Poll: UCer Characteristics!

[Captain_Crunch]

Hey girls! I thought that this might be a fun way to get to know one another...
About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.)
Where are you?
Are you currently PG?
Are you/Did you UP?
Are you telling others about your UC plans?
Have you UCed before?
About your family:
How old is your significant other?
How long have you been with your s.o.?
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages?
Will your older children be present for the birth?
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep?
Wear your baby?
Cloth-diaper?
Breastfeed?
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby?
Circumcise your baby?
Homeschool?
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.)

Well that's all I can think of for now, feel free to add your own questions.

Laura

[Captain_Crunch]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 22
Where are you? East Millcreek,UT
Are you currently PG? Sadly no.
Are you/Did you UP? I intend to...if I ever get pregnant.
Are you telling others about your UC plans? Yup.
Have you UCed before? nope.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 23
How long have you been with your s.o.? 3 years(married for 1).
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? No kids yet.

Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? No, but we will co-room.
Wear your baby? Yes.
Cloth-diaper? Probably not.
Breastfeed? Yes.
Immunize your baby? Yes, but selectively.
Circumcise your baby? Hell No!
Homeschool? I wish we could but probably not.
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) No, we just try to eat as healthy as possible and we eat alot of organic foods.

[LavenderMae]

How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.)
Where are you?
Are you currently PG? yes
Are you/Did you UP? I started seeing a midwife around 21 weeks, so no UP
Are you telling others about your UC plans? only one of my friends knows (she had her last baby UC) and my mom knows
Have you UCed before? yes, but not on purpose

About your family:
How old is your significant other? 32
How long have you been with your s.o.? about 14 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? dd age 9, ds age 5 and the little one
Will your older children be present for the birth? I'm thinking I'll birth while they are asleep. I am a very introverted birther so if they are a wake they will probably not be in the same room as me until the end.

Will you/do you
Co-Sleep? yes
Wear your baby? yes
Cloth-diaper? yes
Breastfeed? yes
Immunize your baby? no
Circumcise your baby? hell no
Homeschool? yes
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) we are vegetarians

[DreamsInDigital]

About you:
How old are you? 25.
Where are you? Vancouver, WA (8 miles north of Portland, OR)
Are you currently PG? Yes.
Are you/Did you UP? Yes.
Are you telling others about your UC plans? Very few.
Have you UCed before? No.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 38
How long have you been with your s.o.? 1 year and 3 months.
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? 3 boys, ages 7, 3 and 9 months.
Will your older children be present for the birth? Yes
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Yes
Wear your baby? Yes
Cloth-diaper? Yes
Breastfeed? Yes
Immunize your baby? Can you please change this to vaccinate? I do not believe that vaccination = immunization. And, to answer the question, no.
Circumcise your baby? HELL no.
Homeschool? Maybe.
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) No.

[paxye]

About you:
How old are you? 29
Where are you? Quebec, Canada
Are you currently PG? yes due in November
Are you/Did you UP? yes
Are you telling others about your UC plans? some people
Have you UCed before? No

About your family:
How old is your significant other? 32
How long have you been with your s.o.? 9 year/ married for 7 1/2
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? 2 (4 and 2)
Will your older children be present for the birth? if they choose to be

Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Yes
Wear your baby? Of course!!!
Cloth-diaper? EC and a bit of cloth
Breastfeed? Nothing will stop me (I am tandem nursing the other two also)
Vaccinate your baby? Nope
Circumcise your baby? Never!!
Homeschool? Unschool
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) we do what we can to eat healthy...

[2Sweeties1Angel]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 25
Where are you? Missouri
Are you currently PG? Yes
Are you/Did you UP? No. I'm seeing my OB in case I end up needing another c-section and because of blood incompatiblity issues.
Are you telling others about your UC plans? Somewhat. My close family knows and I don't ever lie about it.
Have you UCed before? No--I've had c-sections before.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 22
How long have you been with your s.o.? 6.5 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? 3. DS is 5.5, DD is 18 months, and DS' twin died when they were 3 months old.
Will your older children be present for the birth? If they want to be.
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Yes
Wear your baby? Yes
Cloth-diaper? Yes
Breastfeed? Of course!
Immunize your baby? HELL no!
Circumcise your baby? No, but I did circ the twins. I was young and uninformed I also don't think I actually consented to it, but signed the forms after it was already done. I was loaded up on some good drugs from the c-section and didn't know WHAT was going on.
Homeschool? Yes
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) No

