Having a baby...

I'll be honest... the few hours of labor terrify me. I think it's the unknown that is the hardest to deal with. When labor starts, and then gets increasingly painful, you really don't know how much longer you'll have to 'do this'. Of course there is comfort in the fact that it WILL end. It never lasts forever. :)

So this will be my sixth delivery. I'll give a brief rundown of the kinds of deliveries I've had, and what I'm hoping for this time...

Drew: 16 hour labor, all natural, 2.5 hours of pushing, shot of Demerol near the end (Two days after due date)

Joe: Water broke, hospital induced labor with pitocin, stadol through IV, 16 hours (Two weeks early)

Harley: Water broke, hard contractions, quick delivery, 2.5 hours (Two weeks early)

Zach: 20 hour labor, slow start, picked up throughout the day, epidural for last two hours (On due date)

Jethro: 6 hour labor, fast and hard contractions, epidural last two hours (Two weeks overdue)

So I've had lots of different experiences. As an epidural is not an option for me for this next delivery, I am reading up on natural childbirth and how people deal, cope or even enjoy it. It seems like some women view this as a rite of passage into motherhood and feel very empowered by their experience in childbirth. I would have to say with Harley's birth, I did feel very strong and unstoppable. (Look what I just did?) So I am hoping as I practice my breathing and visualization techniques, that I will be able to stay focused, hold myself together, and even enjoy the birthing process this time. I know if you can stay relaxed, your body is more able to do what it needs to, and it is a good method to trust your body. I must not let panic creep in because that does no good for me or my baby. I really am looking forward to meeting this new child.

I recently got the book, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, and the DVD 'The Business of Being Born.' I would highly recommend both to any woman, but especially to those who may have another child. There are so many wonderful things our medical world can do for us as laboring women. But also so much that is unnecessary to the process of something our bodies are made to do. Even after having five children, there was much I learned from reading this book.

I have also read the book Hypnobirthing and it has some great breathing and visualization techniques in it that I am hoping to use.

Update...

A lot has been happening in our lives. But I have not taken many photos lately. Hopefully I can pick it up again.

I bought an injured bird from some neighborhood kids in hope of nursing it back to health. It lived for 3 days. We were not quite ready to take on a new pet, but I just couldn't let the kids keep dragging it around town till it died, so I wanted to save it.

Jethro turned one! He is a happy, adventurous boy. He loves to be outside. Here he is on our well, one of the places he like to play.

I really do love having a baby around... I'm glad there is another one on the way.

Zach is still into everything, even as a three year old. He loves to help anyone with a project and he loves to go anywhere anyone might be going. He really is a big help... you just have to keep him busy so he doesn't get himself into trouble...

Ask and you shall receive...

In so many ways… we are blessed and overblessed… I just need to share some of them wtih you. First of all, I wrote a blog while back called Love to France… it was in the midst of frustration over not knowing how to find things we wanted. Living in a foreign country is challenging. We have been so blessed by people who have showered us with packages with all sorts of goodies. Thank you for thinking of us and for sacrificing your time and money to light up our days. I cannot tell you how excited the kids are when we get a package and we all dig in with anticipation.

Another thing we have asked for, mostly from God, is for opportunities to speak french and make some friends. This last week we were blessed. We had a birthday party for Zach on Saturday. Jeff told me on Wednesday that I should go invite 3 of our neighbors to his party. I didn't want to… it is hard to approach a strangers door and use my broken french to talk… but I did. The first door I went to, a family with one little girl Harley's age invited me in. I almost said no, I need to go invite more people, but then thought better of it. We visited for about an hour after which we promised to stop by anytime and watch each others kids. She even offered to take me shopping in her car and after I have the baby, take me to a local moms group.

On Friday our Church has a ladies bible study. I have been trying to go with my friend Hilary from our school who also attends our Church. It has been canceled numerous times and this Friday she was going to be on vacation. But she asked one of the Church ladies if they could pick me up. So Friday I went to a ladies Bible Study. I did not understand a lot, but was once again blessed by their kindness to me. And enjoyed the fellowship between believers that crosses over cultural and language barriers. One Church lady had brought me two bags of toys for our kids that her daughters had outgrown. So thoughtful. And another lady told me there was a porta crib at Church for me. She knew we were looking for an extra baby bed. God just goes before us taking care of the extra things. When we left San Jose we knew our kids wouldn't miss their toys too much they couldn't bring with them, but isn't it just like God to provide for them anyway with extra!?

