I just a read a blog that I believe requires a response. In it the blogger wrote that it is irresponsible for women to give birth at home, because all that one needs is in the hospital if something goes wrong. This is probably a common view, but that reasoning comes from one who really is uneducated about the birthing process, and modern medicine. Without getting into statistics about the safety of homebirthing vs. hospital birthing (if one would like to know they can google that), I would like to explain the mindset of a homebirther.

We believe that giving birth is a natural process and we do not believe it is natural for anything to go wrong. With this mindset it would seem silly to give birth in the hospital. Let me explain further… riding a bike can be dangerous. You could fall off the bike, brake bones, or get hit by a car. But you wouldn’t ride your bike in a hospital just in case something happened. This is exactly the mindset of a homebirther. Why would I want to have a baby in a place that is for sick or broken people to get better? If I am sick or broken, I will go there to get better or fixed. But just like I don’t have my kids ride their bikes in the hospital in case something happens, I will not give birth in a hospital in case something happens.

Now there are many, many other reasons why we homebirth, but this is in direct response to that comment made from another blogger. I hope this helps others to understand us better. Homebirthing is under attack by greedy physicians, lawyers, and politicians, and unfortunately uneducated people buy into their propaganda. If anyone believes that homebirthing is irresponsible I urge them to check the statistics. But in checking the statistics, find unbiased statistical data. The AMA and Ob-Gyn’s will skew the statistics to support their agenda. Check statistics from other countries, such as Europe. You may be enlightened.

But beyond that, I even wonder why people care. I don’t care if people want to give birth in a hospital. I believe they should have that right, even though I may not agree that it is the best or safest place to give birth. Why then do people want to take away the right for a mom to have her baby born at home? We as women have the right to give life or take it, but we don’t even have the right to choose where we want to deliver that life. Hmmm… Our society can be so hypocritical.

Colossians 2: 8-10 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.

Lord willing, I will be as vigorous a homebirther as the Jewish women in Egypt. But praise God for modern medicine, in case something does go wrong, I will ask the Lord to give them the wisdom to fix it. And if they can’t, it will be the Lord’s will.

I met a midwife today that is willing to deliver my baby. She is not afraid of the government or politics. Finally! Mark really likes her as well. She hasn’t been practicing for as long as I am comfortable with, but considering Mark was going to deliver the baby with internet how-to, I can’t complain. So basically if anything happens to where I have to go to the hospital, she will drop off the scene. Too bad it has come to this. Reminds me of the Biblical midwife story.

Exodus 1:15-21 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see {them} upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

We have to lie these days to have a natural birth; to give birth the way God intended. But they make it so easy for us to kill our babies. Teenagers don’t even have to have parental consent to do so. It really is no better these days, then in the days of the Exodus.

Well I pray that God gives me vigor to deliver a healthy baby. As he multiplied the Jews then, because of His promise, may he multiply my family because we believe in His Son. And may he bless my midwife, because she fears the Him, not the government.

I feel the baby kick all the time now. Mark bought one of those heart monitors to listen to the babies heart beat. He loves it. Gets him closer to the baby. You can hear all sorts of stuff through that thing, even the liquid sloshing around.

I am meeting a midwife in Puyallup on Wednesday. Very excited, because she is willing to deliver my baby at home. She is only about an hour away.

I have lots of energy right now, but I have to be careful. After I exercise my whole body aches and I am good for nothing the rest of the day. Maybe I’ll just do 30 minutes of yoga. My lower back has this sharp shooting pain in it if I stand for too long, but if I rest on my side, then stretch a little, it goes away. I told Mark’s chiropractor about it and he adjusted me, but did nothing for that area. And the part he adjusted was just fine. Whatever.

I am all belly right now. I feel kind of big for only 4 months. My stomach sticks out and it is obvious I am pregnant, or I have some kind of stomach disease.

Since I can’t use proactive anymore, my friend turned me on to green tea and peppermint facials. So after I wash with my favorite seaweed soap from Reviva Lab, I stick the green tea bag in hot water and then rub the bag all over my face. It feels great. I follow with the peppermint tea bag. The green tea is an antioxidant for your skin and the peppermint acts as a toner. I also use Kettle Care sensitive skin cream and a wild rose eye cream. So far my face looks very healthy. My chin has a few little blemishes, but nothing tragic.

I am just finishing up the book of Esther and it has, as all of them, strengthened my faith. God will use the good and bad for His purpose. His purpose is obviously best since He created us and while things might look scary, He is in complete control.

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;
Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, {But} it shall not approach you.
You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.
For you have made the LORD, my refuge, {Even} the Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.
For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him {securely} on high, because he has known My name.
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
“With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.”