[Rockies5]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 29
Where are you? midwest
Are you currently PG? nah
Are you/Did you UP?nope
Are you telling others about your UC plans?we did
Have you UCed before?yes
About your family:
How old is your significant other?32
How long have you been with your s.o.?12yrs
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages?5, ages 8, 7, 5, 2 and 7 months
Will your older children be present for the birth?they weren't
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep?when it works
Wear your baby?its a must
Cloth-diaper?absolutley
Breastfeed?yes!
Immunize your baby?never
Circumcise your baby?nope
Homeschool?yep
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.)yeah but it isn't trendy and doen't have any great name. it's just healthy, but we eat everything in moderation

[ErinBird]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 23 as of Monday!
Where are you? Pacific NW
Are you currently PG? very much so
Are you/Did you UP? yes
Are you telling others about your UC plans?my inlaws know, partly by accident... A fair number of friends know (mostly internet friends)
Have you UCed before? This will be my first birth.
About your family:
How old is your significant other?23
How long have you been with your s.o.? Since early in college- about 4.5 years. We got married 7/30/05.
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? nope
Will your older children be present for the birth? In future births they are free to be around.
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? plan to
Wear your baby?what else will I do with the pretty slings I've been collecting?!
Cloth-diaper?yep
Breastfeed?yep
Immunize your baby?probably not. Deifnately not for a few years, then maybe selectively. Will see.
Circumcise your baby?nope
Homeschool?maybe. I think ks is great for some kids- it would have been for me.
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) a healthy one? Not very special, just normal.

Will you/do you:
Watch TV? We don't have a television. If we ever do buy one, it will never have cable, just a DVD player and antenna. We currently use our computer for DVD viewing.
Sign with your baby? Plan to.
Read to your newborn? maybe? Never really thought about it, though I'd definately plan to read to a slightly older child.
Work outside the home? No. Maybe I'll take the occasional class, but for now I plan to SAH until after my last kid... I'm on my first.
Send baby/child to daycare or preschool? No daycare. Possibly preschool if for nothing else the socialization for a child that doesn't inherit my reserved tendancies....
Recycle? All of the time
TCS, TCC, or CL (consentual living)? nothing specifically. I'm sure we'll evolve to follow parts of differnet philosophies.
Own or foster pets? a goldfish
Follow a religion? Roman Catholic
Encourage higher education? Yes, with a goal or plan- not just because its what all middle class kids do after HS- I hate that an undergraduate education = HS: the sequel
Generally support union activity? No
Boycott companies or countries for human rights reasons (such as formula promotion)? As often as possible I try to weigh the pros and cons.

Baby posessions:
Plastic baby toys? We don't have toys yet. I anticipate an uphill battle to convince my mainstream family to limit the sheer volume of stuff they buy our children, as well as to buy quality things. I have no intention of buying plastic junk for my kids.
Toy guns? not realistic looking ones
Other toy weapons? Depends on the situation
Branded characters? ugh, I'm sure the extended family won't be able to contain themselves. I've made my position known and the lack of TV in our house means I honestly have NO IDEA what some of the branded characters are ATM.

Medical philosophy - do you use the following models of care for actual illness/injury:
Standard medical model (practice-based)? Nope
Evidence-based conventional medicine? I'd be willing to try.
Homeopathic? sometimes
Chiropractic? no, though I'd consider it
Herbal? not much
Nutritional/naturopathic? Yes, when needed.
Ayurvedic? No.
Other/describe? use common sense and making healthy choices in general seems to work well so far....

Are you a feminist? Yes.
City, Town or Rural? City. Eventually we'll buy a house ina slightly more suburban setting, but chances are we'll always live close to a city.
Do you vote? yep
Where do you fall politically? No idea. In many respects I'd fall on the "liberal" spectrum, but Ic an clearly see the conservative point of view. I'd say I probably fall in line with a lot of Catholic Worker stances... but definately not all.


Use a pacifier with your baby? No plans to.
Allow DC to have a 'Lovie'? I won't encourage or discourage it either way.

[BirthFree]

About you:
How old are you?
30

Where are you?
Pacific NW

Are you currently PG?
Nope! I have a newbie.

Are you/Did you UP? Yes, I did - it was wonderful!!

Are you telling others about your UC plans?
The choice few I did.

