# Feb 08 Mamas - June is the bringer of light



## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

The title is somewhat a reference to Juno, and it's also summer solstice month. Here is the May thread, but welcome to June!

May was a big month - Dea, Helen, SarahLynne, Lauren all shared their BFPs with us, and we're all sending sticky-baby vibes! Quinn joined Heather's family and is doing great.

ThisLove rejoined us...

and I have no doubt that June will be another jam-packed month for all of us!

Now that I have realized today is June, I'll go move my post from the May thread to this one...


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

SL, good luck - and happy Monday - and congratulations! You have a lot going on right now...sending you "one step at a time" vibes. Keep breathing.

ThisLove, welcome and good to see you again! Jump on in - this is a great board with a lot of great mamas on it. Not that I'm biased, or anything. I'm sorry about your frustrations from your other board - sound like it is definitely time to leave it behind and find a better virtual community for yourself.

Dea, tomorrow's a big day - fingers crossed for you! I'm envious of your long hike. How did Trixie do? R is really hit or miss with the backpack. We have not done a long hike with her since she started walking. Running. I'm not sure she would tolerate more than about 45 minutes. I guess there is only one way to find out! The down side is, what if she's great for the hike up, but screams the entire hike down? Hmmm. Did you use a Kelty, or a SSC?

Teeny, sorry to hear about Nara's crying. Wish I had some advice...

Helen, hope you're feeling ok, and not too knocked down by the first-tri tireds. How is your new house?

Rynna, easier said than done, but from all that you've said about tHRH, sounds like you should keep enjoying the moment! I always had a very hard time trying to think effectively about the future when things were still in the fairly-new-and-exciting-jump-into-bed-4-times-a-day phase







. Oy, I cannot, however, truly wrap my mind around the complexity of the multiple girlfriends & boyfriends & husbands involved...but I'm glad you're having a blast! I'm trying to remember the exact phrasing, but I'm trying to think through the powerful resonance of 3 - how the human mind processes 3 vs. the duality of 2 (I'm thinking of art, math, etc.) - 3 engages Broca's area of the brain, changing how the brain processes - anyways, in a very inarticulate way, wondering if human relationships dynamic between 3 vs. two engages the brain similarly.

Um, hi. Sorry for that little tangent. Hi! We're doing great. Still waiting on those $%!&*( canines to come through. Could they be a bit slower? Really? R is doing great. She "says" about 20 words, but only DH & I can understand her. Very contextual. At some point soon, she'll figure out both the beginning and ending consonants, right? Then "ahck" will become "rock" or "walk"?

Unexpectedly sunny day...better get to work so that I have time to enjoy it later!


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Congrats, SarahLynne! Glad to hear your DH is excited. But your ambivalence, if that's the right way to describe it, is totally natural too.







:

Dea, looking forward to hearing how things go tomorrow.







: Don't know if I wish multiples on you, but I do love being a twin momma . . .

Cheryl, your post describes where I am exactly, almost on every point. DH and I are going through a rough patch. Not over discipline (really hope you two can talk it out). But I have also been a bit blindsided by DH and my differences over things. Last week we hit a real low, when I told him I was considering moving out. But I think more sleep and changed circumstances will clear the worst of it out for us. And by changed circumstances I mean if things don't resolve themselves in the next couple months on their own (less anxiety, less of DH's work, less debt, etc) I will make some dramatic changes. Til then, please forgive me if some of my black mood comes out. Also, Izzy is our climber. It's exhausting keeping an eye and sometimes a hand on the babes every moment, but cute too. Amazing the climbs she attempts - scaling the changing table to get to her sister, etc! I turn my back for a second and she's standing on a table. Enjoy the Phish show! That should be a blast. Tell us all about it. Next week DH and I have a big date to see the Decemberists, I'm pretty excited too.

Emily - I'm with you on the chastity belt! Haha, but I bet Helen's right. Better you than me!


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Well some good and bad news and already know news today:

Bad News:
The Dr. is an idiot and couldn't look up antidepressants that were approved for pregnancy so I'm stuck in limbo with that.
I can't get the job at the Drs. office because I have no medical coding experience







Cause I can't look it up in the book in the office.

Already Known News:
I am pregnant (But at least I have it documented for insurance!)

Good News:
Talked to my midwife and she gave me a laundry list of stuff for me to do for both the staph infection (draw-out salve, Triple Antiseptic Cream, Garlic (9-12 pills a day) and Acidophilus (5,000 ui)) and my anxiety (Rescue Remedy.)

I'm not disqualified from getting hired at DoC!!! Thats the best news of all because that has been the biggest reason I've been so upset about being pregnant. Its not that I'm not excited about the baby I was just upset when I thought they wouldn't hire me. DH called some of the human resource people for the DoC in the Region I'd work in and she said they put pregnant women through all the time. I just can't finish the training until after I have the baby because of the high risk stuff (Defensive Tactics and Firearms.)So I feel much better now. My plan is to work until the kick me out for maternity leave and then as soon as I have Drs. clearance I'll go back and finish training


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

slgt;13861634
Dea said:


> We carried Trixie in the beco and she was quite happy with it. Yesterday we went to Maker Faire and the same, she was on my back all day and she's good with it. She likes to be near me at all times so wearing her is a great alternative, and she's happy with it.
> 
> Speaking of she's pulling on my leg to twist me away from the computer!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

SL, you know I'm a bach flower remedy practitioner, yes? LMK if you want to explore them further... and yay for jobbiness. What is DoC, anyhow?

slgt, canines are evil. In fact, teeth are evil full stop, but canines are singularly obnoxious. Yes, they can go slower, so don't tempt fate. And they can retract back up again- so again, don't tempt fate. Just pretend not to notice anything and soon enough they'll all be through.
Oh, and River cut another molar. One molar, four canines to go. And then another bloody set. Why do I do this to myself?

Oh, and as I said in May, I lack symptoms. Total absence. Venting on another board about my unplanned pregnancy, I was wished the best pregnancy imaginable, and so far it's paying off. I do, however, have a funny feeling in my tummy from time to time, so I'm pretty sure there's someone living down there...


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
SL, you know I'm a bach flower remedy practitioner, yes? LMK if you want to explore them further... and yay for jobbiness. What is DoC, anyhow?

slgt, canines are evil. In fact, teeth are evil full stop, but canines are singularly obnoxious. Yes, they can go slower, so don't tempt fate. And they can retract back up again- so again, don't tempt fate. Just pretend not to notice anything and soon enough they'll all be through.
Oh, and River cut another molar. One molar, four canines to go. And then another bloody set. Why do I do this to myself?

Oh, and as I said in May, I lack symptoms. Total absence. Venting on another board about my unplanned pregnancy, I was wished the best pregnancy imaginable, and so far it's paying off. I do, however, have a funny feeling in my tummy from time to time, so I'm pretty sure there's someone living down there...


PM me about the remedy stuff!!

DoC- Department of Corrections







Its prison!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *slgt* 
Rynna, easier said than done, but from all that you've said about tHRH, sounds like you should keep enjoying the moment! I always had a very hard time trying to think effectively about the future when things were still in the fairly-new-and-exciting-jump-into-bed-4-times-a-day phase







.









Both of us fully expect this stage to last for some time. I mean... I don't really get over it, for my end, if you take my meaning. I'm not the kind of girl who gets 'headaches' very often.









Quote:

Oy, I cannot, however, truly wrap my mind around the complexity of the multiple girlfriends & boyfriends & husbands involved...but I'm glad you're having a blast! I'm trying to remember the exact phrasing, but I'm trying to think through the powerful resonance of 3 - how the human mind processes 3 vs. the duality of 2 (I'm thinking of art, math, etc.) - 3 engages Broca's area of the brain, changing how the brain processes - anyways, in a very inarticulate way, wondering if human relationships dynamic between 3 vs. two engages the brain similarly.
That *is* interesting. Time to get my geek on, I suppose.







The human brain has an easier time, in general, with threes than it does with twos. That's why I'm kind of looking forward to bringing another boyfriend into the mix.







I think the "trouble" is that I kind of want to find someone to share with tHRH... but that's an entirely different story.









Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Helen, hee hee... Yes the Feb 08 octuplets, apparently my fertility meds rubbed off on all of you, osmosis through the computer? Heh. Perhaps all of the don't want to get pregnant now mamas should disinfect their keyboards!

I've 'disinfected my keyboard'... by investing in fresh condoms.









Quote:

Rynna, You said I could let my anthropologist out to play and ask questions.... I've been wondering in different poly relationships how parenting works. I know that all of your children have the same father, but is it common to have children with other people in the relationship and how does that work out if you all don't live together? Is it like how, say my family grew up where I have 2 brothers, but one is a half brother? I understand that it's individual, but it's interesting to me how it works when all parties involved actually like one another. (my mom and dad hate each other)
Oh you can totally tell me to bugger off, or ignore me all together.
Just to reiterate, everyone's mileage will vary. There's actually a poly thread on MDC (I think it's in Queer Parenting?) where others have different situations, but most of us have kids already.

So: To clarify things, Mike and I aren't in a relationship. We live together, we're raising the kids together, but we pretty much gave up on the relationship while I was pregnant with Bear (if not a bit before). We're still on the same page when it comes to the kids, and I'm not about to take them and move them to Philly nor am I about to move myself and leave Mike with the kids (which is what his parents seem to think is going to happen-- nope, sorry, not my scene). The kids are priority number one, and right now what's in their best interests is to live with their two parents, whom they know, love, and trust (rightly so). Please note here that if tHRH wasn't on the same page, I wouldn't be half so smitten with him as I am.









THRH loves the kids, and they love him. I asked Bean if there was anything he didn't like about tHRH and he said, "I don't like the way you're always trying to keep us apart." (?!) He's already slipped up and called him dad at least twice.







Being the wonderful man that he is, tHRH is actually quite willing to jump into the fray. He helps with ridiculously mundane and irritating tasks like laundry and dishes as well as the bedroom escapades.







Of course, this only helps with the other side of things-- I think we all know what a man doing dishes does for a woman's libido.







:

More kids? Eh. Maybe. I recognize my desire to breed with tHRH as one of those insane, impossible-to-prevent biological impulses. After all, part of what makes someone attractive to someone else is that purely biological urge to propogate your genes with the best of what's around. THRH is very tall, very smart, slim, young-looking; He's got a whole slew of features which indicate Prime Breeding Stock (did I mention the red hair?







) so it's only natural that my lizard brain says, "Yes! Breed now! With that one!!" For what it's worth, he feels exactly the same way about me. He's never particularly wanted to have kids of his own (never even got to, "I'd like to name a girl ____"), but he recognizes a whole slew of traits (genetic diversity is hot, and being mixed I'm already more than halfway there-- nature loves an outbreed!) in me that make his lizardbrain say "Yes! Breed now! That one!!"









Even better is this: He loves the four kids I already have, and he wants to be part of their lives. He told me that if he can't have kids for some reason, that's okay too because mine are just like the ones he'd have wanted.







: Isn't he too sweet?







: I'd love for him to move in, and he would too but there are other considerations to keep in mind. It's nowhere near happening, sadly. If I could find a house close enough for him to commute to work, though? I might get him every other week...









In the event that I do have his redheaded mutant baby (RHMB), most things will go as scheduled, but I'll have five kids instead of four. Mike may or may not be less willing to help with the littlest than he is with the older four; I expect there will be many discussions between the planning/conception of RHMB and birth re: logistics. On the up side, it might spur Mike to move his bloomin' arse and get his s*** in gear... and that's always good, right?









Hm. Is tHRH my kids' father? Well, no, clearly not. Is he something like a step-father? Eventually, absolutely. I don't know if he's there now... I'm sure it's coming, though. Will he parent the little people? He's working on that. He's still learning them, like he's learning me.







A year from now, (if that) he'll be a visiting third parent, kind of like a weekend dad I guess.

Ideally, he'd move in with us at least part-time and we'd go about living normal lives together. Right now that's not happening, but I figure, if I can wish him into my life, the logistics should be easy.









Quote:

I just bottled another batch of Kombucha, it's so yummy. I think that I'm really figuring it out. I'm bummed that I can't really drink much seeing as I'm pregnant and all.
I have a kind of fear surrounding kefir and Kombucha. I want to try them, but I'm terrified to do it on my own.







I'll have to find someone to teach me.








:


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

uh...woah! Things look different!

Back later to say hi...just was momentarily shocked by the different look!


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

I go take a nap and come back and MDC has been abducted by aliens......


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## FelixMom (Aug 28, 2006)

Quote:

uh...woah! Things look different!

Back later to say hi...just was momentarily shocked by the different look!








:

My DS2 wants to walk down the stairs, using the wall for support. Anyone's kid doing this yet?


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lovetobemama* 
uh...woah! Things look different!

Back later to say hi...just was momentarily shocked by the different look!









:

Not sure I like it.... probably will get used to it....

be back later


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FelixMom* 







:

My DS2 wants to walk down the stairs, using the wall for support. Anyone's kid doing this yet?

Bear crawls down the stairs. BooBah was walking them by this age, though. It's really disturbing to watch, because it doesn't seem like their legs could possibly be long enough. Especially BooBah, she had like, a seven inch inseam at this age.


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FelixMom* 







:
My DS2 wants to walk down the stairs, using the wall for support. Anyone's kid doing this yet?

Yes. We don't help her down any more because she wants to walk down the stairs (step. step. step.) holding onto one of our fingers. She comes down with a hybrid of backwards, walking forwards holding onto the railing, and sitting on one step to get down to the next. We prefer backwards, and we keep telling her that, but she apparently does not care that we prefer backwards.

I know every kid is different, but when is a standard timeframe for them being mostly-trustworthy about coming down the stairs on their own? (We have hardwood, oak stairs. Not very kid-friendly.) 15? 8? 2?


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Twyla likes to try to walk down steps, but I keep a gate up because the older kids' rooms are up there, and there's all kinds of stuff she needn't get into.









I just got a call at 4am to go to a birth, and then ten minutes later as I was readying to leave, got another call that the baby had been born! That's two in a row that have been too fast for me to make it to! This 8 pounder looked really tiny in comparison to the two 11 pounders that were the last two births I attended.


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Hi everyone, subbing!! 7w tomorrow, felt absolutely terrible yesterday. Blech.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *applecore* 
Twyla likes to try to walk down steps, but I keep a gate up because the older kids' rooms are up there, and there's all kinds of stuff she needn't get into.









I just got a call at 4am to go to a birth, and then ten minutes later as I was readying to leave, got another call that the baby had been born! That's two in a row that have been too fast for me to make it to! This 8 pounder looked really tiny in comparison to the two 11 pounders that were the last two births I attended.









Thats so funny!!!

I'm a little sad you don't live near me because I'd love to have you at this birth


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Completely frustrated this morning....DH has a friend from work coming over and the house is trashed. I've been trying to wake him up since 8 am and he just got up at 9:30...God only knows when his friend will show up. I go to do a load of towels and I thought "ooo since I'm out of bleach I'll just throw a scoop of Oxy Clean in." So I go into the kitchen to get it off the counter and I hear Steven in Michael's Star Trek tapes (That I've been fighting to keep the kids out of ALL week.) So I take care of that situation and head back into my room forgetting the OxyClean. I come back out to get it and I can't find it. Go down the hall and Steven is dumping it on the carpet. *scream* So I get him away from it and scoop what I can back in the bucket and then vacuum the rest up. All the way Michael is still lazing around.

Now my hands are dried out from the Oxyclean. What does he do just now? "Have the kids been fed yet?" Well uh no sorry I've been running around trying to get the house looking presentable for your friend.









Pregnancy hormones + Regular already crazy hormones - my meds=


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Hi everyone! I'm so excited about these new babies and still happy one of them isn't my own quite yet! I am thrilled to live vicariously though you all for a few more months!

Raina, 2 11lbers!? Wow! I love/hate fast births like that. I had a run of 4 births I missed in a row (all for reasons that weren't my fault) and it was super frustrating! I agree with Sarah Lynne, I wish you lived closer because I would love to have you be my midwife for my next birth!!

Sarah Lynne, I don't know that being upset about your morning is extreme at all, I'd be super pissed/frustrated about a morning like that and I'm not pregnant and am not adjusting to no meds so I don't think it seems extreme at all. The part that would get me is DH not helping through it all: you see I need help, help me or bear my wrath!







I hope you adjust to your pregnancy soon, but I completely understand needing time to adjust. It was a huge shock and not the best timing so it's not at all unreasonable to be ambivalent for a while. I'm glad your job is still a possibility!

Lauren, I hope today is better!

slgt, James is trustworthy on the stairs now BUT he goes down backwards. I hate when they try to walk, it scares me so much! I don't remember when I didn't really worry about Grace walking down the stairs, maybe close to 2?

Rynna, I like that you and Mike are so dedicated to coparenting your kids and giving them daily access to both of you. How does Mike handle the HRH situation?

Dea, I can't wait to hear about your ultrasound today!!!! Many good thoughts coming your way!

Emily, great to see you!

Helen, I didn't know you were a practitioner! I'll have to remember that. I'm glad you are having a nice easy pregnancy thus far. I hope it continues through your babe's arrival!

Gena, I'm really sorry things are so rough right now. I hope everything straightens out soon.

Carrie, much love coming at you!









We are good, James is talking more and more and doing new things all the time. I love this age. He has the best little mischievous smile that gets me every time. He's a much easier kid than Grace was. He is very laid back and does fine when I need to be gone, which has been frequently lately. I have several doula clients right now and still working 1 day a week on a research project and teaching my class. It's a great balance for me right now. This summer will die down and we will have vacation and I won't have clients due so that will be nice too. Grace had her first overnight away from me last weekend, it went really well. It didn't bother me at all either because I knew she was ready and she loves her papa and mema. The garden is growing, I'm having a garage sale this weekend (if it doesn't rain), and getting my house in better order. It's been a pretty good past month, thought of course there are daily rough patches, over all things are good here. I hope everyone has a great month!!


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## ThisLove (Jul 5, 2008)

Thanks for the warm welcome ladies!







: I can't wait to get to know you all better. Right now, I'm trying to peruse previous threads (just laid C down for a nap, we'll see how it goes) and get a good idea of who everyone is. Sorry if it takes me a bit!

My silly fear of the day: not being inspired to name this baby! With C, it was very obvious. The day before our anatomy/gender scan, I decided that no matter what the baby was, we were naming it Call(o)(a)way. It was very obvious to me when he was born that he fit his name. Now, I can't think of a name that gives me the same kind of feeling for this baby. We have our lists started and a boy's name chosen, but I keep thinking that this one's going to be of the female variety and I'm totally blank!

flapjack, I'm jealous of your non-symptoms! I've been struggling with hyperemesis and have had to buy new bras ... twice so far. At this rate, I'll be able to reach out and touch someone with the ladies by the end of the pregnancy, ha!!

And lots of







for those that need it right now. A little bit of good juju goes a long way, right?


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Katie, ThisLove, welcome! If it makes you feel any better James wasn't named until he was about 12 hours old and he seems no worse for the wear!







I think with the second it is often hard to imagine loving someone else as much as you love your first, bonding like with the first, ect and it really does happen! For me it was a little hard because I actually got annoyed at DD for a week or 2 in defense of new DS. I think it was just nature's way of cementing my bond to him and setting my mama bear instincts in for him. Those feelings (random, not always) were hard on me to feel towards my DD and I'm really glad my husband was home for that first week to let me adjust and focus separately on each child. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that it's normal to feel differently about your second and it will be different with them because they are a different person but you will love and bond with them! And







for the hypermesis, I can't imagine how hard that must be, especially while parenting an older child/baby. I hope you are starting to feel better! Congrats on having DDC sibling #2!


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Katie, names are funny things. You had a great idea for your first! It's great to be so decisive, and that your wonderful name fit so well. But there's also something very cool about meeting your babe and figuring out a name. Like Sarah's James. 12 hours of getting to know him. I love it!

We had two names to come up with, and not long since I tried not to find out the sexes while I was pregnant. I really expected boys and was surprised when my DH's boss spilled the beans that we were having two girls. I was sure about "Annabel" and the nickname "Belle" at first. It took some thought to come up with "Isadora" and I wasn't sure about it. But Izzy fits her name perfectly, and has more than enough character to pull of Isadora. You never know how things will work out!

On a different topic, thanks for the support Sarah. Things really aren't so bad. I have a instinct to gloss over problems sometimes and make like everything's easy and perfect. But that same instinct leads me to bottle stuff up and ignore the struggles DH is going through, and then we both explode. So, in part I mention the tough times here to admit it out loud, to ladies that understand, and take our problems seriously. Just doing that has helped. That and a little more sleep! Not enough, but every little bit helps.

Not crazy about the new format here, but maybe it'll grow on me!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Hi Mamas!
I had my ultrasound this morning and it was good!
I'm pregnant with twins! There were 2 sacks but we could only see one heartbeat. I'm not going to write off that other baby yet though, I mean they are only 6 weeks, and since they're so tiny, it's totally reasonable as to why we couldn't see the other heartbeat!
So I wait, another week. AHHHHHH!!!!!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

: Congrats, Dea!







:


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Thanks for the update Dea!

Finding out about twins this early is a mixed blessing. Don't know what the rates on "vanishing twins" are, but know it's not uncommon.

You're right, it is early for a heartbeat. Two sacs is good news. Hope they both keep growing big and strong! Drink lots of water and take it easy momma! Your body is going at warp speed. Don't be surprise by all sorts of funny symptoms - hormones, a breast explosion, and super-human sense of smell were mine, but everybody's different. Hope your joints are bothering you less.

When you're ready, come join the Parenting Multiples board here too, it's a fantastic group of moms, of mostly twins. There's not much they haven't BTDT!

Congrats, and sticky baby vibes to you!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Dea, congratulations! FWIW, I was told that we might not see a heartbeat until 7 and a bit weeks when we went for the early scan with River.

Gena, if you don't like the format, change your skin (bottom L corner of the screen). I'm on lavender II, and it looks just the same as always to me, but if you tell it to be tan II then it'll look like it used to.

Katie, when River was a newborn he was called Samson for maybe 24 hours. Now, he isn't. River fits him, and nothing else did. When you find the right name, you'll know, and how can you pick a name before you meet them anyhow? Really?


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Thanks for the tip, Helen. I do like that better! It's my Blue Period.


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## LCBMAX (Jun 18, 2008)

Just saying hi--
kind of stunned about all you fertile beings, and putting the condom on my keyboard as I write -

We cut the little one's bangs this week - first haircut, with some twinges for me but he can see now without tipping his head up, so it must be good.

Today he is f.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.e.d. MUST have the screwdriver, but why won't it work on the door lock??? arrrgghhh -- tosses screwdriver to one side. MUST have the keys, but why won't mommy let me put it in the outlet??? arrgghhh -- tosses keys on the floor. MUST have the cheese, but why doesn't it taste like apple??? etc etc.

Taking the point about ignoring the canines. They are just sitting there, so maybe if I stop checking, something will happen.

On the easier side, he ate a whole can of sardines, and drank the oil, and in addition to calling them fish, also called them by the name my mil has been trying to indoctrinate him into calling her. I'm gratified, though embarrassed to admit it. And, even more embarrassing, I encouraged him to keep calling the sardines by this particular irritating name. No one was watching, what can I say?

Cheers to all the little lives starting, and courage to their brave mamas.


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## steph117 (Jul 12, 2007)

OMIGOSH!!! Haven't checked in since March, really, and I pop in to find all these pregnant people!! Amazing. Congrats, all!!

(I personally am SO, SO so far away from being able to imagine having another one yet!)


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Hullo, stranger







And LCBMax









We had a fun day. We had some unaccustomed sunshine, so we went to the water park and sat in the lake right up to our middles, surrounded by horny damselflies (everywhere. All across the water. Absolutely shocking behaviour) and River tried to drown himself in his desperation to go and cuddle some adorable fluffy cygnets







And somehow, my 3yo can swim. That was a shock...


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Hi Mamas!
I had my ultrasound this morning and it was good!
I'm pregnant with twins! There were 2 sacks but we could only see one heartbeat. I'm not going to write off that other baby yet though, I mean they are only 6 weeks, and since they're so tiny, it's totally reasonable as to why we couldn't see the other heartbeat!
So I wait, another week. AHHHHHH!!!!!

Wow, congratulation. Wow.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Gena, if you don't like the format, change your skin (bottom L corner of the screen). I'm on lavender II, and it looks just the same as always to me, but if you tell it to be tan II then it'll look like it used to.

Thanks - that has helped me. I really did not like the new look.









On names - we liked the name Hillel before we gave birth, and then it took me about a week to actually start calling him by his name - I was telling myself at the time that I needed to get to know the boy, but I suspect it had something to do with getting over the shock of becoming a mother. I just couldn't use a name until it felt right - whatever the reason.That said a friend of mine called her boy James for about a month and then changed it to Sean - and had to change his passport and birth certificate...

In our news - I am going through the ups and downs of discovering a whole other side to parenting when wants and needs becomes a bit blurry - as I mentioned in my post last month.... But for the most part Hillel is just the most adorable precious boy. He has been into steps for a while now. I have tried very hard to not confine him - and he seems to have the kind of personality where he is cautious and so far there have not been any nasty falls or anything. He also is a 100% walking boy now - and just loves his paddling pool and sliding and snuggling with me







I never expected him to snuggle without breastfeeding - but he just takes my hand and puts it on his head or snuggles into me or streches out over me..... It makes my heart go all mushy







I am also making my peace with extended breastfeeding. I honestly do not know how he would get enough nourishment without it - and as long as it is not annoying me and I am not resenting it, I am going to keep going









Helen, I did not know you are a practitioner. I once went to someone and she used a pendulum to decide which remedy to use - and of course I was sure she got it wrong







Although looking back, it was probably spot on.

Happy healthy pregnancy vibes to the pregnant mama's - I am still biding my time....


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ema-adama* 
On names - we liked the name Hillel before we gave birth, and then it took me about a week to actually start calling him by his name - I was telling myself at the time that I needed to get to know the boy, but I suspect it had something to do with getting over the shock of becoming a mother. I just couldn't use a name until it felt right - whatever the reason.That said a friend of mine called her boy James for about a month and then changed it to Sean - and had to change his passport and birth certificate...

I couldn't bring myself to call Bean by his name until after his bris. It felt absolutely, 100% WRONG. I called him "The Littlest Man," I called him "boy babyness," I called him any number of other things but never by his name. After the bris? No problem.







Of course, Bear's first week is mostly a blur; His bris happened while I was in the hospital, I didn't even get to see him until 12 hours later.







: Ugh, I don't like thinking about it. Things were the same, though, for the first day or two when I was awake. The girls were both sooner-- first Shabbos after they were born (on a Wednesday and a Thursday) I could call them by their names. I guess that stuff was more deeply embedded in my head than I'd realized.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

dea- what great news! i mean, either way i guess, it's good right?

linnaea has become deathly afraid of bugs. she'll scream "bug" or "ant" and freak out in terror. it's become rather tiring, especially when we can't even see the bug. though lazlo swears there are bugs that only he and linnaea can see that have worms for eyebrows







: good times, good times...

her dentist visit went about as i expected, she has pre-caries conditions behind her one incisor, her front tooth on the side and where the enamel defect is across one of her teeth, the dentist was way into xylitol and the remineralization paste i bought, i didn't freak him out too much with the raw milk and cod liver oil, he said it's possible to hold them off until she's 3-ish and possible have the work done without sedatives.

i will be working on night-weaning here because lazlo's cavities totally stopped developing after we night weaned and frankly, it's getting really REALLY old. last night she slept for four hours straight and six without nursing and it was HEAVEN!!! i can't remember how long it's been since i've had four hours uninterrupted.

so, any suggestions would be appreciated. lazlo night weaned at 18 months with one horrible night where he ended up hitting me and then himself and then passed out exhausted after an hour and a half of hard crying.







i'm hoping to make the transition easier this time.

i have a job interview tomorrow, fingers crossed, i've heard that based on my resume i'm at the top of the very short list of applicants so let's hope i don't mess it up









bleh, more later possibly, i'm feeling kind of like eating an entire pint of ice cream right now and i'm not sure why, i'm going to take my cod liver oil instead (i've really noticed a HUGE difference in attitude with that stuff).
much love mamas!!

oh!!! congrats sarah lynne!!! i kind of dropped out at the end of last month so i'm a little late.


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
I couldn't bring myself to call Bean by his name until after his bris. It felt absolutely, 100% WRONG. I called him "The Littlest Man," I called him "boy babyness," I called him any number of other things but never by his name. After the bris? No problem.







Of course, Bear's first week is mostly a blur; His bris happened while I was in the hospital, I didn't even get to see him until 12 hours later.







: Ugh, I don't like thinking about it. Things were the same, though, for the first day or two when I was awake. The girls were both sooner-- first Shabbos after they were born (on a Wednesday and a Thursday) I could call them by their names. I guess that stuff was more deeply embedded in my head than I'd realized.

That is so interesting. I never even thought of that. Although I have highly mixed feeling about brit milah, but yes after his brit, he became Hillel. That has warped my mind just a little...







:

Carrie -








: for you and your potential job - Hillel calling - be back later


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

I was up at 4:30 this morning with nausea and gagging and the weirdest sensation as if my ribs were trying to spread apart. Everything in my abdomen up to my ribs is sore still and the thought of food makes me sick...

The joy of pregnancy.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ema-adama* 
That is so interesting. I never even thought of that. Although I have highly mixed feeling about brit milah, but yes after his brit, he became Hillel. That has warped my mind just a little...







:

I know. Weird, huh? But it's pretty deeply enmeshed, even for those of us living mostly secular lives in a lot of cases. I've heard people attempt to articulate this before, too.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
I was up at 4:30 this morning with nausea and gagging and the weirdest sensation as if my ribs were trying to spread apart. Everything in my abdomen up to my ribs is sore still and the thought of food makes me sick...

The joy of pregnancy.









I woke up to find Bella with her pj pants and Pullup around her ankles; Apparently she woke up to pee in the middle of the night and didn't pull them back up for whatever reason. She was still dry. Ah, the joys of late toddlerhood!








When I woke her this morning she asked if it was morning yet, so she could have underwear. I guess her little girly bits needed to breathe.









The most thrilling thing: I'm probably only going through this _one more time_!!!







: Woohoo!!







It's so exciting to think that three years from now, I'll have changed my last diaper long since. Don't get me wrong-- I realize that as I approach ovulation from the left I'll start fantasizing about red haired mutant babies, but right now I'm feeling really, really glad not to be pregnant and more than happy to live vicariously through you ladies.







:


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Good luck on the interview, Carrie! And you're a stronger woman than I resisting the ice cream.


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## LCBMAX (Jun 18, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
...the weirdest sensation as if my ribs were trying to spread apart.
The joy of pregnancy.

I totally remember that. I had one rib on the left that I could literally wiggle with my fingers by week 10.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

SarahLynne, what are you thinking about weight gain/loss/management/stuff during this pregnancy? You know, when you're able to eat again....

Rynna, stop teasing about the potty learning. Skye is still refusing to put poos in the toilet. I have no idea how to get her past this. My brain, it hurts just trying to think about this.

Good luck with the interview, Carrie!







:


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

OH Carrie, good luck on the interview.

Sarah Lynne, yikes on the ribs. Sheesh, that sounds harsh.

I think I've got a sleep talker here. A few nights ago, she was asleep and laughed in her sleep. 3 nights ago, she kept saying ucky, ucky and getting upset about something until I latched her on. Early this morning, she said "eyes, eyes, eyes" I wonder what's going on in those dreams?

