Damian's Pre- Birth Story

I have been asked to share Damian's birth story. I think it is important that I record my memories, because they are already slipping into a blur of diaper changes and late night feedings. It was incredible and emotional, but (Surprise, surprise!) not what I expected or planned.

Curious? Well, here's what happened while we waited for the Lil' Guy to arrive-

My mom drove up just before Damian's April 3rd due date. He seemed well on his way. Just after she got here, I had a long night of contractions (strong and different than ones I had previously had) leading into the next day, but they faded away and then there was nothing. His due date came and went. Days came and went. I felt like I would never get to meet my Jellybean.

I was HUGE!!!!

 Exhibit A

My Mom insisted that she babysit Lil' Man for a night so that Paul an I could take a "Babymoon". After all, we were becoming parents for the second time in 10 months!

We checked into a nice place 10 minutes from our house and went swimming. It felt great to be weightless! I dipped my feet into the hot tub just enough for Paul to massage my feet while he relaxed in the steamy bubbles. Bliss!

We kept busy as we awaited Damian's arrival.

My mom painted the nursery blue. We didn't know if we were having a he or a she, but we figured blue and chocolate would be perfect for a boy or a girl. It was wonderful having someone around who had the energy to tackle the projects that I could not.

While mom painted, Paul and I took Lil' Man to a Maple Sugar festival where we learned about different methods of sugaring and enjoyed a beautiful day out and about as a family.

We were trying to keep busy and keep me distracted from the "joys" of  pregnancy. One of those joys was one of those unplanned/unexpected things that I previously refered to.

I hadn't had any stretch marks until those final weeks and then suddenly they popped out and I developed one of those special pregnancy induced conditions referred to as PUPPP. It's a rash that starts on your stretch marks and spreads. It feels like a cross between having poison ivy/oak and millions of mosquito and fire ant bites. Ugh! I was miserable. It was especially bad on my poor, swollen feet. Just thinking about it now makes me itch!

As per doctor's advice, I used cortizone cream, but it didn't help me. I had read that drinking V8 and showering 4 times a day with Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap would help. It may have a little. It was just one of those things you have to deal with, but I do think my mom was ready to stick socks on my hands to keep me from scratching!  I'm tempted to show the picture of the rash on my stomach, but I won't.

Finally, April10th rolled around. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday! We found out we were pregnant on a Sunday morning just before mass. I was born on a Sunday. It was bound to be a good day!

We picnicked down at the lake here at camp. It was so hot and I only had winter maternity clothes, so I had to make do. My feet were so swollen that I was wearing boots lined with shearling wool because they were the only shoes I owned that still fit! Luckily my friend, Lauren, loaned me her shoes.

Like the boots??? :-)

By evening a storm had come up complete with a lightening bolt display, gorgeous cloudy sunset and a torrential downpour. We took my mom and Lil' Man to walk around the Kalahari resort that is 5 minutes from our house. Its a great place to walk around when the weather is bad. Lil Man loves it, but he becomes quickly overstimulated by all there is to see, so we were all home and in bed by 9 or 9:30. By 10 o'clock  I knew that baby was on the way!!!

The last family picture before Damian's BIRTHday!

To be continued... ;-)

My Catholic Kiddies

Where to even begin??? So much has been happening that I've put anything and everything I can onto the back burner for now. 

My Lil' Snuggler was 4 weeks old yesterday. I don't know how it happened. It really feels like its been a week and a lifetime all at once. I do want to share Damian's birth story, but that will be another story for another day.

The week after Damian was born Lil' Man's Dad came to visit. He had always wanted Lil' Man to be baptized, but circumstances had made it impossible to allow him to arrange it. We had been trying to have him baptized for the past 10 months, but kept waiting for his dad to be there to present him. With his dad in town we finally had the chance, but it was problematic because it was Holy Week.

There was a huge snowstorm (yes, a snowstorm in April!) the night Lil' Man's dad arrived, so we weren't sure when he'd end up getting into town. The next morning Paul went to daily mass at our parish and asked our Pastor if it would be possible to have Lil' Man baptized that week (Father knew the situation already.). Father told us it would only be possible if we could do it that morning!

In less than two hours we had the Camp staff, my mom and our lil' family at the church. A miracle in its self!

Father explained to Lil Man that he was going to have a "church bath" that would make his soul clean. Lil' Man's response?

"I take baths in the big tub at home with bubbles!"

It was so beautiful! I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down as I watched my Little Angel become a member of the Church!

Damian's baptism wasn't far behind his big brother's.

Lil' Snuggler was born into life in the Church on May 1st- Divine Mercy Sunday, the day of Pope John Paul II's beatification and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker!!! Who could ask for a more perfect day???

