It's a Boy:-)

Joshua

8.0 pounds, 22.5 inches (lightest and possibly tallest of my babies. Need to check the records for the height)

7.25 hours labor

He and I are fine. God is good.

Birth story Later

Gout

My hubby was diagnosed with gout last week. This is his second attack.I have since done some research on how to treat this very painful condition.

First of all, this is a highly hereditary disease. If you have a relative with it you have a 25% or greater chance of developing it yourself. Hubby's father had it as do at least two of his brothers.So does my father, putting me at risk, except that only about 5% of gout patients are female.

Obesity is also a risk factor. Do NOT crash diet, however, as that will trigger an attack.

Gout is a symptom your kidneys aren't working quite right. In Hubby's case, he had Kidney stones a year ago, a gout attack last July, and another last week so I am looking especially hard at kidney health.

#1- Pray. Prayer works because that is how God set up the universe.

#2- Eliminate alcohol, sardines, anchovies, organ meats, and sweet peas from your diet. (Sadly this didn't help us much as we are tea-totalers [well, Coke Cola-totalers] and have never eaten any of the other foods except the peas.

Some resources say to leave off the sodas due to the high mineral content. Some say to drink them because they are high in alkaline content will nutralize the uric acid. Sodas just aren't good for you so I think you should limit them as much as possible (very hard to do in our society).

I know I read many years ago that diet/protein drinks (i.e. slim fast, ensure) cause kidney problems, but I can't find this information now. I would leave these concoctions off anyway. They are mostly oil and sugar, not exactly nutritionally sound "food."

#3-Eat more fruit and veggies. The information they sent home with him says "Vegitarians seldom have gout. Meat eaters who also eat a lot of fruit and veggies are at lower risk." So, I say it's the fruit and veggies that help to prevent it more than abstaining from meat. Both of those groups would eat little white flour or transfats. Anyway, moderation is always good.

#4- Did I mention Pray? It works.

#5- Certain things are known to help the body get rid of the uric acid that causes Gout.

• Celery seed
• Cherries (whole or juice)
• Tumeric
• Bromilain (found in pinapple and also very good for any kind of arthritis or inflamation)

You can get these four in the produce section of your store or you can buy them in capsule form seperatly or together in a product called "Go-Out." Take the Go-Out two capsules, 2-3x/day until the attack is gone and then one daily to keep Gout away.

#6- Additional herbs:

• Milk Thistle (strengthens the Liver which releaves the pressure on the Kindnys allowing them to do their job of removing the Uric acid better)
• Dandylion (helps the urinary tract function better)
• Alfalfa (purifies and strengthens the blood in general)
• Capsicum (makes all other herbs work better and helps the heart)
• Fish oil (Omega 3s help the body get rid of impurities)
• Calcium (reduces stress, actually, which will help inflammation)
• Nettle leaf (Helps build cells and strengthen the blood which carries impurities out of the body.)

I hope this helps someone out there with gout:-)

Judge Not

“Judge Not least ye be judged.” We have all heard this scripture; used it even. But have we read the entire thing in context lately? Sometimes it helps us to understand God and what He is saying better if go back and refresh our minds on what He has really said.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the (splinter) that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the (2x4) that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the (splinter) out of thine eye; and, behold, a (2x4) is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the (2x4) out of thine own eye; and THEN SHALT THOU SEE CLEARLY TO CAST OUT THE (SPLINTER) OUT OF THY BROTHER'S EYE.”

Do you realize that this scripture says to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye? The point of the scripture is that we need to remove the 2x4 from our own eye BEFORE we try to help our brother.

So how does this work?

The best example I can come up with is fear and worry. You see, I have personal experience with this.

Many years ago the spirit of fear got so ahold of me I would lay in bed at night unable to move a muscle. Literally.
I couldn't consentrate on anything during the day but the problem of the day. 

It was quite debilitating, I tell ya.

A minister prayed and rebuked this spirit from Satan. From that time forth I began to notice what the Bible says about fear and worry and began to fight the devil head on on this issue.

Today, fear seldom bothers me, though Satan tries (especially right now. Hormones are high and my last birth was very traumatic. Since I am due "anytime," It is prime “worry-wart” time.)

But I know how to deal with it now. I turn it over to Jesus. That is why I have Him; to carry the weight of the world so I don’t have to. I know for a fact that every thing will work out just fine no matter what the issue. Oh, maybe not the way I would design it to. God seldom does things the way I think they should be done. But they still work out. Usually better than if I had had my way.

Now, today, if I see a brother or sister suffering with Satan’s oppression of fear, what is my responsibility? According to the above scripture, since I have cast that 2x4 out of my own eye successfully, I am to help my brother-in-the-Lord get the splinter out of his own eye; help him to conquer Satan. That is my responsibility.

