How Christ Has touched my life

This week, my uncle passed away. Although, I did not know him very well, I do respect him for all that he has endured and feel that he passed in a timely manner. I have also contemplated how glorious the resurrection is for all people and especially with people that cannot walk in this life. I am grateful for the atonement which allows people to be resurrected free from sorrow, sickness, or pain. It is glorious! I have also contemplated how even though my uncle could not walk, he still made valuable contributions to society and had a great job for many years. He gained all the knowledge that was available to him as well and had every trivial fact memorized. So he did utilize the abilities that he did have to the fullest. I am grateful for my uncle Javier's example to all!

Christmas Preparations

Today is the first day in days that I have taken the day off from shopping or going anywhere. This week as I have been running from store to store, I have noticed that most people that are shopping are not happy. Kids are screaming, including my own, and people are just trying to shuffle their way through crowds. A couple of people have come up to me and talked to me about my baby since I carry him on my back. One elderly lady said she knows what I do all day and I felt sort of a kinship with her as I was waiting in line but the next moment I was being called up to make my purchase. I'm grateful for these tender mercies, these angels that you meet here and there, especially on Christmas time. Some kind family and strangers have given us money and gift cards this year. So I'm grateful I was able to buy gifts and things without the worry of finances. I know God is watching out for us! I was able to get the kids clothes and Christmas outfits! They're going to look so cute on Sunday! Feeling less stress about the things i feel I should be able to provide my family has lifted my heart so I can feel my Savior's love more easily. I have also been trying to #lighttheworld as the Savior would and have realized that I truly do have the ability to become like the Savior if I seek His direction and grace. It is with love that I share these experiences

