1 Samuel 12:23~”God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.” (((((HUGS))))) sandi

1.)   I loved this quote from Albert Einstein I read on Mrs. Darling’s blog, and I share it today because I am praying for God’s guidance and wisdom for a VERY strong academic school year as we dive back into life.  “Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.”  This really, really blesses me when thinking about a particular ds.  Anyway, please join me in this prayer!

2.)  From Jamie:  You know, I would so appreciate it if you wouldn’t mind praying for my son. I think I’ll just leave it at that… but, in a nutshell, military school has been VERY appealing lately.

3.)  From Kristin:  Hi, would you please pray in agreement with me for my son, Cade?  He has autism and I’m praying for complete healing and total restoration for him.  I’m believing for normal speech, normal social skills, normal diet, normal functioning.  I’m believing that Jesus will heal him so that he can be the boy God intended him to be.  Thank you so much.

4.)  From Cindy:  Please add little Nesa back on the prayer list. Nesa and her Mom Lesa over at http://lesalicious.blogspot.com/ are still waiting for a liver for Nesa. Please pray for her health to hold and a donor liver can be found.

5.)  Your request goes here~please leave me a comment!

Leaving you with a treat~one of my very favorite songs evah!!!!  (ACK!  I CAN’T GET THIS TO EMBED!!!!) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ztjr2nnvLE

Proverbs 31:18~God’s Word, Her Lamp

Sunny starts us off this week with a lesson on how to better read and study scripture, and this is RIGHT ON!!!  As we begin to learn about the Proverbs 31 woman in verse 18, I am suddenly struck by her wisdom in a new way.  How many people continue down a path that is not beneficial or lucrative, trying to make something work that just won’t~unable to let go and try something new?  The Proverbs 31 woman is always assessing the benefits and failures in what she’s doing and adjusting herself and her work accordingly!  I LIKE THIS!  I’m pretty sure I’ve had many seasons in which I was NOT a good example of this!  Now also click over and read about her lamp not going out by night~it is very FREEING!!!!  HALLELUJAH!

The next segment is from Proverbs 31:17~She Can Dress Herself.  I am immediately reminded of the post I wrote down there~”So School Me”.  I DO want others to make it easy for me to continue to live in faith!  I don’t wanna sift through the judgements of men (and WOMEN)!  I also love, love, LOVE what Sunny shares about submission~that God does not retract any of His commands!!!!  I do grow weary of, “What if my husband is not a Christian?”  I have yet to read the scripture that says to obey your husband only if…  or unless….

Then we travel onto Luke 17:7-10~please go somewhere in private and read this for yourselves, mamas!!!  This is a gem for those seasons in which we may (selfishly) feel we are in a thankless job, a reminder of who we are truly serving in the day-to-day!  Next you can read what exercises help to make your arms strong…  ~smile~  (((((HUGS))))  sandi

ETA how amazing that I started Douglas Wilson’s REFORMING MARRIAGE today, as it is driving home today’s lesson particularly well!  ~smile~

1.)  Hazel ALWAYS wants to go whenever someone is heading out, but one day this week she said, “I can’t go with you, Dad, ‘cuz last time I didn’t listen to Mommy.”  My darling asked her, if she didn’t listen to Mommy then she’s not going to listen to him either?  She answered, “No, I’m not,” and she kept right on drawing~LOLOL!

2.)  Hazel playing with Daddy:  “I spy with my little eye…  a black man!  and it’s YOU!”  HA HA HA!

3.)  Someone found my blog today by searching, “woman, scrotum”.  This is WAY funny to me today, as I’m just back from birthing in the hospital and still so swollen and sore that I feel like I have one….

4.)  Hazel to my darling:  “Dad, I lost my birthday suit, and I don’t know where I put it.”

5.)  Preston sharing with Daddy about trying to pronounce the words his brothers say:  “They say stuff, but *I* can’t say it~I just misproduce it!”  LOL!

I’ve been nominated for Funniest Homeschool Blog!  If you like voting for these things, please go check out all the nominees and cast your vote!  If yer lookin’ fer MY funniest posts, then I guess you’d hafta read through my Friday SiLLiNeSS! (and *I* think the best ones are from March of 2006),  but be warned~there are like, 97 of ‘em now~LOL!  *THANKS* and HAPPY VOTING!  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi

ETA I’m not farin’ too well~these mamas ROCK!

1 Samuel 12:23~”God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.” (((((HUGS))))) sandi

1.)  For Harriett:  Please pray for me to get out of depression and discouragements and recover from severe burnout and overwhelming situations.

2.)  A PRAISE from Bikkuri:  My hip, neck, and back injuries are starting to feel substantially better. Rehabilitation is adding stress to my life, so it is great to see progress.

3.)  Your request goes here~please leave me a comment!