And if my brother or sister sees a splinter in my eye that they have successfully cast out of their own eye I would dearly hope they love me enough to help me remove my own flaw. It might hurt to have it pointed out, but I would still want them to help me.

Hints to help cast out fear:

·                    Sing “Jesus loves Me” (other worship songs could work also. This is just the one that worked best for me.)

·                    Praise Jesus. Just tell Him how much you love Him and how wonderful He is.

·                    Rebuke Satan.

·                    Quote scripture

o       “Submit yourselves therefore to God. RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.” James 4:7

o       “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 We MUST realize that fear and worry is Satanic. No matter the circumstances, we must resist the devil.

·                    Move your mind to something else. (I build farms in my head. Weird, but it works for me.)

It takes a while to build these “fearless muscles,” but it is worth it. Gradually you will notice fewer and fewer attacks of less and less power if you determine you won’t give in to the Devil but rely on God.

The Inheirent Saftey of Birth

Here in this highly medicalized country we tend to think of birth as a dangerous medical condition that carries a great deal of risk to mother and baby. We act like we think birth is as dangerous as the worst of surgeries. But is that attitude justified?

The most dangerous country in the world to give birth (the place where mommy is most likely to die) is The Central African Republic where 1100 woman will die for every 100,000 births (about 1.1 in 100). This is a horrid rate of death, but still far below the “one in three” number often quoted by hospital birth advocates as in “One in three women died giving birth in the 1800s.” This a very inaccurate statement. The truth would be “One in three women who gave birth IN HOSPITALS died in the 1800s.” Very different numbers (Doctors refused to wash their hands at this time causing many women to die of infection. However those who stayed home- the majority- or went to birth centers run by midwives seldom died.)

In Greece the death rate of mothers is 1 in 100,000. That is some difference!

 The US looses 8 moms per 100,000. This is EIGHT TIMES the number that Greece looses! In the country on the planet that spends more money per mom and has the best emergency care system on the planet this is absolutely unacceptable.

(This puts us at 19^th over all.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_mat_mor-health-maternal-mortality)

And yet…

Only 8 women die out of every 100,000 births. That’s 1 in every 12,500 out of the 4,131,019 births per year or about 330 deaths per year.

And why do women in Africa die so much more often? Mostly due to sanitation. Their governments discourage traditional birth attendants leaving dirty, primitive, understaffed, undersupplied hospitals as their only options. This coupled with malnutrition and disease (especially Malaria) simply makes life in general more dangerous.

Yet, even under these conditions only one in 1000 die.

When looking at the big picture, it is obvious that birth is generally safe. And especially so in countries where Mom is well fed and her attendant can wash her hands.

So what about Baby?

In 2005-2010 Singapore lost 1.92 babies per 1000 live births (nearly two babies died after being born for every 1000 babies born alive. This does not count still births or miscarriages but would count premature births where Baby was simply too young to live more than a few minutes. The age at which a baby is called a miscarriage instead of a premature birth varies from country to country. The US does count baby as a premature birth at a younger age than most of Europe, artificially raising our death rate slightly.)

Angola lost 180.21/ 1000 live births (or nearly 1/5.)

The US lost 6.81. Still way too high. We rank 34^th in the world.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate)

But again, in a country with good nutrition and good sanitation plus antibiotics, it is obvious that babies seldom die.

Let’s put it this way, If I told you there was a 6 in 1000 chance I would come visit you tonight, would you bother prepping your guest room? Probably not.

Now this isn’t to down play the heartache of women who have lost a baby. It doesn’t much matter if you chances are 1 in 5 or 1 in 10,000, it is tragic and life shattering when your baby dies.

It is also not to down play the fact that these numbers don’t cover damage that doesn’t lead to death. Moms who spend the rest of their live suffering from birth complications and babies who are brain damaged are very tragic and these problems should be dealt with and eliminated (and generally are by simply having a trained attendant who washes their hands.)

I just think all this fear before birth is unwarranted. There just isn’t the evidence that birth is that dangerous. God designed our bodies to give birth. He sculpted our bodies and our babies’ bodies. If we are simply intelligent about it, there is no reason to approach birth like a major medical tragedy waiting to happen.

My weight history

Like you all really care, lol.

I need to keep a record of this information and this seems like as good a place as any to store it, so feel free to skip this post. Or just go to the bottom to read my weight rants.

(1985) I weighed about 145 when I got married at 18yo. This is right about where the weight charts say I should be.

