My Personal Journey through Breastfeeding, Part 2

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!  Now back to my story... (and in case you missed the first part, here's the link.)

You'd think there'd be no issues the second time around because I knew what I was doing, but my baby #2 needed to learn how to latch too.  In came the sugar water.  I'm telling you, it's nearly a miracle cure in those first days. 

My milk came in when she was four days old, the same day we decided to go home to see my grandfather before he passed away.  That was physically and emotionally painful, but very much worth the effort.  I was able to tell my grandfather goodbye in person. 

Once my milk came in, I faced hyperlactation.  Most every time I went to nurse my daughter, I sprayed her in the face, and she'd choke and gag.  I learned to lay flat on my back, allowing her to nurse from above, before going to a regular nursing position.  It enabled "Bug" to control the milk flow.  It took a couple of months to get my supply adjusted.  The problem with hyperlactation is that there's an imbalance of foremilk and hindmilk (the fattier portion).

Well worth all the work, we were also very mutally happy with breastfeeding.  Again, I was pregnant before weaning my second daughter.  I nursed for another five months before weaning her at twelve months.  This was a more sad occasion for me because once I began the weaning process, Bug just up and decided she wouldn't nurse anymore once I had her down to just one feeding a day.  This was unlike my first, who allowed us to have a picture of the final feeding.  I can't even remember the final feeding with my second because she decided she didn't need it if I was only going to offer it once a day.

With my third child, something was up from the very beginning.  She wouldn't latch well at the hospital, but I didn't stress because I knew it takes time.  She seemed to prefer to lay on one side of her body, but I didn't know that meant anything in particular. 

We were in the midst of packing to move when I brought her home from the hospital.  My husband and I struggled at every feeding.  Little Minute was such a wonderful baby, but she cried at every feeding.  I took her to a lactation consultant pretty quickly, as there wasn't one at the hospital where she was born.  I was so angry because the LC immediately put a bottle in her mouth!  I had been working too hard for that!  She gave me a nipple shield, which seemed to help for a couple of weeks.

Once we moved (my daughter was three weeks old), things were getting pretty hard.  My daughter cried a good bit, but seemed pretty satisfied during meal times.  I took her to a lactation consultant because she still wouldn't latch without the nipple shield.  This LC weighed her, and my heart sunk to see that she weighed what she did at birth.  The nipple shield doesn't allow enough stimulation of the nipple, so my milk supply was diminishing, and my baby wasn't thriving.  It took a couple of visits, but the LC was able to determine that Little Minute had a slight case of torticolis, meaning one side of her neck had underdeveloped muscles.  She couldn't pull the nipple enough to draw milk, and it also took her a very long time to take a bottle.  I was able to take her to a physical therapist just once to learn the exercises she needed to correct her condition, but I always had to supplement this daughter with formula.  My heart broke, but I was glad to live in a world where I could care for my daughter.  If this had been a few hundred years ago, I imagine she could've died.

Oddly enough, even though this child had to be supplemented, my menstrual cycle didn't return until after she was weaned completely, so I actually made it an entire year without getting pregnant again!

Baby #4 is my only boy thus far, and he is also the only one who seemed to be born to nurse!  There was never a need for sugar water because he always latched correctly from the beginning!  I had prayed for this after my Little Minute had such difficulty.  All during my pregnancy, I prayed God would make my boy a good eater, and He answered above and beyond what I ever expected.  Had my son been my first child, I would've thought breastfeeding is so easy and not been able to understand why women give up before their babies have time to learn what they're doing.

That's not to say there weren't issues.  I experienced thrush for the first time with my boy.  Thrush is a very painful yeast infection that affects the nipples and usually, the inside of a baby's mouth.  It's a pain to treat, but I can laugh about it a little now.  Here's a pic of my purple-faced baby while we dealt with it. 

Just as it was with all my babies, the hurdles were worth jumping as we nursed our way to a year.

I love breastfeeding, and I encourage it for the health of mom and baby.  Breastmilk is exactly what God designed for human baby consumption.  It is living with active cultures that contain healing properties.  I've put it on cuts rather than putting on topical ointments.  With my three children that were exclusively nursed, I've always lost more weight than I've put on during pregnancy because of the 500 calories a day that can be burnt through nursing.  My breast cancer risk is greatly reduced.  My children are bright and appropriately attached to me.  I'm thankful God gave this gift of bonding between mother and child.

