The Power of a Woman's Words conclusion.

Well, I finished the study "The Power of a Woman's Words" several weeks back but have not had a chance to blog on my final thoughts. This book was such a blessing and a challenge. I find myself thinking over so many things that were mentioned. It has also been a help to me to really think about the words that I'm saying; and help me to recognize when words are better left unsaid. I want to share a portion from the last chapter (it's actually the last page), it's a bit longer but really sums up the book well and brings home just how important the everyday decisions we make of how to use our words, will have lasting affects. I pray that it is a blessing to you also.

"You are going to meet an old lady someday. Down the road 10, 20, 30 years --
she's waiting for you. You will catch up to her. What kind of old lady are you going
to meet? She may be a seasoned, soft and gracious lady. A lady who has grown old
gracefully, surrounded by a host of friends -- friends who call her blessed
because of what her life has meant to them. Or she may be a bitter, disillusioned
dried-up, cynical old buzzard without a good word for anyone or anything --
soured, friendless, and alone. The kind of old lady you will meet will depend
entirely upon you. She will be exactly what you make of her, nothing more, nothing
less. It's up to you. You will have no one else to credit or blame. Every day,
in every way, you are becoming more and more like that old lady. You are getting to look
more like her, think more like her, and talk more like her. You are becoming her. If
you live only in terms of what you are getting out of life, the old lady gets
smaller, drier, harder, crabbier, more self-centered. Open your life to others.
Think in terms of what you can give and your contribution to life, and the old
lady grows larger, softer, kinder, greater. These little things, seemingly so
unimportant now -- attitudes, goals, ambitions, desires -- are adding up
inside where you cannot see them, crystallizing in your heart and mind. The
point is, these things don't always show up immediately. But they will --
sooner than you think. Someday they will harden into that old lady; nothing will be
able to soften or change them then. The time to take care of that old lady is
right now. Today. Examine your motives, attitudes, goals. Check up on her. Work
her over now while she is still pliable, still in a formative condition. Then you
will be much more likely to meet a lovely, gracious old lady at the proper time."
~ Author Unknown

My greatest Mother's Day gifts!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading this!!

These are my greatest gifts this mother's day:

Our newest addition: Titus Kael

I know I have really slacked on the whole blogging task lately. However, this time I have a good excuse :) Last Friday, April 30th, we welcomed our baby boy into the world. Titus Kael was born at 7:05PM. He weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. He has a full head of hair (at least all the heartburn I had was for a reason). I know several people love to hear the birth stories so I thought I would share.

On April 29th I went in for my appointment with the midwives. Since Keira had been so late (10 days) I decided to schedule an induction date "just in case". We scheduled an induction for May 7th, it felt good to at least have an end date in sight.

On Friday morning about 7:30AM I started having contractions about 10 minutes apart. After about an hour of regular contractions I sent Matt an instant message letting him know that I thought I might be in early labor. Shortly after I sent him the message the contractions started coming every 3-5 minutes. They weren't too intense but the fact that they were coming regularly and that frequently made me decide to ask Matt to come home so that he would be here rather than 40 minutes away.

I called the midwive's office and let them know what was going on and that I would be laboring at home for awhile. I also called my mom so she could come watch the kids. At this point (about 10:30AM) I was having contractions 4 minutes apart, and while they still weren't too intense they were definitely stronger. I labored at home until just about 2PM. I put Keira down for her nap and then Matt and I headed to the midwives office so I could be checked and see where we were at. When my midwife checked me I was 3-4cm dilated and 100% effaced. I was glad to hear that all the contractions had been productive. We headed over to the hospital to get checked into Labor & Delivery.

Honestly, the next couple of hours were a bit boring, just laboring at the hospital watching some old Law & Order re-runs. A little after 6PM my water broke and then the contractions became much stronger. (Earlier, I had discussed with my midwife how I would like to try standing again to deliver since I had done this with Keira and had felt that it was more productive than being in the bed.) I headed over to the bed and leaned on the bed. Shortly after my water broke I began having pushing contractions, my midwife checked me again and I was fully dilated. I pushed thru the next several contractions and at 7:05PM Titus made his appearance.

Titus' apgars were 9 and 10. We both stayed in the hospital for the full 48 hours and came home on Sunday. Titus did have some jaundice so we were sent home with a biliblanket and had to take him in for heel sticks. Yesterday was the last heel stick and he is doing great now. He has started napping in his crib and has been doing pretty well at night also. He does 2-3 hour stretches at night. He is taking a pacifier for us which has allowed me to get a bit more sleep since he's not using me as a pacifier. He has his one week check-up on Monday

The kids adore him and love to hold and kiss him. Keira has had a few jealous moments but she seems to be figuring out that he's here to stay. This morning she asked for him right away and she loves to hold him and say "mine" baby.

As for me, I'm recovering well. Matt is home this week and next which has been a huge help. This delivery was my most uneventful in that I didn't have to have any medical interventions. With all of the others I had to have an IV (for various reasons) and they had to break my water. This time I had none of that.

We feel very blessed with the four children that God has given us. We would definitely appreciate prayers as we continue to adjust to having a newborn in the house again.