I know different things have worked for me in different labors. I tend to get a lot of pelvic pressure, and staying upright is not so much fun for me. With my first, I spent a while on a birth ball and a while lying on my side (plus some time walking around, some time rocking, and some time in the tub), with DH providing counterpressure on my back (baby was posterior). The counterpressure made the biggest difference. Delivery was side-lying, and that was a piece of cake. I think I did pretty much the same with my second, but he, while anterior, was really far forward on my pubic bone, and it hurt a lot until he finally got under it (and then he was born quickly). Lying down couldn't get him under the bone, and being upright or on my hands and knees was too much pelvic pressure for me. Shower wasn't really helpful. Semi-reclining in my rocking chair turned out to be the magic bullet that time. Delivery was side-lying again. With my third, I was determined to try to stay upright as long as possible, so I wandered around and went up and down the stairs a couple of times. I also spent a while lying on my side and dozing. Rocking wasn't very helpful, but the shower was semi-helpful for a little while. By the end, I was walking back and forth and then having DH pressing on my back. I hadn't intended to birth on my back, but I lay down on the bed for a second and then he was born so fast that I couldn't move. I have really liked having a variety of options at hand, because I never know what's going to help. I am really hoping to try a waterbirth, or at least more water laboring, this time though. If it's not too hot, I'm also contemplating taking a walk in the middle of labor -- I'm thinking maybe the scenery will distract me from the pelvic pressure, and maybe being upright will bring the baby down and make labor a little faster. :)

I'm pretty equal opportunity when it comes to dessert, so I'd try any of them. The amaretto-nectarine combo sounds intriguing, and I'd definitely try it if it was the one offered, but if I had a choice of all three, I'd probably go for one of the other two first, most likely the blueberry one.

Baby names are so hard! Well, DD and DS1 were easy. It took us five days to name DS2, and the name we chose wasn't even on any of our original lists, but we love it, and it fits him so well. We ended up choosing names for our first two boys that were Biblical (intentional) and also names of US Presidents (not intentional), so now I kind of feel like we need to continue that. The possibilities are few though -- we've used two, my brother has one, and we're not big fans of some of the others. Zachary Paul (Paul being DH's middle name) is a big contender though. I also love Daniel, with Steven (my dad's name) as the middle name. However, most everyone here is hoping for a pink baby to round out the bunch, so we shall see. The girl's name is even harder. We had no problem choosing DD's name, and then we never agreed on a girl's name for either of the boys. We also inadvertently gave DD the name of a First Lady, so now I really feel the pressure to continue that trend! I love Abigail, but I'm not sure DH does. (And it's Biblical, whereas DD's name isn't, so that might make her feel left out.) My other top choice is Katherine, and that's what I keep picturing the baby as, so who knows? If this one is a girl, I really want her to have my middle name, Joy, for her middle name. I also love Elizabeth and Caroline and am flip-floppy about Alice. I think Alice Joy is very sweet, but I don't know if I love it enough to use it every day. (And we already have one A name in the crew, so do I want to use another one? IDK.)

We have always intended to homeschool, so I have considered myself a homeschooler from the day my oldest was born, or even earlier, but I guess technically, I've been a homeschooler since DD was 3 and didn't go to preschool.

I'd vote for waitressing. My sister started as a waitress in high school and worked her way up, so that she was offered a shift manager position when she was in college, and now she is an assistant manager (she's in her early 20's). It might not be her dream job for life, but she makes fairly good money.

I think those numbers are a little high, but they also don't sound too ridiculous for a meal that was unusually high in carbs, compared to what you normally eat. I declined the glucose testing with baby #3 (after having passed the three-hour test with the first two babies), but this time I wanted a bit more information about what was normal *for me,* since my parents are both diabetics, and therefore my risk factors are higher. So I have used a glucometer to test my blood sugars after normal meals sometimes. My midwife's guideline was that after 1 hour, they should be under 140, and after 2 hours, 120. So yes, 132 after 2 hours sounds a bit high, but I think that would only be a problem if you ate that way all the time. If your MWs aren't concerned, I would not be either. (Also, it might depend on when in the day you ate the big meal -- my body handles a heavy carb load much better in the afternoon/evening than it does in the morning, for instance. A sandwich or pasta for lunch/dinner are much less of an issue for me than cereal for breakfast.) Oh, and yes, 100 is what my MW said for fasting.