He was a little angel and slept through almost the entire mass. It was beautiful and the priest who baptized him will be camp's chaplain for the summer. Fun!

Sadly, Damian's godparents, my brother Michael and his wife Ashley, weren't able to make it to the baptism, but several members of both Paul and my family were there. Paul's brother Matt stood in as proxy for Michael and my cousin Angela stood in for Ashley. I was so happy that some of the family was able to be there.

 

We've dreamed of this for so long!

God bless both of my Little Lambie-kins and keep them holy!

Welcoming Damian Gabriel!

I just wanted to quickly post a picture of my beautiful son, Damian Gabriel.

He was born Tuesday, April 12th  and weighed 8 pounds 11ounces. I was in labor with out any pain medication for 36 hours, but his head was cocked in a bad position, so they tried to manually rotate him (still with out any meds) three times before rushing me in for an emergency c-section.  

He was well worth the effort!

May your Easter be filled with blessings! Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever! Alleluia!

Making Plans (or not)

I was laughed at today, in a good-natured manner, for mentioning that I had given my OB a copy of my "birth plan" at my last appointment. The person's response, besides laughter, was, "I plan on having a quick, easy and pain-free birth!"

Wouldn't it be nice to write it down and have it happen that way because that's "the plan"?

I was a little hurt feeling that someone thought I was being naive to make decisions about how I wanted my baby to be born and expecting things to go that way. I'm not saying that things will go the way I would like them to, but I would like to try to make it as beautiful an experience as it can be.

Paul and I have been taking our Bradley classes and, even if we don't have things happen the natural way we would like, I would like to: A) Prepare and hope for things to be the best they can and B) Feel as though people I care about are respecting my decisions and believing that I have the conviction to try my best.

No matter what, the classes have been a blessing for Paul to feel more involved in our pregnancy and to help him know how to handle me and all the craziness involved in pregnancy. They have helped me know better how to take care of myself and the baby (even if I don't do as well as I should), to feel Paul's support even stronger than I had and to have a chance to spend with him talking about our baby and the changes in our life as we made the weekly two hour drive to class.

People have also given me a hard time about cloth diapering and saying that I won't stick with it. Why don't people just say, "Hey, that's great! Good luck!" and then if it doesn't work out, so what? It doesn't hurt to try. [Side note: Yes, I know many think cloth diapering is expensive and could result in people wasting their money, so they feel they need to "warn you", but our whole point of cloth diapering was to save money. We've bought and had people give us good, inexpensive diapers that practically paid for themselves in two months of using them. If things weren't working for us, cloth diapers have an amazing resale value. Plus, they encouraged Lil' Man to start going potty! Now we hardly use any diapers!]

Yes, plans don't always go the way we would like, but we all need encouragement.

When my husband and I got married "the plan", in our eyes, was to let go and let God decide when He wanted us to start our family- us knowing, of course, that God's "plan" would be to give us a baby ASAP. Well, God either didn't get a copy of our ASAP version of "the plan" or He has a way different idea of "the plan" that was not what I wanted it to be!

Funny how plans go, isn't it? Praise God, I knew that so many friends and loved ones were praying for us.

Looking back now I can see why God had a longer, harder version of "the plan" than the one we had come up with. It was hard and I had some times when I just wanted to throw a tantrum (and did!) that God wasn't doing things the way I thought they should go. Especially when I lost my little treasure, Paul Joshua, and felt as if everyone else around me was being blessed with one baby after another.

We, as Catholics, can understand the beauty of Lent and redemptive suffering, but sometimes connecting the knowing and the accepting are two totally different things.

Now I can look back and see how my suffering was needed for my soul and to prepare me for where I am now and the joy I am able to experience if I accept it. I have a new plan that I pray God will give me the grace to stick to. I plan on doing all I can to make this baby's birth as safe and joyful as possible, but I am prepared to experience the pain, the long time of apprehension and waiting and the suffering that will strengthen my soul and perhaps help others. I will offer up my suffering for my baby and for those who are mourning the disappointment of "plans" that haven't gone the way we would have liked.

Again, that is "the plan", but I know that plan will only be stuck to by the grace of God and the love, support and encouragement of people who believe in me and will respect me no matter what. I have complained during my morning sickness, my long nights battling indigestion, back pain and almost every time I've had the opportunity despite the fact that just a little over 9 months ago I "coveted my neighbors wombs" as they bore children I only dreamed of! I am SO far from perfect! But, I am blessed that I do have a God who loves and  forgives me, Paul to support me, family who will be here for us and a baby who will be incredible no matter how he or she makes it into this world. I am blessed.

