17 hours ago
Shortly after we found out we were pregnant last year, I decided I wanted to try for a natural birth.
I have no problems with epidurals, but there were a few reasons I want to give natural birth a try: (1) to save money, (2) because my recovery was so much easier after my natural birth with my daughter, and (3) to prove to myself I could give birth naturally by choice instead of just by necessity.
There is only so much you can do to prepare for labor, and I don't think anything fully prepared me for how intense the transition phase of labor was! However, there were three labor resources that I found encouraging and helpful when I was trying to mentally prepare for giving birth naturally, and I wanted to share them here for all of you ladies who are interested.
I rented this DVD from the library when we were pregnant with our first child. We didn't take a childbirth class, so this was our version of a class. This is not a DVD about natural childbirth - all the medical interventions that can be involved with childbirth are discussed as well. But the reason I am listing it is because the breathing methods discussed were so helpful to me during my labors. The instructor is a lamaze teacher, so she goes through the three classic Lamaze breathing techniques. Breathing through each contraction was the main thing that helped me through all three of my labors, but especially with my natural labors. Focusing on each technique took my mind off the pain, helped me relax, and made the contractions much more manageable. I thought it was useful to have the breathing demonstrated and practice beforehand, and this DVD was great for that.
This entire book is about giving birth naturally in a hospital, and I thought the information was useful and interesting. The author does advocate for having a doula and picking a caregiver that is supportive of a natural birth - those sections weren't as helpful to me because I already had a caregiver I was comfortable with, and I couldn't afford a doula. What I thought was most helpful about this book were the tips on how to handle things in the hospital to give yourself the best chance of succeeding - how to get the hospital staff on board and postpone certain interventions. I felt pretty motivated and confident that I could have a good chance at a successful natural hospital birth through utilizing the information in this book.
I read this book mostly to see what the fuss was about. First, I have to say that I did not like everything in this book. I felt like a lot of the philosophy was more New Age in nature, I didn't like the fertility idols she seemed enthralled with, and The Farm sounds kind of cultish to me. I think Christians should read this book with discernment. She was also fairly anti-hospital in this book, and since I knew that I wanted a hospital birth, I refused to accept the parts where she seemed to imply that it was difficult or impossible to succeed at natural birth in a hospital. What I did find useful was some of the information on helping your body along in labor - different positions, relaxing your muscles in labor, etc. Even though I didn't like many of her philosophies, I did feel more confident in my ability to give birth naturally after reading the practical information that was shared.
That is all I have! Do any of you have resources that you found helpful before giving birth?
You know how I said that I don't make fancy dinners that often? Cheap and fast are the two words that usually describe our meals around here. I'm trying to do better because Derek has requested that I make "real" dinners more often, so the other night I thought I'd make a chicken lasagna.
I've never made chicken lasagna before, but I didn't really like the recipes I found - so I mixed and matched and changed certain things entirely until I had made up my own recipe again! I tell you, I'm on a roll.
Derek and I aren't foodies or chicken lasagna connoisseurs, but we thought it turned out pretty good! So I wanted to share my recipe with you (and also as a record for myself so that the next time I make it I have it all typed out). Please excuse some of the poor quality photos - I was still just working with a phone camera when I made this!
Chicken Spinach Lasagna
2 chicken breasts, cooked
Lasagna noodles
1/2 onion, minced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 stick (1/4 c.) butter
1/2 flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups chick broth
1 cup milk
32 oz. small curd cottage cheese, drained and rinsed
2 eggs
3/4 c. parmesan cheese
2 tsp. oregano
32 ounce block of mozzarella cheese
2 cups spinach leaves
A few fresh basil leaves (optional)
1/4 chopped fresh parsley
1. Cook chicken breasts (however you want, I just put a couple frozen chicken breasts in the oven until they were cooked through). Let them cool, then shred or cube the chicken. Set aside.
2. Boil 6-9 lasagna noodles in water until they are cooked and flexible.
3. In the meantime, add butter, onion, and garlic to saucepan over medium heat until onions are translucent and tender. Add flour and salt (but if I'm honest, I forgot the salt - it tasted fine anyway, but most recipes call for salt), mix well. Add chicken broth and simmer until thick (whisk if it starts to look clumpy). Whisk in milk and set aside.