and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

My Amazing Home Birth

So it is May 25th at 7:44 p.m. and I finally started to truly feel better from my birth and decided to start writing my birth story. Before I get started, it might help for you to have a little bit of background on how this whole program works. On my last birth, I was a vbac and used hypnobabies to have a medication free birth. For my first, I also wanted that but was not equipped with this entire program. I only had hypnobirthing which teaches you to have faith in a pain free birth but doesn't give you too much technique so when it got really intense, the only thing I kept thinking was no pain, no pain. In hypnobabies, they give you other things to think about such as key words that relax you and set you in the right mode. It is true that when you try not to think of something, that thought keeps recurring in your head. So I put it into my birth plan not to even use the word pain but instead say discomfort since that can be eased rather quickly. So the way this program works is, when you are in your birthing time and as you're getting ready for your birthing time, you always say release to go into a deep hypnosis state that basically knocks you completely out. This is good for the early birthing stage when pressure waves begin getting closer and closer together. So this was the easiest part for me and I slept through my early labor with my second and now my third birth. I actually started having regular pressure waves on Saturday the 14th which was... one day after my due date. This is the first time I'm actually sharing my due date with you all because I knew due dates are inaccurate and I didn't want to focus my mind on pushing myself when I had no control over that aspect. Anyhow, pressure waves continued in the evening for 4 days and were mainly 10 minutes apart until Tuesday, the 18th. On the 18th, they were more like 4 to 6 minutes apart. They were also felt in my pelvic region rather than just high on my stomach. Me and the boys decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood so I could see if I could get the pressure waves going in a rhythm. While we were on a walk, our good neighbor friend saw us and reassured us that if we were going to have the baby tonight, they could take the boys. As I was walking, I found it hard to walk through some pressure waves and that is when I knew it was time. There were texts from my mom and mother in law since Saturday asking how I was doing and how my pressure waves were coming along so they were ready when I decided to call them and my midwife. We called the neighbors and they immediately came and picked up the boys who were so excited since they also love their kids. When my whole birth team showed up, the pressure waves decided to slow down so we went for a walk and they sped up again but I decided to lay down and almost fell asleep. She checked my dilation and I was completely thinned out and almost at a 5. This is when you usually get admitted to a hospital. Then my sweet midwife, Kim Flake said that I should get some rest even if it's for a couple of hours. I told her I was sure that they would be back early the next morning. So they left to go sleep around 11 p.m. My mom stayed and slept in my son's bed since he and my other son were with our neighbor. At around 3 a.m. my pressure waves started one on top of the other and they were really strong. I tried to wake my husband three times but I basically had to shake him. He was asking me if I was sure and I said yes! Then he called his mom and I called my midwife. I told her it was time and she asked how long each wave was and I said that I was not able to time them but that they were really close. Then she said she'd be there and she also brought her assistant to be there for the baby as well. This was part of the plan when she was sure. Next, I went into the boys’ room to let my mom know that it was time. She came into the living room and I asked her to rub my forehead which was another cue for me to relax. You see, when woman give birth there are 2 sets of birthing muscles that work together. One is horizontal as it thins out, and the other is vertical and that will push the baby down. When you are relaxed, those muscles can work together efficiently and with minimal to no discomfort. In hypnobabies, they call it the easy birthing time. Although, when I was at this stage, it was not easy. My mom, had to keep rubbing it and when my husband had finished telling his mom to come over, he had to rub my shoulder for the other cue. The problem I was having was actually looking forward to the pressure waves. I felt them coming on more powerfully and I started shaking like I was getting hit by a huge electrical wave which felt good but was so shocking to me. When they first started, and she was rubbing my forehead, they actually felt good but then they became so powerful I started to lose my focus and then my husband helped me regain more focus. Then 20 minutes later my mother in law came and I lost focus and she helped by rubbing my forehead and my mom started rubbing my shoulders. Only she began rubbing too hard which felt good on my shoulders but it was taking away my focus. So I asked her to rub gently. As they got stronger and stronger, I began to feel like I didn't know what to expect next and I began to question whether I was really prepared for a comfortable birth at all. This reminds of when Peter walked with Christ on the water and he was doing good at first but then he began to doubt. This whole time I was also listening to a powerful cd from hypnobabies called hypnobirthing 1 and 2. It kept saying the affirmation, I deserve to have a comfortable birth. As I was sinking deeper and deeper into doubt, I began having thoughts like you don't deserve to have a comfortable birth. I even heard more powerfully that since Christ suffered I would have to suffer but then I remembered that that is the opposite of true since there is a scripture in modern revelation saying in Christ words, I God have suffered these things for all that they might not suffer. So I was able to immediately dispell that and I envisioned giving this burden to Christ. I believe that was the moment I began to progress rapidly. As each pressure wave would come over me, I would prepare for it and then as it came, I would say peace which is the key word for active birthing as compared to when you’re in your early stage. I would start to calm it down and within seconds would feel good again. Then I would smile and wait for the next one. I was leaning on my birthing ball. At this point, my midwife asked my husband if she thought I needed to set up the labor pool and my husband said you're not going to have time because he remembered from the last time. A couple seconds later I started pushing. I pushed my water out and there was that gush. This was at 4:09 a.m. By this time I was really sweating profusely. I asked that my pushing baby out cd began being played.  I had to stand up a couple of times like the baby was stretching his legs to move down. As I was laboring there, I said a prayer that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I would have the strength to push this baby out. Then I stood up one last time and I went into a squatting position I have not been able to achieve with such strength for longer than a few seconds previous to my birth and I pushed so hard. I reached in to feel how close the baby was and then pushed some more with an enthusiasm that he was almost there. I told everyone how much I loved them. The baby gradually began to crown all 14 inches of his head. My midwife provided perineum support to help lessen tearing and any injuries. Then she guided him as he came out like a slide just as the birthing cd was saying. I was so overjoyed at that moment, as my midwife invited me to pick up my baby. I picked him up and layed there on the floor with so much peace and excitement and relief all at the same time. I was glad that it was all over but mostly I was happy that he was happy. Within a minute, he let out his first cry as he got some of that flem out of his lungs. However within those first 2 minutes, my bleeding became excessive and they had to cut the embelical cord. Originally I was going to let the embellical cord stay there until it stopped pulsing in order to get all the nutrients to the baby but in this case, it was medically necessary to cut it. After that, I was administered a few shots in order to stop the bleeding. Within 1 minute of that happening, I delivered the placenta and then the next min I bled some more. Kim said it was just as much as a gunshot wound, about 700 ml. I knew it was ok. I sort of felt like I had already been through this with my second son only this time it was a little extra. Anyhow I was too occupied with my newborn that I wasn’t really paying attention. I knew I was in good hands as well. Right after I started bleeding again, my midwife started massaging my stomach and got the bleeding to stop. From there, I was stitched up on the bed for 45 minutes. I received stitches on my perineum in 3 places. However I only had a second degree tear. While I was being stitched, my newborn got his check up. He was born at 8 lbs exactly! I’m so glad he waited to come out at 40 weeks and 6 days. He was so worth the wait! He was also a good 21 inches so just the cutest little legs and arms on this tall boy. I am so grateful for all the support I have had in bringing my precious little newborn Ambrosio into the world. I’m especially grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for allowing His Son to bear my burdens. Without Him, this whole birthing experience would not have been the same but thanks to Him, it was a dream come true!

