2017-2018 Homeschool Curriculum Choices

I started sharing our homeschool curriculum choices last year, and I think I like the "record" of where we are and where we're going. So here I am again posting our curriculum for my many (ok, very few) readers.

Nora | First Grade (age 6)
Nora just finished three subjects: spelling, phonics, and handwriting. She was doing all of these at a first grade level, because I thought she was capable, and she proved me right. She did very well. We're still working through her first grade math curriculum, as planned. But, it's not her favorite, and since she's already working ahead of her brick-and-mortar-schooled peers, I'm not pushing her. I don't want her to come out hating math. Though, she did get really into some of the units, like the one on time, so we moved a little quicker with that unit. Once she finishes the first grade level, we'll move onto second grade right away.

This year we're continuing on with the same spelling and phonics programs, but we're dropping a formal handwriting program. She does fairly well with handwriting, so I don't feel like she needs much more instruction. However, we're going to take another area, which I'll discuss more in a minute, and focus on handwriting.

We're adding history this year, and after much research, I chose Connecting with History (RC History). We started a couple weeks ago, and since it involves a fair amount independent reading (though at her level it's suggested that the parents read to the child, but since she's completely capable of doing it on her own, I'm letting her), she's loving it. Another part of it is either copy work or memorization of a poem or verse that fits the time era we're studying. At her age, I'm having her do copy work, and we're using that as her handwriting. There's also projects to do, which I'm excited about starting with all the kids. It incorporates many different books for reading, fictional and non-fictional, which I think will make history a much more interesting subject. (It's my least favorite, so I had to find something that, at the very least, made me excited to teach it.) On our way up north to go camping, we listened to C. S. Lewis's "The Magician's Nephew," a story about the creation of Narnia.

She also went to a free soccer camp this summer with her cousins and some friends. She seemed to enjoy the games they played.

Phonics: MCP Plaid Phonics Level B
Spelling: MCP Spelling Workout Level B
Math: Math Mammoth (finish Grade 1 as planned, then move onto Grade 2)

History: Connecting with History (RC History) Volume 1 Beginner Level
Science: Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage

Nate | Preschool (age 4-5)

Nate is really starting to like reading. He's teaching himself a little, but phonics are tricky in English. We started working through the McGuffey Primer from All in One Homeschool and we're not quite halfway though it. Considering a little over a year ago when I posted, he wasn't even grasping letter sounds, but is now on Lesson 24, and reading many easy readers on his own, I'd say he's come a long way! Once he had an interest in it, he wanted to learn it! 

I think math will be a strong point with him. If he's sitting at the table when Nora is working on her math, he is often answering the questions with her. I don't plan on starting anything formal with him at this point, mostly because I haven't found anything I like for his level. If I run across something I think would fit him, I might start him on it.

I think I would also like to start working on handwriting with him. I'm sure at some point I'll order him the one of the Handwriting Without Tears workbooks. I think it worked really well with Nora, and I'm sure Nate will do well with it also. 

He still has some speech issues, but I think he's pretty close to other kids his age. The /th/ and /r/ sounds still seems to be tough for him, but given that he couldn't touch the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth when he was 2 years old in speech therapy, he's doing okay. We still remind him often of how to properly make the /th/ sound, but he can't seem to make the /r/ sound yet. Reading has helped with it a little as we're properly sounding out words.

One of the highlights of Nate's summer was being on a soccer team: Green Monsters. They had a 3-game season, and Grandpa Jack took him to most of his practices and games. 

Sam | Preschool (age 3)

I intended on working through Year 2 of ABC Jesus Loves Me with him this past year, but I other than making the creation story book with him, we didn't do much. Even without using a formal curriculum though, he now knows all his colors (his favorite is orange) and can recognize most of the letters of the alphabet, and most numbers. He doesn't know most of his shapes though (star and heart are pretty easy!). He knows the names of the different Magna Tile shapes just by playing with Nora and Nate, but hasn't translated that to other objects yet. He does know circle and line though, because he can write the "a" in his name (a circle with a line next to it).

