Rejoice with us!

Our new baby daughter was born yesterday, April 27, 2005, at 4:57am after a fast 3 hour labor! She weighed 9 lbs even and measured 21 inches! Mama and baby are both doing well and are receiving lots of care and attention from the five older very excited siblings! 🙂 (Daddy too of course! 😉 ) Thank you to all of you who prayed for us during this time…your prayers for a healthy and safe delivery were answered!

Praise God the giver of all good gifts!

Egg Report

I have a couple of days in this egg report that are missing…first time for everything huh?! 😉 I don’t have them written down for some reason and I’m hazy on the details (imagine that…I wonder why?!? 😉 LOL). The 12th and the 20th. Oh well.

4/13/05 3 (brown)

4/14/05 4 (3 b, 1 g)

4/15/05 4 (3 b, 1 g)

4/16/05 1 (brown)

4/17/05 1 (brown)

4/18/05 4 (3 b, 1 g)

4/19/05 4 (3 b, 1 g)

4/21/05 2 (brown)

4/22/05 2 (1 b, 1 g)

4/23/05 0 😦

4/24/05 1 (brown)

The hens have been rather “unhappy” still lately. I’m not their “primary care” giver and I think they are protesting evidenced by the low(er) egg counts. Their pen is really dirty again too. They are just in “heaven” when outside these few days this year. Until we get a more secure arrangement set up for them though, they’ll have to be back and forth. Neighborhood dogs, bears and coyotes being real concerns.

The girls are almost a year old now…and they most definitely look “grown up.” They are all good looking birds and I like every one of them. Even Reins has mellowed out a bit and I think they all have nice personalities. When we get more, I’m not sure what breed I want. Maybe we’ll continue having a “mixed” flock.

I wonder when we’ll experience molting?

I’m a bit concerned about leaving the hens at my parents place now if we take our trip. Not that my parents wouldn’t care for them well because they have experience with a variety of animals but because of the secure pen situation down there too. They have a small dog kennel they aren’t using and with some plywood on top would make a nice run for them (with their carrier as a nesting box same as it is now). But, loose neighbor dogs and wildlife are even more of a problem where they are and I’m not sure if we’ll have time to build something more protective. I’m putting some more thought into alternatives…

It’s official…

no, no baby. 😉

The “monsters” are back. It’s mosquito season. 😡

It’s 65°F with the thermometer still in shade. The snow is completely gone from all parts of our property (except along the back tree line where our property ends). It’s still dipping into the mid-30s at night. In fact, this morning it was hard to tell whether we had frost or a light dusting of snow. The last freeze date is the end of this month and we are up on the “hillside” so it’s a guessing game this time of year.

I’ve killed a half dozen monsters at least – and I do mean they are whoppers! – while sitting here. I don’t want to shut the sliding door though because the fresh warm air is so wonderful! (The furnace went out a week ago again and since it’s so close to summer we aren’t bothering to fix it right now. We are hoping to replace it…) Plus, it’s bear season again too so I need to be able to hear very clearly what’s going on out there and have quick access.

I have the few seeds/seedlings I potted outside against the house. (I never did make it over to my garden journal to say what I started…I’ll have to do that soon. It’s not much but it’s nice to have a record anyway.)

I’m going to have the two older children help me take the chickens and their pen out now. This is actually their 4th (5th?) time since the beginning of the year but 2nd since the weather has been consistantly nicer. It was rainy Fri., Sat. was nice so they were out then and then Sun. was rainy again. Dh did it for me Sat. but he’s not here now so I’ll have to do the best I can with my girls. The time before last, my oldest helped me drag their carrier and pen across the still remaining snow. No snow now to do it so I’m hoping that between the two girls and me, we can manage to half carry half drag it to a nice spot.

10 days left until baby’s due date! I’m not able to do much to speak of…but I keep trying! 😉 With that, I’m off. 🙂

Midwife Visit/Baby Update

38 weeks today!!!

