Essential Oils - Oils of Time, Holistic Healing, Home and Family

Essential Oils Are Making An Essential Comeback

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Essential oils have played a pivotal role throughout humankind’s history. Early humankind utilized plant medicines as far back as 20,000 years ago according to cave paintings found in a region of France called Dordogne. Plant have been the source of medicine for thousands of years.

It wasn’t until the late eighteen hundred’s that medicine really begins to start being synthesized in labs. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Persians were some of the earliest advanced civilizations to utilize the topical and aromatic attributes offered from essential oils.

One of the first recorded uses of essential oils goes all the way back to 4500 BC in the Egyptian Empire. The Egyptians had advanced knowledge of essential oils. From incense to perfumes, medicine and makeup the Egyptian culture utilized an abundance of plants found growing along the Nile River. They also imported oils like cypress from elsewhere.

Essential oils were widely utilized by different cultures globally. The different cultures utilizing essential oils and plant medicines would learn from one another. Sometimes these meetings were through trade while other times they were more violent such as Invaders.

Essential Oils Were Some of The Spoils for Invaders

Invasions are a part of history. One good thing did come from this, knowledge of essential oils was exchanged. A great example of this would be when Alexander the Great invaded India, Egypt, Africa, Afghanistan, and Persia.

Each culture used essential oils made from indigenous plants they had available to them. Greek uses of essential oils ranged from perfumed baths and fragrant massages to aromatherapy, incense, and herbal medical remedies.

Just like the Persians and Egyptians the Greeks understood the natural uses essential oils offered as medicine and when making cosmetology products. During the invasions of each one of these places knowledge about essential oils and how they were utilized in each region was added to both sides collective of essential oils.

Invasion wasn’t the only way humankind learned about essential oils. The wisdom of essential oils was often passed on through ports of trade. Thankfully, today we can exchange the knowledge of essential oils without invading each other.

Science and Control Take Over Essential Oils and Plant Medicine

An invasion took place in the United States too with the birth of prescription pharmaceuticals. Synthetic lab made medicine replaced natural plant medicine. Why? Most likely for profit. We wouldn’t want people to have natural remedies at the fingertips daily, would we?

They might not ever get sick or need a doctor. But that wouldn’t have anything to do with it now, would it? Doctors, pharma, and insurance are big business these days. With the dangers of prescription drugs evident today and the abundance of unnatural substances in our everyday products, people are looking for a change.

Danger, You Might Not Know What’s In That

Products today are misleading. Lotions, creams, shampoos, soaps and virtually anything you apply to your body today over the counter contain topical steroids as an example. Your body becomes addicted to these steroids. Should you remove these lotions creams and soaps from your life, you could experience (TSW) topical steroid withdrawal.

There’s a plethora of unsafe additives found in virtually everything we use. That shampoo you have might have lavender in it, but what else is in it? Could it be we are essentially being poisoned by the products in our home? If there’s a cleaner with a list of ingredients you can barely pronounce and have no idea what they are or a natural cleaner that you know everything in it, which one would you use?

Hey, Did You Know There’s an Essential Oil for This?

  • Cooking
  • Cleaning
  • Aromatherapy
  • Cosmetics
  • Skin
  • Babies
  • Pets
  • Topical applications
  • Oral Applications
  • Headaches
  • Fevers
  • Plus, More!

The list of ways you can apply essential oils to your everyday life goes on. Essential oils are not new. They have been around for thousands of years and utilized by virtually every culture globally. Today an awakening is occurring with more people than ever before.

This awakening entails a healthier natural life that gets back to the basics. Plant-based medicines have worked for thousands of years. Essential oils have been there all along. You could say we’re getting back to our roots.

If you’d like to learn more about essential oils visit Oils of Time. Here, you’ll find an amazing selection of essential oils and essential oil gift sets. These essential oils are not the weak watered-down oils you find on many store shelves. These are high quality organic grown oils sourced and farmed in their native regions. You deserve nothing but the best for you and/or your family. Get nothing but the best when you visit Oils of Time Essential Oils.

