Hospital vs Home Birth

Dare I write on this subject???

I've always opted for sharing recipes or craft ideas instead of other mommy/baby topics because I either feel like I am already too far on one side to objectively write about it..........or I just don't want to raise a controversy!

But with the topic of home births and hospital births, I am completely open on both sides.
When talking about this with people it's clear it's becoming just as hot an issue as natural vs pain med deliveries, bottle vs breastfeeding, co-sleeping vs self soothing, etc etc etc etc etc :) :)
It's so funny to me how us mom's can go from the few day's after having your sweet baby thinking "Do they know I have NO clue what I'm doing?!? Someone tell me what to do!" to a year later we are saying "oh.well. what you really need to be doing is this, this and this."

So here I am, completely in full support of both home births and hospital births !

With the birth of our first daughter we opted for an amazing "birth center" that was still within a hospital. So it was a great mix of both worlds. I had an amazing water birth with a midwife and doula by my side and I LOVED that.  ("Amazing" meaning memorable/quick/no complication.....not because I enjoy labor AT ALL. In fact my dad so nicely informed me later they could hear me when they parked their car....... embarrassing much?)  My husband enjoyed the fact that we were still technically in a hospital for that rare chance that something would be needed.

But with our second baby coming we have been looking at all the options over again. I know some people are hard core home birth people and other's are completely the opposite -- they want to be IN a hospital maybe even hooked up to meds ASAP :)  Again -- no judgement on either side!

We began this pregnancy opting for a hospital closer to home because I really want our daughter and family to easily come visit and while I knew it would be far from the experience I had before I figured since it was my second I could handle it without the support of a doula and midwife. While.......as the weeks draw on and I talk more with my Dr I am getting increasingly frustrated and anxious about how they do things and how they are already pushing drugs (even though I have informed them I have done this once without! They know best for the mom.....hmmmm).

So back we went to looking at other places which led us to tour a birth center this past week. At the birth center you are basically having a home birth, just at the center instead. You go home VERY shorty after and continue your postpartum care there. While I know I would LOVE the birth experience at this center, I honestly can't imagine getting back in my car 3 hours after delivering and doing my own postpartum care. I would feel better about that decision if I knew the midwife was coming to at least check on things the next day but their policy is 2 days later......which to us just seems like a long time for no one to check the vitals on mom or baby since delivering.

I LOVE and fully support my friend's decisions to have home birth's but it is not quite for us at this time. I think it's a great choice for healthy, normal pregnancies with a  mom and midwife who are willing and open to medical intervention IF ever needed. I DO have a problem with it when I feel like people make that choice simply because they "hate hospitals" or "doctors are stupid".......I mean come one.......both are used daily to save and help people!

While choosing a home birth is perfectly normal and safe it must be with a willingness to accept that you are not "super mom" who will never need any help or intervention and that above all, your baby's health comes before your ideals. But it's unfortunate that the other option is then a traditional hospital birth where you feel completely out of your comfort zone and that very little of what goes on is up to you. You have an IV (for what reason again???), restrictions on food and drink, when you can leave, where you can delivery, how you  can delivery, what your baby needs, etc. Not to mention that your prenatal care often consists of rushed OB appointments and far from the care you get from a personal midwife.

I guess I am just wishing there could be some kind of compromise in the middle! The only place I know like that is where we delivered our first and at this point it's looking like we will go back there again......1 1/2 hours away. With my first labor under 5 hours I am hoping this one is quick too but not so quick we can't make it :)

I'll have to call ahead and yell "fill up the tub!!!!"

What concerns/considerations did you have when you chose Where and How to have your baby?
I am curious to hear people's thoughts on this subject! 

Tortilla Soup

I LOVE tortilla soup! It's chicken soup with the best kick possible! I love the combination of tart lime juice, sweet tomatoes and spicy broth. Yum! 

Here's the basic "recipe" I use. Soup never seems to need a recipe, just throw stuff in and if it needs more favor go for it! If you were heavy on the salt add more water, no prob!

First start with a great broth....homemade! Throw a chicken carcass (like from a roasted or rotisserie chicken) some cut up onion, carrots, celery and spices with water and just boil for hours. Strain and you're ready to go!

For tortilla soup start with sauteing carrots and onion together till slightly soft. Try to always add your seasonings for soup in this stage so it can adhere to your veggies.

Add some Cumin, chili powder, chopped garlic and salt. 

Next add in a can of black beans, tomatoes broth and shredded cooked chicken. I also add some corn, salsa and lemon juice for that tartness at this point :) 

Save any stock you don't use in the fridge!

If you have left over corn tortillas cut them in small strips and fry in olive oil, drain on a paper towel.

Top with green onion, lime juice, avo and cilantro!

