The week leading up to G’s birth

*disclaimer* this post may or may not make 100% sense...working on less sleep than normal LOL *end disclaimer*

Hey everyone! Chris and I slowly but surely adapting to our new lives with G. Hopefully in the next week or so, we’ll be posting both of our versions of G’s birth story in installments. 

I’m taking a “mommy-break” right now at McDonald’s drinking some decaf coffee. I miss being productive and working on the laptop all day, so it’s nice to be here doing something other than being a human “Dairy Queen” (I stole that term—yes, from you Lisa!). ;-)

The 2 weeks following our babymoon were super busy, as I had a HUGE “before baby” to do list. I baked lots of bread and tried to get freezer food ready to go, made triple batches of lacto-fermented veggies, yogurt, as well as stock the pantry with some of our “essentials”, and washed our first set of cloth diapers, which we'll use once G is about 12 lbs. 

 Cloth diapers on the clothes line Chris made for our apartment! 

4 dozen-ish soaked kamut tortillas (yeah, sounds weird, just know they are really healthy) made using my awesome old-school tortilla press!

Loaf 1 of 5 of fresh baked bread. This one is white whole wheat soaked english muffin bread. Yum.  PS--if you haven't baked bread, you should. It literally costs a quarter to make bread that would cost $4 at the store. And you can count the ingredients on one hand and pronounce all of them :-)

So, the last picture you guys saw was from our babymoon in Broken Bow at 37 weeks. Here is me at 38 weeks:

 (Yes, you've seen this outfit before. This was literally my go-to staple pregnancy outfit.)

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 Between 38-39 weeks, Chris and I both got sick. Chris had been feeling really crummy on Tuesday, January 15^th and even came home early. He felt fine the next day, but then I felt sick starting Tuesday night so Chris stayed home to take care of me. I went to my midwife appt and everything was dandy with the baby. I was super congested and felt like I had some upper respiratory thing that I normally get once a year. Wednesday afternoon-Thursday morning I had an on again/off again low grade fever of 100.5 and felt pretty crummy. Ugh. I hadn’t taken any medicine the entire pregnancy and certainly didn’t feel like starting now, but I know it’s not good for the baby for me to have an internal temp over 100, so I took 1 Tylenol at I think 3 different times. I moreso relied on home remedies and my good immune system to fight the sickness, which I was worried could actually be the flu. They included:

·         Ice pack on forehead

·         Sleep

·         Honey/lemon in Upper respiratory or Cold Season Tea

·         Turmeric in pretty much all the food I made

·         Homemade soup with leftover turkey bone broth

·         Neti-pot ( clear out snot)

·         Vicks vapo-rub + steam treatment over the stove (One day I’ll make my own vicks…)

·         Detox bath (Apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and Epsom salt)

·         Apple-cider vinegar water (good for detox/sinuses)

·         Lemon water (detox)

·         Lecto-fermented veggies (probiotics for good gut flora, in case I had to end up taking medicine that killed all my healthy bacteria)

·         Whey with OJ (same as above)

·         Gargle warm salt water

·         Extra prenatal vitamins

Basically. You name it, I did it. All those home remedies were EXHAUSTING let me tell you. Anything I could think of that would help congestion, fever, stuffy nose, or boost my immune system, I did.

By Thursday evening I was better, other than this horrible junk in my lungs that I’m still coughing up. Unfortunately, the next day, Friday, Chris came home sick with a fever that didn’t go away...

On Sunday, January 20^th, when his fever finally got to 102, we decided that he needed to go to the Emergency Care Clinic because it was getting a little too close for comfort to G’s “due date” (January 27^th) and we knew that both of us needed to be healthy, recovered, and well rested for the weeks ahead.

Well, it turns out that Chris had the flu and was put on a 5 day/2x a day medicine. We hate medicine, but knew that it was really important to fight his flu with everything we could and make sure I didn’t get sick again. 

That afternoon I was feeling awesome and really back to my old self again. I decided to get some much needed fresh air. Y’all know I like to combine exercise and productivity, right? Well, I recently started using an app called “Shopkick”. Basically you walk into stores, scan certain items, and look at ads to rack up “kickpoints” that translate into giftcards. I knew a few ppl who used it and it’s literally so simple. If I’m already going to Target, why wouldn’t I take a few extra minutes to scan some products if I can benefit from it? I needed to get out of the appt on Sunday and get some Vitamin D (sun), so I ended up walking 3ish miles to different stores. It was great to get out and I felt awesome. (PS if you want the app, you can click on my link above, and both you and I will get extra points) I think with that one day of walking, I got like $6 in giftcards. Small, but a start, and I got a workout at the same time. My kind of a good time. Haha. 

I went to Mass by myself because Chris was basically one big tired germ bomb, and I prayed for a healing miracle for Chris and that G would stay put until her due date so that we could be healthy. (**keep this in mind for later**) God is funny in the way he answers prayers. 

