DIY Water-Birth:A Peacemaker is Born

She's Baaaaaack!!! Well, not fully or totally but I'm still kicking. Our family welcomed our 7th member Oct. 3rd and life has stayed crazy. I can't say it got crazierrrrr, because we were already there. So crazy is our new normal and we're back to normal after a few hiccups. I've been a horrible mommy blogger by not posting pictures and videos but I've got them archived and will hit you up proper in the months to come. I'm tempted to just vomit them all out in one post to get it over with.

We had our 2nd unassisted water birth and it was amazing. Now let me define amazing before you think I had a zero pain, candle lit, orgasmic experience. Amazing to me means none of the above. This was my 5th birth, here's a quick recapp of the previous four... and all that amazing was not.

PrincessT was born in the hospital after I was violently induced because my water had been broke for 12hrs and hospital policy required it. I wanted med free (like I knew what the heck I wanted back then) but hadn't researched any breathing techniques and I was miserable. I can compare the experience to being hit in the stomach with a bat when I was ten except it happened over and over and over. Did I mention my husband's entire family showed up to the hospital, 20+ people coming in and out of the delivery room anticipating their first grandchild.
Being hit in the pregnant belly... Not Amazing.

PrincessT & Princess J

PrincessJ (The first enforcer) was born at home. We didn't even own our own home but rented and our midwife came to us with her trainee (doula) who wouldn't let me pee in peace. She was just doing her job, but I didn't know her. I was relieved to push when I wanted but tore in the process. Dang 10lb babies :) She was also sucking her finger and had her lovely elbow in the way and got stuck a bit but we got it done no problems.
Better than the hospital but... Not Amazing.

Lil Dreamy was born at home with the same midwife a few weeks early, too early for me but he was the smallest. Smallest, shmallest he hurt the worst, this guy was posterior (sunny side up). This lovely little position caused me the most back pain equaling what I experience in the hospital. He only weighed 7lbs 7oz and was born one day before Valentine's Day.
He's still my sweet heart, but that was Not Amazing.

Lil Dreamy & The Enforcer2

The Enforcer was born at home and was our first go at unassisted. I was super scared but confident, worried but at ease because I'd done this. I thought, 'I got this.' I did everything I'd done in the past except this time I wanted to let my baby push his way out instead of forcing it. I did so well until the final moments and I felt the head crowning. This guy weighed the same as our first 8lbs 4oz. The momma monster in me pushed that baby out and I tore causing a lovely ER visit later that evening to get stitches from an anti homebirth nazi. She was horrible, let me just say every stitch was NOT sewn in love.
Stitches from a Nazis... Not Amazing.

The PeaceMaker (I hadn't thought of a knickname until now) came into this world mostly on his own. This time I challenged myself to enter a place where I wouldn't get in the way of my own body. It was created to birth and I wasn't going to rush or slow that process down, though I don't know how you could possibly slow it down. With every contraction I breathed, moaned, groaned, and towards the end yelled but never felt pain. This birth was manageable. I love that word manageable, this is the word that will help me define amazing.

Amazing...

• I stayed in control, except for that time I thought hubby rubbing my back would be a good thing.


• I prayed and trusted God that he made my body just for this. I stayed connected to friends and family in between contractions and felt their prayers lifting me up.


• I tuned out everything that was wrong with the other births, other people.
  With Baby #
1. too many visitors, hospital policies, taking a drug to manage a drug, not in control
2. The Hubs and doula were joking and carrying on (I do not like laughing while I'm in pain)
3. I could hear my other kids (more laughing) and loud grandparents (annoyed)
4. Again but in a 2 story home I could hear my other kids (again with the laughing) hubby wasn't near me and nearly missed the entire thing.

So I tuned all of that out with earphones. Voila! I felt like a genius. I turned the volume up as loud as it could go and sung my baby out. With every contraction or wave feeling I first hummed along to the music. Towards the end and when hubby could tell the baby was coming I groaned the baby down. I only pushed when it felt better to, when the groans weren't enough.