My Personal Journey through Breastfeeding, Part 1

Finally, it seems I have time to write once again!  A few weeks ago, I mentioned I'd like to share my breastfeeding experiences for those of you that it may benefit.  Again, if this is a touchy subject for you, and it may hurt our fellowship, don't read the rest of this post, but do tune in another day!

I'll also start by throwing out the disclaimer that this truly is just my personal journey, and I am no professional medically trained person.  I have studied tons of articles and books both for my personal understanding and for work, but I'm only a support person to breastfeeding moms, not a lactation consultant.  If you face any difficulties in breastfeeding, I would highly recommend that you talk to friends that have been there, but if you continue to face problems, please seek the help of an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  Whatever you do, don't give up!

My personal journey through breastfeeding begins at my birth!  If I understand correctly, my mother nursed me for the first week to ten days of my life.  After that, my grandmother went home, and my mom felt like she probably didn't eat well enough to make "good" milk.  Knowing what I do now, even malnourished moms can make good milk for their babies, though our bodies will rob us to take care of the babies we feed.  Still, this was excellent for my mom to give me the best for the first days of my life.  Even colostrum, the first milk, is filled with tons of antibodies!  After that, I saw my mom nurse my brother five years later, again for a few weeks.

I thought nothing of breastfeeding again until I was pregnant with my first child.  At the time, the American Academy of Pediatrics was saying exclusive breastfeeding was best for babies through the first six months of life, and that it was still the best with the addition of solids up through twelve months.  I think even "or as long as is mutually desired" was part of their position.  For me, my decision to breastfeed was then a no-brainer.  Why wouldn't I do what was determined to be the best for my child?

Such an easy decision to make, but I had no idea I would have some snags along the way, and that it would be difficult at times to reach my goal of one year.  Praise God, I had friends pregnant before me.  I watched as one of my friends learned to nurse her first child.  She encountered hyperlactation (over production of milk) and thrush in her son's early weeks.  It made me realize I had a lot to learn, so to a class at Babies-r-Us I went, and I got several videos from the library. 

Here's a funny confession: The women and babies in the videos grossed me out.  To be such an advocate for breastfeeding now, at one point it did bother me!  Seeing my friends nurse, however, didn't bother me in the least.  I could see very clearly how God had created women so perfectly for nurturing young life. Another odd thing about those videos: all of the babies latch perfectly every. single. time.

Along comes baby #1 on July 1, 2005.  If you've already read her birth story, you know she latched perfectly the first time within half an hour of her birth.  Her second feeding "had" to be a bottle of formula because I was in surgery.   Truly, if a breastfeeding advocate had been watching out in the middle of the night, she would've made sure Princess M had received that feeding through a tube or a syringe.

All of the next few days, we spent our time trying to get my baby to latch.  She actually did fairly well, and of course, perfectly every time the lactation consultant in the hospital was around.  I was taught by her that I could put a little sugar water on my nipples to give Princess M some instant gratification because colostrum, being so thick, is often difficult to drain from the breasts.  Sometimes, babies will try to latch, then get aggrivated that something's not there fast enough.  I've done this with my friends many times, and it totally does the trick!

It took a solid week for my milk to come in due to the spinal I had for surgery.  Diapers were good and weight gain was up at the week mark despite the long wait for milk.

Princess M was a sleepy baby at times, and it seemed to take a circus to keep her awake for a full feeding.  At night time, this was a challenge.  If I fell asleep, I'd have no idea how long she'd eaten.  I'd decide to go ahead and lay her back down, only to be back up in thirty minutes because she didn't get a full feeding after all.  I learned to stay awake by reading.  In the daytime, I'd read out loud to my daughter.  At night, I'd read silently.  I devoured every magazine and book I could get my hands on.  My husband was in seminary at the time, and I read his textbooks.  I've often wondered if my oldest daughter is so smart because of this and obviously, she was getting breastmilk for brain development!

I tried to pump with two manual pumps, one I'd bought, and the other came from the health department.  They both seemed to be duds, and I was getting really frustrated that once my daughter was four weeks old, we were going out of town, and I felt she needed some bottles expressed for her.  I couldn't get anything from a manual pump!  My husband saw my tears, and he decided we'd buy something for the first time with a credit card: an electric breast pump!  That $250 was worth it!  I've used it with all four of my babies.

