Were they all planned?

I am expecting my 6th baby.  Compared to the rest of America, that's more than will fit in your car (plus 2 parents)! However, in my kids' world, our oldest son once told me we had a small family- compared to the rest of the families in our home school group. 

I have been asked many times if we "planned" our babies, and how many more do we "plan to have".  It used to be that I never knew how to answer such personal questions, especially when they came from people I hardly knew.  But God has planned my family.  He knew each of my children even before they were knit together within my womb.  So, the answer is YES, each of my children were planned.  Each one was planned by our loving Creator and given as a gift to my husband and I.  Have I been surprised by God's plan, at times, yes, but God's plan has always surpassed my own expectations.

We cannot wait to meet our 6th baby and see what God's plan is for this little soul!

Equal Rights, A Defence of Our Children

I find this whole social debate on marriage very interesting.  I have seen posted several times, the question, "What are the negative effects of gay marriage?"  It is a good question, and one that I think needs to be answered.  However, I feel like this whole debate is just a political charade.  When same-sex marriage is legalized in this country, we probably won't see much of a change....at least in the short term.  (Did I already assume that it will be legalized, I guess when I look to the past, I can see what the future holds, but I hope I am wrong).

We are already living the negative effects of the violations to marriage.  This is not strictly a homosexual or heterosexual issue, as it is being made out to be.  The violations to the sacrament of marriage began in the 1960s with contraception.  Then came abortion, divorce, cohabitation, and now gay marriage.  But it is really all the same, it is the break-down of the basic social structure, the family. 

A committed, sacramental marriage provides a safe and secure place for children to grow up.  That's the way God intended for children to grow up. Today it is rare to see a family with a father and mother who are married and all their kids belong just to the two of them.  So many families have step brothers and step sisters, step parents, half brothers and half sisters.  There is the phenomenon of "his, hers and our" children.  This is not stability.

The violations of marriage and of our children are many.  Divorce affects 50% of marriages.  Divorce has profound effects on our children.  I worked as a nurse at a call center, and we got many calls from parents whose children were suffering headaches, stomach aches, worry, etc due to divorce.  There were also cases of miscommunication between parents, one parent didn't know if the other had already given a medication, the child, then either missed a dose or was over-medicated.  I have heard from many of my friends whose parents were divorced about how much they hated being shuffled back and forth between houses and sometimes even between states!

What about co-habitation of heterosexual couples?  Many couples like to trial marriage first, they want to live together to be sure they are compatible before they get married.  Or maybe they have no plans of getting married at all.  They just enjoy living together.  What happens then, when they get pregnant?  Now, they are in an uncommitted relationship.  They may decide to get married, or may not.  This is less than the ideal situation for a child, as their parents aren't committed, one or the other could leave at any time.  I encountered a women one time, who had 10 children with 10 different fathers.  This does not provide a sense of security.

Now for couples in same-sex relationships.  Aren't most of them living the way they want to anyway?  If they so desire, they are already living together and acting like a married couple.  Same-sex couples are even defying nature to have children!  This is why I say that the negative consequences are already being lived in society.  This debate won't change much for the short term.  I think that there are consequences to the technology that is used to acquire children for same-sex couples.  It is unnatural and will leave most children with many questions as to where they came from, who their real parents are, and where do they belong in society?  Even for same-sex couples who adopt children, there is still the unbalance of being raised by two people of the same gender.  I met someone once who, in a heterosexual relationship, used IVF to get pregnant.  They had 3 embryos implanted and (I'm not sure if they selectively "reduced" the pregnancy or if 2 of them died on their own) only 1 survived.  When their daughter was old enough to talk she started asking about the other two.  At first the parents were confused, but as their daughter learned more words, she started asking about her 2 sisters, "the ones that were with her before".  She never gave up on the idea and to this day, has 2 imaginary friends, who are her sisters and even have names.  Our actions have consequences.  We cannot fool God, even with the most advanced technology.

