Books I Read in 2015

This is my second year of tracking the books I've read throughout the year. Book series have taken over 12 of my 32 books this year, so I've spent a lot of time with a few choice characters -I'm looking at you Anne, Harry and Tris. 

Thoughts on Anne books:
I've been inspired by Anne.  I especially love her enjoyment of trees and her stubborn will to befriend crabby people.  Listening to the first couple books on audiobook was gold, because the plots were already familiar from the movies and were filled with unexpected humor.  I had to stop doing audiobooks at Anne of the Island because I didn't want the good love story parts to go too quickly, and I LOVED Anne's description of college and those uniquely diverse friendships. Each Anne book feels slow at the beginning as I try to discern what kind of story arc will come.  Inevitably at the end of each book I'm so attached to the setting and characters that I'm sad it's over.  I still have three books left in the series, which will definitely be a part of my 2016 reading.

Thoughts on Re-reading Harry Potter:
The first time I read HP I definitely rushed to see what was going to happen, and it's really nice to take my time through interesting details and connections during this re-read.  The creativity and side characters are a lot of fun. The second time through I'm finding extra affection for Hagrid and McGonagall, who are present in the movies but even more present in the books.  Sigh.  And Ginny in the books is so much spicier than the movie version.  One more book to go here...

Thoughts on Tris (from the Divergent series, Mom):
Ugh. Well. She inspired me to try the ropes course at the Mall of America.  And in general, I love that she's strong and willing to face her fears.  A lot of other things about these books and Tris's character were frustrating but I read them so I can be informed about the movies.  I thought the movie Insurgent was actually way better than the book, and completely different than the book.  So, whatever.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling
The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
Young House Love, by Sherry and John Petersik
A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael, by Elizabeth Elliot
Unbroken, by Laura Hildebrand
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Letters to My Children, by Daniel Taylor
Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell, by Jennifer Graham and Rob Thomas*
Insurgent, by Veronica Roth
Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink
Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
Allegiant, by Veronica Roth
Anne of Avonlea, by Lucy Maud Montgomery*
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo
Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan*
Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown
Something Fresh, by P.G. Wodehouse*
Paper Towns, by John Green
Still Life, by Louise Penny*
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doeer
Anne of the Island, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith*
Anne of Windy Poplars, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie*
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling*
The Martian, by Andy Weir
Anne's House of Dreams, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling

*Audiobook through Audible

Worst, most horrible and gross book: Gone Girl 
Best History: In the Heart of the Sea & Unbroken (lots of starving on life rafts all around!)
Most Delightful and Light-hearted: Caddie Woodlawn (it helps that I read it floating in the pool) and Where'd You Go Bernadette and Something Fresh (which I listened to while vacuuming the pool)
Strangest: Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore
Most Socially Conscious: Americanah (learned about the important feeling of "choicelessness" and how American's tend to take tomorrow for granted - also the audio accents were beautiful)
Most Teeny-Bopper: Paper Towns (little too disillusioned for me) and Insurgent/Allegiant
Spiritually Encouraging: The Last Battle & A Chance to Die
Meatiest and SO WORTH IT: All the Light We Cannot See & A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I'm looking forward to more Louise Penny mystery books in the coming year, Still Life was good, but I've been told they get amazing around the 4th book in the series.

My Audible subscription supplies me with one book per month, which helps provide excitement to wash dishes, vacuum the pool and pick up the house.  That's become my recharge introvert time.  Another series I want to re-read is the Lord of the Rings - so the Fellowship of the Ring is my next audiobook.

Other notable reading resources:
1. http://www.hclib.org/ Reserving books online, and picking them up at my library
2. Modern Mrs Darcy's Summer Reading List
3. Read-Aloud Revival Podcast

Here's to enjoying books in 2016! Please comment with any recommendations!

P.S.
Our favorite TV shows of 2015 were probably:
Longmire
Broadchurch
Parks & Rec
Brooklyn 99
Survivor & Amazing Race
Fixer Upper

P.S.S.
I've recently started reading chapter books out loud with Gwen before her afternoon quiet time.  Our first book was Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty McDonald which made her laugh but I thought was just ok.  We've also started and set aside: The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, and Paddington by Michael Bond.  Right now we're devouring My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett which is just perfect (thanks Aunt Jill!) and we will definitely finish it.

