Cravings of a Pregnant Mama

For all of you SLO County readers out there, can I tell you how much I am craving Firestones today! We just don't have anything close to as good as Firestones here. The only substitute I have found is a place in Kennewick called Majors. They have BBQ and other sides (it is more like JD Boones). They just don't have the yummy sweet BBQ sauce and really good seasoned fries like Firestones though. Jeromy doesn't like Majors all that much, so I can't even get him to go very often. Sigh! (Jeromy misses In-N-Out the most!)

(I just had to take a 5 minute break from writing this post because Bennett hit his finger with a hammer outside and was screaming like a crazy person. No broken skin, just a blood blister. Boys, I'll tell ya!)

I think I am hungry because all I feel like writing about is food. I don't mind eating food these days, just preparing it. I am fighting with myself about going to Burger King. I know it isn't good for me, but I really want a fish sandwich and french fries. Oh, for those of you that don't know, I fell off the gluten-free wagon. I tested really allergic to gluten and eggs last year and have been really good about staying away from it. Well, since being pregnant all I want is starchy food, bread mainly! To tell you the truth, I don't feel physically worse since I have been eating it which makes it hard to think that I am allergic to it. I had the testing done because Rachel and Bennett were reacting to foods and they are both gluten intolerant with physical symptoms if they eat it. I don't know what I will do in the long run, but for now, I am eating wheat! My only concern is sensitizing my unborn baby to it. I have read that food allergies are very hereditary and you can sensitize a baby to foods that you are allergic to if you eat them while pregnant. No one knows for sure. I guess I would have to stay off the foods while pregnant to see if I get a kid with no food allergies. Not this time I am afraid.

(Okay, that was my second break. Rachel was running and fell in the gravel and scraped her hands and got mud on her face. I remember how bad it feels to scrape your palms when you are a kid. Ouch!)

I lived on Taco Bell, Fatte's Pizza and Tacos de Mexico when I was in my first trimester with Bennett. I guess he turned out all right. I should probably add donuts into that first list as well. I was working at Lifeline in Grover Beach, CA and Taco Bell was right across the street and a donut shop was at the end of the block. Maria was my partner in crime and we enjoyed many a donut from that establishment. Dawn used to get so mad at me for eating Taco Bell because of all the "junk" in it. Ah, those were good days. I wonder how much healthier babies were a 100 years ago when all there was to eat was "real" food. Salt was the only preservative they had.

Now I am REALLY hungry and need to go do something about it. Bye for now!

Daily Life

I don't have much to post about because we haven't been going anywhere except for church and story time once a week. I haven't been reading, knitting, cooking, or scrapbooking. What have I been doing you ask. Absolutely nothing. It is strange, but true. I don't feel like doing anything. I read to the kids alot these days because I get to lie on the couch while doing it! I have been taking vitamin B-6 supplements, and the nausea is waning, but it is being replaced with fatigue. I would take fatigue over nausea any day!

I have been spending way too much time on the computer reading other people's blogs and web surfing. I love reading adoption stories and all the faith that it takes to get through the process. I just read the blog of a woman who adopted an HIV+ teen girl a few months ago and how the process has been for the new daughter and the adoptive family. I just can't get enough adoption stories. It is such an amazing thing to open your heart and home to a child or a sibling group without a mom and a dad, loving the fatherless. It just seems like such a Christ-like thing to do.

Spring seems like it is just around the corner. I have been enjoying the warm sun streaming through the windows! My tulips are starting to come up (the green parts) which is SO exciting! Our apple tree has a ton of little buds on it. The weather has been warmer lately, high 40s and low 50s. The kids have been playing outside everyday which is easy to tell by the piles of dirt all over the deck and walkways. Bennett is an excavator, moving dirt from one place to another, and Rachel is following suit! I can't wait for spring and warmer days, not summer mind you, but the 60s and 70s. That is my favorite! You can tell I am a SLO county girl. I love those mild temperatures.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Just a little bit of snow, but it reminds me how much I like living somewhere that it snows. So beautiful. It doesn't look like this will "stick," but it is so fun to watch it fall.