My Witness of Christ

So I have been spending a lot of time on social media lately and I realized that there are many people that don't know Christ or have any witness of Him. I am here to tell you that He is real. How do I know? My first understanding is that I understand that I am alive and that in order for me to be alive, there had to be a Creator. Second, I can see a manifestation of a grand designer in the beauty He creates around me and in the world. Here is a place in Iceland. Just as this place is magnificent and
beautiful in a profound way, so is Christ the Creator of it.

Adrian growing one more year with his brother

Adrian has come one more year. What a ways he has come. He loves playing with his brother, Andres. I'm so pleased with how he watches over his brother as he climbs things. Adrian does not want anything to happen to him.  He is the kindest, sweetest little boy. He has grown from being a baby to being a big brother. When he gets upset, he is able to calm down quickly. He loves his family most of all and being with his family. He loves the song and follows true to it of "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!" He is so handsome and loves to dress himself in the morning. He knows his routine and is comfortable being himself always. He is unique. He can be the only one laughing when everyone is serious and this brings joy to our family. He likes to help out around the house. Whenever I am folding clothes or vacuuming, he automatically wants to pitch in. He is still a snuggle bug. Whenever he is ready to go to sleep, he always waits for his brother to go to sleep so that I can give him a hug to sleep.

All of these qualities and experiences every day make me glad to have a son as sweet as Adrian! Happy Birthday Adrian!

