2006 June

Birth stories: #1-4

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

June 5, 2006 By kimc

With another round of labor and delivery fast approaching, I’ve been mentally reviewing my past labors.
All 8 have been at home, with a midwife.
I have a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions, so I’m never really sure when labor starts. At some point I usually just comment to hubby, “I’ve think I’ve been having contractions for 6 hours now…I wonder if I’m in labor…” and he knows it’s time.

#1
I showed very little with our first: the day before she was born, I measured just 6 1/2 months.
Nine days before my duedate, on a Thursday, I realized at about 10PM that I had been having regular contractions since some time before dinner. When had they started? Maybe I was in labor. We were planning on spending the night at hubby’s parents’ house, but decided it might be a good idea to go on home.
We called the midwife soon after, and she arrived around midnight to find me dilated to 4 cm. and labor just getting to the point where it required my entire attention. Labor was rather typical, I think, for a first time: intense and painful. Deanna was born 7 hours later, after several hours of back-to-back contractions and 45 minutes of pushing.
She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was born on my father-in-law’s 40th birthday.

#2
With our second, labor began and ended on a Thursday 3 days before the baby’s duedate. I had spent the evening before assembling a piece of exercise equipment for Hubby’s birthday. I guess that was the target of my nesting instinct: get the large box out of the living room.
I was having regular contractions Thursday morning when hubby left for work. This was nothing unusual, so I wasn’t about to ask him to stay home. The contractions started and stopped all day. We kept in touch and when it became apparent that labor had started in earnest, he headed home early.
We called the midwife to let her know that her services would be wanted sometime soon, and settled down to wait. 21 month-old Deanna went to Grandma & Grandpa’s house for the rest of the day.
Kaitlyn was born at 10PM, after 5 hours of real labor (the part that hurts!) and 20 minutes of pushing. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was born just 2 days before my dad’s birthday.
Since she was born so close to Easter, we got up early the next morning and went shopping to get her an Easter/baptism dress. The midwife was much amused and a little chagrined when we entirely forgot that she would be back to check on us. She said we were the first ever to miss the 24 hour checkup, especially since it came at closer to 12 hours.

#3
Lydia was born 19 months later. My third labor was less painful than the first two. Labor started on a Thursday, Halloween, a holiday we don’t observe. Again, hubby was at work and I think I was in labor all day – we were busy gathering the last fragments of paperwork to close the purchase of our first home, and I was on the phone all day during and between contractions. We used a smalltown bank where the tellers knew us by name, and they were tickled to know that I was in labor while on the phone with them!
Once the business day came to a close and we were ready to close on our house, I got down to business. A little before midnight I was fully dilated and enjoying a break in labor, but finally began to grow impatient. After 20 minutes of nothing, with Halloween safely past (who wants a birthday like that?) we let the midwife break my water.
Labor started again in earnest, and Little Lydia was born 20 minutes later, after about 15 minutes of pushing. She arrived on All Saints Day, November 1. She was our smallest, at 6 lbs. 12 oz., and has always been a little skinny girl
We officially closed on our house Monday morning, and moved 4 weeks later.

#4
Megan was our first child born in the new house. Labor began on – nope, not a Thursday. Sunday. Megan was different from the start. She was our first to go past the duedate. Those 5 days felt like forever to a momma who was used to having a new baby before the duedate.
She was far more active in utero, and we were convinced she would be a boy. As it turned out, she was just a far more active girl. Still is.
My midwife retired without notice less than 2 months before Megan was born, so we scrambled for a new midwife before the baby arrived.
I’m sure it was transitional crabbiness, but my most vivid memory of the new midwife was her arrival as I struggled to maintain my composure during a particularly painful contraction. I was concentrating on relaxing, holding on by a thin thread, as she breezed into the room. “Hi!” she said brightly. She glanced in my direction. “Does she always labor this easily?”
Grrr.
Labor was uneventful and much like the others, though a little more painful than the last. I think I had 5 hours of the “real” stuff – the painful stuff. I delivered on hands and knees. Never again.
Megan was born on Memorial Day, around 8AM. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz.
Did I mention that I had full and instantaneous recoveries after the first three? True to tradition, I waited til the midwife wasn’t looking, hopped out of bed, trotted downstairs and ran out the back door to show the new baby to the children and neighbors. As I reached the yard, I decided that maybe the 4th was time to take things a little slower. I sat down woozily at the picnic table, chatted for a few minutes, then casually sauntered back into the house and headed for bed.
Megan’s older sisters were 4, 3, and 19 months. We now had 4 girls, 4yo and under, and no family within 1000 miles. These were busy days.

continued here

Filed Under: birth stories, pregnancy/labor 15 Comments

Carnival of Kid Comedy #13

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

June 3, 2006 By kimc

This week’s stories perfectly illustrate 2 recent quotes from Reader’s Digest:

Having a 2-year-old is like having a blender that you don’t have the top for. Jerry Seinfeld

Until you become a parent, you can’t begin to discover your capacity for strength, love and fatigue. Peter Gallagher

It all starts with pregnancy, right? So before I forget, Nerdmom is starting a Carnival of Pregnancy. If you have a post that you think fits the bill, send it to her before June 14 via Blog Carnival.

We have SCARY STUFF:

Over at Bruggie Tales, the children are perfecting The art of watching scary movies. So far, so good. They’re only scaring themselves.

But the sweet little ones at the Nerd Family home are a bit scarier. They prefer more realistic TV, especially when it involves people getting kicked out of cabs. Just don’t try this at home. Wait – they already did!

