Wholesome Wednesday: Birth Control

This topic is not to start a debate about having children or not having children, about barrier methods or NFP. While those topics may be brought up in the future, the topic today is strictly about the birth control pill. And why I am against it.

My biggest objection to the birth control pill is that it kills babies. While on the pill there is still a slight chance of ovulating and actually conceiving that month, only to have the fertilized egg move down to the uterus to implant itself and not being able to do so due to the thinned out lining of the uterus (thanks to the pill). Which means, in fact, that the pill just aborted your baby. Now if you were on the pill you apparently didn't want to get pregnant at that point anyway, but did you expect to find out that you could be the mother of a dead baby (babies) while on the pill? For those of us that believe that life begins at conception, that is a startling thought if you had never heard it before.

The main purpose of the pill is to stop ovulation. But the pill has many back ups and one of those is to thin the lining of your uterus so that if you do indeed ovulate and conceive the fertilized egg will not be able to implant itself on that thinned lining. While the majority of the time the pill will stop ovulation and therefore prevent an egg from getting fertilized, there is always the slight chance that you could ovulate. Which means there is always a slight chance that within a certain month you could have an egg fertilized and pass through you without you even knowing it. A baby, of your own, gone. If you believe that your birth control pills do not give you the opportunity to ovulate, ever, please read the information packet that comes with your pills and look for the information on the thinning of the uterus to prevent implantation. Birth control pills do not just stop you from getting pregnant, they also stop you from having a baby. I couldn't take that chance with a child's life, even if it was just a 1% chance of that happening.

Birth control also messes with your body. The hormones in those things are insane. Some types of birth control proclaim you should take it for a shorter and lighter period, or to skip your period altogether. I, personally, believe that we have a period for a reason. To try to skip it does something to your body and I think that we will be seeing a lot more female cancers or other health issues in the future due to the wide range of use. It isn't natural. Even if I wasn't against the pill due to the abortion factor, I would be against it for the health reasons. Many people go on the pill for bleeding issues or to regulate a period. This is not "fixing the problem", but only masking it. Someone wanting to take charge of their health would dig deeper to see what the problem is in the first place. There are many supplements and herbs that help the female reproductive issues and I think those should be the first things we go to when there is an issue. But supplements and herbs are not making drug companies money, so the doctors aren't pushing those, or even recommending them. Mothers are putting their own teenagers on the pills for "medical reasons" without looking at other alternatives, and we wonder why the teenage "angst" has gotten worse? Why would we be subjecting our teens to these artificial hormones just to lessen the duration of their cycle or control some bleeding issues without looking for the source of those issues? *Edited to add: I do realize that sometimes birth control pills can be the only resolution to a medical problem. I do think that they should be the last resort though, not the first. I do not have much of a problem with the pill being used as a medication for a health issue, as long as other resolutions have already been looked at and tried.*

I also think that birth control pills can cause, at the very least, a few months of fertility problems when they are first stopped. I know several couples who decided to get pregnant so stopped the pill, only to get pregnant and loose the baby. Is it possible that the pills lingering effects in the body had a part in it? I'm not sure, but it seems like that happens too much to just be a coincidence.

I think that there will come a time that the birth control pills are ruled unsafe. And I hope that those Christians who believe that life begins at conception can realize that their form of birth control could be leading to the deaths of their unknown babies. It is not a safe drug to take and not a moral one. There are other ways to avoid a pregnancy without the chance of conceiving and aborting.

What are your thoughts?

Thankful Tuesday

No, this isn't a new theme day, just a Tuesday that has started off in a good way. At the moment I am enjoying the aroma of the roast which is in the oven and will soon get the ingredients popped into the bread maker (which was $5 at a garage sale last summer and looks brand new!) so we will have fresh bread with supper.

This morning has started off busy and the rest of the day will continue on that same track, with several household chores needing to be done and then arriving early at my TOPS meeting tonight to learn my new job there as weight recorder.

The highlight of my day? The big reason I am thankful today? My aunt owns a consignment shop in town and twice yearly she has a huge sale in order to empty out the store and start anew with the next seasons clothing. Last week all merchandise was 50% off, yesterday it was 75% off, and today was $5 a bag for anything left. I dropped my three little munchkins off at my parent's house this morning for my thirteen year old sister to babysit and my mom and I headed off to the shop. We waited outside in the cold for fifteen minutes and soon a crowd of other shoppers surrounded us waiting for the store to open as well. There is always a rush to get into the doors and warm up when they finally open up! I headed to the kid's clothing section and found just two sweatshirts for Becca for next winter as that section was really picked over. I found a couple t-shirts for Jacob and several things to store away for Joe. I was actually able to look at the adult clothing before it got too picked over and found a couple sweatshirts and several pairs of jeans for myself...even a pair of "Seven" jeans which fit. I was able to get a small pile of books for the kids and an adorable Discovery Toys wooden airplane rocker for Joe. All this for $10! The jeans that I picked up that ended up not fitting me can go in the next garage sale and maybe I'll even make my $10 back by selling them! So I am thankful to find such good deals and get things that my family needs at amazing prices. I am also excited about them re-opening in a few days with all new spring merchandise!