 

 

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Sources are Here to Stay

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It used to be that there were only a few energy sources available to residents of the United States. This, however, has drastically changed over the last several decades. Every two years the US Energy Information Administration issues 10-year projections regarding how much conventional, solar, and wind energy will be present across the United States. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is the official source for energy statistics however they don’t seem to ever be on point. Could it be that the EIA doesn’t see that we are at a turning point when it comes to the damage we are willing to place on the planet to provide ourselves power?

Today more than ever before people are paying attention to their actions that cause adverse effects on the environment. One of the actions that humans have been taking for decades now that has had a detrimental toll on the environment is how we power our homes and businesses. This, however, is starting to change as more people and business entities are turning to renewable energy sources that have little to no adverse effect on the environment such as wind and solar energy.

This trend has grown at a significant rate. So much in fact that from 2006 to 2016 the actual increase in wind and solar energy was over four thousand times higher than the predictions by the Energy Information Administration.

Every year it seems something new is being invented to help us power our lives without doing harm to the planet. This year Elon Musk announced that his company Tesla would be releasing solar powered roof panels. The days of huge bulky solar panels are a thing of the past that is just how fast the sector is growing. Today you can purchase shingles for your roof that will not only protect your roof but will also provide enough power for your entire home and family! Times are changing and renewable energy sources are here to stay!

Home and Family, Reviews

Summer Infant In View 2.0 Baby Monitor Review

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monitor review

Baby monitors are a relatively new thing to me. I came from a larger family and we have lots of children so I always figured somebody’s around to watch the baby so why spend $120-$150 on a baby monitor. I personally never thought there was a use for one. A good friend of mine decided to gift me a baby monitor for baby Mia and it blew my mind. Where I thought this device would be worthless I was completely impressed. Knowing what she’s doing gave me a piece of mind whether it was while I was working, cooking, dinner or doing simple house chores.

The baby monitor we received for baby Mia was the Summer Infant In View 2.0. Some of the features offered by the Summer Infant In View 2.0 baby monitor include the following;

  • Pan and Zoom Capabilities
  • LED Noise Indicator
  • Handheld Video Monitor
  • Night Vision
  • Temperature Display

The pan and zoom effects gave me the ability to see what little Mia was doing when she was fussing in her sleep and instead of running or rushing in to wake her up, I could see that she settled herself back to sleep. This incredible baby monitor also has a volume sensor that lets me know if she’s making noise by an LED without having to have the volume turned up! The LCD video display is 5.0” and high-resolution color and automatic black and white night vision!

The temperature in the room is also displayed directly on the handheld display so you can be sure your little bundle of joy is always comfortable! The handheld display is also fully rechargeable so no need to worry about buying or replacing batteries! The Summer Infant In View 2.0 baby monitor is also expandable up to 4 cameras!

With an 800-foot range, the handheld monitor allows you to see baby wherever you may be in your home! Should you see your little one begins to wake up or become fussy, you can talk to them directly through the handheld device which I found to be very convenient for those times when your little is just checking to make sure you are near!

We would highly recommend the Summer Infant In View 2.0 baby monitor to anyone who is looking to purchase one. Whether it be for a newborn or a toddler this setup is amazing and will allow you to always have a piece of mind that your little one is fine even when you can’t be by their side!

Renewable Energy

Our Friend the Wind Could Be a Win For Clean Energy

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Wind power is a source of energy that has been used for thousands of years. In fact, one might even say the world was discovered using wind. Long ago brave explorers set out on wooden boats powered by sails. These sails used the strength of the wind to help them carry ships of explorers to new lands. Once these lands were found and eventually developed it seemed we had no more use for the wind.

 

With the invention of electricity, power plants begin to pop up everywhere. First coal-burning power plants then hydro-powered and even nuclear power plants can be found in abundance today. Making a comeback again is our friend is the wind. Some people view wind power to be an eyesore. Others, however, find windmills to possess a majestic beauty.

 

No matter how you feel about the way they look you can’t deny that the wind is our friend when it comes to producing energy from a clean source. Scotland is now home to the world’s first-ever floating wind farm. The North Sea has this floating farm and it’s already sending power to Scotland. The first floating wind farm has a total of 5 turbines.

