My friend who had twns was told that after 38 weeks the placenta begins to calcify rapidly and it becomes very dangerous for the twins. She was scheduled for a c-section for 38 weeks, but had to go in for an emergency one a few days before the scheduled section because her water broke. Turned out one of the twins had stopped growing/maturing at 36ish weeks.

As I said in the other thread, the only difference I noticed was that I was very intetested in teA while pg with the boys and not at all with the girls.

When I was younger I was engaged to a guy who didn't read at all. I think he probably had an undiagnosed reading disorder. It really bothered me because I am a voracious reader. One of the reasons I broke it off with him was the reading issue (it lead to bigger issues like his disapproval of me getting higher degrees, etc). DH and I were best friends and roommates before we started dating and his love of reading and books is one if the things that bonded us. We both discovered in grad school that we needed to read non-academic things just to give our brains a break. I can think if nothing I woukd like to do better in my extreme old age than sit next to DH while we read our books.

I haven't done it with my last three.

My dad is an atheist, as are my brother, SIL, and all my nieces. I am too and we are raising our children as such. None of us lack any wonder in the world, and we are constantly in awe of our surroundings, so do not worry that he is somehow losing a part of his childhood. I have studied numerous world religions and while I find them fascinating, I have never been tempted to "believe" in one.

I think maybe DH was thinking more if an hourly wage job where you only get paid fir the time you actually work. I disagree with the whole charging them thing and think it should be rectified just "because".

DH and I decided to restructure the kids' allowance. They will now receive the monetary equivalent of their age in years x .5 weekly. They will have to physically save 30% (actually go to bank and make deposit), give 10% to the family fun fund, and can spend the rest. We will continue to do our depositing into their savings accounts too, but this is a set monthly amount that automatically comes out of DH's pay, or extra money I have. However, we want to give them the opportunity to earn more. I need help coming up with a master list of chores and monetary value to assign to the chores. DH is really excited about the new system and wants to start asap. Also, he wants to know if people "charge" for infractions like you have to pay us back $1 if you make a mess of something and refuse to fix it (I am opposed to this idea but he says equivalent if having pay docked if you refuse to work).

Yes, so glad I moved back somewhere with socialized medicine. DS8 got something in his eye, so we went to the optometrist (paid for completely by Medicare), who couldn't get it out so sent us to the Emergency Department at the Children's Hospital. They tried to get it out, couldn't, sent us home with two types of topical anitbiotics and an appointment with the opthamologist specialists (completely paid for by Medicare). Went to the speciality clinic, had the little procedure to get the piece of bark out (completely paid for) and just have to return in two weeks for re-check (which will be covered as well). Cannot even imagine how much that stupid litte piece of bark would have cost us if we were still in the USA.

I am so sorry you are going through this. After meeting with the new OB definitely make the best decision for you and your family.

Love eggs any way I can get them as long as they are not over cooked. Hollandaisr is really easy to make in a blender. I do that if I need it quickly, otherwise it is still pretty eady to make on the stovetop. My kids would happily eat hollandaise on anything. We are big egg eaters here...need to get some chickens.

I have only ever lived in one place that had an Aldi's and unfortunately it was of the gross, smelly, horrible produce kind. I think I might give it another try if it ever came to Western Australia (the state government here is blocking it from coming in for some reason) just to try to save soem money on our grocery bill.

I just assumed it was crusted bird poo from the birds who lived under his hat. But, yes, it was pretty gross.

Not sure where you are moving from, but if you are moving from a major Metro area (like NYC or LA) the sticker shock probably won't be so bad. I also think that my prices and views may be different because I am in WA as opposed to everyone else who as responded thus far. But, for us, petrol, electricity, gas, and water are higher than we were used to having lived in Texas for 3 years. Probably on par with what my family pays in Montreal, however. Food is astronomically higher. I was spending about $500 per month on food, household goods and pet foods for a family of 6 with 6 animals. Here, I pay about $400 per week for just the humans. Also, we paid about $1200 per month for a 4 bedroom, 2700sqft house in Texas, and here we pay almost $2000 for a house that could fit into the kitchen space of our former home.

DS8 had to have one pulled 2 weeks ago and another will be pulled on the 4th of Feb. Both were/are molars and had been previously filled but something went wrong with the fillings and the first filling fell out and the tooth abcessed and the second filling is on its way to falling out so the dentist just recommended yanking it. Basically, they numbed the gum with a swab, then injected with the medicine. That took a long time because they went slow and DS was a little scared. Then the dentist told DS that it would sound like Rice Krispies cereal - a snap, a crackle, and a pop. When she began to pull she said "there's the snap, there's the crackle, and pop." Took less than a minute and he just held gauze to it, didn't bleed much and was fine. He is actually totally okay with going back in Feb and isn't worried at all.

