*The picture has nothing to do with MathGames.com, but it’s one of my favorites*
April 14, 2024
Review: Internet Tool for Math “MathGames.com”
My son is almost 9 years old. He is a new reader. He loves math but it has to be practical to interest him: okay, practical to an 8-year-old boy.
He runs around throwing footballs to himself, keeping an imaginary score. We hear “21 Gators to 6 Bulldogs, oh, and they miss the extra point!” and other such. Basketball. Baseball. Scores. Stats. Boy stuff. He also helps cook and loves to find fractions in the kitchen. Money math is easy for him and he likes to make change.
However: getting the simplest of graphite scratches in the actual math textbook might as well be mission impossible 11! The textbook and Lucas repel each other.
Video games? Ever hear of Star Ocean on PS1? I call it reading practice. It’s like Zork with graphics… but you do have to read to know what the next move needs to be! That and the “secret” Minecraft books that look like user guides have encouraged him to read.
I had an “ah-ha” moment because he had run to the bathroom at gym and there’s my computer sitting there next to the poor copy of “Arithmetic 2” that someone may mistake for a cleaning rag. I remembered that the girls had a math game they loved called “Math King” on the long-ago tablet.
I searched Math King – the results were not what I wanted; nope.
I found “mathgames.com” and after our few weeks of use, I’ve decided to share this amazing find!
Math Games is an online learning tool that has a free version. There is a “subscribe” option that allows you access to the premium games and such, but what I want is included in the free version.
At the main screen, you see a bunch of actual games with math problems added in. I use those as rewards: Lucas can play one after getting so many stars (details below). For the actual work, you can choose “skills by standard, “skills by grade” or “skills by category” from the menu that reads “practice skills” (upper left corner). Or scroll down until you see the “practice math by grade” and “practice math by category” option menus – they will show you PreK to Grade 8 & concepts from counting and number properties to equations and ratios. Select one.
Each section starts with a first lesson. Each set is broken up into 10 questions. Each question has videos with teachers explaining the concept. (The video button is in the upper right corner on each screen with the green “sound” button and the “scratch pad” button.) There is also a green “sound” button reads the problem and the answers while highlighting each one. Lucas is using this feature to help with reading practice. (I LOVE this feature!) As the user answers, a green check mark pops up for a correct answer or a yellow exclamation point for an incorrect. An incorrect response also makes the corresponding video lecture pop up on the left of the screen. The user earns stars by completing the concept; more correct answers = more stars. After each concept set, the program will suggest moving on or repeating said concept set (depending on the percentage of incorrect answers).
Lucas started with “fractions.” Each time he finished one segment with a 9 or 10 score (out of 10 questions) it suggested the next concept. This continued for almost four solid hours! He moved through fractions, decimals, money, “dice” (what he called the concept of “stats”), and anything else that had “grade 2” or “grade 3” to start with. We’ve been using this new tool for a few weeks whenever we are at gym and he chooses to consider the textbook an enemy.
I realized over the course of Lucas’ discovery into this tool that Lucas has an innate understanding of variables in equations. Everything math seems to make sense to him in strange ways. He would reread the equation with “red bicycles” or “Georgia’s score” or “nickels” in the place of the variable.
Jillian (new algebra student currently using “Algebra 1” by A Beka Book) enjoyed working in the “equations” and “geometry” section. The website breaks each concept down into easily digestible bits. The accompanying videos are in the fashion of “teaching textbooks” explanations, actually solving various problems similar to those in the concept.
Even Kimberly (dual-enrollment college student) sat down to try it. She liked the way it moved through the questions and concepts visually. She asked if there was one for biology (the class she’s taking her final in this week).
Just thought I’d pass along my rather “new” tool discovery.
Jillian called, “Mom, I’m taking some pictures of Laud!” Lucas jumped along to help out. He loves taking pictures of his little brother.
Somewhere in their cute little thoughts, they decided our four-month-old should take a picture on each gymnastics event.
Jillian and LaudThe Tumble TrackVault! The Vault TableBars! Pull-upFloor! (Can’t walk yet)Pommel Horse! (Yippee)Parallel Bars! (Help!)Beam! (Boys don’t do this!)
First there’s Jillian and Laud. He looks happy enough.
What does she have for me to play with today? Wow, that looks interesting
Then there’s the first event – Tumble Track! Jillian is very careful as he is only four months old and not yet ready for bouncing.
Big brother, what exactly is going on here, this doesn’t feel right…
Up comes the next thing… ooh, Vault! Laud has some spotting help to stand on the vault table – although that is definitely not a parent-and-tot piece of equipment.