Think you already know what KKK means? Think again – there’s a new interpretation at Family School.

Is it just me, or did the little guy have too many espressos this morning? Be afraid; be very afraid.

But children are a sanctifying experience, and God seems to feel that many of us need more intensive treatment. I’ve had a few treatments that I won’t be sharing with the rest of the world, but others are braver than I am.
Sanctification treatments seem to fall into two broad categories:

DISGUSTING STUFF:

Speaking of sweet little ones, do you ever feel suspicious when your little ones are just too nice? Maybe the Daring Young Mom will be more suspicious next time little Laylee whispers sweet nothings in her ear.

Having a bad day? I’ll bet it’s not worse than Kailani’s. Unless you’re a parent, you won’t believe what hit her. If you are a parent, you’ve probably had at least one day just like this. If you’re like me, you’ve spent the last 12 years trying to forget that day.

ABJECT HUMILIATION:

First, there’s the low-level humiliation. Some incidents are little embarassing, but you’re not entirely sorry that they happened. Like when your 4yo notices a nearby teen who is wearing a barely-there way-too-small midriff-baring top. They make eye contact, exchange smiles, and your 4yo turns to you. “Mom,” she says, way too loudly, “That girl’s shirt is IMMODEST!”

Extreme Dad realized too late that he made several mistakes, including teaching a toddler to answer the door. He learns the hard way that An Englishman’s home is (not) his castle.

And for a refreshing change of pace, the parents can turn the tables on the children. The nice thing about doing this is that the older they get, the better it works. I was referring to the age of the children, but this applies to the parents as well.

But trust us: it gets better, and we all know it’s worth it in the end.

Dana’s Baby Bear is 3 now, and her Power of 3 sounds like maybe, just maybe, she found the top for that blender that Jerry Seinfeld mentioned. A blue top. Just smurfy.

Thank you for joining us this week. Next week’s edition will be hosted at Why Homeschool.

Helpful links:

Filed Under: Huh? Category? 4 Comments

Math

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

June 1, 2006 By kimc

We tend to be relaxed, eclectic homeschoolers. Hence, much of our curriculum is rather informal.
However, our math is more structured. This is partly because although I do believe that math can be taught informally, I am a math lover. Some people think in pictures, others in words. I think in math. Well, practically. At any rate, I have a hard time slowing down, explaining and breaking down the concepts for the children. It all makes such perfect sense to me! I really need a text book to help with the job.
Interestingly, many homeschool skeptics believe that undereducated parents will have trouble teaching their own children; my best subject is the one that I often find most difficult to teach.

For those who are curious, here is our typical approach for math:

For the very young, we simply practice counting and number recognition. This happens when I’m wrapping the ponytail holder around the toddler’s hair (1 time around, 2, 3…) and when I’m handing her pretzels or animals crackers or apple slices one by one. We count her eyes, ears and fingers. We count her sisters’ hands and feet. We count her doll’s toes. We count Daddy’s shoes. She counts back to us. Counting is part of life.

When she can count higher, much higher, we’ll try counting the daddy longlegs on the wall in the morning. Just in case you’re wondering, a vacuum cleaner hose with the crevice tool attachment does a great job of sucking them up. Then they writhe around inside the clear bagless canister of our vacuum as if they were in one of those medieval paintings of hell. But I digress.

The preschoolers watch counting videos (two of our favorites: Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Video Ever, and Leapfrog Math Circus).
They count cups and forks and napkins as they set the table. They figure out how many big and little plates we need.
They do Age Pickups and Double Your Age Pickups.
Preschoolers in our house love to play card games such as War, Slap Jack, and MathWar. The last is our own invention: very much like regular War, except they lay down cards 2 at a time and whoever has the greater sum wins the match. This also works later on for multiple addends, subtraction, and multiplication.

As soon as they can count, write numerals, and understand the concept of simple addition, they get to start Spectrum: Math, Grade K. This a greatly anticipated privilege.
We use the Spectrum series through the 3rd or 4th grade level, depending upon the child’s natural ability in math – some need more time to prepare for the next step, others are ready to forge ahead at top speed.
About this time, they develop a hearty interest in Monopoly, Rummy, and other games that require slightly more advanced math skills. They mark their height on the walls, and measure their arms and feet and waists.

When they are ready, they start Saxon Math 54, and go on from there. We like this particular program for its wide scope and constant review. I also think Saxon does a great job of breaking down new concepts into small, digestible bits – such a good job, in fact, that the kids often think they already knew all that. Sorta like Doug Wilson’s teaching.
One little tip: although I linked and love CBD (and yes, they give me more generous kickbacks), I always buy our Saxon Math used, usually through Amazon. We like the nice sturdy older edition hardbacks with a nice sturdy matching hardback teacher’s edition. Most of these books have already been through several students and will last through our several as well. Some of us also find something satisfying about a used book.

Just be sure that your student text and teacher edition are both the same edition. Like the State Trooper comment, just take my word on this.

Filed Under: homeschooling, methods, reviews 6 Comments

Carnival deadline creeping up

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

June 1, 2006 By kimc

Just a quick reminder – Friday night is the deadline for this week’s Carnival of Kid Comedy. Send me your cute kid quips, and check back Saturday to see what everyone else’s kids have been up to.
Shannon made me the cutest banner! All contributors can feel free to copy and use it when they link to the carnival. I’ll unveil it Saturday when the carnival is ready.

Filed Under: Huh? Category? 1 Comment