The day before we were set to take our daughter home to South Carolina, I began to run a fever, feel achy, and have red streaks on my breasts: mastitis.  My doctor was good to me, not forcing me to come in to see him, but going with my description of my symptoms, he called an antibiotic in for me.

Despite every hurdle, my daughter and I kept the nursing going, and by six or seven weeks, were really mutually happy with the whole deal.  She was always in the 75th-85th percentile for height and weight. She was always very healthy, never running a fever until after she was weaned! 

When my oldest daughter was seven months old, I became pregnant with my second daughter.  I continued to nurse my first child for five more months.  Weaning was a little sad, but knowing I had another one coming made it easier for me...

Part 2 tomorrow - all three of the other babies in one more blog entry!

Birth Story

I failed to mention one little detail in my last post.  Financially, it also occurred to me that we wouldn't have to pay the anesthesiologist if I didn't have to see him for an epidural.  We figured that meant we'd save around $1,000.  To bad I didn't know I would end up seeing him after all, just not for the epidural...

For three weeks prior to my daughter's birth, I was 1 cm dilated.  My due date was June 27th.  At what I expected to be my last visit with my OB, he said I was effaced, and he didn't expect to see me the next week at his office, that he'd be highly surprised if I didn't go into labor that weekend.  My husband was church planting at the time, and he had to travel every weekend to the other side of the state.  As naive first-timers, he called the leadership of the new church to let them know he wouldn't be coming because I would surely be in the hospital. 

No baby by Friday.  So we walked...and walked...and walked.  I was certain my feet couldn't handle any more by Sunday evening.  No baby Monday morning.  On Tuesday, June 27, to the OB I went.  He was surprised, and began talking induction possibilities. 

Now "going naturally" to the vast majority of the "natural" community means completely allowing your body to do its own thing.  I think that's wonderful.  Maybe one day I'll be able to do it, but there was there are two factors that have led us to induce every time my body hasn't done its own thing the way we expect.  First, we don't live near family.  In order to have the help a new mom needs, we really kind of have to plan when family needs to come, and none of the grandparents are retired yet, so work schedules also have to be considered.  My parents really needed to go ahead and come if they were coming.  Second, my husband's in ministry.  At that time, he'd already taken one weekend off.  He could take off the coming weekend, and we could for sure have a baby, allowing him to go back the next week without missing a thing. 

Many doctors will tell you pitocin makes labor harder, and many moms that plan to go without pain medication give in because of it.  For my fourth child, I was only the second woman my doctor had ever seen go without meds with the use of pitocin.  This is not me bragging, but it's part of the story.  I felt I could still go ahead and try not to use meds because I'd never had a child anyway.  What difference did I know?  Also, with induction, the baby's heart rate has to constantly be monitored, so there's no getting out of bed, so traditional methods of pain relief, like walking, or changing positions isn't allowed in most hospitals.

June 30, my dad's birthday, my parents arrive in town.  I fix him zucchini bread, place a few candles on it, and we celebrate hoping the baby will come before the induction scheduled the next day.

July 1, we wake up bright and early.  Surprise, surprise, still no baby.  Pitocin, here we come.  The IV was in and running by 8:00 am.  Those first several hours were easy.  I visited on the phone with my in-laws as they traveled to Kentucky to see us.  I visited with my parents in the delivery room while my husband went to get his lunch, thankfully not eating it in front of me.  By noon, I needed to begin to use my Lamaze breathing.  I think I was at 4 cm.  By 12:30, it was time to send my parents out to the waiting room.

It's totally a personal choice, but for me, I just wanted my husband, my doctor, and the nurses in the room with me.  Some people have a whole party, but for us, this was the start of our family, deeply intimate.

My husband was a great coach, even though this was our first go round.  Coach and laborer communication improves with each child.  Still, with #1, he massaged my back and was a constant encouragement.  He helped me count my breaths.  He was going to help me with my focal point, but I ended up closing my eyes with each contraction.

I moved too much.  Never able to get comfortable, the monitor on my tummy kept losing Princess M's heart beat.  The nurse had to insert a monitor into the top of her little head.

Around 4:00 pm, I'd figure, I was at 5 or 6, and I was beginning to question if I could actually do this without pain meds after all.  My husband gently reminded me of my goal without forcing me at all.

