BIG BOY!

I'm not sure how much he weighs or how long he is now, but a month or so ago Jack was almost 10 pounds and just under 23" long (about his brothers' sizes at birth). He is 4 1/2 months old now, and he's got to be at least 11 pounds. He feels more like 43! He won't be able to fit in this Christmas outfit at Christmas time. It's not real tight yet, but it's getting a little snug. Look at him.....Isn't he so sweet? :)

Funny Fruit

This was the first of two hedgehogs the kids and I made. This one was for Jonathan to take to AWANAS, and the 2nd one, with green grapes on the back, was for Jayla to take for a snack to American Heritage Girls. We were going to make something else for Jayla, but the hedgehog was just too much fun. :) Here is the link if anyone wants to try one of these animals, etc.

http://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/nutrition/cru-cru/en/home.php

Jonathan's first recorded original story

Jonathan wrote a story last night, without us even suggesting it. This was just something he wanted to do. I thought I'd post it here. I'll retype it exactly as he wrote it, so just keep in mind the spelling and punctuation may not be correct in some places! I had to turn the flash off to get a better picture. If you click on it to enlarge it, you can see the details really well.

ONCe UPON A TiMe THeR WAS A GEKO SOAP WAS ON A PORCH, SLIPNIG AND SLIDING WeNT The GEKO. The GeKO SLiPT OVeR TO A TORTOiSe. The GeKO THOHT He COULD BE BETTER THeN THe TORTOiSe. The CLeVeR TURTLe HAD A TRiCK UP HiS SHeLL CAN YOU SWiM He AKS The TORTOiSe, The GEKO SiAD Yes He TryED BUT The GEKO DrOWWNED AND THAT WAS The END OF The GEKO

Whew! Spell check is going to have a hay day with this one! LOL!

Introducing Baby Jack!

Jasper Deacon will be 3 weeks old this Wednesday! He was born on June 27th at 9:32pm. He was only 34 weeks gestation. He weighed 4 lbs and 7 ounces and was measured at 19". Jack was in NICU until today just because he was early, but he was doing very well the entire time and progressed well. He mostly just had to maintain his temperature and eat enough and regularly so he could gain weight. At discharge he weighed 4 lbs and 9.7 ounces and measured 18 1/4" (I wondered if they measured him long like nurses often do, but he is still longer than his sister was at full term). His lowest weight was 3 lbs and 15 ounces, so he had lost half a pound!

I ended up developing the HELLP syndrome (a rare and serious form of preeclampsia) which came on very quickly and can progress very quickly, so the day I was diagnosed was the day he was delivered via c-section. If you want to read the whole birth story, I can send you the link to my birth journal blog (I don't want to post it here), but I have to warn you, it is very long and very emotional. Let me know if you'd like to have the link.

His brothers and sister just love him to death! Both of the boys keep saying how cute he is, and Jayla just smiles at him all the time. They all like to hold him. Because he was in NICU, Jacob just got to meet him today for the first time! The other two have only seen him 2 or 3 times, but I felt bad that Jacob had not even seen his brother yet. Now that he is finally home, our family is complete again! :)

Jack's birth story

Some abbreviations you may need to refer to while reading this:

UP - unassisted pregnancy

UC - unassisted childbirth

m/c - miscarriage, miscarried

c/s - cesarean section

VBAC - vaginal birth after cesarean

LOL - laughing outloud

u/s - ultrasound

btw - by the way

IRL - in real life


Jasper Deacon (a.k.a. Jack) was born on June 27th at 9:32pm. He weighed 4 lbs. 7 ounces and was 19" long!


Jack is 16 days old today. I have not written the birth story yet because it has been a lot for me to process, but I do want to get it down while it is fresh in my mind. It has been a very emotional two weeks for me. I am thankful that he and I are both healthy, but he is still not home and the birth was completely opposite of what I wanted, so it's been a big, HUGE feeling of loss for me. A loss of my planned birth and a loss of time with my baby to bond and get to know each other.


I am going to be pouring out my emotions in this story, so for those of you who know me well IRL, mostly family, don't take this personally in any way. I am just going to be very open and vulnerable here, but no offense is intended. I don't have any hard feelings toward anyone, even though it may sound that way at times. I'm just wearing my heart on my sleeve here and letting everything be seen. I'm not sure if I'm really ready for it or not.



Where do I even start.....

Unassisted pregnancy


If you've read the previous entries in this blog (or if you already know me well), you know that I have planned to have a UP for these last two pregnancies. Even though the pregnancy last year ended in miscarriage, it was very empowering to me because I went through it with no outside intervention even though my family tried hard to persuade me to go to the hospital. I m/c at 10.5 weeks, so I would not have been far enough along anyway to have even seen a midwife or doctor if I wanted to. I never went to have a D&C, and the next day I had tons of energy and felt great. I never got any infection since there was no outside interference. The whole process confirmed that I really could do it on my own (it was real, true labor!), and I still believe I can for a full-term birth as well.....but I didn't get a chance to this time.


If you don't know what a UP or UC is, it is simply the pregnant woman taking charge of her own health care without a doctor or midwife. That is exactly what I did for the pregnancy even though it ended in a way I did not plan for since I got sick. Women were designed to give birth, and in a natural setting with no outside interference, there is very little risk to the mom and baby. I kept telling everyone around me, most of whom were skeptical and afraid of my decision, that I would go to the doctor if I needed to. I proved that I would, and everything turned out fine in the end. I listened to my body and followed my instincts (something many women don't know how to do because they just listen to the doctor or midwife and don't ask questions....I was there before too). I knew something was wrong, so I went to the doctor at 33 weeks after putting myself on bedrest for the previous 2 weeks. They did not catch the actual problem until one week later, but looking back, I had eaten a MUCH healthier diet that last week and had no symptoms of my sickness like I had been having, so I think it was good he had an extra week! You can read the previous two entries to get all the details of my sickness before I knew exactly what it was. They were both written 2 days after my first appointment, so 5 days before I got a diagnosis and he was born. It may be a little more detail than you want! LOL!


The day of the birth--The doctor visit


Oh, man. What a tough day emotionally! I would have gone in the day before, but it was raining so much that the roads to my parents' house were flooding and eroding away, so my parents thought it was best to wait. (My dad was going to watch the kids while my mom came with me.) So, in order to avoid that (hopefully), I left as early as I could the next morning before it started raining again.