Sorry for the rant. There is a lot going on around here right now and I am crazy hormonal, so I just need to get the minor stuff off my chest.

Did any of you have unique birth plans (or a birth plan at all?)??? Did you feel supported? How different did things work out from the way you wanted them to?

The sun is finally shining here! I hope it is where you are and that you have the chance to enjoy it.

God bless!

The End Is In Sight!

Paul and my life since last May has been such a roller coaster! I have been reflecting on all God has done and the ways he has blessed our lives since last spring.

To recap:

May 2010- We finished trucking and celebrated our second wedding anniversary.

June- Lil' Man came in to our life and we accepted the job at Camp Gray.

This was taken days after Lil' Man came to live with us.

This was taken a few weeks ago. He's grown so quickly!!!

July- We spent with family in TN. I turned 30. We packed and moved.

Riding Sunset at home on our farm in Tennessee.

 August- We moved to camp and that weekend we discovered that I was pregnant-

 Pregnant with this Lil' Monkey!

Over the following months, baby and I both grew...

and grew...

AND GREW!

Now the ticker on this blog says that I am 10 days from my due date! Baby is almost here!!!

It's crazy that I have been pregnant the entire time we've lived here at camp. And that the only people here that know what I'm like when I'm not a hormonal pregnant lady are my dear hubby and my wonderful cousin. Life is so wild!

My little angel could come any day now and I am so excited to know who he or she is, see if he/she has Paul's red hair or my blue eyes and to snuggle and smell the incredible new baby smell that we all love so much. I also feel unprepared in many ways and anxious, but I know God has everything in control.

I'm not going to lie, I am ready to feel "normal" again. Not to feel like I'm going to be sick if I eat one thing as opposed to another. Not to have to sleep on the couch while my husband sleeps below me on the floor because its the only way he can be near me and I can sleep (sort of). Not to worry that I am going to collapse if I am standing for 30 minutes cooking dinner. All the small crosses that I am willing to accept, but will be grateful to no longer have to bear.

I am such a baby, but I can't wait to have my mom here to take care of me. Doesn't that seem wrong? As I physically am about to become a mother (spiritually God has blessed me with my angels in heaven and with Lil' Man) all I want is my mommy!!! My mom is so wonderful and makes experiencing things so much more joyful. I know that my excitement will only be more fueled by hers. Plus, she will make sure I am eating well and staying away from things like the brownies that gave me the heartburn that has kept me up writing until this ungodly hour!


I am anxious for spring to truly be here, to get outside and enjoy my little ones in the sunshine! I've been in a slight funk after we had a enough warm weather to melt almost everything and to go outside with out a coat, but then we had two days of rain and we woke yesterday to a world of white. Again. At least mud is no longer being tracked in my house- only small puddles of melting snow! :)

Ahh, the roller coaster of emotional ups and downs! I will enjoy each day of anticipation. I love that our baby will be born so soon before Easter. I seems so fitting to feel pain and anxiousness about a certain loss and yet to know that it will all end with the greatest joy and celebrating. I just love Lent!

Pray that God gives me the strength to carry my crosses better and with a joyful, willing heart.

A blessed Lent to you all!

No, baby can't just wear anything!

I have been planning for baby's arrival since that pregnancy test showed up positive. I've thought about baby's birth. I've thought about baby's Baptism. It wasn't until about two weeks ago that it occurred to me that I hadn't thought about baby's baptismal gown!

I mentioned this to my dear husband  responded, "Do we really need one???" !!! ( Good man was just trying to be practical and thrifty. You can't blame a guy for not understand the importance of clothes.)

Does a bride need a wedding gown? No. But, this is a SACRAMENT people! Its an outward sign of an inward truth. It must be celebrated! We want people to recognize through the symbolism the powerful truth of what is taking place!!!

And, heck yeah, I want my baby to look cute!!!

My siblings and I were baptized in the same baptismal gown that my mom and her siblings were baptized in. A thin white gown that was cut from my Grandmother's wedding dress. Beautiful, huh??? I called my mom to ask about using it and she told me that it is so old and delicate that it really is no longer wearable.

I was heartbroken, but decided that we would just have to start a new tradition for our new little family. I wanted something lovely, so I did a quick google search to see what is out there. OH MY GOODNESS! Sweet and lovely is available, but it comes with a serious price tag (some 3x more costly than my wedding dress!)! There were a few less expensive options, but none that seemed right. And I really don't care for buying clothing online. I need to feel the fabric. That's just the way I am. Sadly, there aren't any shops around (that I could find) carrying what I needed. I was told that the closest religious gift shop that might have any was in Minnesota!!!

