Adjusting

Wow..what a crazy month this has been! Poor little Eden was having a very difficult time a few weeks ago. She was spitting up constantly, screaming shortly after every meal and not sleeping. Every time I would lay her down she would cry. I tried eliminating things from my diet, even cut out dairy but it still didn't seem to help. The doctor finally diagnosed her with infant GERD ((gastroesophageal reflux disease), the upward movement of stomach content, including acid, into the esophagus and sometimes into or out of the mouth) She starting on a medication two weeks ago and that did help with the spitting up however, I was still having trouble getting her to sleep anywhere but the swing and she still seemed to be having pain after meals. Yesterday she started on a second medication. Despite all this she is a very happy little girl. She loves her brother's and sister's and is never lacking in attention.
I am so proud of the other children; they have all been very patient with Eden. Many times we have had to pull over the car so I could comfort her and calm her down. This past weekend Blaine and Elijah had to wait almost two hours to get to the swimming pool with the other kids because Eden was having a rough time. Yet, neither of them complained.
Chris and I are very aware how quickly they grow up and even though it's a challenge to have a baby with GERD in no way do we want to rush things along. I still want to cherish every moment!

Uncle Dave's Wedding!

This past weekend we were excited to celebrate with Chris's brother Dave as he married MacKensey Powers. It was beautiful wedding! Chris was proud to stand up with his brother as one of the groomsmen.

I was a little nervous about how things would go with Eden being barely 3 weeks old but I couldn't have asked for a better baby. Eden slept through most of the rehearsal and dinner and was an angel for both the wedding and reception. The other five kids were also great at the wedding! They made me a very proud, happy Mommy!

The wedding ceremony was very nice, everyone looked great but of course no one stood out like the beautiful bride! The reception was held at the Brown's stadium, everything was perfect. The reception room looked out towards the Lake, it was a beautiful day with an amazing sunset. Chris and I had a wonderful time! We are so excited to have MacKensey as a part of our family!

The Arrival of Eden Joy

Yeah...she is finally here! Eden Joy was born at 7:15pm Friday April 10th at home in the water!

My water broke around 8am on Friday morning. My midwife and doula arrived around noon. I went walking to get things moving. Around 5 things started to pick up. By 6 I was in pretty active intense labor..I got in the tub around that time. God's presence was there the whole time. There were times when I thought I wouldn't be able to get through another contraction and then I would pray and God would give me the strength to keep going. Chris, Angie my doula and Nicole my midwife were great! During one particular hard contraction I said to Chris "pray harder!" I then heard all three of them began to pray! At one point I told God I could only handle two more contractions and two more later I was pushing. I was struggling a little to push her out.. my midwife was expecting that as God had given her a dream of Eden being stuck and showed her how to deliver her. She was going to have me get out of the tub and on my hands and knee's but I flipped over to hands and knee's in the tub and gave a push, her head came with the cord around her neck, my midwife unwrapped it and then I pushed again, her shoulder was stuck a little so my midwife did a little maneuvering and after two more pushes out she came! She was a little floppy at first and it took a minute to get her to breath but just as my midwife was getting ready to intervene she let out a cry..Praise God! Eden and I were helped out of the tub and onto the birthing stool to deliver the placenta. My midwife and doula were amazed with my cord...they said it was such a strong healthy cord that even if it was wrapped around her neck three times she would still be able to get oxygen from it. After I delivered the placenta we let the other kids come down and welcome their new baby sister.

Originally we were going to name her Eden Katriel but a week before she was born God spoke to me and told me that she was going to be bringing so much joy into our lives that we decided to change her middle name to Joy!

I am so pleased with the whole home birth experience..what a difference from being in the hospital. I felt so much peace. My midwife and doula were so loving and supportive. I never felt pressured but relaxed enough to just let my body do what it needed to do.

Our kids were great throughout the whole experience. They played outside watched t.v. etc. They were all upstairs watching Little House on the Prairie when Eden was born...of course they heard her cry and wanted to run down right away but I still needed time to deliver the placenta and get cleaned up. The were fascinated by the birth and helped with the newborn screening. They also asked to see the placenta (everyone but Lauren that is). The boys really enjoyed exploring the placenta and had a whole biology lesson on birth. LOL! The hardest thing now is dealing with them all wanting to hold her all the time. Eden will never be lacking for attention!

Even though I had to wait longer than expected it was well worth it!

Preparing For The New Addition!

Time certainly seems to fly by..I can't believe we are are more than half way through January already. In 8-10 weeks our newest addition will be here, just in time to welcome spring!

Chris and I have come to a big yet exciting decision regarding the birth of Eden. Many of you may know that my last three births were all attended by a midwife at the Cleveland Clinic birthing center. All went great with little intervention and no pain meds. Every birth is a beautiful miraculous event however, it's much more rewarding when we are able to experience it with out drugs and unnecessary medical intervention.


A few months ago I approached Angie, a woman at our church that is a Douala training to be a midwife. After meeting with Angie, Chris and I decided to hire her to be there during the labor, at the same time we started to contemplate a home birth. (I'm including more info about Douala's and Midwives at the med of this blog). I did a lot of research and Chris and I met with a certified home birth midwife. We prayed about it and have decided to birth Eden at home!