I believe this lil guy was also posterior from the way I felt afterwards, he came out so quickly after crowing, no one could confirm his position. Maybe because my body is getting older and I'm now in my thirties I don't recover afterwards as well but I couldn't hold him for a few hours and felt so major pain then. I have to say even though i lost 20lbs in 2011, I'm still carrying a good amount that has messed up my alignment in a major way.

This was an experience I can actually look back on and smile because I now know, I can do this. I'm proud of the process from start to finish and I did everything I could and was rewarded greatly. Every birth I've had an experience I learned from, so really the previous 4 are what makes 5 so Amazing.

And again to the lovely question if we'll have anymore...

ehhhhhh as I shrug my shoulders.

And for the lovely man I've been Makin' Babies with, here's what he has to say about homebirths. It was his idea from the beginning, mind you I was more than willing to pass the torch so he could. But I woman'd up and jumped on this chance to be a light unto the world about a cause that's so dear to me.





PS - I had all intentions of posting this video to motivate myself to jump back on the fitness bandwagon but instead wrote the birth story I've needed to post for the past three and a half months :)

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Look what I made! Seriously, LOOK!

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ately I have been super excited to get the boys down for naps so I can sew. I've not sewn in quite a while but every time I pick it back up I realize how much I love it. First I grabbed "the pants that were" and this lovely orange material. Want to see what I made? It may not be uber fantastic or anything but I think I'll love it for forever...

...and ever.


My first clutch and hair bow. 
I was given an orange shirt that didn't really flatter me. I loved the color and didn't want to trash donate it (I'm afraid to say but I'm a bit of a hoarder). The brown material came from the "pants that were". Yes I owned a pair of brown pleather pants, faux leather FO-REAL! Srsly Christy, Really?Well, back then I thought I looked good. That's my excuse.
Got an old outfit you're ashamed you ever owned? Oh, please share .)
...and don't forget to join Make & Share this Friday right here.


I've linked up here...

**Pssst*** You may see one or both of these items in my shop.
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Old Granny Squares

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Good old Granny, she knew everything didn't she? .) Just saw this post here and I've got to make 2 of these for my princesses. Craft Passion is sharing some free patterns for all you knitters and crocheters out there.

Just look at this halter top! You can get the free pattern here.

The yo-yo puff hat pattern is here. Oh man I can't wait, just in time for spring too. Happy Spring to you all!

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Sometimes I don't think before I change things. I don't know, like maybe during a giveaway is not the time to start changing key entries. I'm sorry everyone I changed my twitter handle name before I thought about what it was I was doing.
I'm now @HOMEmomMADE oninstead of @home_mom.

Why HOMEmomMADE? I've been cooking the bacon and thought I should bring some home too, I'm talking about money yall. I did it! I've opened up an etsy account and hope to sell HOMEMADE items for my little ones and yours. So my decision and lapse in logic wasn't without good reason, right? I've been inspired by so many bloggers just since June and am testing the waters on my own.

This year I've made cloth diapers, aprons, dresses, halloween costumes, crocheted hats, scarves, and I'm not stopping. I've got a room full of old clothing that WILL NOT hit the landfills. I'm pumped all because these ladies made it look so easy. I've learned the hard part isn't necessarily making things but documenting them in a way that makes sense. Here's a huge thank you!

Plus right now MADE and Made By Rae are hosting celebrate the boy.
Tutorials, craft toy ideas

MADE

it was love at first sight with this tute.

Make It and Love It
who inspired me to make this cutsie owl pillow. Lil dreamy loves it!

Keyka Lou
I couldn't get away from her gorgeous designs. I've still got this on my tute-do list

Pioneer Woman was my inspiration behind HOME-MOM.com especially after I saw how easy it was to make homemade doughnuts. She's a homeschooling momma who lives in the country. I can relate.


Keep crafting and cooking out there in blog land! I can't wait to update you when HOMEmomMADE has it's grand opening. There will def be a discount reserved for my blog readers .)






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Sew What?

