~Spotlight on at_the_hip~ (April 8-11)

[Tiffanoodle]

at_the_hip, this is YOUR thread! We'll ask questions for you to answer and you can add in anything else you'd like to share about yourself, your pregnancy, and your family. Anything at all!

Other June mamas, ask any question you like, it's all fair game. Of course, our spotlight mama can decline to answer anything that makes her uncomfortable

These first few are from our intro thread, so we can all remember who you are!
EDD:
Name:
Age:
Location:
Family (partner, other children, and/or furbabies):
Baby's Gender (hopes or guesses):
Names you like:
Birth Plans/Preferences:

And a few more so we can get to know you better!
What number pregnancy is this for you?
Is your baby very active, or laid back?
Have you "popped"?
Occupation:
Hobbies/Interests:
Share one weird/interesting fact about yourself:

[at_the_hip]

Originally Posted by Tiffanoodle

at_the_hip, this is YOUR thread!

EDD: June 18

Name: Cindy

Age: 31

Location: BC Canada

Family (partner, other children, and/or furbabies): my hubby of 12 years +, and 4 girls born in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2008. The first two are born on the exact same day 2 years apart (in Feb)...the last two are born two days apart in June, and this one is due on #4's birthday! He will likely be born about a week after that given my past history.

Baby's Gender (hopes or guesses): we were totally shocked to be having a BOY!

Names you like: his name will be Richard Samuel, after my hubby's late gpa

Birth Plans/Preferences: homebirth #3 with our trusted mw

And a few more so we can get to know you better!
What number pregnancy is this for you?
7

Is your baby very active, or laid back?
He's pretty active and moving around a lot still...but my belly is huge so he still has plenty of room to flip about!

Have you "popped"?
I think I popped immediately! LOL I'm very short-waisted and I am already bigger in the belly than many 'due' women look!

Occupation: SAHmama, homeschooling

Hobbies/Interests: my family takes up pretty much all of my hobbies & interests! I love having babies/kids! In the past I did a lot of work with horses so eventually when they are grown I suspect that will again become a hobby.

Share one weird/interesting fact about yourself:

I was born/raised in BC, met/married my hubby in California, lived/birthed our first two kiddos in Oregon, and 9 years ago we moved back to BC! We love it here for sure, even with the crazy taxation! :P

[neldabean]

Congrats again on having your boy!!! I bet everyone is so excited!

That is really cool how close all the birthdays are. We have 2 in May. I think I can get away with having joint birthday parties for another year or two. Do you do joint birthdays?

How is homeschooling going? I would love to hear what you use for their studies.

I would love to visit BC. Sounds like it is beautiful!

[UberMama]

Wow, I love how their birthdays have worked out. I think it'd be neat if this one was born between the two in June.

Where in Oregon did you live??

[at_the_hip]

Originally Posted by neldabean

Congrats again on having your boy!!! I bet everyone is so excited!

That is really cool how close all the birthdays are. We have 2 in May. I think I can get away with having joint birthday parties for another year or two. Do you do joint birthdays?

How is homeschooling going? I would love to hear what you use for their studies.

I would love to visit BC. Sounds like it is beautiful!

Yes we were so shocked! It was really weird looking at boys clothes/colours after 4 girls!! I am eager to meet this little boy although at the same time, the pg is going by wayyyyy too quickly!

Yes we have always done joint bdays with the oldest two...since we homeschool it actually makes it easier, although mostly we do family parties...the younger two are harder to combine since they are 5 years apart...but so far it has been separate!

BC is really beautiful...close to mountains and the ocean. We get a lot of rain but that also leaves everything quite green...and the weather is mild overall! We really loved having the Olympics here this year and the girls had a lot of opportunities to participate in activities for them (like the torch relay, pavilions, etc) and the Paralympics too! We did a lot of pin collecting/trading which they loved also.

Homeschooling is great and the kids are very close friends because of it. Even though it can be exhausting at times, I also can't imagine not having them home most of the time!! We have used Sonlight curriculum cores quite a bit (Christian literature-based studies), Singapore Math, Rod & Staff English. Next year we are going to do the Narnia unit study, Further Up & Further In. That should be a lot of fun!!

[at_the_hip]

Originally Posted by UberMama

Wow, I love how their birthdays have worked out. I think it'd be neat if this one was born between the two in June.

Where in Oregon did you live??

That would be great!! I probably wouldn't believe that I was in labor if he came right at his due date though!! The earliest I have ever gone is 6 days over (the latest was 13 days over). Mind you, he suprised the heck out of us just by being a boy, so you just never know!! LOL

We lived in Beaverton & Hillsboro...we really loved it there, but the benefits here with medical & child tax credits, homebirth covered by medical, as well as the constitutional right not to vaccinate, etc led us back to BC!!

[Paige, CPM]

Congrats on your boy! I have to admit for a couple of min after birth I was a little sad I did not have a girl...I feel so guilty about that now...my boy is so sweet and awesome and beautiful, now it is hard to imagine having a girl! Boys rock! (Ok can you tell I was born in 70?).

My husband and I often talk about migrating to Canada, this country is so whacked! Esp when it comes to my work. We always focus on BC because of the temperate weather. And to be truthful, I have no problem paying extra taxes if it means everyone has automatic health coverage...that is just a no-brainer, a human right!

[Burnindinner]

I am the oldest of 5, 4 girls and 1 boy. My brother is awesome and had a great time. We also think he is so comfortable around girls and talking because he had plenty of practice. And he was the only one of my mom's who went past dates, so you never know!

Do a lot of people comment on your getting married and starting a family so young? How has that been for you?

[at_the_hip]

Paige - I definitely think it is worth it. It is nice to know we will never be at a point where we can't afford healthcare, kwim? Although dh's work pays for basic coverage (and extended medical which is additional benefits/dental/vision), if someone can't afford to pay their own basic coverage, they are still covered regardless. That includes midwifery in hospital or at home as it is a basic covered benefit. I love that my mw has hospital priveleges as well because if there ever was complications, she would still be there to care for me and even assist in a csection if required.

Midwives are seriously in demand here - I know there are some hoops to jump through to be certified but it might be worth looking into if you are really wanting to move this way. I'm pretty sure they have programs set aside for this purpose to entice mw's to coming here. The worst part is filling out immigration paperwork LOL but it's worth it.

Burningdinner - that is great to hear! I figure he'll be a great husband someday right? LOL!! That being said, our girls are pretty rough and tumble themselves (far from Barbie or doll lovers) - they fit right in with boys or girls. So I'm not concerned. I'm looking forward to the new experience of having a little boy!

No one really makes comments anymore because we're obviously a happy family and married so long now! Often I am asked for advice nowadays. LOL! But certainly when we were younger we did because it's not the norm in this day and age. Being so young allowed me to cope very well with little sleep (and I'm a nightowl so that helps too :P ), and I was really able to go with my instincts since I didn't have any preconceptions or even friends who had babies yet. Even now though many people I grew up with are still out sinlge & partying and far from the world I am in...but that's never been 'me' at all...I feel like God made me to be a wife & mama!

I haven't known anything different and I am also looking forward to still having lots of time with dh when the kids are grown, and helping with grandkids etc. My mom had my sister and I around the same age so I can see the benefits there for sure. I'm sure there are plenty of great things about having kids at an older age too! I am close to some amazing mamas who had their kids later in life!