A lady is born

Announcing the birth of our little lady!! Monday night she made her first appearance in this world and we are so proud of her! Welcome to your second estate, our little El (or L for short (: ).

*****Warning. Birthing details ahead. Proceed with caution if you're a wimp... :)*****

Monday night, while making eggplant Parmesan for dinner (Jared's favorite way to eat eggplant),  I realized this was it! All my practice pressure waves from the previous week were actually leading up to something. It was 5:30 pm, Jared was on his way home from work already, and I was making dinner for the little guy. Many of you know we used Hypnobabies for self hypnosis and relaxation during birth. More info about that approach to birth can be read here and here. This technique has proven to be a winner for our family twice now. 

So, I listened to my Birthing Day Affirmations track (from the course material) while making dinner. The track is just relaxing music with a calm woman repeating positive, encouraging thoughts like "I am going to have a calm, beautiful birthing" or "Every pressure wave brings my baby closer to being in my arms today." They are so positive and help set the mood for an optimistic, fear-free birth.

Jared got home at 6:30 and I had just laid down to relax and get into my hypno-zone, listening to the Fear Clearing track. He jumped into action like he always does when I need his help. (thank you, my love!) He fed the guy dinner, dished me a serving and cleaned up the mess. I ate dinner very slowly while still in my "trance" :) and laid back down. I originally asked Jared to put the guy to bed and run me a hot bath. But by the time he was down for bed, I realized things had progressed so quickly that there was no time for that.

I asked Jared to give me a blessing and that only added to the peaceful, happy calm that filled the house. He packed the car, arranged to drop the guy off at my brother's (thank you, bro!), and we were off to the hospital. I listed to a different Hypnobabies track (Easy First Stage) in head phones all the way through the rest of the labor until it was time to push my baby out. It was on the background for about an hour before she was born. 

Anyway, all those Hypnobabies details are for those that I know want to know more about this method. 

We checked in to triage, my legs were shaking lots and I was dilated 7 centimeters. My midwife arrived as quickly as she could and was a superstar! She was right where I needed her when I needed her, but allowed me and Jared to be alone when he was all I needed. She added to the calming atmosphere. Jared made sure that the nursing staff received our homemade banana chocolate chip muffins and thank you card. We did that with the guy's birth too, to thank them for their help and support of a natural hypno-birth.

The nurse ran me a burning hot bath in the deep jetted tubs they have in every private room at the Birthing Inn. It was a great place to give birth because of that little detail. I love the water. Although, hospital policy is no water births. But labor in the water is AWESOME. While in the water only after 10 minutes, I felt like I needed to push. I got out, everyone got ready (including putting on the Pushing Baby Out track) and then the weirdest thing happened. My body took a 10 minute break and I just laid in the bed waiting for the feeling to push again. It was so strange and I kept asking Jared what happened. Bless his heart, he just patiently said I don't know. Like he would know why my contractions stopped... I knew I should squat again to get things going, but I was so comfortable laying there. I even said out loud, "I should move but I am so comfortable." I wonder how often the delivery nurses hear that during transition or pushing!

My midwife checked to see if my water broke at any point while in the tub, and later told me that at that point I was only dilated 8 centimeters. The sac still had not broken. I knew I should squat if anything was going to progress, but squatting did not get the desired effects. So, I remembered that my job is just to relax and let my baby's birth happen. We sat the bed up a bit so I was squatting a bit but fully supported. I completely released all my muscles to a complete limp state and a couple minutes later she was born! Relaxing everything completely allowed we to dilate the last 2 centimeters, not tear at all, and I pushed her out in one contraction. It was incredible. Seriously out of this world. I got to hold her immediately and told her she did such a good job. I am really so proud of her because I know it is hard work. But we did it! Team Ondricek did it again!