 

While wind turbines in the water is not a new concept and has been a thing since the 1990s the depth of this project stretches further as the average depth windmills and water used to coexist at was 200 ft. The difference with the Scotland floating wind farm is that it can be rigged to work in depths ranging over 2,600 feet deep! These five floating turbines that create what is being called the “high wind project” are said to be able to provide power for 20,000 homes.

 

This doesn’t mean that suddenly our oceans are going to become wind farms. This does mean that you might start to see fewer turbines taking up real estate on land and more moving out to sea. The company responsible for this project has their eyes reportedly on California, Hawaii, and Japan as the next possible site for a wind farm. The world we’re living in is dependent upon humankind learning homeostasis. If we cannot learn to live in harmony with our planet then we are bound to vanquish.

 

Through projects such as the floating wind farm, the people and the planet are seeing the potentials of co-existing together with nature versus the dangers of mining non-renewable resources such as coal or tinkering with extremely dangerous processes such as nuclear power. We all know we don’t need another Fukushima Japan accident or another Chernobyl. If you’d like to learn more about the Scotland floating wind farm and how it came to be, be sure to check out a detailed article on the subject here by National Geographic.

 

Space

3 NASA Satellites You Should Know About

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By: Jacob Priest of AE4TS

Why Satellites are Awesome

 

Satellites are wonderful tools that help us to understand some of the astronomy, meteorology, oceanography and the geography surrounding our planet. They can help put together the bigger picture to help us further our understanding of our everyday view of life. When you piece it all together we can see how the Earth acts as a Sphere in perfect coalescing perpetual motion. Satellites also give scientist real-time data from environments that are otherwise extremely remote such as south pacific islands, the bottom of the oceans, or even very high cloud tops way up in the atmosphere. There is a set of about 120 satellite’s orbiting earth right now dedicated to tracking weather and climate patterns and Earths overall activity. 

 

Satellites

 

Swovey

One of the satellites currently orbiting Earth called Swovey is named after a NASA meteorologist scientist and orbits the Earth 14 times a day. Swovey is about the size of a small school bus and helps keep watch on the suns energy output that effects things like weather patterns in a reactively fast time period. Swovey is equipped with a set of sensors called “SEIRS” that can detect energy invisible to the human eye. With one example being the heat off the surface of the earth very accurately in infrared. This helps us to understand the impact of the suns energy on the Earths equator.

 

Aqua

Another one of NASA’s satellites named Aqua tracks the interwoven relationship between water vapor and sunlight. We can see from satellite data that off the south-west coast of Africa the surface of the ocean reaches the critical temperature of 80 degrees. This causes the surfaces of the ocean to start evaporating producing billion of tons of water vapor every hour. As the Earth rotates counter-clockwise the water vapor rises and rises until it cools to form storm clouds or thunderstorms. Eventually, these cloud systems gain more energy and make their way through the air over a landmass. 

 

G.O.E.S

GOES is an acronym that stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. Orbiting 22 thousand miles above the Earth these five separate satellites stay fixed to a geostationary orbit which looks down at the same spot of the Earths surface. These satellites give scientists a unique perspective of the entire Earth 24 hours a day, tracking events that can only be fully observed from space. Overlapping the data from these satellites is how scientists work to understand the complex relationships of Earths cycles.

 

 

Satellites Help Us Understand the Bigger Picture     

These are just three of 120 scientific satellites that when put together help us understand and view Earths processes a little clearer. Satellites with all different kinds of equipment ranging from infrared to microwave wavelengths are used to see the Earth in constant motion. Without these high-tech satellites up in the sky, we would know a lot less if anything that we do now about weather and climate. Collecting data from these satellites is what helps Astronomers, meteorologists, oceanographers, and geologists piece together the predictions and answers to Earths weather and climate patterns. 

 

Cited: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb7xXH92DyA&t=1333s

Article By Jacob Priest of AE4TS

Holistic Healing, Home and Family

Introducing doTERRA Essential Oils

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For centuries cultures around the world have turned to nature when it comes to the medicines they need for a wide variety of different ailments. It wasn’t until the last century that people in countries all around the globe started to depend on synthetically made lab-based chemical medicines such as the ones so overly prescribed today in places such as the U.S. Thanks to the internet though and the growing need and desire to educate ourselves that we are starting to see within society people are starting to realize that we may have had it right from the start.

