Midwife - Schyla

It was on my way home from work. She gave good directions. But when I pulled into the drive, I still didn't know if I had the right place. There were several cars in the driveway...one of them quite old and a free-standing BBQ pit with "Uncle Billy's BBQ" written on the side. As I rounded the end of the first car I was surprised by a smiling man under the hood. He had graying hair and a 5 o'clock shadow. I asked if sky-la was home...he replied "Yes, SHHHY-LA was home". I thanked him for the correction.
She came down from her office and we sat next to the wood stove in the dining room to keep warm as we interviewed. She's been working with birthing children for 25 years and caught more than 400 babies. A stop in on the way home, or an appointment with her assistant who happens to live withing walking distance from us here in Lewiston, would be a nice benefit.
Her approach to pre-natal care and birthing is very similar to Midwife-Brenda (our first interview). Schyla does not require an ultrasound for a VBAC but would recommend one later in the pregnancy if needed. I may have one in the third tri-mester to see where the placenta is attatched. If it is attatched where the scar is, it could lead to excessive bleeding at birth. She can refer me to an imaging center that would do a "run of the mill" ultrasound (as compared to the 3-D images that are quite expensive and unnecessary for me at this point) for as little as $200. This is do-able especially when compared to St. Mary's who told me it would run me around $1,000 to have one done.
At the end of the interview, she used the doppler to see if she could hear a heart beat. No luck today...darn. But it is a bit early (although still possible) at 10 1/2 wks.

So now I have to choose...I could interview more midwives I suppose....I HATE shopping. Smile.

On a much funnier and non-related note...I was upstairs in the living when I heard a crash coming from the basement. I am eternally petrified that James is going to cut off a finger, hand or hurt himself down there in his workshop (he now has a table saw down there). I rushed to the door and and swung it open. Fortunately I did not hurry down the stairs for in fact there were no stairs! The crash was the stairs falling to the ground! I couldn't see James at first glance and obviously couldn't call out to see if he was under the fallen stairs. I was therefore much relieved to catch a glimpse of his red shirt around the corner. He was un harmed if not a little disgruntled.

Thankful for living husbands tonight!

Cappy and Isaac

Lucy took this picture. Don't you love it?!

The Holidays

I will try to get this posted...our computer is not working quite right and as soon as I have a good paragraph written, it restarts on me and I loose everything. I will save often....

Our Thanksgiving was twice blessed (if you count how many dinners we had) and many, many times blessed (if you count all the people we were able to celebrate with). The Sunday before Turkey Day, James' siblings and their families came down to our house for the grand tour. The boys immediately found the play house out back. The girls chatted inside and played with Isaac. Then we all headed down to the Evans/Smith residence. The scene reminded me of the Thanksgivings that I remember growing up. The "adult table" and the "kids table". I don't think these kids liked it as well as I did...being at the kids table. For me and my cousins, we were sure we had much more fun than the adults ever did!!!
I was thrilled that we got to have a Thanksgiving with James' family. The food was fantastic and our host/es'es had the mostes'es!!!

As for Christmas...yesterday we worked very hard to clear out the living room and get a space ready for a tree. Now we have ONE room that looks nice...the rest of the house is still cluttered with "stuff". We put up lights around the ceiling.
Today we went to Rice's Tree Farm where we could cut our own tree. We brought Jester although I am sure he was mostly frustrated. So many trees to pee on and he couldn't lift a leg to one of them!
We found our tree rather quickly and were impressed with the price...$30.00 and they bound it for us. When we went inside to pay they had free hot chocolate and homemade cookies to die for! It is a family run business and a few years back the "wife" decided to take pictures of people coming to get their tree. If we go back next year we will be able to see our picture posted on their bulletin board and take home the double!
So we are home now and James has the tree up and ready for me to add lights and decorate. I have the Christmas music on of course.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!