I'm so very sorry for the pain and ache you feel. Thank you for sharing the details of your mom's life with us. She sounds like a lovely woman, and I know you are all blessed to have had her with you for the time she was here. {{{HUGS}}} and peace to you in the coming days and months.

THIS. A thousand times this! The parents are adults, but this child is a real person whose future is being mapped by this foolishness. And go-go juice. It's unconscionable.

This sounds very familiar! We met in late September, were engaged in November and married the following June. So, two months of dating and seven months engaged. I was only 18 when we married and so many people assumed we "had" to get married. In actuality, our first baby was born 12 days before our 10th anniversary. And we just celebrated our 20th anniversary (also with a new baby!). :D

This. Exactly. I have no words about the loser dad. It is beyond comprehension.

Getting milk from a bottle is easier for baby than from the breast. So if you are supplementing with a bottle, then your baby is probably getting frustrated that it doesn't come out as quickly and easily at the breast and is giving up. I would continue to pump and supplement, but use a syringe instead of the bottle. Also pump a minute or two before you start nursing, so that letdown has occurred already and it's easier for your baby to get milk at the breast as soon as they try. A good LC can help you figure out if you have overactive letdown or if the latch is off or baby is tongue tied or any of the other many things that can make establishing breastfeeding difficult in the beginning. I just had my fifth baby 6 weeks ago and I've had issues getting started breastfeeding with each one and have gone on to breastfeed them all around 2 years. I know how hard it is in the beginning, but hang in there!

Not to that extent, but I had a similar weird situation happen when I was a kid. My mom took my youngest sister, who was feverish and sick and had an odd rash, to the doctor and she was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. They made my mom come to the school and pull me and my siblings out of class and bring us all in to the doctor's office to be tested as well. We felt perfectly fine, but we all tested positive for strep and were immediately put on antibiotics. We had to stay home "sick" for several days, which were the funnest sick days off from school because we didn't feel sick at all. In contrast, I had pneumonia a few months ago and I felt like I was going to die. So, your daughter's version of pneumonia is definitely the way to go! Hope she's all well soon.

I bought one of the Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpeners that folks were raving about here. So far, I am not impressed. :confused: It works well enough for regular pencils, although I wish it didn't make them quite SO sharp. My boys don't like their pencils that sharp, so they tend to try to break off the tip a little before starting and then sometimes it gets broken completely so we have to resharpen. This I could deal with. But, the worst part is sharpening colored pencils. More than half the time during sharpening, the tip will break off in the blades and the pencil will not be sharpened at all. Then I have to take the entire sharpener apart and dislodge the jammed lead and put it all back together again. And even when it does sharpen a colored pencil, it often eats up half the pencil in the process. What am I doing wrong? I know these can't be so highly regarded with this kind of result.

Sugar Land, TX. As a suburb of Houston, it is very culturally diverse, in an integrated way. When we lived there, our neighborhood was made up of folks from many, many different racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is a relatively affluent area, with lots of well educated folks and excellent homeschooling resources. It is also in one of the more socially conservative counties in Texas. I loved it there. We now live in the suburbs of Fort Worth, and I think in many ways it would also meet your requirements. Some areas of town are more culturally diverse than others, but some ethnic groups do tend to live in clusters, so it is not as integrated as it was near Houston. But the summers are a little less intense than in Houston, so that's a bonus.

This is pretty much us as well. Except we do occasionally have raised voice "discussions." We're both first children and both stubborn and both tend to think we know how things should go. We've had some rough patches over the years, and a few cataclysmic ones that would have ended many marriages, but overall being forged in iron has made us strong and we just celebrated 20 years. With a new baby no less. Fortunately the good times are really, really good and make the hard work worthwhile.

Nourishing Traditions has been on my list for a couple of years now. I keep intending to buy it, but then there is something that I need to buy more and it gets put off again. I am hoping to get it for my birthday next month, but if not, I think I'll just go ahead and treat myself. I have copies of several pages from friend's books, but it's time I have my own!

58. Which is 20 years from now!

Amazon doesn't have control over the third party sellers and how quickly they ship. Generally, they are expected to ship within two business days of receiving the order, and then it is usually parcel post or ground, not two day shipping, unless the seller offers it and you pay more. You can check the buyer feedback for this particular seller and may be able to get a feel for whether they ship quickly or tend to push the boundaries. So Amazon's expected shipping date truly is an estimate. I have paid for expedited shipping a time or two with the third party sellers, and in those cases I did receive the items in the promised time frame. All of this is true whether you are an Amazon Prime customer or not. Third party sellers are not covered by Prime. But, sometimes the same item is available for a few dollars more directly from Amazon, and then you could get the Prime shipping. I've done this a few times (pay more to buy directly from Amazon) when it was available, for items I needed quickly.