What are the negative effects of same-sex marriage?  We are already living them in our society, they are the same negative effects of every violation of marriage that we have already seen.  Are children resilient? Yes, they do tend to cope with things quite well.  But, I have to wonder, if every child had the opportunity to grow up within a marriage, with a mother and father who lived together and loved each other, would we see as many school shootings and random acts of violence?  Would teen suicide rates be so high?  Am I stretching it too far?  Only time will tell.

Natural Family....Planning?

"What's in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."  Maybe Shakespeare has it right, but I don't really like the term "Natural Family Planning".  Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate of using a woman's fertility signs to determine fertility to either try to achieve or avoid pregnancy, it is only the name I dislike.  Natural Family Planning sounds too much like Catholic Contraception.

I just don't think that we (humans) should be doing all the planning.  I have found that so many times in my life, I have made plans, but God had something different in mind.  I worry more than I should, and trusting God completely has been something that I have had to work on for many years.  It is difficult to take that leap of faith, to "let go and let God."  There are just some things though, that cannot be planned, but God in his wisdom allows them to happen. No one plans infertility, for example.  I have known several Catholic couples who planned to have children, and even thought they might have many children, only to discover that no matter how well they charted and planned, pregnancy was never achieved.  And even when we do get it "right", there is still the possibility of a pregnancy that ends in miscarriage or stillbirth.  What about unplanned pregnancies?  Are they a mistake?  Did NFP fail?  Has Planned Parenthood has sold the lie to Catholics as well; we are always in control, we can choose exactly when we will have 'X' number of children, and there will be no surprises.  But, does each pregnancy that a woman has need to have been planned ahead of time?

I like to think of Fertility Awareness.  For some reason I seem to hear this term more often in secular circles.  But I feel that Fertility Awareness accepts and respects a woman's fertility.  It is good for women/couple's to be aware of their fertility. Our fertility is a gift from God, and He has given us the knowledge of how a woman's cycle works.  We can then use this knowledge to try to achieve or even avoid pregnancy.    In my own marriage there have been times that we felt we needed to avoid pregnancy, but then there were other times when we were just open to God's will, not necessarily planning to get pregnant.  Every act of intercourse during the fertile time of a woman's cycle does not equal pregnancy (although many times it does). 

I wish that the Church would promote a more God centered Fertility Awareness model rather than a woman or couple centered Planning model.  Catholics, let us learn to trust our gift of fertility back to the God who gave it to us. 

A Lesson In Birthing

I went to a birth earlier this week for a doula client, Sarah*.  It was her first baby and she was hoping to have a natural birth.  Sarah called me in the morning and told told me that she had lost her mucus plug and that maybe her water had broken.  She also called her OB's office and was told her to come to the office to get checked to see if her water was broken or not.  She had been laboring comfortably at home with contractions every 5 minutes or so and didn't feel like she needed my (doula) support yet.  I was wondering how this trip to the office was going to affect her labor.  I also had a feeling that she would be talked into going right to the hospital and not given the opportunity to labor at home the way she had wanted.

I got a call back from her a little while later and she told me that she was 5 cm, that her water was broken and she was being admitted to the hospital.  I was a little surprised to hear that she was already 5cm, but was not surprised that she was told to go right to the hospital.  So, I got ready and met her at the hospital.  When I arrived she was having frequent contractions and they were enough to catch her breath, but I could tell they weren't as intense as I've seen with some other women at 5cm.  Within about an hour of my arrival her contractions changed and got much more intense.

