I'd have your iron checked if I were you (even if your Hemoglobin and Hemocrit are okay, you need to be checking ferritin as this actually measures your iron stores). I don't absorb iron well and have to have iron infusions. My hemotologist told me that on average your body stores around 3000mg of iron and a pregnancy will use up around 1500mg of iron. With 2 back to back pregnancies your body probably didn't have enough time to rebuild it's iron stores. I have a 21 month old and an almost 4 week old and I still need daily naps just to get through the day (while trying to school the 3 older ones) so I understand your dilema. Stephanie

I stock up when I see sales (for example, I bought 40 jars of spaghetti sauce the last time it was on sale, or 20-30 pounds of ground chuck etc) so I don't really have to shop often for staples. Right now my garden is still producing well so we are okay there and I've started baking my own bread so the only fresh thing I need is milk. I've gotten in the habit of shopping when we are out somewhere else. Yesterday my oldest 3 kids (10, 8, 5, 21 months, and 4 weeks) had phy ed. Normally I would run to the store during the class with the littles, however, due to the arrangement of the seats, I can't easily reach 21 month's carseat to buckle and unbuckle her. So I just waited till class was over and ran in right after. We were in and out in about 20 minutes so it wasn't hard to navigate with the 5 of them. I'll be running somewhere else today and again it will probably only be a 20 mintue stop. I just make sure to coordinate a particluar store with when I will already be in the area so I don't waste extra gas but otherwise several short trips a week work well so the kids don't get overally rambuctious. Ocassionally on the weekends my hubby will run me to a store and sit in the van with the kids while I run and grab milk but I really try to avoid the stores on the weekends because they are so packed it takes twice as long to shop just trying to navigate around all the extra people in the store. Stephanie

In 20 years this will be my son writing this. He really dislikes them and I LOVE them and so does my hubby so we just ignore the fact the DS doesn't like them. I put them in whatever suits my fancy. I won't "admit" there is mushrooms in something unless he finds a great big piece on his plate. Stephanie

I don't own any coffee cups so I made it in a cereal bowl. I don't think that should have made a difference but the cake was a bit gummy for my taste. I think those microwavable individual bowls you can buy from the store are better. However, since I won't buy those due to the high cost, this is a passible alternative for those moments when you just gotta have chocolate but don't want to make an entire pan of something. I'm sure I will make it again when the chocolate cravings hit. Stephanie

I bought our first pair from them in May. They arrived within the two week timeframe and I thought all was well. 2 days after they arrived, my son (10 yr) was goofing around with baby sister (15 months at the time) and her head made contact with one of the lenses. the thing shattered. I have never seen eye glasses do that. daughter even got an inch long cut from the flying plastic. Made me really question the quality of them but then maybe that would have happened with locally made glasses as well. But since they only cost $18 with shipping and handling I decided to give them another shot. Second pair took about 2 1/2 weeks to arrive and he has had them ever since. Son and daughter still goof around alot so I don't know if it was a freak accident with just how they made contact or if the problem was with the glasses but since we've had no problem with the second pair I plan to use them again for him. We may also use them for my hubby who also has a pretty basic prescription. Mine we will buck it up and pay the exorbitant local prices because I have a high prescription and a strong astigmatism and as it currently stands I haven't been able to get a prescription done right on the first time in YEARS (and I've tried many different places) Plus the adjustments to get things centered right aren't worth it for me. I just can't imagine someone way over in China getting it right for me. But I think they are fine for basic prescriptions. Stephanie

I have had a Sam's club membership for almost 15 years now. I've always been reasonably happy shopping there (I just hate it when they discontinue my favorite items). But everyone on this board seems to rave about Costco. Well the second one in our state opened about 3 weeks ago not far from the Sam's club I normally shop at. I have to say I was completely UNDERwhelmed by what I found. Basically it was just like Sam's. Prices were within a few cents of each other but many of my regular things from Sam's, Costco didn't even carry a simliar product. Costco's food department was significantly larger than our Sam's (but our Sam's is one of the smaller ones anyway) but I don't buy alot of premade foods because we just can't afford all the "convenience" stuff. My Sam's club is a Business membership so I can get in up to 3 hours earlier than I could at Costco plus Costco's membership cost more. I've been there twice to look around (opening day and again later with my hubby). Also Costco only takes American Express (we use credit cards excluseively and pay them off each month, much easier for me to track my spending). I honestly can't find one reason why "I" would join Costco. But like I said it seems like everyone else thinks it is great. I'm just the minority who likes Sam's better. Stephanie

