at 20 weeks gestation, they feel pain

If you've had a baby, you've been there. 20 weeks. Half way through. Right about 6 months (how that makes sense still confuses me!)

But the fun thing about 20 weeks is that you get the big ultrasound that week, right? They do all the measurements, make sure baby is developing right on schedule. And if you've had the patience to wait, that's when you find out: boy or girl? It's definitely an exciting part of pregnancy.

But why is that? Because you get to see your baby! You're allowed a peak into your own womb to watch that little person growing inside of you. You are looking at a miniature human being.

And what do you see? Everything, right? Head, arms, legs, hands, feet, mouth, eyes, ears, genitals. And aren't they usually moving around? Maybe sucking a thumb, or even waving. It's so much fun.


[Eli at 20 weeks]

But you know, other than all the things that have been developing up to this point: heart beating, mind dreaming, ability to swallow, digestive system working, kidneys making urine, uterus and fallopian tubes are formed (if it's a girl), sweat glands are developed, taste buds are present on the tongue, that baby can also feel pain. They are pain-capable.

In fact, at this point in pregnancy, if a doctor needed to do surgery on your baby in-utero, they would administer pain medication. Because they have found that when a baby is poked while in the womb, they recoil in pain and try to get away.

Now consider performing an abortion on that same baby at 20 weeks gestation (or later). That baby receives absolutely no pain medication. And yet he is torn, limb from limb, legs from torso and head from neck. Is that a little graphic? It's the truth. If you have a chance to read it, this is the testimony of a former late-term abortionist about how exactly the procedure is performed (no pictures or video, just his description).

And right now, in this country, a place where we pride ourselves on protecting and loving our children, this practice takes place every day. There are 300 abortion providers who will do abortions at or after 20 weeks and 140 abortion providers who will do them at 24 weeks (several of those are in my home town, Las Vegas) source.

But today, you have a chance to change things and to make a difference for these babies, for the weakest and most vulnerable among us. Tomorrow (June 17, 2013) the United States House of Representatives will be voting on HR1797 - The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. In simplest terms, this bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation based on the scientific fact that babies at this stage feel pain. They deserve our protection. 64% of Americans agree that late-term abortions should be done away with. I can't see how this isn't common sense.

Today, all you need to do is call your representative. Here is the directory. Politely ask their position on the bill and request that they vote YES on HR1797. Your voice needs to be heard. I don't care if you live in a district represented by a Democrat or a Republican. The issue of life is a bi-partisan issue. It is a human issue. Tell them how they should vote. Tell them to protect these miniature human beings.

These babies are depending on you.

life with boys, 8

*no, my two year old almost never wears pants. he may or may not get that from his mother.

summer plans

Las Vegas summers are rough. And, although I consider myself a California girl, I don't much like the summer. I think the reason I loved San Diego so much was because all of May, June and into July, the coast is covered with a marine layer. Hence the term "May Gray" and "June Gloom". The summer that I was pregnant with Isaac and Ben was deployed to Afghanistan was my favorite (aside from having my husband thousands of miles away, in a war zone). If I didn't leave our apartment, I didn't see the sun. It was like that for 3 months straight. It was perfect.

But alas, we aren't in cloudy sunny So Cal anymore. We live in the desert. And if there is one thing the desert is good at, it's getting real hot and hardly letting a cloud into the sky.

So in all honesty, I have a hard time getting through summer. I wake up every day wishing it was October. Maybe even November. I just want to walk outside and feel that crisp air and cool breeze. And in the mean time, when I walk outside, I'm struck in the face with hot wind. It's like a furnace blowing constantly.

This year, to help get me through the summer months, I finally decided to make a summer list. Not to mention, Isaac is now 2 1/2 and he can do so many more fun things than he could last year! It's up on the refrigerator where I will see it every day. We've already gotten started on it, considering it was 110 this past weekend. Boo. And I cannot wait to check more items off our list in the next few weeks.



