Amelia's birth story

Here is the wild and crazy story of Amelia's birth

Thursday, June 23rd I started itching like crazy, seriously it was horrible. I stayed up until early Friday morning scratching myself raw. The bottoms of my feet and palms of my hands were the worst. So as soon as my doctor was open Friday morning I called and they got me in to be checked out. After running some blood tests it was discovered that I had Cholestasis of Pregnancy , my doctor actually had never dealt with this condition before and had to call the high risk in Des Moines to find out what we needed to do next. He called me back about an hour later and said that he wanted me to come in that night to start the induction. Since I was already 37 weeks and the complications to the baby start at 38 weeks or after he wanted to get her out. We went in at 7 pm June 24th to start the induction. They broke my water at around 10:30, at this point I was only dilated to a 2 so I knew it was going to be awhile still. I had planned on going all natural but between the pain of the induction, the itching and pain from SPD I decided to go with the epidural. I tried to rest for awhile, the nurse came in and checked me at 3:30 am, I was barely a four, about an hour later I called her in because I really felt ready to push, she checked again and I was a 9 so they called the doctor in, after he got there it was only three contractions later I was holding Amelia. She was born at 4:51 am June 25th, 7lbs and 20 inches long.
They got her all checked out, got me cleaned up and stitched the one tiny tear I had and just when I thought we all were going to get some rest is when the madness started. I started bleeding heavily, the nurse was there with me and she was pressing on my stomach because she could feel something in there. At first she thought maybe it was a piece of the placenta but it turned out to be a very large clot ( weighed 1lb 6 oz and was the average size of a placenta ). After that is when she called the doctor back in, along with several other nurses. The bleeding and clotting just would not stop, they tried five or six different medications and finally had to call in the gynecologist to see if he could get it to stop. It took him a little while longer but he was finally able to get it to stop.
Later that afternoon I needed to use the rest room so the nurses came in to help me, I was holding onto Chris when I told them I was dizzy and that is when I passed out, had a seizure and actually stopped breathing for a few moments. I do not remember any of that, I remember waking up to about six different nurses asking me my name and if I knew what happened. Apparently due to the blood loss, my blood pressure crashed when I stood up causing the black out and seizure. It was decided at this point that I was going to be given blood after all, I had lost three units of blood and they were going to give me two units of blood. It took the rest of the day to get me back on track, we did have to stay in the hospital an extra day because of it all but I am doing a lot better now.
Amelia is nursing like a pro and is a pretty calm baby. We are adjusting to life with four children and things are going pretty well. It is going to take some time for me to get back to 100% but I am getting there slowly.

My labor and delivery was nothing like we planned which was disappointing but we are just happy that everyone is okay.

Meal plan 5/1-5/14

I did not post my last few meal plans but I am back on track now and ready to share.



5/1 pancakes, eggs and fruit
5/2 tuna sandwiches and fruit
5/3 whole chicken, carrots and potatoes
5/4 chicken and noodles with corn
5/5 mashed potato and beef casserole
5/6 cheesy beef burgers, carrots and fries
5/7 grilled cheese and tomato soup
5/8 cheesy scrambled eggs and fruit
5/9 meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn
5/10 pancakes, eggs and fruit
5/11 spaggetti and meatballs
5/12 chicken on the grill, baked beans and green beans
5/13 french toast, eggs and fruit
5/14 french toast, eggs and fruit

What is it about the breast?

So after hearing yet another women tell me she had a nursing picture deleted by facebook I have been sitting here thinking all day, really what is it about the breast? What is it about a nursing mother that makes people act so oddly? Why are we so offended by a breast.

Honestly you can not walk into a store that sells adult clothing without seeing several pictures of women half dressed, walking by a victoria's secrets makes me cover my son's eyes ( yes I seriously do this ) yet very few people seem to be offended by this. Really have we become so over sexed that the only thing that breasts are good for is selling over priced lacy bras?


I can remember a trip we took to the zoo last summer, there was a mother sea lion sitting on a rock, nursing her baby. Of course everyone thought it was so sweet and snapped pictures. One of the same people who did this walked by a mother sitting on a near by bench, nursing her newborn and was disgusted by it. I heard her lean over to the person she was with and make comments on how disgusting it was that she was sitting right in public for everyone to see. It took everything in me not to say something to her.