I dropped off the kids and got down to the clinic around 10:30, I think. I did a urine test which I found out later I had some protein spilling into it. Then they did a u/s on my gall bladder which confirmed that I do have a gallstone. (Incidentally, it has not bothered me much at all since the birth....only if I have too much fat at once, like the nuts I had yesterday!)


They finally did some blood work, which they had not done the week before. I was going to request it if the doctor had not ordered it for me, because I knew there could be another problem, and I needed to find out for sure. At this point I was still planning on a UC....but then the blood test results came in.


The bad news


I had the HELLP syndrome, which is a rare form of preeclampsia. It stands for H-hypertension, EL-elevated liver enzymes, LP-low platelets, and it can lead to DIC in which one can actually bleed to death from every opening in the body! It came on very quickly and can progress very quickly, like in a matter of just a few days! It is very serious.


I have to throw this in here....I am certain that, had I gone to a midwife or doctor, they would not have caught this any sooner than I did. They didn't catch it the week before, did they?! I had just recently tested my own blood pressure not long before I started having the symptoms, probably after my swelling had started, and it was just fine! If I had been going to a doctor or midwife, when everything is fine they always say "Keep doing what you're doing!", but if something isn't quite right, they usually say something like "Put your feet up and take care of yourself, and we'll see what it's doing next month." At their BEST they may schedule an extra appointment in two weeks instead of waiting a month, but that doesn't happen often. I know because I've seen two different doctors and one midwife in my previous pregnancies, and they all said/did the same things! (Btw, I did consult with a midwife several times via phone and email to get her opinion on things. She was very helpful, but mostly confirmed what I already knew and was doing.) Well, with this sickness, a lot can happen in one month, so I would likely have had to go in between regular visits anyway! I am confident that by taking charge of my own health, I had a stronger sense that something was wrong and probably actually had a better chance than I would have by going to the doctor or midwife. I know many will disagree with that, but when you put your trust in the "medical professional" and they tell you to either keep it up or wait until next month, you're just not quite as "in tune" when something is actually wrong. If the professional doesn't seem all that concerned, why should I? That is the mindset many people have who put all their trust for their own health care in a doctor's hands. I think doctors have their place (I saw them twice for a diagnosis!), but when everything is fine, they really are not needed. I use them mostly for diagnosis and maybe the occasional prescription, but otherwise I prefer to treat the occasional sickness my own way. If that doesn't work, then I'll go to a naturopath and then the doctor last. We don't get sick around here much though! (It's kind of ironic that we have all been sick this week! LOL! I'm sure it is just allergies though, nothing serious.)


So, the doctor himself came in to tell me the test results and what it all meant. He and the nurses all thought I was crazy that I had not been seeing anyone for my entire pregnancy, but I asked them "I'm seeing someone now, aren't I?" and I think that was enough for them to hear! LOL! Even though I knew they disagreed with my decision as well, at least they were happy I had come in since something was wrong. I did what I said I was going to do all along, and that was go to the doctor "if I needed to", and I did, so I went! I still took flack (mostly from looks on people's faces whom I knew well) for not having any prenatal care this whole time, but.....refer to the paragraph above!


The doctor was kind of funny. He was very laid back and soft spoken, but his words were very urgent and serious. They didn't match, and I just thought that was funny. He basically told me what I had and how serious it could get in just a matter of 2 or 3 days. He recommended that I be taken via ambulance to a hospital in the city for delivery, but it was my decision! What?! It was all so sudden! I just wanted to know if I had a gallstone, that's all, really! Oh, I wanted to keep Jack inside me for at least two more weeks! I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't voice my decision because it was just so hard for me to accept. I am crying again now just thinking about that day. It was so hard. I did not want to have him that early, and I really wanted a home birth, but I knew it couldn't happen now.


The transfer


It was just a matter of waiting on the ambulance guys now. The nurse called the only hospital in the state who allows VBACs, but they did not have a room!!! So I had to go to another hospital where the care was excellent, but they did not allow a woman to have a VBAC. I likely would not have had one anyway because my blood pressure at this point was sky high! I had an IV of magnesium to help bring it down. It helped some, but they also gave me some kind of medication several times to help bring it down. Man, I sure did not want all that!


The ambulance ride was not fun, but James and Joe were easy to talk to and kept me company and took my blood pressure every few minutes during the two hour drive. I only remember their names because they both start with 'J', just like all our kids. :) I don't remember which one was which though! LOL! The one in the back with me also has a 2yo son, so we were comparing notes. Somehow we got to talking about military too and military sleeping bags, camping, etc. I don't remember how we got off on that! Both of the guys also worked other jobs at fire stations! What great guys they were. They had paperwork to do before they left, so they were still in my room for a few minutes. When they left though, they both came over to me and said good bye and wished me luck. In such a traumatic time, I guess I felt some sort of bond to them or something. LOL! It WAS a really long ride there! Myles was happy to know they took good care of me. :)


The delivery


It was a whirlwind of activity when we arrived at the hospital around 7:30pm. I had tons of questions to answer, forms to sign, the doctor to talk to. The doctor was VERY rude at first impression. I told him my wishes and added to each thing "unless medically necessary". Well, he didn't seem to even notice that I said that, because he tried to explain (very rudely, as if I was a moron) why I couldn't have my wishes. I hadn't signed anything either, but I don't think that would have made much difference since I had a preemie and apparently everything is out the window with preemies! So annoying! And my blood pressure was already high! He certainly was not helping with that!


The nurses weren't too bad. I distinctly remember one young nurse who was "nice" but not really very compassionate. When I asked her (I think after the c/s) if I could see my baby that night, she very flatly said "No." (Geesh! A little respect and compassion can make you a much more likeable person and a better nurse, lady!)


I was prepped for surgery and he was born at 9:32pm. I saw him for MAYBE five seconds before they whisked him off to NICU. I must have told Myles 100 times before now to STAY WITH THE BABY, so he made sure he did! Good guy! :) I honestly don't even know yet what all they did to him (we plan to get a copy of his medical records), but I think they gave him the drops in his eyes after I asked them not to. They may not have, but I think they did. The doctor tried to tell me it was mandatory. I understand them taking a sample of his blood to make sure there were no illegal drugs in his system, but beyond that I have the right as his mom to refuse certain things, and they did not honor my request. Most of the routine things would not change whether it is a preemie or full-term!