Mom! Can you see me, mom! I’m taller than Jillian on this thing that isn’t squishy!
Unfortunately, or maybe for the pictures, fortunately, mom is busy with the computer work and although she hears her baby yelling with happiness, it doesn’t occur to her that his big sister and brother are up to something.
Floor! Sissy, I might need to tell you I can’t walk yet… um, why is this floor moving?
At least on floor there was a tumbling mat to stand on. Laud appears to begin wondering if his brother won’t save him from his sister’s silliness, maybe he should yell for mom.
Bars! Pull-up! Lucas, why aren’t you saving me?
Jillian lets him pull up on the quad bars. Once he’s up, he doesn’t seem too sure about it.
Pommel Horse! Lucas, this is really cool dude, what can you do on this sturdy thing?
Pommel Horse is probably his favorite since he can do it with only a little side spot. Lucas zoomed straight in on his face.
Parallel bars! Wait! More Bars? What happened to the horsy thing?
Beam? Um, wait, boys don’t do this… Lucas, why don’t boys compete beam? This event has Jillian smiling!
I hope you enjoyed this series of pictures and commentary!
Jillian provided the inspiration! Lucas did the photography! Laud was the subject.
How quickly they all grow! Smile and enjoy the show!
When I was a child, legos were my thing. I was very proud of the fact that I could build anything, especially when the box had a suggested age far above mine.
Pre-teen to teenager: it was the Sauder stuff, you know, that really cheap particle board furniture you bought at Wal-Mart and it might last through one move if it wasn’t damp. I had a coffee tin full of spare Sauder pieces because the same locks, nuts, screws, and bolts were used in all kinds of furniture. I was so confident in my wood-building ability that I charged people to put their Sauder stuff together. Basically, if it had instructions, I was on it. (Even mistranslated instructions, because I had intuition!)
Wednesday, the plan was to get off before 2pm. The kiddos and I were supposed to have an afternoon with my sister and niece. Her internet guy stole the late afternoon (you know, “I’ll be here between 2pm and 5pm”). I went home. Laud, Lucas, and I pull up to… wait, I thought Louis was bummed out because they canceled his order?
This crate, just a little too heavy for Lucas and I to team lift into the garage, was sitting outside the garage. “Stump Grinder” was stamped on the thin plyboard it was packed in.
I couldn’t wait for Laud to load up and get full! I haven’t gotten to build anything solid since the Guinea Pig cages! (The silly three-chicken-run was made of scraps and hurried; not something I was proud of and definitely not solid.)
Bingo! Laud is out and building is on! It came with almost all the tools needed (sweet! 13, 15, 17, and 19 mm wrenches! – yes I’m nerdy enough to love tools.) I love spare 9mm and 13mm wrenches because they are the most commonly lost in my toolbox.
Lots of parts and bolts with locknuts later, I’ve almost finished with the star performer for Saturday and Sunday’s adventures! I enjoy the thrill of completing something practical. I can’t wait to build the giant bird aviary for Becky’s parakeets, our guinea pigs, and baby chicks. I am super excited about the prospect of building! I laughed at my own thoughts while I was building the machine because I actually like the smell of the bolts – weird, right?
I handed the user’s manual and engine manual to Louis – “tada! The machine is all yours.”
“Listen mom!” Yells Thea, “listen Christina!” She excitedly counts down from 20. She’s been doing that for a while, but today had both of us in the living room when she was showing off. She had just read a picture book to Laud and spelled four or five words from memory.
“Wow, Thea! High five!” Christina smiles, “how many sisters do you have?”
“Wait!”
*excited little giggles and a hopping Thea bounds toward the barracks*
“Wait?” Christina laughs and looks at me, “there’s no one down there.”
True. Becky is at Pensacola. Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, and Lucas are at gym. I smile and laugh. “She’s counting.”
Christina laughs harder, “she’s counting the beds!”
*Thea races in, jumps over Christina on the couch, and ends up standing in the corner of the couch* “Five! I have five sisters because we have six beds!”
Christina is still laughing. She pauses enough to give Thea a high five and comments to me, “she even subtracted herself from the total.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Christina challenges. Thea smirks, “two but if you don’t count Laud, only one.”
“Why wouldn’t you count Laud?”
I’m hiding my face because Thea is conniving. Little cheeky child looks pauses her bouncing to look straight at Christina and reply, “because he doesn’t have a bed yet, just a bassinet.” Leaving us smiling and chuckling, my just-turned-five year old skips back to the playroom.
I am so thankful for the joy God gives us through the smiles and laughter children bring to our home!
Read that again! Wow! It’s a new year full of possibilities!