This has led many people to going back to our roots and utilizing plant-based medicines once again. One of the products that we have seen grow in popularity at a rapid rate over the last several years are essential oils. We have seen many different brands of oils first hand and know many people who utilize them on a daily basis. There is one product line of essential oils however that has always stood out to us against the rest.

doTERRA essential oils are quickly becoming a household name in homes around the world. Many individuals who have utilized these oils have been able to find a great relief from a wide variety of different ailments and many have also been able to greatly reduce their reliance upon pharmaceuticals and over the counter medicines. Let’s take a journey together and learn some more about these remarkable oils and how they may be beneficial for you.

doTERRA Essential Oil Basics

What Are Essential Oils

Essential oils well are essentially what give different plants in nature their aromatic qualities and distinct smells. Essential oils are considered a volatile aromatic compound. This in layman terms means that essential oils or minute organic molecules that can quickly be altered from a liquid or solid state to a gas at room temperature. There are over 3,000 types of volatile aromatic compounds that have been identified thus far. The type of volatile aromatic compound that is in an essential oil will help to determine the benefits that it offers as well as the aroma that it provides according to the doTERRA website.

What Makes doTERRA Different from the Rest?

With so many different essential oil companies on the market today, what is it that makes doTERRA stand apart from the others? The answer to this question in my opinion truly boils down to the stringent testing in which all doTERRA essential oils go through. Each doTERRA essential oil product is certified against Pure Therapeutic Grade Quality Protocols. The oils utilized in the making of doTERRA products are distilled from plants that have been grown to perfection by skilled cultivators around the globe. The plants in which doTERRA distills their oils from are made with the most modern techniques and technologies.

Most Popular doTERRA Essential Oils and What They May Help

Breathe– The Breathe essential oil products from doTERRA is a combination of Melaleuca, Laurel Leaf, Lemon, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Cardamom, Ravensara, and Ravintsara essential oils. This combination helps to obtain and maintain clear airways allowing for easier breathing. The essential oil Breathe product can be applied topically or diffused in the doTERRA diffuser. There is also a doTERRA respiratory drop Breathe product, as well as a doTERRA, Breathe Touch which is a combination of the Breathe essential oil and fractionated coconut oil available in a roll-on applicator.

OnGuard– The OnGuard doTERRA essential oil product line very well maybe their most extensive product line. From essential oil form to cleaner concentrates, laundry detergent, hand wash, throat drops, toothpaste and sanitizing mists OnGuard can be utilized in a variety of manners. The OnGuard doTERRA essential oil blend is designed to help support and maintain a healthy immune system while helping to cleanse impurities from the body. doTERRA OnGuard essential oils can be diffused, used topically or ingested. OnGuard is a combination of Eucalyptus Leaf, Rosemary Leaf, Clove Bud, Cinnamon Leaf, Wild Orange Peel and Cinnamon Bark essential oils providing a very spicy and warm aroma.

DigestZen– DigestZen doTERRA oil products are designed to help treat stomach related and digestive issues and is available in a wide variety of forms. DigestZen is available in tablets, essential oil form, soft gels, and a roll-on applicator. DigestZen products are a combination of Caraway Seed, Coriander Seed, Tarragon Plant, Fennel Seed, Anise Seed, Peppermint Plant, and Ginger Root essential oils. Like many other doTERRA, essential oil products the DigestZen essential oil can be diffused used topically or digested when diluted in liquid.

We hope that this information allowed you to gain some knowledge surrounding these not so new but new products taking the world by storm. If you have utilized essential oils we would love to hear about your experience and any suggestions that you may want to share with our audience.

 

Home and Family, Reviews

Review- 4-in-1 Sling ‘n Seat Tub from Fisher-Price

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To me as a new mother, nothing is more soothing of an aroma than the smell of a clean baby! Lucky for baby Mia and I we recently received a 4-in-1 Sling ‘n Seat Tub from Fisher-Price from our good friend Basil Rojas! Last night baby Mia got to experience her first bath at home after losing her umbilical cord a few days ago. I have been dying to try this bathtub as it is very unlike the tubs I have had for my newborn’s in the past which proved to be very challenging to bathe them in safely.