After I had been there for about 2 hours her OB came in and wanted to check her cervix.  She agreed only to be disappointed that she "was still only 5 cm".  Then her OB sat down and began the talk....(ya know, when someone tells you, "we have to talk", it's never the talk you want it to be).  I knew just what was coming.  Things weren't progressing, it had been 4 hours with no change.  It was time to think about "active management" because her labor was "dysfunctional".  He even pointed out on the monitor how her contractions weren't regular, they were coupled together with a larger space in between.  Before the doctor left the room, I asked him what position he thought the baby was in. He told me he wasn't sure, but thought ROA, baby facing mom's back, with baby's back tilted to mom's right.  The doctor and nurse left the room to let my client and her husband think about what they wanted to do, to start pitocin (which is what her OB strongly recommended) or she could have some more time.  By this time Sarah was having very strong contractions, she felt that if they were any more intense she wouldn't be able to handle them, so the thought of pitocin which would only intensify things more scared her.  While I was listening to her OB talk about active management and dysfunctional labor, there were two little things that he slipped in that I almost missed!  Shortly after I arrived her OB had peeked in and said hello, mentioning that she was doing really well for being 4-5cm.  Also, when he checked her again (4 hours after the initial check at the office) he said, "You're still 5, well 5-6."  I reminded Sarah of this, that at the office she was 4 to 5 cm and now she was 5 to 6cm. Even though she was being told that she was still 5, there was still some change. She also had a big disruption to her labor in the last 4 hours, she left her home, went to the doctor's office and then was admitted to the hospital.  I had only witnessed about 1 hour of intense contractions.  To me this was perfectly normal, not dysfunctional.  I'm willing to bet she didn't do much dilating at all during all that transition time from home to office to hospital.  And what about those coupled contractions?  We decided to try some time on her hands and knees to see if that might help baby to find a better position.

About an hour and a half or 2 hours after "the talk", and after Sarah had spent time on her hands and knees and then standing and leaning forward, she was feeling a lot of pressure down low.  We told her nurse, who told the doctor.  He came back in the room to check her but this time instead of wearing scrubs, he had changed back into his shirt and tie, he was actually getting ready to leave the hospital since Sarah had decided against pitocin.  He checked her and to his surprise, she was 8 cm. he looked right at me, and said, "Did you do this?"  I just shrugged my shoulders and pointed to Sarah, for she had done all the work.  Her baby was born 4 hours after she had been told that her labor was dysfunctional.

Here's a lesson or two in birthing: vaginal exams are relative, four to five centimeters and five to six centimeters might both be called 5.   Disruptions like traveling to the hospital and office visits can hinder labor progress.  Dysfunctional labor patterns could be a sign that baby needs a new position or mom needs a new position. Most importantly, moms needs encouragement while they are in labor, not to be told that their labor is dysfunctional.  Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.


Interesting article on back labor and positioning:
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/paininback.asp



*not her real name

Football

Football has been on the TV all afternoon.  I have to admit I enjoy a good game.  My boys are getting old enough now that they are learning the rules of the game and also enjoying spending some time with Dad watching the game.  Here's the problem I have though, the commercials!  I was just in the kitchen listening to my husband telling our boys to close their eyes several times during one commercial break.  I don't think that there is whole entire commercial break that doesn't have at least one offending commercial.  They are hardly 'G' rated.  Even the pre-view for the Superbowl halftime show had too much nudity in my opinion.  I suppose the commercials speak for our culture, violent, sexual, and inappropriate.  It sad to me that something innocent like watching a sports game is ruined by inappropriate commercials.

My new Etsy Shop

I just started an Etsy shop.  There isn't much there yet, but feel free to contact me with custom requests!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WrappedwRosaries

Wonderful Book

I am currently reading a wonderful book called Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood, by Shiela Kippley.

I haven't finished reading it yet, but I am so inspired by it that I have to post about it now!  I have read many books on breastfeeding.  I even teach a breastfeeding class, but this book still had a lot to offer.

I like that it is specific to Catholic mothers.  Kippley touches on Blessed John Paul II's Theology of the Body.  She also discusses how breastfeeding actually teaches a new mother how to care for her child.  This book is full of insight and a must read for any Catholic mother!

Here is a link to buy the book. (I have no financial gain here)

http://www.amazon.com/Breastfeeding-Catholic-Motherhood-Gods-Plan/dp/1933184043/ref=pd_sim_b2

Getting the word out...