I hafta share that while in the hospital I got a REALLY GOOD look at the TRUE heart of a servant.  I had this INCREDIBLE nurse, “A”, for three days.  She did EVERYTHING for me, always anticipating my needs before having to be asked.  She checked on me faithfully every two hours during her shift.  I never wanted or needed for anything while she was on duty! 

The last night in the hospital I had a nurse that checked on me like, once during her eight-hour shift.  She told me I needed to change my ice packs every so many hours, and I had to ask her where to get them (down the hall in the kitchen).  She showed me where things were kept when I needed to change my bedding.  It was a shock after having been so thoroughly cared for!  When she found me on my hands and knees cleaning up a mess in the bathroom she told me I didn’t hafta do that~that’s what she was for.  I was confused!!!  My catheter backed up in that time, too.  It was miserable!

Anyway, this has had me thinking on the heart of a servant and how I myself fare in caretaking.  Too many thoughts to share here~I’m just soo thankful for such a clear picture of what it looks like to serve another in a way that is truly a blessing to them!  “A” will forever be on my heart, and she unknowingly taught me sooo very much! 

Just another tangent~hospital information v/s homebirthing information is sooo different!  Don’t sit in a bath for six weeks, no driving for a week, nursing too much/too long will make you sore (which directly contradicts the information they hand out~LOL!), the fixation on wet diapers within a certain time schedule, bathing the baby so often~WHEW!  Some of it doesn’t suit me, and some of it was new and good.  Just a different experience all around!  The hardest for me was taking my baby away for her vitals every day, as sometimes it seemed like sooo long before she came back!

This recovery has been my most difficult.  It’s not a sob story!  but it is different.  The first day back I was a bit weepy~and testy with everyone too!  This surprised and disappointed me.  Today is the first day I feel like the swelling front-t0-back has significantly gone down.  I’m finally able to better potty, as that has also not been, um, flowing.  Very quickly though that weepiness has changed to rejoicing~I’ve heard of PPD, is there such a thing as being too high?  LOL!  I find myself feeling very hopeful and excited to recover and then dive into life!  I have homeschooling ideas and house ideas and fitness ideas and am chomping at the bit to get started! 

Frances is PRECIOUS!  The children all adore her and seem to be adjusting amazingly well and quickly.  I find myself sooo thankful, blessed, and content with all that I have been given!  ~smile~  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi

ETA how easy it is to get sloppy and develop bad habits over time!  After nursing four children I had scabs for the first time~YEEEOOOOOOWWWWW!  All it’s taking to get better is proper positioning~belly-to-belly and a horizontal baby.  ~smile~

WARNING:  I will probably hold back nothing, so this could get pretty graphic.  READ AT YER OWN RISK!!!

At 11:00 PM I began to have irregular contractions from five to twenty minutes apart.  In the morning I went in for an ultrasound to confirm baby’s position, and YAY!  She was head down!  My water broke while I was about to leave the office, and it really freaked everybody out that I drove myself~LOL!  Anyway, from 11:00 contractions lasted on and off for twenty-four hours.  In that time my marvelous midwife attended a birth, came and checked on me, attended another birth, and came back to me at midnight.  Everything had stalled. 

We talked about how to proceed:  Stay home and take a labor drink or castor oil and labor for another good twelve hours, or go to the hospital, get just a little pitocen for a jump start, and have a baby much sooner.  Baby was still very, very high (my midwife could not even reach her)~and that was the only thing keeping me from dilating, as my cervix was ready.  The latter sounded very appealing, because even though the last twenty-four hours had not been super difficult, it still was wearing on the mind. 

We get to the hospital at 2:00 AM.  Contractions start coming and get harder and harder with the pit, we try various positions, but still there is no progress.  Baby is still very high, cervix is ready and easily opens, but not fully dilated.  We try me pushing, and while it does bring the baby down a bit, she floats right back up again.  Pushing through contractions was easier than just bearing them though.  Right before the nurses change shifts I start to lose it and share that I just.can’t.do.this.anymore.  To my relief, here comes an epidural. 

I NEVER in my whole life thought I would EVER want an epidural!  (Much less deliver in the hospital!) but OH was I thankful, and I tell you now that I have NOT ONE regret!  (and we now know we would have ended up in the hospital anyway!)  I hear my midwife say we should’ve done it sooner, and that blesses me.  Not that I think we should or shouldn’t have~it was validation.  I don’t think I could have done this birth without it.  I sleep a bit to let the contractions work as they are supposed to. 

The next labor and delivery nurse that comes in is very aggressive.  She spends hours literally almost up to her elbow trying to turn the baby and rubbing her wee head, as the others position me in various positions and press here and push there.  Often I grab handles and push with all I have while my knees are pushed to my chest.  I don’t know how long all this goes on (it is hours), but I do get exhausted and physically sore in my upper body and worry about being able to continue.  My midwife and her assistant are always the perfect encouragement!

