A New Chapter...

    So much has happened since my last post! Brandon had a great 6 months in Clifton as an independent contractor at Bosque Valley Chiropractic with Dr. Bergren and we even had the opportunity to purchase the other chiro office in Clifton, but as the last minute the owner backed out. We were pretty bummed, but at that moment I told Brandon what I had been holding in for the past months...that I really didn't feel like Clifton was going to be our home for forever. Let me back up and say, we moved to Clifton after Brandon was told by the company he was working for in Dallas that they would be transferring him to work with Neuro surgeons, but that he wouldn't be able to adjust. Keep in mind that this was when I was 37 weeks pregnant. Stress is not a good thing when you are trying to make progress and have a baby!         We prayed about it and knew that we were not supposed to stay and work in Clifton. Dr. Bergren was more than generous to let Brandon work out his office on the days/hours he was not there. When the purchase of the other office didn't work out we had a decision to make. We could either use the money that we had to build our Clifton office, or we could use it as a down payment to purchase our dream practice.  We decided that a practice in Clifton, a town that already had 2 established Chiropractors, could most likely only grow so much. We felt like we needed to look at Motion Chiropractic in Austin. So, on January 14, all 3 of us headed down to Austin to take a look at the office.  We had prayed about it and asked the Lord to make it clear if this was what he wanted for us. It was a rainy, cold day but after looking at Motion Chiropractic and meeting the owners, who were just a bright and cheerful as the office, we really felt this was the practice for us. Not only is the practice very successful, the doctors had the same philosophy on health and Chiropractic as we do. To top things off, we would be able to live on the 2nd and 3rd floor above the office! Little did we know that it would take 6 months to secure financing. The last 6 months have been a roller coaster of valleys and peaks, to say the least. Not only were we trying to purchase a new business, but we were also living with family, and raising a sweet baby boy. We were so blessed to have family to live with during our time of transition, it took many burdens away that we would have added to the stress that we were dealing with. It is hard enough to try and purchase a house these days, but to purchase a business, with all the lovely government SBA guidelines ,it is almost impossible. This is especially true when you have the student debt from Chiropractic school and only half a year of experience practicing. In the beginning, our broker said,  if we were able to pull this off, we would be the first in 10 years, that had not been out of school for over 2 years, to get this large of a loan. I guess my wonderfully, stubborn husband took this as a challenge and we went in head first. A lot happened that is just too much to go into, but long story short...we found a bank in California that would work with docs that have been out of school for less than 2 years and have less than the usually recommended $100,000 to put down. How in the world is the average American supposed to be able to open a business, and have the drive to do so, but wait! You must know someone or just happen to have that kind of money lying around. Brandon sent the packet of around 100 pages to Cali and we waited. Unfortunately it seemed like every time we had to wait around on underwriting, it was a 3 day weekend. We were getting pretty discouraged.        A few Sundays ago at church, I was holding Nolan while he slept, so Brandon went down to get some prayed with. He told the guy at the front we were having a hard time knowing if this is what God wanted for us and were not sure what we were supposed to do. The guy prayed for him and also prayed that God would give him a dream to let us know what we were supposed to do. Brandon told me they guy prayed for him, but didn't include the part about the dream. A few days later, I had the dream. I dreamt that Brandon had came home for lunch and as he washed his hands told me that we got the loan.  God didn't want to give Brandon the dream, because that could just be an opportunity for us to think Brandon had thought about it so much and made himself have the dream. The dream gave us comfort over the next few days until we got he call from the banker and they told us the bank would be moving forward on the loan. We were so happy. We thought the hard part was over, but it wasn't. What was supposed to take 30 days has ended up taking 45. Around day 30 we moved to Austin and have been waiting and working out all the last minute details so that the loan would close.               Yesterday we went downtown to our lawyers office and signed the closing papers This afternoon around 3 o'clock the money was drafted and the practice became ours! We are so thankful to everyone who has made this possible for us! Brandon has been working so hard and it is hard to believe it is finally ours! Many times during this journey we have stopped and thought, are we fighting too hard for this? Is this what the Lord wants? For us, the Lord has always been pretty clear with his plans. We always thought it it is something he wants for us, then he will make it easy. Well, with the we were wrong. He has showed us many things and has opened our eyes to all that He can do. We have learned that He is in control and it took us having almost nothing for us to learn that. We would lay in bed at night, cuddling with our little Nolan and remind ourselves that this is all we need and the Lord will always provide.    I promise to start blogging more, but I have had to keep this all to myself because we didn't want everyone to know we were trying to purchase another practice, until it closed. Many posts and pictures about our sweet little one will follow! He is getting so big!!

