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so we broke down and adopted (another) cat for molly's brithday.  bree is your typical, super sweet feline.  she's lazy most of the time and very playful when she wants to be.  she likes to sleep with molly, which is really cute, but molly usually kicks her out of her room after an hour or so.  o well.  she loves her and carries her around everywhere, like her own little *baby*.  and bree lets her, so it's a purrfect match.  sorry, i had to write that.

ruby is such a cutie pie.  she is really filling out.  take a look at this photo and you'll have to agree with me.  molly never had normal baby fat so it's pretty funny to see it on ruby.  i love it.  we are dealing with some skin issues with her but hope to get it all figured out soon.  on top of that, i think she may be teething.  so she is fairly high maintenance these days but i am just trying to enjoy every minute of it.  even if it's exhausting.

we started to introduce rice cereal and then sweet potato but now that these skin issues have come up, i am putting it all on hold.  however, the first time we tried, all went well.

keep checking back for more posts and photos.

CATCHING UP

i know i know.  it's been way too long.  i will try to recap on all the gory details of our lives.

most recently, molly turned 6 (march 2nd), lost her first tooth, and got a boyfriend.  that was all in one week.  oy veh!!!  this is all happening way too fast for me.  she is as sweet as ever with her baby sister and they make each other laugh all the time.  it is so special to watch.  she is doing super in school and really enjoys learning.  she is definitely a role model in her class.  we are so proud.  also, molly is taking a ballet/tap class and a yoga class.  and she still goes to playgroup once a week as well.

ruby is now 4 and a half months old.  check out the new pics.  it amazes me how quickly the days, weeks, and months are going.  i wish i could slow them down.  she is a happy baby.  a bit more high maintenance than molly was, but it's all good.  many people say she looks like me, but i think she is the spitting image of molly, who is the spitting image of joel.  she still has bad reflux so i am considering starting her on rice cereal.  she is still hungry after her bottle but if i give her more, she doesn't stop spitting up.

i am happily still nursing her 2 or 3 times a day for about 5 minutes each time.  i know it isn't much but it is pure heaven when we lock eyes and she gets the biggest grin on her face.  if any of you have had the wonderful opportunity to breastfeed your baby(ies), you know what i am talking about.  i am so thrilled that we have made it to this point.  there have been many times where i thought she was totally done with it, but as soon as i would think that, we would have a great session. 

joel is playing guitar like never before.  he is practicing qi (chee) gong and feels it is making a huge impact on every aspect of his life.  so be it.  he looks and feels great and is a madman when it comes to writing new songs and playing.  he just joined a second band and basically is just having a lot of fun rehearsing and playing out as often as possible (once or twice a month).  the business is still on the move up.  he just locked in on a new warehouse space that we will be moving into the first of may.  so lots more changes will be happening in the near future.

i am good.  being mama to 2 is very demanding but lots of fun.  we are all excited that spring is just around the corner.  we plan to go on hikes and do some camping out in the next few months.  we think the girls will love it.

i recently had my newest tattoo finished and it's beautiful.  i will post a picture as soon as i get one.  it is of molly (with gorgeous faerie wings) reaching up towards a flower in which ruby is sitting in.  there are 2 dragonflies which represent my 2 nieces, ali and sydney, and the background has these fantastic swirls of color.  it's awesome.

i have started taking a post natal yoga class (with ruby) and i am in the gym 3 times a week.  finally.  also, ruby and i go to baby playgroup once a week.  she is the only girl among 5 or 6 boys.  it's great.

joel and i are celebrating 8 years of marriage (and 11 years together) on march 22nd.  we feel very proud of that achievement and plan to celebrate in some fashion.  not sure how yet.

hope all is well with you.

molly's twin

it is so bizarre that with the millions and millions of genetic possiblities, maybe even an infinite amount of possibilities, we ended up with the same child.  i feel like i am mama to molly number #2.  they look soooo much alike, it's bizarre.  the main difference is their size.  at 11 weeks, ruby is about 2 inches smaller and 2 pounds lighter than molly was at 11 weeks.  so, if you notice the last 2 *pacifier* photos i just uploaded in the *ruby* album, one being molly and one being ruby, they are 4 weeks apart in the pictures.  so in essence they look the same age because of the size difference.

even their gestures and facial expressions are the same.  it is really cool.  but strange too.  it's like i birthed molly again.

anyway, things are great.  not much time to write as i need to go to sleep.