I took a nutrition class a few years later and in studying anorexia had a horrid revelation: I viewed my body and food the same way an anorexic does! Now, I never lost weight or totally quit eating due most likely to the excellent relationship I have with my parents. But it was disturbing to discover that I was so close to having such a dangerous attitude.

I quit dieting for the first time in my life.

I immediately gained 10 pounds.

For the first time in my life I could actually keep up with my (overweight) mother! I had energy, felt good, could concentrate...

Wow!

(1991) I weighed about 155 when I got pregnant with my first child. I gained 31 pounds during the pregnancy and lost all but 5 by my 6week post-partum appointment. (8.5lb baby)

(1994) By the time of my second pregnancy I weighed between 170 and 175. I gained 24 pounds and had lost 31(!) by my 6 week, putting me at about 165. (9.1lb baby)

I felt fantastic! Never better. Strong, even.

I had a miscarriage a year or so later.

(1998) By my fourth pregnancy I weighed 190 pounds, gained 31 pounds and weighed 190 by my 6 week. Felt good, if a bit "too big for the space." (8.12lb baby)

(1999) Preg #5, Full Term baby #4= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (8.8lb baby)

(2001) Preg #6, Full Term baby #5= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (9.2lb baby)

(2003) Preg #7, Full Term baby #6= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (9.8lb baby)

(2004) Preg #8, Full Term baby #7= 190-195 lbs, gained 31, 190-195 by 6 weeks PP. Felt good. (10lb baby)

(Hmmm, see a pattern here?)

(2007) Preg #9, FT baby #8, I started at about 200 (approaching menopause which is often accompanied by a bit of weight gain.) gained between 31 and 36 lbs (midwife's scale and mine disagree.) Weighed 185 by 6 weeks.(!!!) (10.8lb baby)

I had three miscarriages between the birth of baby #8 and conception of baby #9.

(2011) Started this pregnancy at 200. I am now 38 (out of 40ish) weeks and have gained 28lbs. My arms look skinnier though, so I am thinking I may have lost weight while baby is gaining. It will be interesting to see what happens to my weight in the next couple of months. I will update.





Now the $64 question: If the charts show your "healthy weight" why didn't I feel best when I weighed what the charts say I should? Why did I feel my best at 20-30lbs heavier? Why has it been so easy to keep my weight at the same number through FIVE pregnancies? (Honestly, all the dieting I did was to eat smaller deserts if things started to get too close to 195lb)


Could it be that our concept of "healthy weight" is skewed? Could we be letting "experts that don't know us and don't really care about us as much as they care about their profits from weight lose products form our ideas of "healthy weights" instead of just paying attention to how our own bodies feel?

Yeah, I know. "Fat people have higher rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc" I will agree it is healthier to never get fat.

But what constitutes "fat" is, I believe, a different number for different people. For example, (to get really personal here) I am very small breasted (We're talking somewhere between a training bra and an A cup when I'm not pregnant or nursing. Why do you think I have so many kids? lol). This means I can carry an extra 5-10 pounds in my hips and thighs that a better endowed woman couldn't carry and still be considered a "healthy weight." Some of us have smaller bones, also (mine are medium according to scientific measures while my grandma's were small).

None of can control these features yet we deprive ourselves of nutrients to reach these artificially set goals. Fat people's cells test to be deficient in vitamins and nutrients. This is not healthy, so a doctor's and societies answer is to tell a fatty to eat LESS nutrients? What if nutrient deficiency is what causes them to retain weight? We may very well be shooting ourselves in the foot by dieting. The more we diet the more deficient we are. The more deficient we are the more our body wants to hold on to the weight we have in order to try to find the nutrients it needs. This is NOT healthy!

And I am not convinced that obesity CAUSES all those diseases. I believe that the same low-nutrient, Standard American Diet that causes obesity causes heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. I think it's correlation, NOT causation.

Now, skeletal problems such as bad feet, knees, hips, back are weight related, true. But I just don't see the evidence to support the idea that fat causes disease. It's just not there.

And dieting is unhealthy.

We don't even know if losing weight causes net health gains because not enough people can keep it off long enough to study!

We may (and probably are!) all depriving ourselves of needed nutrients, putting ourselves at greater risk for degenerative diseases in order to meet a standard that won't make us any healthier at all.

