AP family on tv last night - Page 2

[bpolley]

That was me!

Oh my gosh, that was me. Yup, I'm the cloth-diapering, sling-using, placenta-keeping mom from that show AND a motheringdotcommune member. I'm glad that all of your comments were positive and no one mentioned the fighting! But bear in mind that we had only five weeks to do all that work and in that time we also redecorated four bedrooms and a playroom that they didn't even show on TV.

They shot 200 hours of footage and the only fight we had in those stressful weeks was this 15 minute fight we had less than 24 hours before the final showing to Doug was the whole show (it was less than 24 hours before they showed up and the appliances were still in the living room, the staircase wasn't done, they put in my contract that I had to sew curtains and I hadn't even started -- basically we had 100 hours worth of work to do and 22 hours to do them in. And yes, my husband did wake up late and spent two hours buying curtain rods and donuts -- I was so mad but he had stayed up until 4 am painting but I was up all night nursing and I still woke up early and started working. Anyway, we got over it and are still happily married.) Plus during the fight they were hiding in other rooms secretly filming us -- you can tell that the lighting is very grainy because they were like in a totally different room. We had microphones on the whole time and we would always forget about them -- I can't tell you how many times DH and I peed with the microphone on and got laughed at later.) And it was the same fifteen minute fight they showed over and over and over again and made it look like we were fighting all the time. I was still mad at him the next day too as you could probably tell. But really, we're fine now.

Regarding the sidecar crib, we did take out the Arms Reach co-sleeper from the other side of the bed to look more "normal" to mainstream parents. Back then, Seth slept in the Arms Reach on one side and Asa slept in the side car on the other. Nnow the three kids sleep with me on a twin bed with DH in a guest room while we're remodeling the master bedroom. Our house is a renovation nightmare.

And yup, its an New Native sling -- the best for passing newborns back and forth between husband and wife.

As an AP mom, I'm embarassed about the pacifiers and the baby swing, but at the time we did what we had to do.

[AngelBee]

You know what.....For the first two months of ds2 life, pacifiers were a life saver! And all of my babies LOVE to swing.

I don't think that makes me less AP.....they are being allowed to do what they are comfy with......even if it is not generally considered AP practice.

[GruppieGirl]

bpolley I am so excited to hear that was you on TV!!!

Funny, but the entire time we saw you my dh and I both felt like we had seen you or met you before. We still can't place you. Ever spend any time in New England?

Congrats on your wonderful home and your TV appearance!

[chloeAnne]

OMG I can't believe an actual tv star posts on here.
I'm the one that is coming to live in your kitchen.
I was so excited when I saw the AP clues in your house. I couldn't wait to come on here and tell about it. I should have thought that maybe it might be a member of this wonderful site.
Your house is just gorgeous, what they showed of it. I would love to see pictures of the other rooms, when you are done.
On a side note, I knew the previous owner would not like your changes. You could tell before she moved out, she was much too attached to her house. I loved how you opened up the family room to the kitchen. That was a great improvement.
Anyway congratulations on your new house.

Originally Posted by bpolley

Oh my gosh, that was me. Yup, I'm the cloth-diapering, sling-using, placenta-keeping mom from that show AND a motheringdotcommune member. I'm glad that all of your comments were positive and no one mentioned the fighting! But bear in mind that we had only five weeks to do all that work and in that time we also redecorated four bedrooms and a playroom that they didn't even show on TV.

They shot 200 hours of footage and the only fight we had in those stressful weeks was this 15 minute fight we had less than 24 hours before the final showing to Doug was the whole show (it was less than 24 hours before they showed up and the appliances were still in the living room, the staircase wasn't done, they put in my contract that I had to sew curtains and I hadn't even started -- basically we had 100 hours worth of work to do and 22 hours to do them in. And yes, my husband did wake up late and spent two hours buying curtain rods and donuts -- I was so mad but he had stayed up until 4 am painting but I was up all night nursing and I still woke up early and started working. Anyway, we got over it and are still happily married.) Plus during the fight they were hiding in other rooms secretly filming us -- you can tell that the lighting is very grainy because they were like in a totally different room. We had microphones on the whole time and we would always forget about them -- I can't tell you how many times DH and I peed with the microphone on and got laughed at later.) And it was the same fifteen minute fight they showed over and over and over again and made it look like we were fighting all the time. I was still mad at him the next day too as you could probably tell. But really, we're fine now.

Regarding the sidecar crib, we did take out the Arms Reach co-sleeper from the other side of the bed to look more "normal" to mainstream parents. Back then, Seth slept in the Arms Reach on one side and Asa slept in the side car on the other. Nnow the three kids sleep with me on a twin bed with DH in a guest room while we're remodeling the master bedroom. Our house is a renovation nightmare.