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I was absolutely amazed by this bathtub from the minute I pulled it out of the box. This 4-in-1 Sling ‘n Seat Tub is designed to grow with your baby from birth to one year of age. For your newborn, the 4-in-1 Sling ‘n Seat Tub includes a sling which is elevated from the tub to place the baby in during their bath time. This held Mia in a very comfortable position without allowing her to become completely submerged in water or slip around all over the place like she would in just an old-fashioned plastic bathtub.

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As Mia’s muscles begin to grow and strengthen there is an infant insert / sit-me-up support structure that can be placed into the tub after the sling is removed that will help support her during her baths. Then once the sit-me-up support structure for sitting is no longer needed it can be removed and the white bathtub base can be used!

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The second stage of the four in one sling n seat from Fisher-Price is the infant insert also referenced before as the sit-me-up support structure. While your child’s muscles are still developing until they are able to sit up somewhat on their own the infant insert can be utilized by placing your infant with their feet towards the end of the tub with the infant support structure. This will prevent any sliding in the tub. The next stage is when the sit-me-up support structure will be utilized to help support your child as they sit up in the tub on their own.

Assembly of this bathtub is very easy. To attach the newborn sling simply pull the pink sitting support structure from the top and unsnap it from the bottom. Don’t feel like you’re going to break it because it does take some pressure to detach it the first time. Once you have removed the support structure for sitting it is time to attach the sling. To do this simply slide the four clips on the sling over the four indentations at each corner spot on the plastic tub base and you’re done!

Once baby has outgrown the newborn sling and it is time to add the infant insert / sit-me-up support structure back simply unsnap the clips that are attached to the sling from the corners of the bathtub base and then reattach the sitting support structure to the base of the bathtub.

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Once your baby is no longer a baby and unfortunately, as much as we wish they wouldn’t grow up there will be a time when the supporting structure for sitting will no longer be needed. When this time comes it’s okay to have a little cry but then when you are ready just simply detach the sitting structure support as you did in the beginning and you’re not so little one will be ready to use just the bathtub base for their bathtime fun!

Not only does this product grow as your child grows it also comes with some accessories and an in tub drain plug. There is also a hook attached to the underside of the tub that can be easily hung across a standard size shower pole for easy drying.

When it comes to price, functionality, ease of assembly and quality we give this product a 5 out of 5. We are highly satisfied with this product and look forward to utilizing it for many months to come. Have you utilized a 4-in-1 Sling ‘n Seat Tub from Fisher-Price? If so we’d love to hear your thoughts. If not and you have questions about the product please let us know and we’ll do our best to answer them.

Home and Family, Reviews

Review – Bright Starts Rock and Swing 2 in 1 Baby Rocker and Swing

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Bright Starts Rock and Swing 2 in 1 Baby Rocker and Swing is one of the swings we acquired for Mia. By the way, thank you Jeana Morrison! The swing and baby bouncer set runs off of 4 C cell batteries and also comes with a wall plugin. It has two toys attached to the mobile. One a frog with circular discs and the other a smiling sunshine.

If you’re looking for a swing for your baby and are considering a swing and rocker combo here’s what we have to say about this Bright Starts combo. The assembly will start out to some looking a little nightmarish. After removing all of your plastics and styrofoam protection pieces simply start to organize your parts. The directions were pretty simple to follow for the most part though there was a little confusion as parts are not labeled numbered with any form of stickers or codes.

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With a little bit of puzzle skills the pieces start to come together and before you know it you have your baby swing bouncer combo ready for your bundle of joy. Mia is a little girl still only 2 weeks old. Her little body seemed to shrink into the swing set as she is only about seven pounds. By simply adjusting the seat back and adding a blanket or two we were able to make the swing into a pimp pad for her to relax in.