Do it yourself and save!

The check engine light on our MPV went on... well too long ago. I decided I would figure out what the problem was and fix it myself. My theory is (when possible) to do it myself and buy the tools rather than paying someone else to do it. When Samantha called and told me the check engine light was on I asked if it was yellow, blinking yellow or red. Luckily it was solid yellow telling me that it was most likely just a smog system that had thrown the Trouble Diagnostic Code (TDC). For those of you who are not familiar, newer vehicles have computers and sensors throughout the car that can tell you when there is a problem. They do this through the check engine light. Since the light was solid yellow I told Samantha to do her shopping and head home. I purchased a TDC reader which told me I had a bad O2 sensor. The great thing about these readers is that they will even tell you which sensor has failed (our van has 4). I called the dealership to find out how much it would cost to have them replace it and they wanted $220 to install a new one. I don't think so. I bought some ramps, ordered a replacement generic O2 sensor offline and today installed it. Here is what it cost me to do the repair:

Trouble Diagnostic Code reader $40
New Generic O2 Sensor $52
Ramps $40

So basically I saved myself $90 doing it myself and no I have not figured out what I "paid" myself per hour to do this repair.Not much. I look at it this way, I got some experience, and I have the tools for next time.

Jeromy

Feeling Better

Well, it has been 3 days now that I have been feeling a little better. Evening/nightime is still a little hard at times and going into the kitchen is still a trigger, but I am definitely feeling better. I have started taking ginger and vitamin B-6 to help the process along, but I am holding off on the vitamin B injections and accupunture, for now. I don't think I'll need them. I have been feeling much hungrier lately as well, so things are progressing nicely. I don't know what this all means with my due date. It would seem that I shouldn't be feeling better yet if I am only 11 weeks along, so maybe I am farther along than I think. I should be able to figure that out when I feel the baby moving around. That usually happens for me around 18 weeks. Some friends of mine, who will remain nameless, are still rooting for twins, but that is only because they are a twin themself!

Midwife Appointment

I had my first pre-natal appointment today. The same 'ol stuff. "No, I don't use IV drugs. No, I am not a victim of domestic abuse. No I don't smoke or drink during pregnancy." I have never seen this midwife before. She is one of two midwives in our area that are licensed to do homebirths. The other one is a naturopath doctor who I see for my food allergy problems and also take the kids to. The doctor doesn't accept insurance for homebirths and the other midwife does, so the choice was simple.

I was hoping to hear the heartbeat today. You can sometimes hear it as early as 10 1/2 weeks, which I am today. We heard the heartbeat right away and very easily. That fact coupled with my uterus size and placement makes her think that I am 4-6 weeks further along than I think I am. She did say that she has been wrong before. I asked her if my long torso and being so tall could make that happen, and she said that it would do the opposite. It should be lower and smaller.

There are a few things that makes me think that I am further along and a few things that make me think I am only at 10 weeks. I started getting sick around 5 weeks when I don't usually feel sick until 8-9 weeks. I should start feeling better any day now if I am indeed 14-16 weeks along, but I have been feeling worse which is is usually true with week 10 and 11. I have a friend that is convinced I am having twins. I mentioned it to the midwife and she said that I would be only showing 2 weeks bigger, not 4. (Maybe I am two weeks further along with twins?) She said I could have an ultrasound done to date the pregnancy accurately, but I was so sure that I do have the accurate date. I think I will probably wait until my next visit to see if I am still measuring large before having the ultrasound done. Jeromy and I were thinking that we might like to know the sex of this baby. We have done it both ways and it is nicer/easier for Jeromy to bond with a baby before it's born when he knows if it is a boy or a girl. We'll see.