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Sewing hasn't been that nice calm hobby I thought I'd sink into every day. Instead it's a chore, but one I look forward to and make time for even when there hardly is any. Today I saw this pattern by Oliver + S over at Amy a la mode's blog. It's called the Ice Cream Social Dress. I decided it looked easy enough and tried to make something similar. It was not easy but I did try and am pretty happy with the results. I had no pattern, I eyeballed it, luckily I have 2 girls. I was making this for my oldest but messed up somewhere, it'll have to be PJs instead. I pout pockets in the sides. (This was a total accident but I love how it looks and plan to keep them for the next one I make for PT.

 
This was an old pillow case I'd had for years. Having been in the military I've got tons of these brown t-shirts lying around. Since that was a loooong time ago they don't fit me anymore. Upcycling seems to be my new favorite thing. I have tons of clothes that were going away to goodwill. They Will be Good once they are made into something new.

Here's a close up of the back. I used some circular elastic and a button I found



Side Note: I now understand the need for interfacing.
Knit doesn't seem to keep it's shape, especially at the collar.

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Sewing's a Hoot!

This little sewing project has taken me a lot longer than I expected. I saw this over at Make it and Love it and I envisioned making pillows for all the kids. I guess I thought I could do it all in one day. I'm not that good nor are my kids. I tried to keep busy and use my time wisely but between extinguishing arguments with the princesses and keeping lil-D out of my pins there was little room to actually keep my mind on what I was doing.

I still have to go back and fix my straight seems and make them zig zag or I'll regret it later. I really love that all the materials came from old clothing and I've been meaning to use my pillow stuffing for years. One down (well almost) and three more to go.
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New! Tute-Do List

Wha? I've learned that tute is short for tutorial. I've seen fellow bloggers thank someone for posting a "tute" or say "thanks for the tute". I've caught myself saying it too. Not until today was I inspired to use the word and make a new thing. New to me! I've wanted to sew all my life. My mom made her own clothes in college, and my Easter dresses as I was growing up, but this skill wasn't passed down to me. Can you hear the violins playing? ♪♫♪ I hear them too. With help from youtube and watching others sew I finally got it and have begun down a road I hope to continue on for generations.

This will be a place where I share my aspirations, dreams, and projects that just blow me away. Here is "the blanket" I long to make. I plan on making four for my kiddos and hope they treasure them forever. There are very few blogs that I HAVE-TO read every day. Made is one of them, I'm never disappointed.

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I'm going on a Date - HeyHeyHey

Agood friend of mine and owner of Tulsa Hot Tub Rentals, LLC ran a contest on his facebook fan page for 4 FREE tickets to the Tulsa Oilers Game tonight and I WON! Dreamy and I will be kid-free (for a few hours atleast) to get away for our second hockey game date. I hope memories are better than the first one. We went and saw the Blazers in OKC back in college and somehow I got spewed chewed up popcorn in my hair from the gentleman behind me. I rocked the afro back then so that was pretty disgusting.

Since we got 4 tickets I decided to ask my mom who helped me win the tickets to come along. When I called her last night to share the news it was so cute. She asked what time I was bringing the babies she thought she'd be babysitting. I'm looking forward to a great date night, time with my mom, and later we may even get to help pass out candy.

I also want to share with you the halloween costumes I made for my kiddos.

Cheerleader - Go Ralph Lauren               The Elephant - Ballerina

...and Batman!

As a beginner sewer I think I didn't pretty darn good but really the joy was when they didn't want to take their costumes off. We've worn them friday, sat and tonight may not be the last night either ;)

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Home-Mom's Holiday Guide coming soon...

There is no way I could get all the gifts I want for those I love. So I'll be creating a wish list of sorts and ideas for all you mamas to be giddy about. I'm on a major homemade kick right now. I've made my girls aprons, dolls, fall costumes, diapers, and I can't stop. I found this purse on etsy today and for some reason even after epic failure I keep thinking I can just look at a pattern and eyeball it and voila it will be perfect without flaw. NOT! I keep telling myself I'm failing forward and I'll just get better because of it.