A little frustrated today. The midwife that delivered Ruthie is 2 1/2 hours away in Everett, so I went to see a midwife that is only about an hour and ten minutes away who delivered the babies of two of my friends. Well after driving all that way to see her I find out that she will not deliver my baby because of the cesarian I had with Isaiah. Her insurance will not cover her. Well I just broke down, because I absolutely refuse to have any more babies in a hospital unless I am dying. I feel sabotaged. The doctor that delivered Isaiah gave me no other choice but to have a c-section and the research that proves a baby can be turned in the womb and even delivered breech successfully is overwhelming. Well I wasn’t told that at all, nor given any options other than a c-section. And now that I have had a c-section a midwife has to breach her insurance policy in order to deliver my baby at home. And most wont. The midwife that I saw today is very “by the book” and I am not blaming her at all, I am just frustrated with doctors and politics. My sister, who is a pediatric nurse, told me that she has witnessed several times a doctor performing a c-section just because they have somewhere to go. They are ruining women’s lives really. AAAAH!
Anyway, good news is that the midwife who delivered Ruthie will deliver this baby. It will be quite a drive, but hopefully quicker than the labor. She also gave me another name of a midwife that she says will probably take my case. She is in Seattle, so it is a little closer (an hour and an half).
I talked to another midwife that goes to our church. She hasn’t delivered a baby in a year and a half, because she has no doctor to support her. The doctor that did support her had to drop the midwives performing home births, because his insurance costs were outrageous. She also said that if something were to go wrong and we ended up in the hospital, the hospital will call cps. Mark is outraged right now. Why is this a cps issue? Why is it that you can have an abortion but not deliver your baby at home with the support of professionals that have delivered thousands of babies successfully at home? What is wrong with this society? Everyone talks about cherishing human life, and humanity, but no one is really practicing it. Everyone talks about freedom, but do they realize that freedom is for the individual, not the collective. What right does anyone have to tell me how and where to deliver my baby? Our forefathers came here to escape this type of control. Our country was set up to protect individual rights. But somehow lawyers and special interest groups have taken over this country. People think that government is the answer to poverty. Haven’t we already proved that that capitalism is the answer to poverty. We are the richest nation in the world. All big government does is control……
Ok, Ok, I am off the tangent.

Anyway, God is in complete control.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider– God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything {that will be} after him.

Job 42:4 “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

Well I am feeling better these days. I am about 14 weeks now. Funny everyone thinks that my tummy is a bit big for only 14 weeks, some have suggested it may be twins. Maybe I am just fat, bluh. Or maybe, since this is my fourth, my body just knows what to do and has stretched out early.

I got my first Fit Pregnancy magazine and found out that benzoyl peroxide can cause birth defect. So can aloe vera. Well I have been using Proactive for four years. I used it through my pregnancy with Ruthie and she is fine. I hate to not use it; I am so acne prone. Well my husband told me not to use it, so I guess I wont. I’ll let you know how that goes. I’ll just use my seaweed soap. I’ll have to get a natural moisturizer though. Humph…more to think about.

My energy has come back. Nausea is pretty much gone. Or maybe it is masked by the head cold I have right now.

I have really started to like yoga and am doing it with the kids. I am also doing squats, lunges and exercises with the resistant bands. I think I have a pretty good routine going that I can keep at least till the last trimester.

My sister died on Friday. I went to visit Bonita and Dad in Oregon and we got all the details taken care of. I will miss her, but I know I will see her again. She is in a better place than I am.

I am studying the book of Esther right now. Almost finished. Wonderful book to learn how to be a godly woman. I have already blogged on it a bit (What Would Esther Have Done). Here are my favorite verses at this time:

Esther 2:15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her.

Esther 4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

I am writing this post in response to a comment to my last blog. I am about 9 weeks pregnant and still can’t get off the couch. Really that’s an exaggeration. I get up to do some things. I manage to make meals. I am actually really good in the morning until about 3pm. Then I must take a nap and don’t feel much better when I wake up. Nauseous the rest of the evening. Dinner is really hard to make. I am totally behind in house work, and so should be vacuuming or something, but just can’t get motivated to get up. It’s too late right now anyway.:) I praise God every day for my hardworking, sensitive, and caring husband. When he is done with his work everyday, he continues with remodeling the house. He always ask if I need anything, and is very attentive to my needs. He takes care of the kids while I sleep and offers to make dinner. He tells me that it is ok to relax and rest. He will take care of things. Well his kindness does make me want to work harder and get off the couch. Who wouldn’t want to have children for this man. He makes everything ok.

For those of you who may not have a dream husband or want to know how to get over it and allow your husband to become the man of your dreams, I recommend that you read Debi Pearl, “Created to be His Helpmeet.” Here is some scripture for your encouragement.

1 Peter 3:1-2 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any {of them} are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, s they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.

Ephesians 5:22- 24 Wives, {be subject} to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself {being} the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives {ought to be} to their husbands in everything.

If you obey the Word of the Lord in your marriage, it will be a piece of heaven. It wasn’t until I submitted to God’s will for my life and thus submitted to my husband, that he became a dream. Transform our marriage with the Word.

Well I haven’t blogged the Bible lately probably because I can’t focus for too long. I am about 7 weeks pregnant and very tired. I have no internal motivation whatsoever and feel like I have a constant hangover. I am even dizzy writing this blog. I have decided that I want to blog this journey through my fourth pregnancy, hopefully to encourage someone else and then to have for my own records.

So here I am 7 weeks pregnant, and I can’t get off the couch. I still get up every morning to exercise. I am doing Cathe Fredric’s (sp?) Cardio Blast on Fit TV. She is killing me. On Fridays I do Gilad’s Bodies in Motion and Namaste Yoga. I think as I get further along I will just stick with Gilad and Yoga, but I don’t want to baby myself. My goal is to stay really fit this pregnancy. I was fit with my last two as well, so I really don’t know what I am worried about. This pregnancy I feel more tired than the others, but my husband says I was this tired with Ruthie. He believes it’s a girl. I guess nursing my two year old isn’t helping my energy level much. But I nursed all the way through my last pregnancy as well, so it’s nothing new.

I just ordered Fit Pregnancy magazine. I am excited about receiving my first issue. So my mind set is this: “I am training for a marathon.” The marathon of labor and at the end is the greatest blessing of all.

I have talked a lot about fitness, but I am determined to stay fit spiritually as well. I am studying the books of Ruth and Esther in my Women’s Bible Study and my Elijah and I are studying Revelation.

I pray for perseverance, wisdom and patience. Perseverance to do what I do not want to do. Wisdom to care for my body and patience for the training up of my children when I have no patience to do so. I thank God for the wonderful husband he has given me. He meets my needs and allows me to be on this couch.

Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see {it and} be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.

John 16:21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.