I found the dress shoes at Goodwill for $3.99. They actually had 3 different pairs to choose from. I got the tennis shoes at Kohl's. Not every size was available in a 7 but we easily found at least 6 different styles to choose from. Between the bake to school sales and the Extra 30% off with my Kohl's card, none of them would have been over $30. Stephanie

And yes I watched the first load and the second load and the third and I "checked" in on every load I did the first few days. I don't know why I found it so fascinating as it really isn't any different than the ones in the laundromat but somehow having it in my house made in exponentially more interesting. Even my kids enjoyed watching it. I've had them since April and now only the 20 month old thinks they are fun to watch. Stephanie

Since I seldom ever print anything in color we went with a Brother Laser all in one black/white printer. We've had the thing for almost 4 years and have purchased one cartridge (it comes with one with half the ink of a normal cartridge which took us about a year and half to use). Hubby was in college at the times so we were printing tons of papers for him too. (I proofed his papers but I can't do it on the computer because it gives me a headache so every version of every draft had to be printed so I could proof it). The printer was about $250 after rebates when we got it but has dropped to about $200 now. Our last all-in-one was a Lexmark which just sucked (it was an ink jet). I've been very happy with our Brother Laser printer.

I'm not sure what state you are in and I'm sure the laws vary, but where I live, to qualify for Medicaid you not only have to be below the monthly income limit you also have to have proof that you are not eligible for a group policy where the employer pays at least 80%. So if you husband's employer is paying at least 80% of the monthly premium (and of course the only way to know that is to flat out ask the company because we've never had a company come out and say outright what they were paying versus what we had to pay), then even if you dropped the group insurance, Medicaid would still refuse to cover you because you had the option for insurance but chose not to use it. Just one other factor to consider and look into before making a decision. It is scary to go without insurance. I do have a friend who choose to drop coverage, they have a major medical policy for if something big happens and then have an HSA that they fund to help with the minor stuff (allergies, sick kids, broken bones etc) Stephanie

I had checked this book out from the library (after a 2-3 month wait) but even before the 4 weeks were up, I had ordered the book from Amazon because I didn't want to be without the book once my copy had to go back to the library. Yeast and raising dough has always intimidated me so I never baked bread. But this method is so easy that I do it pretty regularly now. I actually don't even bother with the pizza peel bit. It was one more thing to store in my already crowded house. I just take a piece of parchment paper, sprinkle on cornmeal, shape the bread and drop it on the parchment paper. I then put the parchment paper on the hot stone (I have several pampered chef ones for years but never bothered with any of them until I started making bread). Occasionally, I will remove the parchment paper after 15 minutes or so (the bottom has baked enough that it cleanly slides off the paper) but mostly I just let it bake the whole time on the parchment paper. It get plenty crispy/chewy for us this way. My 1 year old actually has a hard time eating it, if I bake it off the parchment paper because she can't chew through it so the slightly softer texture works better for us plus it saved me from buying/storing another thing in the kitchen. Stephanie

I haven't done a homebirth since both of my "natural" births were after having 2 c-sections so I have them in the hospital. However, I didn't use drugs for either of them. I actually used the combs and I LOVED them. I actually have them sitting on my headboard right now awaiting the first contractions of the next one (I'm due in 4 days). I used the rice bags with one of my VBA2C's and I used the birthing ball with the other. At some point during labor I always start shaking uncontrollably and I find that to be incredibly distracting. With my first VBA2C my doula applied pressure on my legs at the lighs and slowly slid her hands down to my knees. In about 5 minutes the shaking stopped and I could totally focus again. I made hubby do that during my second VBA2C although he wasn't quite as effective as the doula. I also really like the quiet. With my first VBA2C, the doula told me when each contraction was about to start, wehn it was peaking, when it was tapering off etc. I found that quite obnoxious. I just couldn't handle the extra noise. With my second VBA2C, I counted during my contractions and so I knew I was peaking, close to the end but I didn't have to have the verbal sound. I also found myself envisioning where the baby was and mentally "talking" her down and out. I wasn't planning on that approach, it just happened and it helped me cope. I also delivered on hands and knees both times. Being in the hospital of course they tried to get me on my back but I wasn't budging. And with only 2 pushes to get the baby out, it wasn't like there was much time for them to do anything but play catch. I think it's hard to totally plan these things out, it's nice to have some ideas but then when you are actually in the moment you just go with whatever works even if it is totally unconvential. Stephanie