Some items on the list are strictly for me and/or Ben, like spiking a watermelon, hanging curtains and going to a gun show (although we will take the kids). I wanted to focus on things for the kids and the family but still include "to-do's" without making it a goal/to-do list per-se. I think I accomplished that pretty well.

A few nights ago I took Isaac to McDonald's after dinner for ice cream. Just the 2 of us. Cheap ice cream date with my favorite 2 year old? Check!

What are your summer plans??

post pregnancy birth control

please note: I am not a physician, lactation consultant or trained medical professional. I am simple sharing a method that has worked for us in the past. For more information, please consult a professional.



If you've read this blog for any length of time, you probably know how I feel about birth control. If not, take a second and read that post. And then, if you're wondering what the other options are, read this post.

Today I want to share another form of birth control. This one is a bit more specific to circumstance, but it is another method none the less. And especially since a lot of my readers are mommas or soon to be mommas. I thought sharing this would be beneficial for a lot of ladies.

Also, it helps to just know how the female body works. Don't know where to start? I recommend this book. Ladies, God made you and He made you well. Get to know how your body works and you'll be amazed at His work!

We stopped using hormonal birth control in 2008. And we'll never use it again. But, as with almost all obstetricians and midwives, soon after the birth of both of my sons, the inevitable question came up: "will you be needing birth control?" My answer is, of course, no.

And no, we're not looking to have Irish twins around here (although I'm not entirely opposed to that).

No, we used LAM: Lactation Amenorrhea Method.

In the simplest terms, LAM is when you do not ovulate for the first 6 months of your baby's life and therefore, cannot get pregnant. You have to ovulate in order to get pregnant.

Can I just stop and sing my praise for breastfeeding again? Because that's what we're getting ready to talk about here. It's an amazing thing and I pray that every single mother who is able, will work as hard as they possibly can to do it for their children. But mommas, it's also an amazing gift to you! Not only is it the most incredible bonding experience with your baby, that you will get no other way, and not only does it burn 500 calories a day, but it works as a natural birth control! It's as if God designed it that way! (really though, He did).

But back to what I was saying.

There are a few requirements in order for this method to work correctly:

1. You must be exclusively breastfeeding baby either fully or nearly fully. This method will only work so long as your baby is breastfeeding, with little to no use of a pacifier and solid foods have not been introduced. You will start ovulating as soon as your body recognizes that baby is not breastfeeding fully. And that happens almost immediately, as it did for me when Isaac began solids at 5 months.

2. Baby must be under 6 months of age. It's crazy how accurate this is, but your cycle kicks in and you begin to ovulate when baby hits 6 months. With Eli, for me, it was almost to the day.

3. This method won't work if for some reason you've already started your period. This method needs to be decided upon before birth. You cannot decide to use it later on down the line.

What has it looked like for us? With Isaac, we introduced solids at 5 months old. With Eli, I was in much less of a hurry and this was one major reason. That boy is healthy weight-wise and gets plenty of calories from just my milk, so I was not worried at all in waiting. We did give him avocado at 5 months, but he didn't take to it so we held off. And in doing so, also held off on ovulation.

Most literature on the topic will tell you that your baby needs to be breastfeeding every 4 or less hours during the day and 6 or less hours at night for this method to work. That is text book, but not entirely true for everyone. We use the Babywise sleep training method and so by 10 weeks old, Eli was sleeping 8-9 hours at night. His day feedings were (and still are) exactly 4 hours apart, same exact time every single day. And yet, LAM still worked for us. I did, however, pay attention to my body and noticed that each month I was not ovulating. And I think that is because the criteria is "fully or nearly fully breastfeeding." The most important thing is to be excusively breastfeeding, with almost no supplements or pacifier. We used neither.