My due date if I am 10 weeks along is September 15th. My midwife will be 3 hours away in Seattle on September 14th, for her neice's wedding. That would be a bummer! It is nice to know that my baby is doing well and has a little heart beat. Thank you Lord for letting me hear that today!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Kids are amazing. Bennett spent the entire day yesterday lying on the couch and hardly ate a thing. He didn't even want to watch a video. His face was bright red, (he has his own body thermometer, it's helpful) and his cheeks were on fire. He woke up this morning cool as a cucumber, hungry and full of energy. Kids are so resilient, I just can't get over it. He is jumping around and playing like nothing happened. It was nice that he didn't want to eat anything yesterday. It kept me from having to go into the kitchen and think about food. Today, I am not so lucky. It is lunchtime and I don't know how I am going to get through lunch prep. Maybe more cold cereal for lunch? My poor kids!

Sick

Poor little Bennett woke up this morning with a high fever and a sore throat. I have had a headache and sore throat as well, so I stayed home with him from church. My morning sickness seems to be getting worse, but I recently read that week 10 and 11 are usually the worst. I have my first midwife appointment on Tuesday and hopefully I can hear the baby's heartbeat. That is always so reassuring! I am going to talk to her about acupuncture. I know, it's kind of weird, but I have been reading about women with bad morning sickness that have been helped by it. At this point, I am desperate enough to try just about anything. Please pray I don't get the full blown flu, I don't think I could handle it with how bad I already feel. Pray that Rachel and Jeromy stay healthy as well. That is all that is going on here, but it is enough!! Thank you for your prayers.

Blessed

It has been so awesome to see the body of Christ step in to help me since I have been feeling so sick lately. A friend brought over dinner last night and someone else offered to come over this afternoon to do some cleaning. I have a hard time asking for help, as I know many of us do, but how blessed I feel to have people that are willing to offer their help to me. I know that is what brotherly and sisterly love is all about, but it has become a pretty foreign concept in our culture today. People keep to themselves and don't want to intrude on others or don't think they have any extra time to give. But what an example to non-Christians about what love in action looks like. The whole concept of giving your brother the cloak off your own back is something that I want to concentrate more on (when I can get up off the couch that is!) Servanthood. I think that is what it is all about. Life isn't about what we can get out of it, but what we can give. We all have something to give. God has given us each talents to use to serve the body of Christ, and He has given us universal mandates in things like hospitality. You don't have to be good at it, you just have to DO it and afterwards you will realize how blessed YOU were because of it. That is my challenge to you for the day. Reach out to someone that you know could use some help. Invite someone you have been "meaning" to have over for dinner next week. Actually DO it instead of just thinking about doing it. You will bless someone else and in turn will feel blessed yourself.

Bigotry, Racism and Eugenics

Check out this link:
The Most Dangerous Woman of the 19th Century


(The following is an excerpt taken from Alexander C. Sanger's Amazon.com profile. He is currently the Chair of the International Planned Parenthood Council and the grandson of Margaret Sanger.)

Swinging the Vote

To get back into political play, feminists should be looking at ways to swing the women's vote--both in midterm elections and in 2008--by claiming the rubric of successful family life. They should represent parents' desires to have children when it is best to have them, to raise their children safely to adulthood, to get them to adulthood in good health and educated for the jobs of tomorrow. And those jobs are just as much for daughters as for sons.

The anti-choice approach, by contrast, brings back the involuntary motherhood of old, with all the problems and suffering that entailed for women and children. Feminists should talk about abortion, as well as birth control, in terms of family formation, not just as a right or a matter of individual autonomy.

And feminists, even more than they presently do, should talk about child care, school quality, health care reform and national security in terms of the safety of families. Emphasizing these issues will get feminists out of the single-issue abortion pigeon hole and enable them to talk to U.S. women and men, on a broader set of issues about which every citizen has deep concern.
I am the third generation of a family that has been fighting for reproductive freedom, which is in peril now as never before.
Now is not the time to sweep support for abortion rights under a barrel. But new approaches must be found to persuade the American people that being pro-choice makes human sense. Since a one-dimensional approach to abortion rights has not worked, let's try something new.

Too cute!

This morning Rachel was wearing a beautiful dress her Aunt from GA gave her for Christmas. She looked too cute. She also found my hat and decided it would look good with her outfit. It is blue so at least she can coordinate her colors. Enjoy.