Here are some of my favorite books for Simon:
Trucks, Planes, Boats, Trains all by Byron Barton *love these!
The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood
Quiet, Loud and Big, Little by Leslie Patricelli
The Going to Bed Book and Moo, Baa, La, La, La by Sandra Boynton

Time to Move

Why NOT sell your house and move to Bloomington for a house with a pool?

• We love living in Minneapolis! 
• So close to beautiful Lake Nokomis, biking, Minnehaha Falls and Parkway, diverse people and food options, light rail and public transportation, museums, concerts, plays, Fort Snelling, Downtown, three parks for our kids within walking distance, library, bank, post office all in our neighborhood, quick drive to the airport to pick up friends, doesn't take long to drive anywhere outside the city.
• We love our house. We've made a lot of changes here like updating kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, building a sweet pergola and patio, finishing the basement etc...  Even when we first moved in I often told Bert I wanted to live here forever because it's such a special house.
• The kids are young, (four and one) and we are BUSY.
• I've been battling the emotional roller coaster of depression these past few years. I transitioned off of medicine, thinking I was better, but have still had many days of heaviness and difficulty.  I was feeling exhausted with daily life and wasn't sure this was a good time for a major life change.

Why sell your house and move to Bloomington for a house with a pool?

• We've always talked about the dream of having a pool one day.  We often talk about our dreams for the future on date nights, and it almost always comes up.  Oh the allure of the after-dinner swim on those hot July nights!
• The kids are young.  They aren't rooted in schools here yet.  And it's possible we will be sending them to school in Bloomington because they have such great schools there.
• The kids are young.  They could get major, major hours of fun swimming in the pool at these young and rambunctious ages.  Let's make as many memories as we can before time flies away.
• The kids are young.  In the new neighborhood they will be able to ride their bikes on the street and play around nearby Nine Mile Creek in the prime of their childhood.
• We love new projects, and the new house is FULL of potential cosmetic changes.  Nothing has been updated inside the house (avocado green kitchen sink, six rooms of outdated wallpaper), but the backyard is pristine and perfect.
• The exterior and backyard are awesome.  Huge pool. Hot tub, Eating area outside which is only steps away from the kitchen counter. Basketball half-court. New retaining walls with perennials. Front porch to sit and watch sunsets from. Nice roof and siding and windows etc.
• All bedrooms are on the same level with two bathrooms.
• Great for hospitality and entertaining.  We can't wait to have our discipleship group and all our friends and family over to swim!
• It would be awesome to have the house where our kids and their friends want to gather, because then we can know their friends and know they are hanging out in a good environment.
• There is a beautiful and secluded nature trail that starts down the street and winds around a calm pond area.  There is another trail that goes to Nine Mile Creek and a fantastic elementary school.
• Well-established neighborhood that doesn't have through traffic, so the streets are calm and safe and all the neighbors know each other.
• We agreed on our core values when we got married, and while we might need to update those since becoming parents, two of our core values are being ADVENTUROUS and HOSPITALITY. 

So.  All this to say.  We're doing it.  Putting our beloved Minneapolis house on the market and moving to Bloomington.  We haven't been planning this all along, but just have felt stirred lately to look at the possibility of moving.  We didn't even plan on looking that far south, but just looked at this house on a whim.  Then we walked out and said, "now what?" because we realized that was the dream house and we needed to decide what we were doing.  After much talking through the above points, we decided to make an offer and it was accepted.

I've been amazed to see how God has used this life change in a healing way for my mind and heart.  Since making the offer on the house, I have experienced such a healing distraction and peace on my mind.  You'd think I'd be more overwhelmed with the tasks before me, but I've felt much more myself and up for tackling the work ahead.  I'm so excited about the future instead of dreading the upcoming days.  What amazing grace.  God has been answering our prayers for my healing and helping me each day to lift my heart out from under the dark cloud.

I am overwhelmed by the unspeakable grace that this move is to our future life as a family.  We have a lot to learn about pool care, but we are up for it.  Hope you can come over and swim!