4. While the sauce is simmering, drain the cottage cheese and rinse well.
In a bowl mix the cottage cheese, eggs, and oregano (I just eyed it with the oregano, it was probably around 2 teaspoons). Mix in 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese and the shredded or cubed chicken. Set aside.
5. Rinse spinach leaves and, tear up into smaller pieces if desired. I also mixed in a few basil leaves with the spinach, just because I was dying to use our new basil plant! Set aside.
(My pretty basil plant.)
(Spinach leaves, pre-tearing.)
6. Slice mozzarella cheese.
(Is It weird that I think sliced mozzarella cheese is pretty?)
7. Now comes the fun part - layering! Start with a layer of lasagna noodles.
Then spread a layer of the cottage cheese mixture over that.
Put down a layer of spinach leaves. (Sorry, no picture of that step, but I'm confident you all can figure it out by yourselves anyway.)
Layer the mozzarella slices over that.
Spread a thin layer of sauce over the cheese.
Repeat.
8. Sprinkle the remainder of the parmesan cheese and the fresh parsley over the top of the lasagna.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes, until heated through and bubbly.
Cool for 10 minutes and serve!
Variation Idea: I also saw a recipe that called for artichoke. I didn't have any, so I didn't try it in mine, but I think it would be good with artichoke cut up and added into the cottage cheese mixture. I'll probably try it that way next time, and if it's good I'll report back.
Enjoy!
In Stuck Together by Mary Connealy, Tina Cahill is determined to get the town saloon to close, and though she spend much of her free time picketing the establishment, no one in the town seems to pay any attention to her. But Vince Yates notices Tina, and has for a long time. Then Vince's rathe shows up and leaves his mentally deteriorating mother and his sister, and Vince has more on his plate than he can handle. If he could just get past his fear that he might turn out like his parents, he might propose to Tina!
This book was just a fun, slightly humorous read! I liked Tina's character, and I thought her stubbornness was amusing. I thought the development of the romance between Tina and Vince was sweet, even though the characters were mostly confused about or trying to avoid their feelings through most of the book.
The story line flashes back and forth between Vince and Tina and Vince's friend, Luke. Since this is the third book in this series, I think I would understand and appreciate that part of the plot better if I had read the other two books first. Connealy makes several references to events that I assume occurred in the other two books, so if you were interested in reading this book, I might suggest picking up the first two books to fill in the gaps.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, especially the quirky, colorful characters. The plot was interesting enough, even though I hadn't read the other books before picking up this one. If you like light-hearted western romances, I'd say this might be one to check out.
Note: I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
I have read a few of Lis Wiehl's books before, and I've enjoyed every one I've read so far. A Deadly Business was no exception!
Mia Quinn is struggling to balance it all since her husband Scott died in a car crash months ago. But when she finds out his death may have been murder, and as she unravels some of Scott's deceptions, her life may be in danger as well.
I read the first book in the Mia Quinn series a couple years ago, so I was excited to read another book in this series. I could empathize with Mia's character as a mom, and I felt like her struggles to balance taking care of her children with her work life were believable.
Wiehl incorporates a couple different plots in this book, the investigation into Scott's murder, and a trial she is working on that involves three juveniles. I felt like the two plot lines were balanced really well, and both were interesting. There is also a subtle romantic triangle developing in the book, and I am curious to see how it plays out. I can't even decide who I want to root for because I thought all of the characters were likable (but I think I'm going with Charlie - we shall see).
The ending was exciting and not something I was expecting. Wiehl is great at suspense and knows how to write a good climax. I really enjoyed this book! I'm already looking forward to the next book in this series.
Note: I received this book for free from Booklook in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
If you have ever read any of Shaunti Feldhahn's books, you know they are based on surveys she conducts, and then she tells us the results in a book. That is the same way she wrote this book - she interviewed 1000 of the happiest married couples she found, and she shares their "secrets" in The Surprising Secrets Of Highly Happy Marriages.
As I was reading each chapter, it felt like I was having epiphany after epiphany. The book shares twelve of the "secrets" of the happiest couples, and I felt like each one was such good, commonsense advice. At the same time, a lot of the secrets weren't things that I had even thought about before.
I kept thinking of things that I could do better through each chapter, but what I liked best was that each of these tips is so doable. These aren't vague ideas, they are solid tips that are spelled out very clearly, and there are clear ways to apply them either in action or attitude. They are all relatively easy to apply as well - I like that! As the subtitle says, these are little things that I can already see would make a big difference in the level of happiness in marriage.