She was born at 10:42 pm, 6 pounds, 15 ounces, 19 inches long and a screamer. She has proven to be a very vocal baby since then. She's got opinions and she makes them known. :) 

Our hospital stay was longer than I wanted and there are several things that happened that reminded me a healthy birth is a hospital is not my ideal birth. For example, someone came in at 6 am to draw my blood and she turned on the lights immediately upon walking in the room. Jared, the lady and I were all asleep in there, so I barked out, "You can take my blood without giving my whole family cardiac arrest!" I felt bad for being rude, but seriously that sucked. I want to be at a birthing center, but I want to know a hospital is close in case of emergency. There is no good combination like that close enough to us. 

Since her birth, we have all fallen in love with E and make sure she knows it. Big brother loves her, enjoys holding her, saying her name, and showing her his toys. He wanted her to go down his slide once she came home. He is so excited to have a sibling and friend. 

The poor girl was uncomfortable with gas the first 2 days. Probably all the delicious cheese in my eggplant parm. Yum!

We also have enjoyed the incredible assistance and love from LeAnn or "Mimama" (Jared's stepmom) and Aunt Rachel this week. What a difference they have made in our transition. Thank you so much for your help!!

And thank you to all who have offered their love and help. We love you so much in return!

The proud makers of a delicious homemade white chocolate raspberry ice cream pie!

We heart games. We are kind of obsessed lately.

Lastly, Jared and I are so grateful to the Lord for helping our family grow and for making the journey so enjoyable. E's name means different things in different languages. Among its meanings are "my God is bountiful," "God's promise," and "consecrated to God, noble." Jared and I know that our God is bountiful, has given us great bounty in life, and that He keeps his promises. And we hope to teach our lady to love God and consecrate her life to Him. Her middle name is in honor of her grandma, Ann Marie Ondricek, who passed away last year. We trust that these two wonderful ladies already know each other from before E was born. :) We have undoubtedly felt Grandma O's love and support this week. The tender mercies of the Lord have been many these last few days. And for that, we are grateful.

Why he's so darn good

This week I have received lots of compliments about S's behavior and disposition. "S" by the way, is also known as the guy, the mister, and our son. :) In the past several days people have voluntarily commented on his good nature and politeness. Friends at play group, friends at book club, the missionaries, neighbors, strangers in the grocery store, family over Skype, many more. I have to agree that this guy is a very well-behaved, polite, happy, kind, and obedient boy. And I tell others that I agree with them. He deserves all the compliments he gets and I thank him every day for his goodness.

That being said, last night I chatted with a pregnant friend about my beliefs on why the guy is so good. This is a loaded question, right? Nature vs. nurture. Credit to me vs. credit to him. On purpose or accidental. Well. The truth is a bit of all of the above. Although I am not professionally qualified to allocate exact percentages of due credit, I am his mother and spend more time with him than any other single person on the planet. And this is my assessment of the greatest contributing factors that make him the angelic person we know and adore.

1. His eternal soul: S is a person independent of his mom and dad. His soul lived long before we met him and therefore developed long before we had any influence on him. I believe his eternal spirit and personality is that of a positive and happy guy. He just came out that way from the start. He gets all the credit for his eternal spirit. Well, him and his Heavenly Father who made him, of course.

2. Hypno-birthing: Many of you know we had a natural birth through self-hypnosis. It was a calm several months leading to S's birth because I took time to meditate, breathe, and turn off all my muscles in preparation for the birth. Consequently, I let go of stress and released relaxing hormones and neurotransmitters into my body, like serotonin. I am no expert, but I know this affected him in utero. My stress would affect his development, so how could my lack of it not? Like I said, he just came out calm and at peace. I think those months of relaxation contributed.

3. Routine: From week one Daddy O and I made a lot of effort to give our family consistent routine and predictability. We had to jump right back into our final semester of undergrad, employment, and internships. We could not afford to "go with the flow." We had watched the lives of other parents we know and followed the examples of those who got the results we wanted in our own family. Consequently, we read and adopted the routines recommended by the authors of On Becoming Babywise. Children thrive on routine and I would not have known how to create routine for a newborn if I had not implemented the principles in this book. At almost 2 years old, the guy still has a daily routine that makes for a predictably happy life.