Hanging out with Daddy!

Being silly with momma!

Playing in my "boat" with Peanut!

Sleeping in until almost 9 with Dada and Momma!

Waking up a happy little boy!!

Nolan's Birth Story

With all the craziness we have been through over the last 3 months, Brandon has finished the birth story! I thought I would share it!

What an amazing, fast paced, mind blowing, beautiful day! Little Nolan decided that his Mommy’s womb was no longer comfortable at around 3:30 am, and he was going to pack up his things and get out of there. Sarah woke up off and on from about 3:30am until 7:00am; she then just got out of bed and made breakfast. I rolled out of bed around 8:30am. We had previously made an appointment at Allen Birth Center with one of our midwives, Kathleen Mayorga. The other two midwives there were Amy Giles and Becky Burpo. The plan was that if Sarah had not gone into labor by Monday November 1 (41 weeks) we were going to schedule a non-stress test for Nolan on Tuesday. We were happy to report to the birth center that the NST was not going to be necessary! After a quick lunch pickup from Jason’s Deli, Sarah and I began timing her contractions. Initially they were a good 7 to 7.5 minutes apart lasting 1 to 1.5 minutes. They were slowly, but surely, coming more frequently so we called to move up our appointment at 3:30 to 3:00pm. After calling ABC, Sarah’s contractions slowed down to about 10 minutes apart; so we took our time getting ready to leave for the birth center – still knowing that we were not returning without baby in arms.



The typical trip to Allen Birth Center would take us about 40 minutes, but when we were about half way to the birth center Sarah’s contractions were coming every 2 – 3 minutes. So we made it to the birth center in about 25 or 30 minutes, and would have been faster has there not been traffic on highway 75. When we finally arrived to the birth center, Kathleen said Sarah was dilated to about a 4 and a half. The birth center doesn’t admit you until you’re to a 5, so she recommended that we go ahead and put our stuff up in a room and start walking around the block. I’m not sure exactly what the temperature was, but there was just a slight chill in the air – perfect for Sarah. After inserting some acupuncture press needles, we walked outside off and on from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. After the walk Kathleen checked Sarah’s cervix again and said it was now 5cm, but she felt like Nolan’s head was stuck on her pubic bone. She advised Sarah to have about 5 contractions on her left side, then 5 – 10 on her hands and knees, then a few on her right side. This all took about 2 hours to complete. During this time I could tell that Sarah was really starting to work with her contractions, even more so than when we were walking. This is about the time Sarah’s parents arrived with sandwiches from Schlotzkies. So we both began eating. Sarah then felt nauseated and blamed it on the sandwich. She then began having to fall to the floor on the exercise ball to have contractions. Sarah then felt like she had to use the bathroom. All I remember here is that Sarah called me and Kathleen into the bathroom because she “felt like she had no control over her body”, and she was frantically taking the press needles out of the acupuncture points! Sarah was now entering transition! We got her back into the room, only in time for her to throw herself down on the floor on the exercise ball to have another contraction. Little did we know, Kathleen was about to leave for a few hours to grab some dinner! She and Becky were expecting Sarah to deliver Nolan around 3 or 4 that morning. Thankfully, Sarah began transition before Kathleen left! So Kathleen checked Sarah once on the floor, and proclaimed that she was about an 8, but she wanted to get a better feel with Sarah on her back on the bed. After Kathleen checked Sarah this time she stated, “she’s complete and ready to push!” While this was going on I was trying to get a hold of our doula, Stacy Hutchins – who was also our Bradley method instructor. Stacy was surprised to hear the news and headed over after putting her 4 kids to bed. Stacy was going to take pictures for us during the birth, so we frantically asked “Baba” (Sarah’s mom) to take the pictures until Stacy arrived. Baba agreed, but did not know what she was about to witness!


