Essentially Pregnant!

Yes it's true! We are expecting baby number 8 in December! We are very excited to welcome this new life into our family and I am particularly excited to welcome this baby as my first essential oil baby! 

An essential oil baby? Yes, an essential oil baby! 

But what exactly are essential oils?
Glad you asked!
Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts that are naturally found and distilled from different parts of a plant, including leaves, flowers, twigs, bark, peel, and roots. A plant has oil sacks in these various parts which help to protect it from disease--and we can receive the same benefits!!

But wait? You read somewhere on the internet that essential oils are not safe for pregnant women?  I am here to share that CPTG Essential Oils ARE safe for use during pregnancy.

Hop on over to my Essential Oil Blog to learn why I trust and use them while I am pregnant. See what plans I have to use them before and after the delivery too! CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE...

Using Essential Oils on C-Section Scars

I was first introduced to essential oils after the birth of my seventh baby last Christmas.

My cousin had begun using them in her own family to support them through environmental and seasonal issues. She gave me a sample of Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, and Digestzen (and a cute little pair of baby shoes too!).

 I fell in love with the Lemon right away and began using it in my water. I liked the Lavender too!

I attended one of my cousin's classes on making over your family bathroom cabinet and thought it would be wonderful to use all natural products!

 I eventually signed up with my own wholesale account to save money on my oils and I began to do more research on my own and learned about so many more health benefits from using essential oils. It seemed endless the possibilities and the uses of these amazing oils and what they can do for a body, especially one like mine that has been through seven, (UPDATE now EIGHT, yes EIGHT C-sections) and an appendectomy AND a tubal reversal!

We began applying  the ten oils and learned how to use them! We put the On Guard to the bottoms of our feet, Digestzen on upset tummies, Lavender on cuts and scrapes, inhaled Peppermint for occasional nausea on car rides, Lemon in my water, Oregano and Melaleuca in the diffuser for environmental threats, and the Deep Blue! Now that stuff is AMAZING! It really sold me after I applied it to a hurting wrist and it took the pain away in less than 5 MINUTES!

SING OVER ME ESSENTIAL OILS WAS BORN!

I started my own Facebook Page to save all my research and invited everyone I knew to join along with me! I never intended to build a thriving team with  doTERRA, but I couldn't help sharing! 

Why should I keep this to myself?!

I got a FREE bottle of Immortelle for purchasing 200 PV (product value) on my LRP (Loyalty Rewards Program, super way to save on oils!) back in early September of 2014. I thought, "well, I'm 40 now, I'm going to need help with wrinkles! I'll jump on the deal of the FREE bottle!)

Then I read somewhere on one of the Facebook groups I follow that someone uses this for their c-section scar. I thought, "I'll have to try it!" So I did!

 

"A proprietary blend of powerfully renewing, rare essential oils used throughout history for their beautifying benefits, Immortelle Anti-Aging Blend is formulated to protect and nourish skin while helping to reduce contributing factors to the appearance of aging skin. These powerful essential oils help sustain smoother, more radiant, and youthful-looking skin. Immortelle easily absorbs into the skin and can be used on the face, neck, and décolletage to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and aging skin."-doTERRA blog.

After less than two weeks, I noticed much of the redness had disappeared in my top c-section scar.

 (I have two c-section scars from 9 surgeries). My lower scar had become less lumpy and less sensitive and in general, after 10 years, looked less "angry". This stuff is incredible and a true gift from God in my opinion!

 (I am not a medical professional and I make NO claims that this WILL work for you, but it has worked for me. If you have been wondering how you'll ever get back to normal after your c-section, you might want to give this amazing essential oil blend a try! After placing your order, it will come straight to your home and arrive in only 2-5 business days! )

With less sensitivity I may even begin doing this massage technique, although the video below is kind of hard to watch the whole thing!

http://www.pregnancy.org/article/massage-your-c-section-scar

How to Properly Massage a Scar.