I have severe hypoglycemia. I spent years gettjng monthly bloid tests, weigh ins, and checks with specialists. I never had any vomiting or nausea so I guess i was lucky. Blackouts, fainting, dizziness, tunnel vision are some things i had. DS8 and DDy had a lot of same symptoms and DS8 was diagnosed pretty early. Turns out wr are all Celiac and my doctor said they often run together. All that just to say maybe cut out gluten too on a 90 test and see if that, along with adding more protein etc. helps. Honestly, I haven't had a hypoglycemic episode since I went gluten free.

We are permanent residents but there are several expats at the kids' school who are just here on work visas and they do not pay. At least in Western Australia, when I was still homeschooling, I registered so the kids would be eligible for the school dentist and nurse program, the semester swim lessons, and the reduced student bus card. My assigned registrar was a lovely retired ps principal and was very supportive of homeschooling.

Just curious. I make loaves of GF bread in the oven but most are nut flour based. The kids' public school is a no nut zone so I have been occassionally buying the store GF bread for sandwiches but I don't like the ingredients. I just found a store near me that sells GF bread mix that doesn't have questionable ingredients (no soy, not protein isolates, etc.) and thought about making bread with those for when the kids are in school. However, as was mentioned in the other thread, it gets really hot here in Western Australia and I don't want to bake anything most of the time. A breadmaker that could handle GF bread would be handy. Anyone use one strictly for GF bread products (plus jam or whatever but all GF)?

My mother is very much a "changer without permission". We have had many, many blow ups about it, but it was only in the last month, after reading Love Languages, that I realized her love language is Acts of Service and she is trying to show her love by helping. However, because she is a martyr with BPD she couches it as "jenr is completely incapable of taking care of herself or her family so I have to go do it for her, poor me." I learned to ask her to do big jobs when she visits (my walls get washed, for instance) and she has gradually learned to ask before doing small things. However, the last time she visited, she decided to be helpful by cleaning out all my dead outdoor plants, washing out the pots and stacking them out on my front porch. I flipped out because they were perenials that I had spent a ton of money on and had been planning on giving to friends when we moved. She should have felt bad, but she didn't because what she really wanted was the pretty, expensive pots so she took those home with her.

We eat like you do (and three of us have Celiac's) but the kids are hungry a lot. They have always been great eaters with no real pickiness. DH and I were both extremely thin when we were younger with really high metabolisms. Mine crashed when the Celiac's started (so I discovered after 6 years of questions and testing) and is only just righting itself. So, our poor kids seem to have gotten a double dose of the high metabolism and just are skinny, skinny things no matter how much they eat. We eat almost no processed food because a) it is expensive, B) we like natural food, and c) it worries me that I don't really know all the ingredients and might make myself or the kids sick if there is some hidden gluten that is not listed.

I haven't seen one here. It is a clear piece of plastic you hang up along with your fabric shower curtain so the water doesn't leak through.

Unfortunately we have a very "spendy" January - new school supplies and uniforms, ob/gyn prepay for baby, newish stuff for bubs as we got rid of everything when we moved (carseat, diapers, clothes), OT apts, may have to get DS9 a laptop for school depending in what his OT and his school say. With bubs due in Feb. I see it being a "spendy" month again. Maybe March....

Yeah I made the mistake of trying to talk to my DH who was at work when I was reading the Amazon reviews the first time. He insisted I let him in on the joke so I sent him the url. Apparently, his coworker came to check on him because she was worried he was in pain - he was trying not to laugh too loud and ended up basically crying and gasping. Luckily, it was just the two of them in the building that day so she eneded up reading them too and having a good chuckle.

Our kids have family middle names so that wouldn't bother me, but their first names are unique and special to them and us. They have meaning to us and we put a lot of thought into it. I would be upset if a close relative said "oh pretty name, I'm going to use it too." I actually had this happen with a new acquaintance. All of her kids have names that start with "L" and when she met my DD3 and was pregnant with her #5 she decided to use her name because it was pretty. Kind of bothered me because I had never met another kid with her name and now there was one living down the street. My brother's girls are way older than mine and the only name they share is a middle name. My cousins are all a decade+ younger than me and the eldest is just about to have his first child (in March). I doubt they would use any of our names.

I realized I didn't add my menu plan, but as I am in Australia and Perth is in the middle of a heat wave, we haven't wanted to actually eat much. I did buy a 4kg ham for Christmas, but it was too hot to cook. Just got around to it yesterday so we have cold ham slices in the fridge to nibble on if anyone gets hungry. I also have the bone simmering to make broth and will make Hungarian bean soup tomorrow. Tongiht (NYE) we are doing our traditional filet fondue but are skipping the cheese one and the dessert one. So here is my list of what I would have made for dinners if we wanted to eat anything other than ice cubes: Ham slices with leftover sides Hungarian Ham and Bean Soup Ham and beans and rice Quinoa Salad Pasta with tomato sauce Gnocchi with creamy pesto sauce Nachos with homemade salsa, guacamole, and sour cream (okay we did eat these) Chickpeas and chicken chermoulade Tomato Soup and Quesadillas Chicken salad Meatballs and homemade chips (french fries) Leftovers I also made a cheesecake and planned on making carob pudding and muffins but the thought of turning the oven on makes me cringe.