On products that are produced using cells from aborted fetuses.  We have to be informed, we have to take a stand. We must protect the unborn.

There is a wonderful website that shares information on this topic called Children of God for Life.  Here is a link to a page they put together of products made using fetal cells: http://www.cogforlife.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/fetalproductsall-1.pdf

I first learned of this when I was researching vaccines for my children.  I never imagined that fetal cells would be used to make a vaccine.  And now I have learned that there are other products that also use them.

Please share this important information!

Meditations for Children: Walk in the Woods

Close your eyes.  Take a deep breath. In...and out.  In...and out.  In...and out.

Imagine you are out walking in the woods.  It is a sunny day, but you are in the shade of the trees. It is cool and comfortable.  Look around you.  What kind of trees do you see?  Are there big ones? Small ones?  What kind of leaves do you see?  Are there long ones, rounded ones? Pine needles?  Perhaps there are a few leaves beginning to change color for fall.  Can you smell the sap from the trees?  Listen, you can hear the song of the birds.  Hear their song of praise to the Lord.  Hear the wind as it whispers through the trees.  Continue walking in your woods, and enjoy the peace that is there.

Now look around you.  You are far in the woods and cannot see your way home.  You are standing on the side of a hill.  You look down the hill and there are fewer trees, but up the hill you see a small path.  You must decide if you will take the way that seems easier, down the hill, where there are less trees.  Or head up the steep hill where there is a path.

There are many times in life that we have make a choice.  We can choose the way that seems easy or we an pick the way that at first might seem like climbing up a big hill.  But on that hill is a narrow path, a path to show us the way home.

Now begin walking home.  Jesus is just up ahead of us on the path.  He is there with us the whole way home.  Jesus is the way.  Follow him as you make your way home.

Now take a few more deep breaths, in...and out.  When you are ready, open your eyes.

School Days

It's a new school year! 

Since we homeschool, we only loosely follow the school calendar, but I am trying to be more organized and follow more of a schedule this school year.  My oldest boys are in 2nd grade and I also have a preschooler, in addition to a toddler and a baby.  Here are a few of the things I do to stay sane :) 

• have a schedule.  I never thought I would have a strict schedule, and I don't, but we do have a routine.  Although, snack times are strictly at 10am and 2pm, the kids hold me to that!  If you have younger toddlers or babies, you have to be flexible with your day. You just can't always plan that leaky, poopy diaper,  But as much as I tried to avoid having a schedule and a "school day", it helps us keep up with our work to have a routine.  The boys can anticipate what we do and when.  They are much more cooperative.
• have a designated school area.  We have a table in the living room that is just for the kids and just for school work.  Sitting in the dining room all day just didn't work for us.  Also, sitting on the couch was too tempting for my little boys, too tempting to just lay around and not actually work. The table is old, so if it gets pencil or crayon on it, I don't mind.  We put adjustable legs on the table so it can be "kid height" and adjust as they grow.
• keep track of lessons completed.  Sometimes I'm lazy.  I don't create lesson plans ahead of time.  Instead, I keep track of all the lessons we have completed instead.
• meditation.  I have 4 boys, so our house is loud!  I found a great book called In My Heart Room.  When we all need some quiet time, we read through one of the exercises.  It works great for Mommy and for little boys.

What are some of the things that you do to stay organized with home school?

Home Birth and Insurance

This is just a rough post, that will be updated!

I had a homebirth with my last baby and am now fighting with our insurance company for reimbursement.  I am trying to collect articles, research and anything else I can get to submit to them for consideration.  I would like to make a mini-database for others to use.  If you have any links for helpful information, please comment!
Thanks!

