Getting to know you thread - Page 3

[kanga1622]

I'm Kanga soon to be 29 and my DH is 31. We'd been TTC for 39 months before our BFP on Mother's Day. We've been together for about 10.5 years and married for almost 7.

The doc says we're due January 16 and it's close enough to my calculations to give in on that.

We're not finding out the sex as this will probably be our one and only child so we want to enjoy the anticipation.

[Rikki Jean]

nak

i'm erica (24), wife to josiah (26). we've been married for five years, but we've been together for ten. we started dating when i was the ripe old age of 14.

we are a quiverfull family, and so far we have two beautiful boys this side of heaven. josiah is three-and-a-half, and was born in a free-standing-bc, in the water, w/a mw (for all practical purposes, it was a hb, just in someone else's home). jonas is 18 months, and was born at home, in the comfort of our bed, in pretty much the same place that he sleeps every night (he was supposed to be a wb, but we had some complications w/the thermometer). we also have one baby in heaven, jabez, who we lost to m/c at ten weeks in 2004, just prior to conceiving to josiah.

i'm currently going through the applicancy process to become a lll leader, and i hope to one day become an ibclc. i'd also like to be a doula, but i think that it's going to be a long time before my youngest baby is going to be old enough to be left w/o me long enough for me to attend a birth.

my husband is in a heavy rock/metal band (link is in my siggy), so we spend a lot of time being involved in the music industry. he is also the sound engineer at our church and he runs a recording studio with our bil. by day, he's an auto body estimator at an auto body repair shop. he's just a little busy!

other than that, we spend our days unschooling (i don't know if that's the ultimate plan for us or not, but since josiah is still in preschool, it's what works for now), raising laying hens, growing lots of veggies, teaching our children about christ, and trying to find more hours in the day (which might be easier if i wasn't so interested in making elaborate meals every night, but i'm greek, so it's my duty!).

i think that's it.

Originally Posted by geekgolightly

Punk rock are my roots, but I love everything.

me too!

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

Our son Duncan was born sleeping on November 14th 2008 at just shy of 35 weeks. He passed away due to complications with Down Syndrome. He was absolutely beautiful. Sweet little boy. I miss him. :

your sweet little angel shares my birthday.

[mandica]

Hi I'm Mandy, Due January 20th with #1.

I (22)am a devoted (almost) wife to a very smart and beautiful man (26).
We live in a cute little cottage by the beach of southern georgian bay in Collingwood ON.
We love gardening, especially herbs (I am a past apprentice of Susun Weeds). I also love to cook (huge pots of soup and stews are my forte heh). I also love baking and have just recently switched to baking all my own breads at home, kneading by hand.

We plan to practice AP - we already have a wrap for baby wearing, will cloth diaper (making my own!), extended breastfeeding I hope, and will also try Elimination communication.

I am SO excited to be a mother, the news was just out to my family yesterday. Its certainly all starting to seem more real.

If anyone can recommend me any natural family/pregnancy/mothering books I would really appreciate it!

[djinneyah]

um, let's see...

i'm andi, 28 (29 soon). married for 6-1/2 years. mama to CSJ (5) and izzy jo (3). i work at home doing medical transcription. dh is a security guard and currently finishing mortuary school.

my first was a hospital birth, second was an unassisted pregnancy and birth. planning the same this time. getting my cloth and woolie stash rounded out at the moment, and will work on my carrier stash next.

we're your typical hippies...breastfeed, family bed, homebirth, cloth diaper, babywear, etc. we're currently trying to buy a house, looking forward to getting a garden going, and maybe getting some chickens

[dillonandmarasmom]

Hey Mamas!

I am Darcy, 37 and SAHM/WAHM to DS (6) and DD (4). I came to MDC when DD was a couple of months old...seems like forever ago!

DH and I have been together for 10 years...wow. That seems like forever, too !

I cannot believe I am here. DH was to have a vas. this year, and we were sure we were done. I am still working on embracing this pregnancy (i am sorry that sounds terrible...just being as honest as possible). When we conceived, I think I knew mid-dtd, but just figured it would be okay...I am getting older, periods getting more peri-menopausal, etc. Holy wow....when I was late, then began having symptoms, the shock was very real!

We told our parents (his--he is so not able to hold things in, then mine) and they are pretty excited. We have yet to tell the kids...

I believe the main reason I am having so much hesitation accepting this new miracle has a lot to do with what is going on with me right now. Let me see...in the last month I have begun two very big new endeavors. One is actually quite life-changing...
* I began watching a 2 month old boy for a good friend (he is wonderful and spends his day in the sling with me ).
* 2 friends and I started a backyard CSA. We are literally busy with it every minute of every day! This has been most challenging, since I just don't have the energy I need to do the very hard work this new deal has created for me . So, I have been stuck with the techie stuff so far...spreadhseets, website, block, blech! I WANT TO GARDEN!!!