Btw, it didn't occur to me until days later that the doctor might have been rude to me because he sees "my kind" all the time. He is the one doctor who sees all the transfers who usually have no insurance, no prenatal care and probably a lot of moms who are drug addicts! I'm sure he assumed that, since I had no prenatal care, I was probably on drugs. He still should not have treated me the way he did, but at least it made more sense. Also, he was a little nicer to me during the surgery. I think I remember him trying to make a joke or something. He was probably trying to help me relax since I was undergoing major surgery! I did notice too that he got a little nicer as the days went by, so maybe he realized that I wasn't the typical woman that he normally sees. Boy, I sure feel sorry for those other women!


Throughout this whole ordeal, I was still very emotional. I knew there was no going back. I knew this is what I had to do, but in doing so, I was also giving up my gentle home birth with low lights, no noise, probably in the water, not cutting the cord right away, nursing immediately, etc. It just didn't seem fair. Plus I did not want another c/s! I developed pulmonary edema after the last one which led to pneumonia, and I was afraid it would happen again. Praise God it did not!!! Anyway, even as the anesthesiologist was giving me the spinal tap, I had tears streaming down my face. It was hard, I'm telling you! The only reason I am writing that here is just so anyone who reads this can hopefully understand better what this is like, even if you do not agree with UP or UC. It tore me up to give up that "perfect birth" which I know I am capable of! I felt defeated and weak. It was hard. It was hard. Wow, it was hard!


After the birth


I have no idea how long Myles stayed with Jack. I don't think I even asked him what they did to him, because at that point, I didn't want to know. I figured if they're going to do things to him anyway even though I ask them not to, I don't want to know about it, at least not right then.


I had some great nurses taking care of me. I couldn't get out of bed for quite a while. It was already night time and I'd had a long day, so I just slept. The next day I didn't need pain meds at all because of my hormones! LOL! I felt so great and had tons of energy! (It really set in the next day though!) I finally got up sometime around noon-ish and went to the bathroom and cleaned up a little, and then I got to go see Jack!!! My mom pushed me in a wheelchair. (She had stayed all night with me while my dad still had the kids. They were great!) At this point only the nurses had held him. I didn't even wait for their permission.....as soon as I saw him, I burst into tears and held out my hands and said "Give me my baby!!! I want to hold my baby!" I certainly had not planned on that reaction! Wow, those hormones are powerful! LOL!


He was so beautiful. I didn't want to let him go. He had a feeding tube in his mouth that first time I saw him, but he was only getting IV fluids. He had already been taken off of the CPAP (forced oxygen, or something like that) at about 10 hours old, so he was doing very well. The rest of the hospital stay, I went to go see him as often as possible every 3 hours when it was time for him to "eat". I was pumping like crazy, but it was frustrating because in the beginning I'd pump for half an hour and get THREE DROPS! Good grief! I'm getting several ounces/day now, just enough to meet his needs, so it did improve. :) I couldn't hold him every time though. I think they let me hold him twice/day in the beginning. He got all his feedings through a tube in his nose. It was several days before they even offered him a bottle, and for some reason I wasn't ready to try nursing.....probably because I don't like people gawking at me! LOL! I mean, I know I've never had a preemie before, but I've nursed 3 babies, one of them for 15 months (would have been longer if I could have), so I think I can figure things out on my own! I have since tried nursing him about three times so far, and he did great! There was one time he swallowed really big about half a dozen times! I am pleased for now. We'll work on it more when he comes home. It is my goal to be exclusively nursing ASAP, and to nurse as long as I can!


Since I was discharged


The doctor (not the rude one) asked me on Friday (2 days after birth) how I felt about going home the next day. I told him, since he asked, "To be honest, I'd like to stay as long as possible since my baby is still going to be here." He simply replied, "Okay, we'll send you home on Sunday!" Easy enough! Then two nurses told me I could stay all the way up to midnight, so I did!


Ever since then we have gone to visit him in NICU twice/day, at 11am and 5pm. Our routine is to go in at the top of the hour and take his temperature, change his diaper and feed him if he is getting a bottle (which, since earlier this week, he gets a bottle each time and as of today no longer has his tube in). He sure is a snuggler. :) I just love to sit and hold him!


That next weekend Myles got sick, which we believe now was just allergies, but he ended up just staying home with the other three while I stayed at the hospital from 11am to about 6pm after his 5pm feeding. Oh, how I loved that! But this weekend I am sick (I believe it is also allergies....and my voice is gone right now!), so I haven't seen him in two days. :'( Fortunately he will likely be coming home on Sunday since he is now taking a bottle for every feeding. I plan to hold him as much as I possibly can. I have 2.5 weeks to make up for! I just want to sit down with him and cry until I can't cry anymore. He needs to be here with his mommy and the rest of his family. We want him home! Hopefully by the time most people read this, he will be! :)


Latest update


We just called for another update. He only gained 1 gram today. ONE GRAM! LOL! I just thought that was funny since he normally gains at least 1/2 an ounce and sometime a little over an ounce each day! He is taking all of his bottles (I think the nurses are working him harder since his tube is not in), so it's been almost a day and a half! They want them to take all the bottles for 24-48 hours before they discharge, so tomorrow afternoon at 2pm will make 2 days worth of feedings in which he has taken all of them! The doctor who is there during the week told us that the other doctor will probably discharge him on Sunday morning, so we will be there bright and early! The other two criteria he had to meet before discharge are holding his own temperature in an open crib and maintaining and gaining weight steadily. He's been doing both for several days now.


Processing it all


All in all, now that this is about over and we are about to settle into a new "normal" for our family of 6, it hasn't been that horrible of an experience. It just wasn't what I planned, and I sure hated the c/s and the fact that Jack is separated from me. It's just not right! Writing this all out has really helped me, but I know that if I'd written it before now, I would have had a lot of anger coming through (I still do some). I was MAD at everyone! I felt like no one supported my decisions even though when it came down to it, I did what was best for me and Jack. I felt very alone. I still feel this way to some degree, but the further I get away from that day, the better I feel. It will just take time. I know that not all my feelings are true, but it is just how I have perceived things....it's just how I have felt throughout it all, whether it is fact or my imagination.


