Introduce Yourself!!!

[Free Thinker]

Hi, DIF Mamas! I am Mandy, married to Greg and Mama to Lacy Jo. Lacy is a cloth diapered, BF baby (still). We are happy to be expecting #2. We just found out yesterday, but I don't know an exact DD. MY cycles were still kinda funky due to BFing. I go today to get a Beta drawn, and hopefully will have a general idea of my DD in a few days!

Nice to meet you and I look forward to getting to know you all over the next 9 months!

[HelloKitty]

Hi Mandy! I'm Kitty, Mama to three boys - Mike age 14, Jack age 10 and Cameron age 18 months. Cam is a cloth diapered, co-sleeping, breastfeeding babe :-) My schedules were also still a bit wacky due to bf'ing so I also don't know my due date for sure but I at this point I am guessing February 6th (based on a 30 day schedule which was the best average guess for me!).

Looking forward to getting to know you.

[TexasSuz]

OK, I'll join! I am Susan and we have a ds that is 33 months and still nursing! I can't believe he will be 3 soon! I just took a test last night and went online to find out a due date. It said February 7th.

I am so excited - we had been trying since September! I am also more scared this time - I know what to expect and all (KWIM?). I worry about nursing and getting sick again. I lost 25 pounds in my 1st trimester with #1 and had to take Zofran. I could not keep down any food and did not have the energy to get out of bed.

My mom is also going through Chemo for breast cancer right now and I take her to all of her appointments. If I get sick who will take care of her? It is all so scary because her future is uncertain also.

I look forward to getting to know this group. I bet many of us will actually deliver in late January!

Take care of those babies everyone!

Susan

[Lisashepp]

I am Lisa, married to Don who is active duty Air Force, we are in Idaho now but will probably be moving to Mississippi later this year, we don't have orders but there is a very good chance.

We have one little one, Alexia she is 3.5 and still nursing (looks like I am nursing the oldest kiddo!) once or twice a day and only for comfort since meds dried up my milk a few months ago.

We have been actively trying to conceive for 2.5 years, and started infertility treatments a year ago. I conceived this baby on Clomid & I was a twin and twins naturally run in my family so I wouldn't be suprised if there is more then one bun in this oven!

My dd has multiple severe food allergies, she is allergic to soy, egg, peanut, tree nuts and outgrew a dairy allergy just before she turned two. In hopes to avoid food allergies in this baby I will be eliminating all of that from my diet after the first trimester (I am already free of all but dairy because dd still nurses).

My first appt is Monday and I want an ultrasound to see the heartbeat and to confirm or rule out multiples!

[letabug]

Hi ya'll, I'm Arleta, wife to Justin who is an active duty Marine. We are stationed in MO. We have 1 son, Korbin who is almost 1 year old. DH is in Cali for some training and we told him last night while he was eating and he almost choked! YIKES! I am very excited to be here.

[happymamajenni]

Hi, I am Jenni. I have been married for 2 years and 3 months, to Dan. I am a stay at home mom with an 18 month old daugter, Megan. (If you do the math and are wondering, I got pregnant on my wedding night ), and we had been trying for #2 since September. I found out today that I am pregnant, and I'm due (according to my calculations) on February 7th 2005. The last time I was pregnant I was on these message boards every day, but unfortunately, it wasn't until my 32nd week that I found out about this site. I was even sending out messages while I was in labour.....it really sucked to have everyone go into labor before me...hopefully not next time!
So, I'd like to hear about your previous experiences with birth!
Nice to meet all of you!

[Boobs]

Hey! I'm T! : I have a 6 year old dd, K. I was 18 when I had her by "emergency cesarean". I married M when she was 3. We're from North Texas and moved to Ohio almost 2 years ago. We started ttc on Easter Sunday and I got my on Memorial Day! I'm hoping to have a homebirth. We will absolutely be extended-breastfeeding, cloth diapering,co-sleeping and not circ'ing. I'm still on the fence about vacc'ing. Thank goodness we have 9 months to educate ourselves about that!

I think my dd is Feb. 3. We are interviewing a midwife next week.


T (looking forward to spending 9 months with you ladies!)

[Parker'smommy]

HI ladies!!!
I didnt think I would ever make it over here to this forum!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Heather and my edd is February 1st. I have a 27 month old ds that is nursing ( alot) so that is bringing in a little different perspective to the table then last time. I don't plan on forceably weaning him.

I am also hoping to have a vbac!!! So, this will also bring a whole other battle to my pregnancy - to find a vbac supportive OB. I know I wont find a midwife in the area.....sigh....

