Picture at 37 Weeks

Nausea

It was around Thanksgiving that Maria began making her growing presence known. I wasn’t expecting my pregnancy symptoms to start so soon, but Thanksgiving dinner was not as pleasant to eat as I had hoped. Thus started my nausea that ended up lasting almost my entire pregnancy. By late third semester it was on and off, but still with me. I’m thankful that I never had severe nausea or throwing up, but I typically had “yucky” feelings after meals and a metallic taste in my mouth, even after eating something “delicious.”

Due Date

I had two due dates – July 26 and July 21st – depending on whether you wanted to go with natural counting or ultrasound measurements, so we just told people the end of July. I’m not a big fan of due dates – it’s so much easier to have a range than a specific date in mind.

Picture at 17 Weeks

Braxton Hicks

My Braxton Hicks with Maria started before 20 weeks and continued all the way until birth. Every night I would wake up with multiple Braxton Hicks and run to the bathroom, but this was just my was normal for me and didn’t really bother me at all. I just figured I would be in tip-top shape to give birth.

Picture at 21 Weeks

Gallbladder Pain

Sometime in Feb/March I started having upper abdominal pain, which seemed to be associated with eating. Sometimes it would be severe and last only a short while. Sometimes it would be mild and last for hours. And when it stopped, there was no explanation for why it ceased. I realized that eating nuts (my go-to snack that Josh kept me stocked with) set the pain off and soon it seemed like all eating was a problem. For over a week I did very minimal eating since I didn’t want to deal with the pain.

On April 7^th I had an ultrasound done at a local clinic to check Maria’s amniotic fluid (I always like to do this around the time Becca’s was low). I asked the doctor to check my gallbladder and he found a few polyps. This wasn’t a surprise, since after Micah was born the clinic did a routine post-birth ultrasound and noted that I had a few polyps. But this was the first time that they caused me significant pain. I was able to contact a doctor who specialized in gastrointestinal issues, and he gave me some advice. So I stopped eating nuts and watched my other food and was able to usually ward off the pain for the rest of the pregnancy.

Pictures at 23 Weeks

Exercising

One thing I didn’t deal with much in this pregnancy was back pain. Sometime in 2^nd trimester, I started exercising with Classical Stretch for pregnancy and it was very helpful. I kept up exercising until probably a week and a half before Maria was born.

I also dealt a lot more with side ligament pain much more than other pregnancies. I’m not sure if it was because I had been exercising before and my muscles were in better shape, or if it was just a fluke. My varicose veins in my left leg were a continual problem. I’m sure the exercising helped, but it’s just one of the things I’ve had to deal with in my later pregnancies.

7th Child

I’d spent so many years wondering if we’d be able to have 6 children (due to Becca’s premature birth, 2 c-sections, miscarriages), that it was a new concept to think that we were going to have 7 children. For some reason the jump from 6 to 7 seemed major. Going to American the following year with 7 children was on my mind a lot. That’s a big family to house when visiting churches. That’s a lot of people to manage in a continually changing environment with trying to visit people and with being with people constantly. And then of course there is the overwhelming gift of having another soul to nurture and point to Christ. I’ve always said that feeding and clothing a child isn’t that hard – but discipling them is another issue. It’s a huge responsibility.

Telling the Kids

We didn’t end up telling the kids about Maria until our family Valentine’s Day party. I figured some of them had noticed my growing belly (but none had). Isaiah and Becca thought it was funny that Josh and I had gone out for a bit one afternoon (for an ultrasound). We were decorating heart cookies and I did one that said “Baby” on it. The kids were mostly surprised and excited!

Finding a Doctor

One of our challenges was finding a doctor in Phnom Penh. Even though I’ve had 4 VBACs since my two c-sections, I am still considered a risk by most doctors, and they prefer to c-section. The doctor who I went to for Micah had left the clinic and was nowhere to be found. I needed to find a doctor in Phnom Penh who would allow me to have a VBAC.

We traveled to PP May 22^nd to find a doctor. The first doctor I went to, Dr. Ty, had her own maternity clinic and was very positive toward big families. I really liked her. But when I asked her, “If I go into labor, will you let me deliver?” she wouldn’t give me a straight answer. She spent a long time talking about the risks and recommending a government hospital, but she wouldn’t say no or act like she didn’t want me to be her patient. I even said, “You are the doctor, and I want you to be comfortable. I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. Are you comfortable with allowing me to give birth naturally if I go into labor?” Again, she wouldn’t give me a clear answer, and I left feeling like I would end up with a c-section if I stayed with her.