Oh and molar #2 is beginning to show itself.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Rynna, stop teasing about the potty learning. Skye is still refusing to put poos in the toilet. I have no idea how to get her past this. My brain, it hurts just trying to think about this.

Have you tried the potty clock & crown thing?







: I bought a light-up clock and a foam crown. The clock was set to go off every hour, and the crown was decorated to read "Princess of the Potty" with glittery letters and thingies. Every hour when the alarm would go off Bella would get excited and say, "It's time to go potty!" She'd sit on the potty and wear the crown until she peed and/or pooped. Once she got the hang of that-- of sitting down BEFORE she had to go-- the rest fell into place.







As incentive for sitting on the potty she was given a book or a workbook (she loves books) which were reserved exclusively for times the buns were on the pot.

Poop is different, isn't it? Here's the thing. Years and years ago, Bean did that thing that many children do and would hide to poop (usually in the diaper). I mentioned this to my mother, because I found it amusing; I'd seen LOTS of other children do this in the past. She said that my brother had told her why they do that-- it's because adults tend to close the door when they have to poop, even if they don't do it when they pee.







: Amazing, eh?







Let's be honest here-- most parents (mothers especially) don't bother closing the bathroom door when they have to pee. It's not worth that extra five seconds.







To make a poopy, though, most parents will either close the door or try to wait until the kiddos are asleep/out of the way. So they never see it, and they hide it. I guess what I'm saying is... maybe Skye needs you to leave the door open when you have to poop, too.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Gena 22* 
Good luck on the interview, Carrie! And you're a stronger woman than I resisting the ice cream.









i ended up eating a half pint instead of the full pint so i guess that's good. thanks for the well wishes!!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LCBMAX* 
We cut the little one's bangs this week - first haircut, with some twinges for me but he can see now without tipping his head up, so it must be good.

On the easier side, he ate a whole can of sardines, and drank the oil, and in addition to calling them fish, also called them by the name my mil has been trying to indoctrinate him into calling her. I'm gratified, though embarrassed to admit it. And, even more embarrassing, I encouraged him to keep calling the sardines by this particular irritating name. No one was watching, what can I say?

meant to quote this one yesterday but i forgot, we just cut linnaea's bangs for probably the third time, she looks really cute with sort of short ones, betty page style, but this time she moved just as i was getting the the last third and they are SHORT!!! so of course i evened it out, heh. it'll be awhile before i have to cut them again.

also, yay sardines!! and yay irritatingly named sardines! that totally made me laugh










oh, and i forgot to mention yesterday that we found not one, not two, not three but four dead baby birds on the lawn. we tried to save the little one that was still moving but he was just too cold. and of course, lazlo squished the other dead one with his shovel to feed the flies because, "i love all parts of nature, mommy."


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Yuck. Rather you than me









Rynna, I have a 3yo and a 1yo. I haven't been able to poo in peace and quiet in 10 years. Even now, when I can put two doors between me and Search and Destroy (aka Skye and River) they've figured out how to get through them. (you use a 2p coin as a key to unlock the door. Clever things, aren't they?)


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
SarahLynne, what are you thinking about weight gain/loss/management/stuff during this pregnancy? You know, when you're able to eat again....

Rynna, stop teasing about the potty learning. Skye is still refusing to put poos in the toilet. I have no idea how to get her past this. My brain, it hurts just trying to think about this.

Good luck with the interview, Carrie!







:

My plan is to stick to the maintainance phase of Suzanne Summer's diet. My body can get everything it needs and I can maintain or minimize the amount of weight I gain (I'd like to stay under 210-215.)


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

i got the job!!







: it's $10 per hour but the best part is i get to set my own hours so it'll be flexible for linnaea. it's taken a load of stress off of curtis, which is really needed!! and i'll be applying for a second part-time job at the health clinic this week too.

it was a group interview which was really weird. i got to go last and that made it a lot easier to point out areas where i was stronger than the other candidates. one woman actually said, "well, $10 per hour isn't the $40 per hour i'm used to but it'll do." i was like, "did she just say that???"

anyhoo, linnaea woke up from her nap while i was gone and she and curtis did just fine, no crying or anything! that's the best news yet because i wasn't terribly sure that she was ready to be left alone.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Well done!

When I worked for Lush, they do group interviews. It's an acquired skill- suits some people, not others.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

helen, i didn't know you worked for lush!

one of my friend's was the manager for the san francisco store when it first opened. she had lots of yummy samples of things... now if only i made a bit more money... mmmmmmmm lush







:


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

YAY Carrie!
I've had group interviews before, and I think all of the people were really stupid. The interviewer was asking questions and no one would answer them and they were so basic, so I climbed out of my shell and answered. Got the job. I was really good at it too, it was selling knives! Ahhh fun uni jobs! What will you be doing? Something wayyyy more glamorous than selling knives I bet!

Helen when I saw you said Lush I immediately wondered if you got headaches everyday. I love them in principle, but the smell is so strong!

So I am still plugging away. I have fallen in love with sea bands. Yay nausea under control!
I still keep hoping that there is another heartbeat. (well of course I would) but it's all I can think about, that and why will trixie sit on her potty, pee and then stand up, get diapered and poo in her diaper right away? Grr, then I think of Leftie's heart again.
sigh.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Well the bribe we gave to DS finally paid off (yeah I know its not the best thing, but it worked and thats what matters to me!) MIL promised him if he poopied in the potty she'd take him for ice cream. I've been fighting him 2 weeks to get him to do it. He's held it in for 2 days trying not to poopy in his big boy underwear and today we had just gotten home from shopping (he'd already mentioned needing to go potty but wouldn't at Walmart) and he started fussing that his butt hurt. So I got him on the potty and sure enough he pooped! Silly mommy forgot to put the pee guard on so I had pee down my pant leg, but I didn't care!!! He was so proud of himself and we called Grammie and all went for ice cream. He's excited to tell his Daddy in the morning as well







Hopefully he'll do this consistantly now. The only thing left to tackle is night time....


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Now I take things I hear with a grain of salt, but MIL heard of a psychiatric study of children that showed they have an attachment to there poo like a body part and watching it go down the toilet would be like us flush an arm or eye or leg down the toilet


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PlayaMama* 

so, any suggestions would be appreciated. lazlo night weaned at 18 months with one horrible night where he ended up hitting me and then himself and then passed out exhausted after an hour and a half of hard crying.







i'm hoping to make the transition easier this time.

Carrie!! Congrats on the job, first of all! I'm excited for you! Secondly, I'm sorry to hear about the teeth issues...but maybe the night-weaning will help. I don't generally buy into that fear, but with your kids specific issues, it may be true in this instance. And as for the night-weaning itself, I'll post on that in a second...

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ema-adama* 
In our news - I am going through the ups and downs of discovering a whole other side to parenting when wants and needs becomes a bit blurry

I've been wondering how you were doing lately








I do happen to think that this is a particularly tricky time in parenting. Around this time, we cross the line from 1. Mother mammals using instinct to protect and provide for our offspring, and cross into 2. Mother humans, trying to raise our little ones into being "whole" people. And we each define "whole" differently, so the rules are very blurry and difficult here. Especially because, at 15 mos, many days, our Feb 08 LO's are still babies needing the 1st goal, and then many days they are toddlers needing the 2nd goal.
At least they are still insanely adorable, right!!? That helps a lot!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
I still keep hoping that there is another heartbeat. (well of course I would) but it's all I can think about, that and why will trixie sit on her potty, pee and then stand up, get diapered and poo in her diaper right away? Grr, then I think of Leftie's heart again.
sigh.

Dea!! Congrats on the twins!!! And, FWIW, we saw no heartbeat with Molly when I had my U/S at 6 or 7 weeks. The doc didn't really look for it even. She just said it was a nice-looking yolk sac, and we would start listening for a heartbeat in a few visits.

Rynna, Sarah, Ema, and a few others, interesting discussion on naming children. I think i have mentioned it here before, but I spent the first 6 months of Molly's life 100% sure that she was mis-named, and that she should have been "Robin." Now, it's not such a palpable feeling of mistake/regret, but I still feel like it should have been her name. But DH is just as equally sure that Molly was the right name, and that Robin would have been totally wrong, so who knows!?!

Helen:







Glad you are still feeling well! Some day, long...long from now, you will poop and pee in privacy, and you will be sitting there, asking yourself, "Where the heck is everyone!!!?"









sarahLynne: hope your rib stays put and things get more comfortable for you soon!








to others that I know I missed. I've been unable to post for days and days, and am woefully behind!


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

As for me, sorry I have been MIA lately...Ben has dropped the afternoon nap...and it SUCKS! I just have so little time now to catch up with you guys or check my email now. He's 3 and a half, and definitely done with the nap...it's been a couple of months now. But it is still a hard change to accept.

As for my thyroid issues...my second round of bloodwork came back, still high on the TSH, though only 4.9 instead of 6.8. I don't know why it would vary so much, but my doc said that the test isn't highly accurate and you can get fluctuations like that, but that since I had had 2 results consistently putting me in the hypothyroid range, and was post-partum, he suggested we go ahead and start treatment, with a scheduled re-test in 6 months to see if things had changed.

So about 3 weeks ago I did start on Levothyroxine, and didn't notice much change at first. But one morning, about 2 weeks in, I woke up and felt decidedly different...as if a dark cloud that I hadn't even realized was constantly with me, was suddenly gone! And I was actually rested! I felt that way for 3 days, then woke up on the 4th day with the cloud again. Since then, it has gone back and forth, but things are trending toward fewer "cloudy" days. And my fingernails have stopped breaking and being brittle all the time.

It's remarkable, really. I didn't even realize how fatigued and blue I was, but now that I am supplementing the thyroid, I can't believe how crappy this past, most-recent period of my life has been, and I can't believe that I never would have caught it had I not gone in for the random blood-work. The symptoms were mild enough that I knew I wasn't "clinically depressed" so I never even though about calling in for feeling "generally blah"!

We'll see how things keep going.

And in other news, we have begun night-weaning Molly. Really she wasn't having too hard a time at night, but a variety of things all contributed to the decision, and she is a month older than Ben when we night-weaned him, so I think it is something we will all survive









Last night was the first night, and it wasn't too bad. We'll see how tonight goes.

Carrie, this is how we do it:
It's a 2-step process.

Step 1: Mommy leaves the house before bedtime and Daddy puts LO down, so baby knows mom isn't around. Then, daddy gives good bedtime snack and puts LO to sleep. Every time LO wakes, dad goes in, offers comfort and/or sip of water, and babe goes back to sleep. Then, when LO won't go back to sleep, or it is bedtime for dad, dad goes and co-sleeps with LO. Mommy sleeps on a mattress in the other room during this whole stage. After a good part of the night has been achieved, 3 a.m. was our goal last night, dad brings LO to mom on the mattress, and LO and mom nurse and co-sleep like before, only not in the family bed.
We do this step for as long as we like, moving the time line for going to mom back some each night. Some people do this whole stage in maybe 4-5 days, we tend to do it for several weeks, gradually moving back the "go to mom" time.

Step 2: Again, mom leaves before bedtime, several days in a row, so babe "knows/thinks" mom isn't in the house. LO doesn't come out to mom until morning, and then at that time mom gets up off mattress and the first day nurse happens in a "daytime" place, like the couch in the living room. Once this stage has begun, mom never nurses LO in the family bed again or on the mattress again. Once this stage has been set for a few days or even longer if you think it is better, mom moves back into the family bedroom and everyone sleeps like normal, but the nursing-at-night part of things has been removed as a connection, and mom is really careful to only ever nurse in day-time locations, so as to not bring back the thought of night-nursing.

That's what we do. It's a little long of a process, but it seemed really gentle on Ben, and so that's why we are doing it this way for Molly, too. We got the general approach from a highly respected sleep specialist here in St. Louis who is a fan of family bed, and is completely against CIO for LO's, so we trusted the advice, and I'd be happy to give you any more details should you be interested.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Ribs are fine now...I think I just had a crazy bought of gas/constipation.

Now I'm battling the migraine of the century. I've never had one before, but the symptoms fit ( can hardly move my head, everytime I stand up my head throbs uncontrollably, nothing seems to be helping...)

I tried everything from a shower, to drinking water, to eating a steak and grapes, to giving in and taking tylenol, even DTD!! Nothing has helped. I wish I had a Blood Pressure cuff to see if my blood pressure is high.

All I know is I'm hardly functioning. I think I'll feed the kids cereal for dinner and just hope they give me no trouble going to bed tonight. DH is at work so I'm home alone and of course today is the day the kids decide to raise you-know-what and refuse to stay out of things they shouldn't be in.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

I am 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant!!!! And i feel like total crap









But hey, from this point on the risk of miscarriage just starts going down, down, down, down, down.

SL









Dea, there comes a point in Lushiness where you don't notice the smell... it's bizarre. My whole life smelt of it though: the house, my clothes, everything, so in some ways I notice the absence more. I have half a round of karma in the downstairs bathroom at the moment, and the house smells right again







And yep, Carrie, twas the dream job, at least the weeks when we got bonus







My best friend from uni and I started at the same time, and I miss my Lushies so darned much it hurts.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Well I broke down and had an excedrin migraine because it got so bad. It helped for a little while, but not long. I think I realized whats going on. My Dr. had me stop all my medication abruptly when I called her last Saturday. I think its withdrawal from the Xanax and Celexa...it also appears I have strep...

Hopefully DH will get up soon and take me to the ER because I'm an absolute mess....


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## LCBMAX (Jun 18, 2008)

SL -- Given all your other symptoms, it's almost good news that you have strep - something easily and safely treated, and at least those symptoms will start getting better as soon as you start the antibiotics. I'm looking forward to that for you.

We had a noteworthy night - only 3 significant wake-ups and only one of them was long nursing. I was actually willing and eager to get out of bed. Ahhhhhh.

Now attacking a sudden flea problem here. It's been an unusually wet spring, and flowers (and babies!) are not the only things blooming. Yesterday I dusted everything with boric acid and today it will be diatomaceous earth. The dogs are washed and dusted (with the DE) so... here, kitty kitty! All this because I didn't have enough to do, I guess. I'm horrified, not so much because I think we'll get plague, but I make myself feel like it means we're dirty. Ok, if you could see my son's face you'd know we're grubby, but you know what I mean. Well, back to the vacuum.

Wish I could send some vacuuming goodness to the houses of the pregnant ladies too.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

We're having flea issues too...Dpup is too big for me to try and bathe, but of course DH still hasn't done it after 2 weeks of me being on top of him about it...

I'm gonna attempt to do it after the kids go to bed, but I definitely need to wrangle the kitties and give them a bath as well.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

These kids are going to put me into the asylum I swear....I take 5 minutes for myself to unwind and what does Austin do?? Dump his bowl of cereal all over the table. Of course that wouldn't be a big deal except he then proceeded to sling it all up the walls and windows and himself....







Its now all over me and I can't hardly get it off the walls...

And I'm supposed to do this all over again? Seriously?!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Evening ladies!







I had a lovely weekend at the Farm (sans tHRH :cry), and now I'm home. My toes are itchy and my teeth hurt, but aside from that I'm feeling pretty decent. The kids have apparently had a decent weekend as well. In less happy news, I have no idea what I did with my wallet.







It's got to be in the minivan.







I'm not looking forward to digging it out.







What's up?


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Sarah Lynne!







Momma, you're sure having a time of it. Here is a virtual backrub and hopefully you're getting some treatment. FWIW, I was on Celexa once and I felt all kinds of wacky in hte head (wierd sharp shooting pains) so it doesn't surprise me that withdrawal from the two meds are making you feel miserable. Poor lady, you need a break!

Helen, here's hoping it's week 12 day 2 that makes the difference, right?

Emily, nice to read your night weaning tips. We've really been intending to and then one night it so hard we don't end up doing it the next night. There was a week (one lovely week) where it seemed like she was sleeping through the night all on her own and then, we went away for the weekend and we're back to the usual. Ah well. I just can't stand the crying all night and her asking for ah-ahs. Especially since I'm gone all day I feel like I need to keep up with her at night.

Carrie, congrats on the job! Woohoo! Been thinking about you lately, gal.

LCBMAX, OMG, I have no idea what I'd do if we had 1. animals 2. animals with fleas. My hat's off to you, for sure. The neighborhood cats keep us busy enough.

DD's fits are giving DH stomaches and anxiety. None of the other kids have been like this, so he's starting to wonder if it's the parenting methods. He understands why she gets frustrated, but thinks there's got to be a way to teach her to handle it rather than for her to throw a fit for everything. I've not found _raising the spirited child_ yet but did get _the happiest toddler on the block_ from the library and he's going to look through it today and I will read it after him. Any tips from you mommas would be greatly appreciated. Sometimes I think maybe I would do better being the SAHP, but then, I think I'd be raging and crabby 5 days of the week and demand weekends off, so I should just shut my mouth.


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Teeny, FWIW, I don't think that at this age the throwing a fit thing has much to do with parenting. Some kids are just more fiery than others. Twyla is SO like that. And I'm not parenting her any differently than the others! I just try to look at it positively, and tell myself (and dh) that she'll be a strong-minded woman who knows what she wants and how to get it.







Just like her mama.









All the night weaning talk is making me think twice about nursing 8 times a night or more.







I know my health is suffering because of the interrupted sleep every night. I am starting to have constant widespread pain again, and this time a headache as well. It just never goes away, and that can't be good. Maybe it's time to start thinking in that direction.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Teeny-- Part of it is personality, yes, but in my experience behavior and nutrition are DIRECTLY related. BeanBean is an energetic, healthy little boy but when he's anemic everything is a huge tradgedy and he's downright explosive. There's 'spirited' and there's 'Oh my GODS keep that ANIMAL away from my children!!' Those lines are in different places for different kiddos, but it's something to consider. Bear has a much more difficult time of it, but when he becomes physically ill he can throw violent fits-- but he usually remains stationary for them. Bean used to fling things and himself all over the freaking house.









Anemia is fairly common; It could also be another vitamin/mineral deficiency, so have a good, hard look at her diet and yours and see if tweaking a bit doesn't improve her behavior. Bear's much better behavior-wise, too, now that he's on the 30 cal/oz formula.







For BeanBean (and myself!), it was Floravital that made the HUGE difference (we need to buy a bottle or two, in fact). Bella's behavior and her entire life improve with the addition of probiotics to her diet, and I'm SO much niftier, more patient and clever with a flax seed oil supplement. I know, it's all over the place.. but look at what, precisely she's doing and see if you can't find a root cause.

This is actually a really great thing to use as a meditation for a ritual, if you're so inclined-- as your favorite appropriate deity to illuminate the path, and see if the answer doesn't just fall into your lap. Your furry little demon will morph back into the beautiful little girl you adore, and you & Mr. Toona will both be happier people.









Nightweaning... deserves a quiet night...







: (Sorry, HUGE REM fan here. You'd know that if you played my games on Facebook.







) My thoughts on nightweaning are confused. As you may remember, I'm a CLW parent; I have never nightweaned. I always found nightnursing easier than nursing during the day, especially at this age. BooBah especially was the world's easiest nightnurser-- from birth, she would latch herself on if there was a boob remotely nearby. She learned to lift/open my shirt obscenely early, and was so good at latching on and nursing and passing out that I used to sleep straight through the night and wake up with one boob HUGE and dripping and the other one flat and wrinkly.









Bean and Bella would sort of wake me up, but I'd roll over, pull out the boob, put it in the mouth and go back to sleep.







This was only truly difficult a) in the very beginning (both Bean and Bella had trouble latching on initially) and b) when I was pregnant (no milk and tired mamma make BeanBean something something). At 15 months I VASTLY preferred nursing Bean at night because he was so busy and active during the day and was really working on the Rules of the Nursies. At night, he'd just latch on and close his eyes; Both of us went back to sleep.

This is not to make anyone feel badly about nightweaning; I'm just having a hard time understanding why anyone *would* night wean when I always found night nursing to be SO much easier than day nursing.







And to offer another perspective, in case someone is saying, "Well it's not that difficult for me, but maybe because of the age I should be thinking about nightweaning?" Well, no-- if you're good, your baby is good, then keep it right up.







Just remember to brush their teeth before bed and in the morning.


----------



## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Grrr, I just lost a huge post. This is going to be a half-assed version, sorry.

teeny, i think you either need to go for it and stick with a night weaning plan of not do it. Going back and forth will make it more difficult over time because she'll keep fighting knowing you'll give up eventually. if she's not ready, give it another month and re-evaluate. you might want to look into Dr. Jay Gordan's method, he's gentle and she may adjust better that way than cold turkey.

sarah lynne, you have so much going on. i hope you start feeling better soon. most meds should be out of your system within 2 weeks so you should be getting close to being done with withdrawl symptoms. they are rough









good points rynna, i have been hugely lacking with my vitamins and fish oil and i can tell a difference. i need to be better about that. i'm a happier person when i use them!

okay, we are having a fussy, whiny day so i better run, my first post took all my time!

i'll try to be back and catch everyone else later


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Teeny-- Part of it is personality, yes, but in my experience behavior and nutrition are DIRECTLY related. BeanBean is an energetic, healthy little boy but when he's anemic everything is a huge tradgedy and he's downright explosive. There's 'spirited' and there's 'Oh my GODS keep that ANIMAL away from my children!!' Those lines are in different places for different kiddos, but it's something to consider. Bear has a much more difficult time of it, but when he becomes physically ill he can throw violent fits-- but he usually remains stationary for them. Bean used to fling things and himself all over the freaking house.









Anemia is fairly common; It could also be another vitamin/mineral deficiency, so have a good, hard look at her diet and yours and see if tweaking a bit doesn't improve her behavior. Bear's much better behavior-wise, too, now that he's on the 30 cal/oz formula.







For BeanBean (and myself!), it was Floravital that made the HUGE difference (we need to buy a bottle or two, in fact). Bella's behavior and her entire life improve with the addition of probiotics to her diet, and I'm SO much niftier, more patient and clever with a flax seed oil supplement. I know, it's all over the place.. but look at what, precisely she's doing and see if you can't find a root cause.

This is actually a really great thing to use as a meditation for a ritual, if you're so inclined-- as your favorite appropriate deity to illuminate the path, and see if the answer doesn't just fall into your lap. Your furry little demon will morph back into the beautiful little girl you adore, and you & Mr. Toona will both be happier people.









Nightweaning... deserves a quiet night...







: (Sorry, HUGE REM fan here. You'd know that if you played my games on Facebook.







) My thoughts on nightweaning are confused. As you may remember, I'm a CLW parent; I have never nightweaned. I always found nightnursing easier than nursing during the day, especially at this age. BooBah especially was the world's easiest nightnurser-- from birth, she would latch herself on if there was a boob remotely nearby. She learned to lift/open my shirt obscenely early, and was so good at latching on and nursing and passing out that I used to sleep straight through the night and wake up with one boob HUGE and dripping and the other one flat and wrinkly.









Bean and Bella would sort of wake me up, but I'd roll over, pull out the boob, put it in the mouth and go back to sleep.







This was only truly difficult a) in the very beginning (both Bean and Bella had trouble latching on initially) and b) when I was pregnant (no milk and tired mamma make BeanBean something something). At 15 months I VASTLY preferred nursing Bean at night because he was so busy and active during the day and was really working on the Rules of the Nursies. At night, he'd just latch on and close his eyes; Both of us went back to sleep.

This is not to make anyone feel badly about nightweaning; I'm just having a hard time understanding why anyone *would* night wean when I always found night nursing to be SO much easier than day nursing.







And to offer another perspective, in case someone is saying, "Well it's not that difficult for me, but maybe because of the age I should be thinking about nightweaning?" Well, no-- if you're good, your baby is good, then keep it right up.







Just remember to brush their teeth before bed and in the morning.









Rynna you are just the bee's knees best









So since you are Miss Information what pregnancy safe supplement would you recommend for me to keep my stress level down because I'm already feeling high strung. Rescue Remedy here is $$ which is what my midwife suggested, but I'm looking for something to help fight it at its source (in conjunction with my counseling) instead of just masking the symptoms ya know?


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Thanks for the night weaning info, Emily! That was really interesting. Our girls are pretty much night weaned, but they need me to go to bed. Tonight will be the second night of their lives that grandparents put them to bed while DH and I are off at a concert (the Decemberists at an outdoor arena, should be a blast if it doesn't storm.) My parents are great with my girls, and take care of them while I work. So I hope everybody will be good, but you know, I worry about them.









Helen, another Lush fan here! Before they came to the US, I had a fantasy of opening up a franchise, but when I wrote them about it, they had already had 2500 requests and still weren't doing it. Would have loved to work there!

SL, hope you're feeling better, and is it bad if I hope your new baby is a girl? I think you could use someone understanding around the house . . .


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
Rynna you are just the bee's knees best









So since you are Miss Information what pregnancy safe supplement would you recommend for me to keep my stress level down because I'm already feeling high strung. Rescue Remedy here is $$ which is what my midwife suggested, but I'm looking for something to help fight it at its source (in conjunction with my counseling) instead of just masking the symptoms ya know?









Why thank you. I don't actually know all that much I don't think, I've just been doing this for longer than you have.







As far as your stress level: Omega fatty acids are VERY important, and something many, many folks with depression/stress/anxiety issues should be supplementing. I prefer flax seed oil capsules when I'm pregnant because I'm absolutely paranoid about food allergies, but I'm told that fish oil is more effective; The choice would be yours. It's much more effective than Rescue Remedy in my opinion, though-- it's the difference between prevention/cure and temporary treatment. Fatty acid supplements can be VERY affordable, too. Check out Vitacost for some real deals.

I know I'm always harping on about anemia, but IT HAPPENS. Anemia is VERY freaking common, particularly in certain subgroups-- pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and menstruating, women in general between the ages of 11 and 40, vegetarians/vegans, individuals with random blood disorders that show up A LOT more often than most people believe..







In any case, have your iron levels checked, PLEASE. If you're not the sort to have this done at the doctor's office, you can buy a home test kid. Seriously! There are many ways to supplement your iron as well; My favorite cheap way is what we call "kids coffee." A tablespoon or two of blackstrap molasses in hot/warm water= yummy, easy on the tummy iron supplementation.







I bought a gallon of blackstrap molasses for $5.70 a few years ago and we're still using it.







When we have more cash, I get Floravital (Vitacost has the best prices on this that I've seen) but my understanding is that it works very very well for some people (myself included) and not at all for others (the minority).


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 







Why thank you. I don't actually know all that much I don't think, I've just been doing this for longer than you have.







As far as your stress level: Omega fatty acids are VERY important, and something many, many folks with depression/stress/anxiety issues should be supplementing. I prefer flax seed oil capsules when I'm pregnant because I'm absolutely paranoid about food allergies, but I'm told that fish oil is more effective; The choice would be yours. It's much more effective than Rescue Remedy in my opinion, though-- it's the difference between prevention/cure and temporary treatment. Fatty acid supplements can be VERY affordable, too. Check out Vitacost for some real deals.

I know I'm always harping on about anemia, but IT HAPPENS. Anemia is VERY freaking common, particularly in certain subgroups-- pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and menstruating, women in general between the ages of 11 and 40, vegetarians/vegans, individuals with random blood disorders that show up A LOT more often than most people believe..







In any case, have your iron levels checked, PLEASE. If you're not the sort to have this done at the doctor's office, you can buy a home test kid. Seriously! There are many ways to supplement your iron as well; My favorite cheap way is what we call "kids coffee." A tablespoon or two of blackstrap molasses in hot/warm water= yummy, easy on the tummy iron supplementation.







I bought a gallon of blackstrap molasses for $5.70 a few years ago and we're still using it.







When we have more cash, I get Floravital (Vitacost has the best prices on this that I've seen) but my understanding is that it works very very well for some people (myself included) and not at all for others (the minority).

Thanks Momma







They checked my iron back when I had my yearly visit in January. They also checked my cholesterol and all that fun jazz.

I'm gonna check into the Omega Fatty acids


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
Thanks Momma







They checked my iron back when I had my yearly visit in January. They also checked my cholesterol and all that fun jazz.

Yeah, it needs to be done WAY more often than that. Like every other month if you're normal. Your hemoglobin in January is entirely unrelated to your hemoglobin in June. When I was hospitalized after Bear was born, my iron was low enough that I was transfused twice; Six months later I was spectacularly healthy and my iron was fine. It's nothing like stable, unless you're on top of it all the time.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Yeah, it needs to be done WAY more often than that. Like every other month if you're normal. Your hemoglobin in January is entirely unrelated to your hemoglobin in June. When I was hospitalized after Bear was born, my iron was low enough that I was transfused twice; Six months later I was spectacularly healthy and my iron was fine. It's nothing like stable, unless you're on top of it all the time.

Thats interesting to hear! So where do I get the at home checker thing?


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
Thanks Momma







They checked my iron back when I had my yearly visit in January. They also checked my cholesterol and all that fun jazz.

I'm gonna check into the Omega Fatty acids









my recommendation would be Green Pasture's fermented cod liver oil. it is the only one that doesn't have artificial vitamins added back in and it's made in the us. it's big on the traditional foods board here. also, i've tried others (nordic naturals and carlson's) and i noticed NO difference in my personality.

this stuff is AMAZING and it's good for brain and eye development of your babe and depression. seriously, as soon as i skip a day or two i start getting crabby and irritated at little things, i forgot yesterday







and i've already snapped twice today.

it's pricey, i can't afford it at cost so i always get it on sale, i know a group that has it for 28.50 per 118 doses. it's usually 44.00 let me know if you want info. oh! plus lazlo will take it plain and linnaea will but prefers it with a bit of watered down juice.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
Thats interesting to hear! So where do I get the at home checker thing?

Any reasonably-stocked drugstore.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Any reasonably-stocked drugstore.










Tankie Tankie Rynna babe


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
This is not to make anyone feel badly about nightweaning; I'm just having a hard time understanding why anyone *would* night wean when I always found night nursing to be SO much easier than day nursing.









well, for us, i can't go back to sleep until i'm sure the kiddo is out, it was the same with lazlo. so i can lie there and wait and wait and wait.... while she dozes but wakes if i pull the nipple out. it sucks to be up for an hour while she's half-asleep and i end up getting angry. so, it's easier in that i'm lying down but i'd much prefer to nurse during the day (that's how i get my computer time, yo







) than lay there getting pissed off because she will not let go of the nipple to sleep.

that being said, if the dental issues weren't there i wouldn't even be thinking about it yet. i know it's not supposed to matter but i know lazlo's cavities stopped getting bigger once we night-weaned.









and sarah lynne- the clo is on sale from their website for 29.00 but i bet their shipping will be more than the group's.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PlayaMama* 
my recommendation would be Green Pasture's fermented cod liver oil. it is the only one that doesn't have artificial vitamins added back in and it's made in the us. it's big on the traditional foods board here. also, i've tried others (nordic naturals and carlson's) and i noticed NO difference in my personality.

this stuff is AMAZING and it's good for brain and eye development of your babe and depression. seriously, as soon as i skip a day or two i start getting crabby and irritated at little things, i forgot yesterday







and i've already snapped twice today.

it's pricey, i can't afford it at cost so i always get it on sale, i know a group that has it for 28.50 per 118 doses. it's usually 44.00 let me know if you want info. oh! plus lazlo will take it plain and linnaea will but prefers it with a bit of watered down juice.

At first I thought there's no way I could afford that...and then I realized that my Celexa was 8.00-10.00/month for the prescription (thats with my prescription plan I could only imagine how much it cost without!) 118 doses is almost 4 months of doses and that would make it around 11.00/month (and 7.10/month with that group price.) So not really any different just an upfront cost.