I'd really like to have more kids, but we may wait a while. We don't do anything unnatural to prevent pregnancy, so I'm sure we'll have more children someday. I don't feel like we're done either. I'm certainly not wanting another baby yet since Jack is only two weeks old and not even home yet, but I just don't feel like he is going to be our last. I don't feel like our family is complete yet. I would very much like to have a UC if possible, but if I were to decide right now, I'd probably choose a doctor or midwife simply because my pregnancy was stressful without the emotional support that I needed. The only thing about that is, since I've now had 2 c/s, I'd probably not be given an opportunity to have a VBAC no matter how healthy the pregnancy is! I hate it! There is more risk involved in MAJOR SURGERY than there is in a VBAC, but insurance won't cover them, and doctors don't carry their own insurance for VBACs. So annoying. So I am still open to having a VBAC at home and maybe get the UC I've been hoping for, but at this point, I just don't know. I will definitely need to find some regular, good emotional support IRL before I can try it again. Either that or I'll just have to learn to tune other people out and not care what they think. I hate to do that though, because I really do respect what other people who are close to me have to say, whether I agree or disagree with them. It will be a while, so we'll see what happens.


Now if I can just find the time to write Jacob's birth story before I forget all the details! They'll be out of order, but oh well!

pregnancy woes update

So I went to the doctor just to rule out placenta previa, which was my biggest concern. Long story short, the ultrasound looked *perfect* (Jack is looking to be around 8 pounds or so!), and the urine test came back normal. My blood pressure was good while laying on my left side (134/65), but high while sitting up (when Mom took it later in the afternoon). I was told by people I trust not to worry about it as long as the one on my left side is good, but it did concern me at first.

I have been researching other possibilities online in an effort to self-diagnose whatever the problem was. The closest I can come up with is toxemia or possibly preeclampsia. However, yesterday morning's "episode" was so much lighter and shorter.....much more tolerable. Then today I didn't even wake up! NOTHING HAPPENED! I was so relieved to be able to sleep soundly for nearly 5 hours! In fact, I slept so well that I got up to go pee (otherwise I would have slept longer) and then couldn't get back to sleep because of all the energy I have!

Basically, the reason I am seeing such dramatic results so quickly is because I have been very aggressive with certain things. I have made sure to get plenty of rest (I am almost bored to tears), plenty of water and I am taking Hawthorn Berry for the blood pressure, though I may not really need it apparently. It won't hurt me though. I believe the main thing that is working for me though is my diet change. I've been saying all along that I need to "go raw", but I keep making up excuses (some legitimate, but still workable) as to not do it. Well, after my scare this week, I cannot afford NOT to go raw. So I am consuming a 100% raw vegan diet, and I am already feeling a world of difference! My hip pain is even barely noticeable after just one day!!! Myles asked me this morning if I think I could sleep in the bed again soon (I've been sleeping in a recliner for relief), and I told him I probably can if I continue my plan. He laughed and said "I may not want you to now!" LOL! I think he's enjoying having that king size Tempurpedic all too himself a little too much!

I plan to go back to the doctor again next week just to get a more thorough urine test and some blood tests. It can't hurt, and it's free for me! So I think that's about it for now. I'll update again in the next few days. :)

pregnancy woes

If I continue with what I've been doing, I will keep getting what I've been getting, and that is not good! Here is an email I sent to some friends two days ago with an explanation of what has been going on, followed by an update.

-------------------------
I am about 33 weeks pregnant now. Two weekends ago I had some bleeding that started on Friday night. I thought it was gone by Saturday afternoon, but then I finally stopped seeing any signs of spotting at all on Monday morning of last week, so it was maybe a little over 48 hours. I basically put myself on bed rest as much as possible and started taking prenatal vitamins and liquid chlorophyll regularly, which I had planned to do anyway but wasn't doing. I think they both helped, but especially the chlorophyll.

Now I have been having some blood clots/very light spotting for the last 4 mornings after nearly a week of nothing at all. I don't know why it is always in the morning, but once it passes, I feel just fine and the rest of the day is great! I feel back to normal with no other abnormal symptoms or any kind of discharge, but then it happens again the next morning. (sigh) Here are the symptoms:
contractions off and on for probably a month, but more noticeable in the last couple of weeks
during the bleeding the weekend before last, I was having lower, crampy contractions, but now they are more normal (Braxton-Hicks)
I haven't been sleeping well....I wake up in the middle of the night (like right now) with a back ache which also extends around the sides a little. This is my middle to upper back like where my bra band goes around me. (The placenta is along the right side, in case you need to know that!) I slept better Monday night/Tuesday morning with my bra on, but this time it didn't help. :(
I am having hormonal symptoms like hot, cold, hot, cold, etc. with the occasional nausea that actually led to throwing up a couple of times. Afterward I felt fine for the rest of the day.
The clots themselves are pretty small. The first one on Sunday morning was the biggest, but it was smaller (maybe half the size) of a golf ball.
Contractions are slowing down in frequency (they are never regular) and are not as noticeable.
Baby is still bouncing around just fine!
Sometimes I feel like I need to have a BM and I have at times which seems to help temporarily, but I have not been constipated at all. In fact, sometimes it is the opposite, I think because of the chlorophyll. But going to the bathroom is only a temporary relief. :(
Oh, and when my back is hurting like this right now, it is hard to breathe and nearly impossible to get comfortable!
Headache on Sunday and Monday, which finally led me to take some Ibuprofen on Monday evening (bad, I know, but the only thing that gives me relief!)
Swelling for a couple of months now
-------------------------

The rest of the email was just expressing my concerns and asking questions. I'll update in another entry.

Two pregnancy dreams

The first was a few weeks ago. In my dream Baby Jack was a few days (maybe 2-3 weeks) old and didn't want to nurse. He was gaining weight just fine, but I couldn't get him to nurse! Finally one day I caught my best friend and my mom spoon-feeding him formula!!! Well, once that little problem was taken care of, he nursed just fine. In the dream I could even see breast milk running down from the side of his mouth! :) He also looked very much like Jonathan. It was a funny, but really cool dream.

The second was last night. I am planning an unassisted birth. In my dream I was out in the pasture behind our house. (We live in the city, but in my dream we were in the country.) The pasture was actually not even our land, but for some reason I was out there doing something! (?) I felt labor start and progress pretty quickly and felt like it wouldn't be long until he was born. The whole labor was almost completely painless, and I didn't feel like I "needed" anyone or anything at the time, so I just gave birth by myself out there in the field! Just a few minutes after he was born, Myles came out and found me, along with the newborn baby, and was naturally surprised! I just giggled and told him everything was fine and I didn't need him! LOL! About that time the kids all came running out, following Daddy, and then we all walked back to the house together, just going on with our daily family life. It was weird that I gave birth in a field by myself that didn't even belong to us, but other than that it was a cool dream! :)

Jayla's birth

I can't seem to find where I have journaled about Jayla's birth right after the event, but I know I have written down SOMETHING about it. I'll add it to this when I find it. So this is all from memory from a birth that occurred nearly 5 years ago. FIVE YEARS?! WOW!