If you would like to know where to purchase this amazing essential oil and help your c-section scar, go to my website to order. There are two ways to order Imortelle, Retail or wholesale.   I am not a medical professional and I make NO claims that this WILL work for you, but it has really diminished my redness and supported my body in its recovery process. Your order will come straight to your home and arrive in only 2-5 business days! If you have been wondering how you'll move on after your c-section, you might want to give this amazing essential oil blend a try!

If you are here on my page and read this far, you might be interested in the emotional piece that comes from recovering from delivering by cesarean. DoTERRA is working on the scientific research on the significance of how essential oils work through our olfactory senses to help our bodies recover and support our emotional health as well as our physical health. I will be writing and sharing about this more soon! But I am excited to announce that doTERRA has just released an entire roller bottle "Touch" kit with all of their emotional oils!

This kit is simply splendid and contains six unique essential oil blends combined with Fractionated Coconut Oil in 10 mL Roll-Ons. They are super convenient and have are meant for a gentle topical application. "These proprietary blends provide targeted emotional health benefits for the entire family and can be applied every day to specific points on the body to help balance and brighten your changing moods."-doTERRA blog-***COMING OCTOBER 3, 2016*** (Because I went to convention we got to purchase these products before they are available for purchase, and they are wonderful! More details to come)

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

You can also see my latest posts on other oils and supplements at Everything Essential For Me 

Road to Fitness- Checking In!

When my doctor gave me the go ahead to start exercising after my 6 week check up, I didn't hesitate to get started. I was anxious to get MOVING again! This was my sixth pregancy though! I didn't even know where to BEGIN! I cried out to God asking Him to help me get motivated to get moving again. His answer came in the most unexpected ways!
I was sitting at my lovely Moms group when this mom I didn't know really well boldy stood up and shared her testimony of this dvd exercise program she had started. It was called Prayfit. I decided to order it at Amazon.

It arrived in about four days and I began the video with my kids!


Here I am before starting the video:

And here is my progress so far:

January 5, 2012 Delivery Day! 196 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh! The biggest I've ever been in my life!!!!!


February 15, 2012 6 week post-partum check-up  174 lbs!!!! Down 22 lbs!!! Just dropping the baby's weight, fluids, and breastfeeding

March 6th, 2012 Started Prayfit

After 3 weeks (around day 21) I began to feel stronger and was getting a little bored with the video, quite honestly. So when my husband invited my son to go along with him running and he refused, I said, "yes". So I began running. You can read my journey here.

I began adding running a mile and a half in between using my ellipitical in addition to keeping up with the Pray fit dvd.

After only 3 weeks I had dropped 6 lbs and was gaining so much energy!

On April 1, 2012 I weighed in at 168.

By the end of April, on April 28th, 2012 I checked in at 163.

At the end of May, on May 27, 2012 I checked in at my lowest weight so far, 158!!! ****

I am pretty well near where I started when I got pregnant with little Super Wy. You can read about his story here

And here I am now! Down 38 lbs!!!!!


My husband and I are working toward doing some sort of physical activity each day, whether it is the PrayFit dvd or going for a run. It is a lot of fun to do this together! By the way, he has also lost about 13 pounds himself!
We give all the praise and glory to God for our health, and our fitness, for the very breath in our lungs!

As Jimmy Pena says, "In Jesus' name, we train!"

Baby Boy is Here! The Birth of Little Warrior, Our 6th Baby

Here we are on delivery day, January 5th, 2012!
Our 6th baby (3rd tubal reversal baby) was born by my 6th c-section weighing in at 5 lbs. 10 oz., 19 inches long. Just a little peanut! Welcome Wyatt James!

I had been having a lot of contractions this pregnancy. My doctor suggested some medication to control the contractions and help my uterus relax a little. She said my uterus was probably "irritated" from having carried so many babies. The medicine definitely slowed the contractions and I tried to stay off my feet. Easier said than done when you're homeschooling three children while chasing a toddler and preschooler!
The last two months of my pregnancy my doctor monitored my uterus closely around my prior incision sites. The uterus appeared to be very thin in places and since I was carrying this baby so LOW it put extra pressure on my scar tissues. There were very real concerns for a uterine rupture. Through lots of prayer and rest along with a medication to slow contractions, I was able to deliver a healthy baby boy on my scheduled c-section date, just 11 days after Christmas!

