Photo dump!

Well I havent had much time lately with a new baby and Christmas festivities but here's a quick photo tour. We have a lot of new and exciting adventures in store for us this 2015!

Ry's 12th birthday:

Christmas:

Beth's birthday:

And everything in between:

Getting ready for Christmas

We had a wonderful, quiet Thanksgiving this year. Sometimes just keeping it simple and staying at home is just as fun.


We had our first snowfall, the day before Thanksgiving. Nothing stuck to the ground, but it was sure pretty to watch.

That got me in the baking mood to start working on those Thanksgiving pies!

After Thanksgiving, we traditionally start decorating for Christmas. I was afraid we werent going to get around to it with the new baby taking up such a big chunk of our time. But with the big kids' help, we managed to get the tree up and a few of the decorations up around the house!

Off topic, but adding a cutie picture from the weekend:

Violet's Birth Story

On September 23, 2014 at 1244 our Violet was born! She is our smallest baby weighing in at 7lbs 4.4oz and only 19in long. And she has the wildest tale to tell!

On Sept 22, I had an appointment to go into the hospital to begin induction. They wanted to induce her early because the doctors placed me on a low dose insulin pill fearing she was growing too big. I had my own reservations about the diagnosis. They rushed through the growth ultrasound plus she was all crunched up, frank breech, with her feet up over her head. I didnt feel they made a proper effort to see how big she really was but were looking for an excuse as to why I was measuring big. But because there was so much risk to baby and no way to know for sure, I accepted their diagnosis and treatment.

Anyway, so I went into the hospital and the doctor checked for any progression, finding, in her opinion, I was already 3 cm dilated so she did not want to start the cervidil and sent me home to come back early the next morning. On the 23rd, we head back to the hospital at the crack of dawn. They set me up in my room and start the pitocin around 7am. What I feared, what happened the last time, because they didnt do the cervidil, I never got to labor strength contractions. To try and help me relax, I started playing the hymns I had on my phone.

The doctor comes in and checks my progress just after noon time and says that she would not have said I was at 3cm but only at 2cm. Since breaking my water always puts labor in a whole new level for me, she decides to break my water. I dont remember it ever being so painful as that! She checks baby after and I hear her say, "Oh no, something's wrong!" (not what you want to hear!) I was in incredible pain at this point and she explains that the baby's cord is coming out and they would need to perform an emergency C-section. Now pain is coupled with fear and I begin to pray.

The rest of the story is very foggy for me, everything became a complete whirlwind! I remember Dennis coming over and putting his hand on mine before they wheeled me out of the room on the bed. I felt like there were 30 people talking to me at once, I had no idea what anyone was saying. I was in too much pain from the doctor trying to hold the baby inside and not let her come out.

When we got into the O.R. room they made me slide onto the table (PAIN!) and I felt people all around prepping. One person was strapping my legs, another wiping me down with iodine (?), another putting a mask over my face telling me to take deep breaths. At this point my mind starts to panic, I start thinking I dont want this to happen! They keep telling me to breathe and I do. The last thing I remember is incredible pain and I was passed out.

I was out for a few hours but woke up to someone saying over and over "your baby is fine, she is in NICU now." I realize what has happened and begin to cry. They tell me Dennis is back waiting for me and they are going to take me down to him now. The doctor came in and told me that baby ended up being breech as well but was fine and that it must have been the "church music" we had playing. It took me a while to understand what she meant by that, I forgot I had left my phone playing hymns when all this had begun. 

Dennis filled me in later on all that had happened while I was out. Apparently Violet was born not breathing, she had to be resuscitated. They had some tubes on her and she had to be monitored for a couple days in the NICU. She is an incredible strong baby, and we have an incredible God, so she recovered quickly.









I didnt get a chance to see her for the first time until late that night, maybe around 10pm. My nurse was compassionate and helped wheel me down to go see her for the first time. Because she was still hooked up to a few things (and I was in no shape either), I wasnt able to hold her until that next afternoon.

On the evening of the 24th, Violet graduated out of NICU and was able to come and stay in room with me. We had one more little scare before they released her, the doctor heard a heart murmur. But they did an EKG and she passed. They said maybe because of all the trauma she had been through in the last 24hours, it could have caused it.






 
We were both finally released from the hospital to go home on the 26th - just in time for Sean's birthday.



Violet is doing wonderful now! She didnt gain any weight for her first doctor appointment but we changed some strategy on feedings and hopefully by her next appointment she has put on a few more ounces.

N.O.R.A. Tea

This is a great tea for pregnancy, postpartum, and frankly anytime for women especially - though men can drink it too. It tastes great and is FULL of vitamins for you and baby.

N.O.R.A. stands for: (you can click on the links to see some of the benefits from each herb)

Nettles
Oat straw
Red Raspberry Leaf
Alfalfa

I just bought each individual herb from my favorite herbal source, Bulk Herb Store, and mixed the tea myself. It is recommended you mix 2 parts Nettles, 2 parts Red Raspberry Leaf, 1 part Oat straw and 1 part Alfalfa. Bulk Herb actually has a "Mamma's Tea" but it has Peppermint replacing the Oat straw. It tastes great but I cannot use it postpartum because the peppermint reduces my milk supply. Oat straw will actually help build your milk supply plus helps with those emotional ups and downs.

When making the tea, I'm actually making an infusion (a stronger version of tea, which needs to steep longer than a normal cup) so I make it in large batches.

 I use two washed out (very well) empty spaghetti sauce jars and put 4 heaping tablespoons of the premixed NORA tea in each jar.

Then I add hot water to the jars. Make sure you mix the herbs very well so they all get wet. Place the lids on top but be careful the jars are very hot!

Let the jars set on the counter until they cool, then you can place them into the refrigerator. They will need to steep for at least 4 hours. I usually do this in the evening so they can set overnight.

The next morning, I filter out the leaves into a pitcher using my tea strainer. This isn't necessary, you can just filter it with a coffee filter as you pour it into your glass if you prefer.

The pitcher pictured here holds 2 quarts, as you can see, the two jars will make about a quart of  tea. You can add sugar or honey or your preferred sweetener. I personally like it just the way it is. If you're not nursing, feel free to add peppermint to your herbal mix - it tastes great. Also, you can reheat the tea to make it warm but it makes a fantastic ice tea in the summer months!

Springtime

Springtime has arrived and all kinds of new things are occurring around our household.

We are expecting a new addition to our family again! It kind of took us by surprise, but a happy surprise. Come October there will be a new little one in our house.

The boys have started doing Karate and really enjoying it!

We took a quick trip down to Virginia to spend Easter with my sister.

Unfortunately, on our way down south, we got into a pretty nasty accident. Still waiting on the insurance to find out whether we will be shopping for a new car or not. The pictures don't do the damage justice. The blessing is that no one got hurt, that's what really matters!

Here are a few more pictures of us enjoying the beautiful spring weather we have had lately. SOO very happy to be able to go outside, open windows and not having any snow!