Not only am I not a morning person, I don't even like breakfast foods so my kids don't get much variety for breakfast either. Cold cereal, once every few weeks I'll make a gigantic batch of oatmeal they can reheat for several days. If I find a really good sale they can have granola bars. Otherwise I try to bake up muffins ahead or have pancakes/waffles in the freezer but most mornings that is even more effort than I care to make. I'd much rather have leftovers from supper for breakfast than anything remotely called breakfast food. But I don't let the kids have the leftovers for breakfast because then what would I feed them for lunch? Stephanie

Well I only live a little over an hour away from them but since they don't have a store I still have to have mine shipped. I always check to see if anything is on back order. If i need things right away, I will break my order up into several smaller ones and put the back ordered items on the order with the stuff I don't need quite as fast. (It helps that I have to order so much stuff I can easily get free shipping multiple times over). I've never had any problems getting my order quickly even with regular shipping. In July I put in an order Monday night and I had it Thursday Morning but again since I live so close my shipping time is short to. I do know when I've ordered from places say on the West coast, it might take a week or two just in shipping time to get to me. Stephanie

I'm not sure I can offer much advice but my DS is also 10. He is a very serious kid, by the rules, black/white kind of kid. Honestly he's not a lot of fun to be around. He wants to be a little dictator and then blows his top when the younger siblings won't play or do something just the way "his rules" say they should (my rules are irrelevant most of the time). Of course this behavior has rubbed off on the younger ones and they think this is an acceptable way to deal with conflict. I know many people are opposed to using food as a reward/punishment tool but it is the ONLY thing that has conistently worked with my kids. Morning chores have to be done by a certain time or no breakfast. Homework has to be done by lunch or no lunch. And Yes I have made each of my kids miss a few meals. But it did make a difference and I do get a bit better cooperation. The one other thing that did give us some improvement with DS behavior was giving him MORE schoolwork. He is a very bright kid (and it took me a very long time to understand just how advanced he really is) and so when he got bored he would "create" things that invariably caused trouble for everyone. When I accelerated his grade level several years ahead, we had less of the troublesome behavior because I was keeping his mind better occupied on positive things rather than the things he just thought up. I don't know if that will be any use to you but those where areas I had never really considered but when I tried them, they did bring some peace back into our home. We still have the daily "who's in charge" battle but it is so much better than a couple of years ago. I have hope that some day we will get past this. Stephanie

My son was little over 7 1/2 before he lost his first tooth. But he was over a year before he got any baby teeth. My dentist said that the later they get their baby teeth, the later it will be before they fall out. Both are a very GOOD thing in his opinion, because then the adult teeth will not be exposed as long. Stephanie

My first question would be who made the new recommendation. Is it just the doctors's or hospital's recommendation? Personally neither of those would hold any weight in my opinion since you know they are only motivated on the fear of a lawsuit. I have heard that the Official doctors association (don't remember what it's actual name is) has changed anything recently but then again I haven't actively researched it in a few years. After my first successful VBA2C, I wasn't going to be talked into anything else. But then I'm STUBBORN, my mom has complained about that my whole life. My doctors haven't always agreed with my decisions, but I was able to explain my reasoning in a manner that they could accept why I made the choices I did. My husband and I do not believe in birth control of any kind. Since I had 4 kids in the first 8 years of our marriage and based on my age, I easily had another 10+ years of fertitity left, it was possible that I could be looking at another 5-6 kids in my future. Because the more c-sections you have, the greater risks for future pregnancies (uterine rupture as well as the placenta attaching to scar tissue), I felt that my risks to future pregnancies by having a 3rd c-section was greater than my current risk of uterine rupture my having a VBA2C. Due to life circumstances, I wasn't going to have any help at home. A c-section would have prevented me from caring for my other children (lifting restrictions) plus I had no one to drive us to those early doctor's appointments. My doctor "quoted" me some very scary statistics. She almost changed my mind. However, I felt so aweful at the thougth of another c-section. I talked to two doctors and two OB nurseshurch about about it. All just cited medical research at me. But I just couldn't leave it at that. After much prayer I went with my heart. I had the VBA2C, it went great, I simply had to trust God. I know I would have forever regretted it if I went with a scheduled c-section. For my own peace of mind, I needed to at least try labor, if things weren't going well, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second to do a c-section, but I couldn't just go straight there without even trying. The hospital cannot force you to have a medical procedure (c-section) against your will however they did make me sign a very scary sounding waiver of liability type of form. THat was fine with me. Only you can make this decision but don't let them bully you into doing something if it feels wrong to you. Stephanie