Lily | Toddler (age 1)

She's already been learning a lot through playing with her siblings. I have found that with both her and Sam, I haven't read to them as often as I did with the other two. I feel bad about this and hope it doesn't affect their passion for reading as they grow. Lily seems to be really interested in books, and will often bring a book to someone expecting him/her to read it. I am very thankful that Nora reads to her sometimes. She is also a talker like Nora was (okay, still is!). She has so many words: ba-be (baby), mama-me (mama milk), pa (up), da (down), wawa (water), mak (milk), Ra-ra (Nora), Nee (Nate), and Me-me (Sammy). I think she tries to say sentences too, but most of the words we don't understand. However, with her inflections, we can sometimes figure it out. (There it is and Where is s/he? are two that we know she's trying to say.)

2016-2017 Homeschool Curriculum Choices

I've seen some people posting their curriculum choices each year to share their favorites, so I figured, what the heck, I'll do it too! Plus, I'm super excited that I just clicked that "buy" button and our books will be arriving next week! So without further ado, here's what I've picked for our kids this year.

Nora, Kindergarten
Nora is a veracious reader (she's probably at a second grade reading level, but she doesn't like to read in front of me, so it's hard to know for sure), has been able to write all of her letters and numbers for a while, but doesn't have much interest in math, much to our dismay! Since I don't think she knows all of the phonics behind reading, I wanted a phonics program for her. Along with that, I know she can sound out and spell many words, so I thought I'd try a spelling program with her, but if I'm finding it's too challenging for her, I won't sweat it. Then, of course, I wanted a good, solid math program for her. For faith formation, Nora will continue in our church's faith formation program at the kindergarten level. I also picked out a saint or feast day for each week of the year that the whole family will learn about. Then at the MN Catholic Homeschool Conference I won the Family Formation's Little Lambs Home Lessons, so we will be doing that with Nora, Nate, and Sam. Nora is also signed up for swimming lessons over the summer and has moved up to the "Bobbers" class.

Phonics: MCP Plaid Phonics Level A
Spelling: MCP Spelling Workout Level A
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears My Printing Book - Grade 1
Math: Math Mammoth Grade 1 (we will likely work through this very slowly and take 2 years to do it)

Nate, Preschool
Nate hasn't had much interest in "doing school," and I haven't pushed it with him. He's a little over halfway through Year 3 of ABC Jesus Loves Me, and so we will continue on with Year 3 then start Year 4 when he is through it. While we have talked about the sounds that different letters make from "A" through "P," it hasn't yet clicked with him. Year 4 of the curriculum goes through the letter sounds again, so I'm hoping maybe the second time through it will click with him. I am continuing to work with Nate on some speech issues (currently the "th" sound and the "l" sound, as he calls his baby sister, "Willy"). This will be Nate's first year in faith formation at church with me as his teacher, and he will also be doing the Little Lambs program. Nate is signed up for swimming lessons as well, and even though he's not quite old enough, his teacher was okay with him moving onto the "Turtles" class, so he will be in the water without a parent!

Sam, Pre-Preschool
So far I have been coming up with color and shape activities for Sam to do while the other two are doing school, because he wants to do everything that they are doing. He knows a couple shapes that we talked about, but I'm not sure colors has clicked with him yet. I think I will really see him blossom while working through Year 2 of ABC Jesus Loves Me. He's eager to learn, and is always saying new words.

Lily, Baby
She'll just be hanging out with us while we're having all the fun. I'm sure she'll be busy learning to sit, crawl, and maybe even walk (God help me!) while I'm working with her older siblings.

Our First Year of "Homeschool"

Well, we are just about done with our first year of unofficial homeschool with Nora. She has been doing the 2 Year Curriculum at ABCJesusLovesMe.com, and I think we've both been having a great time with it. With Nate (and Nora too), I've been using a book called Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander, which has activities for each week that are developmentally appropriate for the child's age.