I myself have been targeted due to a nursing picture, I was targeted by someone I trusted and it was one of the most hurtful experiences I have had. Speaking from experience I can say that I do not think people really know how hurtful it is to target a women because she is nursing. It does not matter if they are asked to leave a public place or if they are harassed about a picture they have posted online or have in their homes the feeling you are left with is a really horrible one. You are left feeling like you are doing something wrong or dirty because you are wanting to breast feed, using your breasts in a way designed by God to nourish your child.

Americans as a whole need to take a serious step back and look at the way they react over nursing in general. The stigma over nursing in public needs to stop and a women should never be made to feel poorly for wanting photographs of her nursing experience or for nursing her child while she is in public.

Oh for the love of fleece

It is common knowledge that I have a bit of an addiction when it comes to cloth diapering and trying all there is to try. Since I started using fitteds and prefolds I have tried every style of cover there is. While my favorite will forever be wool, fleece is a very close second and here is why.

Fleece makes a great cloth diaper cover, it wicks wetness away from your babies skin, it is very breathable, hardy and will hold up to lots of usage and washing, easy to care for and clean and it dries very fast.

Another great thing about it is that it is very affordable and comes in a large variety of prints for boys and girls, plus the embellishing possibilities are endless.

If you have not tried fleece for a diaper cover yet I really suggest that you do!!!

Raising girls

I know that every child is different but I really did not know how different little girls can be from one another until having two of my own. It is really amazing to watch how my girls differ from each other.

My oldest daughter, Destiny is pretty much as girly as they come and she has been this way since she was born. She has always been attracted to frills, bows and shoes. She loves pink, lace and babies. I can remember her loving shoes since before she was a year old. We have actually gotten her one or two pair of new shoes as part of her birthday present every year because she loves shoes so much. She pretty much lives in dresses, loves hair bows and head bands and loves to play dress up. She very much so has the princess personality.







Then there is my younger daughter, Kairi. She is not into frills or girly things. She does not like wearing shoes or socks and is most happy if I let her run around nude. She would rather play in the dirt then play dress up, rips out a hair bow faster then you can put them in and has little to no interest in all the girly things her sister loves. She is way more rough and tumble then her sister ever has been.




We are currently expecting our fourth child, our third girl and I am really excited to see how different she is from the other two. It seems like right now the other two are polar opposites so it will be exciting to see how Amelia will fit into the mix.

Mother's Day

My mother's day did not get off to a good start. My day started at 1:30 am when my toddler woke up screaming. Her mouth is hurting since she is cutting a molar and nothing I did would calm her down. I was finally able to get her back to sleep around 4 am when her diaper leaked and got pee all over me and the couch, so I had to wake her to change her. Luckily it only took around half and hour to get her back down but as soon as she went to sleep my five year old son woke up from a nightmare. I got him calmed down and finally fell asleep around the time my husband woke up to get ready for work which was 5 am. I started sleeping soundly only to be woken up shortly before 8 am when our dog started barking, apparently he needed out and could not wait anymore and pooped all over the freshly shampooed nursery carpet. I get him outside, the carpet cleaned and think about laying down on the couch for awhile when my middle child wakes up ready for the day.

Needless to say all this put me in a pretty sour mood. I was upset that I had no sleep, that my husband had to work and once the other two kids were awake, they were all in really bad moods. I stayed in a sour mood for awhile, until I got online and saw posts from other people I know and read some stories on a forum I like to visit.

I was shocked at the amount of people who felt completely ignored and uncared for by their husbands. Yes my husband had to work but he did not forget about Mother's Day. He called me to tell me Happy Mother's day and he had taken the kids to the store a couple days ago and let them pick out presents for me. He also said on Monday since he does not work, it will be my day, he will clean for me and let me relax. I have a wonderful husband and I know he appreciates me as the mother of our children.

I also saw several posts from people who recently lost their mother or their mother is currently sick and in the hospital. I got to spend most of the day with my wonderful mother, she is in good health and I need to be more thankful for that. My own mother in law spent today with her mother who is currently in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain.

Thinking of these things made me realize I should not let the start of my day ruin Mother's day for me. After all everything ( minus the dog mess ) is part of being a mother.

Been mia but back now

I have been lacking in the blogging department but I am back and ready to post!

April was a busy month for us. My little man turned 5! Hard to believe that I am the mother to a five year old already but time really does fly. Easter was great also.

Baby Amelia will be here in around 10 weeks. We are still preparing for her arrival but we have almost everything done.

Lots of new blog posts are coming, so stay tuned!