The next place we went was Royal Phnom Penh Hospital – a hospital connected with a major hospital in Thailand. I met with Dr. Mumu, who a few of my friends had delivered their babies with. She was a very nice lady, but hospital policy was going to make a VBAC difficult. As it ended, I was going to have to have a special meeting with the hospital safety management team, if I wanted to attempt a VBAC. This also left me with the feeling that if I went with this doctor and that hospital, I would end up with a c-section.

Picture at 33 Weeks

Our last resort was a brand-new hospital, about 3 minutes from the CMA guesthouse where we were staying (in fact we could see it from our window). We walked in without an appointment and asked if they allowed VBACs and if I could see a doctor. They sent me right up to the maternity floor. I joked with Josh that I would probably see some young male doctor, and indeed when I saw called in to see the doctor that is exactly what he was. This doctor had no issues with my having a VBAC. In fact, he said that since I had already had 4 VBACs the hospital wouldn’t even consider me a VBAC (with pricing – VBACs are always more expensive). I was so happy to hear this that I knew immediately we would go with this hospital.

One of the issues about visiting three different doctors is that each doctor seemed to find something different wrong with me. The first two doctors reminded me that I had two C-sections so I was at risk for uterine rupture, I was old so of course there were issues with hemorrhaging, and I had had six other pregnancies which would also increase the risk of hemorrhaging. Not very encouraging.

Dr Ty noted my cervix was shorter than normal and decided that I was contracting too much and gave me 15 days of medicine to stop contractions. Which I never ended up taking, since 15 days wasn’t going to help that much and she hadn’t explained the medication at all.

The doctor at Orienda International Hospital made a comment about my amniotic fluid being on the borderline of being low and then said If I had more than 10 contractions in a day I need to come back.

All these things gave me a lot to think about as I returned home to Oyadao. We were only home a few days before I suspected I was leaking amniotic fluid and was having increased contractions. I contacted two doctor friends and said we were considering getting thing checked out. Both thought that was wise, and since I had been told to return if I had more than 10 contractions, we decided it would be best to go back to PP. We left in a rush Tuesday around 1:30pm and arrived in PP a little before midnight. It was a crazy trip with several downpours in the dark, but we made it, and the kids did well. The next day I went to the doctor and everything checked out fine and they said I could go home. (In fact, they measured more amniotic fluid than the week before.) So even though it was a crazy trip, we were glad we went for peace of mind the next two months!

Picture at 35 Weeks

Unfortunately, at that appointment, with all the rush and concern, I forgot to tell the ultrasound doctor that we didn’t want to know the gender and she told us at the beginning. So, Josh and I found out we were expecting a girl, though we didn’t tell others the news and let it be a surprise.

Things continue as normal, for me, until the night of June 20th. I had a few hours of contractions that were like the ones I’ve routinely had before giving birth. The issue with these contractions is sometimes they stop and sometimes they switch into active labor fast and it’s hard to know what will happen. That night I was trying to think about where I would give birth in our house and then what we would do. The next morning Josh and I debated what to do and by supper time we decided that we would pack up and go to Phnom Penh the next day. Josh didn’t want to wait another night or wait for another bad night until deciding to go and thought it was best just to go down and wait until Maria was born. So we left two and a half weeks before we were planning to. Thankfully, from our previous trip, I had kept many things still packed up or in one place so it wasn’t that difficult to pack or take school stuff with us for our –  what was now going to be a – long weeks in PP.

Once we got to Phnom Penh there were no more nights of contractions and things seem to settle down. I decided that Maria just really liked being in Phnom Penh. Thankfully before we left Josh was able to set up everything for the Bible translators to work with him online, so he was able to continue working with the Bible translators on the translation while living in the CMA guest house.

So, we started our long stay at the CMA guest house with a thought that Maria could be born at any time, and though there were contractions every night there were never those pre-birth contractions like I had had back at home that I feel like we’re going to send me into preterm labor.

Picture at 37 Weeks

Maria wins the medal. Last night she slept 7 hours!
Sunday night – 5 hours
Monday night – 5 hours
Tuesday night – 6 hours
I know this could stop, but I’m hopeful that she’s on a new, early sleeping trend. Maria’s up a lot during the day and doesn’t like to nap in her bed (I hold her a lot during the day) and often eats every two hours. So she keeps us all busy – thankfully, Maria has several older siblings who can hold her when I need both hands free. BUT if Maria is going to sleep most the night, I’ll take it!

