Same-Sex Households
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
PCP/TTC/ATP Wednesday
For all of our newbies, we started this post long ago as a way to have a designated space to talk about all things baby-planning/baby-making/parenting.
PCP = Pre-conception planning
TTC = Trying to conceive
ATP = All things parenting
Now of course we have our LGBT Parenting Board on The Bump to talk about all this and more any time we want, but we've kept this Wednesday post going here on the Nest as well.
We usually all post any updates we have (things checked off your pre-conception planning checklist, ttc updates, what your LOs are up to, etc, etc) and have a Question of the Day (QOTD).
So come on in with those updates!
Anyone have a suggestion for QOTD?
Mrs._F
sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
Re: PCP/TTC/ATP Wednesday
Hmmm...QOTD: What is one holiday tradition you had growing up that you plan on continuing with your dhildren?
If someone has a better QOTD feel free to throw it out there.
Updates - well today is exactly 4 months from my EDD!! Can you believe it? I feel like that is so far away and yet so near. I really want to have the nursery painted by this weekend. If I can get that done than I can start putting together furniture. K's sister is going to come visit in a few weeks and I think having the nursery set up for her to see would be really cool.
Other than that, it's the same old stuff. Baby is kicking much more, K can feel it, and if I'm sitting still I can see my belly move. It's really cool (and freaky!)! :-)
ETA: Oops - forgot to answer my own QOTD. Well in our stockings we always got chocolate gold coins and a tangerine. I'll continue that tradition with my kids.
My update is that I am hungry!!! LOL The increase in appetite is arrived! I never got my hot fudge sundae yesterday - even the ice cream I had at home last night didn't satisfy the craving...it has to be a hut fugdge sundae with whipped cream and a cherry!! Maybe I should just get the components from the grocery store in case this is a recurring craving - will be cheaper to make my own, and I can control the portion size, lol.
I think my energy level is finally improving. I noticed that the past couple of nights that I went to bed a little later (still pretty early, don't get me wrong!), I actually slept much better. So I think it's time to officially move my bedtime a bit later. It's nice to have a little extra time with C in the evenings again.
We are counting down to our big u/s on the 14th. I'm so excited and really hope we'll be able to see if it's a boy or a girl - I just want to know!!
QOTD: I guess listening to holiday tunes while we decorate the tree and house. And drinking hot chocolate of course
sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
you know what i realized this morning? we're coming up on a year since we started the foster process. a freaking YEAR. incredible. i feel like such a different person now than i was last december when i was reading over the info packets and all this was still just a dream. i sure am ready for this awful year to be over! lol
we're still waiting on more information regarding the potential placement. supposedly the bio fam has to sign some type of form which will allow us to start communicating with them directly. while we wait for them to obtain and sign that form, we're just supposed to sit tight and not contact anyone which is so tough b/c i know you need to be proactive with the system. we haven't been contacted by the state about this at all yet which is making me nervous. all of our information has come through a third party, which - as reliable as she may be - is never a good situation to be in. i'm dying to call our social worker and get her opinion on what we should do, but i also dont want to screw anything up.
is this really going to happen? are we investing energy and hope for nothing? when should we tell our families and friends?? What do we say if we get another call for placement in the meanwhile? this is so confusing!
the good thing is despite all the confusion and difficulties, we have kept our faith. i know with every ounce of my body that there is a greater plan for us...it would just be nice if it came a little easier for once!
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
Yeah! Excited for my first PCP/TTC/ATP Wednesday!
So, we are TTC. My beta is on FRIDAY!!!!!! I am officially nervous now, and I should be working, but again...I am not.
QOTD: Answering the holiday one...I think I am passing on that they go to bed early on Christmas Eve so that Santa can come. Also, since I know that all familys do gifts differently, I am passing on that all gifts are wrapped. There are some from family and some from Santa that say "from Santa" on the tag. But everything is wrapped and under the tree. AND stockings are filled with lots of fun stuff and they are from Santa. AND NO GIFTS OPEN BEFORE CHRISTMAS MORNING.
Wowww...long a
TTC#1 since 2004
LGBT
4 cycles @ home with known donor - BFN
RE un-medicated IUI cycles # 1-7= BFN
NEW RE Clomid 50mg/ Ovidrel/ IUI #8 BFN
Took long break
Nov 2009 - Clomid 50mg/ Ovidrel/IUI #9 = BFP
Beta 12/4 - 10...Beta #2 12/7- 28 Beta #3 12/9 - 80!
1st sonogram 12/28 - slow hb and growth
m/c 1/1/2010 Courtland 8w0d
Nov 2010 cycle cancelled - polyp removal/hysteroscopy
April 4 2011 - IUI #10 BFFN
July 5, 2011 - #11 BFFN AMH .62 Boo
Yeah! Excited for my first PCP/TTC/ATP Wednesday!