Shaunti recommends picking one or two secrets to work on at one time, instead of trying to do all of them at once, and I think that is good advice - I was trying to remember all of them through the first half of the book and quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to change everything all at once. So I picked two of the secrets - "Happy Couple Keep Score" and "Happy Couples Think They Hit The Jackpot". Those are the two I'm going to focus on for the first few weeks of trying to apply what I learned here. I think I'll probably have to write more posts about this - I'm definitely feeling inspired after reading this book. Who doesn't want to be as happy as possible in their marriage?
I also really appreciated how positive this book is about marriage - happy marriages aren't something you just have if you are lucky, in most cases it is something you can achieve with a little effort. I think this would be inspiring to couples who may be currently struggling, and encouraging and helpful to couples who want to make their marriages as good as they can be.
This is probably one of the best marriage books I have ever read. If you are married, or hope to be married someday, you should definitely check it out!
Read the first chapter here.
Note: I received this book in ebook and print format for free from Blogging For Books in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
As I was reading each chapter, it felt like I was having epiphany after epiphany. The book shares twelve of the "secrets" of the happiest couples, and I felt like each one was such good, commonsense advice. At the same time, a lot of the secrets weren't things that I had even thought about before.
I kept thinking of things that I could do better through each chapter, but what I liked best was that each of these tips is so doable. These aren't vague ideas, they are solid tips that are spelled out very clearly, and there are clear ways to apply them either in action or attitude. They are all relatively easy to apply as well - I like that! As the subtitle says, these are little things that I can already see would make a big difference in the level of happiness in marriage.
Shaunti recommends picking one or two secrets to work on at one time, instead of trying to do all of them at once, and I think that is good advice - I was trying to remember all of them through the first half of the book and quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to change everything all at once. So I picked two of the secrets - "Happy Couple Keep Score" and "Happy Couples Think They Hit The Jackpot". Those are the two I'm going to focus on for the first few weeks of trying to apply what I learned here. I think I'll probably have to write more posts about this - I'm definitely feeling inspired after reading this book. Who doesn't want to be as happy as possible in their marriage?
I also really appreciated how positive this book is about marriage - happy marriages aren't something you just have if you are lucky, in most cases it is something you can achieve with a little effort. I think this would be inspiring to couples who may be currently struggling, and encouraging and helpful to couples who want to make their marriages as good as they can be.
This is probably one of the best marriage books I have ever read. If you are married, or hope to be married someday, you should definitely check it out!
Read the first chapter here.
Note: I received this book in ebook and print format for free from Blogging For Books in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
In Undetected by Dee Hendreson, submarine commander Mark Bishop comes back from his three month patrol at sea to meet up with his friend's younger sister - "Gina the Genius". Gina Grey has been working on sonar science for most of her adult life, and she makes several new discoveries that can contribute to the safety - or the danger - of the submarines like the ones where Mark and her brother spend most of their time. As these discoveries are handled by the Navy she finds herself more in the company of Bishop, and feelings begin to grow.
I liked this book - it was interesting to read, and I was impressed with how much in-depth information Henderson included about submarines and sonar. She really seemed to know what she was talking about, and the breakthroughs that Gina discovers in the books were interesting. I found myself wondering if these were real discoveries or if Henderson had just made them up!
I liked the way the romance developed between the two main characters. I will say that I was somewhat annoyed with Mark's character during the first part of the book when Gina is dating someone else. He goes out of his way to be fair to the other guy, and I found myself getting irritated with him. Hasn't he ever heard of "it's all fair in love and war"? Go get the girl, don't be setting her up to spend more time with your rival! But I suppose it was honorable, and it all works out in the end anyway.
I enjoyed the way the plot and all of Gina's scientific discoveries came together in the end to avert a crisis - I thought it tied the whole book together nicely. The romance story was also finished off nicely at the end of the book. Henderson also cleverly inserted some characters from one of her previous books into this story, and now I'm curious to go back and read that one as well! I'm looking forward to reading more from this series!
Note: I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for this review. This is my honest opinion.
After my unexpectedly quick labor with Gwen, I knew I wanted to give birth naturally with Clyde. I knew I could do it, and I liked how easy my recovery was after Gwen, so I felt it would be less complicated to give birth without an epidural this time around. However, I also knew that I did not want to go the midwife/birthing center route - I have a good relationship with my OB-GYN, and I feel more comfortable in a hospital.