Sometimes one is "many," depending on the day and the one. :) Seriously, though, I'm the oldest of four, and while I don't really think four is weird or even really a lot, I do think it is the dividing line. I think of "many" as being more than average, and these days, I know lots of families with two or three, but not that many with four or more. So I think of four as "many" but not unusual. (But I've known enough families with five or six children that I don't really think five or six is unusual either.) Three is more hands than I have, but with a sling for the baby, I had a hand for each big kid still. Four means I won't have that. :) And four did mean the jump to a larger vehicle for us.

I don't necessarily like to have to take all of them if only one needs the appointment, but I also really don't have a choice (no sitters, can't afford a sitter even if we had one nearby, no family nearby, DH works long hours and far away), so they all come everywhere with me. For an emergency or a really major sort of appointment (I mean like specialist sort of thing), DH would take off work, or I'd try to work something out with one of the other co-op moms, but for regular appointments, those aren't feasible options. The dentist is actually really easy, since they put all three in chairs next to each other, each with his/her own hygienist, so it's very simple (and fast). But with 5 under 5, that would be harder. I'm sorry they are making it so hard for you! Can you bring one of your older children along to help with the little ones?

It varies here. We live in the middle of nowhere (10 miles from any grocery store), so it all depends on where else we need to go and when. I'm constantly orchestrating multiple stops so that we're not trying to go somewhere every single day. If nothing else works out, I'll go on a weekend and give one kid some extra attention by letting him/her be the one who comes with me.

I actually adore my MIL. She's a great person, kind, generous, funny, a wonderful mom and grandmother. Really couldn't ask for better. Neither of us are perfect, but we do genuinely like each other. (And we share collective eyerolls at times wrt the boy we both love, LOL.)

I would probably go ahead and get it done. I would also suggest looking for a board certified lactation consultant (check out ilca.org to find one near you).

I may be in the minority here, but I would not have a problem with a 9yo at a birth. In fact, my own 9yo is not only hoping to be at our baby's birth in a few weeks, but she wants to help catch the baby. (I don't think I'm going to go for that.) DD watched her brothers' births at 3 and 6 1/2, and DS1 was at DS2's birth when he was 3; they've never seemed freaked out or worried, and it's been just fine. We've watched birth videos and talked about me making noise (I don't tend to say anything nasty or rude, though; I just make noise), the blood being good blood, etc. As long as DH, the midwife, and I are acting like everything's normal, the kids have seemed to take their cues from us, so they've not been worried. They've really been thrilled to see their new sibling enter the world too, and it's not detracted from the intimacy of the moment between DH and me either. I am generally an extremely private person, but somehow the kids being at the birth (and DH watching from "down there," rather than from my head) hasn't bothered me. But ymmv, and if you'd prefer the privacy, there's nothing wrong with that either.

I consider that to be a "hank." When I first started knitting, I didn't realize it was supposed to be wound into a ball, and I thought there was something wrong with me because it kept tangling. :) I've tried winding yarn with the drill+knitting needle method, and that works but is not nearly as nice as with a ball winder. I do consider a winder to be fairly essential to pleasant knitting, not so much a swift.

I've had both the winder from KnitPicks and the one from JoAnn's. Both are manual, and both have worked beautifully. The one from KnitPicks can be hand-held, or mounted on a table, but I think the one from JoAnn's actually can hold a bigger ball, even though it can only be table-mounted. I really don't have a preference. You can get a coupon and get the JoAnn's one very inexpensively. Both are easy for my 9yo to use. A swift would be nice, but it's not essential. I buy a lot of yarn from KnitPicks, and it comes in balls or skeins already, so I don't need a swift to wind it into a center-pull ball. When I do buy hanks, they're usually from my local store, and they will let me use their swift for free. If I have hanks that need to be wound at home, I pay DD a quarter or two, and she holds them for me. So far I've not paid her nearly enough to warrant buying a swift myself. (And sometimes we trade; I hold her yarn while she winds, and she holds mine.)