My birth story wouldn't be complete without mentioning that my doctor was trying to convince me to have yet ANOTHER tubal ligation before delivering! She feared for this baby and for future pregnancies. I verbally consented that after my doctor opened me up and saw a very thin uterus I would consent to the tubal ligation and not have to worry about risking my own health for a future pregnancy. My nurse whom we had gotten to know quite well while we were waiting for my surgery stepped in at the last second and cautioned me to NOT sign anything until my doctor put it into WRITING what we had verbally consented to. My nurse could sense I was unsure about the tubal ligation option and she wanted it in writing. As my doctor came in we discussed the written instructions and I did consent to a tubal ligation if and ONLY IF there appeared to be minimal amount of uterus lining and putting my health and a future pregnancy at risk.
As my doctor began opening me up and before she had even delivered little Wyatt into my arms, she stopped, looked over the curtain, and told me that my insides were beautiful (again, she told me this last time too). She said there appeared to be plenty of uterus with only minimal scarring and whatever was seen on ultrasound was not evident at delivery! (Miracle?) I lay there and settled back into my "happy place" (where I let my mind wander over to the things of God and Heaven and Jesus dying on the cross for my own life as I lay there arms out stretched offering my life for the life of my infant son.) My door of fertility remains open, to whatever God has planned for our family!
"He blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and increased their families like flocks." Psalm 107: 38,41

Here he is getting his first finger prints by his Daddy. My husband finger prints people as part of his job as a police officer and he said that this was his smallest finger print detail yet!

Here are a few of his biggest fans!

Our oldest son holding our youngest son! (He was born breech and started this whole process of being born by c-section!)

Our second oldest son (He was born by emergency c-section after going into distress from a failed version-he was breech too!)

Our third son. (He was born head down, but we opted for a c-section with tubal ligation with his birth).

Our first daughter AFTER our tubal reversal! She is in awe of her new baby brother! (I went to a high risk doctor but noone was willing to let me risk a v-back delivery, so I had c-section number 4!)

Our youngest daughter, second tubal reversal baby, holding Wyatt. She loves him "sooo much"! (also born by c-section)

Here is little Wyatt so happy to be home! He clasped his fingers together and thanked the Lord he could be home with his family! But that was short lived...his bilirubin levels skyrocketed...

And back to the hospital we went! It was very emotional for me after working so hard to come home from the hospital to have to go back in. This time we went to a smaller hospital and one of my friends was working on shift that day. She stayed late to get our room set up and settle us in for the evening. She really put me at ease and took such great care of Wyatt and me!

We are so in love with this new little life!

We all couldn't be happier that Wyatt is finally  here!

Party of EIGHT?!!!

17 1/2 years ago my husband and I began the most amazing journey. We promised before God, family and friends our blessed marriage vows and we set out toward California with everything we owned that could fit in our "new to us" Chevy Lumina.  The entire country awaited us. Our honeymoon was driving from Maine to California where my husband's newest duty station was in El Toro, California.

We've done some amazing things together, we've seen the Grand Canyon, hiked to the TOP of Yosemite Falls, been to Niagara Falls (twice now), and as we have been blessed with children we have toured the gator filled Everglades of Florida by airboat, hiked through the Diamond Caverns in Kentucky and many other amazing trips.


We didn't set out to have this many children. My husband wanted three, I kind of wanted four, because my mom had four.

God blessed us with two amazing little boys just as we were embarking on a huge adventure into home ownership! With the help of family and friends we built our own home where we currently reside.

We started out with just a two bedroom cape with an unfinished upstairs.