Sarah started pushing with all her might. While she was pushing she wanted me to hold her, so she would pull me down on top of her and hold on tight. Sometimes Sarah would slip in a few bites on my neck and scratches on my arms as well – not that I minded of course. Stacy arrived about 20 minutes into the pushing and jumped right into the action. She was great at giving Sarah positive affirmations and helping to calm her down in between contractions. However, Sarah was slightly annoyed at the stories that were being told in between her contractions by the midwife about her other birth stories. At this point the midwife advised Sarah that she needed to stop holding on to me and try to pull her legs up to push. So, Stacy grabbed her left leg and I her right, then Sarah leaned forward and started pushing so hard I thought her eyes were going to pop out! Let me just take time here to say that my wife is amazing! I don’t know that I could have done what she did, and she is already talking about having another baby!! After about 40 minutes of pushing little Nolan started to poke his head out. He crowned for about another 20 minutes or so. Kathleen then told us that his heart rate had dropped to 80 beats per minute, and she put the oxygen on Sarah. This of course scared Sarah and I both, but I tried to keep my calm and get in my “doctor” mind so I could let Sarah know that everything was alright. After a few minutes of oxygen Nolan’s heart rate returned to the 120’s. However, Kathleen decided to go ahead with an episiotomy after letting Sarah give it a few more pushes because she didn’t want his heart rate to drop again, and Sarah wasn't stretching enough for Nolan's head. ---I was told I could have pushed Nolan out without one, but it would have taken a few more hours of pushing. Kathleen also told us that if I was given that much time, Nolan may have needed to be resuscitated and we did not want that to happen.--- So after about one hour and 10 minutes at exactly 10:00pm, we finally met our NoLee and immediately fell in love. He came out screaming his head off with the umbilical cord loosely wrapped around his neck. Kathleen placed him on Sarah’s chest and we both just stared at the amazing work God had done inside Sarah. Nolan’s left lung was a little wet, so we held him on his right side to help it drain. After an hour or so it was normal. Everything about him is perfect.


After the birth, Sarah nursed Nolan, whose suck was so loud that we were told you could hear him in the next room. We spent about four hours at the birth center while Nolan and Sarah were monitored and we were allowed to spend some alone time as a family. At 2:00 am we packed up our things and took our little baby home. Nolan slept like a champ; however, Sarah and I woke up with every little whimper and finally just laid awake with NoLee between us. It was a wonderful night.

It was the most wonderful day and night! After Nolan was born, I did have to have a shot of pitocin because of some excessive bleeding, but besides that is was a 100% unmedicated birth. We loved the care we received at Allen Birth Center. We were very informed about everything and a decision was not made without our consent. Nolan didn't leave my chest until they started doing the stitches. Brandon then sat beside me and had some bonding time with Nolan. They would have let me hold him, but I felt like I was tensing up too much and I didn't want to squeeze him too tight. They waited until we asked how much he weighed to weigh him--which was about an hour. I could not have imagined having him rushed away to a bed beside me to be weighed, washed, and observed. They would check on him every few minutes while he was in my arms. His lung was closely monitored as well. We want to wait a few years for another one, but natural labor is a high that is so addicting! We have already decided that our next child will be born in our home! I have to say, I loved being pregnant and I loved experiencing every bit of birthing our sweet little Nolan.