I guess I could tell DH if he wants his Whey Protein Shakes than I have to get that LOL

PM the info!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Carrie...
You mentioned fermented CLO. Everyone talks about it. The thought of it makes me want to puke.
you say fermented CLO, I say rotten fish.

I blame Leftie for this assumption.

Also we're checking for a Leftie tomorrow. I hope he's still there. Poor little guy he's been blamed for a lot of stuff lately. I guess poor Rightie also, she's never blamed. And I've totally assigned them genders. I wonder if I'm right?


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

I hope everything's OK, Dea.

The pregnancy epidemic continues: Rajahkat's expecting too. I reckon there's one, maybe two more to go.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Carrie...
You mentioned fermented CLO. Everyone talks about it. The thought of it makes me want to puke.
you say fermented CLO, I say rotten fish.

I blame Leftie for this assumption.

Also we're checking for a Leftie tomorrow. I hope he's still there. Poor little guy he's been blamed for a lot of stuff lately. I guess poor Rightie also, she's never blamed. And I've totally assigned them genders. I wonder if I'm right?


ha!! i'm a mostly vegetarian who sometimes lapses with bacon, i can barely stand the thought of cod liver oil and i tell you what, this stuff tastes nothing like fish. tuna from a can is fishier. i plug my nose, shoot it to the back of my mouth with the syringe, chase with grape juice or strawberry juice, breath and..... nothing. it's like a vague licorice flavour.

it's almost eerie really. and i was horribly paranoid before i tried it.

yay leftie! i've got my fingers crossed, my friend with twins is an amazing mom and her boys are SO cute together. when they started walking the one brother started first and he would wait for the crawling brother to catch up!


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
The pregnancy epidemic continues: Rajahkat's expecting too. I reckon there's one, maybe two more to go.

not it! not it! not it!









i'm actually starting to really like the idea of two. it feels nice to be moving away from that baby stuff and towards my life after kidlets. kinda like rynna with the last baby in diapers etc. which is good really because i've been totally wanting numebr three and it's just not realistic with our situation.

i start my job tomorrow must go to sleep!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PlayaMama* 
not it! not it! not it!









i'm actually starting to really like the idea of two. it feels nice to be moving away from that baby stuff and towards my life after kidlets. kinda like rynna with the last baby in diapers etc. which is good really because i've been totally wanting numebr three and it's just not realistic with our situation.

i start my job tomorrow must go to sleep!

*NOT IT!!*





















:


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

I just want to remind you ladies that the minute you start to feel safe in the amount of children you have is the exact same minute it happens.

That's what happened to me.









Now I'm all rainbows and warm fuzzies over the thought of buying maternity clothes, watching my belly get big, feeling the baby, buying clothes for baby....etc. It sucks you into a vortex.



































:

Beware......._Beeeeewwaaaaaare_.....


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
I just want to remind you ladies that the minute you start to feel safe in the amount of children you have is the exact same minute it happens.

That's what happened to me.









No really. I'm good, thanks.









Quote:

Now I'm all rainbows and warm fuzzies over the thought of buying maternity clothes, watching my belly get big, feeling the baby, buying clothes for baby....etc. It sucks you into a vortex.



































:

Beware......._Beeeeewwaaaaaare_.....
I've done it four times. That's nice. But really, I'm good, thanks.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

LOL

My senior Title should be
"Beware of the Baby Vortex"


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Yeah...also NOT IT!!!

Though Helen is giving me nightmares with her eerily correct predictions....I am in the same boat as you, Carrie...looking daily at my little family, and feeling strongly like this is what it is meant to be.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Carrie...
You mentioned fermented CLO. Everyone talks about it. The thought of it makes me want to puke.
you say fermented CLO, I say rotten fish.

I blame Leftie for this assumption.

Also we're checking for a Leftie tomorrow. I hope he's still there. Poor little guy he's been blamed for a lot of stuff lately. I guess poor Rightie also, she's never blamed. And I've totally assigned them genders. I wonder if I'm right?

We're all pulling for leftie and rightie too!







: LOL about the assigned genders, I bet I'd be doing that too.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
I hope everything's OK, Dea.

The pregnancy epidemic continues: Rajahkat's expecting too. I reckon there's one, maybe two more to go.

I can say with confidence, as AF arrived Sat, NOT I!!

I meant to quote Carrie and ditto all the fermented CLO stuff. I wish they had an unflavored variety, but it's really not so bad. The dosages are in the mL so it's a very small amount, and just knock it back like you're doing a shot. Course Nara always wants some, so I give her some (straight), she seems to like it, but she's a wierd one for what she likes to eat. (thankfully, because it's one of those thigns that would be hard to get into her otherwise).

Thanks all on the nightweaning and toddler fits advice. One of the reasons I'm so wishy-washy on nightweaning is that I'm gone all day at work, so that's the only time she has unrestricted access to nursing. The other one is that whenever we try to limit night nursing, I just cannot stand her screaming and crying. We've tried Jay Gordon's method. In fact that's the only one we've tried. We do it for one night and decide it's too hard (on all of us) and take a break and then a month later try it again for one night and then stop. A few weeks ago, of her own doing, she was sleeping very well most of the night in her own bed (barely any nursing) and now that's changed (thanks to teething I suppose). But I'm feeling better, and not feeling so entirely sleep deprived, so it's easier on me these days. She does at least start off the night in the crib these days, which gives us a little time. Though somehow she always knows the exact *right moment* to wake up and "interruptus" us. IYKWIM. Sheesh. He's been snipped already kid, as far as we're concerned, don't worry, you WILL be the youngest!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

I had another ultrasound today and it is the same outcome as last week. I go in for another in 2 weeks.
Sometimes we could see something in the sac and other times we couldn't. I swear I saw a pixle fluttering, but I am sure I was making it up. I feel like I need to prepare myself that I've lost that baby. I DO NOT want to hear people remind me that I still have one healthy baby in there, which I understand, but there was a baby, or there should have been and now there's not. I don't think I can bear someone tell me that I'm wrong to be sad.
GRRRRR!
The doctor did say that twins are hard to see and it can take time. I have little hope though. I can't bear to have any more crushes to my soul, ya know? The way I see it, if I move on and there are 2 then it will be a great surprise.
Also Trixie's carseat has been recalled. DAMN! And I have no appetite so consoling myself in icecream won't help. Suffice to say I am rather pissy today.


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Oh Dea,







...I've been thinking about you all day.
First of all, I think it's right to acknowledge that it really is too early to be getting great views of twins. I'm glad your prepared for the worst, but there could still be really good news in 2 weeks.
And second of all, you are absolutely right...anyone who dared to say something as horrid as "well, you still have one baby" would be INCREDIBLY insensitive, rude, awful and out-of-line. Your baby is in there, and if he doesn't make it for some reason, it will be heart-breaking.







. I'll be sending you every sticky baby vibe I can muster for the next 2 weeks!!







:


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Oh, Dea.














:


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

SL tells the truth, Emily









Dea







For me, part of me is glad that we found out about my twins when we did (when I miscarried twin 2 the day after finishing my miscarriage with twin 1) It's OK to grieve. It's OK to be happy. It's OK to be hopeful. It's OK to be despondent. AND IT'S OK TO KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT FOR AS LONG AS YOU NEED TO. What I will say, though, is that I am very glad that rightie is behaving herself and not giving you additional cause to worry.
Seriously, we've done the first part of the journey with you,and I know you have your new DDC but we're still here for you. OK?


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

For Dea

I'm still not giving up hope for you and will make sure I prayer extra long and loud ok?

Babyweight is already starting....Only 1-2 lbs, but I'm a little bummed. I did have some ice cream and 2 cupcakes over this last few days as well as some buffalo wings from Wendy's (they were not that great and I didn't finish them.) So we'll just make sure I'm a little tighter with my reins and hope for the best!!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Cough, cough, water retention, cough, cough. Put the scales and the cupcakes away for a month. Cough.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Cough, cough, water retention, cough, cough. Put the scales and the cupcakes away for a month. Cough.

LOL thats the plan







Although I'm still not overly convinced its water weight because I've been drinking my fluids and avoiding salt. But eh who cares really


----------



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
LOL thats the plan







Although I'm still not overly convinced its water weight because I've been drinking my fluids and avoiding salt. But eh who cares really









Avoiding salt actually leads to water retention, did you know? That's not to say that you should be pouring it over everything you eat by the bucket, but you should certainly be eating to your own tastes.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Avoiding salt actually leads to water retention, did you know? That's not to say that you should be pouring it over everything you eat by the bucket, but you should certainly be eating to your own tastes.

Thats what I meant I was doing









Speaking of salt....now I want boiled peanuts lol


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## Selesai (Oct 26, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Teenytoona* 
Thanks all on the nightweaning and toddler fits advice. One of the reasons I'm so wishy-washy on nightweaning is that I'm gone all day at work, so that's the only time she has unrestricted access to nursing. The other one is that whenever we try to limit night nursing, I just cannot stand her screaming and crying. We've tried Jay Gordon's method. In fact that's the only one we've tried. We do it for one night and decide it's too hard (on all of us) and take a break and then a month later try it again for one night and then stop.
<snip>
Though somehow she always knows the exact *right moment* to wake up and "interruptus" us. IYKWIM. Sheesh.

Teeny, I'm in the same boat as you where I work out of the home during the day, so my kids have tended to nurse a fair amount at night.
I nightweaned P at about age 2, after a few attempts. We did the Jay Gordon method. I nightweaned because at that point G had been born and I was going to shoot myself if I had to tend to both of them at the same time all night for much longer.
That being said, my personal feelings on nightweaning are that it's better to do it when the child is verbal (at least somewhat) and not in the midst of teething. My kids tend to teethe early, so right now G is getting her 4 last teeth (until her 2nd yr molars) in. Plus, she can't tell me what she needs or wants. I think she's too young to nightwean, so I haven't even considered it. That's just my two cents.

About the babies knowing when to wake up-- yeah. Don't they say babies are the best birth control? Grace does the same thing. DH gets so angry!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
I had another ultrasound today and it is the same outcome as last week. I go in for another in 2 weeks.
Sometimes we could see something in the sac and other times we couldn't. I swear I saw a pixle fluttering, but I am sure I was making it up. I feel like I need to prepare myself that I've lost that baby. I DO NOT want to hear people remind me that I still have one healthy baby in there, which I understand, but there was a baby, or there should have been and now there's not. I don't think I can bear someone tell me that I'm wrong to be sad.

Really pulling for you, Dea.

I am in the same place as others about the number of kids I have. I used to think I wanted three, but now I have a boy and a girl (which is kind of cool, though not necessary for me) and I can see the end of the needy kid stage. Sometimes it makes me sad-- I love these ages-- my oldest, 3 this month, is such a gem and says the funniest things. But I also remember the newborn period, the pumping for 15 mos+ period, the working while exhausted period, etc. I'm not too eager to go there, or to push DH (SAHD) much further!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Yesterday I went out for dinner with a friend. We went to Damon's and played the trivia game (yes, we won, I usually do) and had a lovely time being normal people. Before that, I handed over all of my infant prefolds, a slew of covers in sizes preemie - medium, about a dozen premium prefolds and a HUGE bag full of baby clothing, boys & girls sizes preemie-24 months. You know why? Decluttering, yes, but I'm _not having any babies right now_. When I think about RHMB, I think of 2012. I think it'd be fun to start a new pattern, maybe (my kids were born in '02, '04, '06, and '08).

But I am really enjoying what a big fellow Bear is! He's so sweet and squishy. This morning, instead of screaming "bobble!" or "wawa!" he very politely said, "dirsty, peese?"







In a few more months, he'll ask politely for damn near everything (except, of course, when he doesn't want to). He likes to sit on the potty and even pees on occasion. He claps and says, "big guw!" which is, of course, "big girl" and what he's come to associate with the potty-- who cares if he's a little confused?







I call him "big guy" and clap right along.







The point is, he *is* a big guy and it's so exciting.







: I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... it's a swirling vortex of beauty, and it smells absolutely pristine... oh wait, that's a toilet flushing, nevermind.









Yes-- I'm sad that I'll never have that perfect birth experience. I'm VERY sad not to be really enjoying nursing my last baby, having those warm snuggly moments, that I'll never look down to see a toddler nursing and driving a car back and forth over my boob again.







: I've lost some things that I'll never have. But you know what? I have a lot to be greatful for. The game's not over yet, and I think I'm doing all right in the grand scheme of things.









Of course, I have a redhead and he makes a lot of things better just by existing.
















Okay, I didn't get much sleep last night ladies. Forgive me if this is incoherent... and please laugh if it's hilarious.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Rynna, that's sweet.

I've found Dea's missing eighth follicle, you'll be relieved to know. Strawberryfields is due with her third January 17th, and if you count me among the 8, that's all present and accounted for... so you can all breathe out now







Apart from Rynna, who is obviously about to get knocked up because she got rid of her baby stuff


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Funny about the missing 8th follie!
Thank you everyone for the kind words. I feel way more comfortable telling you all the details, and whining.
Sarah Lynn, I gained 2 lbs in a week. I'm counting on it being water weight. I'm not sure I even ate 2 pounds worth last week. I have no appetite!

Do strawberries cause runny bums? Trixie has managed to eat close to her body weight in them in the past couple of days. She loves them so much, and since she's not much of a eater, when she loves something I let her have it. So far there have been no ill effects, but I'm waiting!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Rynna, that's sweet.

I've found Dea's missing eighth follicle, you'll be relieved to know. Strawberryfields is due with her third January 17th, and if you count me among the 8, that's all present and accounted for... so you can all breathe out now







Apart from Rynna, who is obviously about to get knocked up because she got rid of her baby stuff









MEEP!







:














Even Facebook says I won't get pregnant until 2012, and we all know that Facebook quizzes are like the word of the Almighty, parsed in hexidecimal and reformated for our viewing pleasure in l337/TXT.

Lucky for you tHRH has a sense of humor about it all, the crazy fellow. I suppose I should feel honored that people want to breed with me, and I know that I'm blessed to have a man in my life who thinks my kids are the bees' knees, and who's flattered when they miss him. But wow, I'm really loving what a big guy Bear is.







Bella, too! Before I know it, Bean and BooBah will be human beings instead of wild monkeys and I'll be able to sew and knit and embroider to my heart's content. Mmm, knitting. My redhead's always freezing (which happens when all of your body fat is stored on another person-- Jack Sprat was clearly based on tHRH














; If I knitted him a sweater, he'd actually *wear* it. Especially if it was black.







Hm. Anyone know a good place to find a nice, soft, black merino yarn? I like Paton's Classic Merino, but I don't recall seeing black... Anyway, it'd be a seriously gratifying project. I mean he's tiny, so it wouldn't take a year and a day to knit, and he'd wear it which would make me happy.







What's not to love? It's like making stuff for the kids, only it's less likely to be completely destroyed!

Speaking of, BooBah has asked for another jacket. I made her one a couple of years ago (Bear wore it last winter; It will probably be too small come fall but he'll wear it this summer at the Farm) and it was the coolest thing ever. She'd like another one that's just as cool. I told her she'd have to discuss with her brother the disassembly of sewing machines and such. She wasn't impressed.







One of these days... *wanders off, fantasizing about a sewing machine that DOESN'T get eaten by bears.*

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Do strawberries cause runny bums? Trixie has managed to eat close to her body weight in them in the past couple of days. She loves them so much, and since she's not much of a eater, when she loves something I let her have it. So far there have been no ill effects, but I'm waiting!

Strawberries are fairly high on the list of allergenic foods. Not the top eight that make up some 90% of all allergies, but as far as fruits go they're up there (behind only, I believe, the Nightshade Family). Bella was allergic to strawberries as a little person-- her first summer I had a handful. She broke out in hives and I gave them up.







At three she has no trouble with them, but that's a relatively new development. Runny buns, yes, but the hives were the real dealbreaker around here. Bear was fine at first, but now he's starting to break out from them. It's quite depressing and it makes life very difficult, as his siblings love them and love to share.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Ahhh Rynna I'm sorry for the allergies! Sucks!
So far we have none. Trixie eats them like there's no tomorrow and she's had no side effects. I guess a little of a runny bum wouldn't be bad 'casue she's a little constipated anyhow.
She loves her nightshade berries too. If I would just feed her blue, black and strawberries she would be a happy girl. Mean ol' mama trying to make her have a balanced diet!


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Dea, my DS would eat just like that too, if I let him

Rynna, I'm so jealous of your amazing skillz, and love hearing the sweet Bear stories!!

As for us, Molly didn't nurse between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. last night. Now, she was sleeping with DH, so that's why, but still she didn't have a hard time, and it was surreal for me to go that period of time with uninterrupted sleep...seriously surreal. (AWESOME!!!)


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Rynna, I have a source for an undyed black BFL aran-weight. LMK if you want the details of my supplier, huh?









Dea, not IME, but every kid is different.


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Helen, I'm so glad the octuplets have all been accounted for. I took a test 2 days ago and was slightly worried I was joining the ranks but nope AF arrived so alls good here for another month. I do want to have another child but I've just got to get some weight off first. I do NOT want to start a pregnnacy at the weight I ended the last (still pregnant weight). I just need to get to work on it!!

Yay Emily!! I'm glad it's going well

Nightweaning, I agree that there a difference when you are WOH and can definitly see how that changes the situation.

Dea, I'm keeping hope for Lefty and I agree that you have every right to how ever you feel about it. I am glad you are sharing this journey with us.









I am on call for 3 births right now. One was due yesterday, one Sunday, and one next Wed. I really hope they don't all go on the same day! I've been really busy with that and my class and research project and I'm lookingforward to July where all I'll be doing is post partum appts and the research and we go on vacation! Yay July!

Sorry, I have to run. I'm reading just not posting the best these days.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Ok, so when your child is sick, has a fever, very sore throat (won't swallow) and all that, do you take her to the regular doctor who can't see her for hours (but will and is an awesome doc), or do you try to find an urgent care, or do you rush her to the hospital?

We're delaying vaxes, so there's that to consider.

My thought is try to get some tylenol into her and then take her in at 4.


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## LCBMAX (Jun 18, 2008)

If you can keep the fever below 102 with tylenol or ibuprofen, AND if the baby is consolable and distractable with snuggles, books, etc, AND if she's still peeing a little, and taking some fluids, I think it's ok to wait for the later appointment. If the fever doesn't respond, or she's seeming dehydrated, or she's lethargic and too sick to even object when you bother her, doesn't cry, isn't interested in the best bribes, then go in right away. My 2 cents. Good luck with the poor little snuglet.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LCBMAX* 
If you can keep the fever below 102 with tylenol or ibuprofen, AND if the baby is consolable and distractable with snuggles, books, etc, AND if she's still peeing a little, and taking some fluids, I think it's ok to wait for the later appointment. If the fever doesn't respond, or she's seeming dehydrated, or she's lethargic and too sick to even object when you bother her, doesn't cry, isn't interested in the best bribes, then go in right away. My 2 cents. Good luck with the poor little snuglet.

Thanks so much. Thing is I'm in the office and it's DH doing the care for her. He actually had her at a sitter today because he was tryingto get some work done, when she called and said DD's running a fever and is holding her throat and won't swallow anything.







It's just that I feel very helpless from afar. KWIM?


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Teenytoona* 
Thanks so much. Thing is I'm in the office and it's DH doing the care for her. He actually had her at a sitter today because he was tryingto get some work done, when she called and said DD's running a fever and is holding her throat and won't swallow anything.







It's just that I feel very helpless from afar. KWIM?

I agree with as long as the fever isn't overly high and she's reasonably consolable/distractable then I'd wait for the Dr. who already knows her and her history. I avoid Urgent Care/ER unless its emergent or I'm left with no choice (like its Saturday around here and I don't think it can wait until Monday.) Hope she's better soon!


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Thanks Sarah Lynne. He went to our doc and somehow (with his winnign smile?) got her in real quick. She doesn't have strep, so that's a good thing. It's so funny, he's so anti taking any thing for himself (heck he didn't even take any painkillers when he got snipped), but the second one of the kids is mildly hurt he's talking hospital faster than you can say family doctor. I guess I also needed a gauge to know what's really hospital material and what can wait.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
I agree with as long as the fever isn't overly high and she's reasonably consolable/distractable then I'd wait for the Dr. who already knows her and her history. I avoid Urgent Care/ER unless its emergent or I'm left with no choice (like its Saturday around here and I don't think it can wait until Monday.) Hope she's better soon!

Agreed. I can't remember if my last ER trip was a Bear ear infection or if the Sudafed Spectacular was more recent (that one SUCKED). Here's a note for anyone who's ever been jealous of kids who will try any kind of new food several times before deciding they don't like it: This applies to EVERYTHING. While the average child might have thought that the cute little red buttons were candies, they'd have taken a single bite of Sudafed and started spitting and crying immediately because they taste awful. They certainly wouldn't have consumed over a dozen of the little suckers, nor would they have shared with their little brother (who wouldn't have eaten them anyway, again because they taste wretched). That, however, is precisely what Bella did.

Others are often flabbergasted by the fact that my children really are willing to try any kind of new food, and that they actually taste things at least twice before deciding that they don't particularly care for them. I get looks of amazement in Wegman's when my kids want to taste the strange new cheeses (and eyes bug out when one or more really likes it), and lots of questions about how I manage to get them to eat vegetables or to drink Green Goodness. There is a downside to everything, though, and now you ladies know the truth.









Quote:


Originally Posted by *Teenytoona* 
Thanks Sarah Lynne. He went to our doc and somehow (with his winnign smile?) got her in real quick. She doesn't have strep, so that's a good thing. It's so funny, he's so anti taking any thing for himself (heck he didn't even take any painkillers when he got snipped), but the second one of the kids is mildly hurt he's talking hospital faster than you can say family doctor. I guess I also needed a gauge to know what's really hospital material and what can wait.

Oh it's SO much harder to have a sick kid than to be sick yourself. Just watching them be all sad and such is really really difficult. I've always said that nothing will make you feel old and impotent more quickly than having a sick child and not being able to help.







:

That said: Rapid strep tests are notoriously unreliable, as they depend on antibodies coursing through your system. Strep cannot be ruled out at all until 48 hours later, when the culture comes back. It's sort of like a pregnancy test: Positive means positive, negative means check back later.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Teeny, I tend to wait 24 hours before calling the doctor except for Isaac's asthma attacks, and generally the kids have got over the worst of it without any medical treatment whatsoever. Mine don't get sick easily though (apart frm the aforementioned asthma) and getting a doctors appointment is a PITA. Oh, and delaying vaxes would not feature at a time like this, other than to mention it on the off chance she has diphtheria.
Rynna, I remember the sudafed story, though I don't think you told us what the drug was. You've got a few stories lined up for Bella's 18th birthday party, haven't you? It'll be another decade before she can stop blushing, I hope... bless her.


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Teeny, I hope Nara is feeling better! We luckily have fantastic pedes who are very non-alarmist, and they've given us good guidelines for when to come in, and also make us feel very comfortable about coming in even when we know we're just being silly first-time parents. I think the only time we actually brought her in was to find out if she had the pox or not. (still unconvinced that the doc was right in saying they were not!)

Dea, thoughts & prayers with you. What will be will be; if you end with all joy, you will rejoice; if you have a mixture of joy & sadness, you will grieve & rejoice both. And we're right here with you.

Selesai - hi! Good to see you!

Helen, you do some serious lurking to hunt down all 8 octuplets!

Rynna, yipes, I totally remember the Sudafed story. Yipes! And I have to admit - the only time my "must have baby" brain kicked in before I got pregnant was when I saw other red-headed babies. Double-recessive genes, unite!

I just put R down for bed. She was in a MOOD all day today - fighting everything, wailing when she couldn't have what she wanted. And she wanted EVERYTHING, in turn. She screamed when I wouldn't let her climb down the steep bank into the pond with the ducks. She screamed when I wouldn't let her climb down the bank into the creek. She screamed when I wouldn't let her use the drawers to climb up her changing table. She screamed when we played with blocks, because she wanted to nurse. She screamed when we sat to nurse, because she wanted to play with blocks.

I'm blaming it on bicuspids. 1 is almost through, 2 are blood-blisters as the tips poke through, and 1 is taking its time. Evil incarnate, indeed. You were right, Helen!

She's also starting to test us. She watches for our reaction with almost everything she does, and I can tell she's looking for that "not" reaction. It's very cute when she tests us on things like, "I'm going to pick up...that piece of paper, and put it on the couch. What are they going to do about it?"

Why, nothing, of course. Next?

And is this normal? She has about 40 spoken "words", but she only gets the beginning or end syllable. Clock is "ck-ck" Duck is "duh" walk is "alk" rock is "ck" fish is "ish" etc. The only words that she has all the way are mama, dada, ice, knee, toe. Should we be working on pronunciation with her, or is it just a matter of waiting for her speech apparatus to catch up with her brain?

Ok, must clean house. My parents are coming tomorrow for a long weekend. I'm tickled and can't wait to see them, but the house is a disaster & I'm going to be spending all of tomorrow buried in Web site QA testing...so cleaning tonight, it is! Here I go. Bye. I'm cleaning now. Yup, cleaning....Bye...


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

I have stories about all four of them. They only get better as time goes on.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Well I suspect we have a case of the mumps here. A day or two ago Austin had a fever for no reason. It came on and seemed to go away so I thought nothing of it. This evening he's playing with his cousins (hasn't gotten hurt or eaten anything too hot) and he starts complaining his mouth hurts. I looked for canker sores in his mouth, but from what I could see (he wouldn't open up much because it hurt) there's nothing there. So now I'm just waiting for his face to swell. If that happens we'll know for sure. DH was vaccinated for Mumps as a kid. I had it. So we'll just let it run its course.

I'm pretty sure it came from his cousin. He just had his shots done a week or 2 ago (my sister was just mentioning this today) and I'm gonna bet MMR was one of them.

So now we've gotten Roseola and Mumps down LOL

Ironically I called my dad to ask about the mumps when I was a kid and he was surprised to find out there even was a vaccine for mumps and measles. I thought that was kind of funny.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Dude, we're all getting the old-fashioned diseases. She has the croup (it always reminds me of Anne of Green Gables). I got home last night and she was a little bit of her usual self, but mostly crying and saying ow ow ow saying eat, but then not eating anything and only wanted water and to nurse. It was even hard to get her to take tylenol because she did not want to swallow. (So I started eating raw garlic to help her out, much to DH's dismay, he hates raw garlic breath). She was also coughing and hacking up all kinds of gunk. Well DH went to give her a bath and came right back downstairs saying we're going to the hospital. She was shaking so much and trying hard to breathe. On the way in, I had to actually take her out of her carseat as the angle she was at was causing her to choke on her own phlegm. Poor thing. The ER doc did lecture us about vaccines a little bit, but I expected it. No major "bad parent" lecture at least. She fought all the treatments they gave her (to the tune of DH and I having to hold her down while they had her breathe in a mask) but I think they really helped her, last night she breathed much better than during the day.

You know, I gotta hand it to people who's kids are sick and need to be at the hospital all the time. Gosh would that be rough. I mean croup is nothing compared to what some of those kids I saw last night go through.

I also admit, after that, I am rethinking the whole vax issue. It was so hard to watch her go through all that, all the pain and the struggle to breathe and then I think, what if she got something worse? IDK. I know there are vax reactions and all, but would it be worth the chance to her to not have those dieases? It's so confusing.

Ok, I have to admit, I'm LOVING the 8th follicle talk! haha! What fun, and how amazing that so many of our DDCers are in for another go.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Teenytoona* 

I also admit, after that, I am rethinking the whole vax issue. It was so hard to watch her go through all that, all the pain and the struggle to breathe and then I think, what if she got something worse? IDK. I know there are vax reactions and all, but would it be worth the chance to her to not have those dieases? It's so confusing.

Ok, I have to admit, I'm LOVING the 8th follicle talk! haha! What fun, and how amazing that so many of our DDCers are in for another go.

It is hard to watch our kiddos go through anything. Especially pain







but for me (croup is one I'm not sure about isn't that one you can get again and again? as in it doesn't gain you immunity to have it?) I feel safer having my kiddos get CP, measles, mumps, etc than mess with vaccines that may not give them immunity in adulthood and have to deal with the scary aspect of them getting it as an adult. Hep B vax I will allow my child to choose once they are old enough to make an informed decision (14-15 yo?) about their sexual activity (not that I want them having sex at 14/15 but if the think that they will be more likely to have sex before marriage then they can be prepared and decide what they think is important.) Flu vaccines in my opinion are just obscene. We're making superbugs by not allowing ourselves to just go through the illness. Yeah it sucks and yes some people may die, but thats better than ending up with a super bug that kills anyone and anything regardless of vaccination status.

So there are no vaccines right now that I plan to run out and have my kids get. If there ever was one to come out that I thought they/we should have I'd be the first one in line. Until that day we'll stay the way we are









Austin seems fine this morning. No fever and no pain. So I'm not sure what it was. I'll see how he does tonight.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

My kids have all had their DTaP, but a) not "on time" and b) not much else. If they haven't had the chicken pox, measles, and rubella by the time they hit ten then we'll discuss it and probably have them immunized. The most depressing thing? My redhead is both unvaccinated AND almost certainly without immunity. He's never had the chicken pox or the measles or anything. In fact, it was one of the first things he told me when he came here for the first time.







Poor fellow. I may kick him into getting the vaccine at some point, or not; Who knows. In any case, having had the experience of not being able to breathe as an adult I'm not keen to share that with my kids. It's really something that I can do without. That and tetanus is scary.

Bean has had the measles, though. He either caught it from a recently vaccinated child or from an Amish kid.







That wasn't bad at all, I could watch three more kids do it without flipping my lid.









I get my redhead tonight.







: Yay.







: Hehe. I'm also very hungry, for some reason.







The kids are being weird, I'm going to have to find Bean some workbooks for the summer because he's been without schoolwork for too long and he kind of starts to ferment without it. Even though I promised myself I wasn't going to do school with him, I have to look out for the kid, right? Well the kid becomes positively unhinged without formal academics.







I keep waiting for him to get to that age when schoolwork feels more irritating than anything else, but he LOVES it and thrives on the structure. He actually cried and berated me when I told him he'd finished his history course.







Maybe one of those Summer Bridge Activities workbooks will do the trick.







If I had money, I'd pay a college student to spend geek-time with him. Oh, and perhaps I'll ask tHRH to teach the boy about weather.







That's actually a great idea-- both of them will be happy.









So yes, that's my plan for the weekend-- Mike takes the kids, I take tHRH. He's going to meet my mom & nieces tonight.







I asked mom if she was ready to meet him and she said, "Yeah, sure I guess." Chibi, of course, became terrificly excited because that's what she does.









Bean's watching Spanglish for some reason. This is a really sweet movie, but it's fascinating to me that he enjoys it so much. Of course, the main character (and both of the female kids) is a beautiful, dark-haired woman and he does love the girls.


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *slgt* 

Dea, thoughts & prayers with you. What will be will be; if you end with all joy, you will rejoice; if you have a mixture of joy & sadness, you will grieve & rejoice both. And we're right here with you.

And is this normal? She has about 40 spoken "words", but she only gets the beginning or end syllable. Clock is "ck-ck" Duck is "duh" walk is "alk" rock is "ck" fish is "ish" etc. The only words that she has all the way are mama, dada, ice, knee, toe. Should we be working on pronunciation with her, or is it just a matter of waiting for her speech apparatus to catch up with her brain?
.


Slgt: 1st of all...beautiful words to Dea...sums up what we are all thinking, I bet!