In the early fall of 1999 I was running a little daycare out of my home and I came down severally ill. It turned out I had a severally infected appendix and I had to have emergency surgery, which saved my life. I had a few complications with the recovery due to infection but I survived the ordeal and my hubby chalked that one up to our "in sickness and in health" vow. He stuck by me, changing my bandages and cleaning out a severally infected wound in the middle of the night that had burst open, while I hung my head out the bathroom window!

About a year after my surgery we began talking about wanting to "try" for a girl. We knew it would have to be okay either way if we had a boy too but we decided to try again to conceive. This time was much different. I didn't get pregnant right away like I did with my other pregnancies. We waited over a year before finally consulting with a fertility specialist who ran all kinds of tests and determined I just might need a little "boost" in my hormone levels so my doctor put me on clomid. After three failed cycles of clomid, we opted for one more cycle with a stronger medication that was injectable. This also failed. I left the fertility clinic devastated. Weren't they supposed to just "order me up a baby" because I had a problem needing fixing, like with my appendix?! But modern medicine could not "fix" me so right then and there I decided to lay it all out before the Lord and let Him lead our family. The next month I found I was pregnant...all on my OWN! Without the help of fertility drugs, I had conceived another blessing from God and I didn't care if it was a boy or girl, this was my gift from God!

One meaning of my son's name means, "much wanted" for he truly was. We found out we were having another boy, a third son, and my husband felt we were complete. No little girls would ever run around in little princess dresses or have tea parties in our house. We were raising boys and that's how it was going to be. After having two c-sections and an appendectomy the thought of a third c-section scared me so much that I reluctantly agreed to have my tubes tied during the delivery of my third son. It was final. It was complete. Three boys! Who could ask for more?! My husband was so proud and I remember he even high-fived the doctor, "tied, cut and burned!"

But as I looked over at my precious little son in the cradle in the hospital something inside me began to question. "Had I done the right thing?" I didn't have any Christian people in my life telling me it was WRONG to have a tubal ligation. I was pratically a martyr for having had THREE c-sections so I was kind of entitled, right?
Two weeks later at my infant son's check-up I had already regretted my decision to go ahead with a tubal ligation. I asked the doctor how to get it reversed. He informed me that what I had done was PERMANENT and that I needed to give it some time. I would heal and move on. Yes, the procedure IS reversable BUT with only about a 60% chance of success. I was heart broken.
Over the next two years I researched alternative methods of conception including IVF. Every thought about IVF lead me away from God's design for children and marriage. Making babies in petri dishes and then discarding or freezing the "left overs"? What kind of world was I walking into? That just didn't seem right!Ultimately, through much prayer and discussion my husband leaned over one night and said to me, "I think we should take our savings and get your tubes fixed." You could have knocked me over with a feather!
I wasn't looking forward to having the tubal reversal as it was not going to be just a laproscopic procedure. It entailed a full c-section scar, "hip-to-hip", hospital stay and then I got to come home with no baby.
The recovery was painful but I continued to pray that God would heal my brokeness and bless us with another child. But I soon realized that this journey we were on was less and less about us having another baby and more and more about learning about who GOD is and what HE had planned for our lives.