Religious Orders that Sell Goods/Foods

I am creating this list as much for future reference for myself as for others.  I have from time to time come across different religious orders selling coffee, chocolates, bread etc.  I'd like to create a list of as many as I can!  If you know of any that are missing, please comment, and I will update the post.
Thanks!

http://www.trappistmonks.com/    fruitcake

http://shop6.mailordercentral.com/trappistinecandy/    candy

http://www.monasterygreetings.com/   this site may have done all the work for me.... there are many products offered from various religious orders.

https://secure.redwoodsabbey.org/Store/     honey, greeting cards

http://www.monasteryfruitcake.org/products.asp     fruitcake, honey, candy

http://www.mysticmonkcoffee.com/store/storefront.php     coffee

http://seignadousoaps.com/     soap

http://www.trappistcaskets.com/     caskets, urns

http://www.abbeycaskets.com/     caskets

http://www.brigittine.org/monks/confec0721.htm     candy

http://benedictinesofmary.org/catalog/93     music

http://abbeyofreginalaudis.org/sitelive/index.htm     music

http://www.mountangelabbey.org/bookstore-christmas-ornaments.htm     Christmas ornaments

http://www.printeryhouse.org/ProdMenu.asp?cid=381   greeting cards

http://www.zazzle.com/saintcrown     t-shirts, religious medals

http://www.nunsgiftshop.com/    religious goods

7 Quick Takes Friday

-1-

I am in the process of making the Total Consecration according to St. Louis De Montfort and it is rocking my spiritual world!  I made the consecration when I was in college 10+ years ago, but I don't remember it having such an impact on me.  I highly encourage anyone who wants to deepen their spiritual life to consider it.

-2-

College was 10 years ago??!!  In the last 10 years so much has happened....I graduated college, got my first job, got married, moved halfway across the country and then back, had 5  babies (plus 1 in heaven), worked 4 different nursing jobs, got a dog, became a doula, AND I'm still paying off my college loans, whew!

-3-

Oh, and I started homeschooling my children.  We will be starting our 3rd year of homeschooling this fall. My oldest 3 will be doing school.  We have been doing school part time over the summer, which has been great for keeping their math skills sharp, and I have to say, is great for when they get bored and start fighting.....just the threat of "Ok, let's get out our schools books...." solves any misunderstanding or lack of sharing that was happening. 

-4-

Summer!  We have been making a trail through our woods this summer.  It has been a great adventure with our boys helping out.  They love any opportunity to get dirty, so playing in the woods, catching toads and finding cool rocks has been perfect!  I can't wait until we have it finished and have a nice quiet place to go for walks and bike rides.

-5-

Quiet.  Where do you find your quiet time?  It sometimes seems as though, even just 2 minutes of quiet, with no interruptions is just a dream.  My husband just started teaching a class on Friday nights, so although I dislike getting dinner and putting the kids to bed without his help, after they are in bed, I finally get an hour of quiet (hence most of my blog posts happen on Friday night).

-6-

It's still Friday, 11:00pm, so this still counts for Quick Takes Friday, right?

-7-

My new favorite adult beverage, Saranac Shandy.  I never would have thought to mix beer and lemonade, but it is great!  I think I'll enjoy one now, in my quiet time :)

Awesome new Website

I recently came across the website: www.iusenfp.com

It is a great site about NFP (Natural Family Planning).  The site is fresh and appealing. I love their graphics!  I have been following the development of 1flesh.org and came across a link for iusenfp.com.

Check out these sites!

Good Old Catholic Guilt

"guilt

noun

1.

the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, especially against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt.

2.

a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined."

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guilt)

 

I was thinking about guilt recently because a friend accused me of making her feel guilty.  Is guilt something that you can impose on another person?  According to the definition above, it doesn't seem like it.   Guilt is a feeling of responsibility for having committed a wrong.  If you are feeling guilty, then you feel responsible for the wrong.  I didn't give it to you.  Maybe I reminded you that it was wrong, but I didn't make up the rules.

 

I also notice that many people get angry about things, the same things that they often feel guilty about. It's hard to escape your conscience, especially since God's law is written on your heart.  If something wasn't truly wrong, would you get so angry about it?

