How quickly we grow up...

Tomorrow is my sister's 21st birthday and it seems impossible. She was just a chubby-cheeked little girl that I used to pick on and compete against for parental attention. Now she's a beautiful young lady who can make her own decisions and go to her own university!

It's strange being the oldest because you set the precedent for the family and then you're always surprised when your younger siblings do things differently...so well!

I mean, I'm so proud of you, Elizabeth. You're doing everything right and you're such a great young woman to be related to and to be friends with at the same time. I love you and I am living vicariously through this wonderful time when you're unmarried and "free!"

Great video on healthy maternity

I found this great video on reducing infant mortality:

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

While I believe that there are definitely situations where medical technology is required when it comes to labor and birth, I am much more in support of a "hands off" approach if everything is going smoothly. I think interventions often happen unnecessarily and, sadly, many women are afraid to give birth because they think they can't physically do it on their own! On the contrary, God created a woman's body so amazingly that we are "made" to have babies! I don't mean that you are not fulfilling God's purpose if you choose not to have kids, but I mean that our bodies are able and willing to handle many of the scenarios naturally that we run to OB/GYNs for.

I know lots of people nowadays think a woman who wants to stand up during labor, squat to give birth, have a midwife or have a water birth is some kind of hippie in the backwoods, but it's the principle of letting nature take its course and, if there are complications, that's what the hospital is for.

I had jack at home, in a Softub spa in my living room and was so proud of that fact. I could do it! This is the one greatest thing that my body could accomplish, trained or not! No, it was not painless--far from it. I had no pain medications, but I walked around, sat and rocked on an exercise ball and later got in the tub. The contractions were unbelievably painful, but they came to an end finally at 7:48 a.m. that beautiful day of May 2, 2008 with a little purplish boy guided slowly up to the surface of the water, eyes open and looking at me.

There were no beeping sounds, no scrubs, no rush to wrestle him clean in a towel. It was just him, and me and his daddy. He gave one little cry, just to let us know he was okay, but then just quietly looked up at us, probably just as amazed at our blurry figures as we were at his slightly misshapen head, skinny little legs and werewolf hair on his back! I just couldn't believe, even then, that a real baby had been inside me...that never existed before and that John and I helped create! I made a baby! And I birthed a baby! Isn't God amazing?



I have been casually studying to be a doula for the past year or so...but it is hard to do with Jack being so young. A doula is a trained labor assistant that you can have with you in the hospital or at home to help you through labor and delivery. I would love to do it, but I believe it may be a dream for when I myself am done having babies and nursing. I hope I can do it one day. I would love to help other women have positive birth experiences too!

Digitally Restored

You know, I have always wondered how long it would be until I got a blog of my own. Heh. That makes it sound like I am incapable of predicting or controlling my circumstances, as if a blog would be thrust upon me. What I mean is, I think I always wanted one, but have always been reluctant to find something else to clog up my time. And it's not as if I have more time now than before. In fact, being married, watching my 15-month-old, ironing, washing clothes, washing dishes, feeding dogs and cats, cooking, changing diaper after diaper, cleaning (oh, the cleaning...), trying to make money here and there through paid surveys, photo jobs and substitute teaching, I just don't have a whole lot of time at all.

But I suck at keeping a diary.

And I suck at remembering things, even precious things so dear to my heart at the moment.

And I type much faster than I write.

So I must blog. (The word blog sounds like something that slides out of your mouth with a vomit-like splat on the floor and a quick escape of air. Nasty.)

I hope you are entertained.