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Amanda Merk

@amanda.merk

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Mother. Wife. Home Educator.
Rare Diseases 🦓, Disorders of the Corpus Callosum, Epilepsy, CP 🧠, CHD 🫀
Certified Parent Coach

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While we're on the topic of birth...I cannot speak highly enough of having a supportive, loving, knowledgeable and encouraging birth team! These two people! There aren't enough words to share how thankful I am for them. They stayed right there with me EVERY step of the way through my birthing time. They provided physical and emotional support that helped me feel safe, secure and capable during each powerful pressure and pushing wave!

The power of having a birth team that knows you and understands and respects your desires is something that can't be underestimated. That's another key difference between my first and second birthing days. I was educated and felt ready, but the added judgment-free, encouraging and unwavering support of people who love me was invaluable!

#birthpartner #birthteam #birthdoula #doula #birthsupport by @amanda.merk

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5 years ago

It's been just over 3 weeks since our baby boy, Arthur made his arrival (on his big brother's birthday! 🤪) I have been reflecting so much on the experiences of my two birthing days. They were like night and day, and I'm so proud of myself for giving birth twice!

First photo: Edward's Birth. I did not know how beneficial it is for a birthing mom to be educated about birth and all of the options available to her. I went into it with the mindset of "I'd like to go unmedicated as long as I can, but then I want my epidural!" I truly did not believe that I could handle the "pain" of childbirth. I thought I would freak out and end up passing out. (I have a history of fainting due to various medical situations, so this was a legitimate and real fear for me.) So, I did just what I had planned to do. I got to the hospital at 1am after my water broke at midnight. I made it to 7cm, then got my epidural. I laid there on the bed unable to feel the bottom half of my body and not able to move well on my own. I also had severe body shakes from all of the fluids they were pumping through me. Edward's heart rate kept dropping, and they said the way I was laying was probably causing his cord to be pinched. So they put me on oxygen to make sure baby was getting enough and they kept shifting me around to help make sure I wasn't pinching the cord. They also decided they would need to do internal fetal monitoring. (For those who don't know, this means they screwed an electrode into Edward's scalp to monitor his heart rate. This caused Edward to have a bloody bruise on his scalp for many days after he came out.) I felt powerless, and also felt pretty exhausted (from having no sleep since the previous night) and was just out of it. Then the nurses said it was time to push at about 4am. They put my feet in the stirrups and the doctor came in and instructed me when and how and how long to push. Edward made his arrival at 4:30am.

Second and third pics: Arthur's Birth. Early on in my pregnancy, I joined a book study group that my friend hosted for pregnant women. Through this group, I started to have a different mindset about childbirth. (Continued in comments.) by @amanda.merk

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5 years ago

I just finished this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is currently pregnant or hoping to become pregnant! So informative and empowering! #inamaygaskin #inamaysguidetochildbirth #unmedicatedbirth #unmedicatedchildbirth #birthplan #birthplanning #midwife #midwifery #positivebirthstories by @amanda.merk

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5 years ago

Happy birthday to the best guy I know! I'm grateful for the snow day that caused you to work from home so that I could see your handsome face a little more than a typical Tuesday. 😊
Delicious dinner. ✅
Family game. ✅
Cuddles on the couch while watching our show. ✅
The start of a fantastic year ahead! Love you Benji! ❤️😍🥰🤗 by @amanda.merk

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6 years ago

You guys!!! 👀👀 Look at this meal! A few years ago, I made this meal like once a week because I love it SO MUCH! It's so good, easy, nutritious, and DELICIOUS! 😋😋 I haven't made it on over a year, and I'm kicking myself for it now! If you want the recipe, let me know and I'll get it to you!

#eatup #yummy #delicious #dinner #vegetarian #tacobowl by @amanda.merk

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6 years ago

Let's talk about homes for a second. A few years ago, Ben and I talked about selling our home and buying an RV. We never told anyone, but we went and toured a variety of RVs. We decided not to pursue it at that time, but we enjoyed dreaming about possibilities of traveling around and working remotely. After taking our trip, we wished we'd had an RV.