2nd, as the resident DDC speech-language pathologist, let me assure you that she is perfectly normal, and in fact, quite ahead of schedule if she has 40 words already. Most kiddos don't really start increasing their speech clarity until between 2 and 3 years old. Some, of course, are really clear from a very early age, but that is actually more truly abnormal than to be using simple approximations to speak at this age.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Yeah crazy me said yes to to all my nephews and my niece staying here while my sister and BIL went grocery shopping...

Anyone have ducktape and some closet space to hang them by their toes? LOL

I'm thinking Austin doesn't have mumps now because he hasn't complained once today. So maybe it was a tooth...who knows.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Teeny, croup isn't always nothing. Isaac needed a tracheotomy during an attack, without it we'd have lost him. Horrible thing







and I'm glad she's OK (For the curious, it's a viral inflammation of the larynx, subsequent attacks tend to be more serious and something like 60% of children who have a croup attack requiring hospitalisation go on to develop asthma.) Next time you talk to your ped, I'd talk about the pneumococcal vaccine. If they suggest nebulising again, ask for the studies to show the benefits: oral steroids (prednisolone) are far more effective.

And no, flu vaccines don't cause antibiotic resistant bacteria, because flu is a virus. Antibiotic abuse causes resistant bacteria (superbugs) but yes, they're nasty.

slgt, I'm not that much of a geek, honest. Rajahkat joined the moms of many thread (which I post on) and StrawberryFields was in a thread about kids with birthdays close together, and mentioned that her new one is due in January. I have a weird memory for people and places and things, sometimes.

OK, crankiness over. My family are bugging me







I'm fed up of tidying up after people whose sole ambition is to leave a mess everywhere they go, and I'm fed up of caring.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 

And no, flu vaccines don't cause antibiotic resistant bacteria, because flu is a virus. Antibiotic abuse causes resistant bacteria (superbugs) but yes, they're nasty.

I know that Flu vaccines don't cause Anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I was talking about it causing more serious strains of Flu because people aren't gaining any real lasting immunity to the flu. So the strains get worse and they keep coming out with vaccines that don't work quite often. And people gain no natural immunity to it.

I can see where it may have gotten confusing in my post what I meant though


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
I know that Flu vaccines don't cause Anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I was talking about it causing more serious strains of Flu because people aren't gaining any real lasting immunity to the flu. So the strains get worse and they keep coming out with vaccines that don't work quite often. And people gain no natural immunity to it.

I can see where it may have gotten confusing in my post what I meant though









Actually, this is false too. The truth is that diseases which require relatively healthy vectors (that is, people walking around so that they can breathe on one another) are generally more mild than those which require other routes of transmission; Most flu variants are, thus, fairly mild. Vaccinating against the flu does not cause or encourage stronger flu variants, nor does it generally weaken immunity in the population. It's complicated and really really fascinating, the way these things work.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

We're going to need an octuplets DDC! (where all of the feb 08 mamas can come and play too!)

slgt, awww thanks, that is so true. I know what will be will be, but I stress. I shouldn't, 'cause I bet that it won't help anything. I feel a little slighted I guess. But then I'm being selfish.

Okay croup is whooping cough?
Also I am kinda pissed at my ped, but only 'cause I should really be mad at myself. He doesn't push me to vax, but he is rather persistant, but he will let me go on my own schedule, and we seem to have settled on one shot her well baby visit. So Trixie's had 3 dtaps and 2 Hibs.... her last dtap (and it will be her last one) was on May 27, and she got a fever and still has a GIANT lump in her arm from it. GRRRR! She had one before and he confirmed that it's not normal, not bad, but not normal. But it's still there, and there's still a shadow of an ugly bruise. I just don't want to do any more. I argue and argue with DH about this. I want her to get natural immunities, but he thinks vaxes are safer, blah blah blah. Luckily I take her to the peds, if he did, he would catch her up on everything all at once. (then I would kick his ass!) I am so worried about a serious reaction (oddly though I don't believe there is a link to autisim, I don't want to argue, it's just the result of me doing a lot of reading) So here we are, done with the 2 sets I've started and now I know he'll want more, and hearing that people have caught stuff just from people who've vaxed just seems wrong. sigh.

Okay I know I just opened a can of worms... sorry all!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

oh yeah in terms of words, Trixie has like 4... but she signs and grunts. The book I've been using to sign was written by someone in New Zealand and I bought it here, but there are a lot of conflicting signs compared to other books. Good thing that the babies don't really talk about pigs and chickens in the playground with their signs!


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## LCBMAX (Jun 18, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
I know that Flu vaccines don't cause Anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I was talking about it causing more serious strains of Flu because people aren't gaining any real lasting immunity to the flu. So the strains get worse and they keep coming out with vaccines that don't work quite often. And people gain no natural immunity to it.

I can see where it may have gotten confusing in my post what I meant though









Hmmm - I'm still confused by what you mean. As I read your above post, I can't agree. Your description does not explain the 1918 flu pandemic, which occurred before flu vaccines were invented. There is no "lasting immunity" to a virus that naturally mutates/ experiences genetic drift. Influenza does not "get worse" or mutate in response to vaccines, it mutates because that is the most effective way to gain more hosts, whether or not they are vaccinated. The flu vax is one that least influences the future of the critter it targets, in terms of genetic drift, getting "worse", or mutating.

The reason the flu vax is often ineffective is because the manufacturer has to guess which way the genetic drift will go, and there are many many possibilities. They make as educated a guess as they can (after all, they want to sell as many doses as they can!) but it really is just a guess.

Since I personally have no other conditions that would make flu more dangerous for me, I have in general (at least before motherhood!) avoided the flu vax for myself, preferring to interact with the environment and treat the illness itself as a kind of cleanse. I have never had a flu shot.

I have no dogma as to who should or shouldn't be vaccinated with what, and in our family we're making choices on a case by case basis.

Rynna - when your baby had measles, how high did the fever go? That's the thing that really spooks me about measles. I worry a lot about how very high (>103) fevers might affect my boy's brain chemistry.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

RRL tea....
how much should I drink now? (I"ll ask my DDC too, but I know you'll know!)

I bought a pound of it, heh. And Nettles, clover, oatstraw, alfalfa and mint and lemon. (I should have bought a bail of hay, it would have been cheaper! HA!)

so far I take a wee pinch of them all, with some flavour, mint or lemon and then brew and drink. But how much now? Also I can stomach this and not water right now, so it's mostly what I drink.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Actually, this is false too. The truth is that diseases which require relatively healthy vectors (that is, people walking around so that they can breathe on one another) are generally more mild than those which require other routes of transmission; Most flu variants are, thus, fairly mild. Vaccinating against the flu does not cause or encourage stronger flu variants, nor does it generally weaken immunity in the population. It's complicated and really really fascinating, the way these things work.









Interesting to know. Still won't get the shot LOL


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LCBMAX* 
Hmmm - I'm still confused by what you mean. As I read your above post, I can't agree. Your description does not explain the 1918 flu pandemic, which occurred before flu vaccines were invented. There is no "lasting immunity" to a virus that naturally mutates/ experiences genetic drift. Influenza does not "get worse" or mutate in response to vaccines, it mutates because that is the most effective way to gain more hosts, whether or not they are vaccinated. The flu vax is one that least influences the future of the critter it targets, in terms of genetic drift, getting "worse", or mutating.

The reason the flu vax is often ineffective is because the manufacturer has to guess which way the genetic drift will go, and there are many many possibilities. They make as educated a guess as they can (after all, they want to sell as many doses as they can!) but it really is just a guess.

Since I personally have no other conditions that would make flu more dangerous for me, I have in general (at least before motherhood!) avoided the flu vax for myself, preferring to interact with the environment and treat the illness itself as a kind of cleanse. I have never had a flu shot.

I have no dogma as to who should or shouldn't be vaccinated with what, and in our family we're making choices on a case by case basis.

Rynna - when your baby had measles, how high did the fever go? That's the thing that really spooks me about measles. I worry a lot about how very high (>103) fevers might affect my boy's brain chemistry.

That makes sense. I did state it was my opinion which is really not based on anything other than personal feelings. I've watched my grandparents get a flu shot year after year and year after year they get horribly sick after it. Que Serra Serra and such


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

FIL gets flu shots- it's better than the other alternative.

Dea, croup and whooping cough aren't the same, no. I haven't seen a proper case of whooping cough in years, but croup hits hard and fast, and whooping cough is a slow burn- first the cough, then it doesn't get better, then the whoop- and the process can take six weeks







And fwiw, you know that DTaP is the one I'm not sure about, right? Isaac's reaction was to the DTP and we're doing DTaP last- at the moment Skye and River have their MMRs and their pneumococcals.

eta; I'm not feeling sick any more!







Thankyou for settling my stomach, ladies


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

I have been MIA for a while....
and so much is going on.

Teeny, I hope Nara is feeling better. Hillel had croup a while ago. It was very scary and difficult to see him struggling to breath like that. We did take him in for the ped to check him over - and he prescribe steroids which had me a little curious. I have to admit I am not a fan of giving kids such strong medication unless they really need it. Hillel's croup was mild enough that I did not see his nostrils flaring or serious signs of lack of air getting into his lungs (retractions between his ribs or at the base of his neck between the collar bones, blue lips). He just made an awful noise breathing and it was worse if he was upset - so keeping him calm and happy was essential. Which meant I needed to be calm.
Anyway, I decided not to give the steroids as soon as I read Sears who says that the 2nd and 3rd night are always the worst. I wanted to see if he would get better without any drugs, always alert to how much he was struggling to breath should we need to go to the ER.
So, in our case, it was pretty much over after the 3rd night and was all about gone after a week. When it was really acute it helped to have a steamy bath and then go out for a walk in a sling. He just wanted to be suggled and loved and the cool night air seemed to help in contrast to the warm steamy air in the bath.

There is no vax for croup. It is a viral infection, leading some pedi's to recommend the flu vax as a preventative measure, but I remember not being convinced that this would indeed do anything. I can't remember finding any studies to back this up, with it rather being a pet theory of some doctors....







It is not in any way connected to whooping cough, even though some doctors do get them confused. Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria and the cause of the whoop is a toxin that aggravates the bronchi released by the bacteria. There are antibiotics available for whooping cough if you catch it in time, to treat the bacteria. But once the toxins are released/you are coughing, the antibiotics won't help. I have read that high doses of vit C can make whooping cough less severe... although I am still not sure how I will treat it when Hillel comes down with it.

Oh, I've said this before here I think, but I don't medicate Hillel's fever (to date he has only had one high one of about 39.5 - 40 celcius - it too stressful measuring it, but he was hot.) he settled on my breast so I was happy not giving anything. If he had been really uncomfortable I would have medicated him to sooth him, but I am not a fan of medicating fevers down - they are doing a job and there is no evidence that medicating fevers prevents febrile seizures, which is a concern when fevers suddenly spike.

Otherwise - we are well. Enjoying the summer here. I am chugging away at becoming a LLL leader and Adi is looking for a new job.... we might find ourselves in the UK, or even the US







: We'll see though. For now things are actually good here. The family are all under control and Adi is being a star keeping his mother in check









Oh, and I am getting into making chicken soup stocks and am even trying my hand at kefir..... getting probiotics and minerals into my system has become a priority. And I am jumping back inot the no sugar thing. South Africa ruined my no sugar rule with far too many tempting and delicous treats - and hence a subsequent weight gain.... Rynna, how is your atkins going?

Dea -









Hmmmmm, I think I've said enough for today


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

The baby slept till 7 a.m. all by her big-girl self







:







:







:

(too bad big brother got up at 5:45 a.m.





















)


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Teeny, I hope Nara is feeling better. That sounds terrifying!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
RRL tea....
how much should I drink now? (I"ll ask my DDC too, but I know you'll know!)

As much as you want! As much as tastes good to you. Have you heard about infusions in the Susun Weed style? She suggests an ounce of dried herb in a quart jar, topped with boiling water and allowed to steep overnight. It extracts all the good stuff that doesn't come out while just making a cuppa.









Quote:


Originally Posted by *ema-adama* 
Oh, I've said this before here I think, but I don't medicate Hillel's fever (to date he has only had one high one of about 39.5 - 40 celcius - it too stressful measuring it, but he was hot.) he settled on my breast so I was happy not giving anything. If he had been really uncomfortable I would have medicated him to sooth him, but I am not a fan of medicating fevers down - they are doing a job and there is no evidence that medicating fevers prevents febrile seizures, which is a concern when fevers suddenly spike.

Otherwise - we are well. Enjoying the summer here. I am chugging away at becoming a LLL leader and Adi is looking for a new job.... we might find ourselves in the UK, or even the US







: We'll see though. For now things are actually good here. The family are all under control and Adi is being a star keeping his mother in check









Oh, and I am getting into making chicken soup stocks and am even trying my hand at kefir..... getting probiotics and minerals into my system has become a priority. And I am jumping back inot the no sugar thing. South Africa ruined my no sugar rule with far too many tempting and delicous treats - and hence a subsequent weight gain.... Rynna, how is your atkins going?

I am right there with you on your thoughts about fevers. All of my kids seem to have a very healthy fever reaction to illness. The fever seems to do its job quite well. I don't really take temps most of the time, either. I have btdt enough to know what feels like too hot, and I'm sure it's a lot hotter than most people are comfortable with. I have given tylenol once, when one had a fever that started creeping over 104, and was too uncomfortable to be able to sleep at all. But mostly I just let them sleep in my bed and keep a hand on them to gauge the temp.

Good for you on going for your LLL Leadership! I'm a Leader.







And I make chicken stock on a regular basis, which I looooove. I'll drink it in a mug with salt.

I seem to be really lucky, or have super healthy kids. I have never taken any of them to the ER, and only once did I take Ronan to a doctor for a skin issue. Marley and Twyla have never been. They do get colds and the flu, but never to the point that I felt like I needed to take them in.







We've been pretty accident free, too. No cuts or breaks. Maybe the universe feels like it needs to take care of us since we don't have insurance.









Twyla also doesn't have a whole lot of words. She seems to be less verbally advanced than the older two, but then she also sat/crawled/walked a lot earlier than they did. Not that it matters, but it's interesting to watch the differences in development.

Ah, time to change a poopy diaper. It's nice coming back here.


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Teeny, how terrifying! I remember how scared we were taking Robin to the ER for pneumonia at 13 months. I felt so confused about vax, too, since we did get her the Pc vaccine and yet here we were with pneumonia (I know pneumonia is caused by lots of stuff). There's just no way we can protect our kids from every bug out there, whether we vax completely or partially or not at all.

FWIW I vax on a delayed/selective schedule and increasingly feel like that's the right thing for our family do. I don't regret any of the vaccines I've had Robin receive, and I still feel pretty strongly that some aren't necessary at this age (STD related ones, and we don't do the flu shot because we tend to get sick from them). Thank goodness we're moving out of the stage where they want you to do 5 shots per visit -- it's much easier to time/space out shots when we aren't dealing with a bunch. Our ped has been nice about it but some friends who also see him say they've been getting flak as of late -- so I wonder what will happen when we go to see him in June. I'm now comfortable enough with what we're doing to say "um, no, we're going to do it my way" without fear.

So far week 8 of this pregnancy has been good to me... I only feel really shitty in the evening, and I take a unisom then and it knocks it out. I'm counting down to the end of the first tri







: slowest thing EVER!!! Only one more month...


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Two or three weeks ago, I gave up on the Atkinsing because Mike wasn't working and it felt like I couldn't afford to do it and maintain much variety in my diet. It was really upsetting to me, but I did it. Last week I started again because I felt like crap eating carbs.







Within 24 hours I was happy again.







I can't say that I'm losing tons of weight, but I feel SO much better when I'm limiting the carbs so I'll keep at it, even if it means I have to live on tuna salad and eggs.









THRH is absolutely stunningly beautiful this morning as ever.







I'm madly in love with him. At this exact moment, I'm wishing that he had a wee bit more body fat so that the idea of leaving the air conditioner on wouldn't make him cold.







This is proof positive that it's not entirely NRE with us-- the fact that he's not exactly perfect in every tiny little way.

He's damn close, though.









Hm. When Bean had the measles, his fever topped out around 102.4. I remember that we didn't give him anything because he seemed otherwise well. The rash was something else, but he was mostly fine.







He was happy and chatty the whole time, just covered in the rash and he slept more than usual. Oh, he nursed a zillion times a day, but at 10 months he was doing that when he was healthy.


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## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

I've been lurking, reading, and keeping up, just no time to post!!

*SarahLynne* Congrats!! I can relate to the inital shock that turns into happiness! I was there and even tough I knew I was pregnant it was all I could do to call and get the results of my test. I wouldn't change it for the world now!! Waking up with a smiling baby face in front of yours is worth it's weight in gold!

*Dea* I'm thinking about you!! For what it is worth my old ob never got concerned when he couldn't locate a heart beat this early on. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes for you! Eli has been eating he's weight in strawberries too. My mom grows them and they have been going crazy this year. I made strawberry bread yesterday and it is so good. So far no reaction here.

*Helen* My family seems to think the house is a gigantic garbage can too.... If I pick up another wrapper, hair tie, broken piece of whatever, I'll scream! Seriously there are garbage cans in just about every room of this house, use them. Kendall and I cleaned her room and came out with two bags full of garbage. Broken toys, stuff that needed to be tossed because it wasn't good enough for goodwill....

Eli is changing by leaps and bounds. Becoming more independent each day it seems. His new word is bubble. We've been blowing lots of bubbles lately. Yesterday the grass was still a wet from rain and the bubbles were sticking to it. He would crouch down and sneak up on them like that would stop them from popping when he would try to pick them up. He's also finally sleeping through the night! Well until 5 in the am and then he comes in our bed!

Quinn is thriving. Has a nasty case of baby acne. All over her face and scalp. It feels like it's starting to dry up. Poor thing! She also has had some colic like symptoms for a couple weeks, very gassy, crying for a couple hours each night regardless of what you do for her. Normally I'm not a big chiropractic person, but I decided to give it a shot. The one we went to took xrays before adjusting her, which made me feel better, given how young she is. Her left side appears to be off as well as her 'head isn't on straight'. Her axis is off. She's been adjusted twice and has been doing better. I went to school with the chiro and his wife (she was in my class) and they have five kids under 8 years old of their own. I felt okay going to them.

I've also mastered the Snappi! I never used prefolds with Eli, just pockets. I'm tired of stuffing pocket diapers so using mostly prefolds with Quinn and pockets and night. I was all thumbs with the Snappi.

Also, our golf course lot might be selling!!! As much as we would like to build, I don't want a house payment that doesn't allow me to go do things, so the lot has been for sale for the past couple years. The golf course was bought by someone new this spring and he wants to purchase all lots that don't have homes on them already. Wants to put up stay and play condos. Selling that lot will give us a *nice* downpayment towards a new house. And selling this house would give us even more towards that down payment. We could use another bedroom and a bigger yard. Cross your fingers for us.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

I love snappis and prefolds. I love getting them on right and just marveling at how a rectangular chunk of diaper makes the perfect diaper!
(I over think EVERYTHING!)


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

I can't wait to break out my cloth diapers for this one









I gave in and made myself shrimp with whole wheat angel hair pasta in a butter sauce with fresh scallions from the garden and fresh chopped garlic .... *slurp*

Hey a pregnant woman's gotta eat







And its better than the 12 popsicles I had yesterday.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Dea, don't ever try flats, then. I found myself musing on how a motherease onesize is basically a prefold, but a totsbots is a origami-folded flat- and so on. My brain wasn't working well that day







:

Heather, I have no idea what you mean by a golf course lot, but I'm glad something exciting is happening for you







DH suddenly had the realisation about the rubbish and the mess that I had two weeks ago- so maybe something will happen







:








Megan. Good to see you again!

Right. Now, off to google strawberry bread...it sounds like something I need in my life, and I have a punnet of overripe strawberries in my fridge.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

I just sent my redhead home. I miss him horribly already.







I seriously want him to move in with me. It's awful, but there you have it.







: I'm so miserable without him. Bleh.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

OMG I am so pissy! I want to bite EVERYONE's head off! Adam was working out in the livingroom (wii fit rocks) and his panting and running was driving me mad! AHHHH! I read my normal blogs and it takes all of my effort to not leave scathing messages. GRRRR!
And Dooce made me mad with her post about freebirthing (UC) and impling it's lame. Then in People magazine there was an article about a man who's wife died in childbirth and 25ish woman came forth to breastfeed his baby, and People has this side bar making some point how it can be dangerous to let another woman bf your child. (health issues and all that) GRRR!
I'm helping to plan a babyshower for a friend and every suggestion I make is getting knocked aside. Valid ones like setting up a meal sign up so people can bring her food when she's home with a new baby, and other little things. It's like I'm only a part of it so I can pay for stuff.
Sigh. So that is my rant. Sorry. I don't remember being this totally irritated with the world with Trixie. This has been building for a while! phew!

So Rynna.... your redhead a friend of yours on facebook? Could I have accidentally figured out who he is based on comments?

Oh and Trixie totally isn't irritating me! We went for breakfast today and she ate so much! I was so happy! Also she learned the sign for open today, and loves to dance to "if you're happy and you know it" she especially loves to stomp her feet, which might be the most adorable thing ever.

OH and the final thing irritating me!!! A friend's parents are sleeping at my house 'cause they are visiting her from Europe and her house is too small for them to sleep there and hotels are expensive and we have an extra bedroom. So they haven't been here in like a week, which seems nice. But my in laws wanted to be here this week and we told them no because we had someone in the room, and they're not even using it! And they haven't let us know that they're not coming for X number of days!

I try to be nice! I mean no one else volunteered to have strangers come and stay in their houses!

GRRRR!

okay so sorry. I hope I amused someone a little with my woes!


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Emily, I meant to







: for you over such a glorious long sleep. That is truely awsome.

And Helen,







to you - I am glad you are feeling better with this pregnancy. Have I missed pics of your new home? I remember seeing the staircase in youf blog

Rynna -







. Having spent the first year of my relationship with Adi in different countries, I know how hard good byes can be and how much your whole entire body can long for the touch of your loved one.... I hope you can find a workable solution.

Prefeolds - I was a wimp and did a sposies at the newborn stage (sometimes ecological, sometimes not). I am not sure what will be next time around - I have the prefolds and snappies - we'll see. Heather I am highly impressed that you are managing two in nappies and doing it with cloth

















Hillel got his first bout of daiper rash







And at my unfriendly IL's of all places. It is wicked stuff







Anyway, I am keeping Hillel daiper free and in Weleda nappy cream at night. It seems to be clearing up...... but poor poor baby. I had been so happy to not deal with that, thinking that the breastfeeding was helping to prevent any rashes.... Anyway, these things happen.

Well, I had best get on with organising and cleaning the kitchen


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

No, you haven't missed the pictures, I haven't taken them yet.







: We're still not sorted yet. Oh, and we have two in cloth







Mostly, anyhow- we're still in sposies after the move because I'm still moving...

Emily, sorry I missed your post. I'm jealous









Dea, breathe and eat chocolate. It'll all be OK.


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## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

We used sposies the first few weeks for both kids when Quinn came home. One less thing to try to accomplish-washing diapers.

*Helen* If you cant find a recipe that uses fresh strawberries let me know. It's not easy to find. Most use dried or frozen. I can pm you with it.
oh and golf course lot- just a piece of land smack in the middle of our local golf course to build a house on. My hubby bought it with his ex wife and when they divorced she didn't want it. There are 15 or so lots out there, some have houses already most do not. It'll be nice to sell it!


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
It is hard to watch our kiddos go through anything. Especially pain







but for me (croup is one I'm not sure about isn't that one you can get again and again? as in it doesn't gain you immunity to have it?) I feel safer having my kiddos get CP, measles, mumps, etc than mess with vaccines that may not give them immunity in adulthood and have to deal with the scary aspect of them getting it as an adult. Hep B vax I will allow my child to choose once they are old enough to make an informed decision (14-15 yo?) about their sexual activity (not that I want them having sex at 14/15 but if the think that they will be more likely to have sex before marriage then they can be prepared and decide what they think is important.) Flu vaccines in my opinion are just obscene. We're making superbugs by not allowing ourselves to just go through the illness. Yeah it sucks and yes some people may die, but thats better than ending up with a super bug that kills anyone and anything regardless of vaccination status.

So there are no vaccines right now that I plan to run out and have my kids get. If there ever was one to come out that I thought they/we should have I'd be the first one in line. Until that day we'll stay the way we are









Austin seems fine this morning. No fever and no pain. So I'm not sure what it was. I'll see how he does tonight.

Thanks for talking some calm-down sense into me. Sometimes it's hard to see the calmer side of the arguement when the scary is happening. Glad to hear Austin is feeling better!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Teeny, croup isn't always nothing. Isaac needed a tracheotomy during an attack, without it we'd have lost him. Horrible thing







and I'm glad she's OK (For the curious, it's a viral inflammation of the larynx, subsequent attacks tend to be more serious and something like 60% of children who have a croup attack requiring hospitalisation go on to develop asthma.) Next time you talk to your ped, I'd talk about the pneumococcal vaccine. If they suggest nebulising again, ask for the studies to show the benefits: oral steroids (prednisolone) are far more effective.

And no, flu vaccines don't cause antibiotic resistant bacteria, because flu is a virus. Antibiotic abuse causes resistant bacteria (superbugs) but yes, they're nasty.

slgt, I'm not that much of a geek, honest. Rajahkat joined the moms of many thread (which I post on) and StrawberryFields was in a thread about kids with birthdays close together, and mentioned that her new one is due in January. I have a weird memory for people and places and things, sometimes.

OK, crankiness over. My family are bugging me







I'm fed up of tidying up after people whose sole ambition is to leave a mess everywhere they go, and I'm fed up of caring.

OMG. A tracheotomy, poor guy. I had no idea anything about the nebulizer and the steroid treatments. It's funny because you go in just hoping for something to work and don't get much time to make a decision about what treatments they're giving you. Fortunately it seems they did work for her. She's still sick, but no where near as bad as she was feeling. She doesn't have the 80tons of phelgm blocking her airways and she isn't constantly crying ow ow ow. the idea of her getting it again is rather unsettling.

I had no idea about the connection between croup and asthma. Makes me wonder about my own chronic nighttime cough in my childhood years and wonder if DD's got any precursors for it.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
We're going to need an octuplets DDC! (where all of the feb 08 mamas can come and play too!)

slgt, awww thanks, that is so true. I know what will be will be, but I stress. I shouldn't, 'cause I bet that it won't help anything. I feel a little slighted I guess. But then I'm being selfish.

Okay croup is whooping cough?
Also I am kinda pissed at my ped, but only 'cause I should really be mad at myself. He doesn't push me to vax, but he is rather persistant, but he will let me go on my own schedule, and we seem to have settled on one shot her well baby visit. So Trixie's had 3 dtaps and 2 Hibs.... her last dtap (and it will be her last one) was on May 27, and she got a fever and still has a GIANT lump in her arm from it. GRRRR! She had one before and he confirmed that it's not normal, not bad, but not normal. But it's still there, and there's still a shadow of an ugly bruise. I just don't want to do any more. I argue and argue with DH about this. I want her to get natural immunities, but he thinks vaxes are safer, blah blah blah. Luckily I take her to the peds, if he did, he would catch her up on everything all at once. (then I would kick his ass!) I am so worried about a serious reaction (oddly though I don't believe there is a link to autisim, I don't want to argue, it's just the result of me doing a lot of reading) So here we are, done with the 2 sets I've started and now I know he'll want more, and hearing that people have caught stuff just from people who've vaxed just seems wrong. sigh.

Okay I know I just opened a can of worms... sorry all!

Dea, I'm with you. I think sometimes I should, sometimes I shouldn't, but that most of it's confusing at best and there isn't a whole lot of middle ground information. It seems like alot of our DDCers are somewhere in between. The ER doc told us we needed to vax her because she could get some of those "really nasty bugs" like measels. I always thought measles was a chicken pox sort of disease, miserable, but not lethal unless there are other health conditions.







:

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ema-adama* 
I have been MIA for a while....
and so much is going on.

Teeny, I hope Nara is feeling better. Hillel had croup a while ago. It was very scary and difficult to see him struggling to breath like that. We did take him in for the ped to check him over - and he prescribe steroids which had me a little curious. I have to admit I am not a fan of giving kids such strong medication unless they really need it. Hillel's croup was mild enough that I did not see his nostrils flaring or serious signs of lack of air getting into his lungs (retractions between his ribs or at the base of his neck between the collar bones, blue lips). He just made an awful noise breathing and it was worse if he was upset - so keeping him calm and happy was essential. Which meant I needed to be calm.
Anyway, I decided not to give the steroids as soon as I read Sears who says that the 2nd and 3rd night are always the worst. I wanted to see if he would get better without any drugs, always alert to how much he was struggling to breath should we need to go to the ER.
So, in our case, it was pretty much over after the 3rd night and was all about gone after a week. When it was really acute it helped to have a steamy bath and then go out for a walk in a sling. He just wanted to be suggled and loved and the cool night air seemed to help in contrast to the warm steamy air in the bath.

There is no vax for croup. It is a viral infection, leading some pedi's to recommend the flu vax as a preventative measure, but I remember not being convinced that this would indeed do anything. I can't remember finding any studies to back this up, with it rather being a pet theory of some doctors....







It is not in any way connected to whooping cough, even though some doctors do get them confused. Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria and the cause of the whoop is a toxin that aggravates the bronchi released by the bacteria. There are antibiotics available for whooping cough if you catch it in time, to treat the bacteria. But once the toxins are released/you are coughing, the antibiotics won't help. I have read that high doses of vit C can make whooping cough less severe... although I am still not sure how I will treat it when Hillel comes down with it.

Oh, I've said this before here I think, but I don't medicate Hillel's fever (to date he has only had one high one of about 39.5 - 40 celcius - it too stressful measuring it, but he was hot.) he settled on my breast so I was happy not giving anything. If he had been really uncomfortable I would have medicated him to sooth him, but I am not a fan of medicating fevers down - they are doing a job and there is no evidence that medicating fevers prevents febrile seizures, which is a concern when fevers suddenly spike.

Otherwise - we are well. Enjoying the summer here. I am chugging away at becoming a LLL leader and Adi is looking for a new job.... we might find ourselves in the UK, or even the US







: We'll see though. For now things are actually good here. The family are all under control and Adi is being a star keeping his mother in check









Oh, and I am getting into making chicken soup stocks and am even trying my hand at kefir..... getting probiotics and minerals into my system has become a priority. And I am jumping back inot the no sugar thing. South Africa ruined my no sugar rule with far too many tempting and delicous treats - and hence a subsequent weight gain.... Rynna, how is your atkins going?

Dea -









Hmmmmm, I think I've said enough for today

Maybe I ought to have bought that Sears book. I think I need to do more research on childhood diseases. I didn't see any retraction on her ribs, but the choking on her own gunk made me worried enough.

How exciting to become a LLL leader! Good for you! Great to see you making chicken stocks and kefir! I love making stock. I'm not the best at kefir - well I can make it, but then I don't know what to do with it. heh. NO sugar is a hard thing to do, but I figure better to strive for no sugar than to just sugar up willy-nilly!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *smokeylo* 
Teeny, how terrifying! I remember how scared we were taking Robin to the ER for pneumonia at 13 months. I felt so confused about vax, too, since we did get her the Pc vaccine and yet here we were with pneumonia (I know pneumonia is caused by lots of stuff). There's just no way we can protect our kids from every bug out there, whether we vax completely or partially or not at all.