4. Sleep: Everyone is happier when well-rested, right? Well, the routine described above gave us the needed sleep, both during the day and at night. S was sleeping 8 hours a night at three months old, and still sleeps 12 hours at night with a long afternoon nap. He puts himself to sleep without any needed bribes or treats because his body is in a healthy rhythm and he wakes up happy in the morning. When we don't get him right away some mornings, he patiently talks to himself until we arrive. The key to a happy newborn is proper sleep!

5. Wholesome foods: when our family eats healthy, wholesome food straight from the source (aka mother earth) we are happier. When we eat out, binge on snack foods, or take dietary short cuts, S suffers. Kids need real food to become real happy. (see Section 89 blog in side bar)

"To a great extent we are physically what we eat... What needs additional emphasis are the positive aspects--the need for vegetables, fruits, and grains, particularly wheat. In most cases, the closer these can be, when eaten, to their natural state -- without over refinement and processing -- the healthier we will be. To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished nation digging an early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that could be ours because we overindulge in junk foods….we need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare on the "king's meat" - and whose countenances show it." (Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 476-77) 

6: Faith: I told a neighbor today that my son would not be the person he is without our faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray together, we study together, and what we believe influences every other action we make as parents. S sees this and it shapes the way he understands the world and himself. He knows about his friend Jesus and he is learning about the divine potential that Christ gives him. Of course that makes him happy too.

7. Love:  S receives unconditional love from his parents. We show it everyday with words, snuggles, thank yous, playing, reading, listening, waiting, and helping. He is secure that we love each other and that we love him. This makes for a peaceful, happy home and a peaceful happy toddler. We are not perfect, but we still love him every day.

Like I said, we are not a perfect family and we are not experts, but I give credit where credit is due: S, Heavenly Father, helpful education, parental examples, healthy bodies, Jesus and love. There are a million other reasons I could credit like outdoor play, meaningful mentors, a clean home, freedom and safety, clean water, etc. Let's just leave it at that and be grateful we know this little man and appreciate the good boy he is becoming. I thank him every day. And there has never been a more rewarding use of my time.

Our family is growing

Dear friends and family,

Many of you have heard this exciting news already. In case you have not yet, Jared and I are expecting baby #2! Stuart is going to be a big brother!

I've tried to explain it to Stu, but it will make more sense as it gets closer, I'm sure. I also keep trying to explain it to Jared, but....

just kidding. :)

Baby #2 is expected at the VERY end of September. Maybe even the beginning of October. That makes me 13 weeks pregnant. I am hopefully coming out of that weak and sickly time. The last few weeks have been rough at times. I've found that as I stay hydrated, eat whole foods and satisfying natural fats I feel healthy and strong.

However. just a few days ago we had a delicious dinner of pinto bean tacos on hard shells with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa and avocado. I really liked it. Even after smelling the beans cook in seasonings all afternoon. A rarity these days. As we finished up, Stu wanted a sip from Jared's glass. Jared said, "Stu, are you going to add floaties to my water?" That was it. That was all it took for me to lose it. And my dinner was gone. Never to come back. I returned from the bathroom and was so mad I lost my precious dinner. When I told my mom, she laughed for 5 minutes straight about the simplicity of Jared's comment. She was laughing so hard I though SHE might lose her last meal. :) What a volatile world to live in. When a comment about backwash wastes a perfectly good meal.

It is all worth it. This little one joining our family is well worth it. Bring it on: morning sickness, weight gain, clothing discomfort, not sleeping on my belly, more sitting down, smelling EVERYTHING, middle-of-the-night bathroom breaks, tears, vomit, kicks in the ribs, huge belly. BRING IT.

As long at it comes with naps, TLC from my mister, fluttering and amniotic somersaults, encouraging compliments, Hypnobabies, midwives, and a baby that's ours, then BRING IT ON. I'm ready and looking forward to a second beautiful birth. Thank you God for our growing family.

Life and Death

I've been thinking about life and death lately. A heavy topic. I know.