Ummmmmm YUM! 

Add your own variations and toppings like green chilis, sour cream and cheese!

24 week update!

How far along - 24 weeks 2 days!!

Weight Gain - 11 pounds..........I will definitely gain more this pregnancy. OH well 

Morning sickness/nausea - Gone!!!!!!!!! Praise God!

Physical changes - ummmm belly bigger every day lol!  belly button flat now and....well.....my arms and rear or getting larger every day too. grrr!

Pain - Bad varicose veins in my right leg so swollen they are burning hot and very painful :( A hernia on my left side is bad too but it's all worth it!


Sleep - Pretty good, although Juliana's molars are making sleep very difficult :( Once I get her down again then I have to go to the bathroom, get comfortable, etc. Then she wakes up an hour later crying :( Till the time for teeth I guess.

Stretchmarks - Nope, no new ones at least!

Maternity clothes -  Both! A few maternity pants and some regular (stretchy!) jeans still

Food cravings/aversions - No aversions yay!! Finally!!! Loving lettuce wraps every day and anything cold -- frozen grapes :) 

Eating/drinking - I eat ALL. THE. TIME. Although I'm getting into that stage where I can't eat much without feeling super tight and uncomfortable. 

Boy or Girl - BOY BOY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lowlights of the week - unfortunately found out after my 20 (well 23 weeks for me) ultrasound that my placenta is very low lying :( We are praying it raises up as I grow but would appreciate your prayers as well! I would love for it to obviously move out of the way enough to take placenta previa out of the picture completely but also to move alllll the way up so I can have a normal delivery without concerns. 

Highlights of the week - All his kicks, I love him

Anything to add - Any mommy's of 2 or more kids I have a question for you! Our little man will obviously be in our room for several months but after that we can't decide if we should put him in the same room with our (then will be 22 month old) or if he needs his own room so he doesn't wake her up as well ........ cause trust me, he will NOT be sleeping without a feeding all night when he's 4 months old lol. what have you all done?!?

Pretty sure the"Terrible 2's" start at 18 months!

I feel like I have spent so much time lately just trying to "get through" this age/stage with Juliana. It suddenly dawned on me that with that mindset I was losing track of these fun days with her because I was letting the tantrums and teething and her sudden independence consume my mind. 

19 month olds are FUN! 

Yes this stage has been hard for us (and I think everyone!).....mainly because our little ones begin to want to communicate with us but can't really talk yet so the result = frustration [from both of us], tantrums [thankfully just her though I have been tempted], screaming [I wait till alone with my pillow haha jk], pointing, grabbing, biting and everything in between right?

(this is me being a horrible parent for giving her breakfast.....lol)

But I found that I was constantly thinking to myself "ok.....we just need to get through this stage and we're good" instead of taking each tantrum and meltdown in strite and seeing the bigger picture.

YES it is exhausting to wake up every night often time for hours due to teething, YES it is embarrassing to have your child kick and scream and meltdown in the line at walmart (and it's ok to cry when you get to the car too!), YES it is draining to never know why your child is constantly whining and clingy, and YES it hard to collapse in bed every night because you are completely done!
 BUT the bigger picture is this -- Everything is for a season. 

I LOVE my days with her. I can't be frustrated with her for needing me to teach her how not to behave. My mama did it for me! Of course Jules' needs instruction and discipline she's learning what is and isn't ok. I know this is basic knowledge but for some reason it's a realization to me when I realized how worn down I was from the constant pull on me to figure out what she is trying to communicate, what is wrong and how I can fix it! 

I don't want to be "getting through" each day that I miss all the fun and adorable stuff she is doing.

Toddlers = Fun and that's the truth! How adorable is all their effort to copy your words and imitate all the little things you do!

Everything from wanting to "help" you stir the cake batter, emptying your just folded towels to "wipe the floor" and EVERYTHING else they do to be just like mommy!

If you're in this stage with me I encourage you to enjoy your days with your little one! These days will very soon be the past. Sometimes that's a relief but other times I realize how much I'll miss her little hand always grabbing mine and wanting ME to help her with everything. Plus ......she pulls of ADORABLE better than anyone I know!

This week recap!

I have been too busy to blog lately :( Here's a recap of our fun week!!!

 We did LOTS of walking this week. Homemade Popsicles and great weather :) 

23 weeks last week! Yea! Feeling big but oh well there's a baby in there!

An unexpected rainy few days put me in the mood for yummmmmy soup! I always make the same kinds of soup -- usually a clear broth so I made some chicken dumpling soup from scratch. 

A---mazing. 

We finally found out FOR SURE we are having a BOY! Yea yea yea we are so excited! 

My nieces and nephews helping reveal! 

ENJOY your week!!!!