As a reminder, this is the time of year when most consignment shops are having big sales so don't forget to call the ones near you to see what their sales are. Maybe you will even end up finding out about a bag sale in your area.

T-shirt Winner!

Winner of the t-shirt is *Jess*! Please e-mail me!

Not Me! Monday

When our temperatures outside reached 15 degrees above zero for the first time in weeks I did not usher our whole family outdoors to play. I did not allow my children to go without snowpants and real boots because they didn't want to wear them, for the sole fact that I kept telling myself that 15 degrees is a heatwave compare to what we have been having, and that they didn't need them to stay warm.

When I noticed that my 20 month old was nursing less and less I did not decide last week that it was time to wean and actually manage to go for close to 48 hours of not nursing with zero tears, only to cave because he was being so good and I felt sorry for him! Isn't that the way that weaning is supposed to go?! It isn't I who was so ready to wean for months, only to miss it when I stopped. What a weirdo!

I was not the one wrestling our 120 pound dog to the ground trying to get her nails trimmed. She does not hate getting them trimmed with a passion and I have not put it off for much too long because of the fact that it is such an unpleasant task. I did not almost win the wrestling event only to have her get away with one nail untrimmed. That nail is not driving me crazy every time I see it, and I am not too tired to try to get the job finished. I think this chore should be a paid entertainment event; if I got paid to do it I may find it worth it!

How has your week been going?

It's a Heatwave!

After weeks of temperatures hovering around 0, or even below zero, we may reach a high of 15 degrees today. That is indeed a heatwave to us!
We all went outside to play for awhile and get some of our pent up energy out.

We have been dealing with some cabin fever issues of late so it was a relief to get some fresh air and exercise.

The dog even seemed more livelier with the sun shining. This weather has been affecting us all.

I hope that you, too, are enjoying some warmer temperatures and sunshine today.

Don't forget to go here to sign up for the giveaway that ends tomorrow at noon!

Ever Have One of Those Faces?

Are you the type of person that has complete strangers walking up to you saying "I know you from somewhere, don't I?" I have had this happening more and more and I'm starting to wonder if I have an evil twin out there, who happens to live in the same town (or I'm the evil twin of someone else?!).

It happened again today. We went out to eat at a local restaurant (thanks to my brother, Michael, and his Christmas present of a gift certificate to there!). We sat down and a lady across from us starred at me and said "I know you." I shook my head in question and said "I'm not sure but I don't recognize you." She looked at me strangely and asked my name and then said that it must be someone else she was thinking of. This happened a few weeks ago as well. I was at the grocery store and the cashier asked where my other child was. I glanced down at my three and said they are all here and she said she thought I had four. Then she asked didn't I drive a red truck? Nope, I replied, not me. She looked at me as if I was lying and said "I must be thinking of someone else" but then she personally took my grocery bags out to the van, even though a bag boy was waiting to do that, as if to see if my vehicle was indeed a red truck. Or the lady who works at Walmart and is constantly confusing me with someone else.

Just who is it that I look like? Would I think that person looked like me if I were to see them? Does that person have other people confuse them with me? It is making me awfully curious!

Frugal Friday: Cabbage Soup

One of the prime examples of being frugal is having frugal recipes for feeding your family. The food budget is often the easiest area in which to cut costs but is not easily do-able unless you have many frugal recipes that are both frugal and filling. With a husband who comes home hungry and three growing children the filling part is the important part.

One recipe that we all love is Cabbage Soup. On this bitterly cold snowy day I thought I would post the recipe since this is the perfect meal for a day like today. It ends up costing very little and makes a huge pot of soup so will feed a very large family for one meal or a smaller family several meals. I think it tastes even better the next day as leftovers. It is frugal because you can add or substitute ingredients depending on what you have on hand that week and it is a wonderful way to use up leftover vegetables.

Fry 1 lb. hamburger with one onion, diced. Add 1/2 of a cabbage, chopped, and cook until wilted (a couple minutes). Add 28oz. can of diced tomatoes, can of kidney beans, two small cans of V-8 juice, 2 cups frozen corn, and 5 beef bouillon cubes. Add a little water to thin out. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (to taste). Simmer on stovetop for a few hours. (If this was all put together ahead of time I think it would cook well in a crockpot as well, if you have a large enough one.)

Store leftovers in the fridge for a day or two or freeze for later use. Served with some rolls or buttered bread and you have the perfect winter meal!