A couple of hours later, I was moving into transition labor (7-8 cm), and I was now praying constantly, but especially during now very strong contractions.  This was the time that was so good for me spiritually.  Without pain meds, I was totally feeling my need for dependence on God to bring me through labor.  Knowing that pain in childbearing is a result of the fall, because of sin, I knew I deserved this pain, but praised God for His goodness through all things.  I can't adequately express how special it was to experience this. 

When I was checked and found to be at 9 cm, I actually began to feel the need to push, so my doctor let me.  Five minutes later, at 8:03 pm, Princess M had arrived!  She didn't cry, just looked around.  My first words after she was laid on my stomach, "You're so big!" to which my doctor replied, "Really?" - later to find out she was 7#5oz.  I had only been 5#6oz, so she was big to me.  My husband and I cried.  After I was able to hold her for a few minutes, we watched as they took her across the room for her measurements and to clean her a little.  We were so tickled to see her still not crying, just looking with these huge eyes at us as she took in her new surroundings.   

I was able to nurse her for the first time very quickly after.  Of course, everything went so well because for the time being, she was very alert. 

I still hurt very badly at 9:30 or so when they took me to my room.  I called my friend I talked about Saturday.  Was I supposed to still be hurting?  She told me it'd pass once I got some rest.

By 10:00 my husband and I were doing our best to settled down and sleep.  By 10:30, I was having contractions again and needing to do my Lamaze breathing.  That couldn't possibly be right, and it concerned my husband enough not to bother with using the call button, but for him to go get a nurse himself. 

My nurse thought I must need to empty my bladder, but when she tried to get me out of bed, I just couldn't bear the pain.  She laid me back down and massaged my tummy.  I passed a blood clot the size of the placenta.  I immediately felt much better and thanked her profusely.  But the moment of relief I felt was a moment of major concern for the nurse because she pressed the call button and yelled that she needed help fast. 

By the time her help arrived, I was in pain again.  The two ladies determined I was bleeding internally, but they couldn't see where it was coming from.  The doctor on call was on his way.  I wasn't conscious for all that came next.  I'd waken for a moment, have a wave of pain, and pass out again.  Sometimes, I'd hear my husband saying, "Lauren, stay with me."  The doctor actually liked me sleeping though, because when I'd have those waves of pain, I moved my legs too much for him to work on me. 

As it turned out, as my daughter made her exit, she torn an artery on my vaginal wall.  I bled internally back into my womb, so there was no way for my doctor to see that anything had gone wrong until I began to have contractions from the blood filling my uterus.

I remember thinking, Man, by the time this is taken care of, it'll be time to feed the baby again.  Eventually, they brought papers for my husband to sign to allow me to be given donor blood.  Once that was done, I was taken to surgery.

Here's where it got very serious for my husband, but funny for me.  The loss of blood was keeping me from understanding how serious a situation was going on.  He, meanwhile, was hitting his knees outside the elevator doors praying for God to keep me alive, then calling our parents to let them know they needed to come back to the hospital immediately.

So the funny side: When the anesthesiologist arrived outside the surgical room, he explained that he would need to give me a spinal block so I wouldn't feel the pain while they did surgery to correct the tear.  I had lost too much blood for them to put me to sleep.  He told me he'd be with me throughout the procedure, and for me not to worry because I wouldn't be able to move.  I laughed, and told me him a few hours ago I had thought I was too good for him.  He laughed out loud too!

I also flipped out because I didn't want them to cut my wedding band and engagement ring off.  They calmly put tape on them and reassured me they'd do no such thing.

I passed out, but I awoke in surgery, tilted nearly on my head.  I tried to move my feet but to no avail.  I looked around at all the people in surgical masks.  I found the anesthesiologist, and told him about not being able to move my feet.  He replied, "Remember, I explained that to you a few minutes ago."  Nope, I didn't remember, but went back to sleep. 

When all was said and done, I received three units of blood.  I was taken back to my room to find all my loved ones waiting, including baby girl, who was being given (gasp!) a bottle by her dad.  She was having to wait too long on me to feed her. 

All was well.  God delivered me.  And we took Princess M home on Independence Day, with my hemoglobin at seven.  My doctor assured me that it was a rare thing what I went through, and that I could have all the babies I wanted.  Praise God!

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

...a very good place to start, right?