Let's start with Nora.

While she loved to listen to the ABC song on several of her toys that played it, she couldn't sing it herself. Part of that was language development, and part of it was just learning the song, I think. Fast forward to now: She not only sings the whole song by herself, but she recognizes over half of the capital letters, and several lower case letters. She can also write the letter "O."

I think she was beginning to grasp counting, as she would say "one, two, wee!" when grandma would play with her), but I don't think she understood the concept of what numbers represented. Now, she can count to 11 most days, and point and count to at least 7, but sometimes more. She recognizes 2 items right away without counting, but will often count them just because she can. She also knows her age and Nate's age.

She didn't know any colors or shapes before we started, but now knows all her colors (though she confuses pink and purple sometimes), and all her shapes.

Since we pray before our meals, she could kind of make the sign of the cross, but now she can make the sign correctly and say the whole prayer by herself. She has also learned several other prayers before bedtime. The Our Father, Hail Mary, Memorare, Angel of God, Come Lord Jesus, St. Michael the Archangel, and many others! She also knows the creation story, the Christmas story, and is learning about the Palm Sunday, and Jesus' Death and Resurrection. She also knows some memory versus to different tunes.

She has picked up quickly on lots of songs and finger plays, like "Red Light, Green Light," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and many more. Adam has also taught her a tap dance move that his mother taught them when they were kids called "Tick, Tock, Stomp."

When we started she called herself "No-wa" or "I-nor," but can now tell you her name is Eleanor Elisabeth. She can sometimes tell you what city she's from, but often gets that mixed up with her last name. She also knows the first names of her siblings and her parents.

About half way through the curriculum, I bought a large map for our office. This isn't part of the curriculum, but it's fun for her to "explore the world" from our office. I made magnets to go with one of their books called "Furry Friends." She can usually correctly place all the animals on the countries (or state) which they are from in the book (Alaska, Brazil, Scotland, South Africa, Russia, India, and Australia). I also made magnets with pictures of our family members that live out of state, so she can usually tell me what state they are in and put them there (Washington, Oregon, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Minnesota).

While kids are always trying to be more independent and do things for themselves, here are things that we have specifically worked on getting Nora to do by herself: undress herself and put her dirty clothes down the chute, then dress herself (though sometimes articles of clothing end up backwards), pick up toys (with help and direction), wash her hands (especially now that Grandpa Jack made her a step stool, so she can reach!), and help set the table. We have always been working on manners as well, so Nora knows to say please, thank you, you're welcome, and excuse me, though she doesn't always remember. We are always working on improving these skills, but before we started she couldn't really do most of these things. A few things we haven't worked on are brushing her hair and her teeth, washing herself in the bathtub, helping to make her bed, and helping to clear the table after meals. She can kind of do some of these things, but since we haven't had her do it much, she hasn't gotten really good at any of them (expect maybe clearing the table when we ask, but it's pretty much like setting the table in reverse).

Of course all these things don't even put a dent in the list of things she's learned I'm sure (like being completely day time potty trained and almost night time potty trained)! But it's been so fun watching her grow and develop new skills and knowledge!

So, onto my little guy Nate...

We haven't really started any homeschooling with him, but have just been playing with him and teaching him all the things you teach a 1-year-old. He's learned to crawl, walk, climb, & scare Momma with new stunts while trying to follow his big sister or explore on his own. He wants to use a fork or spoon, and has actually been getting okay at using it, but he still prefers using his hands (it's much quicker and easier to stuff his mouth full that way!).

He has really started to develop his language skills more, which excites me! He signs more, eat, thirsty, please, and poop (toilet). He also says "ma" which can mean more or mine depending on what he's doing. He says "ma ma," "da da," and "ra ra" (Nora). One word he uses a lot that I'm not as much a fan of is "dis" (this) while pointing to something. I am trying to work on the actual words for the objects with him, but I'll take that he's communicating what he wants with me. And one of his new favorites is "ba" (ball), since he just got a couple wiffle balls for Easter. He can also tell you what a puppy (va va), sheep (baa), bear/ dinosaur (raa) say.