Two beautiful friends at church just had two beautiful babies in the same week. I got to see both moms and both babies in the hospital. I teared up meeting both of the babies - such beautiful little souls just starting out in this world. Birth is one of my most favorite events of which to be a part. A bit weird? Maybe. But heaven and earth are so close in times of life and death. Especially when death is a possibility when giving life. Birth is beautiful, unpredictable business. I thank heaven that both of my friends and both of their babies only experienced the birth part, and avoided the possible death. Did I mention that they are BEAUTIFUL babies? Ugh! And I don't even have pictures.

But, there is also a little birth going on in my home. WHAT?!? I don't know? What do you call the birth of a bulb? Sprouting?

I digress. This beautiful little creation has been growing so well on my window sill the last 3 weeks. It was a gift, so I don't know what flower it is, but we love it anyway. We are not prejudice against different flowers at my house. :) Check out this growth in only 20 days!

Amazing right? It is doing so well with just water, sunlight, and loving cheers from it's fans. Grandma Virgie (on Jared's side) says that plants grow best when given lots of love. "Whisper sweet nothings in their ears," she said. I will do whatever she says. She has a back yard vegetable garden the size of Rhode Island, so grandma knows best!

If only my sweet nothings had worked for this little fellow. The circle of life has claimed this mini-rose plant from my potted garden and I am in mourning. This little love was a surprise "I LOVE YOU" gift one afternoon from my dear husband. He is the best! I potted it, kissed it, and lovingly placed it outside. It thrived, bloomed and rebloomed for seven months! Then it suddenly started losing leaves and dying, even after I brought it inside from the cold! I thought maybe it felt the stress and contention at home. Maybe it did. But I think I found the real murderers! Do you see them?

I think these TINY white spiders and their deadly webs killed my beloved rose plant that my beloved gave me! Everywhere these little life-suckers spun a web, the leaves or buds died! I first wiped their webs away and removed the diseased leaves. They came back. Then I wiped again and sprayed with white vinegar. They came back. Then I was worried that if I kept the plant inside, they would make themselves comfortable in my house. So, the plant (almost completely dead by then) and it's inhabitants were moved outside to the winter temperatures. Any ideas of what those little homicidal maniacs are?

And so is life. As one little life died on my window sill, another has taken its place and thrives.

S's Birth

I have been busy lately. Mostly, I don't want to do anything (including blog) other than hold and stare at S. However, assuming we have at least one follower of our new family blog, I think I'll contribute now.

S is now 3 and a half weeks old. He's already gained at least a pound and getting into a bit of a routine with naps and such. We are very pleased.

My version of S's birth is only a little different than Jared's recollection. I remember really enjoying the hours in the warm bath at home. The water worked miracles in relieving me of the little pressure I felt. Thank heaven for Jared and his patience in boiling more hot water for the tub. Our hot water heater could not keep up with our leaky bath tub drain.

Throughout the night my contractions were not consistent, but I learned from my sister Malea's experience that that doesn't mean this isn't the real deal. I knew S would come that day, so the inconsistency of the birthing waves didn't matter.

Speaking of "birthing waves" Jared mentioned we used Hypnobabies to prepare us for a medication-free birth. "Birthing waves" is what we learned to call "contractions" in order to create a more positive experience. We attended a six-week course and practiced the techniques the months leading up to the birth. The idea behind the techniques (that were very successful for us) is that the birthing mom can use the power of her mind (and lots of practice) to enter a state of self-hypnosis and deep relaxation in order to block and numb the pain. I practiced the relaxation techniques in class, at home, on the dentist's chair, during Braxton-hicks, nausea, and charlie horses. It helped me relax, shut down my pain, and enjoy S's beautiful birth.

And back to the night of S's birth...
Once my water broke at home and we went to the hospital, things moved pretty quickly. I remember just sitting or laying down once we got to the delivery room. I kept my eyes closed most of the time and Jared (being the birth coach) talked me through it as I focused. He was the most outstanding help and the hero of the day. Thank you, Jared, for taking it seriously and being my hero!

The next hour felt like 20 minutes, and then 25 minutes pushing felt like 5. It was fast. I asked them to run the water for the jacuzzi, but I didn't have the time to use it. I couldn't feel the needle in my arm (see Jared's story), or any other intense pain. The entire experience was simply uncomfortable, but never really painful. Even pushing him out was exciting because I knew I would get to meet our son. Due to the rapid pace, S's heart beat slowed and the midwife asked me to slow down the pushing. Although the urge to push is so involuntary, I was very grateful for the Hypnobabies techniques that prepared me to be able to slow down the pushing and protect S.