Jeromy
for the Markworts

Just Checking In

Just wanted to post to let you know that I am still here and realize that I do have a blog! You will have to excuse the lack of posts for the next few weeks while I get through this first trimester. I have been having a pretty rough time and don't have anything remotely interesting or clever to write about. Keep up with Jeromy's new blog as he is going through Hebrews and would really like some interesting conversations and feedback. It will keep him motivated to work on it too. Please keep me in your prayers and for Jeromy's patience with me while he is having to take over kitchen duties for the time being. It is hard as a housewife not to be able to keep up with my job here, but I am thankful for a helpful husband. I am also excited that our new baby is going to have alot of new friends the same age as I have gotten severalf pregnancy announcements lately. What a blessing!

New Once Far Post

I wanted to let you know there is a new Once Far post. I will be updating the link name at the right to include the verse and date it was posted so it will be easy for you to know when there are new posts. Please don't be a lurker. Post your comments. I am really hoping this page will not just be my thoughts, but a collaboration of ideas.

Thanks, Jeromy

Music at the Markworts

I know that I have recently posted about the musical exploits of my family, but Rachel has now joined in on the fun. Bennett has always enjoyed playing one of Jeromy's harmonicas while Jeromy plays the guitar, but this past Sunday Rachel tried for the first time. She was so good that she impressed herself.


She was so excited about the noises she was creating. It was too cute.


I would not be surprised if one day there was a Markwort family band. (I will not be any part of it, don't worry. Maybe I can do sound or something!)


Bennett is intrigued by the trumpet which he has seen played by one of our pastor's sons. He thinks it is pretty great. He of course wants to play the drums too just like any other active boy that loves movement and NOISE!

Once Far

I have created a new blog. More to come. Check it out (linked above or among our links to the right)!

Jeromy
for the Markworts

Same 'Ol, Same 'Ol

Not much to report from here. I am still sick and tired which means the baby is still doing well I assume. I will go in for an appointment around 11 weeks when they can listen for a heart beat. That will be a great day to hear the heartbeat and know that, at least for now, things are okay. There are never any guarantees, but hearing that little heartbeat is always reassuring.

I don't feel any better physically, but I am finally mentally coping a little better. I am trying to not dwell on the fact that I feel like I have a bad case of food poisoning or the stomache flu and just trying to function despite of it. I am starting to fall behind in things like laundry and house cleaning, but I am willing to give myself a little grace in those areas. Motivation is the hardest thing right now when I don't feel like getting off the couch.

I have been reading the blog of a woman who adopted two baby boys with dwarfism from Acres of Hope in Liberia this last year. She hadn't posted in a while, since before Christmas, and she just posted the other day saying that she, one of her daughters and one of her new sons all have Hepatitis A. She didn't say, but I assume she got it from Liberia which is pretty common. The baby who was on his death bed when she finally got him to the states, congestive heart failure from untreated pnemonia for so long, is in the PICU because he just had his adenoids and tonsils removed. I don't know if it is all related. Anyway, all that to say, that things could always be worse. At least my children are healthy and we have not been nearly as sick this year as we were the last.

I have been reading alot lately again. I go in waves. I am either reading all the time or not at all. I never just read once in a while. I have two books that people have loaned me that I need to read (I have started both, but haven't gotten very far) Teaching the Trivium and Hudson Taylor's biography. I instead have been reading a couple of books that I checked out from the library and feel more compelled to finish quickly before they are due. I already finished Francine River's, The Prophet, the story of Amos. It was pretty good, a novellla so it was a fast read. I am about 3/4 of the way done with, There Is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene, the story of AIDS in Ethiopia and one woman's response to the crisis. She was a widow and started taking in orphaned children with nowhere to go. It is a pretty powerful look at the devestation the disease has caused in one country. It has been a good read because it takes such a thorough look at the crisis from a historical, political, economic, moral and healthcare standpoint. I have learned alot and am gaining more compassion for the entire issue and all the repercussions that go along with it. I live in a pretty sheltered, Christian environment where the topic du jour is never the AIDS crisis in Africa and what should our Christian response be to it. I think that needs to change. I will definitely be posting more about this topic in the future.

That's all for now, I need to eat!!