I’m always so thankful for new years. New seasons, new months, a new week every Sunday morning, a new day every sunrise… newness always reminds me of the opportunity God gives us to make a new start.
Our possibilities this year look amazing!
Laud got a tooth for Christmas (just one, two more are sitting there in the wings where we can see them but they haven’t popped through just yet). He’s growing so fast! I’m so blessed to watch this fast-moving change from totally-dependent-baby stage to exploration-baby-stage!
Thea has learned to read! She’s officially started her “schoolbooks” aka book work. We don’t really start books until they can read. Her favorite school book is “The Beginner Book of Words” – the Dr. Seuss “kid dictionary” that belonged to her dad and uncles! She announced to me, “mom, since I can read, I need real schoolbooks to do work in.” I’m not sure if I’m ready for that!
Lucas can do some crazy cool gymnastics stuff! His favorite thing is to show off his muscles – Kimberly consistently reminds him of the proper muscle names as he’ll flex and say “look at this one.” Lucas told me his favorite thing he wants to happen this year is “work with Dad and build our house.”
Jillian has her first gymnastics competition of the 2024 spring season January 13th! She’s competing Xcel Silver again this year with WGV Gymnastics and is super excited about her routines. Her confidence has grown with her strength and flexibility the past few months. Her self-discipline is growing and took a huge jump right at the end of 2023 when she decided to apply herself seriously to both gymnastics and academics. I’m so excited for what 2024 will bring in Jillian!
Jaquline has set her mind on a goal at the end of 2023 and I’m excited to see where it takes her. She’s refocused her study path toward law. She’s been devouring history, literature and debate, and the history of founding documents like our Constitution. She says she wants to learn the laws, how and why they were written, and how legal changes are made. Jaquline has been learning a lot about household management in the last bit of 2023 and says she will continue that in 2024. She’s also deepening and polishing her collegiate writing skills. She wants to write informational reports and persuasive (as she calls them, “enlightening”) papers well.
Kimberly has her first gymnastics competition of the 2024 Spring season January 14th. Kimberly competes Xcel Diamond with WGV Gymnastics this year. I’m so excited to see her perform with all the training she’s persevered through in the past year. This girl’s strength continues to astound me as she grows. Kimberly also starts her first official college classes this semester. She’s both excited and terrified – probably in the reverse order – about this. I love seeing her set and accomplish goals!
Rebeccah returns to her college a little early this semester for work. I’m both selfishly sad because I will miss her smile, watching her exercise patience with Thea, quietly observing as she paints (oh, by far my favorite thing to watch is someone create a masterpiece in front of my eyes – I got to watch her paint on canvas over this break), hearing her laughter, hearing her gaming; in short I will miss everything about her and there’s a Rebeccah-sized hole when she leaves home. But I love hearing her adventures and chatting with her in her tight breaks between chapel, work, study, and classes. She has such precious little free time and I’m honored when she chooses to use that time for me!
Christina will be taking steps into her career path! I’m so excited to be a part of her next adventure! Resuming flight training is only the start of her 2024 adventures. I am thankful she still shares her hopes and dreams and plans with me. (And I get to borrow her car)
As a family, we bought property and cleared it in the last few months of 2023! This is our first step toward building a home of our own! Our designs are hopefully finding an architect willing to perfect a small, compact plan; hopefully we can start utilities and building soon!
Butterflies swam in my heart, stomach, mind… anywhere… everywhere all at once.
I’m sitting in one of the folding seats in the Ocean Center with a baby nursing… I’ve been here, done that before, but never have I been in this venue for the event that is unfolding before me.
A cycle of pictures of young men and women in more childish images showed on the screen that usually displayed my gymnasts’ scores.
My gymnasts are sitting in the row behind me because our group of twelve takes almost two whole rows. They are not in warm-ups cheering teammates, but keeping siblings entertained as they all wait for Christina.
Marching Music!
There they come! Hundreds of young people in black gowns and caps. Christina has a decorated cap with a quote from The Hobbit. Her cap is bright green – and that makes her easy to pick out of the sea of black gowns and caps.
Christina is graduating with her 4-year-degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University! Her graduation from high school with her AA degree from St Johns River State was the first college graduation ceremony I’d attended. I look around me at six of my other seven children and my niece. I smile; it definitely won’t be the last!
Everyone is waving and trying to get Christina to see them. Christina’s fiancé was also watching along with some of his family a little higher up in the arena! Kimberly is impressed with this use of the floor that she’s been competing on for three seasons and will be coming to again in 2024.