The pregnancy was pretty routine, though I did have a lot of swelling (again) in the last couple of months and high blood pressure for the last 2-3 weeks. I hadn't gained as much as I did with Jonathan, and I could tell just from how I felt and looked that she was going to be a smaller baby. Boy, was I right! She was 3 pounds smaller!

So it was 6 days before my due date, June 7th (my brother's birthday), when Myles and I were going to go on "one last date" before she was born. We expected to go another week or so, possibly longer if I wasn't induced. The doctor had wanted me to go in at my own convenience and do a NST, so we decided to do that right after dinner. This was a Friday night. I'm so glad we ate first. :)

I laid there for what seemed like FOREVER, sipping juice and watching Jayla's heart rate. It seemed fine to me the entire time, so I couldn't figure out why they wanted me to stay for so long. (Myles remembers the nurse being really rude.) Once they took the monitors off, the doctor showed me one spot where her heart skipped a beat when they were messing with the monitors and pushing on my tummy. (Now that I think about it, maybe it just didn't pick up a beat! Hmmmm....) So she strongly recommended an induction right then! Wow! We knew there was a possibility, but really didn't expect to have her for a few more days.

We got everything situated and called my parents to let them know that they'd be keeping Jonathan for a couple more days. They finally started the pitocin around 1-something in the morning. I was still pretty wide awake because I am typically a "night owl" anyway, plus I couldn't think about sleeping with all the excitement that was stirring! I remember talking and laughing with others in the room. I think Myles fell asleep at some point, but I can't remember for sure.

It was around 4:30, I think, when the contractions really started going! They were much stronger and regulated. I don't remember when I requested an epidural, but I don't think it was this early. As the morning went on, family members started waking up and coming to visit. I don't even remember who all was there (I need to find what I wrote down at that time!!!), but I do remember one visitor; my brother Craig, who had just had the birthday the day before. I think his girlfriend (now wife) was also there, but the reason I remember him being there so well is because he came in at a really bad time! The nurse was about to check my dilation, and I was really close to delivering when he just waltzed on in the room carrying a Braum's bag full of breakfast. LOL!

Back to the epidural....I never got it! For at least a couple of hours I was begging for an epidural, but the anesthesiologist was stuck in the OR from an emergency c-section and couldn't leave to come to me! I think he was finally free right after she was born! I don't think there is anything worse than having pitocin-induced contractions while planning for an epidural and then unexpectedly not getting it! OUCH!!! I didn't even try to relax in the end, I just gripped the bed rail with all the strength I had in me! I know now that is the last thing you want to do, but it was the only thing that seemed to help at the time. I think that because I was induced it would have been nearly impossible to relax. I was so tired by this time too. :(

At one point, just as I was entering transition and really trying hard to focus internally, the doctor leaned forward to tell me in her most gentle voice possible that if I didn't progress more soon, they may have to do a c-section. What? After only a few hours?! Well, she was talking to me while I was contracting, so I just caught the gist of it. When she saw my face and body language, she had the nurse check me again. I was at an 8 (I think, maybe more) and she had dropped! I remember her laughing and saying something like "Well, I guess the threat of a c/s was all it took!" Ha ha

It was somewhere around this time that Craig walked in with the bag of food. When I updated him and told him he might want to leave before he gets an eye-full, he did a 180 and almost ran out! LOL! Despite the "condition" I was in at that moment, I had to laugh!

Jayla was born about 10 minutes or so after the doctor "threatened" me with a c/s. I tore a little, likely because she came quickly in the end, but not as bad as I did with Jonathan. I didn't know about this until I was pregnant with Jacob and talking with a midwife, but after she was born the doctor PULLED on the umbilical cord to get the placenta out! Oh, I was so mad that no one told me that, but more upset that it happened, and without my knowledge!!! The way I found out is that it came up in conversation with the midwife, and my mom was with me and said "Yes, your doctor did that after Jayla was born!" Oh! The nerve! The midwife was talking about how a lot of doctors do that, so even if I had known about it, I probably could not have won the case if I chose to sue. That disgusts me that they get away with things like that! As a result of something the doctor did, she had to do a DNC after I had already delivered Jayla without medication (so now I was totally out of it and could not even hold her), and was then expected to pay for her mistakes! Ugh! Not only that, but she didn't even get it all. She prescribed an anti-biotic as a precaution, and when Jayla was 8 days old I passed a large piece of placenta at home! What was the point in the DNC if it was going to come out on its own anyway?! (I'd better move on or I'll be in a bad mood about this the rest of the day...LOL!)

I remember trying to hold her after I woke up, but I felt like I was going to drop her. I couldn't even keep my eyes open, so it wasn't exactly the "moment" I had dreamed of. :'( I had to give her back after just a few seconds, and I think I may have fallen back to sleep.

I don't really remember a whole lot about the hospital stay except that we had a smaller room than the first time, and we quickly got booted out the next morning to make room for more deliveries. We went to the overflow room, and by afternoon were sent home just because of lack of beds! How irritating. I'm glad we were well enough to be able to go home, but I was enjoying the privacy of our room and being waited on. Of course, I have since changed my mind about that, but I wasn't ready to go home at that time!

Once we were home and settling into our new routine, things went great. I recovered from the tear pretty quickly and she was nursing well....all was great!

I sure wish I could remember more about the birth other than the absolutely horrible things. I'm sure there were tons of "little" things that I was not happy with, or at least would not be now.

So, Jayla Dawn was born on June 8, 2002 at 9:43 am. She weighed 6 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 18" long. Her head circumference was 13". She was certainly a small little thing! She even wore preemie clothes for nearly 6 weeks! She was the best baby too, which is probably why I don't remember many of the details of her babyhood. She was just always so pleasant and fun to be around. :)

Ultrasounds for pregnancy #5

It's a.....
(click pictures to enlarge)



BABY!!!

Oh, but you knew that. Okay, it's a

BOY!!!