FWIW I vax on a delayed/selective schedule and increasingly feel like that's the right thing for our family do. I don't regret any of the vaccines I've had Robin receive, and I still feel pretty strongly that some aren't necessary at this age (STD related ones, and we don't do the flu shot because we tend to get sick from them). Thank goodness we're moving out of the stage where they want you to do 5 shots per visit -- it's much easier to time/space out shots when we aren't dealing with a bunch. Our ped has been nice about it but some friends who also see him say they've been getting flak as of late -- so I wonder what will happen when we go to see him in June. I'm now comfortable enough with what we're doing to say "um, no, we're going to do it my way" without fear.

So far week 8 of this pregnancy has been good to me... I only feel really shitty in the evening, and I take a unisom then and it knocks it out. I'm counting down to the end of the first tri







: slowest thing EVER!!! Only one more month...

I"m so glad to hear you're feeling good this pregnancy.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
I love snappis and prefolds. I love getting them on right and just marveling at how a rectangular chunk of diaper makes the perfect diaper!
(I over think EVERYTHING!)

OH yeah, I love them too! It's one of those wierd things my mom and I have bonded on (since I'm the only one who's done cloth). Granted we use mostly OS pockets now, but I do bust out the occasional flat and cover, because the simplicity of it is amazing!

This weekend was certainly a tiresome one. Nara slept alot, cried alot, nursed alot, therefore I did much of the same. Heh. (Well, I didn't cry so much as I was whiny and cranky, and I got less sleep than I wanted.) DH and I did have a nice time at my cousin's wedding, so that was nice. Nara was in the capable hands of our neighbors whom she loves. Thanks all for well wishes for Nara. She's doing better, but still coughs a bit and is snotty and hoarse. She's got her appetite back, thankfully. But I reckon she will be nursing frequently for a good while yet.

Does anyone feel comfortable sharing their vax schedule? I"m starting to really settle out what to get for her and I just don't know. There was a local pox party this past week, but with Nara's croup I wasn't going to push it. DH's never had chicken pox, so I"m wondering about it from that angle too. DD has had one round of a few vaxes, but that was at 7 months old or something.

WRT talking - this girl is a talker, for sure. Not sure how many words because I've never counted them. She signs some, but she's got enough spoken words, she only seems to sign "thank you" and never say it though, funny that. Her new thing is "niiiiiiiiice" for whenever Gramma gets her a new outfit or has knitted her something new. Sometimes if she says "really niiiiiice." She also will pick up a book, and flip through pages saying nonsense syllables in a tone as if she were reading a story. It's terribly cute.


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Dea, that Dooce entry pissed me off, too. I'm sure she's getting an earful from UCers everywhere about her total ignorance on this issue. It also bugged me how she talked about how she HAS to have cervical checks that she hates with her OB -- I didn't have my cervix checked until I'd been in labor for hours! Anyway, I'm kind of avoiding her blog until after the birth.

Sigh. I just realized dd has been very quiet... TOO quiet... for a few minutes now. And I peeked behind the couch and see that she has unraveled and completely entangled herself in a ball of yarn I bought since I'm learning to knit.







Silly girl!!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Dea,







. I'm with Helen; Chocolate may well help, but crazy people are impossible to deal with even when you're not pregnant. And yes, tHRH has a Facebook page now and posts hilarious little *blushes* to my status messages a lot.







He's so cute. Eventually I'll find my camera and take some pictures of him and his 70's hair.









I'm having a bit of a spacey time because my period showed up Friday night. Now it's not that tHRH minds (he doesn't at all, because he's made of Awesomesauce), it's just that it's quite a bit early. I mean it would have been a week early *anyway*, but tossed in with the fact that my period was late showing up this month I've only had a 17-day cycle. That's short even for me. I'm wondering what went down and it's messing with my head.







: Freakalacious. But I'm definately not pregnant AND I found a whole bunch of *adorable* teeny tiny covers. I'm going to email the woman to whom I passed the diapers first.









I ought to blog, but I'm feeling too lazy. I really want to curl up and cry, but I have Grownup Crap to deal with today.








Urgh. Up I go.


----------



## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lovetobemama* 
The baby slept till 7 a.m. all by her big-girl self







:







:







:

(too bad big brother got up at 5:45 a.m.





















)

Funny that 7AM is luxurious. Hope you get them both that civilized soon! My girls slept to a little after 7 this morning, but I won't brag about it since it was because we all have a head cold. Just mild, but I hate to see my poor babes so run down.

Dea - I love my prefolds too! We use pins though. For a while I was so pleased with myself, thinking that all I needed was some wool covers and I was diapering the way people have been doing it for thousands of years. But then I remembered my washer and dryer. Thank god for a working washer and dryer! (And thank god for PUL covers too!







)


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Dea - we cross posted. More







's

Teeny - the Baby Book by Sears has been a fantastic resource for me when I want to read the opinion of a doctor. I don't see eye to eye with him of everything, but I think out of all the books I have on infant health, I have used this one the most. I think it also helps that it is written by a ped, and DH gets very nervous reading things about infant health written by anyone who is not a MD. The Bob Sears Vaccine Book was less of a resource for me, other than what he has managed to look at with aluminium. I recommend a stop by the vaccine board. There are many many delay selective vaxers there who have a variety of schedules they follow, each for their own reasons.

Nara sounds absolutely gorgeous.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Teeny, we're still figuring out the vax thing. Alex is up to date, Isaac is not and will remain not- because he got very ill- again, heart-stopping, could be dead kind of ill- 48 hours after his DTP, and we've never had an adequate explanation. It wasn't a typical vax reaction, so without the additional understanding he won't be getting any more until he can determine the risk for himself. But yes, in this day and age a night-time cough is generally called asthma







I try not to scare people talking about what Isaac's been through, but yeah, he's my hero. He dealt with a lot of scary shit when he was pretty small and kept brave and smiling between it. It was a living nightmare, though. Skye and River have their MMRs and nothing else- there was a near-epidemic in the primary schools that feed the school Steve teaches in, so there was a real possibility of him bringing measles home to them and the risk of not vaxing seemed greater than the risks of. I do believe they work, I am, and will forever, remain on the fence about their safety.

Rynna, given the way you were talking about babies- and the way I talk about babies when I'm fertile and about to do something rash and get myself knocked up- I'm 90% sure you miscarried a fortnight ago







In your shoes, I'd get your thermometer out and chart properly for a few months. I might be completely totally and utterly wrong, but it's an explanation that makes more sense than implantation spotting, or ovulation bleeding or any of the other variations on the theme.
Oh, is tHRH the guy with the fairy lights?

Erm, I feel the overwhelming urge to burst multiple bubbles and point out that prefolds are NOT how people have been doing it for thousands of years. Prefolds are how people have been doing it since the sewing machine revolutionised domestic life. FLATS are how people have been doing it for time immemorial







And flats are far superior, especially the terry towelling ones.

Flame away, please







:

Oh, and River has hit a whole new level of cuteness







He's recognisably singing "twinkle, twinkle, little star" and there's enough tune there that you can tell that's what it is







Not a LOT of tune, mind you, but enough


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Yeah, I know flats are closer to history, and my thousands of years of diapering thought was total fantasy. I just liked the thought that I was using generally the same technology and materials as many ancestors before me. I'm not brave enough to try flats. Would probably like them, but my money's in my stash already.

Maybe if there's newborn in my future . . . which is unlikely unless DH wins the lottery.


----------



## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ema-adama* 
Dea - we cross posted. More







's

Teeny - the Baby Book by Sears has been a fantastic resource for me when I want to read the opinion of a doctor. I don't see eye to eye with him of everything, but I think out of all the books I have on infant health, I have used this one the most. I think it also helps that it is written by a ped, and DH gets very nervous reading things about infant health written by anyone who is not a MD. The Bob Sears Vaccine Book was less of a resource for me, other than what he has managed to look at with aluminium. I recommend a stop by the vaccine board. There are many many delay selective vaxers there who have a variety of schedules they follow, each for their own reasons.

Nara sounds absolutely gorgeous.









Aww, thank you







: I think so, of course, but I"m biased. I wanted to check thatbook out of the library, but it appears someone decided to keep it as it's been "checked out" for a few years.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Teeny, we're still figuring out the vax thing. Alex is up to date, Isaac is not and will remain not- because he got very ill- again, heart-stopping, could be dead kind of ill- 48 hours after his DTP, and we've never had an adequate explanation. It wasn't a typical vax reaction, so without the additional understanding he won't be getting any more until he can determine the risk for himself. But yes, in this day and age a night-time cough is generally called asthma







I try not to scare people talking about what Isaac's been through, but yeah, he's my hero. He dealt with a lot of scary shit when he was pretty small and kept brave and smiling between it. It was a living nightmare, though. Skye and River have their MMRs and nothing else- there was a near-epidemic in the primary schools that feed the school Steve teaches in, so there was a real possibility of him bringing measles home to them and the risk of not vaxing seemed greater than the risks of. I do believe they work, I am, and will forever, remain on the fence about their safety.

Rynna, given the way you were talking about babies- and the way I talk about babies when I'm fertile and about to do something rash and get myself knocked up- I'm 90% sure you miscarried a fortnight ago







In your shoes, I'd get your thermometer out and chart properly for a few months. I might be completely totally and utterly wrong, but it's an explanation that makes more sense than implantation spotting, or ovulation bleeding or any of the other variations on the theme.
Oh, is tHRH the guy with the fairy lights?

Erm, I feel the overwhelming urge to burst multiple bubbles and point out that prefolds are NOT how people have been doing it for thousands of years. Prefolds are how people have been doing it since the sewing machine revolutionised domestic life. FLATS are how people have been doing it for time immemorial







And flats are far superior, especially the terry towelling ones.

Flame away, please







:

Oh, and River has hit a whole new level of cuteness







He's recognisably singing "twinkle, twinkle, little star" and there's enough tune there that you can tell that's what it is







Not a LOT of tune, mind you, but enough









I guess I will have to just watch little Nara for future lasting coughs. I was never diagnosed with anything, but oh the stories. My older sister used to yell at me nightly because she could never get any sleep.









I have to agree about the flats. I really like them the best - though we mostly use the pockets. I usually just fold the flats and pop them into a bummi type cover and stick them on her. I love how well they dry on the line. They don't even get too stiff.

Awww! I loooove singing babies! Should we get up a Feb 08 DDC baby chorus?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Gena 22* 
Yeah, I know flats are closer to history, and my thousands of years of diapering thought was total fantasy. I just liked the thought that I was using generally the same technology and materials as many ancestors before me. I'm not brave enough to try flats. Would probably like them, but my money's in my stash already.

Maybe if there's newborn in my future . . . which is unlikely unless DH wins the lottery.









Flats aren't really as scary as all that. They can be anything from simple to scary, but I have to admit, I like their versatility!


----------



## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Great ladies! First I find out that my SIL's expecting her second babe, and now you guys give me diaper lust as well!

Good thing my IUD will keep me out of trouble until my baby-making mood passes!

PS - I just found out some news. Check my updated siggie! How can that be, they are so different! Cool to know for sure. Now will go and read up on identicals. Never looked into it before because I didn't really believe it. Amazing!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Oooh! My mum and aunt were identical but went through phases when they looked more alike than others... as adults they apparently looked more alike than ever before. Oh, and when my parents got married my big cousin got absolutely distraught because she thought Uncle Dadie was marrying the wrong lady... mum had a veil, and her twin was her bridesmaid


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

hi mamas!!

the job is keeping me super busy plus my mama was in town for a few days, needless to say i have a ton of catching up to do and no time to do it in!!

so, i love you all! i promise to check back in after the kids go to bed and i get my grad school app started.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
But yes, in this day and age a night-time cough is generally called asthma







I try not to scare people talking about what Isaac's been through, but yeah, he's my hero. He dealt with a lot of scary shit when he was pretty small and kept brave and smiling between it. It was a living nightmare, though.

I've got to go with Helen on this one. From the way you've described your growing-up coughing, it sounds most assuredly like undiagnosed asthma. Unlike Helen, I do make an effort to scare people... because I've been asthmatic for 20 years and I've got to tell you-- it SUCKS. I mean there's the whole feeling as though you're drowning (because you are, in your own mucous) as well as the *pain* which nobody ever seems to talk about. It HURTS, not only to cough but when your lungs and diaphragm are working and trying to pull that air in... it's just so painful. I can't bear to watch my kids go through that. Some poeple are lucky and just have the cough every now and then, but the air these days... kids are likely to be worse off than their parents. I've hopped on the allopath train for this ride.

Quote:

Rynna, given the way you were talking about babies- and the way I talk about babies when I'm fertile and about to do something rash and get myself knocked up- I'm 90% sure you miscarried a fortnight ago







In your shoes, I'd get your thermometer out and chart properly for a few months. I might be completely totally and utterly wrong, but it's an explanation that makes more sense than implantation spotting, or ovulation bleeding or any of the other variations on the theme.
Oh, is tHRH the guy with the fairy lights?
Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm miscarrying now, only it'd be the product of a non-viable fertilization. The timing would actually be dead on, as I'm pretty damned sure I ovulated late Monday/early Tuesday and I started bleeding Friday night with more pain than I'm accustomed to. I'm also bleeding very heavily for a 17-day cycle, I mean it's rather insane. It was my mother's first thought as well as Mike's and tHRH's, so... yeah. Want to know the really crazy part? I was seriously relieved, because if I had conceived a viable little person, life would be exponentially more complicated than it is now. In any case, it's changed my perspective on things a fair bit, and it kind of forced another fertility conversation with tHRH.

He's unbelievably wonderful about everything, have I mentioned? The two of us are very well sorted, for the time being. Things may change in the event that he decides he wants a biological child, but it's all good.







He's so amazing. Have I mentioned I'm in love? I'm in love!







: And yes, he's the one with the fairy lights.







When I find my camera I'll take more pictures, I promise.







Whether or not he lets me post them is another story.

Quote:

FLATS are how people have been doing it for time immemorial







And flats are far superior, especially the terry towelling ones.

Flame away, please







:
Helen, I'm astounded at you! Everyone knows that *hemp jersey* is the best material for flats.
















Quote:


Originally Posted by *Gena 22* 
Yeah, I know flats are closer to history, and my thousands of years of diapering thought was total fantasy. I just liked the thought that I was using generally the same technology and materials as many ancestors before me. I'm not brave enough to try flats. Would probably like them, but my money's in my stash already.

Flats are *dirt cheap*. You pull out those flannel shirts we all wore back in the 90's or, if you're feeling REALLY industrious, old towels & flannel sheets from the thrift shop. Cut them into fairly large squares and/or rectangles, and start practicing your large-scale origami.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Terry towelling = sea defences. The loops catch the poo and stop it escaping at the waistband. Try it, it works







Plus there's a larger surface area making it both more absorbent and quicker to dry relative to weight. I'm talking specifically about newborns and EBF babes here, though.







Sorry about the babe. I'm not convinced by your explanation (cos it takes 7-10 days to implant) but either way, have a hug







AND another one







Have you ever miscarried before? I've always found that the period after was unbelievably heavy. And yes, I think that big scary talks about contraception are in your near future.

Carrie







Glad that work's going well. Grad school? Have we decided that sleep is over-rated, then?

I have a summer cold and I feel like poo







I want to go back to bed and sleep.


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Carrie - sounds crazy busy your side. Are you enjoying your new job?

Helen - I hope you are feeling better - how yukky to have a cold. What happened with your strawberry bread?
I did not realise how many mama's here are doing CD. I need to get back in gear. I have been using ecological disposables







: MY MEOS were just not working past about 9 months when he started to wee a LOT - and I did not feel like I could invest in a whole other range of cloth daipers







Any tips?)

Well, the sun beckons us out to play in the paddling pool








to all the mama's


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Ah... well, it happened. I knew it would, only a matter of time, but at least it wasn't the worst that could have happened. Because of me... my daughter has...

...

...

uttered her first cuss word.







At least it wasn't the F-bomb... But as I tried to stop the tumbling dishes from falling onto the stove while I was cooking, I said it. And she, in all her parroting ability said "$#!+" (with the appropriate -eating grin right afterward). But on the upside, it wasn't the f-bomb and it wasn't her very first word, but it's far earlier than the others said it.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Erm, my strawberries went mouldy in the fridge whilst I glued myself to the sofa with the cold







: They only cost me 20p, though, so I don't feel that guilty.
I love Fuzzis, I really do. We got some pocket trainers for Skye, found them fairly easy to use and decided to give pockets a try with River. It's worth the money, honestly, and you can resell your MEOS. Or boost them. Either would work.

eta: Teeny







: Blimey, that's advanced! At least it's in context, though...


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Bear's only said that one twice. BeanBean said it when he was about nine months old, so don't feel too badly. (I laughed instead of feeling guilty and blushing right away, too-- how's *that* for awful?







: ) Have I ever mentioned that I swear like a sailor? Actually, I've met several sailors and I swear more than all of them combined...














:

Today is tHRH's birthday. He's thirty-five, and I'm running away from home to celebrate with him. Yeah. There you have it-- I'm completely obsessed like a 12 year old girl with Twighlight (my niece has been pestering me to read it







).







What can I do? I adore being adored, I love being in love, and I've recently come to the conclusion that I've never actually done either before. THRH was so funny about it. "This _is_ love," he said. "This is why they wrote all those ridiculous songs." Oooh, I see now. Yeah, I get it. All of those ridiculously sappy songs on the radio? They make me giggle like a seventh grader reading the dirty part of a novel in class while the teacher thinks I'm doing my homework.









In any case, I'll round the day out by finding Bella some school stuff to do. She's getting really weird about it; I think their brains start to ferment if they don't have work to do.







Anyway, that'll make me feel less guilty about running off to play with my beloved redhead instead of playing indoors with the kids (because it's going to rain today). Hm. I should get moving.


----------



## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Bear's only said that one twice. BeanBean said it when he was about nine months old, so don't feel too badly. (I laughed instead of feeling guilty and blushing right away, too-- how's *that* for awful?







: ) Have I ever mentioned that I swear like a sailor? Actually, I've met several sailors and I swear more than all of them combined...














:

Today is tHRH's birthday. He's thirty-five, and I'm running away from home to celebrate with him. Yeah. There you have it-- I'm completely obsessed like a 12 year old girl with Twighlight (my niece has been pestering me to read it







).







What can I do? I adore being adored, I love being in love, and I've recently come to the conclusion that I've never actually done either before. THRH was so funny about it. "This _is_ love," he said. "This is why they wrote all those ridiculous songs." Oooh, I see now. Yeah, I get it. All of those ridiculously sappy songs on the radio? They make me giggle like a seventh grader reading the dirty part of a novel in class while the teacher thinks I'm doing my homework.









In any case, I'll round the day out by finding Bella some school stuff to do. She's getting really weird about it; I think their brains start to ferment if they don't have work to do.







Anyway, that'll make me feel less guilty about running off to play with my beloved redhead instead of playing indoors with the kids (because it's going to rain today). Hm. I should get moving.









Happy Birthday to tHRH









I agree with your niece that you simply must read Twilight. The movie didn't do the book justice and I suspect the movie coming in November won't come close enough either.

I was in bad shape yesterday... I posted in the Feb. 2010 DDC symptom thread how I was feeling and it wasn't pretty. I'm a bit better today, but I just don't know how I'm going to make it through this pregnancy like this.

If you'd like to read it (posts on page 8 and 9)

Mental Breakdown


----------



## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
I've got to go with Helen on this one. From the way you've described your growing-up coughing, it sounds most assuredly like undiagnosed asthma. Unlike Helen, I do make an effort to scare people... because I've been asthmatic for 20 years and I've got to tell you-- it SUCKS. I mean there's the whole feeling as though you're drowning (because you are, in your own mucous) as well as the *pain* which nobody ever seems to talk about. It HURTS, not only to cough but when your lungs and diaphragm are working and trying to pull that air in... it's just so painful. I can't bear to watch my kids go through that. Some poeple are lucky and just have the cough every now and then, but the air these days... kids are likely to be worse off than their parents. I've hopped on the allopath train for this ride.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm miscarrying now, only it'd be the product of a non-viable fertilization. The timing would actually be dead on, as I'm pretty damned sure I ovulated late Monday/early Tuesday and I started bleeding Friday night with more pain than I'm accustomed to. I'm also bleeding very heavily for a 17-day cycle, I mean it's rather insane. It was my mother's first thought as well as Mike's and tHRH's, so... yeah. Want to know the really crazy part? I was seriously relieved, because if I had conceived a viable little person, life would be exponentially more complicated than it is now. In any case, it's changed my perspective on things a fair bit, and it kind of forced another fertility conversation with tHRH.

He's unbelievably wonderful about everything, have I mentioned? The two of us are very well sorted, for the time being. Things may change in the event that he decides he wants a biological child, but it's all good.







He's so amazing. Have I mentioned I'm in love? I'm in love!







: And yes, he's the one with the fairy lights.







When I find my camera I'll take more pictures, I promise.







Whether or not he lets me post them is another story.


First off, Rynna







Even though you're relieved, miscarrying's still a tough go.









On another note, does asthma run in families? I wonder if it's something I will have to keep watchful for with Nara. Off to do some research.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PlayaMama* 
hi mamas!!

the job is keeping me super busy plus my mama was in town for a few days, needless to say i have a ton of catching up to do and no time to do it in!!

so, i love you all! i promise to check back in after the kids go to bed and i get my grad school app started.

Carrie, you're so busy these days! Good for you! We're thinking of you and of course will be glad for an update when you have time.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Gena 22* 
Great ladies! First I find out that my SIL's expecting her second babe, and now you guys give me diaper lust as well!

Good thing my IUD will keep me out of trouble until my baby-making mood passes!

PS - I just found out some news. Check my updated siggie! How can that be, they are so different! Cool to know for sure. Now will go and read up on identicals. Never looked into it before because I didn't really believe it. Amazing!

Oh congrats on soon-to-be-auntie-ism again. How cool that the girls are identical! That's wild. What does "MZ" stand for?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
Bear's only said that one twice. BeanBean said it when he was about nine months old, so don't feel too badly. (I laughed instead of feeling guilty and blushing right away, too-- how's *that* for awful?







: ) Have I ever mentioned that I swear like a sailor? Actually, I've met several sailors and I swear more than all of them combined...














:


I cuss like a sailor too. Actually I've been alot better about it in the past few years, but I still cuss more than most people, and surely more than most women I know. All the men at work (construction) always apologize to me, and then I have to tell them my BIL used to call me "Popeye" because I cuss like a sailor. Well I'm glad I don't have the only cussing kid. DH says I'm 3 for 3 with the youngest. I didn't realize I started DSS on his road to cussing. Sheesh.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
Happy Birthday to tHRH









I agree with your niece that you simply must read Twilight. The movie didn't do the book justice and I suspect the movie coming in November won't come close enough either.

I was in bad shape yesterday... I posted in the Feb. 2010 DDC symptom thread how I was feeling and it wasn't pretty. I'm a bit better today, but I just don't know how I'm going to make it through this pregnancy like this.

If you'd like to read it (posts on page 8 and 9)

Mental Breakdown























I'm sorry it's so rough, Sarah. If you lived nearby I'd have you over for tea and some quiet time. Thinking of you.


----------



## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Funny story, Helen!

MZ = monozygotic, the more correct (but less fun) term for identical twins.

Teeny, my girls are going to be swearing like sailors any day now. Cute since they look like such cherubs, but not that funny in public. Got to improve my mouth. (And my attitude.







)


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Hey!
Have any of you noticed if your baby's chemistry has changed? Trixie's been getting crazy rashes in her cloth diapers and they're hurting her. Today she pooped while she was napping or right before and I missed it. (I have no idea how I never miss them and always change them right away) but when she woke up she was in so much pain and now her bum is all red and she freaks when I change her.
ACK!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Teeny funny about the swearing.
Luckily I don't have a potty mouth. My Grandpa always said that if it's worth swearing about it was worth using intelligent words. It stuck with me, and I have a gigantic vocabulary because of it. I only swear if I am really really upset and it doesn't happen often. Same with DH. So I think that Trixie will be okay.

Gena, I was wondering what the MZ and the other meant. I noticed when you first added it to your sig line and figured that's what it mean 'cause it's so special, why put the other there? And yay, how exciting! I think we'll need to see more pictures of the girls, you know for scientific understanding!

Finally my pissy mood has not left me! With Trixie (and I keep going back to that pregnancy, but I have no others to compare to!) my mood improved 100 fold once I was pregnant and off the fertility drugs. But now it's worse! I know all pregnancies are different, but I didn't expect them to be this vastly different. It's blowing my wee pregnancy addled brain! Maybe it all means that Leftie's here to stay!







:


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

crab...crab...crab...whine...whine...whine...I am busy doing stuff for other people all day long and can't get extra time to chat here with my DDC mamas







:

Am reading, just can't chime in these days...but love you all!

Gena: yea about the girls...I don't know why...but it just seems cool!

Dea:







!

Love to all the pregnant mamas!

Rynna: hang in there with whatever the heck is going on with your body!

SarahLynne:







hang in there!!!

Teeny: hope all this asthma stuff resolves quickly...scary to contemplate~!

Ema: hope you had fun in the sun!

We are doing well. Molly apparently didn't really need to night nurse much anymore, because this transition has been more smooth than I could have ever imagined! She has slept through the night 3 of the last 4 nights, and we didn't expect that at all for months. DS kept waking up to co-sleep with daddy for maybe 8 mos after the night-wean. With Molly, it's like, "well, if it's daddy, then it's just not worth it. I'll just sleep here in my bed, without his big hairy self around!







". She is nursing more in the day, which I don't mind in the least, but it is so weird now that this transition appears to be behind us.
Big







to helen and teeny and everyone who aren't sleeping well these days. And Teeny, I would say that unless you are 100% sure you are night-weaning permanently, then don't even start it or worry about it at all. Some time it will really be the right time, and she will be just fine once you stick to it for good. She might not like the first couple of nights, but then it will be behind you.

Gena, I LOVED your comment about how funny it was that I celebrated getting to "sleep in" till 7!







...you are so right! How quickly my perspective has changed. There were many days early on in my marriage to DH, that we wouldn't be up on a Saturday till noon!!

Love to you all, back soon!


----------



## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Dea, we are dealing with the exact same thing, James has his first diaper rash and it's really bad. He had a poo I missed and when I changed him I could tell it had been there for a while. then today he had another sneeky poo I missed and his poor bottom is so darn red and really, really sore. Poor baby. I also went through the pissy, everyone is stupid and annoying thing with James' pregnancy. I think your tea may help and if you aren't taking an omega 3 I recommend it. I'm keeping everything crossed for Leftie!

Emily, I'm really glad the nighttime transition is going well! I've missed you around here!

Carrie, I hope things are going well with you and your family and your job. I miss you around here too!

Rynna, you are acting like an obsessed 12 yo, it's fun isn't it?







and







on the miscarriage

Helen, I hope you are feeling better!

Gena, that's neat about the girls!

Megan, we've been using disposibles lately too. I sometimes go through phases with diapers. I hope the pool was nice!

Sarah Lynne,


----------



## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Teeny, I also recommend the Dr. Sears The Baby Book, it's the only one I've really used. I also hope Nara doesn't use her new "colorful" word too often!









Heather, I'd love your strawberry bread recipe, we're going strawberry picking tomorrow and I want to do something other than just make jelly.

Well I need to run so I'm sorry for everyone I missed.









I attended a birth on Saturday (of a 15 yo) and have 1 mom a few days past her due date and another young woman due next week but her first baby was a week early and she thinks this one will be too. I think it will be a busy weekend, I just hope they don't cross!!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Hey Mamas! I had an idea. perhaps a not practical one... but I'm known for those. (totally how I went to live in Korea and then England for a while, so they work out.... also how I kept up a realtionship with Adam...)
SOOOO!
What if we found a pretty central location to most or all of us and went there for a reunion?
OH SO MUCH FUN!
Again I know not so practical, but... so fun! ideas?


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Dea, sorry, count me out









Sarah, good to see you- happy birthings!

Emily







We're here when you get round to us. I have no life. Though I have just found a breakfast cereal that doesn't leave me feeling sick 20 minutes later, so I may soon have more life than previously.

On top of everything else, River is teething again. Rivers of disgusting green snot everywhere, night waking and his latch is excrutiatingly awful







It's all small stuff- compared to my overwhelming urge to crawl under the sofa and die quietly, anyhow. I hate colds. We're kind of half-heartedly weaning (don't offer, don't refuse) and he isn't taking the hint, and I really wish he would







Does that make me horrible?

BUT when I nearly passed out during dinner last night, DH took over the bedtimes, and then I had a hot bath and an early night and everything seemed much better for a bit.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh, I nearly forgot. Sarah Lynne







So far my depression hasn't bitten, and it's been wonderful. Depending on how bad it is (and nobody but you can quantify that) there could be some tough choices ahead of you.
Can you find care for your anxiety that specialises in pre-and postnatal depression and anxiety, or get referrals? It seems like a good way to start. Also try cognitive behavioural therapies.
If you actually want to try the flower remedies, email me and I'll do you a consultation/prescription. It might be worth trying herbal motherwort first, though, seeing as RR doesn't seem to be hitting the spot.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Oh, I nearly forgot. Sarah Lynne







So far my depression hasn't bitten, and it's been wonderful. Depending on how bad it is (and nobody but you can quantify that) there could be some tough choices ahead of you.
Can you find care for your anxiety that specialises in pre-and postnatal depression and anxiety, or get referrals? It seems like a good way to start. Also try cognitive behavioural therapies.
If you actually want to try the flower remedies, email me and I'll do you a consultation/prescription. It might be worth trying herbal motherwort first, though, seeing as RR doesn't seem to be hitting the spot.

I'll PM you a little later on!


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sarahn4639* 
Teeny, I also recommend the Dr. Sears The Baby Book, it's the only one I've really used. I also hope Nara doesn't use her new "colorful" word too often!










yesterday she ran into the couch and said it, and then she stumbled on the way into the bedroom and said it... Seems she understand exactly what it's for...


----------



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
We're kind of half-heartedly weaning (don't offer, don't refuse) and he isn't taking the hint, and I really wish he would







Does that make me horrible?

No, it makes you human. Nursing during pregnancy is hard. I know, I've done it three times.









I'm actually still bleeding, and very heavily. It's becoming not only depressing but a significant drain on my energy.







I've had off-cycles before where it's very likely that I "conceived" something; Rather, that sperm and egg came together in an infertile union that just messed with things. Nothing I can say with absolute certainty was a miscarriage, though; I have a hard time calling it that when there was no chance I was going to be pregnant, you know? No implantation going on, nothing like that, just a really heavy cycle that's happening at the wrong time (late or early, like this one). Anyway, I'm sure it's anemia rearing it's ugly head. Yeesh. I need to do something about the entire mess.









Okay. Off to be a grownupishness now. Blech. Wish me luck!


----------



## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

I had a prenatal class today, mandatory by my insurance. You fill out a lot of forms, they order you a mess of blood and urine tests and they talk to you like you're stupid. (or at least that's how I feel, I guess they have to teach to the lowest common denominator. I'm not that person. I wanted to poke my eyes out.)
Anyhow the best part of the class?

Them: you have to take the glucose test this week
me: no
them: you have to...
me: no
them: but the doctor needs to know
me: I've always had negative results and they will always be negative and I hate it and I'm not going to make my daughter sit still for an hour and I have no family to watch her and I won't hire a babysitter, she's too young.
them: but you need it.
me: no I don't
them: but....
me: nope.
them: oh wait you're on metformin, you can't do the test yet.
me: good.....

sigh so I get to do this again in a month or so.

They think I am at greater risk, which is lame lame lame.