 

Here's the example of what I am referring to:  My friend and I were having a discussion about contraception.  I told her that I didn't use contraception for many reasons, but one being that it is against Church teaching.  She got very defensive and told me to stop pushing my Catholic nonsense on her (in some not quite as nice words).   My friend was raised Catholic, but now doesn't practice any formal religion, but has her own spirituality, her own relationship with God, outside of "religion".  

 

Now, if she wasn't feeling guilty, if her conscience wasn't nagging at her, why would she have gotten so angry?  Couldn't we have had a discussion about the risks and benefits of contraception?  Agree to disagree? 

 

Perhaps Catholic Guilt isn't so bad after all.  It seems to me that it is just your conscience nagging at your heart, trying to tell you that perhaps something you are doing or the way you are living isn't in accord with God's way. 

Pro-Woman, Pro-Life

A few months ago I was talking with some fellow birth educators and doulas, when one of the women started talking about some legislation that was  "anti-women".  I didn't know what in particular she was referring to (and I still don't), but initially I was concerned about what this legislation could be.  Since this was a group of birth professionals, I thought she was talking about something to limit a woman's birth choices or choice of care provider (ie. midwives).  As the conversation unfolded, I realized that she was referring to abortion.  She referred to the legislation as "Anti-women", and referred to a cultural "War against women".  I was so confused, weren't we a group of childbirth educators and labor doulas?  Why were we discussing abortion?  (It seems bad for business if we are supporting abortion.)

This raises a question, can one be both pro-woman and pro-life?

The Catholic Church often gets unfairly judged as being sexist, old-fashioned, and patriarchal.  Yet, Jesus and the Church were (and are) way ahead of their time.  Jesus, not only talked to women, but was friends with women.  He repeated shows respect to women in the Bible.  He, God of the universe, was obedient to his mother at the Wedding at Cana. He stopped to console the women of Jerusalem while carrying the cross.  And upon the Cross, it was not insignificant that He gave us His own mother to also be our mother.  After Jesus' death, who was the first to discover he had risen from the dead?  Not the beloved disciple, John, not Peter, no...the women!  This is not an accident that it was the women who arrived at the tomb first.

The Catholic Church holds Mary in high esteem.  We honor, her, a woman, as our Queen and our Mother.  The Church recognizes the beauty and the uniqueness of women and of motherhood.  It was Jesus who chose his 12 apostles to be men.  Jesus wasn't afraid to choose women to be his followers because of the culture of his time, he was purposeful.  Jesus shows us the unique qualities that each man and woman possess.

It is not sexist to acknowledge that men and women are different.  Even our basic biology, our sex organs are different, yet complimentary.  Men and women have different hormones, these facts cannot be denied.  Yet, we as a culture act as though men and women are exactly the same.  Should women be treated fairly?  Of course!  Have they always been treated with the dignity that is given them by God?  No.  Men and women are equal, but different.  Apples and oranges are different, but both are still fruit, and both are still good.  We can appreciate an apple or an orange for the unique qualities that it possesses, it doesn't mean that one is superior to the other.

The Church today follows in Jesus' example, and ordains men to the priesthood.  Women do hold a special place in the Church, just as Mary does, it is not better or worse than men, just different.  As a Catholic woman, I do not feel suppressed or oppressed by men or by the Church.  I feel honored to belong to a Church that recognizes my dignity, that I was created in the image and likeness of God.  I am thankful to belong to a Church that recognizes fertility as a gift and not a disease or something to be gotten rid of.

Birth control and abortions do not liberate women, but rather enslave them to their sexuality.  Our culture sends a message to women, that  they are inadequate, they must take medication or have surgery in order to control their body, and get rid of their fertility.  True freedom comes from an understanding of how my body works, the natural cycle of hormones, fertility and infertility.  I appreciate the gift of my body so much more because I understand how wonderfully and fearfully made I am.  I don't need to take artificial hormones in order to be "free".  Our Mother the Church, understood this even before the sexual revolution (see Humanae Vitae).  Thank you, Catholic Church, for truly honoring women, both born and unborn.

