Might As Well Talk about Religion Too...for Thanksgiving!

We are quasi religious I guess.

Our family does believe in God. I was raised Catholic, James was "raised" Protestant. We have both always been deeply spiritual but never quite connected with our religions. We have studied a lot and taken a lot of lessons from Buddism, Taoism, Judiasm, and Christianity, as well.

However nothing felt right. I do not like the concept of religion because of a Buddist lesson/saying--"the moon that can be named is not the true moon". Or in Catholic terms--man cannot explain God, ever changing, ever reactive, unknowable, unfathomable. I have only (and just a small one, at that) a personal sense for what God is which I could never force upon someone else. A force, the goodness, an entity (and of what form)? I know none of these.

My opinions of the Bible, Torah, Quran, etc, is that they contain some of the true "qi", the original energy from the Teachers--Jesus, Buddah, Moses, Muhammed, Da Mo, Gwan Yin, Lao Tzu, etc . . . but it can be very difficult to access, learn from, use effectively . . . furthermore, the true teachings are watered down, filtered through a screen of time, power, priorities, of language, mistranslation, editing . . . hence the difficulty in learning--the ease in twisting messages so that people can claim to kill for God or war for Peace. Soooo, I believe you should only take positive messages from things written by humans. Jesus taught us that humans erred. The Bible, Torah, and Quran are as flawed as their writers/recorders, unfortunately--humans, many of them politically motivated, who lived long ago and not only in one period of time but continually changing, editing, twisting, translating. Therefore, any negative messages that get twisted into these texts should be ignored. Like those that make terrorists think God is on their side, or those who inspire our young homosexual boys and girls to commit suicide because they think God/the religious masses hates them.

However, there are also excellent messages in these texts. Like that forgiveness is a way to heaven/enlightenment. Or that honoring your mother and father is a requirement. Or that all people deserve freedom and the opportunity to work and live.

James and I are very lucky to have found a way to learn from these excellent messages, as well, through Yan Xin Qigong. James started practicing in 1998, when he was a freshman in college. I started in 2003, when I was a sophomore.

It is not a religion, but I would consider my Teacher, Dr. Yan Xin, to be a true Teacher or more traditionally called "Master". I don't believe Jesus was the "son of God" in a more specific way than Buddah, Moses, Muhammed, Da Mo, Gwan Yin, or Lao Tzu. I believe that people who attain far along the path of enlightenment become closer to God in, through, and by way of the process/journey. I believe all of these Teachers went far along the path of enlightenment, and that many fully achieved it. As far as my OWN teacher? Well, who am I to judge my own Teacher other than to say he is my true Master. Through his teaching I am able to learn from all the Masters, all the Teachers . . . It is a Thanksgiving Topic for sure.

On this Thanksgiving in particular I wanted to be Thankful for the blessings Yan Xin Qigong has brought to my life. For my family, my husband, my baby, my life . . . I do have so much to be Thankful for.

Breastfeeding and Labial Tear

Still haven't written my birth story, but I wanted to post a little update on how we're doing.

And mostly, we are doing good! We're really starting to get the hang of nursing, which after three years of excessive research, was still harder than I thought it would be. My nipples are painful while he is nursing, especially right at first, which is SUPPOSEDLY not supposed to happen if you have them latched "deep enough", but I have him latched as deep as I can possibly get him and it is still happening so idk.

BUT my milk seems to be coming in okay and he is spitting up occasionally, so I know he is getting enough milk. I can grin and bear it for awhile.

One SERIOUS bummer is that I apparently got a PRETTY BAD labial tear when he was born, perhaps because his head came out with a hand (I gave birth under water so they are not sure about that), or maybe just because it was a fast L+D. But I had to have stitches and I cannot really move around much at all. The first two days I stayed in bed except to use the bathroom and then yesterday I was up a little but I was feeling more pain, so today I was on the couch but I still didn't get up at all except to use the bathroom. But I have to sit up to nurse him and depending on how I'm sitting I think it can pull on the stitches a lot and it was seriously hurting a little while ago. :::sigh::: DH is going to call the midwife to come check and make sure it is healing, so I guess we'll do that tomorrow.

I honestly didn't expect the recovery to be this big of a deal, and I honestly think I would be feeling great if it weren't for the tear and/or the stitches. My Mom got here on Sunday to help us and she's staying until tomorrow (Tues) and then everyone will be back on Thursday for Thanksgiving. I really hope I am feeling better by Thanksgiving.

Sorry for the lack of more updates--I will try to do the birth story soon!!

Thanksgiving Prep: Round One

So, if James David is born on his 40 week due date, he'll be 8 days old on Thanksgiving.

If he is born on the ACTUAL average "due date" (41 weeks and 1 day), he will be born ON Thanksgiving. :-/

Actually, not :-/ <--this face! That would be fairly convenient for everyone except my midwife. Everyone would be here already and there would be plenty of food for the long haul of labor, why complain?

We decided a while ago that our only shot at a Thanksgiving celebration was having one here at the house. I am NOT going anywhere with a tiny baby, and I am NOT traveling while 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant, so we either had Thanksgiving here or we missed out. The guests will be my immediate family (Mom, Dad, and my three sisters--Lauren, Marilyn, and Kate), James' parents (Mom and step-Dad), James' brother and sister in law, and my two Grandmothers. So, it's not THAT many people. Including James and myself, it is fifteen people.

The plan right now is that my Mom will come stay with us for a week in the days before, during, and after Thanksgiving, and will help prepare the house and food that we need (and clean up afterward) so that the work that James and I actually have to do is minimal. James' Step-Dad and my Grandma are amazing cooks and I think they'll probably handle most of the food (turkey, stuffing, desserts, etc). I usually make a Tofurkey, which I would like to do this year, as well, if at all possible. My Mom can make the mashed potatoes . . . we'll be golden. I'm really looking forward to surrounding little James with love and gratitude in his first week of life--I think it will be really special.

However, I'm also realistic enough to realize that as much as we can get done ahead of time, the better off we will be. Therefore, I started today. Hahah. I made really wonderful strong soup stock (get the recipe here!) yesterday and James and I canned it tonight. This is round one of the Thanksgiving Prep because I can use this soup stock to make gravy, stuffing, and for extra flavoring in mashed potatoes, tofurkey, etc. It is a treasure trove of flavor and nutrients!





So that is one thing done. My Mom is coming to stay with us for a couple nights next week--making the (veggie) gravy is on our to-do list! We will can the gravy and then that will be ready ahead of time as well. :-)

So I'm hoping when it comes time to make the Tofurkey (which, unfortunately, I can't do ahead of time), I will be all ready to go with it! That is the ONLY thing that I am really hoping I will be able to make for the dinner. I'm also hoping I can show one of my sisters how to do it so that one of them COULD do it in the future (if I'm ever incapacitated with a tiny baby again on Thanksgiving).

So that's that!

P.S. There are feet in my ribs. Oooowwww.