I would call out both variations. It would be very apparent that I had no idea what the pronunciation is and I would be apologetic about it.

American. That's the language I speak, right?

I was pumping at work last year and at the time, had TWO clearly marked signs. I'd already been walked in on with my cutesy sign that said "Please come back later, the lactation station is in use" and now had an additional sign stating "DO NOT ENTER I AM PUMPING BREASTMILK FOR MY BABY" with a big red stop sign above it, bold, underlined, biggest font Word had to offer. Unfortunately, I had to pump in a room with a sliding door and it didn't have a lock. So in walks the mail carrier while I am pumping. I am facing the corner, because that's my set up, and can't even turn all the way around to see him, but he's just hanging out talking about where to put the mail if the door is closed. I just kept saying "Please close the door. Please leave. Please close the door." while he starts trying to strike up a conversation. At some point he realized that wasn't going to happen and he left, leaving the door mostly open. :glare: My coworker said it probably looked like I was in timeout. We did have a contractor almost walk in once but he must have read the sign as he was in the midst of sliding the door open and basically freaked out and ran off, and again, the guy left the door partly open. :ohmy: We had a salesperson that would also call and ask if she could speak to me, as long I was not too busy because she didn't want to bother me while I was pumping my breasts. She would work "pumping your breasts" or "doing your breast thing" into every conversation for months.

My mom was my rock when I lost a baby and I was 30 yrs old. I'm so sorry your daughter is going through this. The not knowing is nervewracking :(

Get the Ergo before they're sold out. Ring slings are my personal must-have, but I like having several types of carrier :)

Just some random thoughts... White noise helped us a lot with my little one's sleep. A ring sling might be a good option if you haven't tried one yet. If you're always holding him, ANY carrier is going to help.. .but a ring sling is (in my experience) an easy carrier to nurse in, and I can usually ease the kiddo into a sleeping position from a nursing position. Elizabeth Pantley has a no cry nap book that I found helpful. We had a nap crisis about two months ago and things are back to normal, now :) I have done school with the baby in a bouncer on the kitchen table while he was alert and happy, so he just made baby sounds and grinned while we went through lessons. That might be easier than trying to school during naps, if naps are rough.

I track what I eat on myfitnesspal. There is no way I would lose weight if I just eyeballed my food and guessed at calories. I could easily eat 3000 calories/day :) Now I am in the 1400-1800 range, eat what I like, but adjust my portions. I have been doing Zumba for a while, and get cranky when I have to miss a class. I do Couch to 5K with my 7 year old. We are starting week 8 tomorrow and can run 25 minutes straight now (it's a very mild progression...) Exercising feels good now that it's become a habit. Editing to add that I have lost 40lbs over 8 months. I've had a couple of plateaus where I didn't lose, but my body slimmed up. I'm quite happy with the way this is going.

It sounds like it's working for you. I skip dinner a few nights each week because I have eaten hearty meals throughout the day. It isn't a problem unless I stay up until 1AM.

My son has low tone and it's the heart of most of his issues. Even his hands are floppy - every three minutes he flings his pencil across the room because he just doesn't grip it hard enough. If I help him button his jeans, he just starts to leeeeeaan his body on me. I am going to start some bodyweight exercises with him to strengthen his core, and mine, but we don't qualify for any OT or PT, despite the physical therapist confirming my concerns.

Same; I have known of maybe one or two women in the 300lb range who lost in a healthy way. My mom netted zero with my youngest sister. She was overweight and craved baby carrots and ice water for that pregnancy. With my last pregnancy, I tried to control my weight gain but I completely failed at it. For the first trimester, all that appealed to me were refined carbs (bagels, pretzels, coffeecake).

We also pick out a few problems and then move on.

If the age limits aren't that firm and your only issue is that this particular kid is difficult to manage, then I would ask a parent to attend.

I did like that article. I give my kids freedom whenever I can and I know a lot of American parents who are pretty comfortable with that as well :) A bit off topic - I live in NY as well and we spent $700 on my son's broken foot- including the cast and several x-rays. Our insurance cancelled (due to job changes) on August 31st, kid broke his foot the 3rd of September, and was healed by the last week. New insurance kicked in October 1st, so of course it was all out of pocket, and it was still all under a grand. CRAZY that different doctors/hospitals can vary so much in the same general area!

We just had different experiences :) We both pushed out big babies, but we had different responses. I was high on life and bebopping around afterward. Couldn't have been happier. Definitely want to do it again! XD Some ultrasound techs are better than others, so that might be another thing to look into - if there's one whose predictions are famously spot on, then get her/him to give estimates toward the end. My friend has big babies and a good tech, and she actually chose a c-section for her 11lb 9oz baby, because she had genuine concerns about delivering a baby that big. (PS this was at 39 weeks!)

I actually would be willing to take my chances on the baby not being any bigger the next time, and would want to go into labor spontaneously. 43 weeks is my personal comfort level, since 90% of the women (I just made that number up, but it's a LOT) in my family went past 42 weeks, and I don't know of any family history of birth complications. It sounded like you were planning to choose induction, so I responded accordingly - assuming you have reason to believe the induction will work, I don't think it's a bad idea. My c/s was the result of a failed induction, though, as I did not respond to the Pitocin at all even though I was well past my due date. If my baby had to be evicted :p I would go the surgical route rather than put myself through another bad induction. As far as my feelings on big babies - I KNEW my little guys were going to be two weeks later and 10lbs. I actually won the office baby pool with date and weight LOL (and they had to do the pool twice because the first time no one wanted to be mean and pick a date that late in December.) Anyway, about my prep - the thing that I did to prepare for birthing a giant baby was pore over websites like spinning babies. When the time came, he was properly positioned and that definitely mattered. There's, uh, also another thing I did. I lied about my due date to my OBGYN practice and gave myself an extra week, so that their post dates policy would match up with my own personal postdates policy. Not something I recommend for everyone. I am generally not into bold face lies, but it seemed to be the lesser of two evils. I was hooked up with a doula who happened to be a RN/CNM and knew the truth, and kept an eye on me as well.