The keynote speaker starts: Rebeccah’s plane hasn’t yet landed. Louis is monitoring that. The keynote speaker’s last encouragement? “Adapt and overcome” – my Daddy said that all the time. It almost made me feel like he was watching.
A text. Rebeccah’s plane landed. She’s getting a taxi from the airport. It’s a couple of miles. She’d managed to get out of her college classes and work early so she could catch the earliest flight from Pensacola to Daytona. I had prayed she would get to the venue to see Christina walk.
I walked out to change Laud the same time as Louis said Rebeccah was here but not sure how to get in. I walked to meet her; she is very enterprising and self-reliant so had discovered the entry herself.
We took our seats.
Christina’s group of graduates stood. My crew waved and Christina looked up to see Rebeccah here.
We were all present.
Louis, me, Rebeccah, Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, Lucas, Theadora, Laud. Grandma Tina. Aunt Becca and Anastasia. Louis had his mom on video phone or something like that. She said she was watching it live-streamed. All of Louis’ and my little Tart clan was here to cheer on our Christina as she graduated.
Our determined, ambitious, perfectionist whose smile lights up rooms. October had been her 20th birthday. My mind flew backward to that box of confetti in plane shapes. She’d been accepted to the only university she wanted to attend: and Louis and I wondered how we would pay for it. Scholarships, grants, loans, and flight training on a few credit cards – she’d worked as much as possible to make it happen. We’d helped some. Christina had made it happen.
Christina walked up to get her diploma. With honors. (My perfectionist was bummed she didn’t make “with highest honors”) She did her little dance move she did at her “high school” graduation. She looked up and beamed at us. I am so proud of her! (And Thea yells “you got this!” – even though it wasn’t a gymnastics meet)
All of us were there. Sure, our baby won’t remember it. He actually slept through the keynote speaker and woke just before Christina walked. Thea and Lucas will remember playing and being bored, respectively. From Anastasia up to Rebeccah though; they know it’s a big deal. They know, with varying degrees of understanding, how much work Christina put into getting to this goal. They watched, with varying degrees of understanding, as she studied, worked, stressed, complained, forced herself to take fun breaks once in a blue moon, prayed, and pushed on.
With Little CousinMom, Graduate, GrandmaWith Littlest SisterOur Graduate!Sister-Cousins
We all celebrated with Christina.
I am so thankful for miraculous appearing of funding at needed times. I am so thankful for my determined young woman who made her goal happen. I will cherish this memory.
Soar high Christina! Remember what your determination and ambition made happen! God opens doors but you have to choose to walk through them! Your graduation didn’t happen “just because” – there were lots of late nights, missed sleep, forcing yourself to go to work when you wanted to sleep in, exams you stressed far too much over, budget cuts to pay for the next simulator, and other challenges you rose to and overcame.
Keep on flying high – you are “forever an eagle” now!
It struck me with a text I sent: I have the littles at gym with me
I had Jillian, Lucas, Thea, and Laud.
Half of our “biggers” are actually adults. That’s a strange place to realize I am at. I paused a moment, glancing at my phone on my work desk. The notice underneath my text went from “sent” to “read” and I smiled. I thanked God for the honor of having so much time with my growing young women. I thanked Him for getting to mother so many of His children. (My heart reminded me that we get them for a short time.)
I don’t want to think about that.
My heart loves that they love to do stuff together. Like when they got a “big girl trip” for their combined birthdays. Such happy faces!
Now we are nearing the end of Rebeccah’s winter break. (I didn’t want to think about that, either.) Soon those giggles across the table at meals, board games, and roblox and minecraft shenanigans, the gamer shouts from the newly re-setup PS1 and Xbox in the playroom, and the kitchen laughter will again be missing our Rebeccah. I am so thankful for her beautiful life! I love the connectivity and humor she brings. I miss her when she’s gone. I thanked God for Rebeccah. I pray she will always choose to talk to me when she needs to. I pray I am keeping our communication open. I pray she chooses wisdom.
Kimberly and Jaquline go back to their respective schedules (as does everyone else) and move forward in their busy study, work, and training lives. Kimberly recently found a friend who encourages her in faith and sports commitment; a very good thing for her at this time. I thanked God for Kimberly. I pray she chooses wisdom as she keeps moving toward her long-term goal of studying sports medicine or physical therapy. She has such a heart for healing (and preventing injury) and an intuitive understanding of how the body works.
Jaquline has recently started to focus her studies on law and debate – her new goal is to be a lawyer. She does have a way of getting people to see merit in her direction. I laugh sometimes at her logic. She has such a wonderful attitude about life and her cheerfulness is catchy. She takes the responsibility of helping raise children so seriously – she assists in the nursery and I often hear her say “my babies.” She has a helpful heart and wants to see everyone treated fairly. I thanked God for Jaquline. I pray she continues to seek God and chooses wisdom in her life’s path.