His name is Jasper Deacon, and we will call him Jack. :)




Can you tell? :) Let me help you with this one! LOL! It was actually pretty clear while we were seeing it in real time, maybe because he was moving, but these still shots are a little more difficult to decipher.

Okay, the big blob in the middle is the placenta. His head is laying in the middle at the bottom of the picture. You can actually see his eyelids, nose and mouth facing you! It is hard (for me) to make out the details of his lower body, so I'm not sure exactly how he is laying, but his boy parts are sort of triangular looking and kind of pointing toward the placenta! LOL!

I was actually surprised! This has been the sickest pregnancy I've ever had, so I just KNEW I was having a girl! I guess that blows my theory out of the water! LOL!

The picture at the top is pretty clear. It is a 4-D picture of the right side of his face. He has his right arm curled around his chin, and both hands are at his forehead.....and he is SMILING! We actually saw him smile. :) We also saw him PEE, and she said that was very rare, but unfortunately for us it was at the beginning before she was doing pictures and video. It was pretty funny though. :) She made a comment about that being "proof" that his bladder is working well. It was also proof that we were indeed looking at his boy parts, and he is indeed a boy!

He stretched his legs out a few times. His thighs are on the right and feet on the left.



Here are his feet. One is behind the other, so it looks like he has about 7 toes on one foot. LOL!



This 4-D picture is of his legs, crossed at the feet. His thighs are on the top left, knees are behind the placenta, and his right foot is crossed behind the left. Look at that long foot!



This one is a little blurry. He is looking down toward his right hand with the left fist in front of his face.



This one is a similar position, but he has his mouth open. :)



A clear picture of his spine. Near the lower right of the picture you can see where the spine connects to his tale bone. What a little bottom!



Here is another picture of his legs crossed at the ankles, but in this one his knee is in front of the placenta.



Those are the best of the pictures I have. For some reason the ones I got of Jacob (from the same lady) were blurry, so I wasn't able to do anything with any of them. :( I'm glad these turned out really well though. They all look exactly like they did on the monitor we were viewing. I wish my computer had a DVD drive so I could put a little video on here too!

So for the important stuff, basically everything looks perfect! She showed us how everything looks perfectly normal and is working correctly, and then he peed to prove it. LOL! He was a little wiggly, but not too much that he was giving us problems. :) The placenta was right over his face, so we almost didn't even do the 4-D, but she managed to get a few of him after all when he turned his head. He seemed content the whole time, holding his hands near his face and smiling. He's a sweet boy. :) He looks like he'll be a cuddly one just like his brothers. :)

Jayla and I were really hoping for a girl, but I have to tell you, it hasn't taken me long to accept that he's a boy. I'm getting more and more excited just thinking about holding him, and Jayla has already made a comment that she can't wait to help take care of him. :) I'm sure way before he is born (maybe by bedtime tonight!), we'll forget all about wanting a girl and be totally smitten with this little one.

My other boys measured 2-4 weeks ahead the entire pregnancy, and even the u/s showed close to two weeks ahead, but this little guy is lined up perfectly with his "due date". His weight is even right on target at 1 lb. 11 oz. She gave me the due date of August 9th and I've been saying August 10th, so I think I'll just leave it alone! I'm actually just starting to tell people "sometime in August" since you never know when a baby will come. Anyway, it looks like I might actually have an average size baby for a change! Jonathan was 9-2, Jayla was 6-3 and Jacob was 10-3! Oh, and he's already head-down too, the first one I've seen head-down during my u/s! I just pray he stays that way!

It's a.....

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

BOY!!!

Can you tell? :) Let me help you with this one! LOL! It was actually pretty clear while we were seeing it in real time, maybe because he was moving, but these still shots are a little more difficult to decipher.

Okay, the big blob in the middle is the placenta. His head is laying in the middle at the bottom of the picture. You can actually see his eyelids, nose and mouth facing you! It is hard (for me) to make out the details of his lower body, so I'm not sure exactly how he is laying, but his boy parts are sort of triangular looking and kind of pointing toward the placenta! LOL!

His name is Jasper Deacon, and we will call him Jack. :)

I was actually surprised! This has been the sickest pregnancy I've ever had, so I just KNEW I was having a girl! I guess that blows my theory out of the water! LOL!

The picture at the top is pretty clear. It is a 4-D picture of the right side of his face. He has his right arm curled around his chin, and both hands are at his forehead.....and he is SMILING! We actually saw him smile. :) We also saw him PEE, and she said that was very rare, but unfortunately for us it was at the beginning before she was doing pictures and video. It was pretty funny though. :) She made a comment about that being "proof" that his bladder is working well. It was also proof that we were indeed looking at his boy parts, and he is indeed a boy!

He stretched his legs out a few times. His thighs are on the right and feet on the left.



Here are his feet. One is behind the other, so it looks like he has about 7 toes on one foot. LOL!



This 4-D picture is of his legs, crossed at the feet. His thighs are on the top left, knees are behind the placenta, and his right foot is crossed behind the left. Look at that long foot!



This one is a little blurry. He is looking down toward his right hand with the left fist in front of his face.



This one is a similar position, but he has his mouth open. :)



A clear picture of his spine. Near the lower right of the picture you can see where the spine connects to his tale bone. What a little bottom!



Here is another picture of his legs crossed at the ankles, but in this one his knee is in front of the placenta.



Those are the best of the pictures I have. For some reason the ones I got of Jacob (from the same lady) were blurry, so I wasn't able to do anything with any of them. :( I'm glad these turned out really well though. They all look exactly like they did on the monitor we were viewing. I wish my computer had a DVD drive so I could put a little video on here too!

So for the important stuff, basically everything looks perfect! She showed us how everything looks perfectly normal and is working correctly, and then he peed to prove it. LOL! He was a little wiggly, but not too much that he was giving us problems. :) The placenta was right over his face, so we almost didn't even do the 4-D, but she managed to get a few of him after all when he turned his head. He seemed content the whole time, holding his hands near his face and smiling. He's a sweet boy. :) He looks like he'll be a cuddly one just like his brothers. :)

Jayla and I were really hoping for a girl, but I have to tell you, it hasn't taken me long to accept that he's a boy. I'm getting more and more excited just thinking about holding him, and Jayla has already made a comment that she can't wait to help take care of him. :) I'm sure way before he is born (maybe by bedtime tonight!), we'll forget all about wanting a girl and be totally smitten with this little one.