We were just there 2 weeks ago and stayed at the Quality Inn on 76 (downtown). The breakfast was very good. Scrambled Eggs (with or without ham and cheese), pancakes, biscuits and sausage gravy, donuts, bagels, toasts, oatmeal, cereal, juice and coffee. I don't know what the regular rates were but with my AAA discount it was about $64 a night for two adults (plus taxes) which I thought was reasonable. Stephanie

My friend and I shared a room. We took along a crockpot so we could have hot meals too. Before we left we had made bags of chili, sloppy joes, hot dogs and cooked brats, taco meat and froze the stuff. That way it could slowly thaw all week. Every morning or lunch depending on when we were in the room, we would throw something in the crock and let it simmer till supper. We just picked up some buns locally in town so we didn't have to bring that along.

Unfortunately the medical community is so paranoid about lawsuits, that they have totally lost touch with what is best for the patients and only worry about what is best for them. My first 2 were c-sections as well. When #3 came along Vbac's were still acceptable but not encouraged. I had to consent to all kinds of monitoring, IV line etc "just in case" to get the doctor to let me try a VBA2C. Well #3 arrived with a bang, they didn't have time to do the monitoring, (she was born about 5 minutes after arriving in my room), I certainly didn't have an IV because we hadn't even gotten around to filling out the paperwork yet, I never pushed ( there was no doctor since I was actually admitted yet) but she arrived anyways. Since #3 was so easy I didn't anticipate any problems with having another VBA2C with #4. However, policies had changed between #3 and #4 and the doctor(different than last time) tried pretty much every scare tactic in the book to convince me I NEEDED a c-section. Since we knew we were having more kids I wouldn't budge. She actually came around when I explained all my reasons (having 4 small kids, limited help at home, and I felt risk to future pregnancies with having a 3rd c-section now was greater than risking a VBAC was to current pregnancy etc). 2 pushes and baby #4 was out. Baby #5 is due in 3 weeks so I can totally feel your friends pain. I started this pregnancy with same Doctor as #4. She told me up front she still thinks a c-section is a better option for me but since she knows I know the risks, she will let me try again. I had to switch mid-pregnancy due to insurance and am now seeing doctor I had with #3. SHe too felt the need to tell me she thought a c-section was a better option. But after my arguments will let me VBAC. Although she did warn me to expect some resisitance when I actually arrive at the hospital. It really sucks that hospitals can dictate what a person can and can not do. ALthough I've always wondered, if I show up in full blown labor and refuse to sign the consent form for a c-section what are they going to do? They can't really refuse to treat you. Stephanie

Yes you got it correct. The orange juice and sugar keep them from turning brown. Once you completely thaw them, if any are sticking out of the juice those parts will turn brown but anything in the juice stays perfect. You can scoop more juice into the bag if you are bothered by the brown look but mine never get completely thawed so it's a nonissue for me. I either eat them partially frozen or I cook them into pie/cobbler. Plus when I use them for cooking I prefer not to have a ton of juice in there but that's a preference more than a requirement. You could certainly freeze them in some other container if you prefer but I like the ziplocks because they save space. Do make sure you have sealed them completely and wipe the outside of the bag to get any extra juice because otherwise the juice can leave a sticky mess in your freezer. Stephanie