I just had my fifth baby a month ago. I definitely looked bigger sooner with this pregnancy as well. Do your abdominal muscles split during pregnancy? Mine do, and I think that is what makes me look so big, everything just flops on through. :lol: With the pelvic bone and other pregnancy pains, I found the most relief with regular chiropractic care. Prenatal yoga also helped me to be as limber and flexible as possible. But, I am 39 next month, so some of it I think is just par for being an AMA mother. ;) Sleeping on my side with a body pillow between my legs and another one supporting my back seemed to help as well. Good luck! I know it's not easy, but the sweet little one is worth it all!

I have a friend who had 5 successful VBACs after a c-section with her first baby. And another friend is currently pregnant with her 11th child and her second baby was a c-section and all the babies since have been VBACs. You can totally do this! It's normal to be nervous about labor on subsequent pregnancies, VBAC or not. My theory is that we *know* what we're in for more than as a first time mom. I always get to about 36 or 37 weeks and stare at my belly thinking "This baby has to come out! It's really going to happen! I have to do this!" :lol: Then I try not to dwell on the details too much. Best of luck with your new baby!!

Do you also acknowledge that hospital births are risky? That women and babies die every day from procedures and practices that are only done in hospitals or from infections caught in the hospital? All births have the potential to be risky. I choose hospital births because I feel like they are better equipped to handle the 'just in case'. I'm glad you have that choice. I think all of us should weigh the risks inherent in our decisions. For me, the risks of having my long labors medically managed in a hospital outweigh the risks of delivering elsewhere. At least two of me out-of-hospital deliveries WOULD HAVE resulted in a c-section had I been in a hospital, due to common hospital regulations and practices. No question about it. However, I was able to deliver safely and vaginally in a birth center or at home instead. To me, what would have amounted to an unnecessary c-section, is far too risky. Not to forget, the maternal and neonatal mortality rates in the US are abysmal compared to other first world countries, which also does not give me the hospital warm fuzzies. So, if a woman who chooses to have a medically unnecessary repeat c-section and her baby dies from the procedure or as a result of the procedure, would you advocate that she be charged with murder as well? I would certainly hope not! Well, in my defense, the case I am referring to was a woman who would not have a c-section because she didn't want a scar. It was a case of pure vanity and honestly - that's dumb. I don't think the two things are the same at all. I agree, that's pretty crazy. But I've heard of lots of women who decide not to deliver vaginally because they are afraid it's going to permanently stretch out their vajajay and ruin their sex life. Despite the fact that women DIE from c-sections, or have other life-altering consequences, including some of those elective ones. A friend of mine is permanently disabled from an epidural accident. So again, when a baby dies in this situation, would you really advocate that the mom be charged with murder? I find that repellent, both for the c-section mom and the one who refused it. I know you describe your pregnancies as picture perfect, but just from your description of your first pregnancy, (interjecting here, my pregnancies WERE easy as pie. I didn't have any medical interventions during pregnancy. I hated being pregnant, yes. But I only had one u/s, never had high bp, anything like that. So when I say picture perfect pregnancy, that is what I am referring to.) Gotcha. However, pregnancies end in delivery, and for me, a 43 hour labor that stalls and ends in c-section due to medical mismanagement would not qualify as picture perfect. On the other hand, I'm sure your baby WAS picture perfect and am glad things ended up well for you in the end. I can find many ways in which it was managed medically and according to hospital policies and not in your or your baby's best interest. For one, there is no possible way that sitting around at the hospital the first day, (uh, and what was I going to do at home? Sit around and be bored? I would have been doing the exact same thing, the tiny little contractions I was having I could NOT EVEN FEEL. And no, I wouldn't WANT to be at home with a midwife. I already explained my stance on that - I think it's just icky FOR ME to picture giving birth at home. And FTR, when you are in the hospital in labor and haven't been given much yet, you don't just 'sit around' any more than you would at home. Don't talk about something you know nothing about.) My first baby was born in a hospital, with pitocin and an epidural. So, I do know a bit about that perspective as well. ;) not contracting and not progressing was helping you out. There are many ways a midwife could have helped you to help your labor progress and not stall out the way it did. (GAG. Not me, not a chance. I wouldn't WANT to be 'helped' by a midwife at home. So no, it wouldn't have happened.) You wouldn't have had to go back home, although that certainly could have been an option offered to you. There are many ways to help labor progress right there in the hospital, besides waiting it out and finally giving you pitocin. They could have had you up walking around, rocking on a birth ball, doing squats, reflexology, nipple stimulation, etc. Outside the hospital, the "icky" options would have included having a massage, being adjusted by a chiropractor, sex, herbs that stimulate contractions, acupuncture, as well as many more. Many women leave the hospital in early labor and return when their labor is going stronger. Forget about homebirth, any or all of these methods could have helped your labor progress more effectively. How many were proactively suggested to you? My guess is very few because hospitals are not in the "business" of supporting women through labor naturally. Sure, a few will wait out a mom who's not too excited to get on pitocin right away, but ultimately their job is to use the tools they have at hand to help your baby be born right there in the hospital, in the most efficient way possible. Normally, I would not criticize another woman's labor experience or perspective, but honestly I think your own viewpoint is so skewed by your experience that you cannot even see how your were a victim of the very same system the movie depicts. I am not a victim, and I am trying really hard to not be completely ticked off and baffled at someone who would say this carp to me. Seriously. I'm sorry if that offends you, but THIS post was EXTREMELY offensive to me. I would NOT have done ANYTHING any differently than it was done. I really don't care if it is how you would have done it or not. I'm glad you had good experiences with your births, and guess what - I had great experiences with mine. So get off your high horse and accept that things don't have to be done one way only. I'm truly sorry that my response offended you. But, I don't think someone gets to post a rant, that they admit up front they understand that people will disagree with, and then expect folks to JAWM. Especially not when you refer to other people's beliefs and experiences and choices as "a piece of total fiction" and baloney and hogwash, and of course worthy of being "charged with murder." I'm pretty offended by all that to be honest. I DO accept that things can be done many different ways. I'm honestly glad that you are happy with your childbirth experiences. However, you started a discussion of whether "The Business of Being Born" is really reflective of the hospital birthing industry in the US. My point was primarily that the experiences you related of your own births do not convince me in the least that your experience was less a result of the medical model of childbirth and the hospital childbirth business. In fact, for me, it is perfectly representative of what the film is trying to reveal (and I can make that point without using the word "victim"). You and many, many, many of my friends and acquaintances are perfectly at ease with the way the childbirth "business" works in the US, and that's fine. I'm not judging your choices or your comfort level, but I do judge the medical model and the business influences in hospitalized childbirth, because I think it ultimately does a disservice to both women and babies. 50 years ago, women were routinely knocked out for their deliveries and episiotomies cut so their babies could be pulled out with forceps. Fortunately, this is now considered to be inhumane for routine childbirth. I am hopeful that in the future, movies like this will help shed light on practices in modern childbirth that are not in the best interests of mother and baby, and we'll move beyond those as well.