Christina, our first with a Bachelor’s degree, is stepping forward toward her career. She continues to live with us. I am so thankful that she stays close. I feel honored that she chooses to keep talking with me. I thank God for Christina. I pray she seeks God in all aspects of her life. I pray she chooses to chase her dreams and grab opportunities that arise. I pray she chooses wisdom and can live with no regrets. Christina has a mothering soul. Her determination and ambition have served her well so far!
I love all stages of our family life. Today I’m grateful for being able to watch our little girls grow into vibrant young women. I am thankful I still get to be a part of their lives. I am reminded that just as we can contain multiple emotions at once, our homes can contain multiple stages at once. Thank you, Jesus, for the honor of being a mother.
I do not know why this one picture makes me so happy. Christina took it. I’ve never done months or even year pictures – I tend to choose the favorites sent to me by my kiddos since Christina was 10 & other family who are better at picture taking.
Picture of a Baby
September 19, 2023
I do not know why this one picture makes me so happy. Christina took it. A friend gave us a blanket with months on it for Laud. I’ve never done months or even year pictures – I tend to choose the favorites sent to me by my kiddos since Christina was 10 & other family who are better at picture taking. It is not my forte. (Also, I always forget)
Once Louis gave Becky the “picture phone” (in 2012 that’s all it really did was take pictures) and she discovered her love of photography. I also heard my father say, “I was never really there, I have the pictures and videos for your mom so I can relive it” a few times. I know he loves that he left us a legacy of thousands of hours of family videos and so many pictures it literally takes weeks to watch them all – all digitized too. But I wanted to be there. I wanted to be in the moment. I guess I’ve grown some, now I understand the “need” for having time stamped pictures. I still don’t take them much.
Christina fell in love with her baby brother – I knew they all would once he was born. They tote him around and play with him, change him and burp him, and argue over who gets him. Christina was more excited than I was over the blanket. She said, “and we put Pooka (Laud’s stuffy) here. Mom you have to keep that stuffy for all twelve pictures, it’s the marker.”
Yes, I will keep Laud’s special stuffy from Grandma so that you can mark the months – but Laud likes his giraffe from Mrs. Heather better. (My kiddos call the giraffe “Bestie” – well, one of the team sisters who rides the afterschool van I drive calls him “Bestie-Billy-Bob-Jo.”)
When I look at this picture I’m overloaded with emotion. Laud is still (barely, but still) wearing the girls’ favorite of his preemie outfits from Mrs. Hannah. He’s my smallest miracle! He was just over seven pounds at the time of the picture. He’s only just in newborn and 0-3 month clothes at 6 weeks! All of them are such little miracles! I’ve been so blessed to enjoy 8 of them! I have amazing friends who have blessed us with clothes, diapers, food, love, conversation, and so many things! My baby looking so peaceful and tiny on his blanket reminds me of all the blessings we have in our life. I’m so thankful for everything God has given us – especially for friends!
What is most important in your life?
What came to your mind? Your career? Your family? World peace? Your children? Leaving your positive mark on society? Your business?
Focus on What is Important
September 10, 2023
What is most important in your life?
What came to your mind? Your career? Your family? World peace? Your children? Leaving your positive mark on society? Your business?
How about Jesus? For me, when I heard those words this morning (sitting in the Good News Church first service), my mind created a list like words from Jillian’s history and science lesson she has to look up:
Jesus
Family
Showing Jesus to others.
Whatever is the most important in your life directs everything else in your life.
Don’t believe that? Seriously. Consider it objectively. Whatever you consider most important shapes and directs your life to achieve each step in your life to honor that important thing.
My mind reflected back to decisions I made as a young person: a lot of decisions as even a preteen are life-shaping.
I chose to keep myself pure for my future husband.
I chose to honor my parents and respect them even if I disagreed.
I chose to better myself so I could love my brothers and sisters better.
Each of these I decided to do because I loved Jesus. I saw it as my honor to be able to shine Jesus’ light reflected through my life. I wanted my life to be lived in worship to Jesus. I wanted people to see that I was different and ask why. The “preteen/teen” choice that led to me having the most conversations with other teenagers was my choice to love Jesus by honoring His desire for my sexuality. It was counter-popular-culture to stay sexually pure (yes, as my kids can’t understand, I am young enough that I was laughed at for being a virgin after 18). I wore a birthstone ring my Daddy gave me on my ring finger and told others it was to remind me that I belonged to Jesus first; He wanted me to stay pure for my future husband. So many people laughed. A few asked deeper questions and I would get to share about Jesus and how He loved me first and my joy was to honor Him with all of my life.