One of the huge blessings that allowed us to take our recent extended vacation was the fact that we did decide to sell our home earlier this year. We'd been talking about it for a couple months, and Ben ended up getting "cold called" by a local realtor. We decided to put our house on the market. We met with her May 1, listed our home May 18, got (and accepted) an offer after a couple of hours, and closed on June 18. It was quite a whirlwind. We're currently blessed to be living with Ben's parents temporarily as we figure out our next steps.

Why did I include a picture of the Netflix show called Tiny House Nation?! Well... As weird as it sounds, that spawned my imagination for the vacation. I had done a Google search on best shows on Netflix, and was intrigued when I saw that one. When I watched it, my imagination ran wild. Not really about living in a tiny house, but more about living differently. Going against the grain. Living with more passion and doing things you love. My mind went to travel, and I followed along on the day dream. I remember calling Ben and saying "We're not currently tied to anything. We sold our home, your job opportunity fell through, I work remotely. Let's just leave. Let's go explore and have adventures while we have this opportunity." He was hesitant and resistant at first (understandably so.) He eventually came around, and we started making plans. That's how it all started.

What's a crazy dream YOU have? How could you make it a reality?

#travel #live #home #tinyhousenation #rvliving #homeiswheretheheartis #adventure #opportunity #goforit by @amanda.merk

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6 years ago

Have you ever done something crazy spontaneous?! Maybe you felt forced into it by outside circumstances. Maybe you got a wild hair and decided to just go for it. Whatever the reason...did you regret it? Cherish it? Appreciate it? Did it push you outside of your comfort zone in the best ways?

Stay tuned to find out how my husband’s unexpected unemployment (even while doing everything right) spawned a wild idea within me. We ran with it and spent 7 straight weeks on the road. Traveling, exploring, camping, and most of all...learning about ourselves, each other and our breathtakingly gorgeous country.

#followme #travel #vacation #extendedvacation #travelbug #wanderlust #bloomandgrow #nationalparks #parkchaser #findyourpark #nps #nationalparkgeek #nationalparkphotography #nationalparklove #npsfamily #nationalparkswithkids #familyadventures #vacationswithkids #travelwithkids #nature #naturelover #naturerocks by @amanda.merk

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6 years ago

Happy Thanksgiving!
If you had told me a couple months ago that I would willingly wake up at 5:30 on Thanksgiving day to work, I wouldn't have believed you! But that's exactly what I did! I taught 4 awesome kiddos in China 🇨🇳 this morning, and it was so worth it! 3 of the 4 were complete angels, and I had a great time getting to know them! I'm very thankful for this job! 😁😊 #vipkid #vipkidteacher #teachonline #esl #onlineteacher #teachinchina by @amanda.merk

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9 years ago

Same picture, 3 minutes apart. Top- 1:25pm. Middle- 1:26pm. Bottom- 1:27pm.
#totaleclipse #eclipse2017 #100totality #worthit #soincredible #bowlinggreeneclipse by @amanda.merk

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9 years ago

Oh. My. Heavens! These blueberry banana pancakes are absolutely perfect!! Since cutting refined sugars last week I've been looking for recipes that are sweetened with just fruit! I didn't even feel like I was missing anything by not adding my usual maple syrup! 😱😍🍌 Let me know if you want the recipe! by @amanda.merk

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9 years ago

Quadruple date last night! Segway tour in Louisville was SO fun!! We will definitely do it again! #datenight #segway #segwaytour #louisvillesegwaytour #makingmemories #family #newadventures by @amanda.merk

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9 years ago

How are those my sweet baby's feet?! They're so big!! This has been such a lovely mother's day with my amazing boys and the rest of my family! #grateful #firstmothersday #blessed by @amanda.merk

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9 years ago