He may (or may not!) also have some understanding of the color blue. Though, whenever you ask him what color something is he says, "bue." But sometimes I will catch him pointing at something and saying "bue" and more often than not it's actually blue.

Talented Kids!

So a while ago I wrote a post about what Nora could do at 13 1/2 months, and even then I wanted to keep posting every once in a while about the new things she has learned and can do. But, I think what made me actually sit down and write this post, was after reading some articles about homeschooling on the National Home Education Network about getting started homeschooling (I know I'm probably a little a head, but I know I won't always have time to learn about it, so I'll be behind later I'm sure!). A couple of them mentioned about keeping track of what your child knows, just to show yourself that you are helping your child learn. Then on days when you doubt what you're doing is actually working, you can come back and reassure yourself. So, while we aren't officially homeschooling right now, I still wanted to write down what my kids can do. I know it's not good to compare kids, but sometimes you see other kids your child's age and think, "Oh! My child is so much smarter than him/her!" and other times when you see another child (or maybe a different child doing something your kid can't) and think, "Oh, no! That kid is so much smarter than my kid!" But really, especially at this young age, kids are developing at different rates, and in the areas that interest them most. Even with my own two kids, I can see the differences. While Nora was very strong with her large motor skills (crawling at 6 months and walking at 9 months), Nate doesn't seem as interested, but I think he prefers fine motor skills. Nora still isn't really interested in using a fork or spoon at meal time, and I'm guessing Nate will have it mastered by the time he's her age. Alright, without further a due  here's what I came on here to post...

(Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, at this point we are planning on homeschooling our kids.) :)

Nora's List at 20 Months
-say so many words that it's hard to keep a list at this point (it seems like she adds another word or two each day!)
-has such a larger vocabulary that sometimes I surprise myself when I ask her to do something, thinking that she won't know what I'm asking of her, and then she goes and does it
-say several two-word sentences (up peas, down peas, hi bebe -or Dora, or Elmo, but never momma or dada-)
-say a couple three-word sentences (I see ya)
-do simple puzzles
-"help" clean the house or dishes, and cook (she says "ha-p, ha-p" when she wants to help)
-jump and get her feet off the ground
-walks up the stairs like an adult, holding onto the wall, since she can't reach the banister rail
-clip together the many safety buckels in the house (car seats, the swing, high chair, etc.)
-identify several body parts on herself and others (nose -noe-, eyes -aye-, ears, hair, mouth, tongue, teeth -teet-, hands/ fingers, arms -aarm-, legs, toes -wee wee-, feet, tummy, belly button)
-identify people by name in person and in pictures (Nora -raw raw- or Eleanor -i no-, mama or ma me, dada, Nate -nee-, grandma -mama-, grandpa -ga pa-, Addy -ad de-, Linda -da da-)
-identify characters by name (Elmo, Dora, Abby, The Count -ha ha ha-)
-greet people (hi-e, bye bye) sometimes by name (dolly -dol de-, Nate -nee-, etc., but not Momma or Dada)
-knows to stop at the end of the driveway and not go into the street (we're working on the yard & street boundary)
-follow one step, specific directions (Can you put your toothbrush to go upstairs?)
-use manners (please -peas or the sign-, excuse me -me me-)
-identify when Nate is happy (hap pe)
-parts of the sign of the cross (Father & Holy -ho e-, sometimes Son and Spirit, but not necessarily in the right order) using her proper hand
-put her arms in the arm holes of clothes, and put some pairs of socks and her shoes on her feet

Nate's List at 3 1/2 Months
-"stand" with us making sure he doesn't tip over
-hold his head upright
-get his hands into his mouth to suck on
-smile (with dimples!)
-"talk" with ahh's and coo's

Nathaniel's Birth Story

We had originally scheduled Nathaniel's c-section birth on December 26th at 2:30 in the afternoon. For several reasons we switched it to December 21st at 7:30 in the morning. I was happier to have it earlier in the morning, since I couldn't eat or drink anything for ten hours before the surgery, that meant I would be sleeping for most of those ten hours. (Try telling a pregnant lady to not eat!)