2014 in Books and Misc Details

For the first time in my life, I tracked my reading all year long.  2014 was the year of throwing out my rule about reading nonfiction in between every fiction book.  Life is too short.  And winters are too long.  I'm still reading some non-fiction, but not MAKING myself do it as frequently.  I read mostly for enjoyment in 2014 and branched out with some new genres.  It was really fun!  I also let myself endeavor in multiple books at one time. Watch out world!  My love for reading is totally revived.

Most impactful:
*Bread and Wine, by Shauna Niequist - Inspired me to try making risotto and ultimately enjoy cooking for my people so much more!
*Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell - Even though it was mostly just a fun read (SO FUN), it changed how I think about what it must feel like to grow up without supportive parents.  Like how she has to wash her jeans in the bathtub and exists without privacy.  Eye opening about real-life poverty.
*The Nesting Place, by Myquillyn Smith - Inspired me to create beauty in my home and be safe to make mistakes.  It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!

Most enjoyable:
*Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier - Spooky!  Loved it!
*The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion - Out of the box for me.  I love the bar-tending scene so much!  Hilarious.
*Parnassus on Wheels, by Christopher Morley - Short and oh so sweet.

ALL BOOKS READ in 2014:
Empire of Bones: Ashtown Burials #3 by N.D. Wilson
Divergent, by Veronica Roth
The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton
*Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
*Bread and Wine, by Shauna Niequist
*The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion
Don't Make Me Count to Three, by Ginger Plowman
*Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller
Lifter of My Head, by Susan McRoberts
Maisie Dobbs, by Jaqueline Winspear
Birds of a Feather (Maisie Dobbs #2), by Jaqueline Winspear
*Parnassus on Wheels, by Christopher Morley
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis
Europe Through the Back Door, by Rick Steves
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling
The Paper Magician, by Charlie N. Homberg
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
*The Nesting Place, by Myquillyn Smith

Unfinished:
Notes from a Blue Bike, by Tsh Oxenrider
The Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling
Made for More, by Hannah Anderson


FAVORITE BLOGS of 2014:
Rachel Schultz - Not only did she teach me how to make killer pad thai, I love how she talks about faith.
Modern Mrs Darcy - She inspires my reading life and I love her stuff on personality
Nesting Place - I was reading her blog for a year before I read her book.  Let go of perfection!

FAVORITE Netflix SHOWS of 2014:
Foyle's War
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Longmire

FAVORITE MEALS of 2014:
Pad Thai
Risotto
Slow Cooker Chicken Tostadas

Our Joey's Day

Two years have passed since I held my second baby's tiny body in the palm of my hand, and a few hours later we buried him under the tree.  Two years have passed since my life and faith and heart really got rocked, and God began a work in my heart which is long from finished.  A longing for heaven and an acquaintance with grief.  A deep knowing that this is not how it was meant to be.  And a hope for the day when all things are made new.  We called him Joey in part because Joseph never knew God's plan while he waited out those years in a gross Egyptian prison.  He didn't know about his part in God's story.  But he had a part.

And even though we don't know why, we know God is telling a good story.  And Joey has a part in ours.  We love you and miss you Joey!

Naming Simon

Everyone has their own preferences for baby naming.  Exploring baby names is super fascinating to me, so I thought I would share how we came up with the name Simon Keith for our sweet boy.  Boy names are much more difficult than girl names, in my opinion, because it seems like there are less options. You can't get away with random flower names or just pretty sounding names And you want it to be something that is masculine enough to put on a business card someday, just in case he wants to be a business man.  

Here was our criteria (no judgement to other mindsets!):

-Easy to spell correctly upon hearing

-Obviously a boy name

-Has to exist in history, not made up

-Not in the top 100 of the social security website

-Not a long name with a short nickname, but just one name

We started assembling "the list" last summer.  We had a few favorite ideas starting out but none of them seemed to make the final cuts because they were all too popular.  I emptied the library shelf of baby naming books and took them to the lake the day after our gender-determining ultrasound.  We read three of them cover to cover, boy names only of course.  Over time we each chose our favorites and narrowed down our list through many debates.

I remember being on the dock at Dee and Barry's when I first came across Simon.  Beth was sitting with me and I asked her how many Simon's she knew in her years of preschool and kindergarten teaching.  She had only ever known one and he was a very cool and funny kid. 

