Awwww, babies!!

I’ve recently written both of my childbirth stories with the goal of putting the finished product in their memory books. Thinking back on their deliveries, I am reminded of what a special, beautiful, and powerful miracle it was to give birth to each of my beautiful babies.

Evalyn was born in the hospital. I was induced and later given an epidural for her delivery. I was very close to a C-Section throughout my labor and consequently, experienced a difficult recovery period for both of us. I had prepared for a natural childbirth and was frustrated and disappointed with almost every aspect of my delivery. (not including the outcome of course)

My second child, Reuben, was completely different. I chose a water birth with him in a free standing birth center and the entire processes from start to finish was entirely better for him and myself. The experience was exactly how I had hoped it to be.

Writing these stories down has given me an idea to begin writing a book. And to inspire you and keep your attention, I've inserted pictures of my babies. I’m currently beginning to gather research, but I need your help!

I need the birth stories of any mother who has delivered one baby in a hospital...

and one baby outside of the hospital.

I am looking for a personal perspective comparing and contrasting all aspects of care. Prenatal, the delivery and postnatal care are the issues I’d really like you to focus on. Just tell me what happened from the beginning to the end. The greater detail you can use, the better. I’m interested in all aspects, emotional, physical, your thoughts, your husband, your doctor’s personality, etc. If you plan to write these stories like I did, with the thoughts of including them in your children’s memory books, the writing will go by like a breeze.

Please include your name, age, and how many total births you have had. I’ll also need contact information from you because IF I can use your story in my book, I’ll be sending you a small stipend to compensate for your time and efforts. You are welcome and encouraged to please forward this information to anyone you know who might have had two experiences with their births, one inside a hospital and one outside.

You may e-mail me your stories at schikrys@gmail.com. Use the subject heading, “Birth Stories” so I know to file you with my research. Thank you so much for your interest in being a part of my book.

And again, please feel free to forward this information to anyone you think would be interested in being a part of this exciting project!

Here we go!

What better way to begin my first post than to celebrate Spring?! Despite a significant snow storm last week, we have still been managing to go to the park almost every day. If you know anything about Evalyn, you'll understand why we leave the house to get some fresh air and exercise every day...

So we played on the swings.

Then Evalyn found something else for us all to do...
Reuben tried hard to understand what it was she wanted of him.
Then, Evalyn found a big dirt clod and it became a dragon, I think. She showed me where it's head, shoulders and legs were.

Reuben was happy that Evalyn found a dragon, but was too
busy learning about leaves and grass to care much.
After a long while, Evalyn began playing on the slide.

Still learning about leaves.
P.S.Can you believe he never even tried eating them?
Maybe that will come on another day of experimentation.

Evalyn decided to join Reuben.
This is her saying, "I'm not kicking Roo-bear momma, my foot is just near his head."

After 20 seconds of rest, she found...this...
And then I decided it was time to go.

Nice bike huh? My rocking new wheels this summer to take me all over town. It's funny biking in such a small town, farmers in their trucks look at me like they've never imagined anyone in their right mind biking to pick up some groceries a few blocks away. It's okay though, I like being healthy, economical and a little different.