This is my 6yo boy. Very shy, very slow to warm up to new people/situations, very cuddly, very much a mama's boy. (Also sweet and sensitive and delightful and fairly non-challenging to parent.) He really needed extra time to be the baby and to be allowed to spread his wings at his own pace. He was not comfortable going to co-op class with other boys his age last year, because it meant leaving me and his little brother, even though we were right across the hall. However, he decided that when he was six, he'd go, and sure enough, right after his birthday, he decided he was ready, and he had a great time. But I think if I'd forced him to go, that would have been disastrous. My daughter's been doing dance class for years, where I just wait in the waiting room, and my son is fairly athletic, so I think he would benefit from some sort of team sport as well. I've broached the possibility of soccer to him a few times in the past, and he's immediately vetoed it. Now he is considering it for the fall, since DH or I could be on the sidelines during practice where he could see us. But letting him take his time to decide about things is good for him, I think.

Oh, I totally agree with you there. I think most foods *can* be part of a nutritious diet, but I can't think of any that are absolutely essential (unless water in general counts). Even if you don't subscribe to a traditional foods mentality, the stuff that Nourishing Traditions talks about with regards to Weston Price's research on traditional societies is pretty interesting. He mentions all sorts of isolated societies who had very limited diets -- some ate mostly vegetables, some ate mostly animal fats, etc. And many of them were very, very healthy. So I definitely think it's not so much the variety of what you eat, but the quality of what you're eating that makes the health difference or not.

I'm due with baby #4 (gender is a surprise) in 5-6 weeks. And while I have clothes, carseat, and baby carriers ready, I have so much more I want to do around the house before the baby gets here. :)

I'm with you -- I think it's been pushed as a healthy food more than is necessary. I think it *can* be part of a healthy diet, but I don't think drinking milk is the end all, be all of good health, and I think you can be perfectly healthy without drinking milk. DD and I hated milk as a beverage before we switched to raw milk. But raw milk is so completely different, not even the same thing at all. It tastes *good* and is easier to digest too.

I am so sorry. Praying for your family, FloridaLisa.

In addition to what everyone else has said about dishes, toys, water pipes, paint, etc., if they have an older car, they might want to have the keys tested. We had an issue a long time ago with a slightly elevated lead level (thankfully never as high as you mention your nephew going -- *that* is scary high!), and the county sent someone out to evaluate the house, water, soil, etc. They couldn't find anything that had lead in it, except for my set of car keys. I'd occasionally let DD play with them, and she was prone to putting things in her mouth. We are pretty sure that's what the issue was, because when I started making sure she never played with them, her levels dropped quickly. Does anyone in the home shoot guns? There can be lead associated with that too. Or, even if their home has been properly remediated for lead, if anyone works near old houses, they can be bringing lead home. My DH works for a company that renovates old homes, and if he's been in any of them, he showers immediately when he comes home, keeps his shoes outside, etc. Especially when we have a crawling baby in the house. There are special soaps made for removing lead from skin. Also, if they've been exposed to lead, they should wash their hands in *cold* water, not warm; warm water opens up the pores and lets more lead absorb into the body faster. Calcium and, IIRC, vitamin C are good for helping lead leach out of the body, but it sounds like your nephew needed a more heavy-duty treatment. Mom needs to get her lead levels tested too, since she's nursing, so she's not passing that along to the baby too.

Hahahahahahaha -- DH wearing a tie to work! Nope, he does not wear a tie. I don't think he ever has worn a tie to work. For a long time, he worked in the field, so he wore t-shirts and jeans and got dirty and dusty. Now he works in the office, but it's a small office and casual, so he still wears jeans and t-shirts but doesn't generally get dirty and dusty. If he is meeting clients, he'll wear a button-down shirt, but not a super dressy one. I can't think of any work occasions where he's needed a tie, though. (Construction field just isn't very formal, and clients always love him, so he must be doing something right.) Even for job interviews, nice-casual has always worked for him. The last time he wore a tie in the past several years was for our homeschool co-op's spring formal a few weeks ago -- and that was probably only because the dress code specified ties.