Again, Wow:-(

Maybe it's time we just started to live healthy (exercise, lots of veggies and whole grains, unprocessed meats and milk, lots of water, lots of rest, lower stress) and throw away our scales. What do you think?

http://www.haescommunity.org/

A school day like no other

I had planned to have a normal school day today. It would be our only one this week, what with a midwife appointment tomorrow, picking up new shelves for the church Wednesday, and what not. The children petitioned for something different though. Since we switched to mostly Abeka at the beginning of the year I gave each child a stack of books and said "When you are done with these, you are done for the year." One child spent every spare minute reading textbooks and hasn't done anything but math, spelling and grammar (and of course Bible which we still do together) since late May! Another child had it all worked out where he would only have one school day left after thanksgiving (We start our school year in mid January with the arrival of the tax return.) One child is sorely behind and simply not going to make it. Of course what is hard to figure into all this is that as we get closer and closer to Baby, I feel less and less up to doing school. I will also need a couple of weeks recoup time afterwards (one of which will likely be used to clean house if my past history holds consistant.) This totally messes up everyones figures on how much time is left for school this year. I told the last child he could take the whole week off of everything IF he finished his history text by the end of the week. Everyone jumped on it. So today all the children 10 and older are either reading history or science in an effort to finish off textbooks for the year! In fact, the first child I mentioned above (Jon-13) just finished his math book! The younger ones I will work with in a bit when I finish sweeping the kitchen and dinning room. It's my turn but my body will only let me work for a few minutes.

Structured homeschooling gets an A+

Structured homeschooling gets an A+

These results are so common they are almost ho-hum, lol.

The real story of this report is that it is the first I have seen comparing different methods of homeschooling. I have always suspected that the more structured type would produce better results than unschooling which is what they found. Now, I have heard of unschoolers graduating at the top of their class in Harvard, so these results wouldn't apply to every unschooler. But it is something to think about.

And as for the comment "Public schools play an important role in the socialization of children" they obviously haven't looked at the studies. Every study but one that I have read about homeschool socialization has shown homeschoolers to skunk in this area more than than they do in academics! (That one the researchers came to the conclusion that hs were less socialized because they were more mature, mannerly, and self confident. He thought they were too grown up. Obviously he intended to have ps win no matter what results he got.)

Should Churches Try to Minimize Disruptions? | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Should Churches Try to Minimize Disruptions? Christianity Today A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

A baby's cries equal "Holy Noise." I love it:-)

Why you should stop doing Kegels… « Journey To Crunchville

<a href="http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/why-you-should-stop-doing-kegels/%22%3EWhy you should stop doing Kegels… « Journey To Crunchville</a>
Incontinence anyone?

What We Teach Our Children (or not) Through Family Economy |

What We Teach Our Children (or not) Through Family Economy

A Minnesota couple decided to vacation to Florida during the winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday. His wife would fly down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an e-mail to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without realizing his error, he sent the e-mail.

Meanwhile.....somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister of many years who was called home to glory following a sudden heart attack. The widow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: 16 May 2003
I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is not as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here!

---

The Case for Christ

I was given this book by a friend when she cleaned off her shelves. I would now buy it if I needed too.

The author, Lee Strobel, was an investigative journalist with a law degree and an atheist. There came a point in his life when he felt he needed to take on the biggest "case" in history, the story of Jesus Christ. He did his research in the anti Jesus literature and made a list of questions and "problems." Then he researched what the experts in the Christian community answered each objection wtih. He consulted archeologists, coroners, psychiatrists, scholars and anyone else he could find.

His conclusion: "It would take more faith to continue to believe atheism than to believe in Jesus Christ."

He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.


The Bible tells us "and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" (1 Peter 3:15)

Every Christian should read this book so they can do just what this scripture says.

Every non Christian should read this book to make sure they have made the right choices in not believing. Afterall, your eternal destiny depends on it.

Exciting day

Jane (3.5) saw a snake in the storeroom a few days ago. Well, she said it was either a snake or a lizard. She couldn't tell.

Last night Joe (12) found it in a drawer in the kitchen. Jim (16) tried to catch it but it stayed out of his reach. Hubby came home, said, "Huhhh." and went to get ready for church. So concerned, lol.

This afternoon Jon (13) found it under my drainboard by the sink! It crawled up into the electric plug to escape. An hour or so later it was seen in the dinning room. Jim stayed on the hunt until he caught it.We still aren't postive about what kind it is. Most likely a Gopher snake. He was about 15" long and as big around as a man's finger.

He was released outside where he promptly headed for under the house. I don't mind if he stays there and eats mice, but we are praying he was too tramatized to come back in the house!

This is actually the second snake we have had in the house in the eleven years we have lived here. I was very pregnant with the last one too.

We know we have a number of snakes outside including one living in the chicken coop. It's head is too small to eat eggs, even unhinged, but it keeps the mice down. That one is definitly a Gopher.




Even with all the excitment I was able to finish the baby's layette. I couldn't find a neutral material I liked so I just made two; one pink and one blue.

The birth kit is complete now. Give me a few more days to make sure Baby's lungs are mature enough and I am ready:-) Can't wait to hold my new little one!