2 more to go…

Tum-dee-dum…still hanging out…waiting…{twiddle fingers} Don’t know how long this will go on but I’m having many, many contractions every day. Some bring on other “sensations” while others don’t. Definitely my body building up to the grand event. I’m not sure I like it this way or the way it was with the first 4. Like I have a choice huh?! 😉 LOL

Home visit went well. Birth box is here. Still need to shop for a few “fill in” items. And, have to make sure we have the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies…it’s part of the midwive’s fee. 😉 LOL (A joke amongst us. 😀 )

Dh stayed home this morning and helped “spit shine” the house. Not all the clutter is gone…but it feels so much better having most of it boxed and “hidden” for a while. I’m not sure what I’ll do with what’s left…live with it until I’m recovered enough to deal with it or have dh bring home more boxes. I hate the thought of so many boxes to go through. Ugh. But, it’s helped me feel more relaxed now looking around and that’s important. Still have to finish what I said I had to in our room but with the really “pressuring” stuff pretty much accomplished, I can do that in the next day or two…no worries. I don’t think baby is coming that soon. 🙄 Although, I get wishful. 😀

Enough rambling. Off to the bathroom – again!!! And then, dinner followed by reading to the children earlier for a little longer before bed. I haven’t been reading to them as much as I usually do and we are all missing it.

Goodnight!

ps – Btw, it’s a blustery rainy evening here…soooo thankful it’s not SNOW! I’m not sure what the temps will be tonight but if they drop about 10° , we might be in for an unpleasant surprise in the morning. I’m curious but not sure I really want to check the forecast… waaaahh. 😕

Flourless (GF) Peanut Butter Cookies

Mostly, I’m just putting this here to get it off my desk and archive it. (If I’d make it enough to have it memorized, I wouldn’t need to. 😉 ) A little treat my dad likes and he can actually eat without “cheating.” (He has Celiac disease.)

1 egg
1 c peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 ts vanilla

Mix together and drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. Criscross with a fork. Bake @ 375° until slightly browned around the edges.

Baby Imminent?

Contractions are picking up a great deal. Mon./Tues. around midnight after I went to bed, I had several in a row again…but more of them. 10 min. apart for a good hour + after which I quit tracking. I wasn’t really tracking on purpose. Lying there with insomnia and you can’t help but watch the clock. I finally dozed off but was awakened by contractions throughout the night. I finally got up to stay (was up more frequently using the bathroom too 😉 ) around 5:20am. Basically, I didn’t sleep…but I was wired. That “burst of energy” perhaps? I am feeling a little more energetic…although that could be the wheatgrass straighting out my iron levels. But, I’m also walking better – hooray! Baby’s head is right there at the pubic bone…it’s hard to feel the top of it as the midwives have me do when measuring. I can’t tell if it’s moved beyond it or not though as reaching around this huge belly is a monumental feat! Yesterday, I spent about an hour in the bath as I continued to have contractions upon waking a staying up. When everyone was getting up for the day, I got in to see if it would “calm” the contractions. It didn’t so I did visualization to try to encourage them more and make this it to “real” labor if possible. Alas not. I was finally so pruney in the toes and fingers I decided I better get out while I still had them! LOL Contractions continued throughout the day. Last night, I went to bed earlier (Good Girl! 😉 ), and felt a handful maybe. I was pretty tired this time with no insomnia and I slept very well. If I had contractions, they didn’t wake me. I’ve had them all morning along again so far today though…

So…baby soon…but when? I spent a week or 10 days (details are a little fuzzy at the moment) last time before Q. was born in this “practice” labor. Is it prodromal labor? Only time will tell. 🙂 But, I think not at this point. Wondering how long it will be though… Another week this time around? Shorter? (I hope!) Longer? (Hope not but if it means a healthy baby so be it!)

Our room is cleaned out thank goodness. Still has some “clutter” on top of the bookcase and my sewing table that I didn’t feel like moving. Not much. The sewing table has to come out anyway. Dh will have to be the one to do that so I better get it cleared off. Otherwise, just need to dust, vacuum and wash the valance over the closet door. The only other thing that must, must be done is cleaning/disinfecting the bathroom. But that, again, is dh job done “at the last minute.” (Mostly, he doesn’t want me breathing the bleach fumes. Having so many using one bathroom though, it’s a bit ridiculous to do such a cleaning *for the baby* this early.) That job I don’t mind having done while I’m in labor because it ensures there won’t be anyone else going in there and dirtying it again when I need it most! 😀 That’s of course if labor is in the middle of the night as all the others have been. (Lord willing it will be! We don’t like sending our children off other places, like to have them here to see the new sibling right away…but also don’t want them underfoot and being a distraction – in their beds sweetly sleeping is always our hope and prayer! LOL) Anyway, as for the rest of the house…*sigh* it’s gotten better but not much. I still feel like we are living in a warehouse. Oh well. I’m sorry that my family will have to be living w/ boxes and such while I’m “lounging” in a nice tidy room. At this point though, I’m physically unable to clear this all up on my own…and dh has to continue working looong hours now if we want him to be able to spend the first week postpartum caring for me and the children. (As I’ve said before, my recovery time is much longer than most women although I feel well. One week in bed is the minimum my midwives insist I stay in bed…another week would make them happier but we usually can’t swing that financially. Dh has to get back to work by that time and we don’t have anyone else that’s able to come stay with me.)