What about pumping and bottle feeding? Eli takes a bottle (thank goodness, because Isaac did not!). But I rarely pump. However, when he does bottle feed, if at all possible, I pump during that feeding so my milk supply doesn't take that as a sign that he's dropped a feeding. I also did it during the first 6 months so I wouldn't start ovulating! The thing is, you should just always be aware of your milk supply and your body. And that is why I can't say enough about Babywise and feeding/sleep schedules. My body knows exactly when Eli will eat every single day and so I'm never low on milk. If I need more, in order to pump for later, then I just pump what is left after each feeding.

And I realize this is quickly turning into a post about breastfeeding. If you have any questions about it, about how we do things, please email me. I'm happy to answer questions about anything!

Back to LAM. It's simple. It's wonderful and it's built in. The only other thing I would say about it is, you still need to be aware of your body. Pay attention to the signals it gives off. If you meet the 3 criteria above, you don't need to chart anything because this method of birth control has a failure rate of less than 2% (and that's dang good people). If you just want to be sure or if you're partially breastfeeding, chart. But either way, always look for signs of impending ovulation.

And there you have it. A form of natural birth control, that simply requires you do what is natural: breastfeed your newborn!

All of the information I've shared with you is from Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Whether you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, not even interested in being pregnant, just had a baby, are in between kids or are reaching menopause, know your body! And like I said, this book is a great resource.

a random post about what's going on in my life

Things around here have been pretty steady. There isn't any big news to report or anything major taking place. Just the same 'ole, same 'ole.

Last weekend we moved Eli into Isaac's room at night. I had to move his bedtime up by half an hour so it would match up with Isaac's (8pm). I thought I could also eliminate his 3rd nap during the day, because this is about the same time that I did that with Isaac, but he just isn't ready. That kid loves his sleep and can't go more than 2 hours in between a nap without becoming Mr. Cranky-pants. So, 3 naps it will stay! Really though, I'm okay with that.

How is it going with the 2 little roomies, you ask? Fabulous! Isaac enjoys having his brother in the room with him and Eli sleeps so solid that even during the nights when Isaac randomly wakes up, opens and slams his door, Eli sleeps right through it. And in the mornings, when Isaac gets up at 6:30, Eli will still sleep until at least 7. So things are working really well.




It's supposed to hit the 100's here this weekend and I am not at all looking forward to that. But, I can't complain too much because the entire month of May was in the 80's and 90's and that's almost unheard of for Vegas. Last night was the first night we closed the windows and turned the A/C on while we slept. I've been enjoying the fresh air at night, but it looks like we'll be saying farewell to that until at least October.

Over the weekend I went shopping and bought this momma some new skinny jeans. It's been probably 8 years since I've bought a new pair of jeans. It was time. And thanks to my mom for the Kohl's gift card! I highly recommend the Lauren Conrad skinnies and the Elle skinnies. Both fit perfectly.

Someone recently found his thumb. Thankfully it only finds it's way into his mouth when he's tired and ready to sleep or when he just wakes up. While it has to be the cutest thing in the world, I'm not very happy thinking about what it's going to be like to try and break that habit down the road.

We're still house hunting. But honestly, the market here is a bit discouraging. Prices are low, but inventory is even lower. Basically what happens is that the homes we can afford are being bought up very quickly by hedge funds who are willing to pay $10-$15,000 over the value. And that's just crazy to us. And it's not something we're even remotely willing to do. So, if it's the Lord's will for us now, then it will happen. If it's not, then we'll wait. And we are completely okay with waiting.

Did I tell you we got a Nutribullet? We love that thing!! I'm definitely getting way more veggies in my diet during the day because of it. And I know all the infomercials say it, but seriously, you can tell a difference within a week. Get one now.

In March I accepted the position of Director of Nevadans for Life. And yesterday I had a meeting with a couple of ladies here in Vegas that I will have the pleasure of working with in that endeavor. I can't tell you how excited I am to see how the Lord is going to use this organization to change this city. I'm flying out to Dallas at the end of June for the National Right to Life Convention and I know I'll be coming home with a zillion ideas I'll want to get started on immediately. I cannot wait for that. In the mean time, I'm still in need of financial support to get there. If you want to help, the details are here.