Later, in the business world, I was faced with repeated pressure to falsify information on forms to cut financial corners. I held my ground and honored God. When I was told I could choose to either “serve the company” or there wouldn’t be any more hours for me. I actually told my boss that because I loved Jesus, I couldn’t lie. The hours available to me dropped to where I would spend more time driving to the office than working; that would have made it a financial burden to work rather than an income. I was unable to stay. I often wonder if that choice did any forever good (did my decision or words help anyone see Jesus?); but would I change my decision? No. I choose to honor Jesus’ commandments because I love Him. I get to honor Jesus because He first loved me.
I pray my children discover that it is an honor and privilege to love Jesus. We are loved by Him from the foundations of the world. Even while we were yet sinners, He loved each of us so much that He died for our sins and rose to conquer sin and death! Because of that, we have the honor of choosing to love Jesus and serve Him with our obedience.
I looked at little Laud sleeping in my lap and smiled. I choose to look at every part of loving my babies as a privilege and honor! I wonder at how blessed I am that God would allow me to raise one of His children! (Okay, 8 of His children so far) Still, each one is specially loved and was created piece by carefully knit piece by God as they were formed inside me. God has gifted me the honor of being their mother; one at a time and altogether. I am humbled, awed, and enthralled by the enormous blessing each child is. I thank God for them when I think of them.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving me! Thank you, Jesus, that I get to love You! Thank you that I get to love my children! Keep reminding me of how I should always choose to love You first.
*Author Note* Wow, I didn’t realize I have not posted all summer! To say this summer has been busy is a severe understatement; this summer has been a crazy roller coaster jam-packed with life craziness. Hopefully, this happy little story of a new miracle will make you smile! *
August 7, 2023
The Miracle of Laud
There was a day Louis and I took off of work and decided to celebrate our anniversary. As I was reserving tickets for our gym’s Parent’s Night Out for my kiddos who weren’t working it, my boss laughed and said, something to the effect of “no more babies!” Louis wanted to try for a boy and I was not against it! (I love being pregnant!)
Almost two months later we took the last opportunity to let all the kiddos know in person (Becky was home from college). Our teenagers had various hilarious reactions we should have filmed (ranging from “ya’ll are crazy” to a slamming door to “are you kidding?”). Jillian was super excited. Lucas started cleaning a spot in his room for the baby; which Louis was convinced would be a boy since he used “Dr Jack’s method” that worked with Lucas. Thea asked a million questions and kept trying to hear the baby’s heartbeat and talk to the baby.
My babies like to hang around and I love being pregnant. This time around was so different. I was measuring large, but there are lots of factors that impact fundus measurement so it is more just a guide to make sure the baby doesn’t stop growing. I’m forty and my last pregnancy to term was four years prior. Even though, yes, I’m in what I consider really good shape, my body has been stretched out and back seven times. I actually wore maternity clothes a friend gave me this time like normal! I actually looked like I was pregnant from about 5 months on, a real first for me. I loved that!
We went to the team banquet, it was the first one Christina got to come to, and the girls teased me saying I didn’t have any formal clothes… I surprised them with what I considered the cutest maternity dress ever (gift from the same friend – they just hadn’t seen it yet). It felt so cool to show off the baby. Friends who had seen me pregnant before asked if I was sure on the date or if there were two in there. (Louis loved this, the baby inside was doing some movements that I still can’t explain, and secretly, I would have loved twins.)
My “official” date from LMP would have been August 28, 40 weeks from the baby’s start would have been September 4th. I just told people September or early October. I honestly thought early-to-mid-September because most of my babies were about 42 weeks old when they came; I usually carried closer to 10 months.
July 31st started braxton-hicks contractions, the baby was still sitting up high right under my ribs and had not yet “dropped”. That was spot on for me because braxton-hicks contractions usually come 4 to 6 weeks (even 8 weeks, in two instances) before the baby comes. My babies tend to drop 3 or 4 weeks before. The baby-mapping information, which is super cool to research if you have time and want to be amazed, was telling me the baby was up to one side. My milk usually starts leaking a week or so before the birth too and there was no sign of that yet,
We went to the beach in the late evening of August 2nd. It was beautiful! I always feel like praising God for everything when I watch the majesty of the ocean, hear the laughter and joy of my children enjoying the water, and slow down to consider how honored I am to be so blessed. The others did gymnastics drill competitions in the soft sand (handstand holds, perfect Ts, candlestick holds, etc.) while Becky and Thea made a sandcastle from dripping sand – absolutely breathtaking.