My other boys measured 2-4 weeks ahead the entire pregnancy, and even the u/s showed close to two weeks ahead, but this little guy is lined up perfectly with his "due date".  His current weight is around 1 lb. 11 ozs, so he is right on average. She gave me the due date of August 9th and I've been saying August 10th, so I think I'll just leave it alone! I'm actually just starting to tell people "sometime in August" since you never know when a baby will come. Anyway, it looks like I might actually have an average size baby for a change! Jonathan was 9-2, Jayla was 6-3 and Jacob was 10-3! Oh, and he's already head-down too, the first one I've seen head-down during my u/s! I just pray he stays that way!

Experiments using household products

We did more experiments! Here is one of them...we put baking soda in the balloon and vinegar (apple cider vinegar) in the bottle. When Jonathan mixed the two, it created gas and made the balloon expand. He was shocked and excited!

We also did the experiment with warm water in the film canister, add the Alka-seltzer and put the lid on....what fun! We've done a couple other simple ones as well, and we've got more coming!

Recycling wool sweaters

I'm preparing for baby in a few months. I bought ten sweaters that are 100% wool at a thrift store last weekend for a total of $15.00! If I were to buy a brand new cloth diaper or diaper cover, it would cost at least that much for one!

So, I am going to recycle them into soakers! I got several different colors and patterns, and I should be able to make 2 out of each sweater. That will give me all the wool soakers I need in different sizes, and if I decide I have too many, I can always sell the extras.

This web site is really inspiring. She makes some really cute clothing from old wool sweaters. You can also see what a soaker looks like if you have no idea. This is such a great way to save money and recycle while being gentle on your baby's bum!

Homemade bouncy balls!!!

Click on the picture for a larger view so you can actually read the directions!

#1 - Jonathan's birth

I had my final Dr. appt. on May 3rd (fairly typical prenatal care). I was dilated to a 3, but had been dilating already for about 2 or 3 weeks. My doctor scheduled the induction for 6 AM on Friday morning the 5th. Myles and I planned to go on a date on Thursday night and just have some fun by ourselves before our little one invaded our privacy, but Thursday morning (the actual due date) my doc called me and asked, "How would you like to have your baby today?"! Well, I told her yes and about 4 hours later we were admitted into the hospital!

Of course Myles had to leave work early. We arrived at the hospital at around 11:30 AM. By 11:45 we had our room and an IV in. They started the pitocin at around 12:45 and I was considered in active labor by around 4:00. Soon after that the contractions started getting sharp, and fast. The doctor had an internal monitor put in, after I had been trying to tell the nurses that the contractions were hurting pretty bad, so that they could actually measure the intensity of each contraction. At around 6:15 I was given an epidural when they were finally convinced I was in much pain by that time. (Apparently I can take more pain than I thought. The nurses were expecting me to be crawling off the bed!) Once the nurses saw how intense they really were by inserting an internal monitor, they were quick to get me the epidural and backed way off on the pitocin!

The epidural was wonderful! I still had some feeling on my left side, but it was tolerable. I could feel all of my contractions, but they didn't hurt at all! By 8:00 I was still only dilated to a little more than a four. The nurse had me turn on my side to see if that would help. At this time everyone was expecting Jonathan to be born in the early hours of the morning.

About an hour later the nurse was about to go have some dinner and decided to check again before she left. We were glad she did. I had already dilated to an eight! Things began moving quickly after this. The nurse didn't even get to eat. Myles went out in the lobby to give everyone an update and while he was gone I reached a nine! I didn't think he'd make it back in time, and our moms were wondering why he even left in the first place! (He was just excited and wanted to share it with everyone else.) After a few more minutes went by, his mom went to get him and said he was watching TV! (He said he just happened to look at it for a second when she walked in the room! They give him a hard time about that now.)

I don't remember the exact times of everything, but by 11:15 I was at a 10 and pushing. By about 11:37 he was crowned and the doctor came in for the catch. She almost didn't get gowned in time! Everyone told me not to push, so I didn't, but he came out on his own on the next contraction! The doctor turned around just in time to catch him! Myles' mom told me later that she thought she was going to have to run over there and catch him before he hit the floor! It was pretty funny actually. :)

Jonathan David was born on May 4th at 11:39 PM weighing 9 lbs. 2 ozs. and was 21 3/4" long. He obviously had a great set of lungs and beautiful skin color! Everything went so well. We were so excited!

When Jonathan was about 5 days old it was very apparent that I had a UTI. I was able to get an antibiotic and recover fairly quickly, but that first day or two of it was horrible. It was around the time my milk came in and I was still having problems with breastfeeding (learning to use a nipple shield due to flat nipples), so it was not a good few days there for a little bit.

Skip ahead almost 7 years......Wow, I can't believe he is about to turn SEVEN!

As I look back on this account of his birth, I do have a totally different perspective now. First of all, I do NOT want to be induced any more! I really don't see any medical need for it, and it can put the mother and baby at risk, not to mention that the contractions are so much more painful than when you go into labor on your own! I would not want to be checked for dilation and effacement either. What's the point? I'm going to progress regardless, and it can only make things worse, not better.

I would refuse to be monitored, and I would not get an epidural. I remember the epidural not giving complete coverage, and when I think about that now, it's pretty scary! I remember being very uncomfortable on the bed. I had no option of getting up and walking around because of the monitors, pitocin and epidural. I was getting miserable just laying there. I remember changing to my left side, which helped me dilate more quickly, probably because I was able to change positions.

The UTI I know was from the catheter and internal monitors. They also had put some type of monitor on Jonathan's head, so he had one or two SCREWS in his head!!! It really is true that all they (medical professionals) want is a good outcome, and they don't care how it comes about. We were disillusioned into thinking that everything was great because I didn't have to have a c-section, I didn't feel any pain after the epidural, I didn't have to push very long and our first child was very healthy. If I remember correctly, I think he scored an 8 and 9 on his two apgar tests, so that was pretty good.

Actually, another thing I just remembered is that right after he was born, they did all the routine things that hospitals do for babies; eye drops, shots, heel prick and then a bottle of formula for his FIRST feeding because his blood sugar was "borderline high"! I am so sad about that now, that I didn't get to nurse him for his very first feeding. :( Honestly, I don't even remember them asking me or giving me a choice, they just tested his blood sugar (because he was "big") and then gave him a bottle....right in front of me, but I didn't get to do it.