Right after Nolan was born

This is the room where Nolan was born.

Sweet Nolan

First adjustment

Nolan {3} Months!

It is hard to believe that Nolan will be {3} months on Tuesday. It has been a busy and exciting 3 months. Three weeks after Nolan was born we moved and two weeks after that Brandon opened his practice! I love being a stay at home mom and am so thankful for my hard working Husband!

Here are some things that fill up our days!!

* He loves bath time! Especially with mommy.

*In the morning when he wakes up he will grunt, stretch, and sometimes toot for at least 20 minutes before he opens his eyes. At times I think he is going to cry because he acts so mad! As soon as he opens his eyes and looks at Brandon and I he smiles so big! We love our mornings!!

 *He loves tummy time! We have been doing it since he was 2 days old. He will do it for 10+ minutes and can get his legs under him really well. He wants to scoot, but can't get the hang of it. He talks the most when he is on his tummy. I think he likes that his spit goes out of his mouth, instead of down his throat. ***The picture is from tummy time a month ago. He has gotten much better at it!***

* He is still such a quick nurser! 5-10 minutes max.

* He is sleeping like a champ! It isn't important to us to try to get Nolan on a strict schedule. I don't work, so we feel that we can let him work out his own schedule and it seems to be working great. He will go to sleep around 10 or 11 and sleep until 9 or 10. He nurses a couple of times a night, but since he sleeps in bed with us, I just get him latched on and I fall back asleep. He hasn't "woke-up" at night since he was 2 weeks old.

*He was rolling over a lot around 2 months, but he stopped for a few weeks and is now starting to do it more again.

*He smiles and talks all the time. He has started to try and actually talk, so it isn't just coos. It is so cute. He does it a lot when he is getting tired.

* He has the sweetest laugh. He laughed for the first time at 2 1/2 months. We came home from Waco and he laughed for 10 minutes! It was the best 10 minutes of my life! He isn't laughing all the time, but at least once a day.

* I think he is going to love outside time because he loves to look out the window. A few times when it has been warm I have taken him outside and he is so happy!

* Nolan is such a happy baby! We have days where he doesn't cry and only gets fussy when he is fighting sleep.

*Poor Nolan HATES his car seat! I have figured out that if I make myself sit in the front, he only cries for a few minutes and then falls asleep.

* He is not a paci baby and I am so thankful for that! He hasn't had a bottle, so I am thinking that is why the rubber isn't soothing to him. He chews on his fingers all the time!

* He loves looking at his toes and feet. He has started to hold his hands together!

* Nolan has started grasping for toys and will take them to his mouth and chew on them.

* He loves to stand--with our help--and has such an accomplished look on his face when he does.

* He is starting to sit up with a pillow behind him!

Brandon and I are so in love with Nolan. We are so busy, but can't imagine if we didn't have him to sleep and cuddle with every night. We can't wait for all the exciting changes that he will go through over the next few months!!

Circumcision...

This will probably be the first of many blog posts that might offend some people, so I am warning you now, if you don't want the facts don't keep reading!

At my first midwife appointment, many months ago, we were asked if we wanted a packet with some circumcision facts and studies. Of course, I thought, but we are going to circumcise, everybody does... it just makes since. So we took the circumcision packet, along with many others and put it in our birth/labor folder. It sat in the car for the weekend and on our way home from Clifton, I got it out and started reading it to myself. That didn't last too long, before I could get a few sentences into it I had to read it to Brandon.

Link to the Article--The Case Against Circumcision, by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD--

The article is very long, but I couldn't stop reading. It is very informative!

Some interesting facts from the article:
"Routine circumcision of babies in the United States did not begin until the Cold War era. Circumcision is almost unheard of in Europe, Southern America, and non-Muslim Asia. In fact, only 10 to 15 percent of men throughout the world are circumcised.