In preparation for giving birth naturally in a hospital I read a lot on the subject, and it was somewhat disheartening. A lot of natural birth resources seem to imply that it is nearly impossible to have a successful natural birth in a hospital setting. I don't believe that. Does it take some strategizing? Yes, I think so. Is it impossible? Not at all!
I am definitely not a natural childbirth expert (I don't have any problem with epidurals). I am not a midwife or a doula, I didn't give birth naturally with all of my babies, my babies were all average-sized, and my labors are short. I have it easy in a lot of ways, and I am sure there are a lot of ladies who would have better advice than I'm going to list here. But I wanted to share the things that helped me. Everyone is different, and I want to share my experience in the hope that something here will be helpful to someone else!
With that said, here are my tips on things you can do to help improve your chances of having a successful natural birth in a hospital setting.
1. Pick your hospital carefully. Not everyone has the option of multiple hospitals, but if you do, I think it's important to pick one that seems natural-birth friendly. I had a choice between two hospitals with this birth. One of them focused on the number of births they had per year and focused on the fact that an anesthesiologist was available 24/7. The other had a pre-admission program where you could go over your birth plan with the nurses, and birthing balls, a jetted tub, and aroma therapy were available. I obviously chose to deliver at the second hospital. There was a clear difference between the two hospitals, and I'm not sure my natural birth would have happened, at least not as smoothly, at the first hospital.
2. Don't go in too soon. This was tricky for me, because as most of you know, I have a history of quick, unpredictable labors! But in my labor with Clyde, my contractions did slow down considerably in the middle. I chose to walk around outside the hospital for a little while to make sure things were progressing before I went in. If I had gone in right away and my contractions had slowed down in the hospital, I think there would have been more of a push for Pitocin. Making sure my labor was well-established was definitely a help.
3. Ask the nurses not to mention the epidural. I was afraid that in the thick of labor I might give in if someone tried to convince me to get the epidural. I told the nurses that I knew an epidural was available, but I would rather they not mention it to me - if I wanted it, I would ask for it. They respected my wishes, which was a big help to me.
4. Don't get stuck in bed. When I gave birth the first time I had to be induced, and one of the worst parts was being stuck in bed, strapped down with the monitors and IV. This time I asked for the wireless monitors so I could move around. They put in an IV, but they didn't have me hooked up to it during my labor. Not being constrained was huge for me.
5. Ask to avoid unnecessary cervical checks. It can be frustrating to hear a lower number than you were expecting, and it gives everyone a (sometimes) unnecessary worry. Unless my labor was excessively long, I decided to ask to avoid cervical checks altogether. I could tell when I was going through transition, so getting constant updates before that point would have been distracting and discouraging to me.
6. Try to relax and focus on things other than your labor. With both of my natural births I had distractions during labor, and it made my labors seem to go by so much faster. Sitting in the hospital focusing on your pain with no distractions is not fun. We watched movies during my labor, and it was such a nice diversion! If your hospital doesn't provide movies, bring your laptop and some DVDs. Choose something funny and make jokes - I think laughing kept things happy and it helped me to relax.
7. Remember that the medical staff is not the enemy. You chose to give birth in a hospital for a reason - maybe because of certain complications, or maybe because you wanted trained medical staff to be available in case there were complications. One of the books I read (Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel) said that in essence, you have hired the hospital staff to look for and treat any complications that arise - so you can't get upset when they try to do their job! Communicate your wishes, try to make sure they are on the same page that you are, get them on your team. Put your foot down if you have to, but try to do it in a nice way. Be flexible if a serious complication does arise. Remember that you chose to give birth in a hospital for a reason. It will go much smoother if you are friendly, and it will be a much better experience if you treat your caregivers like friends instead of enemies.
I am so grateful that my delivery went smoothly and I was blessed to be able to apply the above tips - I definitely know from experience that things don't always go so smoothly, and these tips aren't going to be practical for every situation. Labor can be so unpredictable, and things may not always turn out exactly like you want, no matter what you do. I think it's important to be flexible and not let it get to you too much if the unexpected happens. If things don't go as planned, se la vie, and it is okay.
However, having a strategy beforehand doesn't hurt, and I think doing these things definitely helped me toward my goal of having a natural birth in the hospital!
If anyone has anything to add, I'd love to read your tips below.
Note: I'm working on a post with the labor resources that I found useful - stay tuned!
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