ARE YOU BEE WHY

that spells *RUBY*.

i know it's been a while since my last post but now i shall bring you up to date.

after ruby struggled with a lack of weight gain and lack of dirty diapers, we were told that we had to start supplementing.  i was so distraught as we had thought everything was going great.  and this was starting to turn out exactly the same way it did after molly was born almost 6 years ago. 

needless to say, i was frustrated, upset, extremely disappointed and more than anything, confused about why i was unable, again, to produce enough milk for my baby.

all i want(ed) to do was to breastfeed her exclusively.

for over 2 weeks i have continued to nurse, supplement with formula (and some real mama's milk that my sister, mindy, pumped for me and sent to us), i was pumping 6 times a day (inbetween all the feedings), i drink a quart of an herbal infusion i make every night, i drink 1-2 cups of an almond extract concoction, recommended by a friend of mine from surinam who says it's what they drink there to increase milk supply, i take a fenugreek tincture 2-3 times a day, and finally, i have been taking a prescription drug that is somewhat hard to come by, called domperidone. 

i saw a lactation specialist and i went to a la leche league meeting. 

after speaking to many women and doing lots of research, i came across this condition:  *tubular hyperplastic breasts*, (or *BOOBULARS* as i now call them), a rare (but real) medical condition which keeps me from producing enough milk to sustain ruby. 

no matter what i do, my milk suppply will not be enough.  as much as this saddens me, it frees me as well.  i can now accept the situation and move on.  it feels so good to be able to put a name to my problem.  i can ease up a bit on all the extra stuff i was doing and focus more on ruby and the times that i am able to nurse her.  those are the most blissful times!

i have also learned to feel grateful for the *formula* that i feed her.  i have always resented the fact that i had to give my babies genetically modified soy and chemicals.  but wet nurses are not as easy to come by these days so i am starting to see how fortunate we are to have the formula available that can sustain my babies. 

i also have good friends that have offered me their *mama milk*, which i think is the most generous thing anyone can do.  it really is *liquid gold*.  thank you thank you thank you.  (it was too expensive for us to have my sister ship it from miami again).

i am going to try and get mama's milk from the milk bank in raleigh.  yes, they do exist!  hopefully i qualify.

anyway, things are now going great and ruby is gaining lots of weight.  she will be 6 weeks old this sunday, which is very hard to believe, and a week ago she weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces.  i would bet she is about 8 and 1/2 pounds now. 

she is totally alert, starting to smile *for real* and gets more playful every day.  the changes are noticeable even after a long nap.  it's incredible.

molly is doing fabulous but today wanted to be a baby.  i think that is normal but we are just unsure on how to handle it.  she actually sucked on a pacifier.  and wanted it again to go to bed.  i didn't let her do that.  she is going to miami for christmas vacation and i think it will be good for everyone.

check out recent pictures of molly in a tree and playing in a pile of leaves that joel actually raked.

see old and new pics of ruby in her photo album.

thanks for all of your love and support.

RUBY BECKER SCHANTZ

she was born at home on sunday, november 6th, 2005 at 2:01 AM.  she weighed about 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was about 19 1/2 inches long.

it was the most perfect labor and delivery and i could not have been happier with the way things unfolded.   

my midwives were incredible, as was joel.  they all made me feel loved and supported and strong.  i could not have done it without them.

my entire labor was about 12 hours long but it really went quickly in the end.  i went from 4 1/2 cm to pushing in less than 2 hours.  and i pushed her out in ONE really strong push.  it was the hardest and most rewarding thing i have ever done.

see pictures of her first few days here.

check back soon for more recent ones.

much love, the schantz family

NEW PICS

check out the new bnw photos of me, joel and molly, and my belly, in the *julie's belly* photo album.

also, see molly dressed up as a witch in the *molly* album.  we had such a great time last night and i think the walking did me right.  i feel good today.

FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR

even before we moved to the mountains and got to experience the incredibly beautiful change of seasons, this this time of year has always been my favorite.

i LOVE halloween as it brings up so many great memories of trick-or-treating in my neighborhood in miami and afterwards, competing with my brother, daren, to see who got the most candy.  we would each have a pillowcase full.  we would then trade for our favorite kinds, except i think we liked pretty much the same kinds.

as i got older, i would ToT with my friends which was always a blast as well.

i was sort of hoping for a *halloween baby* but at this point, since it's tomorrow, i don't think that's going to happen.  that's fine because i wouldn't want to miss ToT'ing with molly.  she is dressing up as a witch.  we will be going into a neighborhood in west asheville that we have not been at before but we hear it's supposed to be great.  so we're excited.  if i am up to it, i will be dressed as a pregnant nun, and joel will be dressed as the priest who *knocked me up*. 

check out the recent photos of molly in a pumpkin patch.  they're adorable.

have a great halloween and harvest celebration, as well as all the holidays coming up.

BELLY CAST

my dear friend, nicole, offered to do my belly cast for me and it turned out beautifully.  molly helped too so that was great.  we put lavender on the inside of it so it always has a soothing smell.  it was another fantastic experience and i am so grateful to my loving friends for all that they do for me.  i will cherish it, and the special experience, forever.

see pics of my *unfinished* belly cast here.

and check out a large gallery of belly cast photos here.

LEG CRAMPS

UGH!!!  these are the worst things EVAH!!!  i remember having them during my first pregnancy but i don't recall them being this bad or having them as frequently.  a night does not go by that i don't jump out of bed (couch) and moan and groan in excruciating pain.  i keep thinking that joel is going to wake up and assume i am in labor. 

to relieve the cramps, i calmly point my toes to the ceiling or simply stand up and press my foot into the ground, heel down.  after what feels like a few minutes, it sometimes works.  HOWEVER, then my shin (?) muscle tightens up and i go back and forth between the calf and the shin muscle freezing up.  then my toes cramp up so i just fall to the floor in agony.  while i try massaging one of the muscles, (hitting it as hard as i can), i am digging my thumb in the other, and at the same time, trying to bend my toes back into their correct position with my other hand.  wait, that means i have 3 hands.

somehow, after i break out in a sweat and imagine that i am having a major contraction (that lasts much longer than any real contraction) and just try to breathe through it, the cramps eventually ease up.  my entire leg is so sore for the rest of the day, but at least i can move it.

i stretch and massage my feet and legs every day.  i exercise 3 or 4 times a week.  i drink as much water as i can handle.  i am taking extra cal-mag vitamins.  i eat more bananas (for extra potassium).  none of these things make a difference for me. 

i think the only cure will be to have this baby.  less than 5 weeks away!!!

MY BLESSINGWAY

when we moved to asheville 3 1/2 years ago, i never imagined that i would form such incredible friendships with some of the most amazing women i have ever met.  this close-knit group of friends has really opened my eyes to the meaning of true female companionship.  i never really experienced it before and i didn't know what i was missing.

yesterday, my 7 closest friends honored me and my pregnancy by having a blessingway for me.  it was very special and intimate and even today, our house has a very different energy running through it.  so much love and spirituality and *mama* energy was here and i feel it has brought strength and empowerment to me and the entire house.  joel and molly feel it too.  as does ruby, i am sure.

a blessingway is a navajo tradition used for celebrating and honoring many great milestones in life;  pregnancy and birth being one of the most sacred. 

there are many different rituals that can be a part of a blessingway but some that were practiced at mine were:  forming an opening circle with a song and calling forth all the women who have given birth before me to offer me support and strength, creating a beautiful and meaningful altar that fills the room with powerful energy, creating a labor/birthing necklace by stringing beads that all the women brought with them, pampering me with a foot bath and foot/hand/shoulder massage with magical oils and herbs, a red cord ritual that *connects* us all together and symbolizes the umbilical cord from which we all came, feasting on delicious foods that my guests brought, gifting me with the most beautiful and awe-inspiring gaia earth goddess sculpture, songs and drumming throughout the evening, and finally closing of the circle.

an extra special activity that we partook in was inspired by the book, *birthing from within*.  we sculpted our own interpretations of pregnancy or birth using clay.  they turned out amazing!!!  and i love them all.  i will be able to focus on and even hold many of the sculptures while i am laboring, which i know will give me strength when i need it most.

my blessingway was everything i wanted and i felt so loved and supported and i feel stronger and more confident in my ability to labor and give birth, mainly because of the wise women who are a part of my life.

thank you all for blessing me and the baby, as well as joel and molly, and making my house a sacred space for me to labor and birth in.