With that, I better close. Several contractions while I’ve been typing this. Granted, it’s taken a good half hour at least between all the other tasks I’ve gotten up to do inbetween sentences! LOL Need to go focus on getting the children finished w/ their chores and MY OWN! 😉

Baby Imminent?

Contractions are picking up a great deal. Mon./Tues. around midnight after I went to bed, I had several in a row again…but more of them. 10 min. apart for a good hour + after which I quit tracking. I wasn’t really tracking on purpose. Lying there with insomnia and you can’t help but watch the clock. I finally dozed off but was awakened by contractions throughout the night. I finally got up to stay (was up more frequently using the bathroom too 😉 ) around 5:20am. Basically, I didn’t sleep…but I was wired. That “burst of energy” perhaps? I am feeling a little more energetic…although that could be the wheatgrass straighting out my iron levels. But, I’m also walking better – hooray! Baby’s head is right there at the pubic bone…it’s hard to feel the top of it as the midwives have me do when measuring. I can’t tell if it’s moved beyond it or not though as reaching around this huge belly is a monumental feat! Yesterday, I spent about an hour in the bath as I continued to have contractions upon waking a staying up. When everyone was getting up for the day, I got in to see if it would “calm” the contractions. It didn’t so I did visualization to try to encourage them more and make this it to “real” labor if possible. Alas not. I was finally so pruney in the toes and fingers I decided I better get out while I still had them! LOL Contractions continued throughout the day. Last night, I went to bed earlier (Good Girl! 😉 ), and felt a handful maybe. I was pretty tired this time with no insomnia and I slept very well. If I had contractions, they didn’t wake me. I’ve had them all morning along again so far today though…

So…baby soon…but when? I spent a week or 10 days (details are a little fuzzy at the moment) last time before Q. was born in this “practice” labor. Is it prodromal labor? Only time will tell. 🙂 But, I think not at this point. Wondering how long it will be though… Another week this time around? Shorter? (I hope!) Longer? (Hope not but if it means a healthy baby so be it!)

Our room is cleaned out thank goodness. Still has some “clutter” on top of the bookcase and my sewing table that I didn’t feel like moving. Not much. The sewing table has to come out anyway. Dh will have to be the one to do that so I better get it cleared off. Otherwise, just need to dust, vacuum and wash the valance over the closet door. The only other thing that must, must be done is cleaning/disinfecting the bathroom. But that, again, is dh job done “at the last minute.” (Mostly, he doesn’t want me breathing the bleach fumes. Having so many using one bathroom though, it’s a bit ridiculous to do such a cleaning *for the baby* this early.) That job I don’t mind having done while I’m in labor because it ensures there won’t be anyone else going in there and dirtying it again when I need it most! 😀 That’s of course if labor is in the middle of the night as all the others have been. (Lord willing it will be! We don’t like sending our children off other places, like to have them here to see the new sibling right away…but also don’t want them underfoot and being a distraction – in their beds sweetly sleeping is always our hope and prayer! LOL) Anyway, as for the rest of the house…*sigh* it’s gotten better but not much. I still feel like we are living in a warehouse. Oh well. I’m sorry that my family will have to be living w/ boxes and such while I’m “lounging” in a nice tidy room. At this point though, I’m physically unable to clear this all up on my own…and dh has to continue working looong hours now if we want him to be able to spend the first week postpartum caring for me and the children. (As I’ve said before, my recovery time is much longer than most women although I feel well. One week in bed is the minimum my midwives insist I stay in bed…another week would make them happier but we usually can’t swing that financially. Dh has to get back to work by that time and we don’t have anyone else that’s able to come stay with me.)

With that, I better close. Several contractions while I’ve been typing this. Granted, it’s taken a good half hour at least between all the other tasks I’ve gotten up to do inbetween sentences! LOL Need to go focus on getting the children finished w/ their chores and MY OWN! 😉

Midwife Visit/Baby Update

37 weeks today!!! Three more to go…

All is still well. All tests normal. Blood pressure was again “awesome.” Still no birth box…they are still stored at the “former partner” midwife’s house/clinic and keeps being forgotten to be picked up by the current midwives. No biggy. Next week is our “home visit” (although they’ve been here many times! 😉 ) and they’ll stop by her house as she doesn’t live too far away and bring it with them.