So that's life right now. Our days are simple: lots of time outside, attempting to soak up as much sun before it becomes unbearable, playing daily with Isaac's new train set, afternoon dips in the pool and lots of snuggles with my chubby baby.

life with boys, 7

send me to Texas

You know me. You know how pro-life I am (if you don't, read a few posts in that link). I know without a doubt that the Lord has placed a very specific calling upon my life: to save the unborn, to minister to their mothers and to work toward making abortion unthinkable in this city, this state and this country. 

I would say that it all began some time in high school. I attended a youth evangelism conference in 2001 and visited the Rock for Life booth. It was there that my eyes were, for the first time, truly opened to what abortion is. I bought a pro-life shirt and a patch for my backpack and proudly sported both at school. And they triggered discussions with other kids. It was then that I began to defend the unborn.

During my junior and senior years of high school I decided to earn my Girl Scout Gold Award (yes, I was still in Girl Scouts. don't judge. I'm awesome). For my project I wanted to do something to help one of the local crisis pregnancy centers here in Las Vegas. My project had to be something that would continue on even after I was done with it. What I didn't realize was that God was going to hold me to that. In fact, it wouldn't just be that my project would continue on without me, but that He was going to continue to use me in the same ministry. 

When I was 19, I became a peer counselor for that same crisis pregnancy center. I went through my training and was only able to counsel for less than a year before Ben and I moved from Las Vegas to Oceanside, CA in 2007. But I immediately began volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center in Vista, CA. I counseled there for several years, both in the center and on their mobile RV unit. I also had the opportunity to work on the planning committee for 2 of their fundraising banquets, train other volunteers and in 2010 I joined the Board of Directors. I sat on the board for about a year before Isaac was born and our family of 3 moved to Texas.

While in Texas, I took a bit of a hiatus from pro-life ministry. We still supported the local crisis pregnancy center and I continued to write about the tragedy of abortion on my blog, but I wasn't physically involved in ministry for over a year.

Last summer, we moved back to Las Vegas. I was pregnant with Elijah and not sure how I would ever have time to get involved again. But I wanted to. Ben and I had been dreaming up an idea to open a combination Pregnancy Center, Birth Center, Maternity Home somewhere. I still believe that is the end goal and we are still believing God to bring it to fruition. But in the mean time, God has led me to a new opportunity. Something that I had never even considered. But I know the calling was from Him and in March of this year, I accepted the position as director of Nevadans for Life; a small, fledgling, pro-life organization in Nevada. 

This organization is in the beginning stages. I have a million ideas of where I want it to go and how I want it to make a difference in Las Vegas, Southern Nevada and really the entire state. But baby steps people, baby steps.

One of the steps I would like to take this summer is to attend the National Right to Life Convention in Dallas. The conference is June 27-29. And to be completely honest, we can't afford for me to go. But at the same time, I feel like we can't afford for me not to go. I know it would be an incredible opportunity to help get Nevadans for Life off the ground so that we can get to work, helping to make abortion unthinkable in this state and this country.

So now I've finally gotten to my point: I need your help in sending me to this convention. I've done the math and I need roughly $800 to attend the 3 day conference. If you would like to sponsor me, with any amount, please contact me by way of email: thisjessibridges[at]yahoo[dot]com. Seriously, any amount will help.

Update: You can donate directly to Nevadans for Life and all donations are tax deductible. Make checks out to Nevadans for Life and send to: Nevadans for Life P.O. Box 60416 Las Vegas, NV  89160

And if you can't support me financially, consider praying for me and for Nevadans for Life and for the end of abortion. I am convinced that prayer is the most important tool we have to abolish such a horrific thing. Actually, nothing we do in this fight will matter unless we bathe it in prayer. 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 1 Chronicles 7:14

Thank you for your support in this. Every little bit will help. And I hope that you know, you aren't just helping me get to Texas, you are helping save the lives of babies and helping minister to their mothers. Your money, your prayers will work to end abortion.