The night before we dropped Nora off at my parents' house. I missed having her home, but I knew that since we would have to leave the house at 5am, it would be better for her to sleep there so she could stay more on her normal schedule. That night it took me quite a while to fall asleep, Adam and I talked and he helped to calm my nerves, and I eventually fell asleep. Not that sleep lasted for long. I woke up at 3am (as all pregnant women wake up in the middle of the night), and never went back to sleep.

Adam's alarm went off at 4am, and we laid in bed for another 15 minutes cuddling and talking about the big day ahead of us. We were both excited to meet our first son, but I was not ready; I was nervous about everything leading up to his birth. But, alas, it was time to start putting our plan into action. Adam had said that I should shower first, and he could go downstairs and eat breakfast, so that he wasn't eating in front of me. So off we went getting ready for Nathaniel's debut.

We left the house around 5:15am, and entered the hospital through the emergency room doors. The security guard greeted us, and I told him I had a scheduled c-section, so he directed us towards the elevators to the second floor. It was a much different ride up to the second floor than when I was in labor with Eleanor. I wasn't grasping the rail, because of contractions, and there was no nurse escorting us. Just Adam & I. When we went into the labor and delivery unit's entrance, there were several nurses at the station waiting, one of them was Jill, the charge nurse I had talked to on the phone earlier in the week. It put me at ease a little to see her there to greet us.

They let us through the door and Jill greeted us on the other side and brought us to our room with a little bassinet for Nathaniel, a hospital bed for me, and an uncomfortable couch for Adam. It was the end room, with two windows, where it was quieter. She said she was trying to save it for us, and was able to. She handed me my hospital gown, and asked me to put it on.

Shortly after I got dressed up in my lovely gown, Julie, one of Woodwinds' volunteer doulas, came in and introduced herself. We chatted a little, to get to know each other, and I gave her a copy of my birth plan. She said that she wasn't sure that Adam would be allowed into the OR when the spinal was done, but that she would be allowed in. I explained to her that I had already talked to Dr. Dubink, and he had okay-ed it.

I was hooked up to the monitors for about a half hour, hooked up to an IV & given saline, shaved, and visited by several nurses, Dr. Dubink, and Dr. Mahan. Just about every one of them asked if I was ready. And to each one of them, I would respond, "I'm ready for that," pointing to the bassinet, "but not for everything leading up to it." It was the total truth. I was excited to meet Nathaniel, to hold him, to nurse him, to love him, but I was not ready to be "sliced & diced," as I kept putting it. I still wanted a VBAC, I wanted to be able to deliver my baby with my own body, not with drapes, scalpels, and someone pushing down on my stomach.

I'm not someone who really likes to be at the center of everyone's attention, so most of the time with one or two people in the room asking me a couple questions and leaving wasn't a big deal. It was like having a conversation with a couple people. That, I can handle. But, at one point, there were two nurses, both fidgeting with different things that were hooked up to me, then add in Dr. Dubink and Dr. Mahan both trying to ask me questions or tell me something, plus Adam and Julie both watching me and everything that people were doing to me. I don't remember not breathing when they were all in there, but I remember all of a sudden being able to breath when all the medical people left. (I'm certain my next birth plan will have something in it about only having one or two medical staff in the room at a time, whether it's a VBAC or another c-section.)

 If I remember correctly, it was Jill that came in and told Adam and Julie to "suit up" as it was almost time to go to the OR. Adam had a lovely jump suit, but Julie ended up in scrubs just like the medical staff. She also gave me a hair net that looked only slightly nicer than your cafeteria lunch ladies'.