I am pro-woman and pro-life!

Dress at Mass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxYLmD8T_U&feature=em-uploademail

Birth Choices and Morality

This is a post that I have been considering writing for quite some time.  I just haven't been quite sure of how to tackle it.

I am a birth fanatic....I love to read about birth, watch videos of women giving birth, go to births, birth children of my own...you get the picture.  I even teach classes on how to give birth.

As a Catholic I bring important decisions to prayer, and pray for God's will.  In my prayer about the births of my own children, I began to reflect on the ways in which women give birth and care for their babies.  My conclusions, and where I think God has led me through prayer, is contrary to the main stream (popular) thought of how women are supposed to birth their babies and how they're supposed to care for them.

God made a woman's body to be able to birth a baby.  Even before there were doctors and hospitals, women got pregnant, labored and birthed well enough to populate the earth.  Women and babies have died during childbirth, (we no longer live in the Garden of Eden) but we have discovered ways to monitor them and to prevent some things from going wrong.  But, in the name of technology and in order to try to escape the pain of birthing, we have interfered with God's design.  For example,  the majority of women in the United States chose an epidural for pain relief during labor. There are many hormones that orchestrate the birthing process.  When a woman has an epidural we change the amount and the way these hormones are released in the body.  (www.sarahbuckley.com).  When we interfere with hormones, we interfere with bonding and breastfeeding, and "mothering".  I would go so far as to say that we can interfere with the potential relationship and parenting of that mother and child.  Is it a sin to get an epidural during labor?  I would say no, but perhaps there is a better way. 

(I often hear to argument that you wouldn't have a root canal done without anesthesia, so why would you want to have a baby without an epidural?  These things are so different that they cannot compare.  Birth is a normal body process that involves many normal hormones.  Having a root canal is a remedy for a sick or dying tooth, birth is just the opposite, it is the transition to new life).

The reason the devil is to be greatly feared, is not so much that evil is always obvious, but because he is sneaky, the "father of lies", things often appear good on the outside, but underneath the fruit is rotten.  What if getting an epidural during labor (numbing the pain seems good, right?) is really an attempt to interfere with God's design for mothers, babies, and families?

The next step would be to interfere with Breastfeeding.  It's no secret that most mother's in the United States use formula or use bottles to feed breastmilk to their babies.  Breastfeeding is the way God made a woman's body to be able to care for her child.  It is so much more than just food.  Breastfeeding, is about bonding, parenting, and loving your child.  Again, there are so many intricate hormones that are at play in both the mother's and the baby's body.  Why do we think that we can do it better than the way God made it?  Is it a sin to give your baby a bottle?  No, but perhaps there is a best way (God's way) and an other way that Satan tries to make popular, in order to create yet another division in the family.

It's no secret that our culture is hurting,  Families are hurting.  Families are broken and many children in our country are hurting.  Divorce isn't the only thing that is tearing our families apart, I would dare to go back even farther, to birth.  Satan attacks the unborn in the womb, of course he tries everything he can to tear these precious ones from their parents even at birth and during infancy.



Parenting is difficult, I am learning everyday how to be a better parent, but I do believe that I have given my children the very best start to life that they could get!

Make Your Own Bug Spray

It's that time of year.....summer and that means bugs! I tried this recipe for bug spray/insect repellant and I love it!  It smells wonderful and it really does work.  We live near some woods, and frequently go hiking.  The one day my husband went out without this spray on, he got 2 ticks!!

- 1 part distilled water
- 1 part witch hazel
- 15-20 drops of each essential oils (there are several that can be used, these are my favorites)
lemon, lavender, eucalyptus, and tea tree.  You could also choose cinnamon, citronella, rosemary, clove,  or rose geranium. 

Happy Summer!

birth

I often wonder if there are so many Cesareans today in an attempt to prevent women from having "too many children".

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/symphysiotomy-women-demand-justice-and-compensation-555222.html