Quick Takes: 25 Weeks, a Sick Child, and a Book Review

 BabyFruit Ticker

  • Reaching 25 weeks feels like a particularly big deal, though I’m unsure why that would be. 24 weeks is considered the marker at which a baby can survive outside the womb, and each day past that is a significant increase in survival rate. I don’t have any concerns, but it’s nice to know. 25 weeks…I don’t know. I guess I just like multiples of 5 or something. 🙂 I’ve been reading birth stories – I love them. Natural birth stories, that is, from here: Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. The entire first section of the book is birth stories told in the mothers’ own voices. I find it very soothing (which is the point, so…that’s good). I’ve also started doing the pregnancy exercises recommended in the Bradley Method – more on that in a future blog post. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s appointment with Stephanie, when I hope to discuss where I’ll be delivering.

  • I just finished reading Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle. It is hi-larious. Occasionally I cringed because she just does not take life seriously at all, and I don’t get that. I have a good sense of humor, but I see life as a purposeful endeavor so sometimes she lost me with her happy-go-luckiness. I particularly cringed at her take on childbirth (which went something like “I don’t care to understand anything, just bring on the meds and let’s get it over with”). Her approach is a common one in our culture, but I think it’s problematic and I hate to see it perpetuated, even when the writer is hysterically funny. But, okay, I can overlook that, and – did I mention this? – Shankle is FUNNY. She’s a Christian mommy blogger, and her book fits a lot of insight in a feather light package. If you are mommying a girl and you are interested in laughing out loud (and occasionally unexpectedly tearing up), I recommend this book.
  • In other reading news, here’s a glimpse at some of what I’m currently reading:

Book Stack

  • Aria has been sick since sometime Sunday night. I don’t know exactly when, because she was all quiet about it. I just know that when I went to get her up on Monday morning her entire crib was covered in vomit. I’ll spare you the details (you’re luckier than Andy, to whom I sent a picture – I don’t think he appreciated it), but it was gross. It was one of those moments where I just kind of stood there for a few seconds trying to absorb what I was seeing and what, exactly, I was supposed to do about it. Prior to last month Aria had not had more than a stuffy nose. Now we have both had the respiratory flu and (thank you so much for sharing) a stomach bug. I am feeling better this evening and I think she is also on the upswing. I hope.
  • I have not been doing very well with my Hello Mornings! commitment. It’s frustrating to me, because, you know, I committed to it. Also because I love tweeting with the ladies in the morning while we’re all studying the same passage. Between illnesses and being pregnant, early morning hours are not agreeing with me recently. For one reason or another I’m finding “early to bed, early to rise” extremely difficult right now. I’m still working on it, and I rest assured that the Lord is far less concerned about when I spend concentrated time talking to Him and reading His Word than He is with me just doing it at all. Sometimes I do “Hello Early Mornings!” and sometimes “Hello Late Mornings!” and sometimes “Hello Aria’s Afternoon Nap!”. It happens at some point in the day.

What about you? When do you have your “quiet time”? Are you consistent? (Do you have any magical advice for me?)

6 thoughts on “Quick Takes: 25 Weeks, a Sick Child, and a Book Review

  1. Hey there! Saw your link on twitter and came over to check out your blog. I think it’s so great that you are doing natural childbirth. I did that with my daughter, and it was truly an amazing experience. Here’s a link to where I wrote about it, if you’re interested: http://musingsofmrsmount.blogspot.com/2011/03/shes-here.html

    As for advice about quiet time, I have the same struggles as you. It was honestly much easier when I didn’t have a daughter! When she was super young, I was so sleep-deprived that early mornings were not a time when I could focus on much of anything, so I would try to spend time in the word when she napped or in the early evening. Now that she is almost 2 and sleeping more consistently, I find that it is easier to have that time in the morning. My big hurdle is staying up too late. I feel like the evenings are the only time I have to unwind and relax, and I am terrible about staying up much later than I should, which makes it all the more difficult to get up in the morning.

    All that to say, give yourself lots of grace. Carrying a baby is lots of work! And like you said, God just wants you to spend time with Him. Period.

    • Staying up too late has been part of my problem recently, too. It’s tough – we’re in a stage where I can’t get much done while Aria is up. I need to trade nighttime hours for morning hours, but something about being pregnant is making that very difficult. I didn’t have this big a struggle before! 🙂 Thank you for the encouragement. I think these past few weeks have been a journey of learning to be okay with being right where I am right now, in terms of what I can accomplish and when.

      What a beautiful birth story! That desperate feeling of not wanting to do it anymore is what I’m the most nervous about. We tried for a natural birth with our daughter (born December 2011), but ended up with Pitocin when I hit the 24-hour mark and was only dilated 5cm, and at that point I asked for an epidural. I plan to write the entire story here in the next couple of months. I labored 37 1/2 total hours, with nearly 4 1/2 of pushing, for Aria. I remember hitting a point in the pushing of just thinking “I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s never going to end, and if it does, I can’t imagine doing this ever again.” I would love to give birth naturally this time, and to get through it without feeling quite that desperate. 🙂 She was totally worth it, but, you know. 😉

      • WHOA, 37 1/2 hours?? Props to you for even making it to 24 hour before the epidural. I was fortunate enough not to have Pitocin, which I think helped tremendously, and my water also did not break on its own. I said a prayer just now that your second labor will go smoothly and that you won’t hit that feeling of desperation!

        • My water breaking is what started my labor – that was a big part of our problem. The amazing, God-thing was that in all those hours she never showed a single sign of distress.

          Thank you so much!!

  2. I am impressed you find time to blog amidst a pregnancy…however, the odd hours I kept while pregnant would have allowed for it. I just hadn’t discovered blogging until after children. I think “hellomornings” is wonderful, but in your case you need rest! God loves that we seek whenever the time may be. Even when you roll out of bed you can pray a scripture (perhaps stick one to your bathroom wall/mirror). He wants your company even more than social media! 🙂 I have to remind myself of that too.

    I also read Shankle’s book this month. My sister bought it for us to share. I read it quickly. It wasn’t really too awe inspiring for me. I have too many other favorite Christian authors I guess. However, she did present a funny side to her own journey of motherhood. We all do it differently. It helped me understand my sister and other moms who take life a little less seriously than I do!

    • Well, I’m not blogging consistently, so don’t be too impressed! 🙂 Honestly, I think it would have been easy to blog when I was pregnant with my first. A toddler and a pregnancy – that is TOUGH! Thank you for the encouragement!

      I’m an avid reader, and my taste tends to be varied. Normally I don’t read anything quite as much “just for fun” as I consider Shankle’s book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I welled up a few times, and laughed out loud several. Those factors, combined with the fact it was a very quick read, made it worthwhile to me. What are some of your favorite Christian authors?

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