Once we got her comfortable she seemed to really enjoy her swing. The swing folds for easy storage when you’re looking to put it up in a closet to save precious space. The music is soft and pleasant and you’ll even find yourself wanting to drift off into a peaceful slumber while listening to these tunes. All in all me and mama are impressed and think we’re going to really love this combo.

The swing has a timer that can be set to save power at 30, 45, and 60 minutes. This swing set and bouncer combo has true speed technology. This means it’ll maintain 6 speeds while your baby grows. With three positions to recline, three nature sounds and eight melodies your baby can relax and enjoy just being a baby for months on end. For extra safety, there’s a Fast and Furious style five-point adjustable harness to keep baby safe and snug. The best part is, with a simple squeeze on both sides the swing seat detaches and becomes a stand-alone bouncer/rocker seat!!

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Check back in a few weeks to get an update on how this product is treating both the parents and little baby Mia. We welcome any comments and questions. We’ll try to answer them promptly. Thank you for reading along. Hopefully, we help answer any questions you might have if you’re considering purchasing a new swing and bouncer combo for your baby. If you’re in the market like we were for a baby swing you might want to check out the Bright Starts Rock and Swing 2 in 1 Baby Rocker and Swing.

Home and Family

We Just Had a Baby – Join Our Journey for Reviews, POVs, and More

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We just had something amazing happen. We had a baby! Since we spend a lot of our time reviewing products and writing copy for websites we thought we would take some of that knowledge and have a little fun with it. We’d love it if you’d join as we share the joys of parenting from both a point of view perspective as well as through reviews of everyday products we use. Our little girl is breathtakingly adorable. Her name is Mia Jean. She was born September 17th of this year weighing in at a tiny 6 lbs. and 8 oz.

This isn’t our first rodeo when it comes to babies. We have seven children in all. Our oldest turns 22 in November. You can definitely expect real reviews about real products. What you won’t find with us will be reviews about things such as Bentley baby strollers or Gucci diaper bags. While these may be for some people these items are absolutely useless to us. For expecting parents, moms, dads, and grandparents we encourage you to regularly check back for updated reviews and point of views.

As freelance writers and photographers, we spend a lot of time traveling. We also homeschool our children. This gives our family the unique ability to truly bond and spend a lot of time together. We spend so much time together we make other people feel like they need a vacation LOL. We wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’re looking for information about products, services, and lifestyle for you and your baby, we hope you enjoy our blogs.

To start our reviews out we’re going to cover some essentials. One of the first things baby will need is a car seat and crib or Pack n Play. Some parents have a hard time deciding between a Pack n Play, bassinet, or a crib. Space is usually the big issue. We chose to go with a Pack n Play for this reason. Mia shares our bedroom. We cannot imagine leaving our newborn in a room by herself relying on a battery-powered or electronic monitor to let us know what she’s doing while sleeping. Instead, we opted for the Pack n Play beside the bed.

If you’d like to hear more about how we came up with this decision as well as a review on the Graco Floral Print Pack n Play we chose please check out our review here on our blog. Thanks for taking the time to see what we’re up to. We hope that we can help you to make decisions and choices that will be beneficial for both you and your baby. For all parents and expecting parents of little bundles of joy, we have one thing we’d like to say to you. Congratulations!

 

Home and Family

Hey, Hey, Hey, Baby Mia’s On Her Way

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Saturday, September 16, 2017, Mia Jean Priest is on her way. It’s 9:28 pm now. Ashley’s water started to break about 5 pm this afternoon. Ashley wasn’t feeling any contractions so she called the birthing center and they recommended that we came on in to get her checked out.  The ride to the hospital was about 45 mins. It was the smoothest ride ever. Even the lady at check in seemed to be more nervous than either Ash or me. She was very surprised to see Ashley calmly wait in line and then tell her that her water had broken and she was in labor.

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Mia went to sleep when we arrived at the hospital. Hopefully, this is a sign that she’ll be a sleepy little girl the first few weeks. Nurses Lisa and Debi gave Ashley an ice pop (orange) to help wake stubborn little Mia up. The nurses are doing a more extensive and accurate test to determine how far along Ash is and to confirm that her water did indeed break because her water didn’t break like normal and pop. It was a heavy flow several times over the course of an hour. Now we wait. Ice chips and Avengers till the contractions come on. Ashley just got her IV (I wanted to pass out lol, I hate needles).  Blood pressure checks and computer work all the while Mia’s heartbeat can be heard in the background. Thump bump thump bump, thump bump.