I loved a few things about the name immediately.  It met all our criteria, and it is derived from the Hebrew name Simeon which means "listener" or "he listens."  We hope that he grows into his name and has a soft heart to listen to God and other people.  I loved that it was classic and fresh.  It was also ranked at 255 so it was likely that there wouldn't be 3 other Simons in his class at school.  It was a winner!  Although, it took about three months for Bert and I to officially agree on it.  We had a few other favorites, which I'm not going to disclose yet, just in case.

The middle name Keith is in honor of Bert's dad Keith, and it's also his middle name (Daniel Keith).  I love it as a name and how it sounds with Simon. It's meaning has to do with woods, forest, and battleground.  Since Bert loves working with wood and being in the forest, it seems like a good fit there too.

Yay for Simon Keith!

Simon's Birth Story

I awoke at 4:15 am on my due date (12/4/13) with serious contractions coming 7 minutes apart.  I could tell these were more authentic than the random contractions I'd been experiencing the week prior. I started to get nervous about how fast labor might happen since I'd heard from many people that it goes faster the second time.  I envisioned having a baby in my arms by lunch time. Unfortunately, after a few hours contractions had slowed to every 10 minutes instead of getting closer together.  Then a few hours after that they were every 15 minutes, though still very intense when they occurred.  My parents came over to help care for Gwen as I labored, and Bert worked from home on his computer.  I was scurrying around the house packing hospital bags, Gwen's bag, rearranging furniture in our room to accommodate our old recliner and cleaning up any clutter in my path.  After I felt organized enough, I finally laid down to try and rest. I knew that labor would take all my strength and I needed to ration it carefully.

My memories pick back up that evening when I was feeling bummed that things still weren't moving quickly, but tired since I continued to have hard contractions every 10-15 minutes.  It was snowing heavily outside.  My mother in law came and got Gwen for the night so we could focus on labor.  I texted a few friends to ask for prayer that things would continue progressing and decided to try walking on the treadmill.  That did the trick!  My contractions got so intense when I was walking that I had to step to the side and breathe to get through each one.  At this point I had to start to make low humming noises while breathing, which is a pretty clear indicator of labor progressing.  I made myself go for about 30 minutes on the treadmill and went upstairs to eat a bowl of cereal. Contractions had increased to every 3-5 minutes. On my second bite of cheerios I stood up sharply and announced to Bert that it's time to leave for the hospital, now!  The pressure was moving lower and the pain was changing and I did not want to have a baby in the car!  I checked in with the midwife on call and we were on our way.

The ride to the hospital was extremely uncomfortable, and the roads were icy as it continued to snow.  It felt like I shouldn't even be sitting down since the baby's head was so low.  Thankfully we made it to St Joes, parked in the Emergency Room lot, and got taken up to the maternity floor asap.  I was feeling pretty good in between contractions, but during them I had to focus completely to get through.  My parents and our doula, Diedra, arrived soon after us.  I had asked my mom to be in the room with me for the birth, and Dad camped out in the waiting room.  Diedra started taking pictures which was such a sweet surprise since they always enhance memories for me and I didn't know she was planning to do that.  She also took notes on what happened at different times - another great surprise.  (Especially since I'm finally writing this out two months later.)



My contractions continued to be really intense but seemed to be spacing out. During the minutes in between contractions I felt simultaneously impatient for things to progress and thankful for a rest from the pain.  We walked the halls to keep things moving. I found lots of relief in doing low squats as I had practiced in yoga.  It was fun to have Diedra and my mom there to chat and be excited with.  Bert read me scripture to give me something to think about and to help calm my fears.  We spent a lot of time in Psalm 33 and I was meditating on verse 4 which said that "all his work is done in faithfulness." I kept telling myself that God was being faithful even in this crazy and beautiful process of childbirth.  And he was.  I was fighting to believe that truth and asking for peace to receive whatever was coming for this birth experience.

After I ran out of walking strength and ability, I spent time laboring in my hospital room.  Being on my hands and knees was necessary.  Our midwife, Kathleen, challenged me to take three contractions on the toilet which helps your hips open.  It was the last thing I wanted to do.  In fact I think I told her,"no way." But when she told me that would help things move along, I decided to just do it.  I did a lot of soul searching during those minutes in the bathroom.  The door was cracked so I could hear my mom, Diedra and Bert talking, but I felt alone with my thoughts and fears.  I was really afraid of the pushing phase, blood loss, tearing, recovery, all of it.  Gwen's birth was really scary for me at the end and I was afraid of those things happening again.  I was also afraid of the pain.  Because I'd done this before I knew how and why things might hurt.  I had to prayerfully admit these fears and ask God for strength.  I kept telling myself that "it's just pain."  Pain does weird things to my brain, but in the end it just hurts.  A person can certainly survive it.  I kept thinking "if I can do this pregnancy then I can do this birth!"  The pregnancy was much longer and harder than a few more hours of contractions and pushing out a baby.