And yup, its an New Native sling -- the best for passing newborns back and forth between husband and wife.

As an AP mom, I'm embarassed about the pacifiers and the baby swing, but at the time we did what we had to do.

[chloeAnne]

I'm still researching AP and can't wait until I have a baby to start using the principles, that I have learned from here. I completely agree with you. I think that AP is doing what your baby needs not following rules.

Originally Posted by AngelBee

You know what.....For the first two months of ds2 life, pacifiers were a life saver! And all of my babies LOVE to swing.

I don't think that makes me less AP.....they are being allowed to do what they are comfy with......even if it is not generally considered AP practice.

[bpolley]

Quote: Funny, but the entire time we saw you my dh and I both felt like we had seen you or met you before. We still can't place you. Ever spend any time in New England?

I lived in Hartford, CT for several years.

[GruppieGirl]

Originally Posted by bpolley

Quote: Funny, but the entire time we saw you my dh and I both felt like we had seen you or met you before. We still can't place you. Ever spend any time in New England?

I lived in Hartford, CT for several years.

Maybe that't it. My dh is from Bristol.

[fluffernutter]

I'm going to record it tonight! I can't wait to see it, and show DH. He thinks I'm the only person in world who used a sling and cloth diapers or let DD sleep with us.

[mirlee]

bpolley, I saw the show and thought it was great. It is VERY stressful to remodel. I think you both did wonderfully.

It was nice to see a normal family on tv for once.

[blessedwithboys]

i made a point to watch the rerun tonight. you are such a beautiful family, and your house is beyond gorgeous! i would gladly do dishes in your sink! lol

my favorite part of the show was when you handed db to dh in the sling and he put the wrong arm through and poor db was upside down. all you could see were two tiny little feet sticking up in the air out of the sling! too cute!

forget about the swing and binkies. you did a fab job representing for all of us AP mamas. and i hope you got a chance to tell janice where to put her stupid pansies! lol

[purplemama]

I just saw the repeat of the show tonight.

bpolley, I love what guys did with your new house, esp the kitchen and knocking out the wall. And the "fight" you guys had... it just seemed like typical arguing every couple has... you still looked like a happily married couple at the end of the show. You are one brave mama for tackling moving and renovations with a newborn baby and a toddler to take care of!

I did not like that girl who moved into your old house... she just came off as a spoiled snob, imo.

And I was wondering, do you know what kind of tree is in front of your old house? I love that tree... is it a Japanese magnolia?

I also loved it when you passed your baby to your dh in the new native carrier!

[party_of_seven]

OMG!!! I watched the show last night with dh, and I came here to see if anyone else saw it. How totally awesome that the star of the show posts here!

bpolley, I think that you handled everything wonderfully. I was amazed that you took so much on considering that you had just had a baby. I would be about to rip my dh's throat out after all of that. You were much more graceful than I ever could have been. We bought a fixer-uper, and one year later I'm not even 1/2 way done with the painting. My youngest of four is 18mo, and I totally can't handle the chaos in large doses. Did you have a homebirth? Dh and I were wondering since you had a placenta in your freezer. We figured that you either had a HB or smuggled it home from the hospital.

Anyway, it was totally awesome to see AP parents on TV! You made my night.

Oh, and the ahem "lady" that bought your old house was a ^%$#@. I would have thrown her out that freaking window along with her expensive furniture! I don't know how her DH can stomach her. She just thought that her obnoxiousness was too cute.

[bpolley]

You guys are so great! Someone forwarded me another message board focusing on kitchen renovations and there was a whole thread about the show and how AWFUL I was and how terrible it was of me to pass the baby off to my husband (everyone said he should have been in a crib and why was I carrying him around!), how awful our fights were (even though our fight was only ten minutes out of 200 hours of film and even then they were filming us secretly from other rooms!) and, as you can imagine, everyone mentioned the placenta and how gross that was.

I could type for hours telling you how we were so misrepresented through editing in the show, but because all of of you were so nice I won't bother. We got 90% of all of that stuff for free so if we ever had to do it again, we would do it in a heartbeat. My only regret is that I wore white pants two weeks postpartum. Nothing in my closet fit and we were so broke after buying the new house I had only $20.00 to spend at Marshall's and those were the only pants in the store I could get over my tushie.

[bpolley]

Oh, I forgot to add for Party of Six that we did not have a homebirth because my first child was born by cesearean and its illegal in NJ to have a VBAC at home. But I had a great VBAC with a midwife in the hospital and yes, we "stole" the placenta. My greedy husband and I realized that after the kitchen renovation was done way beyond any means that we could afford, that we'd be reselling this house by next summer to capitalize on the profit so the placenta is still hanging out in the freezer awaiting our next move to our "forever" house.