We are all really excited to experience this birth in the comfort of our own home. The midwife we have selected has been delivering babies for 15 years and we feel very comfortable with her. We have also chosen to have a birthing tub if I decide to give birth in the water. Many people are uninformed and don't realize the benefits of birthing at home compared to birthing in the hospital. Ricki Lake recently put out a program called The Business of Being Born.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8h0SkPcs2U definitely check out the trailer!


The kids are all really excited about this as well. My sister Monica has agreed to come and help with the kids while I am in labor (pray it doesn't happen in the middle of a school day for her). The kids will not be in the room when the birth takes place, but of course they will be able to meet her right after. Pray for us as we begin to prepare not only for the birth but also the change a little one will bring to our family. I will keep you updated!

Doula's: http://www.dona.org/mothers/index.php
Midwives: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/homebirthchoice.asp

Merry Christmas!!

We would like to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2008 has been a roller coaster year for us with many unexpected changes! The year started out a little rough with me (Danielle) coming down with mono right around the first of the year. It took me about 2 months to recover!

We had way too many trips to the ER and hospital stays this year. Blaine was hospitalized with infected lymph nodes early in the year. The doctors had him see a rheumatologist because they thought he had an autoimmune disease developing. The alopecia (hair loss) they have diagnosed him with is an autoimmune disease and according to the the doctors if you have one it's not unlikely to develop another. Fortunately, his tests all came back negative. We are so grateful for doctors and modern medicine however, we have learned that they are not always right about everything. In 2000 after Lauren had heart surgery the doctors told us she would probably have to be on medication the rest of her life. Well, we would not settle for that and began to pray that God would heal her. A year later she told us and the doctors that she knew she was healed. After much convincing the doctor agreed to take her off medication. Her heart has been perfect since then and she has not needed medication! We are believing for the same kind of healing for Blaine. He stopped all treatments for the alopeica when in the hospital and had no more trouble with infection, he has about 85% hair loss right now but we will continue to pray that God will heal him and cause all his hair to grow back!

This past spring, I quite my job as administrator at The Father's House and picked up a part time job at a Starbucks in Target. I actually loved it! I have always liked Starbucks coffee and found it quite fun to make all the drinks and enjoyed talking to the variety of people that came in for drinks and sometimes a listening ear. In August, I was offered an administration position at PartsSource. It was more hours than I was use to working but Chris had lost one of his side coaching jobs and was just working at GymWorld so I decided to go for it.
With Chris home during the day he decided to start studying computer work. He loves his job coaching at Gym World but with a large family and somewhat shaky economy he felt it a good idea to get into something with an ongoing demand.

In September, we moved from Barberton to Maple Heights. The move not only brought us closer to work but also family and our new church, Metro South. We were not sure about enrolling the kids at Maple Heights schools so we decided to enroll them in Ohdela online school. Ohdela is a state funded charter school. Each of the kids received their own computer and school supplies, they do all their work at home with online classes. They all have teachers that work with the students and parents to make sure they are learning all they need. I was a little hesitant to have them all home but the majority of the responsibility fell to Chris since I was working during the day. The kids have all done exceptionally well and we have found online schooling to be a real blessing for our family.

This August, we were quite surprised to find that we would be adding a new addition to the family. I had been grieving the baby stage a little but embracing the teen years and looking forward to having grandchildren one day (not anytime soon but hopefully in the next 10-15years). Chris and I have learned that when God destines a child to be born nothing gets in the way of his plan. We are very excited for this new adventure. The kids are all very excited! We discovered that Renee had been praying for a little sister. We will be evening things up now with three boys and three girls! It has been really neat to have two teenagers while being pregnant. They are able to experience the miracle of life in a new way. I'm sure there are times they would rather not deal with a hormonal pregnant Mom but they have all been great! Little Eden (meaning pleasure and delight) is expected right around Lauren's 15th birthday, the end of March.

Last month Chris passed his first Microsoft certification test!! Yipee! He is now working towards his second certification while also interning and gaining experience from other men in the field. We are hoping and praying he will be able to find a part time job within the next couple of months.

With Chris working towards that it's been difficult for him to also help the kids with all their work. He has been doing a tremendous job but we decided it would be best for me to be home. It has been becoming increasingly difficult for me to work while pregnant and come home to take care of the children. Therefore, I completed my last day at Partssource on December 19th. I enjoyed the opportunity to work there but I am eager to be at home with my children!

Many of you may have heard of the crazy month we had with our two girls both going in for emergency appendectomies just two weeks apart. Crazy! I asked every surgeon and doctor if there was anything that could have caused it and they were all stumped. Both girls were very brave and did great. Renee is completely recovered and back to herself. Lauren is still on the mend but we expect her to be back to herself shortly.

With all that going on, I haven't been able to do all the things I would normally do for Christmas. Since, I wasn't able to get Christmas cards out I figured I would post a blog and fill everyone in on our lives this past year. As I said it's been a roller coaster year but with all the ups and downs it's only made us stronger and brought us closer together. We are eagerly anticipating the upcoming year! A new year, new baby and who knows what else...we are expecting it to be a year filled with many new and exciting adventures! We hope and pray this year will be filled with many new adventures for you as well!

Much Love and Blessings!

Chris, Danielle, Lauren, Blaine, Owen, Renee, Elijah and soon to arrive -Eden

p.s. Feel free to check back in periodically as we plan to update this blog with pictures and current Tollon happenings!