(beach shenanigans and laughter)
On the way home, it felt like the baby shifted to sit sideways. I mentioned that I would like the baby to drop soon so sitting in a car wasn’t so uncomfortable. Christina laughed. The sing-along music at the top of their lungs and windows open made it so no one else heard.
I woke up on August 3rd a little after midnight. I thought my body was doing Braxton-Hicks contractions; it had been off and on since July 31st. These stretch-and-prepare contractions came and went in tiny spurts and historically clusters of three to ten stretches that disappear after I move around, shower, or stretch was “normal” for my previous births. I remembered seeing a facebook post about one of my best friends getting home from the hospital with her son; she often didn’t have night nursing and I hadn’t meshed schedules with her in a very long time. I texted to see if she was awake and able to chat. God knew I needed to hear her voice and we chatted for a couple of hours. Just after 4:15am, what I thought was Braxton-Hicks contractions about midnight (I had showered and they went away completely), became an intense contraction that came in a wave. I paused talking to breathe through that one and mentioned that it was different. I said, “this is early,” or something to that effect and told Hannah I was going to wake Louis & call Misti. As I stood up – or tried to – another contraction came in which the baby shifted from sideways inside me to “in position” and dropped all in the same intense contraction! I’ve never felt that before!
I made it from by the couch to the just inside the bathroom (didn’t get to my bedroom to get Louis) and another seriously intense contraction came. Someone had left two of the deep soft towels laid out flat on the floor on top of the bath rug (a nice, soft place to pause where clean up would be easy). I heard Christina coming out of the barracks and she asked, “mom, are you dead?” I was in full relax through the contraction mode and answered “I’m fine” with a tiny voice she knew meant baby was coming. She woke Louis and went to get mom. Louis came in the bathroom and rubbed my back, “this is coming fast” my bones were doing the separate-thing they do at transition (feels like my spine is coming apart). With the next contraction, my water broke. I texted “my water just broke” and called. Misti ended up being on speakerphone with us the whole birth. I remember wanting to double check my “official” LMP due date that was in my phone memo with all the other baby measurements for this pregnancy (my phone appears to be my notebook for everything to keep me straight on facts– I sometimes call it “my memory” because I upgraded from a purse-calendar-planner to that). I couldn’t focus on anything but listening to my body because I didn’t want to move too fast; my brain kept trying to slow my body down – nope, body wasn’t listening.
One more contraction at total relax and the next one came with a burning urge to push. I felt the baby moving to crown and said something, likely incoherent at this point, about the baby crowning. I heard what I thought was Louis repeating what I thought I said. I heard Misti say something too, but I was focused on listening to my body and slowly (in my head it felt slow, but time is so relative when you are in concentration on something – it was likely fast) pictured what the muscles in my body were doing and focused on working with them instead of fighting against them. I remember praying and feeling God say, “listen” like a soft ocean breeze in my ear. He made my body to do exactly what it was doing now. I relaxed – rested – in my trust of Him.
Louis told me the baby crowned and to push, I didn’t feel a contraction but refused to panic, I waited and breathed deep to calm and listen; another contraction came and pushed our little one out. There was a cry followed by a choking sound. As I looked to see the baby in Louis’ hands, the baby’s fingers then arms and toes then legs started to turn from a bright pink-red to blue! The baby had come out with the umbilical cord wrapped and Louis unwrapped it.
Time here slowed for us. It felt like an eternity.
“What happened?” Misti seemed to be able to see everything though she was just on the phone, we said he was turning blue like he choked, she said to suction his mouth. I remembered that from Kimberly’s birth – her cord was really short and the midwife had stopped me from pushing to unwrap her cord, then used a long tube to suction out her mouth – she had been blue. I couldn’t see using a nose suction thingy, it was too short. I had heard Louis say he was a boy as he first cried. Now my mind said “he” instead of “baby”. “How do I do that?” I remember not panicking although the back of my mind was screaming at me “he’s blue! Not breathing! He’s going to die!” Misti said to hold his nose and suction him with my mouth. It was like she could see that I wasn’t pulling strong enough, I remember, “no, pull like you’re sucking a milkshake through a straw,” I prayed and sucked up a ton of mucus which I just spit on the floor. “Blow into him, firm but gentle,” I heard. I blew a breath as I prayed again. He shuddered and breathed in and cried out! I cried.
Christina had called 911 when he started turning blue. He’d been not breathing. It had really been less than a minute between choking sound and his next full cry. It had felt like ten minutes. It had felt like eternity. Everything had happened so fast but in my mind it had happened in slow motion.