So, that's my life in a nutshell. Hectic, crazy, and now, very, very tiring...


I am glad to have this community. I know I am going to need it...desperately!

:

[smokeylo]

Hello, I'm Lauren (28), and just found out this weekend that I'm expecting our second child around Jan 20. This was a surprise -- we weren't planning on ttc for another year, but I guess our timing was off last month . While we are thrilled at the prospect of another child, it is throwing a lot of plans into chaos, which will be tricky to figure out.

My daughter, Robin, is 15 months old. She was born at home in water Feb '08. She still nurses and I am very committed to nursing her through pregnancy. I'm also very nervous about it!! She will be a month shy of 2 when this one arrives. ANOTHER cold winter icy Iowa baby!!

My first pregnancy was very hard physically, with debilitating nausea for the first 17 weeks. I am fairly terrified of going through that again!

I am a graduate student in literacy studies and my husband works in student services at a local college. I'm a retired birth but active postpartum doula.

Looking forward to getting to know you guys. My Feb 08 DDC is very close so I hope we will be the same way!

We CD, cosleep, and practice AP.

[Nogginworks]

I'm Audrey, 31, with four kids of my own from a previous marriage... Ages below. This time around, things are a bit different. I'm pregnant unexpectedly by my best friend, Keith, and honestly, I'm a little excited, a little scared... and I guess we'll see how it all turns out.

This baby is his first, my fifth. Wow, that suddenly sounds like a lot to me.

We just found out last week, I wasn't really watching my dates/schedule and didn't realize I was even late until I consulted my calendar...

In the past, I've had both hospital births and homebirths, been a doula, midwife's assistant, breastfeeding "lactivist", former WAHM, and sheesh, it all seems like a million years ago now.

I selectively vax and delay any vaccinations until 2 (at least). I've homeschooled, but with the divorce, the kids went to school and they've enjoyed it. I get frustrated on occasion... anywhoo...

I was planning a cross country trip with the kids this summer, and I'm not going to let a pregnancy get in the way of us doing that, so I'm in the process of talking with my primary dr. (D.O.) about things (he'll shadow care me) while Keith and I finalize our decisions related to this pregnancy.

He's over the moon excited, but I have been having my reservations...mainly because while he is fine with us being best friends, I've known I've loved him for a long time. I know he'll make a great dad, but I just want to make sure I'm well prepared for anything that comes our way. I'm also scared about the whole fact that I haven't been pregnant in almost 6 years. LOL... I have already placed emails/calls to some friends asking for their used cloth diapers that I sent out to them when I was through with them... So I shouldn't have to worry about that, and my neighbor has offered (Bless her for not really knowing my parenting style with babies) her crib (which I'll probably take and use to house cloth diapers/changing table.).

This is a new venture, and Keith and I are going to have a long conversation about it tomorrow. I'm beginning to get excited, but I have to prepare myself for portions of our conversation... that may not be what I want to hear.

Keep us in your prayers, and we'll see. LOL... That's me... probably more complicated than most... but man, it's a crazy world -and you'll get to know me quick- I'm usually like an open book with my thoughts.

[BMG580]

This is a great thread!

I am due on Jan. 22nd with this third baby and I have two little ones already. I've been married for 9 years and I love and adore my husband to the tips of my toes. I stay at home full time with my children, I was a hairstylist prior to homemaking.

I love gardening, simple living (though I am not nearly as crafty as I long to be), reading and writing, history and vintage/repurposed goods, and we are a modified Waldorf family though I dip into some Charlotte Mason too. We are still trying to decide if we are going to homeschool, private school or public school the children though I am leaning private or homeschool for the early grades. I am also a new convert to Roman Catholicism and I am very active in my faith.

[THBVsMommy]

My name is Brandi and I am 24 years old. I am married to Thomas, 23, for over three years now, together over four. We have a 3yo little boy named Thomas [ Tommy ] as well. We live in South Texas, about 3 hours North of the Mexican Border, so it is H O T 90% of the time. I hate the heat, but love the ocean.

I'm a SAHM to my little boy, but also a registered Dental Assistant. I stayed at home the first 2.5 years of DS's life, but went back to work full-time last October. I loved my job, but my heart was/is at home with my family, so I quit this past April. DH is an Electrician and works hard for us to be able to live comfortably off of one income. He's still in school to become an Electrical Engineer, so he is always busy, but always a wonderful husband/father.

We were TTC this new baby starting in April and were completely blessed to get a BFP in our first cycle. I'm hoping and praying with all that I have to have a healthy pregnancy and baby. This little one is already so loved and very much wanted!