Circumcision started in America during the masturbation hysteria of the Victorian Era, when a few American doctors circumcised boys to punish them for masturbating. Victorian doctors knew very well that circumcision denudes, desensitizes, and disables the penis. Nevertheless, they were soon claiming that circumcision cured epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, elephantiasis, tuberculosis, eczema, bed-wetting, hip-joint disease, fecal incontinence, rectal prolapse, wet dreams, hernia, headaches, nervousness, hysteria, poor eyesight, idiocy, mental retardation, and insanity.4 In fact, no procedure in the history of medicine has been claimed to cure and prevent more diseases than circumcision. As late as the 1970s, leading American medical textbooks still advocated routine circumcision as a way to prevent masturbation.5 The antisexual motivations behind an operation that entails cutting off part of the penis are obvious.

The radical practice of routinely circumcising babies did not begin until the Cold War era. This institutionalization of what amounted to compulsory circumcision was part of the same movement that pathologized and medicalized birth and actively discouraged breastfeeding. Private-sector, corporate-run hospitals institutionalized routine circumcision without ever consulting the American people. There was no public debate or referendum. It was only in the 1970s that a series of lawsuits forced hospitals to obtain parental consent to perform this contraindicated but highly profitable surgery. Circumcisers responded by inventing new "medical" reasons for circumcision in an attempt to scare parents into consenting.

Careful anatomical investigations have shown that circumcision cuts off more than 3 feet of veins, arteries, and capillaries, 240 feet of nerves, and more than 20,000 nerve endings.31 The foreskin's muscles, glands, mucous membrane, and epithelial tissue are destroyed, as well."

There are many interesting facts in the article, read it if you want all the facts.

The main things that changed our minds:

Circumcision was brought back as punishment. --I would rather not do something to my perfectly formed child that was originally done as punishemnt!

Circumcision is not medically necessary as stated by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Link to the article. --Did you know that most health insurances do not cover the cost of circumcision now that it is viewed as not medically necessary??

By circumcising you are taking away around 240 feet of nerves and more than 20,000 nerve endings. --I am pretty sure, even if you don't want to think about it, that your child will be very thankful for those nerve endings one day!

If a child is born without a foreskin it is actually looked at as a birth defect!

I found the article very interesting, but Brandon was even more surprised by the facts. I thought of it as a decision we both needed to make, but it was more his choice. I obviously don't have a penis, so how could I make that decision. I know most fathers will say, everyone in my locker room was circumcised or the only guy who wasn't was made fun of...blah blah blah. Do you know that in the US only 40-50% of boys are circumcised these days? So actually, by circumcising your son you might make them one of the few?

We just feel that I have been molding and making this perfect child inside of me for the past 9 months, why should we screw it up as soon as he comes out? We view it as part of his body and if he comes to us one day, down the road and wants to be circumcised, it is totally his decision. I just feel it isn't one that we should make for him.

I hope this post will make you think, read, and discuss circumcising your child before you just do it!

Nolan's Shower and More Sewing!

Can you tell I am ready for fall?? I am in need of cooler weather, Honeycrip apples (which should be in the store in few weeks), pumpkin pie, and of course to meet this little pumpkin that has been growing like crazy in my stomach! I am almost 33 weeks, so Nolan should now be over 4lbs and 17 inches long. CRAZY!! He isn't much of a kicker, or at least it doesn't feel like it, but he does like to stick his little butt out right above about my belly button. Speaking of belly buttons...mine is still a normal belly button, but is starting to frown and look sad from all the stretching. Brandon has been saying the center of the universe is located in my belly button and if it doesn't pop out soon, Stephen Hawking is going to come make sure it wasn't what actually created the universe! 
       Nolan has been mostly head down for about a month and over the past week is seems like he is getting more and more comfortable down there. He has the hiccups all the time and I can tell his hearing is getting better because anytime I start to sing or he hears something loud he will squirm a bit. He also seems to hate hearing babies cry! I was watching the new show on TLC, Quints by Surprise, and he started moving like crazy as soon as he heard them fussing. Many other times he has reacted the same way to crying babies. It is so amazing that it already seems like he is starting to develop his little personality. Brandon and I are getting ready for him to come out, but I am still feeling very comfortable pregnant. I do get seem to get tired faster when we are shopping or running errands. My feet also hurt...it probably doesn't help that I wear sandals that have no support! Luckily, I can still wear my rings and my feet have only swollen two times, both were after we had eaten out.


