The Natural Approach

First let me start off by saying that I am sooooo enjoying this rare moment, the hubby and both babies are sleeping. Yes, it's 10:30 at night but you just don't understand the rarity behind this.

Anywho... I have about 3 months left with my pregnancy.... 3 MONTHS!! So hard for me to grasp that. And then with the holidays fast approaching it is sure to fly by.

I have really been considering the natural child birth approach with this baby. I had 2 epidurals one that did not work wonderfully and one that was a dream.... until I got home and had to deal with the after affects. MISERABLE!! Thank God for good Mother's and Mother in Laws to help out.

I have a pretty severe case of Scoliosis. So it makes the end stage of pregnancy and labor and delivery, well, not so fun. Walking becomes quite a chore for me some days. But I did learn after having Brac that a natural child birth isn't all that bad. I did have Stadol {a pain med} and while that did take the "edge" off the pain, it made me feel like my head was in the clouds and then once the epidural was placed, I went so fast once they broke my water that, by the time I realized that it was not doing much {this didn't take very long} it was to late to replace it.

So I have been thinking about laboring as much as possible at home and then going all natural at the hospital. This truthfully scares me to death. I mean, who wants to hurt when they don't have to. I know that I manage pain very well, better than I ever thought I could. I am just wondering. I have been looking into the Bradley Childbirth method and the different positions. So maybe this is something that I can do. The Duggar mom, mother of 19, swears by it. But I guess I think that you have to be a little insane to have that many to begin with :)

Bradley Birth Method

Working in Labor and delivery for 2 years I have seen deliveries every way possible and I am open to trying anything, at least then I can say that I tried it. :)

So I guess that we shall see. 92 days and counting!!! WOO HOO!!

We go to have another US to look at the babies bowels again on the 31st. Praying for God's will and that all will be ok with the little guy.

Wanted to throw in some pics of my precious little family.

A couple of weeks ago we went to visit with some of my husbands family in Madison, Indiana. It's a quaint little town on the Ohio River. We also took the family out to the pumpkin patch to get everyone {baby to be included} pumpkins. Fun to actually walk out into the pumpkin patch and pick our perfect pumpkins. :)

They make me Happy... sooo sooo happy



Zoe loves her daddy



I can't wait to see his face when he meets the real deal in Disney

At the Pumpkin Patch soooo excited

Just a GREAT dad with his 2 munchkins down by the riverside :)

CANCER STINKS!!!

I know that many of my post are about how much we hate cancer and the effects that it has on a family, especially when it involves a child.

When you bring your precious baby into the world, you count their fingers and their toes. Your biggest worry is that they might be a little jaundice. Never does the "C" word go through your head.

Then in an instance, in a freak moment, your whole world is turned upside down. You and your sweet baby are placed in this life or death circle. A Russian roulette. And well, it's not fair. It took me a long time for it to sink in that bad things happen to good people. That it's "just life".

One scripture that repeatedly ran through my head was:

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

I guess this post comes after reading a post from my friend Sarah's Caringbridge page for her little boy Vinny.

It seems like Vinny just can't catch a break. And again I say "why".

The flesh just can't seem to grasp or look past those questions. My spirtual self has faith and hope that things are going to turn around for him.

I think also, as Brac comes up on his 2 year "diagnoses anniversary" {an anniversary that we would rather not think about}, why my little boy. And then I step back and think about how much we have all grown. As a family, as individuals.  We have learned to love deeper and smile through tears. We are optimistic about everything. We have more faith then we ever thought possible.

This was from Nov 10th 2009 The beginning of his "journey"

We know the powers of prayer and that we serve a Mighty Mighty God.

In other news... Brac is fighting something simple... an ear infection. Back when he was diagnosed, we prayed for an ear infection.  His very first ear infection. I don't know that anything has ever been so simple. We welcome simple.

Zoe is on the mend as well. We are getting excited about halloween. And Brac is so excited. He still doesn't know what he wants to be it will be interesting. I will be posting pics as soon as I have them. :)

Dr. Mom

These days the only healthy one in this family seems to be ... me!

Brac has been battling a cough since the end of September. After 2 trips to the regular pediatrician and then one "sick" visit to the hem/onc clinic, this was the game plan:

1) chest x ray
2) check counts
3) a z-pac (azythromyocin) **an antibiotic**
4) breathing treatments and an antihistamine

Makes me really miss those moments when a cold was just that... a cold.

OK, so after this visit last Friday, I thought for sure we were finally on the way up with no more being sick.

WEEELLLL... I thought too soon. Brac had chemo and a spinal tap on Monday.
 Eron ended up taking Brac to Cincinnati by himself because I had to keep Zoe at home with a cough and runny nose. Oh boy!! The joys of motherhood. I couldn't risk taking her to the clinic and infecting the really sick immuno compromised kids.




Accessed and ready to go... all smiles

Brac's counts were very good (ANC- 3,780) and I think that he enjoyed his day alone with his daddy (his best buddy). I packed them plenty of snacks and a craft or 2 to make the day go by faster. They painted 3 wooden cars, a wonderful gift from his birthday that I have been saving for those long clinic days. When a 4 year olds day starts at 5:30am, you would think they would be super cranky, but Brac actually had a really good day.  There were some questions regarding the spinal tap. Dr. O'brien, Brac's oncologist, was a little worried about putting him under sedation for the spinal tap with the nasty cough that he has been fighting. So after deliberation with the anesthesiologist Brac was given the green light. They made it back home about 4pm.