Tuesday we celebrated Maria’s one month birthday. We’re so glad to have her in our family. The other night, as I was putting Ezra to bed, he said: “Maria is so cute. I’m glad Maria is a girl because I wanted Maria to be a girl. Because she’s so cute!” (This is bogus – before Maria was born, Ezra insisted that the baby must be a boy so he could help be one of Ezra’s workers. He would not accept the possibility that he might have a sister! But I’m glad Ezra has repaired his memory! 🙂

Last week we celebrated Ezra’s 5th birthday in Phnom Penh. We started with his countdown calendar, had his party on the 9th, and had little treats until the 13th (including root beer floats). One nice thing about being in Phnom Penh was easy access to a large variety of gifts. The real hard hat was given to Ezra by Isaiah.

We had our friends the Nhoemvans and Kim over for Ezra’s party. Dinner was hotdogs with Mac & Cheese. Ezra wanted his cake to look like a favorite stuffed animal dog named Boy. Part of Ezra’s party was playing Tiger, Tiger, Hunter.

One of Ezra’s favorite things is building roads outside – using trucks, dirt, and sand. He loves being a worker and having workers help him. He was hoping his new sibling would add to his force of workers – he associated worker with brother. But he’s been pretty happy to have Maria and always talks about her being cute.

Another thing Ezra loves to do is cook. Usually at home he’s helping our helper cut vegetables. Some of his gifts included a cutting board, measuring cups, and a pot (all real – not toys). Ezra is full of life and loves talking to people. He loves his friend Map here at home. And he loves playing with Micah – they are a bunch of fun and full of energy!

We’re thankful for our Ezra! Happy Birthday to our newest 5 year old!

Monday night our children along with the Nhoemvan girls performed the Mary Poppins Broadway musical. They have been rehearsing together, twice a week, every week since we’ve been here.

We had a dinner, then watched the play, and ended with dessert. Becca starred as Mary Poppins, Isaiah was Mr. Banks, Anna was Mrs. Banks, and Clara was Miss Corey, the maid, and a few other roles. Kolianne was the Director of the musical and played the role of Jane, Jodanai was Michael, and Mileah was Burt and a few other roles. Everyone did an excellent job and they all had fun performing. It was a great success!

July 20 I celebrated my 41st birthday. We were wondering if Maria would arrive on my birthday, but she decided to wait, which was my preference. (I do so much for my kids’ birthdays – I was not sure I wanted to be exhausted on my birthday every year! 🙂

Josh and the kids had a lovely breakfast ready for me in the morning, complete with a watermelon fruit basket, bacon, eggs, and croissants. Afterwards we went to a pool and spent most of the day swimming and eating lunch. It was a very relaxing way to spend the day with our family. And I did a lot of swimming, which felt good.

We came home later afternoon and the kids made a pound cake. We had subs for supper, pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Then we did gifts and a slide show of my life. 🙂 It was a lovely day and my family made me feel very special. And all that swimming did not coax Maria to arrive, even the next day.

Last week and this week, Josh has been assisting an SIL Grammar Workshop, right where we’re staying. This workshop has been scheduled for 3 years, and it ends up the timing worked perfectly with Maria’s birth. The workshop is for SIL Bible translators who are working on a grammar for the language they are currently or going to translate. There are nine translators from four different countries here for the workshop. Josh is a mentor to two of the participants. Every morning there are intense lectures by Dr. Paul Kroeger (from Texas) and every afternoon Josh works with his two mentees (both missionaries in Cambodia). It’s a 10-day workshop with a weekend break in-between. They finish this Friday and in the evening we’ll all go out on a dinner boat ride on the river.

Dr. Kroeger was one of Josh’s linguistics professors at UTA and was on his dissertation committee. When SIL was setting up the workshop, Paul especially requested that Josh be involved. It’s been a thrill for us to spend extra time with Dr. Kroeger and for Josh to be able to work with him.

Our kids have enjoyed baking snacks for the grammar participants and eating lunch with them and hearing different stories from their home and host countries. We’re the only family/kids here, since that was part of Josh’s conditions in agreeing to participate in the workshop. He didn’t want to leave us for over two weeks. It’s been a great experience for our kids.