Have you UCed before?
Just did ()

About your family:
How old is your significant other?
Just almost 29

How long have you been with your s.o.?
For almost 6 years

How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages?
3 - 4yr, 2.5 yr. and new.

Will your older children be present for the birth?
The oldest was going to be, but it went so fast (and wild) that I ended up asking for him after baby was born - his support person was not there for him and I think/know I would have scared him with my(labor's) intensity.

Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep?
Yes, we're sure trying/working on it (reflux)

Wear your baby?
Yes, how can you NOT with other kids?

Cloth-diaper?
Yes, I better use all these that I made!

Breastfeed?
Absolutely.

Immunize/Vaccinate your baby?
Very choicely selected and very delayed... VERY.

Circumcise your baby?
NO WAY.

Homeschool?
We'll have to see and take it bit by bit - so many things can change between now and then and I'm just not sure what we'll do.

Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.)
Organic is our friend, but beyond that, no.

[ecstaticmama]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 24
Where are you? Santa Clara, CA but hopefully moving to Vancouver, WA very shortly
Are you currently PG? indeed I am
Are you/Did you UP? yes
Are you telling others about your UC plans? a few people know, all of them close to me
Have you UCed before? This will be my first birth.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 29
How long have you been with your s.o.? 2 years now (tied the knot 4/1/06)
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? nope
Will your older children be present for the birth? N/A
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? definitely
Wear your baby? happily
Cloth-diaper? as backup for elimination communication
Breastfeed? most definitely
Vaccinate your baby? no chemicals for my little one
Circumcise your baby? no mayhem either
Homeschool? Unschool
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) healthy, mostly organic, lots of Smart Water

[CryPixie83]

About you:
How old are you? 23
Where are you? Springfield, IL
Are you currently PG? was up until yesterday
Are you/Did you UP? yup
Are you telling others about your UC plans? yup
Have you UCed before? nope (first was a homebirth with midwives attending)
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 21
How long have you been with your s.o.? a bit over 4 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? a dd (2 years)
Will your older children be present for the birth? yep
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? yep... when he actually goes to sleep
Wear your baby? yep
Cloth-diaper? yep
Breastfeed? of course... i'm still nursing dc1
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? nope
Circumcise your baby? hell no
Homeschool?most likely
Follow a special diet? just trying to break out of the all-american diet right now

[~Yola]

Newbie Intro answers :-)

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 26
Where are you? Gulf Islands of BC, Canada
Are you currently PG? Quite so, I think I'll last another 3 weeks tops :-)
Are you/Did you UP? Not this time
Are you telling others about your UC plans? Only my MIL, and I sent my Mum some links to read, don't think she did though.
Have you UCed before? Unfortunately not.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 38
How long have you been with your s.o.? 4 years and a bit.
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? 2, Dd is 7 and Ds is 2 1/2
Will your older children be present for the birth? Yes
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Yes
Wear your baby? Haven't yet, will this time
Cloth-diaper? In conjuction with EC, yes
Breastfeed? But of course :-)
Immunize your baby? No
Circumcise your baby? Never
Homeschool? Yes
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) Nothing to special, we make/grow as much of it ourselves as we can though.

[DreamsInDigital]

~Yola and congrats on your upcoming baby!

[arlecchina]

About you:
Where are you? UK
Are you currently PG? yes
Are you/Did you UP? yes
Are you telling others about your UC plans? some.
Have you UCed before? no
About your family:
How long have you been with your s.o.? almost 2 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? 1, 12
Will your older children be present for the birth? probably.
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? yes
Wear your baby? yes
Cloth-diaper? yes
Breastfeed? yes
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? no
Circumcise your baby? no
Homeschool? yes
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) vegetarian

[augustacherri]

About you:
How old are you? 24.
Where are you? Middle East.
Are you currently PG? Yes.
Are you/Did you UP? No.
Are you telling others about your UC plans? A select few.
Have you UCed before? No.

About your family:
How old is your significant other? 28.
How long have you been with your s.o.? Married Jan. 7, 2006.
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? Son, almost 2
Will your older children be present for the birth? Maybe.

Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Yes.
Wear your baby? Yes.
Cloth-diaper? No.
Breastfeed? Yes.
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? Maybe.
Circumcise your baby? No.
Homeschool? Doubtful.
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) No.