Initially, I thought I'd write about breastfeeding first with my return to blogging, but we need a baby to begin.  Before I share my oldest's birth story, it might be helpful to know why I wanted to attempt natural childbirth. 

Even before the baby, there were ideas I had swimming around in my brain about how parenting should be done correctly.  Ha!  Reality begins as soon as you see that bundle of joy.  Some of those ideas stick and others don't go over so well when you're dealing with a real life human being with his or her own ideas.

Throughout my childhood, I had the idea that I would be a working mom until I had all the children I wanted.  Only then would I stay home with them.  My mom had worked until my brother (five years younger than myself) was about six months old.  She then stayed home eleven years.  I also had the idea that I would have plenty of experience in whatever career path I had chosen so that once all of my children were in public school, I could return to the workforce outside the home.  Other than wanting a bigger family, that's really the only "solid" ideas I had before going to college.

I was required to take a childhood development class for my major, elementary education.  Dr. Bob Gaddis was my professor, such a godly man.  In the textbook we used for the class, there were reports of the findings from studies on early childhood (duh!), some of which were about the first year of life and the importance of the early attachment process for children with their moms.  Ironically, while preparing for a career, God convicted me that I needed to be home with my children during their most formative years of life (preschool age) and possibly even longer.  My mind was firmly set.  This wasn't even taking into account how I need to be my husband's helper, and I was completely oblivious to how much work is required to be a pastor's helper.

Now, this class was also a summer course.  I really enjoyed my summer classes, with even smaller groups than normal and more time for discussion.  At some point, Dr. Gaddis talked about being in the room when his wife gave birth to their two daughters.  He spoke with great pride how his wife had given birth both times completely naturally (no paid medication) and one of their daughters had been breech!  He wasn't trying to influence the girls in my class to do the same, but I so loved to see this man so proud of his wife.  I just couldn't help thinking my future husband (then boyfriend - we weren't even engaged) would be so proud of me if I went without medication.  Again, my heels were firmly set.

The next summer, I was married to my husband, and almost three years after that, we had our first child.  In the months leading up to her birth, I became further convinced I could give birth the old fashioned way without pain relievers of any type because of all the other new moms surrounding me.  There were many couples in the same stage of life we were in, with most of the same convictions because my husband was in seminary.  I listened to others' birth stories, heard the joy they felt, both medicated and not.  My best friend from that stage of life had her first child three months before me.  It was fun to be pregnant at the same time, and we were two of four teachers at our school expecting babies one right after the other.  Another very close friend had her first child four months after me.  Again, what fun days those were! 

Anyway, the first friend I mentioned was medically required to deliver her son without the aid of an epidural.  She had time to prepare herself that it just wouldn't be an option no matter what.  After she came through her son's delivery without medication, she encouraged me that I could do it.  I took a Lamaze class with my husband to prepare for the big day.

Birth story to come Monday!  Was that abrupt? I feel as if I'm saying, "Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel"....

It's Nice to be Missed!

Hey, y'all!  It's been a long time, five or six weeks at least. 

Where have I been?  Through the month of December, everyone had Christmas events and special family time.  I also had a new little job to adjust to and be trained in, and more than anything, I do most of that work during my children's naptime, so my regular blogging time has been filled with other activities.  I have missed writing, and I have missed sharing with my regular readers the things God has laid on my heart to share with younger women and newer believers in particular.  It feels good to have these few minutes now to have a little "visit".

My husband is going to be gone this evening, and I'll be turning in my timesheet for work this afternoon, so I believe I'll be free to write this evening.  I want to give you a heads up on the topics in case you want to make sure to read my new posts or if you want to avoid them altogether.  They can be sensitive subjects, and I don't want to offend anyone.  I do believe, however, that they only way women can be encouraged in these areas is to bring them up.  If you think it may hurt our fellowship, skip over the next few posts. 

Because I'm now a breastfeeding peer counselor, breastfeeding is obviously on my mind a lot.  I'd like to share my experiences with my four children (not a piece of cake, but a joy).  That'll be at least one post.

I'd also like to share my oldest daughter's birth story.  Really, I'd like to share each of my children's stories, but probably not over the course of this weekend.  Some people really get into that sort of thing because life coming into the world is nothing short of a miracle, and each story is unique, but for others, it's just too much information.