As for parenting, we didn't hop on the AP bandwagon til DS was 9 mos old. I grew up in a very mainstream family and knew nothing better. However, I started suspecting my parenting was "different" when I went against the norm as soon as DS was born and didn't practice CIO and was very gentle in my approach to discipline. As a consequence to my uneducation from the get-go, DS was very regretfully circ'd which was the WORST day of my life. The moment I laid eyes on my sobbing newborn in the nursery, I vowed to never put any future children thru that. I didn't know anything about intactivism, but I knew something was wrong with what I allowed to happen to him So without a doubt, if this new baby is a boy, he will be very proudly remain intact!

I CD'd DS from 9mos til he was potty trained at 26 mos. He hasn't had a single vax since 9 mos as well, and this new baby will be CD'd from the start and have be vax-free, as well as BF'd til s/he decides to self wean.

I am looking forward to getting to know you ladies throughout our new journies.

[Bluegoat]

My name is Meghan, I'm 32. My husband Al is 36 and in the military, and we have two little girls, Morag (4) and Rosemary (18 mons). We also have two cats and three dogs.

I work a bit as a reservist in a map library, and I'm working on my doula certification, though it's taking a bit of a back seat now because I am so nauseous. I have a BA in classical philosophy and a diploma in library and information technology.

We try to eat local and organic, and make a lot of our own foods - when we were rural we raised a lot of our meat, but now that we are in town we have to make do. I cloth diaper, though not as stringently as I should. I tend to be very middle of the road with a lot of medical stuff.

I like to hook rugs, and read, and paint, and I like Dr Who.

I'm hoping to have my first VBAC with this birth.

[NCMomworld]

I am Jenica (33) married to dh (33) for almost 13 years. We have 4 beautiful children who are all about to have birthdays in the next month. They will be 12, 9, 6, and 2 years old. We also have an angel baby, Leo, that I miscarried at 10 weeks. This baby is due January 15th.

I am a doula and childbirth educator taking an *extended* break to homeschool my crew. I've had births at the hospital, a free standing birth center, and at home. If there are no complications, this baby will be born at home

We just bought some land and are creating a mini farm. It is a very exciting time in our lives!!

[Lillitu]

Originally Posted by carmen358

Since my partner is also a she

yay carmen! i was hoping to see another queer mama on here! while my partner is male, we have an (ahem) interesting relationship, as we are both bi and poly (have loving relationships with other people). while this is unconventional, we are building a happy tribe that will serve us well as we spawn, heh heh!

my name is Lilli, i'm 39 and i am partnered to Obie, who is 11 years my junior. we have planned this birth for a year and have been actively trying. i believe that i am 4 weeks pregnant, but my pregnancy tests (three and counting!) keep failing to give any reading! argh!

we live in Oakland, CA (the sf bay area) and are permaculturing our rented house's yard to garden, have chickens, and bees. very exciting! we live with 5 birds (all parrots: 2 budgies, 2 caiques, and an amazon) and a dog.

we are struggling financially, and i was just accepted into grad school for the fall. we are also pagan- are there any pagan mamas on here?

so we are a little...odd. not typical parents at all, but i love this community- it seems friendly and helpful. hoping to get to know some of you!

[geekgolightly]

i'm not pagan, but i'm much more comfortable around people who go against the grain and look up to anyone who is open about it. i'm very private = chicken.

[Lillitu]

well guess what?




that's right, i got a pregnancy test to not only work, but it gave me the answer that i wanna hear! woohoo!:

now, i gotta do a LOT. i believe that i found a midwife and birth center that will do a VBAC, and comes recommended. so many other things, too.

i wanna tell everyone, even though i am only 4 weeks pregnant! argh!

[rsummer]

Hello!

I am Rebecca (29) married for Andrew (30) and we will be married for 5 years in July! We met in Vermont, and moved back to St Louis, Andrew's home, shortly after our marriage. I am an ICU nurse, and Andrew owns a music store, instruments not CDs. We had a beautiful baby boy, Asa, in November, unfortunately, his stay with us was short, and we lost him on Christmas. We are excited about the new baby, but like many after a loss, we have a lot of reservations.

We bought a house in February and have been keeping ourselves busy making it homey... we like bright colors, the people before us liked beige, we like yard plantings, the people before us liked low maintenance, so lots of projects! I read, and like to ride my bike and be outside. I am slowly getting into gardening, and next year hope to put in a raised bed for a veggie garden!

We did hypnobabies with our last pregnancy, and will do it again with this one. Although we will have a nursery, the baby will be sleeping in a sidecar in our room. Definately into breastfeeding. We won't circ. But haven't planned much beyond that.

Its awesome to meet all of you!

[studentmomma]

Hello Ladies! Congrats to us all for being here.

I'm Sara, mom to one toddler. My due date is somewhere between Dec 28 and Jan 1 - I'm thinking closer to the first so I'll be hanging here (with some lurking over in the Dec DDC).