----------



## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
I had a prenatal class today, mandatory by my insurance. You fill out a lot of forms, they order you a mess of blood and urine tests and they talk to you like you're stupid. (or at least that's how I feel, I guess they have to teach to the lowest common denominator. I'm not that person. I wanted to poke my eyes out.)
Anyhow the best part of the class?

Them: you have to take the glucose test this week
me: no
them: you have to...
me: no
them: but the doctor needs to know
me: I've always had negative results and they will always be negative and I hate it and I'm not going to make my daughter sit still for an hour and I have no family to watch her and I won't hire a babysitter, she's too young.
them: but you need it.
me: no I don't
them: but....
me: nope.
them: oh wait you're on metformin, you can't do the test yet.
me: good.....

sigh so I get to do this again in a month or so.

They think I am at greater risk, which is lame lame lame.

Ugh! I hate people telling me I *have* to do something. Thats a sure fire way to get me to NOT do something.


----------



## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

And a great big







: from me. I love the NHS, I get to decline anything I want


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Dea







! I LOVE your awesomeness!! Hang in there! Way to go!

Rynna, hope the grownupness went ok, and is over now. And I hope you take care of yourself and don't get anemic this week...hope this strangeness is over soon!

Helen







right back at you! I am so sorry to hear about how River is feeling ...especially when his mama just really needs some TLC and some rest of her own these days. I hope the cereal is still working well for you, and I hope Steve is able to keep up the evening routine so you can finally take a load off. Caring for the kids you have, the one you are growing, taking care of the rest of all that life demands, and still making milk for a toddler...You are one STRONG, AMAZING mama!! Hang in there. Wish I could come over and be your maid/nanny for a week or two. Just let you rest and relax for a while!

Dea, who wants to be practical all the time anyway! Let's meet somewhere









Sarah: Hope things are going well with all your birthing mamas! I can't believe how much you must have on your plate this weekend. Hope James' rash has gone away. Both my kids need LOTS of fresh air on their bums to keep diaper rash away, so after each poop, I usually let them run free for a while. There is the occasional potty mess, but usually things go well and this helps keep everything dry and healthy.

Teeny: Well, at least you can take it as a sign that she is super smart and perceptive


----------



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

I finally stopped bleeding, I think. Urgh, I feel so wiped out. I just want to sleeeeeeep. Sadly I can't without some kind of external help, and I'm having this whole crisis of faith about it right now. Last night I was up until two, it was awful.







: Obviously today I'm a space case.









That said, I'm taking the hordes to the park. They need to get out, whether or not it's going to rain. I just wish I didn't feel so... bleh.

Here's hoping the rest of you are feeling better than I.







:


----------



## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
I finally stopped bleeding, I think. Urgh, I feel so wiped out. I just want to sleeeeeeep. Sadly I can't without some kind of external help, and I'm having this whole crisis of faith about it right now. Last night I was up until two, it was awful.







: Obviously today I'm a space case.









That said, I'm taking the hordes to the park. They need to get out, whether or not it's going to rain. I just wish I didn't feel so... bleh.

Here's hoping the rest of you are feeling better than I.







:









Rynna

I wish we lived closer because I totally would come help with the horde









I took stock of my diapers today. I actually have *plenty* of diapers. I have a dirth of covers. So thats going on my things I need list. The only reason I wouldn't have enough diapers would be if there are twins in here. Only time will tell.

I'm really hoping for a little girl. I'll probably have a baby shower of some sort because we have nothing for baby. I have a bumbo seat. And diapers enough for one. Oh and my 2 wraps. No clothes. No swing. A Dirth of covers. I'll definitely have a registry though so people know what to get me


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

SL, honestly, boys are so much easier than girls... are you sure?








Rynna.

Emily









I's fed up. It took 2.5 hours of screaming and grumbling before he'd go to sleep tonight.


----------



## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
SL, honestly, boys are so much easier than girls... are you sure?








Rynna.

Emily









I's fed up. It took 2.5 hours of screaming and grumbling before he'd go to sleep tonight.


Who says I don't enjoy the challenge of a girl?









I love my boys, but I need some girly stuff in this house. I'm not afraid to keep trying until I get one either 

I just jinxed myself didn't I? LOL


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Boys are easier? Really? I always thought it was the other way. Although Trixie might be a freak of nature with her easygoingness....

Also Mamas, check this out!!!!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle1186104/


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Boys are easier? Really? I always thought it was the other way. Although Trixie might be a freak of nature with her easygoingness....

Also Mamas, check this out!!!!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle1186104/

Awesome article







I'm hoping that something actually becomes of that and it doesn't just get thrown into an archive somewhere.


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Helen







Sounds like a terrible, horrible, awful way to spend the evening







Here's hoping that tomorrow is 1000 times better!

Rynna, glad you have (hopefully turned the corner)

SL








Dea, awesome article, thanks for sharing.

I'm sleepy..gotta run to bed before this tantalizing screen keeps me up anymore! Seriously, what did I do in the evenings before the dawn of the current computer/internet age??!


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lovetobemama* 
Helen







Sounds like a terrible, horrible, awful way to spend the evening







Here's hoping that tomorrow is 1000 times better!

Rynna, glad you have (hopefully turned the corner)

SL








Dea, awesome article, thanks for sharing.

I'm sleepy..gotta run to bed before this tantalizing screen keeps me up anymore! Seriously, what did I do in the evenings before the dawn of the current computer/internet age??!

Went to bed after Primetime Television....or 9:00pm which ever came first LOL


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Helen, although I'm not trying to wean Robin, I would sure appreciate fewer nursing sessions, but she's not getting the hint either







: in fact she seems more and more interested in nursing now that she can ask for it verbally.

I feel like I'm unofficially nightweaning her because overnight is when my nipples are hurting the most and I can't stand to lie there and have 2 hour nursing sessions -- so for the first time I'm cutting her off. (We're sleeping alone right now since DH's smell makes me absolutely ill.) She wasn't happy about it but seemed to settle down pretty fast, so maybe this will work


----------



## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

I used to think I would only want boys. Until I had my first girl!







Marley is the easiest of my kids, and Ronan is the most difficult. But it might just be about age more than gender. There have been easy and rough patches with all of them. But we still have the teen years ahead....









I have the rest of this month and all of next with no births on the horizon, and I think it wouldn't be too hard to talk dh into a roadtrip if it involved camping. It would be so fun to meet you mamas IRL!


----------



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lovetobemama* 
I'm sleepy..gotta run to bed before this tantalizing screen keeps me up anymore! Seriously, what did I do in the evenings before the dawn of the current computer/internet age??!

I used to stay up all night playing Tetris. Before that, I played Solitaire (with actual paper cards, people!) and wrote programs for my older brother's old Commodore 64.







I also read books and watched MTV. Sleep?







Nope. Never really have been much for sleep.









So I'm recognizing that I've been very anemic this week. It came on fairly quickly and became exponentially worse with each passing day; It's largely responsible for the doldrums. I've been inhaling chicken livers like crazy while I wait for the freaking Floravital to arrive. It's going well-- the headache I associate with anemia is down to a dull roar this morning. I'm even a little grossed out by the liver this morning, which is a good sign (last night it might as well have been chocolate) that my iron's coming back up, and I feel as though I could use a few more hours of sleep but it's not a matter of life and death.







My bleeding finally stopped completely yesterday. Insanity, all of that.







Helen, you're absolutely right that I should start charting again... I have no idea where my basal thermometer went but it'd be worthwhile to invest in a new one at this point. If I manage to get off my behind and get out of the house today, I'll buy one.

THRH and his other girlfriend have tickets for a concert tonight, so I won't get him until tomorrow morning.







We're planning to head up to the Farm for Moon Service tomorrow afternoon, and to hang out on the Land until Sunday afternoon.









Oh yes-- proof positive that it's not all New Relationship Energy (NRE): THRH hates smilies. He finds them visually overwhelming, especially the ones that move. All of his emoticons are backwards so that they can't possibly be turned into actual smilies, and whenever I show him a post at MDC he clicks "stop" so that all *my* smilies stop moving.







I, on the other hand, am smilie obsessed.








I'm better than I used to be, but yeah... smilies for all!







:







:







He's also never heard Swan Swan H, which is one of my favorite songs ever.







We have little tiny bits of less-than-perfection between us. Overall, though, things are unbelievably good. Sometimes I wake up in the morning terrified that tHRH is not actually real because he seems too good to be true.







Urgh, I'm so silly!









Bear's got hives of unknown origin today, as well as diarrhea and a horrible rash on his tush (likely from the diarrhea). Poor kid.







He sees the allergist on 1 July, so please... good vibes that he manages to stay out of the hospital before that point.







: We don't know what he could possibly have eaten that's giving him hives *now*.







He hasn't had milk or eggs in ages, you know? He hasn't even had peanut butter, I don't think. I have a feeling that the allergist is going to say something like, "Clear out your kitchen and start making food out of Neocate, rice, and thin air for a while." I worry about this, because there are three other, older children to feed.









BeanBean has a friend with severe (anaphalactic) food allergies, but she's the oldest child. She was diagnosed at two, so her younger sisters have grown up with her food restrictions, accustomed to seeing things labeled for their sister, etc. The three year old isn't quite on top of things, but the five year old knows, for example, that she can't wash her hands with the soap that's in a strange bathroom because her sister might be allergic to it... and she's already in the habit of washing her hands after she eats, rather than before, to keep her sister safe. I think this would all be a lot easier if Bean was the one with the food allergies, because we'd all be in these habits already and there wouldn't be any kind of shift for the younger kids to worry about, just occasional special treats.







Starting with baby #4 makes this ridiculously complicated.







:

Ugh. Maybe they'll tell me that he's actually got no allergies at all, he's got some kind of virus that gives him all the symptoms of allergies and they can cure it with drugs.







Okay, that's ridiculous-- the child is clearly allergic. But blah, that's icky.

So how are all these pregnancies going, hm? THRH and I had a lovely conversation regarding fertility and I just love him to pieces for being so sweet about everything. It's uncanny, hearing a guy say all the things you heard in your head when you imagined the best possible response.







He's incredible. I get to teach him about charting next.







I've already taught him about cervical position, firmness, and mucous. He was rather tickled to hear that a guy can learn to detect when a woman is fertile.







Most guys are-- they're absolutely shocked by it, too.







I'm more shocked when they want to know.







Anyway, he's learning. It's super cute! I'm so in love with him. Have I mentioned? I'm in love!







:


----------



## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Pregnancy is going...to say the least. My patience has flown. I have none left.


----------



## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

Sarah Lynne....a girl????? I only say that because my eight year old has been in her room crying for about 45 mins over the fact I won't let her wear a stained white t shirt and stained blue capri pants to French class today. She is now declaring that she hates all her clothes. Let's not mention the fact that wejust purchased about 75.00 worth, all of which she picked out.







: I love my girls to bits and it's fun shopping for a baby girl right now!

I'll post the strawberry bread recipe later today. Right now I need to go resolve the clothing issue.


----------



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

You guys are probably anemic, too.







I was such a b**** yesterday.







It's humiliating, to know that my moods come and go at the whims of a metal...


----------



## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Rynna, I guess I'm lucky - when I'm anemic, I just get dizzy spells, exhaustion, and can't quite pull my head together. No mood swings, though. Just a fog that hovers around my head for days on end. I'm better about taking pre-natals and eating Grape-Nuts - that seems to take care of it. And did I ever mention that I think you are right about red-headed men having similar builds? Most of the ones I know (including DH, who I would consider my own HRH!) are tall & lanky with pretty musculature. Yummy.

Lauren, how you feeling?

Raina, good to see you, too!

Dea, interesting article. I couldn't read it, though, without being reminded of a tough-as-nails friend of mine. She delivered her first baby breach (butt first) and said she would never, ever do it again! She got a level 5 episiotemy, and was in a lot of pain for weeks afterwards. There was only one doc in the state who would deliver breech babies...and he's now retired. I wonder if the practice I use would have been able to work her through it better. That said, they have HUGE success in getting babies to turn before labor, so maybe it's not as much of an issue for them. Still. Ow.

How you feeling? How's the mood these days?

Girls v. boys - i have no comparison, but I LOVE having a girl. She's a blast. But she is a total monkey and is into everything, very very physical kid. Which is what people tell me is hard about little boys. Easy? No idea! But a ton of fun.

SL, hugs to you.

Procrastinating work. My French-speaking skills are being challenged as I have to edit translations to fit within allotted space. It takes more words to say things in French than in English. At least it's keeping my mind busy!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Boys vs. Girls. They've both got their ups and downs, honestly. I have one exceptionally masculine boy, one exceptionally feminine girl, and one of each who seems somewhere in between. In fact, BooBah told me a few days ago that she wanted to be a boy, and she likes her new, mostly self-administered haircut (very very short-- nearly as short as her brother's) because she likes having boy hair.









Hard things about boys: Huge need for physical activity, fascination with anything that moves (people, cars, airplanes, trebuchets, simple machines of every stripe, etc), and a protective instinct that seems to entirely bypass the brain.

Easy things about boys: Wiping after using the toilet, they make a lot of noise so you always know where they are, tend to be somewhat more fragile than girls so they're more dependant on you initially and thus easier to guide, loyalty, honesty, devotion.

Hard things about girls: Changing clothing thirty times a day ("It's dirty! It's wet! It's too tight! It's too loose! I like that better!"), perfectionism, need for physical contact, need for self-expression, sneakiness.

Easy things about girls: In general they potty learn earlier than boys (not always!), tend to be less critical of others (but of course this comes with being more critical of themselves), appreciation of beautiful things, generally quieter than boys.

That said, not one of these things holds true for every child. My experience thus far is that each child has easy and difficult things about them, and in general they're happiest if they're well-nourished and loved.







That applies equally to all four.


----------



## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

See, I'd disagree with that list. I find that girls talk more, and more intently, than boys, and it's far harder to distract them or fob them off- that's what I find hardest about Skye and her friends, that they talk ALL THE TIME. Skye is like an elephant- she never, EVER forgets. Similarly, all four of mine are very huggy these days, all see beauty.

I may possibly be into the blooming second trimester. No pukeys, skin is good, belly enters a room a few seconds before me, and I definitely have some energy. McDonalds is no longer the best thing in the planet, either (beef in black bean sauce is, but tartare sauce is a close second.) It's all good. Oh, and I'm at 13+6, and no, River still isn't sleeping.


----------



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Yeah, YMMV.







BeanBean said his first word at a month and hasn't shut up since. It's not just the gabbity gabs, though; Bean makes noise doing anything and everything, and so does Bear. BooBah will talk a blue streak but if she's engrossed in some sort of project I'll never hear her.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

I figured I'd come back and elaborate on my last post







I'm actually in an ok mood, I was just low on time.

I'm having the same frustrating problem with DH. He just doesn't want to freaking wake up in the morning. We compromised that I won't wake him up before 9 am without a very good reason to do so. I don't mind that. However, I like to think its ok that I expect when I come in at 9:05 or even 9:15 and ask you to get up that it shouldn't take you a half an hour to get out of bed (and 30 minutes is on a good day.) It's very frustrating and exhausting to me to have to do this everyday.

With the kids I'm trying to be calmer and not so shreeky, but its hard. Austin at 3 knows what he can and can't do. I don't expect him to be perfect all the time, but he's constantly testing me. And he watches me to see that I know he's doing something he shouldn't. Its exhaustive dealing with him over and over.

Steven is in the constantly into everything stage. Of course by the time everything trickles down to him I have hardly an ounce of patience left.

I'm still having trouble reconciling this pregnancy. It's just left us in such a lurch that I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm actually excited about being pregnant rather than just ok with being pregnant.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Sarah Lynne, I have no idea how you're doing it, but you are. Thinking of you...

Oh I can't believe I haven't mentioned it, but







DSD-17,







DSS-9 and







DSD-7 come tomorrow!! I can't wait! I miss those kids! We wish







DSD-18 and her little







DGS-1 could come, but maybe sometime soon. I won't be on much until Monday. Have a great weekend all!!


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Teenytoona* 







Sarah Lynne, I have no idea how you're doing it, but you are. Thinking of you...

Oh I can't believe I haven't mentioned it, but







DSD-17,







DSS-9 and







DSD-7 come tomorrow!! I can't wait! I miss those kids! We wish







DSD-18 and her little







DGS-1 could come, but maybe sometime soon. I won't be on much until Monday. Have a great weekend all!!

Have fun with your housefull


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## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

*SarahLynne* It gets better. For a long time I was just okay with being pregnant with Quinn. Not excited, not totally embracing being pregnant, just okay. I felt like that was wrong of me too. But as time went by I started getting more excited. I still had most everything from Eli, gear wise, but had gotten rid of all my newborn size cd's and a few other things. I think once I started getting things like timy little cd's, crib bedding (even though she sleeps with us and the crib isn't up yet)







, and buying clothes for her was when I really started to get excited. I reminded myself that I am lucky even if the pregnancy wasn't the most planned or at that moment desired. So many out there aren't able to and would like to be in my shoes. At one time I would have given anything to be in my own shoes after we were told we had little chance at having children without medical help. It'll get better and soon we'll be hearing all about your new little one!

We are having some drama with Kendall right now. She has become very argumentative and doesn't feel she needs to listen to us. It's been getting worse and I don't know what to do. We've tried positive reinforcement tactics, tried taking away priviledges, etc... nothing seems to work. Arrrggghhh!

Okay so here's the strawberry bread recipe-sub out what you need too to make it healthier.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups white sugar
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups veg oil
1 cup chooped walnuts, I think pecans would be lovely too.

Preheat oven to 350, lightly grease 2 9x5 inch loaf pans (I made one big loaf in a regular loaf pan)

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and sugar in large mixing bowl. Beat together eggs and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just enough to moisten the ingredients. Fold in strawberries and nuts. Pour into pan(s). Bake in preheated oven abouut 60 minutes or until toothpick is clean. Cool 20-30 minutes before removing from pan. Cool on rack completely before slicing (yeah right-mine was half gone before it was cooled all the way).

Enjoy


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Have you read Hold On To Your Kids? That helps me- and How to Talk So Kids Will Listen. It's a tough age- we're going through this with Isaac at the minute







Not fun. I know that Alex grew out of it, though.

Thankyou for the recipe







We were going strawberry picking this morning, but the weather is awful...

Have a great weekend Teeny!


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## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

Thanks Helen! I'll check out those books. I'm sure some of it is age and going from only child to one of three in less than two years. At least I know I'm not alone!!

Hope you had a good time picking strawberries despite the weather. Right now it's sunny here but I'm sure we are in for another hot and humid day.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Heather, are the nuts absolutely necessary or are they optional? I have a feeling that if we *baked* nuts in this house, Bear would be covered in hives for a week.


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## Gunter (May 5, 2005)

OMG, so many of you all are preggo! congrats and how crazy awesome!

i have serious baby lust. planning to be preggo, again next year but really just waiting on things to fall into place for that.

i got thrush this week and figure if i can still want to have more children after this horror, then it must be a desire from god! haha have any of you battled thrush and knocked it out?

i keep reading that it reoccurs and i want to just knock it out and not have it, again. so, i am curious to see if anyone has had thrush only ONCE? give me some hope, mamas!

hope to be in touch more!


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 

So how are all these pregnancies going, hm?

I'm at 9w3d right now and have had several days of feeling mostly ok... it's weird!!! Evenings are still kind of rough but so far week 9 has been good to me. I was reading on another website that the placenta should be taking over some hormone production so maybe that's what this, and morning sickness will abate some for me.

I was so sick 24/7 with Robin for so long that I can't quite relax, though. I remember week 10 was the worst with Robin, so I have my guard up, expecting to have another horrible day, or week, or it to get a lot worse. But a small part of me is excited at the possibility that it may not get worse!! I HATE THE FIRST TRIMESTER!!!

I can tell I've gained some weight, but not a ton, and not really in my tummy area. I don't have the bloating as bad as I did with Robin, either, so most of my regular clothes are still fitting just fine with small adjustments (unbuttoning).

We are definitely hoping this is another girl. I know that once the baby is born, whoever it is will feel just right for our family. But I would really love another daughter... especially since I think this will be our last and it would be great not to have to buy a whole new baby wardrobe!!

Nesting is killing me now... I'm obsessed with buying a house, even though we are in no way ready for that financially or lifestyle wise. But I keep fantasizing about a house with wooden floors and a screen porch... SIGH!!


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Nesting.... So I want to do some minor renos to our house, and I've thought about them for a while, and now I just feel that they are really needed. I didn't think that it could be nesting.
Adam is totally against them. (our house is just over a year old, heh) but I think that they are prudent. Sigh.

I have some family drama again. My younger brother (the one with bipolar, who's had his children taken from him) is mad at me. I was talking to him and he was complaining that his daughter's mom was wanting more money from him, and I asked if he was paying his child support and he says that he's not! GRRRR! I told him he's an ass and he should pay it. He says that he's been told not too 'cause it might be too high and if he pays it then he won't get the over payment back. I told him that it's going to a good source and he should pay it regardless. I'm so mad at him because we grew up with our dad sometimes paying it and sometimes not and we suffered when he didn't, and now he's doing the same thing to his children! Grrr! He's also mad 'cause his daughter said that her mom's boyfriend is hitting her, and they've had issues with that in the past. So I asked if he's spanking, slapping her hand or something else, and my brother blew a gasket saying that I want him to beat her black and blue. Which isn't the truth, I was asking 'cause if there is an issue Adam and I are going to pursue custody, but if she's being spanked (which I hate) the courts won't see it our way. So he's being a total ass.... I'm so tired of his drama and his mood swings. I've tried to be supportive of him, but I can't take the abuse myself. He's so volatile, and I know he's sick, but grrrr! Admittedly I don't understand mental illnesses. I just want to tell him to sort himself out for his children's sake. I feel he's not even trying, he just bemoans that he never gets to see them, but he's made no effort.

Now for my other brother, I just found out today that he's been diagnosed with MS. His mom (we have the same dad, different moms) is in the advanced stages of it, and now he has the early stages. I need to learn as much as I can. My sister in law is a wreck and she doesn't know what to do. I'm sure that a drastic change in lifestyle might help him, but I need to do some research. Any ideas?

So that's my life right now.

For father's day tomorrow I am going to make Adam breakfast in bed of a banana split. He always says that he wants icecream for breakfast. Then for dinner I'll make him a nice steak with the manly fixin's. (can I get wife of the year award please? hee hee....)

What are all of you doing for father's day?

How are my fellow preggars doing?


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## ema-adama (Dec 3, 2007)

Mama's

I have some very sad news. My mother passed away very suddenly early on Wednesday morning. This has been deeply shocking for me after having had such an amazing holiday together not more than two months ago and having skyped with her on Tuesday as we compared knitting projects for the coming winter.

I am flying out to my father and brother on Tuesday night and will be with them for some weeks. Adi is able to be with us there for some days.

It is not clear to me what caused her death. She had had an asthma attack on Tuesday night at theater where she was stabilized by a paramedic, but not admitted to hospital. She woke up at home early in the morning calling for my father to get her nebulizer and then told him she needed an ambulance. In the time that he called the ambulance she passed. With no struggle or suffering.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh Megan




























I'm so sorry.

Dea, you too


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

*hugs* Megan...I'm sorry about your mom. I lost my mom in January so if you need to talk or vent or anything feel free to PM me. Be gentle with yourself.

Dea- I have heard there are some people out there that control MS with diet and supplements. I know next to nothing about MS, but maybe go hangout in the health and healing forum and see if anyone else has information!


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
Now for my other brother, I just found out today that he's been diagnosed with MS. His mom (we have the same dad, different moms) is in the advanced stages of it, and now he has the early stages. I need to learn as much as I can. My sister in law is a wreck and she doesn't know what to do. I'm sure that a drastic change in lifestyle might help him, but I need to do some research. Any ideas?

Dea, my best friend's mother had MS and she found that the best resource for information and support was her local MS society chapter. I am sure that a phone call to them could put him or you in touch with people who can help you understand what's happening and make plans, connect with the best doctors in the area, find a support group, etc.

Megan, I'm so sorry about your mother. What a terrible shock. My thoughts are with your family.

For father's day we opened presents yesterday, and will do something fun but lowkey today. We are planning on telling the grandparents about the new baby, too, so that will be fun.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

I got DH 2 cards for Father's Day (One from me and One from the kids.)

I let him sleep until 10 am and made him Egg sandwiches for breakfast (which was rough on a morning sickness stomach...)

Of course he thinks I did it all to make him feel bad for him not doing anything for me for Mother's Day....







:


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## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

Megan- Many hugs

The nuts in the bread are totally optional. I rarely have nuts in the housr so they are usually left out of most recipes.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

hi mamas,

i'm back for a bit









megan- i'm so sorry!







that must be devastating for you









ugh, more later, going for a walk with the hubby and kidlets, storm is coming again, feeling very blah today, but hey, at least we didn't make a baby this month!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin* 
I got DH 2 cards for Father's Day (One from me and One from the kids.)

I let him sleep until 10 am and made him Egg sandwiches for breakfast (which was rough on a morning sickness stomach...)

Of course he thinks I did it all to make him feel bad for him not doing anything for me for Mother's Day....







:

Heh. Nice. But hey, at least you made the effort. Mine sulked because he got socks and ties








We have declared this house a Hallmark holiday free venue from now on. Christmas remains, but everything else is gone







Valentines Day and Mothers Day this year were a washout, and today consisted of:
1) Panicking because my FIL's hoist is broken and so he is stuck in bed when he was meant to be coming for lunch.
2) Locking the carers out of FIL's house and letting them in again.
3) Losing the motorbike keys and finding them again
4) The aforementioned sulk.
So, no more, never again







Life is just too short.


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Megan and Dea, I'm so sorry to hear about your family woes. My thoughts are with you both.









It's crazy hot and humid here in MI. I love it! I'm hoping to go to the lake this week. Possibly more than once! Summer is the best! I've set a goal to wild craft or grow all of my tea for the coming year. So I've gone nuts gathering black raspberry leaves, red clover, and I'm growing a variety of mints, a type of basil that will be a great accent, and lavender.







:

Myself and a small group of midwives and midwifery students have decided to hold an event to discuss homebirth midwifery licensure. There's a group of midwives who are really gung-ho, but the problem is that they refuse to hear the opinions of those who oppose it.







We want our side heard, and we also want to hear from families. So I'm organizing a number of meetings, and I'm excited, but also a bit apprehensive. I wish midwives could all stand united, but there are definitely two schools of thought, and both sides feel pretty strongly. So that's what's shakin' in my neck of the woods!


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Heh. Nice. But hey, at least you made the effort. Mine sulked because he got socks and ties








We have declared this house a Hallmark holiday free venue from now on. Christmas remains, but everything else is gone







Valentines Day and Mothers Day this year were a washout, and today consisted of:
1) Panicking because my FIL's hoist is broken and so he is stuck in bed when he was meant to be coming for lunch.
2) Locking the carers out of FIL's house and letting them in again.
3) Losing the motorbike keys and finding them again
4) The aforementioned sulk.
So, no more, never again







Life is just too short.









I think in your case that is a really smart idea. It's hard to do away with many of the Hallmark holidays because my family is big into them. I have trouble getting DH to acknowledge ANY holiday. Of course if I were to forget his birthday the world would come to an end....

Sorry to hear about all your trouble today. Hope things get better.


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Oh Megan...





















My heart is breaking for you


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Megan, I am so sorry.

Our father's day was a little low key. Adam got up late with Trixie and I lounged in bed. I had a rough night, Trixie was up a lot, and I sorted her out. I also read most of the day. Then we went for lunch and now he's putting the baby to bed and I've made us a little romantic dinner. Then I'll make him banana splits which are his favourite!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Megan,







.

I mailed tHRH a card for his birthday this year, because I wasn't planning on or expecting to be able to see him. It was cute and a little silly. I actually found myself looking at obscenely sappy cards and thinking, "Aww, I want to give him that!" at the same time I thought, "Eeeewww, so _sappy_, these cards should come with coupons for insulin and dental floss, theyr'e just toooo sweet!" I'm rather embarassed by the way that I feel about him.
















I'm actually hoping to get him on MDC at some point (like he needs something else to do online; I've already got the poor man addicted to Mafia Wars!); That's kind of exciting to me, that he wants to be a part of this community as much as everything else that's in my life.







I'm so in love with this man.







:







:







:

Bear spent a fair bit of time today SCREAMING and being unhappy, but his face was covered in hives and he kept gagging/refluxing/belching... so I'm assuming he's developing a new allergy to something *else* that he's been eating (he didn't have any new foods this weekend, according to Mike) or one of the kids fed him something he shouldn't have had.







: I'm really looking forward to his appointment with the allergy folks next week. Hopefully they'll be able to help us with more than, "Here's an EpiPen Jr, don't let him eat any real food for a while and you'll be fine." He sees the gastroenterologist a few days after the allergist, too, so the timing should be good.







I'm really looking forward to finding out how much weight he's gained. He's so much thicker than he was, he actually looks like a real baby.


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *applecore* 
Myself and a small group of midwives and midwifery students have decided to hold an event to discuss homebirth midwifery licensure. There's a group of midwives who are really gung-ho, but the problem is that they refuse to hear the opinions of those who oppose it.







We want our side heard, and we also want to hear from families. So I'm organizing a number of meetings, and I'm excited, but also a bit apprehensive. I wish midwives could all stand united, but there are definitely two schools of thought, and both sides feel pretty strongly. So that's what's shakin' in my neck of the woods!

Raina, the national trend is really moving in the direction of licensure. I know there are many who are skeptical of the benefits of licensing, but licensure even benefits those who opt out of it because then you can only charged with practicing midwifery w/o a license (misdemeanor) instead of practicing medicine w/o a license (felony!). I'm on the steering committee for Iowa's licensure advocacy group -- it's a really exciting movement to be a part of since so much is happening at the state and federal level. I truly believe that by the time Robin is old enough to have babies (if she wants to), midwives will be licensed in every state.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Oh Megan, I'm so so sorry. My thoughts are with you.







for your momma.









My goodness I'm going to have to change DSD-17's smilie face, she's still a hippy, but she's a hippy that looks like a movie star, wow she's no longer a girl anymore, but a full grown woman. Heh. It's so amazing to have them here. I love watching them run around catching fireflies and watching them cute on each other. DSS-9 and DD seem to have this adorable bond. She always repeated his name to me whenever I told her they were coming, and every time he asks her for a hug or kiss, she gives him one. Which is funny because usually to us she just makes a smug smile and allows us to kiss her! DSD-7 is just as adorable as ever and CHATTY! Which is funny because she keeps calling DD a chatter box, of course she's the expert! They got to swing on grapevines and go hiking, checked out my dad's log cabin the woods and hang out with cousins yesterday. All is well. Very tired, but happy for the full home (except when it seems everyone has to pee at the same time, as we have only one bathroom. LOL!)


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Megan
















and







to all

life is really busy here at the moment. lots of babies being born and getting ready for vacation, and getting my class done after having to reschedule around births, and my husband's job is up in the air in several different ways but he shouldn't be losing his job, things are just changing and that's stressful. the kids are good and have handled me going to births well. they love the baby sitter and we are friends with their family and the kids are friends so that is wonderful.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

I had my ultrasound today, and the universe hates me!!!
I have 2 9 week sacs, 2 placentas and one (very wriggly) baby (who I felt kick last night).
Either the other sac will reasporb or I will pass it.
I'm sad.

In other news Trixie's been wandering around finding the dog and saying "it's dao!" then signing for dog, then she'll go to her dolphin and say "it's dao" and not sign anything. She's so funny.


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## Teenytoona (Jun 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Dea* 
I had my ultrasound today, and the universe hates me!!!
I have 2 9 week sacs, 2 placentas and one (very wriggly) baby (who I felt kick last night).
Either the other sac will reasporb or I will pass it.
I'm sad.