Once I pushed him out, my mom almost missed it. She went into the hall to get a mirror so I could see S. Silly me for asking for the mirror; once I opened my eyes, I realized I am blind without my glasses on and couldn't see a thing anyway! Note to self: next time wear my contacts.

The midwife said, "Amanda, reach down and grab your baby." It took her several times saying that for me to move. My body didn't move as fast as my mind. He was a little, beautiful cone-head and I was in love with him. I felt awe, joy, exhaustion, and uncertainty at once. I later thought to myself "that was wonderful and I would do that again and again!"

Big news! S is here!

Let me tell you a story. It's a story about how "Amanda and I" became "Amanda, S and I." Lets start on Monday, August 9. We took this picture since Amanda was due on Wednesday.


BUT, nothing happened on Wednesday, so on Friday we played a board game with Grandma Bev instead.

Then, at 1:30 am Amanda started having contractions and woke me up at 2:30 to time them. So I made cupcakes for the nurses while Amanda took a bath. But there wasn't much hot water, so in between mixing and making the homemade frosting, I boiled water to add to the bath and kept track of her contractions in a journal.


Amanda was feeling sick the whole time as well. She was throwing up and couldn't keep any water down. Turns out she might have had the flu from a baby shower she went to just the day before. This is unconfirmed as of this writing. Then we called Amanda's mom - Grandma Bev - at 6:00 and she came over soon after. We are very lucky to have friends who live across the street who let her stay at their house while they were away. Then the water broke around 6:30 and it was a mad scramble to get the car ready to go to the hospital! We got to Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg at 7:00 and they let us right in since we had preregistered. Oh, and interspersed with these events I would occasionally read Hypnobabies scripts to Amanda to help her body relax. Maybe she will explain that better in a later post, but suffice it to say, it really worked for us.

A lot happened once we were in the labor and delivery room. They checked Amanda and she was at about 5cm. Then, while the relaxation music was playing and I was reading the Hypnobabies stuff to her during contractions, the midwife asked if she could put a saline lock in Amanda's wrist in case she needed medication - even though we expressed in our printed birth plan that had been reviewed by the nurses and midwife that we were going to have a natural birth. We agreed because we say things in the heat of the moment that we wouldn't otherwise. It was only in for a few minutes when Amanda had to move and the needle actually bent sideways, so they took it out to be nice :)

Around 8:00 they said Amanda could get in the jacuzzi if she wanted and we agreed, so they went to fill it up. But at 8:15 our little boy decided he had had it, and wanted to come out. And at 8:40 that's exactly what he did. And what a cute little guy he is too. He's the one on the left.


He was healthy, happy, and pretty quiet. He weighed 7 lb. 1 oz. and was 18 3/4 inches long (even though I still think it should be 18 3/4 inches TALL).

And the rest is pretty much a regular hospital experience. We didn't have a name picked out for him because we wanted to see him first. We had a list of names we liked but we wanted to see what he looked like. We agreed on his full name, S.L. Ondricek. I wanted to add "the eighth," but Amanda wouldn't let me. The nurses did all their screenings, he passed with flying colors and he eats, sleeps, and poops like a champ. Oh, and the hospital has the best bacon cheeseburger I have had in quite a while. Maybe I was just delirious, or maybe I'll go back next time I'm in the mood for fast food. I spent the night at the hospital with Amanda on a chair/bed (which wasn't designed with comfort in mind) and they had us watch some cheesy video about infant CPR which tried to mix useful knowledge with a workout video from the 80's. The last thing that is worth mentioning is that when I went out to get the car-seat I wrestled with it for 15 minutes and couldn't get it out of the base so I took the whole thing inside. Then I figured it out on the elevator ride back. Oh well, you win some you lose some. We're home now, mom and baby are doing great and I'll post some more pictures below. That's all folks, enjoy the pictures!