Ds was 10 pounds and 21 1/2 inches so Im preparing for a 10 + pounder this time too. I only gained 26 pounds with my last pregnancy so it wasnt that. I just birth big babies I guess. But a good friend just had a 12 10 oz baby girl with NO DRUGS, so there is hope!!

Looking forward to a joyful and happy 9 months with you gals!!!!!!!!!!!

[LianneM]

Hi Everyone

I'm Lianne, DH is Allen. We've been married for almost 4 years and have not been preventing pgcy for a year and a half.

I conceived on my third cycle of clomid, 150mg. I felt ovulation pain 3 days in a row, at 3 distinct times, but I don't know how many eggs were released b/c I wasn't being monitored by u/s at that point in the cycle.

Hopefully I'll find out soon how many babies are in there! I'm hoping for one, so I can plan my homebirth with an awesome midwife that I already love. However, if there is more than one, I'll be happy and deal with the fact that I'll have to see an OB and all that entails. I really want my homebirth thoug

[Worldshakerz]

Hi, my name is April. I'm married to my best friend and soul mate Jamie.I'm mommy to a 16 month old son who is still nursing like mad and my nipples are very sore! But I don't plan on weaning him, it isn't too bad and he still loves mommy's milk.

Edd is Feb 4th or 5th or thereabouts, and this coming Monday I'll be getting a blood test at the birthing center (Labor of Love where I birthed ds). They said once they have the level of hCG that it can help pinpoint how far along I am.

My nipple soreness was the first clue for me that I might be pregnant, as I never had a full fledged period since Jakob was conceived in May of 2002. Obviously I was ovulating though Other signs: mood swings, horrible heart burn as soon as I take a bite of anything, the early pregnancy mild crampy feeling, and extreme tiredness by the end of the day.

I just returned to college after a 2 year hiatus! Its been challenging the last few nights because the only time I can really study is once Jakob is sleeping and that's around 9 or 10pm lately, so that's when I get to study. The tiredness is making that especially challenging.

Good to meet you all.

[Lousli]

Hi,
I'm Lesley, married for four years on 6/18 to Justin. We have a 31 month-old daughter, melanie, who still nurses. We're expecting #2 around 2/7/05, but melly was 4 weeks early, so we will see! I have a zillion January birthdays in my family, so it would be funny if the new bean came in January, she couls even share a birthday with dh!

I know this is going to be a challenging pregnancy, even if my symptoms are mild because I'm working full time (and then some, I'm a teacher),finishing up my Master's degree, and trying to be a good mommy too.

My mom is a nurse midwife (but will not be delivering my baby) and she and my dad ( who's an MD) were out of the country when Melanie was born. I was very nervous, and didn't feel as prepared as I wanted with baby coming 4 weeks early. I ended up getting an epidural. This time I really really want to go natural, and i'm trying to decide between Bradley and hypnobirthing.

[shannon0218]

I'm Shannon, my darling fiance is Steve. We are getting married on June 19th. We've been trying for a year and had 3 miscarriages during that span. At this point I've been taking baby aspirin for 2 months, progesterone suppositories since ovulation and heparin injections since monday which is when I got a positive HPT. This baby was conceived by IUI, not because we have trouble conceiving but I have rhuematoid arthritis which was so out of control but it tends to go into remission around week 5, so my doc really pushed that we needed to either conceive again fast or give up and go on meds that control my arthritis but absolutely can't be conceived on.
We're now feeling really positive about this pregnancy and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone!!

[Karennnnn]

I think I may belong here!?