Another thing that scares me thinking back on all this is that Jonathan was seriously coming out on his own with each contraction. There were probably 20 people in the room (can you say "privacy"?), and NO ONE was moving to get him. I was on the bed where they break away the foot part and put my feet in stirrups, shine the lights right on that area and raise the bed up high, about to chest level. Now picture a baby being born from that height with no one to catch him and about 20 people standing there just watching! That is seriously what was happening, and my doctor had her back to me putting her gown, mask and gloves on! She literally turned around just in time! They were telling me not to push and to wait for the doctor, but HELLO, I couldn't stop him from coming out! Scary, scary, scary!

Also, I tore really bad and was sore (bruised) for a good 3 months. I wonder if this could have been avoided if I had not had such hard contractions and progressed at a more natural rate rather than them increasing the pitocin and making me go faster. I also couldn't feel anything when pushing, so I don't know if I was actually ready or if I pushed too hard, etc. The entire experience, really, was not fun looking back on it. And I hate to admit it, but this was probably the best experience of my 3 labors/births.

More science experiements!

We went to the science museum again yesterday with Chrysinda and her 5yo son. We went to a chemical demonstration. The lady showed us how to use every day household products for experiments. The main ingredients she used were water, baking soda, dish soap and food coloring.

One experiment also used a balloon. She put baking soda in a balloon, vinegar in a bottle, stretched the balloon to fit the opening of the bottle and then dumped the soda into the vinegar. You can probably guess what happens. :)

Another fun one was with warm water, an Alkaseltzer tablet and a film cannister. She filled the cannister almost half way with warm water and added half the Alkaseltzer tablet. She quickly put the lid on and gave it a quick shake. Try it and see what happens. Warning: stand back a few feet!

From what I can remember, the only other ones she did was mix vinegar and baking soda with nothing covering it, and then she added (new experiment) dish soap to the baking soda before adding vinegar and compared the results. This is also where she used the food coloring. I think you can pretty much use it with anything, just to add color.

Try other mixtures, and even include other household items! We're going to be trying more soon too. This is another great site for some really awesome science experiments! It is where the lava lamp experiment came from. Have fun!

Science experiement

We finally did this experiment I've been wanting to try. We took a 20 ounce bottle and filled it 3/4 full with oil and then to the top with water. We then put some food coloring in, which sank to the bottom just like the water and then mixed with the water. Once the new "lava lamp" was complete, we were ready to make it work!

We broke up an Alkaseltzer (but soon discovered it works better in larger chunks) and dropped it into the bottle. It also sank to the water in the bottom, and then it started making big bubbles and really did look like a lava lamp! It was really cool! I just wish we'd had a big light to put under it to make it look more like a real lava lamp.

The best thing about this one though is that it is non-toxic and the kids got to make it themselves. Jacob loved carrying one of the bottles around (lid screwed on tightly, of course). We also discovered that the lid needs to be loose or off for the Alkaseltzer to work....it needs air!

Random thoughts

Random thoughts before I get started I just want to write down my birth experiences for myself right now, but I may share them with others once I am done. This blog is about my journey to the kind of birth I greatly desire; a truly natural birth with no drugs or intervention of any kind and where I am completely comfortable and completely (or almost completely) pain-free. I know it is possible because I've read of other women having this "perfect" experience so many times, so why can't I?

Right now I am pregnant with baby #4 (after an unassisted miscarriage last year, which I will talk about later), and I plan on this one being unassisted/unattended. I am reading lots of books and birth stories and I feel like I am mentally ready. Now I just need to focus on a healthier diet and exercise so I can also be physically ready. I also need to work on the spiritual aspect, although I don't know that how close I am or feel to God actually reflects on how the birth will turn out. It's something I need to focus on anyway though, and it definitely couldn't hurt in relation to the labor and birth! I'm sure it does help in some aspects, now that I think about it.

So, as I get some time, I will write down from memory my experiences with my previous pregnancies and labor/deliveries. Enjoy the read, and I truly hope that my experiences will help someone someday as so many others have helped me!

Science museum

For Christmas my best friend Chrysinda got us a pass to the science museum, so we finally went there on Wednesday! I hadn’t been there since before the kids were born, and I didn’t remember most of it. Really about the only thing I remembered was the Earthquake simulator. The kids were actually bored with that pretty quickly because it was mostly an educational video to watch. They did like the vibrating floor though.

They have a really cool play area with swings and slides among other things. I think Jonathan’s favorite thing there was the 24-foot spiral slide! Jayla wanted to go down it with someone, but Daddy was playing with Jacob, and I did not feel like climbing all the way up there and then get dizzy coming down! She had lots of fun on the different swings though.

The first thing we did when we got there was go to a class for preschoolers. The theme was “green”, so the kids got to make some green slime! They got to mix the ingredients, which included blue and yellow food coloring. Then they got to make some 3-leaf clovers. The teacher was really nice, but she kind of talked down to the kids. Grant it, it was a preschool class, but some of the things she talked about were very easy for Jayla…..things like, “Are bananas green? Is broccoli green?” She was eating it up though. :) Jonathan, on the other hand, while he did enjoy it, could only take so much. Close to the end of the class, he finally said, “Oh, come on! I’m 6 years old!” LOL! I think he was referring to the way she was talking to him, but I just told her “This stuff is easy for him.” The lady was very nice though. We saw her later in the preschool play area, and she gave us a sheet with instructions on how to make our own bouncy balls! Yea!!! (I'll post directions soon.)

There is so much more to say about the science museum, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Let’s just say that, while the day was very fun, I was so tired of experiments and brain teasers by the end of the day! LOL!

In these pictures here with the blocks, the kids were sitting opposite each other and were supposed to follow instructions on how to build each other's creations. Here Jonathan went first and gave directions for Jayla....

....and this is what she ended up with. :)

Not too bad, really! I probably would have done the same with the way he gave instructions, but it helped us all to give *better* instructions with more details. They both did very well for their first time!

We played this game for quite a while, each of us taking turns, and Jacob finally got tired of waiting for us.

Here, if you look in the monitor on the right, you can see each of them while they took a turn in the Mercury capsule (I can't remember the exact name of it). Jayla looks so young here! This actually moved and the operator was flipping switches and communicating with them the entire time. We were concerned that Jayla might freak out a little, but she loved it and wanted to go again!

There is so much more I did not even get pictures of, and we only saw maybe half the museum in the SEVEN HOURS we were there!!!