My Natural Birth Story

Everything was ready and set for a month and I really thought that I was going to have the baby a week before it had been happening. I had had a c section with my first son so I had done extra planning to get this one right. I guess I need to step back and explain that the reason for that was because he was sunny side up meaning his head was facing up instead of down where he could be easily pushed out. The good thing is that I was able to push him to a certain point and that my body had dilated fully the last time. Anyhow, I learned from that experience how important it is to just let the baby come naturally by relaxation. My plan was to have a hypnobabies birth to help ease if not get rid of the discomfort (that's what we call pain in hypnobabies) of giving birth. I began listening at night to the CDs for 7 months. This really helped ease my pregnancy discomforts and in fact I really didn't even know I was in labor until a couple of hours before. So I had been having contractions or as we call them pressure waves for about a week. I really didn't want to go to the hospital early from that because I know that all they do in hospitals is monitor your every move, and I only wanted that for when it was necessary. Anyhow so I kept listening to cds that helped me visualize my natural birth and relax deeply through the easy first stage and actually were inducing labor the natural way. That night, I kept trying to make plans for the next day so that I wouldn't get too overly anxious for the arrival of my new little baby. I called my dad and told him we would like to come visit him the next day.  I kept feeling pressure waves 10 minutes apart and then 5 minutes apart at the early morning hours. Also, I have a doula named Moriah who is really awesome. My plan was to have her come and labor with me at home before I went into active labor at the hospital. So I had called her in the middle of the night when my contractions started getting closer together and she would come and wait quietly and in fact the night before we were actually talking about the dreams I was having of us going on a road trip together when my contractions started to slow down again. I also got to practice my squatting with her by picking out some lettuce from my garden that needed thinning. Back to the birth story, now that you have all the background information. I woke up at 3:30am that morning on March 23rd. I wanted to go to the living room so I could do different birthing time positions and I could barely walk this time. When I rolled out of bed, I tried to quickly grab my hypnobabies cd player and dropped it but I struggled to pick it up as I wobbled to the living room just a few feet away. I got my deepening relaxation cd out after I tried to relax on my own. I also decided to text my doula to let her know that they were getting really strong and about 5 min apart which was when I was supposed to go to the hospital if they were strong enough. Since I had been having them all week, we didn't know if it were time yet. She texted me back let me know if they continue like this and in half an hour she would head over to help monitor me. About 10 min later, I decided to call my emergency midwife line to let them know that I was indeed having heavier pressure waves. She seemed to be anticipating my call but she told me to hold on for half an hour too and call her back when I was headed to the hospital because she would be there at the same time. The goal was to wait at home as long as possible so that I could do this birth completely natural as planned. So I woke my husband, Matt again to let him know for about the 3rd night in a row that this was probably it in case he wanted to get dressed and just be ready to go. I said if he wanted, he could go to sleep. About 10 min later, I texted my doula Moriah and told her to come now. Then I told Matt after a few more really intense pressure waves that it was time. Then I called back 20 minutes later to my midwife hotline, it was Belinda, to tell her that I was on my way. Matt came out and asked if he could go back to bed and wait some more and I started shaking in an attempt to answer him, then he realized that it was time. Matt got our son, Adrian, loaded in the car. He said that when he got there, he opened his eyes and was so excited to see the stars that he said, "Twinkle twinkle little star."  I was barely able to text my doula in the car to tell her that I was already headed out to the hospital. Luckily my birthing bag was already there.  When I got there Adrian was concerned that he didn't have water and I was worried that he was going to break my concentration from my relaxation CD. Now this whole time, I was listening to my hypnobabies cds to calm me down. It was making the discomfort manageable except when I had to keep walking or talking or transitioning to a new environment. That was the hard part, transitioning. On the way there, Matt kept asking me questions. Should we go drop off Adrian at my sisters, who should I call. I should have practiced answering questions more but I was so late in my birthing time at this point that it was very difficult anyhow. What I mean is there is a part of hypnobabies where you can practicing walking and talking and being in the deepest state of hypnosis but for the past 2 weeks, I had only practiced that to a small degree. When we arrived at the hospital, my husband had to go to the counter, while my amazing 2 year old son stuck by me. He was not wandering around the hospital but watching me intently as I laid there horizontally on a barely cushioned hospital bench. Then my amazing sister in law, Sarah came and he was happy to go with her. As soon as she got there, I was put in triage. They started asking me the same questions I had already filled out in preregistration and I could barely answer. After about the third question, my awesome midwife showed up and told them that it was not medically necessary to answer those questions right now because I needed to be really focused on my cds. My midwive's name is Belinda and she is from Valley Women for Women. When she then checked me, I was already dilated to a 9 and she said, "Let's get her to a room so she can start pushing." Here was another transition that was difficult but much better then walking. They rolled me into a room, and after a few pressure waves, I turned around and tightly gripped the bed and felt that as I pushed it would relieve some of the pressure. So I did and amazingly, I pushed the water out. I was so excited. This whole time from being in triage to being in the new room, my midwife, my doula, my mother in law, and my husband were all massaging me. My midwife was helping me relax by telling me to relax my shoulders and someone was massaging my shoulders to help with that. Then someone was holding my leg up. When I really felt it was almost time to start pushing, I had my midwife set up the 'Pushing Baby Out' cd with powerful opening hypnosis. She hooked it to my big speakers and I could visualize myself pushing the baby out as gentle as possible. After finishing the CD, I could feel the discomfort of not having it being played out loud and I asked to replay it. As I was listening to these CDs, Belinda, my midwife, was coaching me into different positions that were helping me get the baby closer to coming out. On the second runthrough of the CD, I was becoming increasingly impatient and started to want to push the baby out even if I tore. The baby's head was right there and I reached down and felt it. I could hear the CD saying down and out like a slide and helping me visualize already holding my baby. With one breath, I told my husband to say a prayer that this would be the last push, and I did. Then I pushed with all my might and the next second, the baby plopped right down on the bed. They picked the baby up and put him on my chest. Within an hour, the baby was breastfeeding. He had found my breast perfectly. This of course helped with the postpartum and even helped me to push out the placenta without any drugs. The amazing part is that this whole birth happened without drugs. I had arrived at the hospital at about 5 a.m. on March 23rd to have my precious baby boy at 6:35 a.m. He was 7 lbs and .78 ounces of perfection.  It had happened all as I had visualized. In the time frame that I had visualized it. I call it one of those miracles that happen only a few times in one's life. I know these types of blessings come when we exercise our faith and do our part to prepare. I feel so blessed to have had everything happen the way I planned. I even had a midwife read and study the birth preference sheet. I knew she did, because they were getting ready to give me oxytocin to help me birth the placenta and she asked them to wait. Then it happened, I just did it through nursing. After everything was over, I told her that I really was hoping that she would be the midwife at my birth and she told me that she was hoping that she could make it to my birth too. I was so blessed that I had her to keep me calm the whole time and a whole team of people united in a common cause of bringing a baby into the world in a peaceful manner. When asked if I would have another one right after, I was able to say, "Maybe one or two more." I kept saying afterwards how happy I was not just to get off to a good start with this baby but for the way the baby came into the world. My doula Moriah commented that this is how all the natural births happen out of the country, because she went to the phillipines and was a midwife there. My mother in law said that it was a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Also, I see a difference in how this baby, seems so much calmer. He is very patient for his food and he can sleep in his own bassinet for a time. I am probably the happiest mom right now and feeling really blessed!

This picture was taken of Andres after we had the golden 2 hours of bonding from his birth:)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!