Fire rescue came in. My mom said one guy heard the baby crying and whispered, “thank God,” as he entered. Misti told us to rub him so we had been rubbing on Laud all over to get the circulation back. We’d recently watched Thea’s “pongo dog” aka “101 Dalmations” and one of the kids mentioned, “just like the puppy.” I didn’t know which of the girls were awake just yet. I did suddenly realize when there were strangers in my house that I was naked and bloody and there was a giant mess in the bathroom – I made a mental note to throw out the towels on top of the rug and I didn’t care if they were the big nice ones or not. I had been focused on Baby Laud. Louis covered my shoulders with a big towel. The Fire Rescue guy looks at the cord, which was wrapped around my leg, the placenta hadn’t delivered yet, and Laud is at my chest height being rubbed. He said, “wow, that cord is long.” They waited a moment for the pulsing to stop so all the blood from the cord went into Laud. Cord was cut and they did some stuff checking out Laud. I told them, “we called for him, not me,” because “blue and not breathing is scary” and I told them what I needed to do for me (deliver placenta, get blood off to see if I am actively bleeding, etc). The guy agreed and said the baby was good asked if he’d urinated. Yes, with his first big cry after I suctioned him, he’d peed all over, which honestly had made us laugh. Since Louis and the rescue people had Laud, I washed to get most of the blood off and stimulate my body to contract again and get the placenta out. Misti was still on the phone and had all the times and such. Someone (likely Louis, Mom, and Christina) cleaned up the mess on the floor (I hoped the towels just got tossed).
One of the rescue guys said they couldn’t leave until they made sure baby and I were good – for me, that meant delivering the placenta and not actively bleeding. Placenta delivered along with huge blood clots. Louis goes, “I know what to look for.” He says the placenta is a fascinating organ and knows what the whole one looks like. The placenta was whole. I’ve seen them too, but usually I’m a little occupied with the baby and only once do I remember examining one because I was curious. No active bleeding. Sweet. Just that drainage, which honestly appeared too light to me.
All Laud’s vitals were good! His little fingers and toes were pink by the time the placenta delivered and I’d cleaned up a little so I felt ready for the baby. They checked my blood pressure, which was “a bit low” so I had to explain that my blood pressure is always low, stress makes it “normal.” They were so nice and it was amazing how quickly they arrived. Everything was good so we opted to stay home because I never sleep in hospitals anyway. Laud was perfect!
From the “my water just broke” text at 4:36 to when he was born at 4:43 was literally 7 minutes. I am still in complete awe of how quickly everything went. Rescue guys and lady left somewhere before 6am (that was when I texted someone, Misti or Hannah likely)
Our little Laud Arik “stole” Christina’s title of “lightest” at his new 6lbs 4oz. He tied Kimberly for the shortest at 19 inches. His name means “Praise” and “Lion of God” in Hebrew. The teenagers pointed out he is a Leo. He is such an amazing blessing! The girls of course, are vying for who gets to hold him. Lucas commented, “you have two brothers, he’s my only brother.” (Although that is literally true, it’s also a little funny that he decided that was why he should be able to hold him more than the girls.)
Our littlest love is here!
He’s ready to be loved on and spoiled by big sisters, his big brother (who has been his shadow since birth), family, and friends. We’re so awed and blessed and honored to have another little “arrow” to raise up! Thank you, Jesus for friends, family, quick rescue workers (even though he was all okay when they got here, it was provision in case he wasn’t – not breathing is scary to watch)! Thank you, Jesus, for Your perfect timing! Becky gets two & a half weeks with him before she’s gone until November, Christina gets a week & a half before her final senior semester craziness, I only missed the last two days of camp at gym and will be ready for driving with the start of school, my mom travels over summer and was here for just a four-day stay in between visits & got to be here… I have always teased that babies don’t read calendars… and my cumulative experiences with births keeps showing me every time is different and God has all of it in His hands!
Thank you, Jesus, for the miracle of love and life! Thank you, Jesus, for the miracle of Laud!
*Pictures because my girls say I can’t write about him without sharing pictures! (photo credit to Grandma Tina, Christina, Becky, and Kimberly because I was way too busy to think of pictures!)
Probably the first oneChristina, Laud, and TheaBecky and LaudChristina and Laud (she made him a “burrito”Grandma Tina and Laud (with a hat)He’s all dressed up!Mom and LaudHappy Big Brother (Lucas and Laud)Lucas and LaudJillian and LaudMy preemie clothes fit, Mrs. Hannah!Anastasia and Laud