1. I've heard of the gels and prostaglandins and junk. That's a stage you go through *only* if the cervix is not ready? I don't recall there being any issue with that. Presumably by the time you're overdue that's no longer an issue? I think it's possible to go past your due date and and have your body still not be ready for labor, even if your baby is ready to be on the outside.There are lots of natural things you can do once you hit 37 weeks that are supposed to help. I wouldn't know. I drank raspberry leaf tea and used Evening Primrose oil faithfully, and had a 10lb 14oz baby at 42 weeks. 2. When they do pitocin (the normal thing, right?), they do that via IV? So then are you in a fixed location or can you move? I know things vary with the hospital. I'm trying to figure out what CAN happen to know if I'd be selecting a set-up that was as ideal as what I would want or could get. What is the most ideal set-up possible for a person who prefers natural birth but has found it time for some interventions? 3. Is pitocin the kind of thing where they get some in and then you go labor in water, or is water out? Or maybe they haul that IV thing over and you can labor in a birthing tub? I can't see any reason they couldn't do that for you, but I'm sure most hospitals don't permit it. I would search high and low for a hospital/doctor that will make an exception for you. I think pitocin is continuous, unless your labor just picks up on its own. I did labor at a hospital that had wireless waterproof telemetry, meaning I could be continuously monitored while moving around and laboring in the water (didn't happen that way for me, but they offered it). 4. If you use a CNM, does she continue to provide care when interventions are decided on, or does that immediately turn everything over to the OB? Does the CNM then work with the OB or totally leave the room? The CNM can do anything except surgery, although mine deferred to the doctor who was present. I am thinking that was because the doctor wanted interventions and the midwife was not as keen on it. 5. Are there things about a hospital or scenario that matter if you're doing vag that don't matter if you're being induced? For instance, if you can't labor in water when you're induced, then the availability of birthing tubs/pools would not be a selling factor, could have been in any old hospital and had the same experience. Are there things I'm not anticipating that ARE a factor in having a positive experience in a non-ideal situation? I think I would still want the "less medicalized" hospital (hopefully you know what I mean with that nonsensical statement) because you are dealing with synthetic hormones being pumped into your body - I'd want doctors and nurses who take that seriously, not people who hold you to a schedule "baby's not coming fast enough. MORE PIT" you know? 6. Anything else I should ask or understand? I think that, with Pitocin being associated with other interventions/greater likelihood of c-section, I'd want to find out more about what to expect if I did end up with a surgical birth. I had a VBAC, but I put in my birth plan that I would be attempting VBA2C with future children and to please keep that in mind as they were stitching me back together ;) Is hiring a doula an option for you? I think I would definitely want someone experienced by my side if I was aiming for an unmedicated induction.

I like how you add a little disclaimer for the raking but not the ax throwing. I'm sure the experiment will be a good lesson, even if it gets ugly. :/

New York 20th Congressional District Scott Murphy (D): 77,217 – 50% Jim Tedisco ®: 77,192 – 50% % Precincts Reporting: 100% Pretty close for an election where over 150,000 people voted.

OP, I hope your little one turns and you have a repeat of your first birth.

The problem with "all that matters is a healthy baby" is that it's patronizing. When I say I wish to attempt a VBAC, or vaginally birth a breech baby, or choose a c-section, or a homebirth, or go to a chiropractor, please feel free to assume that the baby's well being is part of the equation. I am the baby's mother after all. I probably even care more about the baby than you do, but thanks for reminding me that I shouldn't kill him/her with my selfish choices.

My first grader would have no problem with this, but he's accustomed to MM phrasing.

I've been prompting my 7yo to use his manners since he could speak. He knows what to say and do, but it doesn't come naturally for him and, even with modeling good manners, prompting and running through scenarios, giving lectures on why our family thinks manners are important, etc etc he completely forgets to say the right thing at the right time. I have gotten his attention a little bit - when he forgets to ask nicely, I'll have him say "Thank you, beautiful, wonderful, amazing Mom" and I think that's helped :p I also want to say that there isn't any ungrateful or entitled behavior - he just seems immune to "please" and "thank you." (Even though he knows that hearts are like doors...) However. The other day, I handed my 16 month old a banana and got "Tay-too!" then turned around and my 7yo was holding an empty cup "Mom. I need more milk." That was my aha moment... when the baby surpassed the oldest in good manners. Help?

We just keep practicing, but I agree that I feel like I am always stepping in and redirecting. But I have a kid on the spectrum, so I KNOW he isn't going to learn it intuitively :) The second one listed here - the Social Skills Picture Book - I own and it was not terribly useful to me since all of the scenarios take place in a classroom, FYI.

PICC LEAH (special needs branch of the NY Christian homeschooling organization) has this as part of their lending library. I've heard great things about it, but haven't looked into it myself.

It would be nice if there was a cap on fines; if you have 25 books it can get expensive very quickly. I forgot to mention that I get a weekly email from my library with a "dashboard report" so to speak, and it really does a good job prioritizing what is coming due etc.