Once Julie came back from getting dressed, we were ready to go! Another nurse came in to help, and they laid my bed back, raised it to their level and pushed me out of the room down the hall to the OR. I don't know why, but I liked getting pushed down the hall on the bed better than having to walk down the hall like I did at Abbott. Though, I still didn't like that Adam wasn't walking next to me holding my hand. He was behind me again. This time it was because there wasn't much room in the hallway for a bed, and for him, but as soon as he could, he was at my side.

Once we were in the OR, they had me slide onto the "chopping block." Dr. Dubink asked me how I would like to be positioned when he did the spinal. I decided I would try it sitting up, since it would be easier for him to get it in there well, and since Adam was there this time to support me. I was trying to situate myself so that my legs were hanging off the edge of the table, because that's how it went at Abbott with Danielle. But, Dr. Dubink wanted me sitting on the table so all I would have to do was lay back once the spinal was placed. This made much more sense to me. So I leaned forward as far as I could, Adam put his hand down on the table so that I could wrap my arms around his and hold on tight. Dr. Dubink did a much better job than the anesthesiologist at Abbott. When he numbed my back, I didn't arch my back, I just gripped Adam's arm tighter. I didn't even cry! Dr. Dubink got the spinal in, without any problems! We were off to a decent start.

They got me laid back on the table, and started getting everything set for the surgery. They put the sticky drape on my belly, and hung it in front of my face, put on the blood pressure cuff, placed the catheter, and checked to make sure I was numb everywhere they would be slicing. While they pulled up a desk chair for Adam to sit on, and he handed the camera over to Julie to photograph the whole event. When they started pulling him out, Julie went on the other side of the drape to take pictures for us (I won't expose you to the gore, but I am glad I have pictures to see our son being born since I wasn't able to see anything but a blue drape, and Adam's hand holding mine.)

Dr. Mahan told us when she was starting to pull him out. I could feel the tugging and pushing on my upper ribs, where the spinal hadn't blocked feeling. During all the tugging, pushing, and pulling, all of a sudden my right shoulder starting hurting, like there was a really big knot or something. I kept trying to roll my shoulder to work the knot out, but when you have limited movement, it's difficult to work out. I stopped looking to my left at Adam, closed my eyes and faced the ceiling where there was a ceiling tile that was an autumn pictures of trees all covered in red leaves. It seemed to help my shoulder just slightly. (I found out later that apparently "air bubbles" can get inside your body when you have surgery and move around to different parts of your body. They had me take Gas-X to ease the pain afterwards, and it actually helped, but it took a couple weeks for it to go away completely.)

We were told his head was out, and I was waiting and waiting to hear him cry. I opened my eyes back up to face that autumn ceiling tile. I kept thinking that Danielle had cried so much sooner, and that something was wrong. The few moments that it took for me to hear his tiny little cry seemed like forever. When I finally did hear him, I started crying. For me, I guess, c-section births are more emotional than vaginal births. (Adam told me later that he was actually starting to breathe though his nose before his mouth was even out, and the docs were impressed! He just wasn't the crying type, I guess!)

Fresh baby!

Dr. Tumaneng and the "baby nurses" took him over to the warmer, gave him an Apgar score of 9, and did whatever else they needed to do to him immediately (we requested that they wait on pretty much all newborn stuff). Adam left my side to go to see our son, Nathaniel Reed, who decided it was time to christen the warmer. One of the nurses put a diaper on him, and Adam picked him up and brought him over to me, after nine minutes of being apart from me. Jill helped Adam place him on my chest, and I met my son!

He was right there where he should be, on his Momma's chest. After holding him for a couple minutes, I was able to get him to latch on and start nursing right in the OR, while they were sewing up the large hole where they had just pulled my son out.