Once I got home, Chris took this week 39 picture of me. I hate all of the ones he took, I felt like an ugly blob who was still coughing up a lung. Yes, I’m dramatic. 

In the evening, I decided to sleep in the guest bedroom because Chris was super sleepy and I was having trouble falling asleep because I had messed up my sleep schedule from being sick and coughing all night made my ribs really sore, coupled with being, you know, 39 weeks pregnant. 

Little did I know what the rest of the night would entail and that 12 short hours later, I would be holding my baby!!!!

I got in bed around 8:45. I read for a bit and fell asleep around 9 pm, only to be awoken at 10 pm by a horrible pain my back…

…To be continued

OOPS, I forgot. Y'all probably want a couple pictures of Gianna, so I'll sate your appetite. :-) She is literally so cute it makes my heart ache!!!!

Our lives together so far...

Hello everyone from Christopher, Rachel, and Gianna!


Although lacking a little bit in sleep, the past week has been incredible! To sum up, Gianna was obviously born early, we were totally unprepared, Chris had the flu, I was recovering from some pseudo-flu/upper respiratory business, water birth is awesome, heart shaped uterus complicates everything, my mom is my Grandma hero and we would have been totally lost without her help this week, etc etc etc. There were some posts in progress, like the last mysteries of the Rosary, week 38/39 update, and keys to a happy/healthy pregnancy that obviously didn't happen as a result, but hey, life happens, and it's pretty stinking good.

Gianna is literally the most perfect baby in the world and we've been having a blast getting to know her and giving her lots and lots and lots of kisses!

We're in the process of putting together the birth story from both of our perspectives, but in the meantime, wanted to share some pictures we've taken over the past few days with you. Hope you all enjoy!

SHE'S HERE!!!

After lots and lots of hard work, Gianna has made her entrance into this great, wide world!

She was born January 21st, 2013 at 9:22 AM, weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby are all very exhausted, but doing great! More to come once we get a little sleep ;-)

Please pray for all 3 of us as we enter this new phase in all of our lives!

St. Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us!
St. Elizabeth, pray for us!
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!
St. Agnes, pray for us!

The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Scourging at the Pillar/The Crowning with Thorns (Part 2)

[I've been praying and meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary lately, as they have really been on my mind as I prepare for Gianna's birth. The Mysteries, which include Jesus' agony in the garden, the scouring at the pillar, crowning with thorns, carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion, don't really seem like a traditional kind of prayer for someone who will be giving birth soon (more normal would be "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" or "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." etc...), but these meditations have brought me great peace and happiness and I'd like to share bits of those thoughts with you. ]


The Second Sorrowful Mystery--The Scouring at the Pillar
The Third Sorrowful Mystery--The Crowning with Thorns
 (Matthew 27:26-31, Mk 15:1-2, Luke 23:16-25, John 18:36-19:1)
After Jesus is handed over to be killed he is bought to Ciaphas, the high priest, who finds him guilty. Then, as morning breaks, Jesus is bound and led to Pilate. Pilate questions Jesus and was basically uncomfortable about the whole situation, eventually saying that he "finds no guilt in him".  

Since it was the feast day of the Passover, Pilate offers to release a prisoner, either Jesus or Barrabas,   but the crowd shouts for Barabbas to be released and as for Jesus they yell "Crucify him, crucify him” and Pilate caves to the pressure, and leads Jesus to be scourged. 

Jesus was stripped of his clothes and tied to a pillar, surrounded by a blood thirsty mob who was shouting and encouraging the Roman soldiers as they lashed Him with leather whips tipped with sharp stones or bone. The soldiers put a scarlet robe on him, a reed in His right hand, and adorned his head with a crown of thorns. They mocked Jesus saying “Hail, king of the Jews!” (Mt 27:29) and spat upon him. 

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When I read these verses in the Bible, they take up such a short space in time (for me). It seems like everything happens to Jesus to quickly. Betrayed. Found guilty. Handed over. Stripped, scourged, and mocked. Seems so quick. But in reality, it says that he wasn't even handed over to Pilate until morning. I wonder how much time had passed, if there was much down time between these "events". I have no doubt that Jesus used this time to pray and to gain strength from God to endure what lay ahead. 

It reminds me of how birth is portrayed on TV. All of a sudden a woman's water breaks, she's in immediate pain and the baby is "ready to come out", she rushes to the hospital, scream, scream, scream, and BOOM! Baby is born. The reality is much...slower. And who knows, for me, it could be days of slow, puttering labor, or could be a more regular, even paced labor. The point is, it won't happen like it does on TV, just like Jesus wasn't handed over and crucified in the span of 5 sentences. He experienced all of these things in real time, real life, with real pain and emotions. These horrible injustices that Jesus faced were his painful and cruel "stops" along the way to his ultimate glory in the Resurrection. Again, the idea that through suffering, comes new life. When I think about the time lapse between Agony in the Garden and when Jesus actually carries his physical cross, I think of the process of labor--contractions, moments of relief in between, and all the other stops along the way. I hope I remember to use those moments in between to pray like I know Jesus did.