I'll say now, and someone may not remember, but I don't think breastfeeding and natural childbirth are what makes good mothers.  A mother's heart for her child to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is what makes a good mother.  Still, if you're curious about breastfeeding and natural childbirth from a real, regular mother's perspective, you should find some of that here in the next few days.

Wednesday's Woman Guest Post - Amy

Today, I'm excited to have Amy from A Nest in the Rocks sharing with us today.  She's a perfect fit for sharing about Wednesday's Woman.  I hope her story will inspire you to pray for a mentor too.

When I got married nearly 9 years ago, I had lived in North Carolina less than 2 years.  As a new teacher, I worked nearly 12 hours each workday and had made many new friends – all of them transplanted teachers like me.  While my husband and I dated, it wasn’t a problem to have separate friends – but things changed after we got married. 

The teachers I knew kept moving away, and soon I found myself pregnant, moving across town, and swamped with the work of preparing for maternity leave.  The differences in the way my husband and I were raised became more and more apparent as we prepared for parenthood, and I worried about how we would make important parenting decisions.  With too much work, a busy husband, and no close friends, I found myself feeling very lonely.

Suddenly I began hearing people mention their mentors, and as the word kept popping up, I began to pray for a one.  I prayed for someone with similar parenting philosophies and ideas, a strong Christian, someone who would understand how difficult it was to be away from family and raising a family in a new environment.

Enter Susan, my new neighbor-across-the-street.  She came to school one evening before teaching her Pilates class and introduced herself, but then life kept us apart for months.  Eventually we got together, she with her grandchildren and me with my daughter, and we began to talk while they played.

I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow a friendship developed, and soon it was something more.  Susan proved to be completely trustworthy, and I found that we could talk about anything.  From meal plans to marriage tips, we’ve talked about everything. 

When one of us has a chocolate craving, we bake something and run some across the street – we can indulge without the temptation of an entire cake or batch of cookies.  We shop from each other’s pantries when ingredients go missing and pick up random items from the store for the other when out.  We even share a job at the moment – we split an assistant position in a local preschool.

Our relationship goes beyond just being good friends, however.  Susan often understands where I’m coming from because she’s been there herself.  Like me, she’s raised her children while living in a new state, away from her family.  She’s had to make new friends, deal with career changes, manage a household budget, cook healthy meals for a family, and grow with her husband. 

When I met Susan, I was just beginning to do all of that.  Susan has nearly 30 years’ experience on me, however, and she has the wisdom to match.  When something comes up, I know that I can count on Susan to let me talk it through and to give me wise advice. 

I don’t know what I would do without Susan across the street – and in my life.  Having a sounding board has proved invaluable – and knowing that what I share stays confidential allows us both to be open and honest.  With Susan’s example and experience to guide me, I don’t feel so alone anymore.

If you don’t have a mentor whom you can ask for advice, pray for one today.  No matter your stage of life, you can always learn from those who have more experience than your own – and who couldn’t use a good friend?

Amy is married to Dave and Mommy to one pretty princess and one tiny construction worker.  A former teacher turned SAHM, she blogs about homemaking, teaching, and living life at http://www.anestintherocks.blogspot.com./

I've Considered a Field

"She evaluates a field and buys it; she plants a vineyard with her earnings."
-Proverbs 31:16

This may be shocking to some:  I'm soon to be employed outside the home.

It's only part-time and I will actually be working primarily from my home.  Beginning December 5, I will be a breastfeeding peer counselor for our local health department.

There's a long story about how it all came about, but it goes a little like this - 
I breastfed my four children to a year.  Each posed their own challenges and joys.  I thought, I could really enjoy being a lacatation consultant and I could work from home or set my own hours.  It costs money to take the classes I'd need, so I put it on the backburner.  I was contacted about the possibility of this job, and it sounded really nice as an extra source of income and the chance to "extend my hands to the needy" (Prov. 31:20).  This is my "considering a field" - praying, seeking God to make it clear to me if I can take this on with my husband's full blessing and support.  I wanted God to make it plain by having the folks who interviewed me call with a yes or no.  Either way would be fine by me.  They called with a yes. 

I'm excited about the chance to encourage new moms.  Aren't those first few days and weeks keeping a baby alive exhausting and sometimes overwhelming?  I'm nervous about changes to my routine with my family, but I feel certain this is where God is leading me for this season. Any other moms that work from home part-time, please feel free to lend me some advice!