Maria Grace Jensen
Born Saturday, July 22, 2023, 5:55am
Weight: 7.14 lbs
Length 19.7 inches
Head 13.8 inches
Chest 19.7 inches

Delivered in our guesthouse bedroom.
Caught by Josh.

We ended up coming to Phnom Penh to wait for #7’s birth 2.5 weeks earlier than planned, because of some unusual contractions I had one night. Due to how fast I go from having mild contractions to giving birth, Josh decided he’d rather not wait until I had more bad nights to come, so we arrived in PP June 22nd. Thankfully there was space in the guesthouse for us to stay the extra time, and we only had to move once.

The first thing we did after arriving was to visit a lady from our church who was at a hospital in PP for intestine complications that resulted from 2 surgeries. The doctors were sending her home with no hope for recovery and said once she left, she would probably live about 5 days. Her daughter is one of my Jarai ladies Bible teachers at our church. I was so glad we were able to visit with them and say goodbye. She left for home a few days later, and amazingly it’s 3 weeks later and she’s still living and started eating and drinking again.

We had several things we were hoping to get done before the baby comes, like going to the dentist (his picture is at the top of the blog). One of the most important was renewing most of the kids’ passports at the American Embassy. We had our appointment last week and were only in the Embassy about an hour – very thankful. Afterwards we went to a place that had an outdoor playground for lunch to celebrate.

I brought some school for the kids to do while we are here – so that really helps give us some routine in our day and keeps people from going stir-crazy. The younger girls have science and spelling, the older two have history, science, and spelling/grammar. We’ve also had time to do some extra things. The first week we were here Clara made an apple pie. We visited a craft store and the boys bought plaster of paris magnet kits to make and paint. The boys also bought astronaut helmets to design, though Micah reused the stickers to decorate faces!

I think we’ve finished most of our errands, appointments, and repairs (jewelry, computer, camera). Josh and I had a nice anniversary date. The last thing I wanted to do was get my pre-birth hair cut. I haven’t had a good haircut since right before Micah was born – it was quite long.

We’ve settled into a good routine. Josh has been able to work with his translators over the internet and is getting more work done than he expected. The kids are working on rehearsing a musical with their friends the Nhoemvans twice a week. They plan to have a performance before we leave. We’ve enjoyed going to English speaking church and getting together with friends that we have down here. One evening we had a Christmas carol sing with some friends.

Anna and Clara were invited to a princess birthday party last week – first time to ever be invited to an all-girls party. They were so excited to go. The two younger boys love going to my doctor appointments, since the pediatric floor has a playground. Micah can’t wait to go to the “doctor place.”

So now we wait. While we’d rather be home, we’re very thankful for the place God has provided us to wait in and for the things we’ve been able to do. I’m very thankful for air-conditioning at night and during naps. I’ll be very happy to be holding our new baby and have all the uncertainties of birthing (hoping for another VBAC) in Cambodia behind me. This is a good time to practice trusting in God’s timing and planning, when things are out of my hands. Thankful!

Written July 15 – who knows, maybe by the time this is published we’ll have a baby here!

We’ve settled into life at the guesthouse in Phnom Penh and are waiting for baby #7 to make his/her arrival. Things have settled into a good routine – we do a little school in the mornings and have a few afternoons a week visiting with people. Exciting times!

July 4th, 9 years ago, we arrived in Cambodia with three kids. We’re now staying in the same guesthouse waiting on #7 to arrive. Thankful for all God has done these past 9 years!

This week we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. Since we’re in PP awaiting the birth of our 7th child, we were able to go out on our anniversary – there was someone to watch the kids and places to go. I can’t remember the last time we actually had the opportunity to go out on our anniversary day.

Josh bought me 15 roses, and we went out to eat and then went to another place for ice cream – we shared 5 scoops. (I’m trying to get my fill of ice cream before I have to abstain if the baby has milk allergies when nursing!) It was nice to having an evening together. Josh also bought me jewelry – blue zircon earrings and a necklace. Blue zircons are supposed to come from Ratanakiri.

So thankful for these past 15 years of adventuring with my man. It really is so much better than it was 15 years ago – to know someone intimately that long and keep on loving and keep on knowing. It’s worth it. Dating and wedding excitement is great, but it can get even better. I’m not saying that everything has always been smooth riding and bliss – but real love just keeps getting better and stronger as long as you choose to keep on loving. When we listened to Andrew Peterson’s Dancing in the Minefields later in the evening, we realized we’d finally made it to where he was when he wrote the song:

We said our vows and took the leap
Now fifteen years ago.