That night we recieved a phone call from a man we do not know from our Church. He said he had heard that we wanted to go visit the farm of another Church man, but didn't have a ride. He would be happy to pick us up and take us. So right after Zach's party Jeff, Drew, Joe and Harley went with Charles an hours ride away to a dairy farm. After an extensive tour they were able to sample the cheese made on the farm.

All three of the families we invited came to Zach's party on Saturday. (As well as many of our good friends from Les Cedres) It was a wild good time with about 20 kids.) Jeff even had one of our neighbors read a portion from Job and explained to them all why he had chosen the name Zachariah Job for him.

On Sunday we had been invited to a families home for lunch after Church. (Our Church goes till 1:30PM so this is a late affair.) After a pre appetizer of goat cheese, dried salami, pretzel sticks and juice, we were invited to a beautiful table for an appetizer salad, then a sausage and potato main course, followed by a cheese and wine, and then a delicious chocolate cake. Wow! We were impressed. Then we visited and the wife took me up to her attick and blessed me with baby clothes she had saved that were her own childrens things. I could not believe their kindness and generosity. They gave the kids books in french and let them play endlessly with toys. And fed them another snack. When we finally checked the time we saw that it was 7:20PM… He drove us home and when we got there he gave us a special cake from the south of france.

Also this last week Jeff met a couple at the park in front of our house from Tunisia. They were super friendly. They live just around the corner from us and on our second meeting with them they gave us their phone number and said to call them when we need a ride to the hospital. Day or night, they would be happy to take us. This is a blessing because Taxi's can take a long time to come, and some will refuse to take a pregnant women. If you are in the french health care system, you can call an ambulance, but we would have to pay for that!

So as you can see… when it rains, it pours… Thank God with us for all these opportunities and pray for us to have the energy to take it all in and continue to learn all we can. God is good...

I'm In Love!!!

I am so in love with this kid. We are having so much fun with him. You would think you would get tired of all the new things a baby does by baby number four. But on the contrary, Jeff is convinced Zach is happier and has more smiles than all our other kids. He is just SO Cute! He is also very ticklish. :)




That is just a sock on his hand, his feet are not up by his face!

Zachariah's Smiles

Jeff put together this amazing video and I wanted to share it here in case anyone didn't get the email from him.

Highlights of Womens Retreat 2008

* Staying in the most beautiful Hotel with the most beautiful view!!!


* Playing Spoons till all hours of the night with friends!
* Shopping in Pismo with those friends, and getting a special gift for a special friend!

* Being with Friends from Ojai that I only see once or twice a year!!!


* Sharing my newest Joy... Zachariah with my dear friends.

* And coming to know more than ever that God has us in this place in life for a reason. It was a wonderful weekend!!!

**** And Oh YES.... The Chocolate was amazing!!!

Off Again...

I am happy to announce that I am headed to Avila Lighthouse Hotel for two days for Ojai Valley Community Church's Womens Retreat. Yea... MaryLou gave this weekend to me for a Christmas gift and I am SO grateful. Cheers for a wonderful Lulu!!! Plus... Zachariah has slept through the night for the past three nights... so that is just in time to keep me well rested to party with my girls. Here I come...

Sleep...

I have been wanting to blog... but I type so slowly one handed and I'm usually only in front of the computer when I'm nursing. So... things are going well. Zach did get a cold so pray he gets better soon. We are still up once or twice a night. I could relate to this cartoon. Although Jeff said he would take a night feeding sometime soon, so I'll let you know if that works out. We are excited to see Jeff's brother Jim, his wife Becca, and our new nephew Caleb tomorrow. Yea!!! I'll put up some photos of the little cousins after the weekend.

One Fat Cat

Pilchard our cat is an outdoor cat. We got him and his sister Bird, a couple years ago to take care of our mouse problem. We no longer have a mouse problem, or ground squirrel or gopher, or bird problems. When Pilchard gets in, he heads for a nice bed to sleep on. Lately I have found him in Zachs bed! He is enormous for your average outdoor cat. you can see here how he dwarfs our Granny.

Zach my Boy

Despite my slightly sleepy and foggy head. I am quite clear on my deep and growing love for Zachariah. He is a good baby. And my head and heart are full of possibilities for him. It is fun to watch him grow and change already in his short two and half weeks. He eats non stop, but I see it as a labor of love that is providing him the very best he can have at this young stage of life. He is up usually twice a night still. So the days I get to go back to sleep after the six AM feeding, are happier days. :) (Some have questioned that six AM is still nighttime. Well when you are up for one to two hours at 2 AM, then it is still nighttime at 6.) We are so fortunate that he is fitting in so well with our family. (Yea for families of Six!!!)