I was feeling desperate.

One of the moms in my mom's group at church has a children's consignment shop here in town. I messaged here asking if she had any baptismal gowns. She did not, but yesterday she told me she had gotten some in that were brand new and from Ireland! Paul and I love our Irish heritage and I just swoon over anything Irish (especially my husband!)!!!

I raced over this afternoon and found the perfect gown to start a new family tradition with. It is Irish linen, so it has that antique/family heirloom quality that I really wanted. It is beautiful, but is traditional enough that we can have both our boys and our girls wear it.

 

Isn't it lovely and old fashioned?

 The Collar

 

The Sleeve

 The Hem

And (drum roll, please) the beautiful Celtic cross on the skirt that is spotted with shamrocks!

Friends of mine have embroidered the initials and dates, on the inside hem, of each child in their family who has been baptized in their family gown. I think it is a wonderful idea and I hope to do the same.

I'm so happy that I found a gown I love, purchased it at a great price from a friend and have one more thing checked off of my list of things to do before baby arrives! I'm just so excited and happy that the new tradition of wearing this gown in our family will have special meaning because of its Irish beauty!

Did (or will) your children use a family gown? One you purchased? What do you love about it? Does your family have any special baptism traditions?

Little Hands, Little Fingers

Last night I could not sleep, so I decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet.

I have been pregnant ever since we moved to camp and have moved through phases of morning sickness, indigestion, achiness, heartburn and dizzy spells. It's been well worth it, but I have yet to make our little apartment "homey". I keep wanting to paint and fix up Lil' Man's nursery, but I really can't with the cold weather and my current intolerance of paint. I decided I needed some wall art to brighten things up.

I went by the store and picked up 3 cheap canvases and three tubes of that cheap acrylic paint that almost every where seems to carry. I bought a bottle each of chocolate, aqua and pink.

Step 1: Paint a base coat on each canvas, allow to dry and then apply a second coat.

Note the beautiful roses my incredibly sweet husband gave me for St. Valentine's Day.

Ignore the Christmas tablecloth that I have yet to pack away with the Christmas tree that went back into storage LAST WEEK! Yes, I like Christmas to literally last the whole year 'round!

Step 2: After everything has dried completely, I took an assortment of cups and baby bottles and applied paint to the rims to use them as circular stamps.

Step 3: After the circles had dried, I painted my hand and stamped it on the middle of the canvas and repeated the process this morning with Paul and Lil' Man just after breakfast.

Aren't my boys adorable??? 

Step 4: Step back and enjoy getting something other than laundry done! :)

 

Our plan is to do one for each of our children and create a line of them in the nursery. Cute, huh?

 Have any cute and frugal ways of decorating a nursery/kids room that you could share? We'd love any inspirations. I'm also trying to come up with cute ideas for homemade baby stuff (I'll be posting a few projects that my family has helped me with). Any and all ideas are welcome and appreciated!

Playing Catch Up!

I'm back! I have been so busy chasing Lil' Man, being preggo and being exhausted ALL. THE. TIME that I just haven't had the time or energy to blog. I promised myself I wasn't going to bed to night (not that baby or heartburn would let me anyway!) until I posted something! ANYTHING!

So, what has happened since back in December???

1. We celebrated the feasts of St. Nicholas, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego during Advent.

 Package from Grandma and Gramps for the feast of St. Nick!

Note the ziplock bag. It contains my husband's favorite warm beverage-

Russian Tea!

• 1 cup instant tea powder
• 2 cups orange-flavored drink mix (Tang)
• 1 (3 ounce) package powdered lemonade mix
•   1cup (we often use less) white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1. In a large bowl, combine instant tea powder, orange drink mix, lemonade powder, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Mix thoroughly. Store in a sealed jar or bag.
2. To use, mix 3 to 4 tablespoons of mix with 1 cup hot water. 

Setting up the Creche.

 

Mary and Joseph really traveled to Bethlehem on a Tonka truck!

 

 

Sombrero cookies for the feasts of OL of Guadalupe and Juan Diego.

I stole the idea from Catholic Icing

2. Our dogs had puppies!

Lil' Man claimed the runt who we now call Zoe because she is a girl and hence could not be called Elmo!

3. We got our first real glimpse of our little angel!!!!

 Smiling, happy baby!

4. We visited one of my best friends who is due this week!

5. We had a wonderful Christmas with my family (and I ended up sick for the next 3 weeks-ugh!).

 

It was extra special because my brother-in-law drove up from Texas to Tennessee and he was there just in time to celebrate a white Christmas with us!