Thankful.

We celebrated Josh the day before Father’s Day, since Sundays are too full to add anything extra. We’re so thankful for the head of our home – the leader of our tribe. We’re blessed to call him daddy. I’m glad to have him as the man I make and raise our children with.

The kids made Josh a countdown calendar for Father’s Day. It’s based on an experience he had feeding a squawking young bird at work, that then decided it was Josh’s full time to find food for it.

Last week we had Isaiah’s 11th birthday celebration at home. On his actual birthday we were in PP, for an extra check on the baby. We had Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, went swimming and had lunch at the pool, and had Diary Queen ice cream on the drive back from the pool. But all this did not count as his actually birthday celebration, since we weren’t at home. 🙂

Isaiah’s countdown calendar had quotes from books he’s read, and each day he was supposed to guess which book the quote came from before he opened the door. Several of the days before his birthday we were in PP. His birthday movie was Boys Town.

Isaiah chose tacos for his birthday meal – it’s avocado season, so it’s a great time of year to make guacamole! He wanted a clock cake for his birthday. After gifts and cake, we watched a slide show of pictures and movies from Isaiah’s past 11 years.

Isaiah likes to take things apart and invent things – this past year he’s created a few board games. He like science, math, and reading. He plays outside almost everyday with the neighbor boys. He’s a good big brother to all his younger siblings.

We’re thankful for Isaiah and the gift he is to our family! Looking forward to his 12th year!

This year we’re working through Story of the World Vol 1 again. Last time we did this was March 2018 before Ezra was born, so we’ve added some students and graduated some students to this level of history class. Last week’s lesson was on The Code of Hammurabi, so each student made their own code.

Last week we took a trip to Phnom Penh to find a doctor for delivering the new baby and to do some other errands. The kids were delighted to spend some extra time with their friends the Nhoemvans. Kolianne waited to celebrate her birthday until our family came, and the older kids enjoyed a book-themed birthday party one afternoon.

Ayra and the girls spent two nights at the guesthouse, so we had lots of time together. Ayra helped watch the kids at different times, so they didn’t all have to come to the appointments. Becca, Isaiah, Anna, and Josh had eye appointment that the younger three kids were happy to miss! We went swimming on day while Josh did errands.

Our last evening we made dinner for two young men from our Jarai village, who are down in PP studying at Bible School. It was good to spend some time with them. We had a very successful trip and got done everything we had planned!

My family celebrated Mother’s Day the evening before (Sundays are too full for us to add anything extra or special). The kids made a lovely salad and did baked potatoes, while Josh grilled chicken using a Khmer charcoal clay pot. We had cake for dessert. Then the kids gave me cards and did a play of Stone Soup.

A week before the kids gave me a Mother’s Day Countdown Calendar. Everyday the kids had homemade gifts to give me: postcards, crafts, an original book, etc.

I’m very thankful for the family God has blessed me with. So thankful for the kids He’s given us. Motherhood is a blessing and a gift that comes with many joys, and it’s also exhausting physically, mentally, and emotionally. Being a homeschool mom and missionary mom adds on many more aspects as well. I love my job and it’s a race worth running for the sake of God’s glory.

We had a lovely visit from the Manfreds at the beginning of the month. We’re always delighted with the time we get to spend with them over lunch (it’s always so short). Thankful for this couple and the many years they’ve faithfully served the Lord in Cambodia.

We started our 2023-2024 school year on April 17, 2023. So far we’ve been off to a good start, and it’s like running a marathon everyday for me!

We celebrated Anna’s birthday this month, starting with her birthday countdown calendar (based on The Borrower books). As part of the calendar, Anna’s birthday movie was The Wizard of Oz (a book they’ve heard many times) and she received small gifts, a flute lessons, and flowers as part of her daily calendar surprises. She also made her own chocolate cake with almost no help.

We delayed Anna’s birthday dinner one day so Josh would be finished with teaching at the Pastor’s Bible School out of town. Anna chose tacos for dinner and a panda cake. We had a fun evening of dinner, gifts, cake, and then watching a slideshow of pictures from Anna’s 9 years of life.

Anna is a fun loving girl who loves to play and is very helpful with her siblings. She has done very well with her Khmer lessons this year and is growing in her ability to communicate in Khmer. We’re very thankful for Anna and look forward to this new year with her.