9:41 pm and the nurses have put the IV in and run the tests they needed. One remains inputting the information. The other returned to make Ashley a bracelet. The confusion about stickers VS writing the info. Everyone is a barcode it seems. The senior nurse just kinda shook her head at the new system.

9:46 Dr. Metcalf came into the room. He said that Mia’s heart rate had jumped really high then really low. This gave some concern that Ashley may have to deliver by c section. Ashley was given a medicine to help induce labor. We’ll see what happens over the next few hours.

We Moved to A Birthing Suite

It’s now 10:04 and we are in the birthing suite. So much going through the both of our minds now. We are without a doubt both scared and nervous but at the same time calm and collect. I asked Ashley what she’d like to say right now and here is what she had to say. “I feel like I just pissed my pants lol, I don’t know. Hoping to God that this baby comes naturally and that I don’t have to go through surgery. That scares me even more.” 10:20 pm and Ashley thinks her water just broke all the way! We’ll see what the nurse says when she comes in.

It’s now 11:45. Ashley’s contractions are starting to pick up. I’m hungry as can be. I know strange, right? The cafeteria opens from 12-2 so I think I’m going to try and eat. I feel bad as momma can’t eat but then again with contractions she probably doesn’t want to.  Nurse Lisa is sitting with Ashley at the moment monitoring her contractions.

The contractions are starting to come a bit stronger. We went from Avengers to The Golden Girls. Now it’s time to check Ash’s cervix. While this is happening, my attention went to how dam tired I’m feeling at the moment. Between tired and hungry I’m likely to pass out. 10 mins more to go before the cafeteria opens.

It’s Getting Closer

I’m back from the cafeteria where I had dinner finally. Fried chicken, green beans, and a roll, which by the way were all really good. I feel much better now. I wish I could say the same for Ashley. It’s 1:05 am now and the contractions are coming on strong. She is working through them breathing and being a trooper. Ashley is getting an epidural in moments to prepare for birth. I’m so squeamish about needles that I’m buried in my laptop documenting the moment.

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Her epidural is getting ready to happen. I’m going to close my eyes and sit silently. Scratch that I’m going to stand by her side and hold her hand. Rub her head and tell her how strong she is. It’s 1:30 now and the epidural is done. Ashley said thanks and goodbye to the “Mr. Epidural Man” as she called him. Nurses Lisa and Debbie begin to prep things for a delivery.

I am having the hardest time with this and I’m just sitting here and being supportive. The sounds, smells, and happenings in the room have me feeling a bit light headed, even dizzy. I can’t help but think about how she must be feeling though both physically and mentally at this point. The nurse said we are halfway there. The lights are dimmed as we wait on the meds to kick in and this little girl to get here. Time is going slow as it is now just 1:48 am. Ashley sits moaning and slapping her bed in pain. Ash just said, “no fucking lie, this shit hurts”! I sit helplessly while she moans in pain.

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We’re now approaching ten minutes till two in the morning. I wish Mia would come and the moans of pain would pass. 1:55 Ashley got sick everywhere. 2 am the team enters the room and calls the doc in. It’s time to have a baby folks. This is where I go and hold her hand. This is the hard part not like the epidural and vomiting was easy.

A Beautiful Baby Girl Is Born

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It’s now 3:35 am. Our beautiful baby girl Mia has come into the world. She was born at 2:17 am, 09-17-17 weighing 6 pounds and 8 ounces. I had the joy of cutting the cord and separating momma and baby. Mia and momma are spending some time together. Here in a few momma will get cleaned up and we can all get a little rest. This is a very special Sunday. Now it’s time to rest and get ready to go on our first road trip home. Mia and momma should be able to come home Monday if not sooner.

Mia 2

What an experience this has been. Mia is perfect. She has a full head of dark brown hair and a perfect smile. The team at Oak Ridge Methodist Hospital are awesome, kind, and great at what they do!

 

 

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