Full disclosure: I haven't read the thread yet and I just had a homebirth of my fifth baby a month ago. So you know where I'm coming from. ;) My questions, just from reading the initial post are, is your position on this matter consistent? In other words when you say Do you also acknowledge that hospital births are risky? That women and babies die every day from procedures and practices that are only done in hospitals or from infections caught in the hospital? When you say: So, if a woman who chooses to have a medically unnecessary repeat c-section and her baby dies from the procedure or as a result of the procedure, would you advocate that she be charged with murder as well? I would certainly hope not! I know you describe your pregnancies as picture perfect, but just from your description of your first pregnancy, I can find many ways in which it was managed medically and according to hospital policies and not in your or your baby's best interest. For one, there is no possible way that sitting around at the hospital the first day, not contracting and not progressing was helping you out. There are many ways a midwife could have helped you to help your labor progress and not stall out the way it did. Normally, I would not criticize another woman's labor experience or perspective, but honestly I think your own viewpoint is so skewed by your experience that you cannot even see how your were a victim of the very same system the movie depicts. I'll be reading the rest of this thread while nursing during the night tonight, so I'm sure I'll be back to edit this thread or add more later. :D

The opinion that "Tattoos are trashy" is not the same thing as "All xians are ignorant." One is judging a thing, a form of body art. The other is making a judgement about the intelligence of an entire class of people. I did not read the entire tattoo thread, but in the parts I did read, I never saw anyone say that they think "Everyone with a tattoo is trashy." Obviously ThatCyndiGirl, you have strong feelings and opinions about Christianity. You identify as an ex-xian in your signature line. I've seen you post in various religious discussions here on the board, and sharing information from an atheist point of view in this thread and others. None of that discussion or sharing of your opinion means that you think all Christians are ignorant. Maybe you do, maybe you don't, but sharing your opinion from an ex-xian point of view should not mean that others assume you are disparaging an entire group of people. I don't believe you do. I am certain this is not a given, because several of my dear friends are staunch atheists and are not afraid to share their perspective, but still somehow get along marvelously with their Christian friends. I think we should not purposely try to cause offense, and as Mrs Mungo and others have pointed out, there are people of all stripes here on the board. But if we can't speak our opinions freely without being accused of being intentionally hurtful, then I think we lose a lot of the value of discussion boards like this. In my opinion, it's ok to have an opinion about a topic or an issue or a thing and it not necessarily mean we think any one person associated with that issue or thing is automatically looked at the same way. To bring it back to homeschooling, it's a common fallacy when discussing schooling with some public school parents. If I share my opinion that many schools fail their students and that it is not the environment I want my children learning in, some public school parents feel compelled to defend their school or the quality of their own child's education. I've also had this happen without saying anything, simply because someone hears we homeschool and is affronted by our different choices. Having a generally negative opinion of public schools does not mean I do not realize that many, many people get an education and graduate from public school and enjoy the experience. It does not mean I think every parent who sends their child to public school is a failure.