I don't know of any way to take care of peaches without taking off the skins but as someone already posted the blanching makes the process go quite quickly. I can do a bushel (which is about 45 pounds) in about an hour. To freeze them we do a mixture of 6 oz of frozen orantnge juice concentrate (reconsitituted with correct amou of water) and 4 cups of sugar. I know it sounds like a lot of sugar but it is easily enough for a bushel of peaches. Then just start slicing your peeled peaches into it. Sitr it up every so often. When your bowl is full, scoop some peaches into a quart ziplock bag (with whatever juice happens to catch on the spoon but I don't try to actually put any in the bag) and then freeeze flat. I like to eat them partiatlly frozen and they taste just like fresh sliced peaches in the summer. I don't know much about plums. I know my mom has canned the blue Stanley type plums but if it is some other variety I'm not sure what to do with them. Stephanie

Well you were nicer than I would have been. If the person didn't arrive in a car, then I know it wasn't someone I invited(since none of my friends or families live close enough to walk), so the rule is no car, no open door. Plus we have a huge window in the living room where we sit and almost always see who is coming long before they get to our door. I've left people outside my door with the all 4 of my kids standing at the window (visible from the front door) with the windows wide open and still not answered the door. I have better things to do with my time than talk to salespeople about products/services I don't want in the first place. Eventually they do all go away even though it is obvious we are home. Stephanie

I don't do alot of advance meal planning mostly because I usually have a specific taste for something and thus my meals are based on my mood of the day. While the rest of family would probably eat whatever, (they don't usually get a choice), I would be most unhappy eating spaghetti because that's what my meal plan called for but I have a craving for tacos. So our suppers are dictated by my taste buds and my time (I'm 37 weeks pregnant so that also plays a huge factor in the what's for supper game). But overall, I simply keep my freezer and cupboards well stocked. I have more than enough food that I "could" easily create a meal plan for a couple of weeks without going to the store for anything but perishables. For example, I have 20-30 pounds of cooked ground hamburger frozen in one pound bags, another 10 pounds of uncooked ground hamburger. 4-6 bags of cooked chicken (1 pound packages). 3 5 pound bags of uncooked chicken breasts/tenderloins. 1 small uncooked turkey, 3-4 whole uncooked chickens, 1 ham, 4-6 chuck roasts, 4-5 bags of pork chops (some marinated in sauce and some plain), a couple of bags of shrimp, a bag of breaded chicken tenders and probably a couple of meals of other kinds of meat if I dug through the freezer. My selection of frozen vegetables is equally stocked. I also have about a dozen pans of already made meals that can simply go in the oven if I'm too tired/busy to cook a meal that day. There is also things like frozen stuffed pasta, piorgies, garlic bread, frozen pizzas when I need to pull things together quickly. I use Artisian Bread in 5 minutes a day to keep fresh bread dough in the fridge that can me made any day it seems to go with the meal. I shop the sales and stock up heavily and then plan meals from what I have on hand. Very rarely do I I actually need to go to the grocery store to get an ingredient for what I want to make because I keep such a large variety on hand. So I do great with the sales thing but as I stated before I'm not much into meal planning. Stephanie

Well this is my 5th and it's the first time I HAVEN'T gone completely stir crazy. My summer is so overloaded that I haven't even thought about planning for baby yet (I'm hoping to have time the week or so before baby is due so if she's comes early we are in trouble). But right now I have 5 1/2 weeks to go and I'm trying very hard not to be overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to do before baby - like lesson plans for 3 kids for a start. But with the other 4, I did lots of puzzles, read lots of mindless books from the library (I didn't have the attention span for anything useful). With my first VBA2C I pretty much read, and re-read every piece of information I could find on the internet. Packed the hospital bag and of course washed every baby item in the house (and I HATE doing laundry but it was something to fill the time). If you have the energy you could cook freezer meals (but personally I find I need them now (35-40 weeks) and after baby is here, I have no trouble managing the house. Spend hours and hours of surfing mindless on the Internet (of course I do that even when I'm not pregnant). Yes the hours are long especially since you don't know exactly what you are counting down to. Telling women that baby can come anywhere from 38-42 weeks is just cruel (I know it's true but it's so hard at this stage to just wait). Good luck Stephanie