Once Dr. Mahan had stitched me back together, I continued nursing Nathaniel, while they took down the drape and peeled the sticky part off my deflated tummy. I had to hand him back to Adam though while they moved me back to my bed, but as soon as I was there, Adam placed him back on my chest. We got me covered back up, so I wasn't exposed in the hallway, and took the short treck back to our original room.

Back in our room, I held him a while longer, then Jill came in to take his measurements. We all took a guess as to what he weighted, and I was right on: 6 pounds, 8 ounces. He was 19 3/4 inches long, and his head was 13 1/2 inches. Then Adam had a chance to hold him skin-to-skin.

His birth, even though I was completely disappointed that I had to have another c-section, and that my "Danni scar" would no longer just be for Danni, was pretty much exactly what we had planned. While Nora's birth was healing in knowing that my body could do what it was designed to do, I think Nate's birth was healing for me, also, to have a c-section birth go so well after the experience I had at Abbott with Danielle. I still can't believe the only time I cried was the joyous moment I heard him cry for the first time.

Footnote: I think c-section births in the U.S. are starting to go more this way. Jill had taken some notes about how it all went. For example, the heart monitors that they place on my chest could have been placed differently to make holding him and nursing him right away a little easier since they were poking him in the head. I hope that more moms-to-be out there educate & advocate for themselves to have the best birth experience they possibly can, even if they end up needing to have major surgery in order to deliver their baby. I think I posted a link to The Natural Caesarean video in Nate's birth plan, but I want to post it again, because it really is how a c-section birth should be. It might not be that all parts for all people (like I didn't want the drape dropped at all!), but it's a great starting point. I hope anyone out there reading this, knowing that they are going into a c-section, can have as great of an experience as I had. Just remember that advocating for yourself is your best bet for everything going as you hope!

Nathaniel's Birth Plan

With Danielle's c-section, I did a lot of research before and while writing my birth plan for her. Since I had already been though it once, and had learned much more about birth, I had a much better idea of how I wanted this birth to go. One thing that helped me write my birth plan this time was a video that my friend & doula from Nora's birth, Ashley of Gaia Birth, about a "Natural Cesarean." If you are having a c-section, I highly recommend watching it, and using it to help you write your birth plan. You might not want to use everything you see in the video (like I didn't want the drape dropped to see him being born, but I did want pictures to look at later), and some hospitals might not let you do everything, but it's worth asking!

We request informed consent for both Sarah and our son, Nathaniel.

For Sarah’s Prep & Surgery:

ü  IV’s in left arm/ hand (numb area before IV goes in)

ü  IV should be placed so the loop is above my knuckles

ü  Adam does NOT leave my side as soon as the IV’s are put in

ü  Adam will be in the OR when the spinal is done

ü  Low transverse incision (want a VBAC again with rest of children)

o   If he is not in the optimal position for a low horizontal incision, attempt to move him (We will not consent to a vertical incision)

ü  Do NOT want arms strapped down

ü  No sedatives after he is delivered

For Nathaniel’s Birth:

ü  Would like to know when he is starting to be pulled out, and when he is all the way out

ü  We will wait with all new born procedures and assessments (weight, length, eye ointment, etc.)

ü  Want him given to Adam and I right away and try breast feeding while in the OR

ü  If he needs immediate medical attention, Adam will be with him

ü  Both Adam and the baby will stay with me the whole time (OR to recovery room and thereafter)

For Sarah’s Recovery:

ü  Spinals & epidurals work really well for me, and take longer than expected to wear off

ü  I don't move well by myself until well after the spinal has completely worn off

ü  I WILL need help moving and/or transferring beds, or I will throw up

ü  Would like the minimal amount of pain drugs to keep me comfortable

For Nathaniel:

ü  Adam and/ or I would like to give him his first bath

ü  We will be breastfeeding

o   Absolutely NO formula, water, or glucose water is to be offered or given to him

ü  We do not want our child offered a pacifier, we have some we might offer, if we feel he needs it