He is not tolerating the steroids wonderful this week, he is WIDE open, going about a million miles an hour, tantrums and many teary moments. The only thing that he wants to eat is Chef Boyarde Ravioli, 2 cans at a time.For Breakfast. Lunch. AND Dinner.
But for the most part he is doing well.

Now ... as for my poor baby girl.

She felt so bad that she took many of these micro naps, her best friend (night night) never left her side

Zoe started feeling "icky" on Sunday with a slightly runny nose, but I knew that it would only get worse before it got better. Today is Thursday and after having a fever for 2 days I decided that it was time to take her in. She has a history of pneumonia and bronchitis, so I wanted to make sure that there was not something more serious going on with her. Good thing I took her in.
Zoe's plan of action to treat for possible pneumonia (because there is some wheezing with her breaths and because her fevers have been so high):

1) breathing treatments 3x a day
2) antibiotics for her as well
3) saline and lots of suction to clear out her little nose :(

If she is not showing improvement within the next couple of days we are back again for a chest xray.

Hoping that this all works and that these babies are back to normal before trick or treat time :)

Well... to make matters worse, The Goob (that's my hubby) is home today as well. A sick day for the town barber.
He must feel pretty crumby because he never takes off from work, he is always early and usually leaves late to accommodate his customers.
Hopefully he is better tomorrow as well, he is NOT the best patient in the world. Men are the biggest babies of all when they are sick.

As for me... I shall finish this post and try to take a nap myself while I can. To rejuvenate before the next round of meds and tears.

Oh PS ... 25 wks!!!  :)
Getting more excited with each passing week. Can't wait to meet this little guy. Super anxious, however, about the up coming ultrasound at the end of the month. Praying for God's will and that everything works out according to His plan.

Where have I been...

I have loved blogging since I stumbled across this addictive world. But with my 2 crazy children and then this pregnancy I have hardly found anytime to do anything at all. Finally, things are starting to "come back to earth".

So, where to begin...

OK ... lets start here. I am 24 weeks!! Already, I am beyond excited. Since my last post we have found out that we are going to be welcoming another precious little guy into the house.



{I was 19 weeks here but I'm not really much bigger now}



Jaxon Eron, is going fit right into this crazy household. He is on the move all the time already. Better get a new pair of running shoes. Our anatomy US did give us a bit of a scare. The one that we had done in the office did show something a bit abnormal in the bowel. A super scary moment in life when the doctor comes in and starts to asks questions about your family history. Typically "bright bowel", as it's referred to, can indicate things such as Cystic Fibrosis. SUPER SCARY, especially after dealing with Braxton and the Leukemia world for almost 3 years.

So, I immediately went to have labs drawn to rule out me as a carrier for the CF gene as well as several other tests. As well as going to "the big city" for a much better US. {we live in a small town so the more "advanced" technology is in the bigger hospitals} :) small town living at it's best.

Well the US we had done, did show the bright bowel. So we were told if all the lab work comes back normal it could be something simple, such as the baby ingesting a little bit of blood as a result of a subchorionic hemorrhage {very common in early pregnancy}. This would be the best case. So we were told to schedule another appointment for the end of October. So more to come on the results of that.

On a good note, all of my lab work came back normal. I am not a carrier for any of the more serious genes, which takes the chances of the baby having anything serious down tremendously. We are thanking God for this.

In other Adkins family news, my boys are determined to make me grey by 30 I'm sure of it. One of them is not here and already making me worry... and there is Braxton. A tornado of wonderment. Quite obviously he is doing well, we have been thanking God that he has not had a hospital stay in 3 months. He has developed a cough that keeps him up all night and makes him sound like he is about to cough up a lung. He sounds like he is horribly contagious but we have been assured that he is not. TWICE. So this is good news.

Next Monday, he goes for a spinal tap and chemo. :( Never any fun, it feels like we pack for a mini vacay to get to the hospital. It's an hour long drive with 2 kids, and on spinal days he is a very grumpy boy. He is not allowed to have anything to eat, so he fusses the entire morning, begging for things to eat. Last time he was even trying to "smuggle" pretzels from his sister.

Brac and his best buddies {cousins} Charlee and Garrett

And then there is Zoe... oh, she is the calm insanity in the storm. She is so funny. Keeps us laughing and she is so very easy going. We love the joy that she brings to our life. She is happy and healthy and a ball of energy.





We are looking forward to Halloween in this house. We are so enjoying the wonderful fall weather that is in the air. Crisp mornings, coffee and cake with friends, sitting around the fire outside roasting marshmallows, soups and chili's... oh and the list goes on and on.

I do believe that my favorite part is seeing all the oranges, reds and yellows that are out. One of the fun things about living in a small town surrounded by small towns is the many fall festivals. The pumpkin patches and apple orchards. I decided to get crafty myself. I decided to make a fall wreath that was just my flavor.

Super easy, and actually fun to make.

So for now, we are embracing the season, the ups and the downs. We are taking everything as it comes to us and enjoying every moment that God gives us.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... we have CONFIRMED DATES ON OUR MAKE A WISH TRIP TO DISNEY!!!  Woo Hoo!!

So we are off to the Magic Kingdom for a week of worry free fun in February. Staying at the Give kids the World Village. 

So until we meet again. 

The Sassy Southern Belle ;)