In other news Trixie's been wandering around finding the dog and saying "it's dao!" then signing for dog, then she'll go to her dolphin and say "it's dao" and not sign anything. She's so funny.









I"m sorry Dea.


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Lauren and Raina, interesting to hear about the midwife licensing issues. It would be good to have a united body of midwives, but I can see how it could be hard to find a middle ground. I've got strong feelings both ways and I'm just one person and not even a MW!

Oh Dea, I'm so sorry to hear about Leftie. Was really hoping for twins for you too.

Thrilled to hear you can feel your babe move and that everything's good! What's the name for your baking babe?


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Oh Dea. You have every right to be sad, so don't feel at all guilty about taking some time to mourn.


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Dea







I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your sweet little 9-weeker








Hang in there with this difficult journey.

And congrats on a healthy, kicking baby! Hope the kicks don't get too strong too soon!

Sarah, hang in there with your crazy life right now! Glad the kids are doing well!


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## BabyBump (Jul 10, 2007)

*Dea* I'm sorry to hear about the baby. Trixie sounds cute with her signs. Every time Eli sees a dog he shouts out UFF UFF, because he knows dogs say woof. It's hilarious and everyone who hears it cracks a smile.

Nothing new here. It's been hot and humid. Eli is getting a little stir crazy since we haven't been outside much. Supposed to be better by the weekend.

Seriously trying to declutter my house so that when it comes time to put it up for sale (once the lot at the golf course is sold), I'll have it ready. Decluttering with kids around is hard.


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Dea, hugs to you for your brothers, and for your babe. Give yourself time and let the sadness come - you have a lot going on right now...take the time to sort our anger at your brother, sadness for the news of one babe, joy for the news of the other babe, fear/sadness for your other brother...ok, more hugs to you.

Megan, I'm so sad to hear about your mother. What a shock to your family. My thoughts & prayers are with you.

Not much to report here. DD is having a hard time going to sleep, and wakes up at the drop of a pin any time after 5am. I'm blaming it on either teething or a developmental spurt. 16 mos. - about the right age, no?

Language is amazing. She's now starting to enunciate (some of her) words much more clearly. Boots has gone from "booh" to "bts. bts." Cooke is "c-kie". Clock is "k-k". Shoes has gone from "shzs" to "shoes". The best is her turkey noise. I say, "gobble gobble gobble". She says, "guh-buh guh-buh guh-buh" way down in her throat, in that way only a teething toddler can!

Going down to meet my new nephew this weekend. We may have to put our old dog down this week, before we go. He's been at status quo since about last August, but is finally starting to slide a bit more. The warmer days are hard on him (laryngeal paralysis), and his hips are collapsing more. He's a 14+ year-old chocolate lab, and we're very sad, but we've been expecting it for years. He's been a great dog.

Teeny - one bathroom? Yipes! Get your reservation in early!

Rynna, you are so darn cute about your boy!

Tee hee, better run. DH just discovered that DD has been playing in a big puddle of dog water in the bathroom. Thank goodness it's tile!


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

ps---just realized that I am NEVER going to reach 1,000 posts. There just are not enough hours in the day!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Today is BooBah's birthday.







: Five years ago at 10:35, I was feeling mellow and tired. I'd eaten a handful of sugar pops but nothing else, I just wasn't in the mood; Bean nursed, and I went about my day. I wasn't remotely in labor, but my water had already broken and BooBah had turned, so I was scheduled for a version in the afternoon. When I went in for the version they did an ultrasound to check position and I was told that not only could they not turn the BooBah, they couldn't really let me walk around with no fluid and umbilical cord wrapped around the baby and underneath her feet & tush. BooBah was born by emergency c-section about 5 minutes after Mike got to the hospital; Her heartrate had dropped significantly and it wasn't coming back up. First umbilical cord, then two little feet and then a BooBah. I spent an hour in PACU sleeping, and then was wheeled back to my room where the BooBah was brought to me. She looked like SUCH a BooBah!







Once I got comfy I pulled out my boob and she just turned her head and latched herself on like, "Finally! This is what I came for!"







: She was so easy to carry and was a very very easy infant except for a) the kidney mess and b) the fact that you couldn't really put her down anywhere because she *moved*.









And now she's a five year old who's cut her own hair into... well, it's very reminiscent of herself at a year.







Yay BooBah!







:


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh Dea, I'm so sorry about Leftie







: I wish he'd pulled through for you.

Happy birthday BooBah!

I have cleanng stress. And boy stress- my two eldest are both driving me insane in interesteing and tormenting ways.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

okay mamas, back for more









dea- i'm so sorry. i was hoping for you! did you ever happen to get the buddha? the folks that we let borrow it said that they would mail it for me and then when i checked they hadn't yet but said they would that day.

rynna- yay boobah! happy birthday!

sarah, raina and lauren- it's so neat to be involved with birth the way you all are... it's actually something that would be neat to do when we move a little closer to town.

in news for us, lazlo has pink eye. we went to a birthday party and there was a girl there whose eyes were kind of swollen so i thought she had allergies, HA! however, she used the same pinata bat as everyone else and now lazlo has one really pink eye. we're putting boobie juice in it and it already looks a lot better.

curtis is AWESOME at being a sahd while i work. really awesome. linnaea said "love you," for the first time today and she said it to him when he was leaving to run errands.







:

we just got our first delivery of raw goat milk, so yummy! no goat taste and the kids like it, 3 gallons so i'm going to try and make cheese.

linnaea's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, i was going to make a list of her words to see how many she has and i just gave up. the best lately is, "help" because it's really helpful, instead of her just getting frustrated she just yells, "help!" it's slightly less annoying.









work is going really well. linnaea is falling asleep at nap time without the boobie and we're still nursing at night. i am brushing her teeth like a fiend and we're using the MI paste. so far so good on the teeth. it's really weird, it's like they came in all soft and now they are hardening up, i'm hoping we can keep the damage to a minimum until she's old enough not to have sedation.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Happy Birthday BooBah!

Carrie, I never got it.

I feel better today, less depressed and I haven't cried all day. Yesterday was really rough.

I bought Trixie new shoes, she's in a size 4 now, YAY!

So I have this little thought that maybe Leftie will show up, I know I shouldn't indulge it, but there's a placenta. A PLACENTA! I keep think that maybe the ultrasound equipment is faulty, even though it clearly shows Rightie (who's on the left now) wriggling away. Or I wonder, perhaps Leftie somehow escaped my uterus? (oh that would be baaaaddddd....) I've never been able to actually picture myself with 2 babies this time, but I could always see one. I've always been really intuitive with stuff like that, so I don't know. Empty sac, but a placenta. It's really not fair. sigh.

New shoes for Trixie! They're so cute!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

, Dea.

I have a sunburn. It sucks. It hurts to blink. Ugh. Have I ever mentioned that my hair is, in fact, naturally red? It's dark, but definately red. People don't believe this, as I'm relatively dark skinned and my hair is quite dark-- the color looks entirely fake to people who haven't spent LOTS of time around mixed people. Then they see me sunburn, and they come to understand that it's true, my hair is red and my skin is red to match.







Urgh, it's iiiiiiiitttttchhhy! I've only got a few blisters (I think), it's mostly that itchy, tight-skin feeling that (in my experience) preceeds peeling. Even my eyelids hurt. It's bad all over, but where I didn't have any clothing on it's much worse (decolletage, shoulders, arms, neck). Even my scalp itches.







Yuck yuck yuck. I'm hoping to have endured some peeling by the time tHRH gets here Friday night, or to be feeling soothed/relieved by then.

Anyone have suggestions for a *non-aloe-based* sunburn salve? Oh-- no aloe, and no sunflower [seed] oil. The only thing worse than sunburn is sunburn with hives.







:


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

i haven't burned that badly in a few years but i've endured many a burn in my lifetime. I found taking tylenol for the first couple days during the burning, feverish, temp fluxuation changes is helpful. For the itchy part last time I used Gold Bond Powder, I think that's what it was called. Gold Bond was the brand and it was a powder, I don't know if it was some special kind of something, it was my mom's. Anyway, it was really helpful in dealing with the itching. A cool bath with some baking soda could be good too.

Dea, I'm glad today is a little better but continue to give yourself as much time as you need to grieve. I don't blame you a bit for holding out hope, I know I would too, just be careful with yourself!

Carrie, I'm glad work, kids, Curtis, and all is going well! So annoying about the pink eye! You would be an awesome doula if you ever decided to go for it. You just have to have a passion for women and birth. It's really freaking hard alot of the time though, I see some really disturbing things done to young women. I just do my best to help them limit them and have as positive and empowering an experience as I can. You can definately choose to work with an easier population and I htink I'll have to more at some point because there are times it takes everything I have to not start yelling!

Helen, I hope the boys have settled down today! Are you still feeling good?

SLGT, James is up really early too, he has been doing it for a few months now, his sister always has been an early riser. I hope it's a phase for you!!!

Heather, I made strawberry bread! I made some changes but worked off your recipe and it was really good!! We ate a loaf and gave one away and both were gone within the day. I need to get some more strawberries!

teeny, i hope it's going well with all the kids.

emily, how's it going?

raina, i hope the meeting go well, i can see both sides. is there a way to get certification/official recognition but have it be voluntary for the individual midwife?


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Yup, still glowing annoyingly. I had some sad news- a friend from the NCT found her baby had passed at her 20 week ultrasound









Rynna, I normally use hypercal- an ointment based on hypericum and calendula- for burns and it works nicely. Hypericum's pretty good at helping with sun damage, and it can also affect your skin's ability to produce melatonin. Seconding the idea of baking soda as well.

Dea







Gently, this is the reason why first trimester ultrasounds suck. Because so much can change during the first trimester, there is a question of whether the benefit of knowing about the current state of the pregnancy outweighs the stress it causes- so if there's a next time, there's something to think about. Saying that, I wish I'd known about my twins before I miscarried them... so it goes both ways.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Helen i remember when I started this whole rigamarole with Trixie (the infertility thing) I was warned that it would seem like the miscarriage rates would be higher, but it was only 'cause you know so much earlier when you're pregnant because you're watching so much closer. So I agree, all of the early ultrasounds don't help. But on the other hand, I fear I would go crazier without them. (I get my 4th on Tuesday!) Also how many husbands can identify a uterus and ovaries on an ultrasound? Heh, mine totally can!


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Dea- So sorry about the bean. I'll keep you in my prayers.

I'm dealing with some serious drama right now. I feel like I'm living in High School again.

My best friend I have found out has been cheating on her extremely devoted and hardworking husband for almost 2 years now (with multiple partners.) At first I was very angry with her and hurt for him and their two kids (she just found out she's pregnant with #3 and doesn't know who the baby's father is...and her husband STILL wants her back.) However now I'm scared for her. She's on a scary self destructive path. At this point I think I'm (with a a lot of help from God) the only one thats gonna be able to get through to her. At this point its not about getting her marriage back online (although I do hope that happens) but about getting her some help for whatever is going on with her. Everyone is scared for her right now.

Onto other drama:

MIL and FIL were finally officially divorced yesterday. He invited her and SIL out to lunch to talk about some things. MIL is honest with FIL and tells him that she really doesn't care to speak to or see him. What would be the point right? He then proceeds to call my MIL a B**** and goes off on her (mind you he's the one who filed for divorce and MIL never wanted it.) That of course has set my DH off and he emailed his Dad and pretty much cut him out of our lives.

I desperately need back on my meds...I had a panic attack last night while all of this was going on...Not fun or helpful either...


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

SL







Seriously, get a referral to a psychiatrist who specialises in pre/postnatal depression.
Your DH is being an idiot. Any man who invites a woman out to lunch to talk about things on the day that their divorce is finalised is just spoiling for a fight, IMO. Your friend, I don't know what to say. Just more


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
SL







Seriously, get a referral to a psychiatrist who specialises in pre/postnatal depression.
Your DH is being an idiot. Any man who invites a woman out to lunch to talk about things on the day that their divorce is finalised is just spoiling for a fight, IMO. Your friend, I don't know what to say. Just more









Let me clarify:

DH hasn't done anything







He just emailed his father and cut him out for things much beyond just this one incident.

FIL is a mean manipulative old man who's self-importance goes beyond the sun and stars. One day all of this is going to bite him in the butt. He be alone with noone to love him because he pushed them all away.

As to the psychiatrist...DH is coming with me to my counseling appt. on July 6. I'll talk to her at that point about a referral







She has some resources. In the meantime I'll check out the in-network psychiatrists on my insurance.


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

I started typing personals, but realized that I was giving hugs to each & every one of you - so one giant

HUG

to all of you.

DD had a 104.8 fever yesterday afternoon. She was a very pitiful little kiddo. Doing better today, hasn't gone over 102. No other symptoms. Teething?


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

Hey there ladies - I'd say I've missed you, but really I've been reading along and not getting the opportunity to post. But now I need some help with maybe ideas or something, I'm not sure, I'm on my last thread so I'm _forcing_ time to myself for a moment to post. There have been a lot of things that I've wanted to respond to and I can't possibly do all of them, so what I've got is a







for all and and extra special juicy plus














and







for both Megan and Dea.. I'm so sorry







:

*disclaimer* - This turned out to be terribly long and I'm not even sure how much sense it makes or how insane it makes me sound, but my mind is a horrible frazzled mess right now. Don't feel bad if you don't want to read it









Here's what's going on with me and I am desperately, desperately hoping one of you can respond to it in some way before I lose my mind.

I feel like I'm pregnant. It started a little over a month ago and I was being really lovey and warm and fuzzy about all your pregnancies and being excited for you, even though I don't want another quite yet, although we DTD anyway. The only real reasons I'm not ready for number 2 right now is because Kaia still nurses all the time and I don't know what would happen, and we're getting married in August and I very, very strongly don't want to get married pregnant. For assorted reasons, some of which are shallow (I wouldn't be pregnant enough to look pregnant, I'd just look fat.) It's just this has taken so, so long to come around and it's too late to put it off again. DP and I have been together for around 6 years or so, been engaged for at least 5 and have planned on getting married every single summer since getting engaged, never got around to it, DD came along, put it off farther, wanted another now and want to have our wedding first, bla bla bla.

First I started having strange cramps, no where near my period at all, I even made DP do everything one morning while I writhed around in bed they were so bad. Those lasted maybe a week or so and I felt very confused about them, and I was also becoming extremely moody and emotional. Then I started feeling nauseous off and on and having horrible lower back pain. I started wondering about pregnancy. I made myself wait (for once) for my period to take a test. The nausea continued and it was several weeks until my period finally came, when I expected it. But it barely came, it was really, really light, sometimes stopping entirely for a day and most the time even when I was bleeding it wasn't even enough to use even a liner. So I went out and bought some tests. The first one didn't work which started my serious frustration. Waited until the next morning and tried again, negative. My period lasted it's normal 5 - 6 days and went away without even having really come. I've never in my life had such a light spotting. I bled more the first period I had when I actually was pregnant with DD.

The nausea kept up and so did my moodiness and then I started to feel kind of bloated. I started having to take my rings off at night, and now I can't even put one of them on at all. And then my ankles. They are so, so incredibly swollen and painful. This has only happened to me when I was very, very pregnant with DD, and was pretty mild and pretty brief. This is *horrible*. I've been drinking, drinking, drinking water and it makes no difference. (All I had to do to make the swelling go away when I was pregnant was make sure I drank enough water







) I took another pee stick test. Negative.

And the moodiness and emotionality are way worse. I actually _slapped DP in the face_ last night, hard. Because he jokingly poked me in the nose a little bit harder than he intended and I just snapped. My annoyance at everything just came to a crescendo at being jabbed in the nose and filled me with incredible, ridiculous rage. I was really embarrassed >.< This is.. not something I would do. I let my rage control my actions once when I was 7, my little brother annoyed me so much that I snapped and laid him out with one swift, sure punch to the face. Then I was horrified at what I'd done and hugged him and cuddled him and apologized to him and bribed him with treats and a tea party so he wouldn't tell our parents, and I swore to myself never to let anger control me again, and I haven't. I am so on edge.

I took a forth pee stick test on Tuesday and it was negative, too. The first two tests I took (that worked) did show a faint line a day later or so, but I've been told that doesn't matter a lick. This last line test I thought maybe _maybe_ I could see something after a few minutes, but to be entirely honest I'm starting to feel like I'm insane and I didn't know if I was just looking too closely, maybe I'm just seeing where they put the chemicals and not actually seeing a reaction? I don't know. After an hour there was a very clear, faint line that didn't look anything like an evaporation line to me and of all the tests I've never had lines show up.. ever. Other than an obvious evap line much, much, much later. But I've been told none of that matters, either.

Last night I made DP run out and get a couple electronic tests, the ones that say "pregnant" or "not pregnant" so that I couldn't obsess over it. I took one last night - negative, and one this morning - negative. Except that the one I took "this morning" turned out to be at 2:30 am, a few hours after I went to bed >.< Seriously, I don't really have to pee at night, and I do not take well to waking up, so when I woke up to pee I just thought it was morning and I didn't even realize that it was only 2 until after I got back into bed.. uh.. duhh..

Today, aside from my ankles and back hurting, feeling nauseous, and walking around not knowing if I am going to start punching people in the face, crying, or possibly both, I started having some food sensitivity. When DP asked me to start making the pizza we were going to make for lunch, just thinking about it made me feel like I was going to puke and I said no. I ended up eating a couple sliced up "not dogs" (veggie hotdogs) and when DD wanted one too, I warmed it up and then immediately it made me want to throw up, I couldn't look at it or think about it. I made DP finish helping her eat while I left the room and tried to think of nice things, like grass and clear cool water. When I decided I was not going to be able to avoid puking, I went to go spend time in the bathroom, and decided the toilet was too gross to throw up into, then cleaned it thoroughly for a good ten minutes before being satisfied and finally throwing up.

I started taking some iron supplements a few days ago on top of my prenatal vitamin that I always take, but it hasn't made me feel stable, or made any difference.

Possibly the worst part about the entire thing is the "ghost baby" feelings I've been having, where it feels like there's a little baby in your tummy swimmin' around and bumping into me. It's really, really weird. I had them for a while after DD was born and never stopped once in a blue moon suddenly feeling a "kick". I don't know if it's muscle spasms or what is going on, but the last week it's been going on _constantly_ and making me absolutely *crazy*. Especially since even if I _were_ pregnant I don't think it would be possible to actually be feeling the baby yet.

I feel so, so confused and extremely frustrated and it's all making me very, very _angry_. I have no idea why it's making me feel this way and I know it's completely irrational but that's not helping. I want to tear down the walls with my bare hands and I want to curl up in a corner and cry and I hate hate hate this







: I want to know what is going on and I want to stop feeling so pissed off and so upset.. I feel entirely incapable of getting on as a human being. I don't know what to do.







I've taken six tests and it's a good week after my period stopped and they really must be accurate by now regardless of the time of day. But every time it feel like a baby does some acrobatics I'm re-consumed by a whole crazy, roiling mass of emotions. Argh!!!

I never intended this to be so long, I'm sorry, I just really, really badly want someone to be able to tell me what's going on


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Juise* 
Hey there ladies - I'd say I've missed you, but really I've been reading along and not getting the opportunity to post. But now I need some help with maybe ideas or something, I'm not sure, I'm on my last thread so I'm _forcing_ time to myself for a moment to post. There have been a lot of things that I've wanted to respond to and I can't possibly do all of them, so what I've got is a







for all and and extra special juicy plus














and







for both Megan and Dea.. I'm so sorry







:

*disclaimer* - This turned out to be terribly long and I'm not even sure how much sense it makes or how insane it makes me sound, but my mind is a horrible frazzled mess right now. Don't feel bad if you don't want to read it









Here's what's going on with me and I am desperately, desperately hoping one of you can respond to it in some way before I lose my mind.

I feel like I'm pregnant. It started a little over a month ago and I was being really lovey and warm and fuzzy about all your pregnancies and being excited for you, even though I don't want another quite yet, although we DTD anyway. The only real reasons I'm not ready for number 2 right now is because Kaia still nurses all the time and I don't know what would happen, and we're getting married in August and I very, very strongly don't want to get married pregnant. For assorted reasons, some of which are shallow (I wouldn't be pregnant enough to look pregnant, I'd just look fat.) It's just this has taken so, so long to come around and it's too late to put it off again. DP and I have been together for around 6 years or so, been engaged for at least 5 and have planned on getting married every single summer since getting engaged, never got around to it, DD came along, put it off farther, wanted another now and want to have our wedding first, bla bla bla.

First I started having strange cramps, no where near my period at all, I even made DP do everything one morning while I writhed around in bed they were so bad. Those lasted maybe a week or so and I felt very confused about them, and I was also becoming extremely moody and emotional. Then I started feeling nauseous off and on and having horrible lower back pain. I started wondering about pregnancy. I made myself wait (for once) for my period to take a test. The nausea continued and it was several weeks until my period finally came, when I expected it. But it barely came, it was really, really light, sometimes stopping entirely for a day and most the time even when I was bleeding it wasn't even enough to use even a liner. So I went out and bought some tests. The first one didn't work which started my serious frustration. Waited until the next morning and tried again, negative. My period lasted it's normal 5 - 6 days and went away without even having really come. I've never in my life had such a light spotting. I bled more the first period I had when I actually was pregnant with DD.

The nausea kept up and so did my moodiness and then I started to feel kind of bloated. I started having to take my rings off at night, and now I can't even put one of them on at all. And then my ankles. They are so, so incredibly swollen and painful. This has only happened to me when I was very, very pregnant with DD, and was pretty mild and pretty brief. This is *horrible*. I've been drinking, drinking, drinking water and it makes no difference. (All I had to do to make the swelling go away when I was pregnant was make sure I drank enough water







) I took another pee stick test. Negative.

And the moodiness and emotionality are way worse. I actually _slapped DP in the face_ last night, hard. Because he jokingly poked me in the nose a little bit harder than he intended and I just snapped. My annoyance at everything just came to a crescendo at being jabbed in the nose and filled me with incredible, ridiculous rage. I was really embarrassed >.< This is.. not something I would do. I let my rage control my actions once when I was 7, my little brother annoyed me so much that I snapped and laid him out with one swift, sure punch to the face. Then I was horrified at what I'd done and hugged him and cuddled him and apologized to him and bribed him with treats and a tea party so he wouldn't tell our parents, and I swore to myself never to let anger control me again, and I haven't. I am so on edge.

I took a forth pee stick test on Tuesday and it was negative, too. The first two tests I took (that worked) did show a faint line a day later or so, but I've been told that doesn't matter a lick. This last line test I thought maybe _maybe_ I could see something after a few minutes, but to be entirely honest I'm starting to feel like I'm insane and I didn't know if I was just looking too closely, maybe I'm just seeing where they put the chemicals and not actually seeing a reaction? I don't know. After an hour there was a very clear, faint line that didn't look anything like an evaporation line to me and of all the tests I've never had lines show up.. ever. Other than an obvious evap line much, much, much later. But I've been told none of that matters, either.

Last night I made DP run out and get a couple electronic tests, the ones that say "pregnant" or "not pregnant" so that I couldn't obsess over it. I took one last night - negative, and one this morning - negative. Except that the one I took "this morning" turned out to be at 2:30 am, a few hours after I went to bed >.< Seriously, I don't really have to pee at night, and I do not take well to waking up, so when I woke up to pee I just thought it was morning and I didn't even realize that it was only 2 until after I got back into bed.. uh.. duhh..

Today, aside from my ankles and back hurting, feeling nauseous, and walking around not knowing if I am going to start punching people in the face, crying, or possibly both, I started having some food sensitivity. When DP asked me to start making the pizza we were going to make for lunch, just thinking about it made me feel like I was going to puke and I said no. I ended up eating a couple sliced up "not dogs" (veggie hotdogs) and when DD wanted one too, I warmed it up and then immediately it made me want to throw up, I couldn't look at it or think about it. I made DP finish helping her eat while I left the room and tried to think of nice things, like grass and clear cool water. When I decided I was not going to be able to avoid puking, I went to go spend time in the bathroom, and decided the toilet was too gross to throw up into, then cleaned it thoroughly for a good ten minutes before being satisfied and finally throwing up.

I started taking some iron supplements a few days ago on top of my prenatal vitamin that I always take, but it hasn't made me feel stable, or made any difference.

Possibly the worst part about the entire thing is the "ghost baby" feelings I've been having, where it feels like there's a little baby in your tummy swimmin' around and bumping into me. It's really, really weird. I had them for a while after DD was born and never stopped once in a blue moon suddenly feeling a "kick". I don't know if it's muscle spasms or what is going on, but the last week it's been going on _constantly_ and making me absolutely *crazy*. Especially since even if I _were_ pregnant I don't think it would be possible to actually be feeling the baby yet.

I feel so, so confused and extremely frustrated and it's all making me very, very _angry_. I have no idea why it's making me feel this way and I know it's completely irrational but that's not helping. I want to tear down the walls with my bare hands and I want to curl up in a corner and cry and I hate hate hate this







: I want to know what is going on and I want to stop feeling so pissed off and so upset.. I feel entirely incapable of getting on as a human being. I don't know what to do.







I've taken six tests and it's a good week after my period stopped and they really must be accurate by now regardless of the time of day. But every time it feel like a baby does some acrobatics I'm re-consumed by a whole crazy, roiling mass of emotions. Argh!!!

I never intended this to be so long, I'm sorry, I just really, really badly want someone to be able to tell me what's going on









First of all *hugs*







. My only advice is I would go see a dr. There are just too many symptoms and even with the negative tests *something* is obviously not normal.


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

Thank you for the hugs, I think right now more than anything I'm just plain feeling very depressed. I feel like I can almost see the small, personal raid cloud hanging over my head. I would be a lot quicker to head to a doctor if I had insurance or trust in the medical field...


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Juise* 
Thank you for the hugs, I think right now more than anything I'm just plain feeling very depressed. I feel like I can almost see the small, personal raid cloud hanging over my head. I would be a lot quicker to head to a doctor if I had insurance or trust in the medical field...

I'm right there with you. Thats what I've been going through the last couple of weeks. I would just be worried about a tubal pregnancy if I were going through that....Do you have a midwife you trust to call and at least ask for some advice?


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

I guess I'll have to read up. I only had cramping for that one week, I didn't know a tubal will keep it from showing up on a pee stick test? I forgot that I have also been having a lot of dizzy spells - which is why I started uber pumping the iron, but it hasn't stopped them. Last night was my most severe, I couldn't move at all, I just laid on my back feeling very dizzy and light headed and when I tried once to get up everything _lurched_ in a very disturbing way, it did pass though, after maybe 10 minutes or so.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Juise,







. There are many, many possibilities but the upshot of all is that you're going to need to see someone and find out what's going on. The most likely, in my opinion, is a fairly large uterine fibroid. It would fit in with every single one of your symptoms. You could also have an ovarian cyst or a less common, more serious problem developing. I understand the lack of faith you might have in allopathic medicine, but in this particular case it sounds like you could really use the assurance of an outside opinion. A midwife, if you're more comfortable going that way, would certainly be able to point you in the right direction.


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

I did have an ovarian cyst when I was 14 or so, which I had a ton of pain with, drop to your knees and curl up until it passes, sudden, horrible pain. They said they normally go unnoticed and don't suck but that mine was twisting my ovary and that was what hurt so much.

I'll be honest, I am very scared to see a doctor









I had adrenal cancer in high school which was undiagnosed for over a year, during which I was subjected to ever type of test, drug and specialist University of Michigan Hospital had to offer before finally being sent to a psychiatrist, still feeling god-awful and throwing up several times a day. And I couldn't sleep. No matter how much I struggled and cried and no matter how tired I was, until they started knocking me out with drugs. Which didn't make me feel less tired but at least I stopped hallucinating. "It's not that we think you're lying, or making anything up, but we can't find anything and your mind can make you feel things that seem real." Until my mom took me to her doctor and demanded an ultra sound of where I was having horrible pain and they found the tumor. They wouldn't do it before, they just said things about nerves being funny and just because you have pain a certain spot doesn't mean anything. I was lucky in that I never had to go beyond surgery once they finally knew what was wrong, they got it all with one surgery, (and almost killed me with a 28 hour drip feed of meds they _knew_ I was horribly allergic to before they realized what was wrong) and after years of cat scans I was eventually cleared.

Not that it's what I think this is, but it's not an experience I am eager to repeat.. I'm scared







:


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Ohh, Ohh Jusie





















. THIS all, on top of your horrible history, just sounds so terrible.









I am so sad that I am not very informed about all of these things. I don't have any good answer








The only info I thought of while reading your post was that, for me, I don't get all those major symptoms until after I have enough new baby chemicals/hormones in my system to definitely cause a clear pregnancy test. ouSo maybe it is something else.

Could you call around to a few MW's and explain your history and see if anyone would be a good fit for you and just let you come in for a consult? It might not cost a ton, and it might at least give you an expert to talk to without an exam yet, and then if the MW was really concerned, you would feel more confident that it was something you NEEDED to put yourself through, rather than elected to put yourself through?


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

Thank you, maybe I will call my MW from Kaia's birth. I adored her. That's a good idea. I feel a bit weird because I felt a lot of attachment to her after Kaia's birth and our cut-off was very sudden for me. I didn't even realize it was going to be the last time I saw her and, maybe I'm weird, but I was really sad at the time. She didn't do check-ups on me post-birth, other than asking how I felt day three, and last I saw her was when she did her last check-up on Kaia, I think at 2 weeks. It kind of made me feel like business was done and she was done with me, even though that's not how I felt about her as a person before that. Maybe it was just all the hormones









I definitely would like to at least start to figure things out on my own before going to see a doctor if it's possible. But I also know I can't put it off very long because DP and I take care of 12 kids all day all week and I am not feeling like a good provider right now. I'm so tired...


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Juise







Doctor. Now. Don't stop, don't ask questions, don't think about things, just go. You don't need to figure this out before you go, just go get help. If periods/reproduction are messing up your life to this extent, go to the doctors first and think later.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Juice, I agree, go and see a doctor. They are there for a reason. This sounds like a reason to me. We could all speculate all day on what could be happening, but it's best to go and get it sorted. Then when you get home have a nice piece of yummy chocolate and be happy that you took care of yourself.


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

What if I lay down, drum my feet and fists on the floor and scream, "but I don't wanna!?"









I tried calling my MW, left a message, haven't heard back yet, don't know if she'll check her office messages again anytime soon or not. I tried calling the place I take my daughter, they closed early today, so I called prime care and am going to go in now, I guess. I'm not happy about it, but I hope it's better than sitting here being consumed with fear about it







:

Thanks for putting up with me guys


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Juise* 
What if I lay die, drum my feet and fists on the floor and scream, "but I don't wanna!?"









I tried calling my MW, left a message, haven't heard back yet, don't know if she'll check her office messages again anytime soon or not. I tried calling the place I take my daughter, they closed early today, so I called prime care and am going to go in now, I guess. I'm not happy about it, but I hope it's better than sitting here being consumed with fear about it







:

Thanks for putting up with me guys









We have toddlers remember? We're so use to it


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

Jusie...thinking of you. Did you go in somewhere today?


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Any news yet?


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Hey Juise...hoping you got some answers yesterday, or are at least headed in the direction of answers...thinking about you...


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

joining in with those waiting for an answer and hoping for the best for you Juise!


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

awww, thanks, guys







:

Sorry, we got back fairly late last night, and then struggled with an extremely cranky, extremely tired-but-not-going-to-sleep baby until 1am








: It doesn't seem like the end of the world this morning, but it sure did last night..