Nine months after my surgery my husband was involved in a head on collision while on patrol. A lady turned right in front of  him and my husband had to be life-flighted to the nearest hospital. As my husband clung to life I was on the phone calling all my prayer warriors and the Christian school where my children were attending asking for prayer. Anne Angell (that's her REAL name) prayed right there on the phone with me that my husband would be okay. The accident was horrible and so many things COULD have happened, but God truly spared my husband's life that day.
While my husband was out of work for the next 6 months we had quite a bit of time to reevaluate our lives and the direction we were headed. Three months after the accident I found out I was PREGNANT! The tubal reversal had worked and we were being blessed after such a horrible accident! We were so excited...we told EVERYBODY! Then about a week after finding out I was pregnant I miscarried. We were devastated! How could God take this precious life from us after having suffered so much? My husband was barely out of his wheel chair and now a miscarriage?! I wanted to just crawl into a hole and die!
Thr truth is God IS good all the time and He had the perfect timing in His hands. After my miscarriage I searched the web for anything on overcoming miscarriage, and I came to the web site "Above Rubies", http://www.aboverubies.org/. They were advertising a book titled, "Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says About Having Children".
This book transformed my thinking and really brought me back to God's Word and His truths about children. How did GOD feel about us having kids? Maybe the more important question was, "how did God feel about us trying to PREVENT children?" I learned all about birth control methods and what we have done to our bodies to prevent children. I had no idea that when I was using the birth control pill I was using an abortificient drug. In other words, if I DID become pregnant my body would not be able to support the fetus so I would abort it as though nothing had happened. I would never know how many children I may have lost due to using these drugs! When I explained all of these new truths God was showing me to my husband he slowly began to come around and agreed with me. We had never been walking in step with God and His design for our lives. We were just doing what every other family was doing around us.
But we are called to be so much more! God loves us so much and He wants so much for our lives! To be blessed by God may look different than what man sees as a blessing. We decided to take a leap of faith and stand on God's word and believe that God really would like to see us have more children, IF He was ready to move and heal and forgive us for our selfish ways. We would embrace the three beautiful boys God had already given us and mourn the loss of life we would never get to hold and know this side of heaven, but we would move on and heal and trust God in our lives.

A few months later, we had some close friends from our church who had already begun homeschooling invite us to go on their field trip to Plymouth Plantation. We thought that homeschooling was nice for them but hadn't really considered homeschooling for our family. 

It was an incredible day! We had so much fun seeing our homeschooling friends learning hands on and had the chance to really get to know one special friend, Tammy Gisel. She is my rock. :)

She is the one who cemented the idea of homeschooling into our hearts! I went home and bought about $100 worth of homeschooling books on Amazon.com. I needed to educate myself as to what I was really getting not just myself but our entire family into! My two older boys begged me to homeschool them, but I was still reluctant. I was basically going to have to GIVE UP MY life for these kids. Was I really willing to do that? (It all sounds so silly to me now, but I really thought these things!) Because what I could never have realized that in my "giving up" my life for my kids to homeschool them and train them in the ways of the Lord, I was actually GAINING so much more. The scripture found in Matthew 10:39 spoke volumes to me, "whoever finds their life will lose it, whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

So we began homeschooling after Christmas in 2006.  And just like the Pilgrims had set out and landed at Plymouth Rock to start a new life in unchartered territory we began the amazing journey of homeschooling!We were allowed to still keep the kids in their extra curricular activities at the Christian school. In doing so we also helped the school develop a homeschooling partnership with the school so other homeschooled children could come in and enjoy what our kids were already a part of. The program is going into it's 5th year now and the homeschoolers continue to be a blessing to the Christian school.

It was while we were on this new homeschooling journey, getting to know our kids more fully that I conceived once again.

 God blessed us with a precious little girl. All the desires of my heart were fullfilled! Here she is with her Daddy viewing the very helicopter that helped save my husband's life. We named her Madeline Elizabeth after Mary Magdeline and my mother-in-law whose name means "God is my oath". Only 18 months later we conceived AGAIN, another girl!

We were now doubly blessed! We named our second daughter Isabella (an Italian form of Elizabeth) and Gloria (after my grandmother which means glory-to give God the glory!) She was born around Christmas time which is extra special since "Gloria-in-excelsis Deo" is a favorite tune this time of year.

Which leads me to last week...

Our family is about to get bigger! We found out I am now pregnant with our 6th child. We are very excited and our praying for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby! I am due January 27th!

So as you can see, this pregnancy isn't really about me, it's about God and what God has done and is doing and continues to do in and through our lives. We continue to look to our Heavenly Father to sustain us through the hurts and the blessings. We praise Him even when it hurts to pray, we praise Him in the good and the "bad", because we know He is working it all out for His higher purposes.

I wouldn't trade any of these precious faces for anything in the world. They are each so unique and wonderful.

God only knew these two hearts so young and in love nearly 20 years ago had so much adventure waiting for them!

We look forward to meeting our newest addition to the family to see what God has been "knitting together in my womb"! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!