When Jesus is stripped of his clothes and is exposed and naked, I always think back to to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve recognize their nakedness after the fall. Their nakedness was like their shame. For Jesus though, rather than bringing us shame, brings about our redemption and new life in Him through this nakedness. New life and nakedness seem to "go together". 

The act of being stripped of clothes seems like such a vulnerable thing to me. There's no where to hide. I imagine that's what labor will be like--being stripped down to nothing (yes this is figuratively or emotionally...but probably also literally) and completely vulnerable, all my normal comforts will be gone. I won't be able to hide behind a computer screen and type what I'm feeling during birth--it will be me, in the moment, raw, exposed, primal, like so many women before me.

Jesus was fully human, and no doubt there were times that he called out in pain, feeling like it was too much. But he endured, knowing that the end far surpassed the means. Every tear Jesus shed, every blow He endured, every drop of blood that flowed, every moment of ridicule…all this, without protesting this “cup” that was given to him. “…he opened not his mouth, he was like a lamb led to slaughter…” (Isaiah 53:7). Every second of pain was for our freedom, to deliver us from evil and to be born anew in Him. 

So too, will I doubtless cry out in pain...a lot maybe...but I know that when the pain ends, there will be new life...a small, precious, innocent baby girl. The pain will be gone, and there will be much rejoicing. 

Thank you Jesus for enduring the pain and ridicule of the crowd and the Roman soldiers for us and our salvation. Help me to also to endure pain in childbirth, in a way that will glorify your own suffering.

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Did you miss the previous posts?
Read Introduction to the Sorrowful Mysteries
The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden (Part 1)

New Year’s Resolutions 2013

I love New Year’s Resolutions. I love making goals and working towards them. I’m hoping that this year, by reviewing our New Year’s resolutions each month, we are able to be more faithful and accomplish more than we did last year. It's also exciting that our Resolutions get to include a 3rd person for the first time!!! 

I also hope that by “going public” with some of our goals, we’ll be more apt to keep them, rather than face shame from friends and family (because I know y’all will totally be calling me and checking in about these resolutions….not!). Some of these are joint goals, others are Chris’s or mine exclusively—I’ll bet you can figure out who is planning to learn the oil changes and who is doing the sewing….. ;-)

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Anyhow, without further ado: New Year’s Resolutions 2013 (inspired by Moneysavingmom.com)

Personal/home

·         Have a baby (this one is our guaranteed success)

·         Learn to do oil changes for our vehicles

·         Make/store a 1 year food supply

·         Make sourdough starter and use sourdough for most of breadmaking

·         Learn more about sprouting grains

·         Make all household cleaners from scratch (except for dish/dishwasher soap)

·         Make homemade toiletries (including lip balm, deodorant, toothpaste, etc)

·         Read 7: An Experimental Mutiny against Excess and do our own experiment  (this is a cool book…each month the author, Jen Hatmaker, did only 7 of something…forever, one month was eating only 7 foods…it’s all about simplifying, living below your means, and I am EXCITED!)

·         Learn to sew and make basic clothes repairs with Brother sewing machine

·         Read at least 12 books: TBA

·         Read lots of baby books, including: The Baby Book (Sears), How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor (Mendelssohn), What to Expect the First Year, 25 Things Every New Mother Should Know (Sears) , Nighttime Parenting (Sears)

·         Baptize Gianna!

Marriage

·         Plan and go on trip to Napa Valley, CA with baby in tow (yes, please go ahead and laugh at us…we can dream!)

·         Take an anniversary trip to Broken Bow, OK (yeah, we liked it that much)

·         Finish reading Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist together

·         Read Man and Woman He Create Them: The Theology of the Body together

·         Fun dates/family outings in and around Tyler, TX: Drive in Theatre, Blueberry Hills “Pick your own” farm in June/July, Caldwell Zoo, Kierpersol winery or other vineyard, Moore Farms Pumpkin Patch/fall stuff, Tyler Rose Garden, and Tyler State Park are just some ideas we had

Family/Friends

·         Write two long e-mails to friends/family each month

·         Write two handwritten letters to friends/family each month

·         Faithfully update blog with baby pictures and stuff for family/friends

Financial

·         Look for land/buy a house

·         Create and stick to new budget that includes baby G

Religious

·         Continue/finish The Catechism of the Catholic Church during the Year of Faith

·         Start a Link to Liturgy Meeting at the Cathedral

·         Focus on living a different Beatitude each month (For January/February, we are working on “Blessed are the poor in spirit”)

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I know some of these seem incredibly simple (like making our own cleaners). And they are! But I know, if it doesn’t get written down, it doesn’t get done (and even if it IS written down, it gets done like 70% of the time). There are other, more daunting tasks, like buying a house and even others that require a full year’s investment (living the Beatitudes).

What are some of your New Year’s Resolutions? If you’ll bug me about keeping mine, I’ll bug you about keeping yours hehehe

Here’s to an awesome 2013!