Baby is head down again also (as I suspected) so no worries there either. Heart rate is still “high” soooo…you draw your own conclusions. 😉

I think we’ve made some significant progress on the house this past week…it’s hard to tell when you are so close to the situation. 🙄 No. I know we have. I still feel like I’m living in a warehouse but I do see clear spots now and really hope to be in deep cleaning mode this weekend. Yesterday, I took the entire day “off.” A friend called and we talked for a couple + hours. I was having a slow morning and had a hard time motivating the children to do their chores so that had taken most of my time. Then, since we had to get ready to leave shortly after that to go to another friends house for dinner, I just went and enjoyed the sun on the deck with the children. It was a relaxing day and I felt good physically this morning because of it. Again, though, had a slow moving day myself this morning plus some business work for dh so nothing organizationally speaking got done again and then we headed off to the midwife appt. Since it’s late in the afternoon when we return, the rest of the day seems “shot” and so today I’ll just chalk up to another “relaxing” day. 🙄 So, I better get cracking tomorrow and through the weekend or I fear the position we may be in if I don’t… 😯

Egg Report

4/05/05 3 (2b, 1g)

4/06/05 4 (brown)

4/07/05 4 (3b, 1g)

4/08/05 3 (2b, 1g)

4/09/05 3 (brown)

4/10/05 2 (1b, 1g)

4/11/05 4 (3b, 1g)

Multiple Update

It was another nice day yesterday. The temps aren’t quite as warm as I’d like…stretching into the mid-50s, down to or below freezing at night. But, it’s warm and the snow is going fast. Yay! Can’t complain. 😉

The chickens were put out yesterday. This was actually the third time this year. They went out a couple times in March when the snow was gone around the big spruce tree. The last time I did it I ended up on the couch for a couple of days. This time oldest dd helped me and I’m not too sore. The hens were in “heaven” up against the side of the house where dh had built the “half coop on stilts.” (He finally got it all torn down.) Anyway, it’s a spot in full sun, the dirt is completely unfrozen and they had a dirt bath going in no time flat! LOL The pen was a disaster and the garage was so stinky! I left the garage door open all afternoon to air it out and dh cleaned the pen when he came home. The hens came into a tidy home because it’s still cold at night (as stated above) and you could tell they were relieved that their home had been cleaned. Egg count was reflecting the fact they were “unhappy” I think… 😕 Three being average lately.

I finally started some of my seeds…two weeks later!! 🙄 I’m hoping that it doesn’t make too much difference. I was a month “late” last year in starting my tomato seeds and it did. More in my garden blog later…

On the house front, we go from bad to worse back to bad again. I’m getting nervous. The whole upstairs looks like a warehouse. *sigh* The children couldn’t eat at the dining table last night because it’s filled with stuff I’m sorting. The counter is filled with stuff we are sorting. The office area was cleared out by dh last night while I slept… *another sigh* All of that stuff is stack in front of the kitchen counter now. The whole idea is to clean out, clean up and then put it back more organized so I can get to it in a few weeks postpartum. Ugh. Will we make it? I don’t know…

On the baby front, the Braxston-Hicks have increased dramatically over the last week. At my appt. last week, I told the midwives I’d gone from having a few to several over the course of a week, and certainly over the course of the two weeks, between appts. Now, just in this past week, I’m having several per day!! Particularly when I go to bed for the night. The first few minutes after I lay down, it’s a handful right in a row and pretty intense. Not painful but tight! Pulling through my lower back too. So, my body’s starting to prepare. Not long now… not long at all. I really did too much yesterday and went to bed fatigued and sore although I did spend some time sitting on the deck enjoying the sun! 🙂 Today, I’m going to try not to over-do but these Braxston-Hicks are motivating me even if I don’t have the “nesting urge.” The nesting urge didn’t hit me last time until the *day before* I went into labor…a little too little urge a little too late! So, must press forward despite my bulky tiredness. Dh is worried…but what else can I do? I’m being careful and I am recruiting my children to the best of their ages and abilities…BUT… There’s so much and most requires me unfortunately. Dh has made a point of being home “earlier” the last couple of nights and what he did last night was a big help (despite how it looks). Ramble, ramble.

The sun is shining again today so I’m off to make the most of it! Hope all those reading have a very blessed day caring for their homes and families! 🙂