BIL and Lil' Man blowing out the candles on Baby Jesus' birthday cake!

My favorite 2010 Christmas memory: We told Lil' Man that Christmas was Jesus Birthday and that on that day we would be celebrating because He had been born for us. Since we were staying at my parents, Lil Man was sleeping in the pack n play by our bed. Early Christmas morning, while we were still half asleep, we heard Lil' Man stir. A moment later he popped straight up grasping the side of the pack n play and shouted at us, "JESUS BE BORN!!!!" It was the most excited, perfect and innocent way to announce the good news of the day! 

The innocents of children at Christmas truly makes Christmas. This was Paul and my first Christmas since we had gotten married where we hadn't spent Christmas in our truck making deliveries. It was perfect, but not because we were out of the truck, but because we had Lil' Man to share it with us!

BabyBeat Fetal Doppler Giveaway!

Attention all my dear pregnant mommy friends!!!

 Chari at Take Time To Smell The Rose is giving away a BabyBeat Fetal-doppler that you can use at home to listen to your baby's heartbeat! This is so perfect because there just seem to be soooo many pregnant ladies out there right now! I would just love to spend time each evening with Paul and Lil' Man listening to our Jelly Bean's heartbeat. I know you and your families would enjoy it too.

I love that Baby Beat also offers recordable dopplers so you can keep a recording of your little one's heartbeat and send it to proud grandparents.

Take a moment to check out both Chari's blog and the Baby Beat website!

Happy Feast of St. Juan Diego friend's! I am making sombrero cookies today in his honor. Are you doing anything special?

Wordless Wednesday- 20 Weeks!

Mommy Mocktails!!!

Know a pregnant mom who could use a pick me up? Here's an idea!

Virgin Cocktails!

Since the beginning of my pregnancy I've had a hard time keeping anything down, especially water or any other fluid. Slowly, I have gotten better, but I still am having a hard time drinking. Early on water tasted bitter and now I just don't feel like drinking it. Adding slices of lemon or lime has helped, but...and all the teas I normally enjoy I can't have and I've been craving soda more than normal.


Interesting Fact: I've read that green tea inhibits cells growth, making it great for cancer patients and, obviously, bad for growing babies! They also say that green tea blocks folic acid which is especially important to the baby's development during the first trimester.

I made a decision that if I make drinking a festive occasion, similar to how I feel about sitting down to a soothing cup of tea, it may be easier for me to drink more. I started small by picking up a bottle of cranberry juice, a bottle of lemon-lime soda (caffeine free), and a lime. Through out the day I would drink a "mocktail" of 1/4 cup soda, 3/4 cranberry and a twist of lime. It helped!

When I went to visit my pregnant friend, Diana of the Lake of Shining Waters , on my way to Tennessee, I brought along two martini glasses, cream of coconut, frozen strawberries, pineapple, cherries and assortment of other goodies for us to try inventing something tasty.

First we tried just blending pineapple and coconut for a pina colada. We thought it was good, but Diana's - husband thought it was lacking and said he'd stick to the alcohol-enhanced version. We added in some strawberries and we were quite pleased with the result!

When I got home to our farm, I went through my bookcase and found a book called Salvatore Calabrese's Virgin Cocktails. I have been enjoying all the pictures of luscious fruit and funky looking drinks. There is even a tasty looking recipe for virgin eggnog- just in time for the holidays! The book includes drinks entitled Cantaloupe Caper, Coconut Grove, Forest Fizz, Island Surfer and Lean Machine (Which this pregnant stomach can't handle the thought of! It is a combo of carrot, spinach, celery and parsley.).

Since I have begun guzzling grapefruit juice (I've always liked it, but baby seems to enjoy it too!), I am fond of the Coconut Grove. Here it is if you'd like to try it!

Salvatore Calabrese's Coconut Grove

3oz pineapple juice

1 2/3 oz coconut cream

1 2/3 fresh pink grapefruit juice

garnish- segment of grapefruit and spiral of orange

Place ingredients in blender with a scoop of crushed ice. Blend for 10 seconds and pour into a tumbler. Garnish with a thin segment of grapefruit and a spiral of orange. Serve with a straw.

If you are looking for a gift for a pregnant friend, you can consider getting a book of non-alcoholic drinks and adding them to a basket with some ingredients and a couple of cocktail glasses. Some women may have trouble with fruits and veggies during the first trimester, but many (not all!) are able to handle them better by their 4th month. This is a great way to sneak healthy things into the diet!

Feel free to share any other inspired  ideas!

God bless and don't forget to pray for the Poor Souls today and to get out and VOTE!!!