On Sunday, we had a wonderful shower at First Baptist Clifton. It was such a blessing!

Before the shower

With the hostesses

The moms

The grandmothers

My sister

Beautiful quilt my grandmother, Wanda made for Nolan!

Hooter hider made by my sister

Nolan Lee pendant made by Autumn

Shoes my mom made for Nolan!

Family

Rayeanne, Autumn, Me, and my mom. Rayeanne hosted my baby shower 23.5 years ago! It was so great to see her.

3 hooter hiders I made last week.

2 onsies I hand embroidered for Nolan.

Owl

This is a tree that I am going to embroider every month

 with a different theme and colors for each month! I will

take a picture of Nolan in them for his monthly picture.

One day I plan on making a quilt using the different onsies

I have embroidered for him!

Brandon's Graduation & {3rd} Trimster

This has been a very exciting week!! Saturday {August 14th} Brandon graduated from Parker! He graduated magna cum laude and 3rd in his class of 119. I am so proud of him and all hours and hard work he has had to to go though to get to this point.  We were very lucky that all our family was able to be there--we had a total of 13! My dad and I got to the church early to save seats- @7:45- to be exact- the doors didn't open until 9!! I was a bit crazy about making sure we had good seats and since the ceremony took place at our church, I knew exactly were we wanted to sit. I have to say, people were not happy when they got to the ceremony at 9:15 wanting the best seats and my dad and I were saving a whole row, but I didn't care!

Our view!

My parents

Brandon's mom, nanny, brother and sister-in law

Dr. Stakes and his wife

The graduate: Dr. Crawford

Best picture of the day--with miss Ava--

(not a wonderful picture of me, but the only one from the day)

After the gradation we had lunch at Saltgrass with everyone and then we went back to our apartments for cake. I make Brandon's favorite chocolate cake and it was very yummy!

My 3rd trimester started a week ago and things are still going great. We have started going to the midwife every 2 weeks and we have also stared our Bradley Method classes. We are really enjoying the classes. We both like the confidence we feel when we leave the class and they reassure us that we are making the best decision for our family.  

This is a picture from 28 weeks-- I am now 29 weeks! I was the first day of my 3rd trimester and the day of our first Bradley class.

Brandon is still enjoying his job and can't wait for his license to come in so they will put him in his own clinic. Hopefully his license will be in by November - it is crazy how long it takes to come in!! 

Sewing!

Last week I was busy sewing for Nolan! I love having something that makes my day fly by! Brandon is at work from 9-12, he is home from 12-3 and then back to work from 3-7. I love having him home for a few hours during the day. So far I have made...

Burp cloths

Nautical style pillows

Baby quilt

I'm not sure what these will be...

Everything is still going perfect with me and Nolan! I was looking at a picture that Brandon took of me June 30th and I knew my stomach had gotten bigger. He took another one and it definitely had! It is hard because we see my tummy everyday, so we don't really notice the changes. In the last month he has grown so much. Starting off @ 11 inches and about 1 lb and now he is over 14 inches and over 2 lbs. Quite a growth spurt, so no wonder my stomach has rounded out so much! We are now seeing the midwife every two weeks, which will make these next 3 months go by much faster! We also start our Bradley method classes August 8th. They will be every Sunday from 1:30-4:00 until September 26th. The classes will be held at the birthing center, which is in Allen. Luckily it is only a 30 minute drive, since we will be going there 6 times a month for the next 2 months!!