So, I'm supposed to start graduate school this fall... again. I was also starting when we found out about DD - I think this time it will stick better. I will be getting my masters in library science online (yay!).

We were vegetarians/flexitarians up until a few weeks ago - I just felt that I needed some animal protein so that's been a bit of a change in our house. We have a lovely vegetable garden, chickens, fruit trees - sounds like heaven and I'm realizing how lucky I am as I write this.

I'm fantasizing about a homebirth at this point - but we have a great hospital in the area so I won't be totally bummed if it doesn't work out for me.

Looking forward to getting to know all of you.

[kikidee]

Wow, I will never remember all the stuff I just read! I'm glad this is stickied so I can refer to it later if I need to.

Anyway, I'm Kristin, and I just found out yesterday that I'm pregnant with baby #2! Feels so weird to see that typed out and know that I typed it. DH and I started trying just this month - I used OPKs and apparently that worked really well for us.

I'm SO excited about adding to our family. I'm starting to get over my shock that it happened so fast, and starting to get really excited. And tired... and gaggy... etc. Anyway, I'll be at the end of this group, according to an online calculator, I'll be due 1/30. I have my first dr appt on 6/2, so they'll give me the "official" date then I suppose.

I have an almost-3 year old daughter named Natalie, who is super excited about being a big sister. Although I think she's in for a bit of disappointment, as this morning she woke up asking if she could see the baby yet!

I work part-time from home (~10 hours a week) doing bookkeeping, insurance, payroll, etc. for a small mechanical engineering firm. I also head up the Children's Ministries at our church, which has been a lot of fun for me.

Oh and I live in Tucson. And I had Natalie via c-section, but am aiming to do a VBAC. Just have to convince DH. My OB said he'd do it, the reasons I had to have my c/s (a last minute c/s after 30 hours of labor, heart-rate issues, etc.) may not happen again, so he won't make me schedule a date to do one. I'll be working with a doula and getting as much information as possible to make this VBAC a reality!

I suppose that's it -- looking forward to getting to know you all over the next 8 months or so...

[Faliciagayle]

Hi ladies

I'm Alicia (30), mommy to Chaya (20 months), wife to Adam (38). I was born and raised in the south bay area of California. We moved to Wisconsin a year ago for DH's job - which he subsequently lost 7 months after we got here when the company went bankrupt. We are still unemployed. It is mighty stressful.

I graduated a year ago with my B.S. in Enology and minor in Chemistry and have been a SAHM ever since.

I'm still nursing Chaya - though last night was the first night EVER in her ENTIRE LIFE where she fell asleep without nursing, and slept all. night. long. I am a little on the fence regarding tandem nursing... I wanted to give DD two years, so I hope we get that far before (if?) my milk runs dry. We are trying to night wean - I really don't want to deal with a NB and a toddler needing the boob to get to sleep.

I love swimming, biking, running and being outside in general. I would love to homestead. I love to read and sew, and I cook most of our food from scratch. We cloth diaper. I've made some diapers myself and for a time I was obsessed with sewing fleece soakers. We are Conservative Jews and endeavor to keep kosher, shabbat, chagim, shalom bayit and as many other mitzvot as we can, as well as we can.

looking forward to meeting you all

alicia

[Caittune]

Hi! : I'm so happy to be joining you. Congrats mamas! My due date at the moment is around Jan 24th ish.

I have one Daughter who is 3 and a bit, and her and newbie will probably almost share a due date. I stay at home with her, and we try to DIY as much as we can. I bake my own bread, and make yogurt. I'm planning on sewing clothes and diapers for this one. My latest obsession is with crocheting.

We tried for about a year to get pregnant with my daughter, but were very lucky that she was conceived on our second cycle of clomid. This time, we started trying when she was one, but because I was nursing, When she was 2.5 and she self weaned we went to our doc, who refused to prescribe clomid, and sent us to an ob. We waited til september to see the ob, and then started on clomid again.

I didn't respond well to the clomid this time and ended up steadily increasing the dose. I was up at 150 mg at one point, but no luck. So she gave us one last round of clomid, and set us up an appointment at the fertility clinic to do injectables/iui.

My appointment for there was Tuesday. I'd been feeling ick for a couple of days, and I was 3 days late. I was firmly in denial, because Clomid can increase LP. But...I decided to test before we went just in case. Yup. So 2 years on, and the day we are to start at the fertility clinic here I am! :

I don't really want to do any testing, but because I was on a relatively high dose of clomid, I guess I need to at least do an early u/s to make sure there is just one.

[rlmueller]

Meet and greet

Hello:

Rhiannon here, 31 married to Nathan for almost 12years. We have one fabulous boy Alex, almost six and Alex wants a sister because, "We already have a boy." I'm in northern va now and interviewing for homebirth CPMs--unless I oops and UC ;o)