So as the holidays draw nearer stay tuned for a nice little collection of gift ideas only Home-Mom's can appreciate. Happy Hunting until then and hopefully you all are a bit more ahead of the curve and more than half way finished with your shopping.

item and picture located at http://www.etsy.com/shop/keykalou

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JitterBum is Alive!

Ido not know how to sew...but I have a dream to make all my babies cloth diapers and possibly work from home selling them. So how do I begin? I did today and made a diaper upcycled out of an old t-shirt. My vision was for it to just be perfect but dreams aren't real are they? I think i did decent for my first ever diaper, first ever practical project.

1st diaper cover attempt

the diaper cover hat ;) such a great model

i snipped my finger

functionality is what counts

3ply rag as the insert for extra absorbency

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Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Iwould have never thought so many things could be made from home. This year we've dabbled in laundry soap, cloth diaper laundry soap, deodorant, soap, and now dish detergent. It's super easy too (all except the soap since it requires a chemistry lab). What motivates me mainly is money, I'm sure I'm not the only one. We also have a septic tank and I'm learning about what is good to go down our drains. The recipe is very simple:

I used 1 cup borax

                       1 cup washing soda

For ever load I put some white vinegar in the rinse cycle compartment. That's it, we've gone through 3 washes and there are no spots. I'm loving it, if you try it let me know what you think. I'll have to calculate the savings I'm sure it'll blow my mind too.

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Crafts I want to make...

There are so many things I want to do before my kids are all grown and gone.I love crafts I just have not done any. I found this while I was snooping around at Twelve Crafts Till Christmas. I could see myself playing with this for hours as a child and loved the little people from fisher price who look similar to these.

I would have posted pictures but I did not get permission first and wanted to write about this before I forgot. So this will go in my to be continued... file.

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WordlessWednesdayBlueberry Muffins

How can you not love blueberries? I don't get it, they are sweet, good for you, and blue (well purple). My MIL gets all disgusted when I talk about making these. Weird. I found a recipe with a cinnamon streusel type topping and they are oh so good. We just bought a house and the first we went to use the oven it did not work. I baked like crazy for a month or two just because.

Let's Get started... Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Now get all your ingredients together.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
I usually cut the topping in half because I always had tons left over. Maybe I didn't pack enough on the tops.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Linking up to these today...

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Homemade Shampoo

     Ever think we all would shift back to the good old days? When you didn't need all these crazy chemicals running your life until that's all you depend on. That day has come for me and my family when I discovered how to make my own laundry soap. I've been at it 2 months and love not having to worry about getting to the store just so I could do laundry, hair, diapers, anything really. I've been using the Apple Cider Vinegar on my girl's hair for awhile and it works really well at stripping the stuff off their hair so I can add more stuff to moisturize. Here's the recipe for some homemade shampoo I'm trying inspired by theCheapnChoosy Blog.

What you'll need:
First Keep a box of baking soda in the bathroom
I currently have some in our bathroom we use to brush our teeth with.
Second Apple Cider Vinegar, in a spray bottle ad 1part ACV to 3parts water ex: 1/4cup ACV to 3/4cup water


What you do:

In the shower or bath take a small amount of baking soda and make a paste with the water. Wash your head and scalp. Then rinse and spray hair with your ACV solution. Let it sit then rinse. We have some lavender essential oil and I'll add that to the oil I use in my girls hair to give a fresh smell. The potency of the vinegar fades with time, ~15-20 minutes.

With our textured hair I'm not sure how the baking soda will work, if I'll be able to get it all out or not. I have to wash their hair section by section not in a whole mass (that'd be a mess).

~ Christy

For more green ideas check out
EcoFriendlyandFrugal.com 

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Wordless Wednesday Grandma's PB Cookies

1c Peanut Butter
1c Sugar

1 Egg

Mix it all together,

spoon out onto cookie sheet, and flatten with a fork in a cross pattern.

Bake at 350 for 8-10min. Add that 4th ingredient just for fun.

~ Christy

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