I assigned my children their grade levels based on what grade they'd be in if they were in public school. It has nothing to do with what level of work they do, because I decide that based on what I think they need, but since I had to pick something for my older child (per the state's requirements), it just seemed easiest to go with the public school levels. It also gives them something to say if people ask about school; they were able to say, "I'm in third grade/kindergarten," and leave it at that if they don't want to discuss being homeschooled. Whether they'll graduate early or not does not apply right now. If I feel that they are ready to graduate early, great. If that means skipping a grade number somewhere along the line, that is okay too.

For me, it really depends on where we are and the bathrooms. DD (9) can go in the ladies' room by herself, but when she was little, and DH took her out, he'd cover her eyes if there was anyone in there. DS1 (age 6) still comes with me into the ladies' room; if he really felt strongly about using the men's room, I'd consider it, depending on the location, but he would rather not be by himself anyway.

I never lie my babies down in slings; I keep vertical -- tummy to tummy with me when they're tiny, and then gradually moving more toward the side, until eventually, they're sitting on my hip. I'm right-handed, but I am weird and prefer the sling to be on my left shoulder, meaning the baby ends up more on my right hip, and I have my right hand most free to put around the baby or to do stuff around the house. I realize that many right-handed people prefer to have the sling on their right shoulder. So if you're right-handed but can't have any pressure on that arm, it's still very possible that you can use your left shoulder for the sling and keep your right arm free. Jan's Sleeping Baby slings are really nice and very affordable. I have one of them and have been very pleased with it. Making your own sling is also very easy and inexpensive. I would recommend the rings from slingrings.com. If you buy them in a local store, you want completely solid rings, nothing that can open at all. When I made my first sling (9 years ago and still in use!), I got solid rings at TSC, and they're crazy strong (but the slingrings.com ones are thinner, although still strong). Jan uses a pleated shoulder, which is really nice and comfortable, but I also like a basic gathered shoulder, and the hot dog style shoulders are nice too. Feel free to bump your thread at TBW, looking for people near you. The board moves fast, and a lot of people don't get to check in every day. You might also ask questions in the "choosing and using" subforum for ring slings. I really like a ring sling for a newborn and then for short times with an older baby/toddler, as well as for nursing in public. Around the house for long-term use, though, I do tend to prefer wraps, as they distribute the weight better for me. You can make your own wrap for not a lot of money (really, an old sheet will work!), and while it does take some practice to learn to tie them, they are really comfortable. If you ask for help on the wrap board at TBW, they might even be able to help you find a wrap carry that uses your left shoulder, back, and hips, but not your right shoulder/arm. My concern about ring slings is that as the baby gets older, I do find that they put too much pressure/weight on my one shoulder, and the wrap helps spread that to my hips more. Another option might be a soft structured carrier, such as the Ergo. Most of the weight is on your hips, so you might be able to keep pressure off of your right arm. Ergos can work for infants and can be back or front; they're a bit easier to learn to use than a wrap, and I find that they work really well for toddlers.

If you can hold the baby in your arms, chances are high that there is a carrier of some type that would work for your back. Is there a local babywearing group near you? You might ask for some help at thebabywearer.com, but a wrap or mei tai would probably be a good option for you. I'm a baby-holder too. They're just too sweet to put down! When I give them to DH to hold so I can shower or something, I miss them. Our house doesn't have the usual baby gear all over the place; last time, I just had the carseat for when I needed to shower, but even still, half the time, my then 6yo would hold/wear the baby (I helped her get him tucked in the mei tai properly first). This time, the big kids are telling me that I'll only get to hold the baby when I'm feeding him/her, LOL. ;) I do use my slings, wraps, and mei tai a ton though, because after the first several weeks, I do need my hands at least slightly more free for the housework. (As for nursing in a carrier, I *can* but generally prefer not to at home; most of the time, the baby will need to be taken potty/changed anyway, so I just pop him/her out of the carrier, feed/change/potty, and back in the carrier. Doesn't take long.)