They took 4 tubes of blood and one cup of pee. Gosh, just like the old days







Here's what I found out. I am definitely _not_ pregnant. My electrolytes and hemogoblins (I think that joke is only for Flapjack) were fine. They took blood for a thyroid check, but I haven't got that back yet. The only thing of concern he said from the tests is proteins in my pee? I believe he said it was at +1.5 which isn't incredibly high but there shouldn't be any there at all. He didn't really explain this to me, other than to say that it isn't good and has something to do with your kidneys. He wanted to do a follow up on that to make sure it went back down. I don't know anything about that so I have to take his word on everything so far..

So I'm waiting on the thyroid, and then.. I don't know what, but I guess I'll get there when I get there. Thank you everyone for being so sweet, I feel really guilty not having posted in so long, I feel like I haven't been here supporting you and then I jumped in and dumped on you


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

juise- i'm glad you headed to a doctor, even if they haven't pinpointed it yet, at least it sounds like you're on the path to maybe sort of an answer.

sarah lynne- boy that sounded like some serious drama, i really hope you can help your best friend. my best friend is going through some rough stuff too, she's been in a relationship with her husband since she was 15 and pretty overweight, she knows that she would have left him before if she thought that anyone else would have her







so she's now lost a bunch of weight, within the last 5 years, and kept it off and she's finally seeing that she doesn't have to stay with him. so she's not sure she wants to, but it's hard to end a 14 year relationship, so they're in counseling and she's been making out with other guys.

honestly, i think she can do a lot better than her husband and he and i have never really gotten along, i'm too "different" and he's very straight and normal. so i'd be fine with them breaking up but it's still rough for her.

dea- that's a bummer! i'm going to have to ask them about it because it's kind of irritating really. i had a friend that sees them almost daily and she told them to give it to her so i could just mail it, like months ago, and they said, no we'll mail it today.







:

hey, for those of you on facebook, how do i get to the feb o8 mamas group? i'm getting ready to do a bunch of pictures and i want to show off my cute kids


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## Juise (Jun 14, 2007)

Thyroid test came back normal







: So I don't know where I am now.

I second PlayaMama on the Facebook group, I've tried to find it before and I can't.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

If you're dumping proteins in your pee, it can mean that your body is fighting an infection, which would tie in with the swelling thing. Or possibly, has been fighting an infection..that's about as far as my knowledge goes at this time of night.

Can you not get to the Feb08 group through a link in someone else's profile? Too sleepy to look now- neighbours are having a loud party and we just finished watching SlumDog Millionaire. (If you haven't seen it yet, you should. It's so darned sad, though.)


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

www.facebook.com/loveyoutoo is me. Send a message saying who you are, or I'll delete your friend request.







And now back to my Redheaded Program...


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

Juise, ask for your numbers on the TSH. The range of normal is huge but with the symptoms you describe I'd think they'd be high it that's what it is. What else are they testing? Keep pushing this and get answers!

Carrie, go to my profile page and I have a link to the MDC Feb 08 group, I don't think it's active right now, I haven't gotten any messages from it at least, lets get it going!!

I'm facebook.com/sarahn4639 if anyone wants to find me.


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

okay mamas must go to sleep. new photos of MY cute redheads are up on facebook







:

i'm bumming on the lack of signature links (can i say that?- i just feel sad, no criticism) but i'm really loving some of the blog inks i have saved. i highly recommend everyone go check them out


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Juise, I would suggest lots of dandelion. And nerve soothers like oatstraw, linden, lemonbalm. Sit outside in nature and really breathe. Stressing out in such a way will make it harder to get over whatever it is that's going on. But more than anything-DANDELION! Or milk thistle. Something that will be supportive of the liver/kidneys.


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## smokeylo (Apr 26, 2007)

The Feb 08 group is actually on flickr. I don't think we have an official facebook group set up but many of us are friended to one another.


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## Gunter (May 5, 2005)

i am just trying to read along and catch up after my thrush post. you all are busy chatters! yay for that.


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## lovetobemama (May 16, 2007)

carrie...your redheads are ADORABLE...and SO RED!! I somehow didn't realize all this time how red they both were


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

oh my holy heavens, i know! i've never seen such gorgeous red hair before!

lauren, we have a facebook group as well as the flicker group.

anyone can go to my info page and it's listed in my groups section, there aren't too many so it should be rather easy to find. Danielle/Jaxsmom is the moderator and has to approve memberships. and seriously, post who you are!! there are a couple i'm not sure on and i will not admit who!









juise, i hope things start looking up soon.

sarah lynne, i hope you are feeling okay and your appt goes well and you are able to get some help and start feeling better soon!! the situation with your friends sounds rough, i don't know how i'd handle that.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

THRH's hair is the color of Lazlo's.







Yay. Bella told him today that it was "owange", and that's just adorable. Well, it's adorable that she talks to him.







She's always shy for a few minutes and then she opens up and starts chatting with him.







Bear hugged tHRH and climbed on him today, which was super cute and another first.







Bean and BooBah were just tickled to see him, but they always are.









I need to find a new dorm-sized fridge for this room. I kind of killed the one I have.







I'm not keen to spend $100, but I will if I truly must. Meh I say; Meh.

This week: Bear sees an allergist and the gastroenterologist.







I plan for the weekend which will hopefully involve me, Bean, BooBah, and tHRH going to Drum & Splash. I'm still tickled that he wants to go to the Farm with me an the kids. This guy's just too incredible.








: I'm so in love.







I'm trying to plan a playdate with an old friend of mine from Lancaster; She's got two little boys and I think it'd be fun to toss a bunch of kids together in the park.







That'll happen on one of Bear's appointment days, if it goes down as I'd like.

I'm feeling really depressed about school these days. Agora's looking less stable by the minute, and my understanding of even the other cyber schools available to us is that they're unwilling to do what Agora has done, and allow the kids to truly move at their own rates. It's so utterly depressing.







I'm going to end up homeschooling and I'm terrified that I can't begin to afford anything remotely interesting. Bean's going to be upset about losing his computer, too.







: Why do some people have to be selfish and screw things up for everyone? It's so unfair!







:


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Well, there's always public school. I know that's virtually a swearword around here, but it could be worth checking out again.


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Rynna, you could always forgo the curriculum and do your own. I use the book Home Learning Year by Year as a basic guide to give me ideas of what to teach for every grade and compile my own stuff. You could do it! I have complete faith in you! I don't know what kind of laws you have to work with though, so that may play a part, I guess.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 
Well, there's always public school. I know that's virtually a swearword around here, but it could be worth checking out again.

I have actually looked into the public schools around here. They have no programming whatsoever for gifted children-- I mean *none* not even a once-a-week pullout program. When you ask about a child who might need more than your average gifted child in the way of accomodation, they look at you cross-eyed and ask why you aren't homeschooling.







It's illegal and it sucks, but with four kids I have neither the time nor the inclination to argue with them right now.







As I'm not interested in pursuing a series of inappropriate diagnoses for Bean, nor in having random agencies inserted into our lives, sending him to school seems like an exercise in futility... at best.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *applecore* 
Rynna, you could always forgo the curriculum and do your own. I use the book Home Learning Year by Year as a basic guide to give me ideas of what to teach for every grade and compile my own stuff. You could do it! I have complete faith in you! I don't know what kind of laws you have to work with though, so that may play a part, I guess.

I'm seriously tense about that sort of thing. Bean likes organization and structure, and really does best when he has them. I've seen lots of materials which would be appropriate for him right now, and I can't afford 90% of them. I know I should suck it up and deal and it's probably what I'll end up doing, but I'm very angry about it all right now. It's just not freaking fair to tease me like this and give me two excellent years (or even three) to be followed with, "We don't give a ****, you're on your own now."







: I want to punch someone in the face for screwing me over like this, I'm really livid. It's just plain WRONG.







:

I've got a couple more weeks to think about it. We may survive the next school year but after that everything is probably going to pot.







: Ugh. I hate thinking about it.

The sad part is that $money$ would entirely solve this problem for me. I think that's what makes me angriest of all, is that this mess discriminates heavily against poor people. If I had a ton of cash lying around, I probably wouldn't have enrolled Bean in Agora in the first place-- it would have been entirely unnecessary.








: I hate thinking about this. I hate being a grownup, I want to be a kid right now.







:


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Ohhh hi!

So Rynna.... DH and I have been grappling with the idea of homeschooling vs public school since before Trixie was born. Of course I am totally pro homeschooling for a whole mess of reasons. Some that I'm a little scared of the American system being that I am all Canadian and stuff. Also Adam and I were both extremely intelligent children. His parents made sure he had heaps of enrichment stuff and he did so well. I lament that my mom never realized that I was as bright as I was, and that combined with going to school in a small town, I didn't get anything like Adam got. I survived though. Luckily I loved to read. So now we're at this impasse. I don't want Trixie to have a childhood like I did.... So that's why I'm unsure. The elementary school that she'd go to is the worst in the city I've found out. One of my friends teaches at the middle school that that elementary feeds into and she says that the children are routinely 3 grade levels below where they should be. UGH! So dilemma. Adam says she'll be fine and we'll enrich her, but I worry about what school life will be like for her. So sucks. But if Bean does go to public school and you enrich him?

Now for my question.
I've been researching what I can do to have a better chance of breastfeeding this baby, and unfortunately there is very little info on recannulization, the rate at which is happens and what I can do in pregnancy to help it. So after talking with a friend who has the same issues and is also pregnant I came up with a plan. Recannulization happens the fastest in pregnancy and when there is gentle sucking, so I think I should start pumping. I'm wondering what the experience has been for other mamas who've breast fed through pregnancy. What did your body do? Did nursing ever bring about contractions? When? Did you ever notice that you stopped producing? In general what was it all like for you?

thanks!


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Dea, if you got in contact with a local LLL leader, they could contact their professional liason dept. and probably give you some more info. Just a thought.


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## 98741 (May 17, 2006)

dea i just have a minute but i'll try to answer as much as i can and just ask for more if i don't cover what you want to know. i nursed grace thru james' pregnancy. at first i still had average amounts of milk but it was really painful to nurse due to the sensitivities of pregnancy. so i limited her nursing as much as possible without actually refusing her. the sensitivities got better around 12-15 weeks i think. i then had a huge decrease in supply starting around 18-20 weeks and by about 25 weeks i had nothing at all. she still continued to nurse and it was fine sometime and other times i felt like i was going to crawl out of my skin, it was a really terrible sensation and i'd have to do count downs to get me through and to wrap her up. i'd basically say, okay, you have until the count of ten and then you need to be all done and i'd try and count as slowly as possible but there were times i have to consciously not throw her off of me. it was really hard dealing with that so be prepared that there may be some negative feelings and that it's hormone related and not the bodies actual desire to not nurse or something. i did have contractions sometimes but nothing that ever bothered/worried me. i had a lot of BH with grace too so i may just be someone that has a lot of contractions in pregnancy anyway. there were never times i felt like she had to stop because i was having labor sorts of contractions or anything like that. i do know that there are some people that nursing could have that effect on but as long as the pregnancy is healthy and you have a history of a full term healthy pregnancy you should be fine on that front. it is also interesting to note that i went a few days longer with James than i did with Grace too. i would say that nursing through pregnancy was really hard but i'm glad i did it. i think knowing the reason you would be pumping would help you get through it. it can also help bring the colostrum in, mine was in at full force at about 35 weeks and my milk came in faster with james too. i think if you think it will help its a great idea. it's sad that there isn't more info out there on nursing after reduction. have you contacted LLL? they have a place on the website where you can ask questions and they will see what they can find. it's a good resource if you haven't already tried it. good luck!!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Dea, I just can't do it. Generally by 5 months my milk supply is down and I can't do dry sucking- it's just too uncomfortable. I'm noticing that's almost exactly the same timeline as Sarah, though.
Nursing River is bringing on strong BH, but only if I've had sex in the last day or two- otherwise i'm barely noticing.
I do have a feeling that with pumping, and the awareness that you're pumping for your new baby, your emotions may be strong enough to outweigh the hormonal blips.
FWIW, I'm sure even in the US you have the option to send your kid to a school other than the local one.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

I have a couple of friends who are LLL leaders and they have no idea. Granted I am asking really hard questions. Whenever I ask a leader they direct me to the same book I've already read, and even that book doesn't touch on what I need to know.
I think I"m going to have to talk to a doctor and see a specialist. I don't know if that will bring much results either.
Also I am really turned off lactation consultants around here. No one was able to help me when i was having issues with Trixie. I was directed to speak to the most knowledgeable one in the area, and she got sat on a soap box and told me how wrong my NICU was. She was no help. My doula was no help, she suggested I force Trixie even though she screamed. I finally got help at the hospital (with the nipple confusion) LLL was supportive, but I had to stop going for my sanity, the leaders were great, but other members didn't know my story and would say horrible things about formula and people who chose to use it. (I know they meant people who chose to use it over breast feeding, but still it was really hard for me) So now I feel at a loss.... sigh.
Ohh trixie is DEMANDING my attention... gotta go.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Well ladies I have some news....

The DoC job has FINALLY come through














: Michael got the call today while I was out with a friend. All I have to do now is get copies of my driving record in Colorado and Tennessee (or in the case of Tennessee a letter stating that I never had a license there!) and 3 letters of rec from neighbors in my same zip code. I bring that all in with me when I go for my physical!! Oh and I informed the Sgt. before she called me today (about a week ago) that I was pregnant and I didn't want to lie and she said that it was just fine because they have 3 pregnant women in the Academy right now







So yay!!!


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

:

I'm so happy for you. It looks like things are really looking up for your family.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 







:

I'm so happy for you. It looks like things are really looking up for your family.

Now if only DH would learn to get up before 11 am we'd be perfect


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## Gunter (May 5, 2005)

congrats, sarah lynne!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Dea*


So Rynna.... DH and I have been grappling with the idea of homeschooling vs public school since before Trixie was born. Of course I am totally pro homeschooling for a whole mess of reasons. Some that I'm a little scared of the American system being that I am all Canadian and stuff. Also Adam and I were both extremely intelligent children. His parents made sure he had heaps of enrichment stuff and he did so well. I lament that my mom never realized that I was as bright as I was, and that combined with going to school in a small town, I didn't get anything like Adam got. I survived though. Luckily I loved to read. So now we're at this impasse. I don't want Trixie to have a childhood like I did.... So that's why I'm unsure. The elementary school that she'd go to is the worst in the city I've found out. One of my friends teaches at the middle school that that elementary feeds into and she says that the children are routinely 3 grade levels below where they should be. UGH! So dilemma. Adam says she'll be fine and we'll enrich her, but I worry about what school life will be like for her. So sucks. But if Bean does go to public school and you enrich him?


Enrichment is wonderful, but it can only compensate for so much. Assuming that everything else was simple and perfect, I would spend 8 hours (minimum) dealing with school issues every day, then the three other kids and then whatever energy we had left would be devoted to enrichment activities. The trouble is that I'd be homeschooling anyway, because there's absolutely *nothing* in a second grade curriculum for me to even enrich at this point. I'd have to spend a ton of money that i don't have looking for activities for him, and nothing exists in our local school district.

Parents of moderately gifted children pull their kids out of this system because it's so bad for them. I've never met another parent in this district with a profoundly gifted child, but every parent of a moderately gifted child that I've met has advised me *strongly* against even considering enrolling [any of] my children. They can barely cope with a child who's one grade level ahead of their age-peers in math around here.







Bean is *four years* ahead in math right now, at least three years ahead in everything else, and he'd be not only starting out ahead but continuing to move at an accelerated pace. He's something of an extreme case. Again, if I had tons of cash lying around this wouldn't be an issue... but I wouldn't bother sending him to school then, either, because of the waste of time.

I've also got a HUGE issue with drugging children just because they're active and alert, and Bean would be a prime candidate for this because of his behavior when he's bored out of his little skull. At home he manages to bring things up to his level but at school this would be impossible without causing trouble. He'd tantrum and turn cartwheels and he'd never shut up unless he lucked out and got a teacher who understood him and was not only willing but able to differentiate for him. While that would be fantastic, I quite frankly don't blame teachers for not being able to do it-- I have a hard enough time with four kids at four different levels, and I know pretty well where each one of them is as I've known them all their lives!

Last year I ran into someone in a neighboring school district who was interested in starting an elementary school for highly gifted kiddos; I should see if they've made any progress. But meh. This week, I devote officially to Bear's doctor's appointments. I'll try to sort out the school mess next week or the week after.

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Dea*

I've been researching what I can do to have a better chance of breastfeeding this baby, and unfortunately there is very little info on recannulization, the rate at which is happens and what I can do in pregnancy to help it. So after talking with a friend who has the same issues and is also pregnant I came up with a plan. Recannulization happens the fastest in pregnancy and when there is gentle sucking, so I think I should start pumping. I'm wondering what the experience has been for other mamas who've breast fed through pregnancy. What did your body do? Did nursing ever bring about contractions? When? Did you ever notice that you stopped producing? In general what was it all like for you?

thanks!


I've nursed through three pregnancies. The very first thing I remember is the milk supply diminishing significantly during the second trimester; This didn't stop Bean, but he was a miserable character.







: My nipples became unbearably sensitive. Bean was a twiddler and it was irritating before I got pregnant with BooBah but afterwards it was utterly intolerable.














: You might find that anything touching your nipples to that extent makes you crazy.







I didn't really have much in the way of contractions from nursing (none at all with BooBah), so I lucked out there. Production went WAY down. Bean will tell anyone and everyone all about what happens to the nursies when mamma gets pregnant-- "There isn't very much milk in the nursies-- only a couple of drops!" Those drops are always there, but they're super difficult to get out.

In general.... it was really difficult but rewarding. Bean and Bella were my most nursie-attached kiddos, you'd have thought that my milk drying up was the first sign of the apocalypse.







Tandem nursing after the new baby comes is MUCH easier than nursing during pregnancy. I actually really liked tandem nursing.









I think that were I in your position, instead of pumping this early I'd drink my pregnancy tea and meditate on the nursing relationship. Toward the end of the pregnancy, when you'd start taking EPO and such, you might massage your nipples & even hand express a bit of colostrum in the shower regularly, all while continuing to meditate on abundant nursies and a warm, fuzzy, snuggly nursing relationship with NewBean. Just my thoughts, mind; Feel free to dismiss them entirely if you think they're not applicable.









Oh, irony; Bear just came in with his "bobble," looking to snuggle into my lap.







It's still hard to see sometimes, and it still feels unnatural to me not to pull the boob out and feed the little muffin.







I'm really going to be pulling for you this time around, Dea.









Quote:



Originally Posted by *flapjack*


FWIW, I'm sure even in the US you have the option to send your kid to a school other than the local one.


Some people do. The most I could do would be to give my mother's address and enroll Bean in her local elementary school. If I thought they'd be any more accomodating, I'd do it in a heartbeat... but that situation would be worse all around.

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin*


The DoC job has FINALLY come through














: Michael got the call today while I was out with a friend. All I have to do now is get copies of my driving record in Colorado and Tennessee (or in the case of Tennessee a letter stating that I never had a license there!) and 3 letters of rec from neighbors in my same zip code. I bring that all in with me when I go for my physical!! Oh and I informed the Sgt. before she called me today (about a week ago) that I was pregnant and I didn't want to lie and she said that it was just fine because they have 3 pregnant women in the Academy right now







So yay!!!










: Yay! That's fantastic, I'm totally thrilled for you.







: Rock on!

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mommy2Austin*


Now if only DH would learn to get up before 11 am we'd be perfect

























: So funny, I was thinking the same thing about my morning. Mike got up when I sent the girls in to inform him that a) it was 11 and b) Bella had left a mess of yogurt on the floor that he needed to address while I kept Bear out of it.







It's only 11:30 and he was only out of my sight for about five minutes, but His Royal Majesty already has hives all over his face and torso.







I'm keeping my fingers crossed that his allergy testing tomorrow reveals useful information, as his RAST tests all came back negative last year. Now that he's older, perhaps things will make sense?


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## Gena 22 (Jul 3, 2008)

Fantastic news SL!


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Sarah Lynne congratulations!!!!!!!!! Big, big happiness for you!

Dea, I can't guarantee that she will have answers, but the LC we used was really fantastic, non-judgemental, very supportive. You could try giving her a call. She's obviously not local to you, but you may be able to get some advice/info over the phone? PM me if you want her info.

The schooling thing is an interesting question. Modesty aside, both DH and I fell into the "very gifted" category and did fine with public school all the way through. Not to say school was the only source of our education; both of us came from families where we were giving opportunities & outlets to learn, grow, and develop our minds & interests in a lot of ways. And please don't interpret that to read that we came from famililes with a lot of $$/resources. We both just got lucky that our parents were able to give us intellectual/mental room to grow. Honestly? I feel like the biggest thing that is so easy to miss is that what gives a kid opportunities is teaching him or her how to LEARN. It's not just about teaching them all these different things - it's about teaching a kid how to educate him/herself in the world around him (ok, dropping to just one gender to simplify). How to look at different encounters & experiences with the eye & mind that learns, gleans, analysis, applies to other situations. How to look at the world as school.

I would definitely not say that either of our public school systems was anything special or alternative. We both got lucky here & there with really good teachers who encouraged us to learn. In kindergarten, DH was running away from school. In I think 4th grade, he had a teacher who taught him how to learn, and that completely changed his view of school. Neither of us saw high school or middle school as the source of our education; it was just a tool that was a gateway to other opportunities.

Ok - all this to say, I think the duality of public school vs. homeschooling is limiting, as dualities always are. I think every kid is different, every parent is different, every familial relationship is different. Kids need different kinds of frameworks within which they learn. In some instances, a public school can be part of that framework; in some instances, a public school can be a roadblock in creating that framework.

Sorry for that little monologue, Don't know where it came from, only that DH & I are very grateful for our respective educational paths that have let us grow to be the people we are today.


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## slgt (Feb 21, 2007)

Did I mention that R has all of her teeth at least poking through except for the 2-year molars? Only one canine is still just a point; the other 3 are through to the wide part of the tooth. I think the worst is over until the 2-years start...hooray! My child does not grow teeth gracefully.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

So with every bit of good news seems to come bad news and I had to deal with some tonight.

My grandfather past away this evening. He was at home and it was peaceful, but an emotional rollercoaster for me none the less. Ironically I was the first one my father called when it happened. Yeah that one's gonna take quite a few therapy sessions to figure out...

Long day tomorrow so I'm off.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

SL.

Yay for teeth. Boo for school. Yay for boobies. Boo for yoghurt.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *flapjack* 







SL.

Yay for teeth. Boo for school. Yay for boobies. Boo for yoghurt.

I'll ditto this.

I'm actually ok with what happened with my grandpa, because he was very ready. It's just the fact that it comes on the heels of my mom's death and all the drama that makes it soo hard on me. I'm trying to make sure I don't keep everything balled up like I did with my mom because I don't want to go back to that place in my head again. Thankfully all of his arrangements have been made for nearly 10 years







Yeah grandpa always liked to be prepared.


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## applecore (Jan 13, 2005)

Sarah Lynne, congrats on one hand and condolences on the other. Life sure does hold some real ups and downs for you, huh?









SLGT, well put! I absolutely agree with you on the importance of children learning things for themselves- not necessarily being taught by someone who already knows it. Hooray for the public library! I don't want to turn this thread into a homeschooling/ public schooling discussion. I just want to say that, Rynna, you are a smart and capable woman, and I'm sure that no matter what way you choose for your kids, it will turn out great.









Dea, I know you said that the LLL leaders you've talked to don't know much about your situation that is helpful, but there is a professional liason dept. at LLL, and they have access to doctors and tons of current medical research, etc. They're who LLL leaders go to when they're stumped. I think it would be worth putting in another call and asking someone to look into it for you.

And teeth. Twyla has her front four on top and is starting to get her molars up there. And then she has just the two middle ones on bottom! It looks so goofy! It just takes FOREVER for my kids to get teeth! Ronan has been missing his two front teeth for a good six months and still no sign of 'em!


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Well, that was fun. Bear's tests were inconclusive. He had weak positive reactions to (of all things) soy and wheat, and not to anything else. The lack of dairy reaction was shocking to me, but the allergist pointed out that it could be something else in the cheese/chocolate/whatever that he's reacting to.














He'll see the gastroenterologist tomorrow (who's been saying that Bear is allergic to *something* for the better part of a year now) and we'll sort from there, I guess. In other fun news, he's developing an ear infection. Yay.







He has a very limited appetite today and seems to want to hang all over me and cry, which makes doing damn near anything else impossible.







I may compell Mike to hold him so that I can get some laundry done... or I may just continue to live in sloth until he passes out.







I'm in such a blah mood and just at a loss. I mean he doesn't want *anything* but to sit near me picking at things I don't want him to touch and whimpering/crying when I remove them from reach.


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Days like that, I normally tie the offspring to the stroller and walk until they pass out. I'm sorry that you didn't get an easy answer from the allergist









It's hot. I'm melting- it's the kind of humid hot that feels like I'm breathing in soup. My bras are all stretched out and I have some serious chafing going on under my boobs and under my bump (ick? Absolutely) and all the kids are ratty as heck. I have an ultrasound tomorrow, though, so I'm feeling excited.


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

SL, I'm sorry.... I hope everything keeps getting better for you.

Helen I'm jealous that you have a bump. I have a blob. Or rather just a bloat. Hehe.

I had an ultrasound yesterday and the empty sac twin (was confirmed to have a fetal pole at some point) is starting to shrink. Kinda made me sad again 'cause that means there's no hope that a baby will magically appear. Then the nurse practitioner who did the ultrasound mentioned to one of the nurses that I needed a waiver to sign for the early trimester screening 'cause I can't do it due to "twin loss" so they all flocked around me telling me how sorry they were. Ohhh I nearly lost my marbles. I guess I don't have such a good grip on it all. Then my MIL said to me yesterday that it wasn't like it was a real baby, since it was just an empty sac. SO I patienly and gently schooled her on infertility, the crap I went through and reminded her that it was a real baby, and there was a loss and I am not crazy to be sad. I thought I handled it well since I wanted to grab something and beat her with it.
The other baby (I hate calling her that, I guess she's jsut he the baby now) is growing really well and we spent some time just watching her kick and wiggle. Looks like she's as wiggly as Trixie was. This is why I love ultrasounds.

okay off to see what other people have said to me around these here parts.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

So Bear's tests yesterday were inconclusive, right? This morning I undressed him for the gastroenterologist who asked, "What's that big weal on his back from?" Turned him around to see the wheat test, now about three times as big as it'd managed to get yesterday while the allergist was looking at him.








: Oh, Bear, you're so talented.







Anyway, now I have to call them and discuss Bear's apparent wheat allergy.









In other fun Bear news, Bella poured dish soap all over him a little bit ago. He's asleep now, but cleaning him up was.... "fun" and he hasn't opened his eyes once (just screamed). That, and he was tugging at his ears earlier today the way that he does when he's about to have an ear infection. If I didn't know better, I'd swear this kid really, really didn't want me to go to the Farm this weekend.







: I feel sick and I'm so unbelievably angry about everything right now!







: I want to break things.







:


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## Dea (Sep 26, 2006)

Rynna...
breathe!
Poor wee Bear. Did the allergy people not put cortizone on this weals before he left, even if they were little? (although if they would have you wouldn't have known, but I'm sure that it would have bothered him the whole day, wouldn't it?) I ask because I recently had tests done and they put it on me to stop the itch after the test was over.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

They didn't put anything on him because his reactions (the ones that were reactions) were so mild that I guess they assumed everything would just disappear in a few hours.







I don't know, it's all depressing.


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## Mommy2Austin (Oct 10, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy* 
They didn't put anything on him because his reactions (the ones that were reactions) were so mild that I guess they assumed everything would just disappear in a few hours.







I don't know, it's all depressing.

*hugs*

I'm sitting here like a glutton for punishment watching "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" and just completely getting ticked off. The blatant misinformation (not to mention the scaremongering) drives me nuts. However, I just can't seem to turn it off. *le sigh*

I'm also ticked because my DVR cut off 5 minutes early so I missed which boy went home on "o you think you can dance?"


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## PlayaMama (Apr 1, 2007)

i just somehow lost all my quotes for responding too. well, here goes!

rynna-







: for a wonderful weekend for you. that is nuts about bear's allergies, what about eggs? and um, what else is in cheese but dairy?
poor little ears. meh. it just sounds sucky and hard right now
















sarah lynne- congrts on the job!!! i'm sorry to hear about your grandpa but glad to hear that he was prepared and ready. i love my mom's parents a lot and luckily they were pretty young when they had kids so they're only in their early 70's.

dea- i'm sorry to hear that the other babe is for sure gone.







i admire your composure in how you handled your mil. my best friend had a miscarriage and i handled it beastly. i'm lucky she still talks to me, so i've definitely grown into accepting mama's grief more because it's like, no matter what happened, or at what time, it's the dream of the baby that's gone, the thinking about sharing your life with a new little meep that you mourn.









i have nothing helpful to offer about bf'ing the new one but i hope you find soe answers!

slgt- my mate and i were gifted too, i went to public school all the way, and he went to some fancy schmancy hippy dippy boarding school. i'm not sure that either of us turned out better than the other, i lack motivation and he has other issues, but i think he had a hell of a lot more fun and enjoyment in school than i did. i also noticed that less of his identity is tied up in his intelligence than mine. i'm not sure why but i think that the external motivation of grades messed with my head.

which is to say, i'm hoping we can homeschool lazlo and linnaea but finances may dictate otherwise.

okay, laz is here to read the long winter. oh!! linnaea news! her two newest most helpful words are stuck and carrier. i'll hear her little voice say stuck! and i go into the living room and she's stuck on a cushion, so cute. and carrier is her way of asking to be up in the ergo, it's nice because she can be close to me after i get home from work without throwing out my back. she must weigh at least 25-27 pounds. she's a little beefcake.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot to mention that Bear weighs _twenty-seven and a half pounds!!!_







: He's a moose! For some perspective from my end, before Bear my heaviest child didn't weigh 20 pounds until he was 19 months old, and was probably 30 months old before he weighed 27.







Bella is still hovering around 30 pounds at 39 months, it's insane. The gastroenterologist was very pleased with Bear's weight, because now it's consistant with his height. He's still quite lean and muscular when compared with the average baby, but he's not *skinny* anymore since he started the 30 cal/oz formula. Weirdly Bear *loves* the stuff, and has been known to eat Neocate Jr. powder right out of the can.







:







But yes-- my moose baby.







I'm rather excited that he's so big.







:

The allergist said a couple of things might be going on. First, Bear could be one of the 20% of kids who appear to have serious dairy allergies without having IgE mediated reactions (in other words, they can't be tested for them). Secondly, he could be allergic to corn or corn syrup, which would wholly explain the chocolate and apparently partially explain the dairy.







Third, he could just be too young for testing and fourth, Bear could have no reaction because we've avoided dairy products as best we can.

I'm still flustered by the wheat, especially since his endoscopies were normal, but I'm told that because he's so young he may not have had enough damage to his intestines for them to appear abnormal enough to warrant biopsies at this point.







So there's something of a mixed-blessing going on; Because we're catching things relatively early, we could get him cleared up but because it's so early we can't tell exactly what's wrong-- only that something is, in fact, wrong.

I have to call the ENT this morning. THRH missed the early trains, both of them, so I won't see him until tenish. Meh. I'm still in a rotten mood, and absolutely nothing happened last night to improve it.








I've really got to work on this, I hate feeling crappy for no reason.







:


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## flapjack (Mar 15, 2005)

Cough. Playamama started the new thread. Cough.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1106383


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