I think that when people say that, or at least when *I* say that, I mean that I am willing to discuss a subject in abstract on a message board, but I wouldn't necessarily go up to an individual in person and express that same opinion to them, especially if I know they believe much differently. For example, I am passionate about several different issues regarding childbirth. I'll usually get involved in discussions here and elsewhere and share various studies and other information or my own experiences. But, I'd never walk up to any of my acquaintances who happen to be pregnant and start spouting off on what I think they should do. That would be rude. Answering honest inquiries online is not rude. I think that one of the disconnects I found in the tattoo thread and have seen often is that people state general opinions, but they are extrapolated to applying to a specific person. So for instance, if I were to state my opinion and belief that a 35% c-section rate is too high, it does not mean that I believe that any particular person's c-section was unwarranted. But yet, often in discussions like these, someone will take offense to the opinion that too many c-sections are performed and respond by sharing the reason theirs was so necessary. I did not express an opinion in the tattoo thread and I don't intend to do so now. But I can appreciate that some folks might consider tattoos to be trashy in general, without meaning that they think every single individual who happens to have a tattoo is themselves trashy.

Awww, he's so precious! Congrats mama!! The first two pics remind me of one of my boys. He wouldn't open his eyes for the first two weeks or so. I mean, he would, but not often and we couldn't get a picture of him with eyes open. He was like a little puppy. Happy babymoon!!!

Oh my goodness! I can actually picture your husband from your old avatar and I am praying right now for his complete healing. Great job recognizing what was going on and getting him in quickly! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Wonderful story!! Congratulations on your new little one. I'm a little nervous I might not call my midwife in time either, since my midwife at my last birth very nearly missed the birth (sliding in just in time to hold her hands out in case my husband dropped him), and she was in the next room! Thanks for sharing your birth story. It's so nice to read about pleasant, calm births!!

Me neither! I just found something for my birthday list! LOVE my Keen sandals. LOVE THEM. Mine are probably 8 years old and are still in great condition.

Aww, what a sweetheart!

Now I'm curious. What in the world is American Bear Pride?

I don't have a problem with allowing your daughter to defend herself physically against her brother. But you probably want to make sure you've clearly defined this to her if you haven't already. I know sometimes we don't go into every little detail on here, so maybe saying you told her to smack him when he bugs her means this already. But I'd tell her that if he is actively pulling her hair or otherwise hurting her, it's okay to push him off or physically defend herself to get him away, and then come to you for help. I would not though expect them to just resolve the situation completely themselves. One thing that has helped me is to restrict fighting siblings from each other for a period of time. My kids love each other one minute and might be fighting the next, but the one thing they HATE is being told they cannot talk to or interact with each other at all. I'll tell them that if they can't treat each other with love, they don't get to be together. This has been really effective as a consequence for negative behaviors. I know! It's not easy. But these little guys can get into a lot of mischief when left alone, and he's proven he's not ready to be on his own yet. I totally agree with this. I would doubt seriously that he destroyed the rose out of some vindictiveness toward his sister. It's just fun! My nearly three year old LOVES to destroy. His brother's lego sets, towers, my folded laundry- whatever! He doesn't mean to be mean, it's just that destroying is SO fun. I have to work with him to help him learn that destroying other people's property is not OK, and his brothers have to be careful not to leave their belongings out where they are susceptible to destruction. But it's a stage and eventually he'll get it. One ray of hope I can give you. You mentioned a younger brother, and I can tell you once he's old enough to interact more with his brother, they will both have an outlet for all that excess energy. Prepare yourself for LOTS of wrestling matches and sword fights and chasing and physical matchups. I am convinced that boys NEED that kind of interaction, and it sounds like your son is trying to instigate these with his sister, but she's just not interested. In the meantime, perhaps his father or another male relative can help him expend some of that energy. Or maybe try to find some other outlet for him to be rough and tumble without reprimand. I bet it would help him a lot to control himself more with his sister.