Hi all!
Well I think I belong here.
My husband and I decided to conduct a science experiment last Friday. I totally knew I was ovulating and usually tell him to back away slowly or something like that This time we were alone in the house because my son (who's 3.5 and also still nursing!!) was at my parent's house; so before my husband went to pick him up we just did our little experiment.
From prior experience I know that if you use serum instead of urine on an hpt you can get a quicker result since hcg is more present in serum than urine. I draw blood for a living doing insurance exams so I have access in my own home to the supplies that I need.
So last night I test and RIGHT at the ten minute mark where you're not supposed to interperet the results I got a VERY faint positive.
Today I tried again and got the same result, although darker.
I'm going to just go ahead and say yup, I'm pregnant
I don't really think what I saw was an evaporation line. I've done plenty of hpts on myself in my time and when they were negative they were never like that; even after I dug them out of the trash can (come on, I know you've done the same thing lol)!!
So what I'm probably going to do is buy more tests and probably keep testing until I get that dark line within that 3 minute window that a positive will more than likely show up Doing hpts is fun anyway eh?
There's always the chance that I got 4 inconclusive positives but I'm thinking not. If I'm really not pregnant I'll be embarrassed but oh well
I'm hoping for a midwife homebirth. This is my DREAM!!! We'll see if it's a struggle or not... I had a c-section my first go around (I was a surrogate mother), then a vbac natural hospital birth that took about 3 hours start to finish. You'd think I'd be a good candidate for another vbac but you know how that goes nowadays.
By the way, I've realized that if I really am pregnant, I am one of the luckiest women in the world. To be able to hit it (no pun intended) on exactly the day that I try and KNOW that I'm ovulating on my own and don't need any other assistance is truly a blessing. My heart goes out to everyone who doesn't have it as easy as I have had in the past.
Hopefully I'll be sticking around and we'll all help each other figure out how to juggle a new one into the family bed
Karen
(I think I'm due approx 2/17/05)

[firefly]

Hi, count me in. I'm pregnant with my 2nd baby. My symptoms have been pretty mild so far-lots of hunger and lots of cramping. I'm not worrying about the cramping because I had the same feeling throughout my pregnancy with my ds. In fact at 34 weeks I was put on bed rest because my midwife thought I might go early. We were all surprised when he showed up at almost 42 weeks. He weighed 9lbs 6ozs and was posterior. I did have an epidural. I'm shooting for a homebirth.
I'm unsure of my due date I used one of those calculators but the date they gave me doesn't seem right. That date was February 11. I think I oed on the 23rd of May. My LP was May 7. If anyone can give me some insight....
I'm currently studying to be a doula/birtheducator and going for my bachelor’s degree.
I'm feeling much more confident with this pregnancy, and am therefore feeling a lot happier.
Congratulations to all. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone.
Jenn

[shannon0218]

Hi Jen, I'm due on the 11th based on ovulation on May 21, so you'd be due Feb 13--what a nice Valentines day present!!

[Parker'smommy]

On the main board for pregnancy I posted a question about charts for due dates and I got two different ones. I adjusted my due date by 4 days because I O'd on cd19 and not on cd14, which is what the charts are based on. Let me find the link .....

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=152590

[firefly]

Thanks Shannon and Parker's mommy. Valentines day would be such a great day to have my baby. As long as he doesn't come too late, like his older brother.

Jenn

[jorie]

Hello with a question

Hi Ya'll! I am a newbie to mdc and thought this was a good place to start. My name is Marjorie, wife to Stephen, mother to ds Alec, 24.5months, cloth diapered, bf. I am living in MN now, but on the cusp of a move to IA. I got a on friday morning and according to my NFP chart, I am due Valentines day! I am sorta scared though, because I miscarried in January five days after I found out I was pregnant. That will be Wednesday (6/9) for this pregnancy. I am also worried about the weaning pressure sure to follow and dairy allergy prevention. So, does anyone know? If I avoid or minimize dairy comsumption during my pregnancy, will this prevent the horrible dairy allergy my ds had until ~4 months ago?

[shannon0218]

Welcome Marjorie!! I can't answer any of your nursing questions but I can commiserate with the pregnancy after miscarriage fears, they are hell. To keep my mind a little at ease my OB has given me an requisition for betas done every other day, she figured that was easier than sedating me--but sedation may work better :

Would anyone like me to do a weekly thread?? Listing everyone's names and due dates??? I could handle the thread this week, someone would have to take it over next week though as we are getting married and then going away for a while. The other option is a monthly thread until we become a bigger group but I couldn't do that, someone else would have to volunteer!!

[Ellie'sMom]

Hi all! I am going to tentatively stick my toe in the water here .

I'm Jenny. I am mom to 27 month old Ellie and wife to Stuart. I am a nurse practitioner. I currently work part-time in a little clinic in an elementary school and I also teach nurse practitioner students at the local university. Ellie was born in a birth center, and I love the MWs there, but in my heart I really want a homebirth this time. I had a m/c at 11.5 weeks in Jan/Feb 2004 (the process took about 2 weeks) so I don't think I'll be able to relax with this one until I am well past the 12 week mark.

This babe is due on Valentine's Day if I go by my revised ovulation date given to me by Fertility Friend (a fertility charting website), and since I like the sound of that, I am going to stick with that date. DD was a Feb. baby too!

I look forward to getting to know you all.

Shannon: I think a weekly thread is a great idea. I would be happy to keep it next week.