‘t really remember myself!), the hot water provided some very welcome relief. After that point, however, my contractions got much stronger and the back pain became pretty unbearable. Up until then, having someone rub my lower back had provided some relief, but now it seemed like absolutely nothing would help with the pain. At some point, I decided to use the bathroom and never ended up getting back in the tub. Leslie and Dorcas--another midwife who was assisting her--took turns squeezing my hips really hard and that took some of the edge of the back pain. The also had me try a couple different positions to see if that would help open things up a bit. Finally, Ben brought the ball into the bedroom and I sat on that through one contraction.
After that contraction, I climbed into bed on all fours and felt a slight burning sensation, so I asked, “Do you see his head?” Dorcas rushed to get my mom and the assistant in the room. I never got an overpowering urge to push, and really did not put a whole lot of effort into pushing. It was like my body just took over. Within two minutes, at 1:48, Benjamin was born!
Since I delivered him on my hands and knees, Leslie placed him between my legs as soon as he was out. I was overwhelmed at the sight of my sweet son, and so thankful we had been able to stay home for his birth. Once Benjamin was wrapped in a towel and snuggled up with me in the bed, Leslie checked and I only had a minor tear that didn’t require any stitches, which surprised me since Benjamin was over a pound larger than Katie and came out even quicker than she did! My placenta was delivered pretty quickly and once the cord stopped pulsing, Ben cut it.
None of the things that went wrong with Katie’s birth--high blood pressure, tearing, and extra bleeding--came up this time. My labor was about 10 hours from the start of early labor to the birth. Giving birth at home was one of the sweetest experiences of my life. Leslie, Dorcas, and Allison were amazing; I couldn’t have asked for a better team of ladies assisting my birth. Ben was an amazing help as well--what a blessing to have a godly husband who knows exactly what I need during labor! And of course, I was so glad my mom was able to be there; I really can’t imagine giving birth without her right there. Besides the pain (which I suppose is typical of an unmedicated birth!), Benjamin’s birth was everything I hoped and prayed it would be.
We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with another precious child. May he grow up to be a faithful servant of Christ and be used mightily for the advancement of His Kingdom!
This post is linked to Finer Things Friday.
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