Everyone talks about the piece of the puzzle they are missing.  My midwife (or someone) believes an arm is in the way, and my midwife has an idea.  They invert the table so I am more upside down, my midwife stands above me on the bed and presses the area of the hand or elbow (which has been in the birth canal), jiggles it, and then releases it suddenly several times.  I think, “PLEASE don’t make me push in this position!” right before I am asked to~LOL!  So I do, and there is progress!  I hang out inverted with one numb leg up in the air (which makes me feel like I could throw up)  and one breast taped down so I don’t suffocate, the arm is now out of the way, I guess?  and we let the contractions work a bit.  The poor L/D nurse is STILL up to her elbow, btw!  My midwife next wraps a sheet around my middle, and she and her assistant then each pull an end while I push through contractions. 

Because of the epi I hafta rely on them to tell me when contractions are, and I can’t tell if I’m pushing well.  Thankfully I am a REALLY GOOD pusher~even though I wanna quit!  At some point the handsome doc comes in and jokes a bit about how the baby is still high, but I don’t take it well and tell him so.  I LOVE THAT MAN, though!  but I’m fighting wanting a c-section, which my midwife and assistant and nurse will not hear of~PTL! 

Finally (still inverted a bit) they see bulge and get ready for baby.  I don’t believe it is real, as I’ve been watching the hours tick by and don’t think it will ever stop!  They tell me it will just take one more good push, and I give it when the room erupts in “STOP!”  As someone quickly gets the doc I begin to cry and praise the LORD over and over again, as I know this is it!  The doc just has her slide out with the next contraction, and they tell me to grab my baby.  Inverted and hardly able to lift my arms makes it difficult, and she is SLIPPERY!  I kiss her head and weep with rejoicing while they dry her with blankets, STILL INVERTED, PEOPLE!  HELLO!  LOLOL!  She is born at 10:38 PM on October 30th, weighs 8 lbs 11 oz, and is 21 1/2 in. long (my biggest baby!).  Labor was thirty-four hours.

Recovery is very different, the hospital is a very different experience, but what an adventure!  and there was a PRIZE at the end!!!  ~smile~  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi~who is neglecting to tell you ALL ABOUT the swelling of the nether-region~OY!  and the many wonderful recovery nurses that took such great care of me!

I really just.don’t.get.it.  Why do people get all up in arms over the way others choose to live their life?  For the ways they are different or have different perspectives?  Why waste so much time and energy researching, talking, and thinking about it all in such a negative light? 

There is not one person on this planet I couldn’t learn something from~including those who are vehemently opposed and critical to my way of thinking.  That is why I can read a book and glean from it and LIKE IT and still not be an advocate for everything the author has to say.  I thought everyone did this?  Don’t you rejoice in and take what you can use and just discard what you don’t agree with or doesn’t suit you? 

MAN I’m glad I have sooo many different kinds of friends!!!!  How happy I am that everyone is NOT just like me, or else I wouldn’t enjoy learning nearly as much!  ~smile~  (((((HUGS)))))  sandi~btw, the comments are OPEN for those who would like to give me an earful!  LOL!

1 Samuel 12:23~”God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.” (((((HUGS))))) sandi

1.) From Iris:  My mom started her chemo in September, and so far she has been feeling okay.  No nausea or hair loss yet.  But we got some discouraging news from her last CT scan….the cancer has spread to the bones in her chest and skull.  Not to any other organs yet.  Keep praying!!

2.)  From AcceptancewithJoy:  My 94-year-old grandfather fell and broke his hip. He was discharged to the nursing home. He is not a good patient in the best of times. He hates having his freedom to come and go as he pleases taken from him. He is very depressed. He has an uphill battle. Recovery from a broken hip is difficult and he was already old and frail. Praying for God’s will.

3.)  (10/27) Just got back from seeing my midwife, and my body is not ready to labor yet.  The issue is that Frances keeps flippin’ around, and mw is trying to decide how to proceed.  I go in Thursday for an ultrasound to confirm position and then see mw right after.  If she is head down we may use a labor drink to start things up, though mw had wanted me to be able to labor on my own.  If Frances is breech we might wait a little longer (I have until Tuesday before mw will DEFINITELY start to try remedies for labor), and if I labor when she’s breech we go to the hospital and hope for a vaginal breech birth with mw’s doctor backing.  I’d certainly rather not hafta deliver a breech baby, but I KNOW I CAN DO IT if I hafta!  I really, really, really don’t want a c-section.  *THANK YOU!* for your head-down prayers!!!! 

4.)  Your request goes here~please leave me a comment!