After moving back into the room, I spent a few minutes admitting my fears to Bert and Diedra and asking them to pray for me.  I remember being really disappointed that things weren't moving quickly as I was expecting them to, and asking them to also pray for patience to withstand the pain for longer than I hoped for.

I was also asking Bert to distract me by telling me specific memories from our Mexico vacation last year.  Anything to keep my brain busy other than panicking about pain.  We discussed fruity drinks by the pool, fountains, palm trees, and the sound of feet squeaking through sand.  He made me laugh when he said that I was "a Superwoman ...but not a warrior mama."  :)  They call you Warrior Mamas all the time at yoga class and it's funny to me so this made me laugh in the moment.  He also called me "president of the tough club" which is another joke because we use the "tough club" to try and get Gwen to stop crying.



At 9:45 my midwife checked me and I had progressed from a 4 to a 6 in a little less than two hours.  I was hoping for a water birth and she said it would be ok for me to get in the tub at this point if I wanted to.  I did!  I remember sitting on the exercise ball and leaning forward onto Bert's lap while waiting for the tub to fill up.  That was one of my more comfortable positions.

We walked down the hall and got in the tub.  The warm water was so helpful in staying relaxed.  I moved around a lot to get my body in the right position. After all that yoga practice, moving felt good and I had ideas about what "hip-openers" would look like to help this baby get out.  Diedra was really encouraging during each contraction saying "you got this!" and "you know just what to do" and "you're doing great" and reminding me to keep my legs wide and relax my legs etc.  She was also keeping me really well hydrated, even though I didn't want to drink anything.  She is very convincing.  I felt really nauseous and was clinging to the blue puking bag because I didn't know when things would come up.  I was sure they would, but they never actually did.  Bert was playing me music on my phone softly almost the whole time but after awhile I didn't like any of the songs playing and think I just asked him to turn it off.



I got out of the tub once to empty my bladder and my whole body started shaking, which made me think I was going through transition.  Kathleen told me I could start pushing whenever I felt the urge to and she didn't need to check me unless I wanted her to.  I decided to ask her to check me anyway because I was so nervous about pushing and it would help to have a clear green light of 10 cm before I started.  I was at 8 cm.  I was feeling tired and started to think an epidural sounded nice.  Better than nice.  Amazing.  Just a break from the pain.  Diedra assured me that meant I would be done soon, and encouraged me that I was doing great.  Somehow I dug deep and kept going.  I knew it would be more trouble than it was worth to quit and get an epidural since I was close to the finish line.

Things started getting even more intense and I was making low humming noises during each contraction, trying to keep my jaw and body loose, and breathing deeply.  Bert read me Psalm 33 again.  Lights were low.  My mom was standing nearby but I couldn't look at anyone.  I scooted around the tub as needed finding myself clinging to one side and then the other.  I started flirting with little pushes and then felt a big pop of pressure.  I said, "what the heck was that?!" and was told that it was my water breaking.  Diedra and Kathleen cheered that it the water was clear which meant good things for the baby's health.  My body started doing some serious pushing, starting from higher in my stomach than I expected, and gradually moving lower.  I was laying/floating on my back with my elbows resting on the indented shelves.  I couldn't stop thinking about how crazy it is that this is the way babies are born, as in they out of you-know-where.  Crazy.  I still think that.  But it works.  Even crazier.