[nznats]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 22
Where are you? Auckland New Zealand
Are you currently PG? yes
Are you/Did you UP? I want to but my partner is very uncomfortable with that so I am spacing out the midwifes visits alot
Are you telling others about your UC plans? No not really
Have you UCed before? No I had a c-section with my daughter

About your family:
How old is your significant other? 27
How long have you been with your s.o.? 2 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? I have a 29 month old daughter Amalia
Will your older children be present for the birth? I am hoping my daughter will want to be here, I would like her to be, but she is very sensitive when I am upset so will have to see.

Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Hopefully, depending on if we get a bigger bed, but baby will be in our room for at least the first year.
Wear your baby? Yes I still carry Amalia at 29 months
Cloth-diaper? Mostly yes
Breastfeed? Of course
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? No
Circumcise your baby? Hell no
Homeschool? It is under contemplation
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) No

[BirthkeepinSister]

How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 23
Where are you? Colorado
Are you currently PG? Almost Due!
Are you/Did you UP? Yes
Are you telling others about your UC plans? No
Have you UCed before? No, I had a homebirth.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 28
How long have you been with your s.o.? 6 yrs
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? A 4 year old boy.
Will your older children be present for the birth? Yes
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? We will and co-slept with ds.
Wear your baby? Yes, I'm giving my sling another try, now that I know how to use it!
Cloth-diaper?YES!
Breastfeed? YES!
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? NO!
Circumcise your baby? NO NO NO!
Homeschool? Although I like the concept, ds LOVES independence and large groups, especially being around other kids, and is far from shy. Right now, he wants to be away from me and wants to experience other people outside of the home. If my next baby is more like me, I'll be more apt to homeschool. If any of my kids are unhappy at school I'll homeschool. Learning is enjoyable, and if it doesn't feel that way for our kids, we'll homeschool. Which is very possible as our kids get older.
Follow a special diet? (e.g. Vegan,macrobiotic,etc.) Our diet is about 95% all natural/organic foods.

[accountclosed3]

About you:
How old are you? 30
Where are you? PA, soon to move to CA
Are you currently PG? No
Are you/Did you UP? I plan to UP
Are you telling others about your UC plans? some people, yes.
Have you UCed before? no, i do not have any children yet.
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 34
How long have you been with your s.o.?10 yrs
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? 0
Will your older children be present for the birth? yes, eventually
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? yes
Wear your baby? yes
Cloth-diaper? no--elimination communication
Breastfeed? yes, exclusively, on cue, until natural weaning
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? no. may immunize children
Circumcise your baby? no
Homeschool? yes, unschool
Follow a special diet? yes--traditional foods, whole foods, organic foods.

[cottonwood]

About you:
How old are you? 40 (I see I'm the old lady of the bunch)
Where are you? Pacific Northwest
Are you currently PG? No
Are you/Did you UP? For the most part. No testing, but had the baby's position checked.
Are you telling others about your UC plans? I told a select group of people, most not.
Have you UCed before? Twice.

About your family:
How old is your significant other? 39
How long have you been with your s.o.? 10 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? Four: 9, 7, 5, and 2
Will your older children be present for the birth? They never have been.

Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? yes
Wear your baby? yes, sling when we go out, otherwise it's just a lot of in arms holding
Cloth-diaper? For the infant stage, after that I always get frustrated with it and switch to disposables for night and trips. Mostly our kids run around naked and we try to anticipate their needs.
Breastfeed? yup, nine years now
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? None of the kids have been vaccinated yet. It'll be their choice when they're old enough to make the decision.
Circumcise your baby? Just the girls. Kidding!! Of course not.
Homeschool? Unschool.
Follow a special diet? My eldest doesn't eat dairy, but aside from that we eat just about everything. We try to avoid fake foods, though.

[2much2luv]

About you:
How old are you? (If you're comfortable sharing.) 27
Where are you? Colorado
Are you currently PG? No
Are you/Did you UP? No
Are you telling others about your UC plans? We didn't until it was over
Have you UCed before? Yes
About your family:
How old is your significant other? 29
How long have you been with your s.o.? 7 years
How many children do you currently have? If so, what ages? Three children, 6,4 and 2
Will your older children be present for the birth? If I have another one I'd like for them to be there.
Will you/do you:
Co-Sleep? Yes
Wear your baby? Yes
Cloth-diaper? Yes
Breastfeed? Yes
Immunize/Vaccinate your baby? No
Circumcise your baby? No!
Homeschool? Yes
Follow a special diet? No