This was the part that I think of when people ask, "how did everything go?"  I think about the part where I was floating on my back and feeling my hips shake with #10 pain as I pushed with all my might to get to the end of this birth.  Kathleen said to me once, "I know this is really intense, but you will need to push through the intensity before you will get to the end."  I was ready for it to end, so I started pushing like it was my job.  Crowning happened.  Then I felt his head go back in.  No!!  I remember imagining his head with dark hair while I was pushing even though before I had guessed he'd be another redhead. Tissues were surrendered to meeting my baby (sigh). Burning! His head emerged and I was surprised by how it took another 2-3 contractions for me to get his body out too.  People say the body is supposed to just slide out afterwards - not true!  I felt like he was huge!  Finally, Kathleen lifted him up and onto my chest. Simon came into the world with a huge hug.  His arms were wrapped around me and he was screaming, mouth open and eyes squinted closed as he turned red.  He had dark hair! And he was out!  This is the moment that is impossible to describe.  So much wonderfulness to hold a slippery, warm, person that I had been holding all along. I already knew him, but now he was really here!



*A note on water-birth.  Babies don't breathe until they hit the air, so they don't swallow any water in the tub.  They live in fluid until they are born, so being born into a tub is really natural feeling for them and not weird at all.  The pressure of the water is also said to help with tearing and pain management for Moms.

Because I had problems with the placenta after Gwen (and after both miscarriages) I was still worried about stage 3 of the labor.  After about ten minutes of holding Simon on my chest in the tub, many hands helped me climb out and onto the nearby hospital bed.  There was a doctor on alert in case things got tricky, and I was given a shot of pitocin in the leg to help with extra hard contractions to get that thing out! My mom stood by my head and was a great comfort to me during this part.  Bert was holding Simon skin-to-skin.  I was scared and overwhelmed by the rush of physical pain and all the emotions of birth that I started crying and shaking.  Thankfully after a couple hard pushes, and tension on the cord from Kathleen, my placenta was delivered whole and safely.  I was so relieved.  I even found the nerve to look at it, even though I'd never seen one before and thought I never would want to.  It was so fascinating!  It was bigger than I expected and I saw the huge vein pattern on it that they called "the tree of life."  God is so smart.  Then came the stitches which were tough because even though there was a numbing shot, I wasn't numb enough.  In the end I only needed 4 stitches which was a vast improvement from Gwen's birth.  The water really helped!

After stitches and a decent try at nursing, I asked the nurses to weigh Simon.  He was 9 lb, 2 oz and 21" long!  I felt so validated that he was a big baby since I had thought he was big when I was carrying him.



In the end, I am really satisfied with how Simon's birth went down.  God was very gracious to give an uncomplicated birth, and even though the pushing was really hard it only lasted about 20 minutes.  I felt so incredibly supported by Kathleen, the nurses, Diedra, my mom, and especially Bert through the whole thing.  I loved that I never felt like anyone else was taking charge, rushing, or bossing me around.  I was given the freedom and trust to birth my baby, and I was amazed to find that my body really knew exactly what to do to get him out.  Even though the pain was present, there was much less stress, fear, and surprise than I experienced in Gwen's birth.  And the pain had so much purpose in bringing me Simon.  I am really thankful that everything went well, and for the precious people who were with me.

Deidra's Notes:

BABY BOY E!
Midwife - Kathleen, Nurse #1 - Cathy, Nurse #2 - Sheila

7:15 pm - arrived at the hospital
8:00 pm - 4 cm, 80% effaced, -1 station. You were glowing. Looked so young & beautiful!
8:15 pm - walked the halls for a half hour.  You still had smile on your face, but contractions quickly became more intense.
8:40 pm - came back to room. Couldn't get comfortable. Tried bed (hands and knees, side-lying), and took three hard contractions on the toilet.  You prefer to MOVE!
9:45 pm - 6 cm, 90% effaced, 0 station YES! you can get in the tub! While waiting for it to fill you enjoyed story hour on the toilet. Stories of Mexico from Bert. "President of the tough club." "You are super woman, but not a warrior!" Feeling more comfortable on ball and resting on Bert's lap.
10:30 pm - you got in the big tub and relaxed instantly
11:15 pm - felt first urge to push.  went to bathroom.
11:30 pm - baby super low. checked in at 8 cm.
12:00 am - contractions just got a lot more intense! Bert read scripture to help you stay focused.
12:27 am - water broke "What the heck was that?"
12:30 am - you started pushing at the peak of each contraction
12:40 am - you really started pushing! "This is crazy!"
1:00 am, 12/5/13 BABY BOY is here!
1:13 am - placenta is out! Praise Jesus!
(You never threw up. You always knew what to do. You dominated!)