So, we are TTC. My beta is on FRIDAY!!!!!! I am officially nervous now, and I should be working, but again...I am not.
QOTD: Answering the holiday one...I think I am passing on that they go to bed early on Christmas Eve so that Santa can come. Also, since I know that all familys do gifts differently, I am passing on that all gifts are wrapped. There are some from family and some from Santa that say "from Santa" on the tag. But everything is wrapped and under the tree. AND stockings are filled with lots of fun stuff and they are from Santa. AND NO GIFTS OPEN BEFORE CHRISTMAS MORNING.
Wowww...long answer!
TTC#1 since 2004
LGBT
4 cycles @ home with known donor - BFN
RE un-medicated IUI cycles # 1-7= BFN
NEW RE Clomid 50mg/ Ovidrel/ IUI #8 BFN
Took long break
Nov 2009 - Clomid 50mg/ Ovidrel/IUI #9 = BFP
Beta 12/4 - 10...Beta #2 12/7- 28 Beta #3 12/9 - 80!
1st sonogram 12/28 - slow hb and growth
m/c 1/1/2010 Courtland 8w0d
Nov 2010 cycle cancelled - polyp removal/hysteroscopy
April 4 2011 - IUI #10 BFFN
July 5, 2011 - #11 BFFN AMH .62 Boo
I don't have much of an update. We are due back in court in just under 3 months. It's a big court date so I am already a little nervous.
QOTD: Even though we are Jewish we always got together as a family on Christmas. We have a huge dinner, gifts etc. I will always celebrate Christmas with my family. Growing up my cousins always got matching PJ's on Christmas Eve, I was always a little jealous. Now that we have the girls, you guessed it, they have matching jammies to wear to bed Cristmas Eve. It's a small thing but makes me so incredibly happy.
QOTD: the biggest tradition i hope to continue with our kids is remembering that the holidays are about giving, not getting. As a kid we spent christmas morning serving breakfast and handing out gifts at a homeless shelter, and for the past five or so years we've been working at a huge holiday party christmas morning for underprivledged kids. another fun thing andrea and i are doing this year is rather than spending a lot on each other, we've "sponsered" another family for the holiday and will be buying them gifts from their wishlist. so, we definitely hope to keep that spirit alive when we are raising our children.
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
Oh, this is awesome! We are PCP, planning to start IUI September 2010... `10 months sounds so far away, but thinking that only 10 months of not being a parent/concerned about your kids also makes it sound really really close! Began temping for the first time this cycle, the clinic we are going to wants 6-10 months of charting before they will do IUI because they do everything au naturale- so no drugs at all. Kind of exciting, but having a tiny alarm for 5:30 kind of sucks because while it doesn't wake wifester up, it wakes the dogs up and then they want to be walked (her job)... so so far she's not the biggest fan, hehe.
So growing up family tradition? We all had matching pj's that we got to open xmas eve. I love it, I still want matching pj's, and my mom still sends me pj's every year
We have also talked about having future bebes get $50 and let them pick out a charity to donate to, or Lutheran World Relief has a program where you can buy an animal for a farm family in another country, so your family can like, buy a goat or a cow. We think that's kind of neat, plus wifester will be a pastor, so we will probs have to do something church related volunteer-wise as a family around Christmas.
3y is the new 2y.
This morning we had a major meltdown b/c I had the audacity to put a shirt WITH BUTTONS (3 little buttons) on Carter. Full meltdown ensued. We are going on 2 years of him refusing to wear a shirt with buttons. I still try every so often, but get the same reaction. Guess he'll grow out of it eventually. He would look so cute in a button down... Grayson melted down this morning b/c I told him he had to try to use the potty when we got to school. We do it every morning - so it wasn't new or unusual. he just didn't want to do it. But he's been having a lot of accidents recently. Sigh.
QOTD:
This year is so fun b/c they both "get" Christmas! We've carried on traditions from L's family and mine and have been doing them since the boys first Christmas (6m.) They get holiday pjs Christmas Eve and L reads The Night Before Christmas. We leave cookies, milk, and carrots out and a note for Santa. Christmas morning, no one is allowed to come downstairs till we are all ready and I have my camera. Gifts from Santa aren't wrapped (they are usually bigger things (this year scooters and our old rebuilt laptops with preschool games on them.) We play with those things and then open stockings. We don't open gifts from family/us till after breakfast. The afternoon is spending playing with new toys, hanging out, and snacking on heavy apps.
Once the boys get older, we really want to incorporate volunteering into our traditions.
We are TTC this week, finally! (I think anyway... my cycle is being screwy and I'm starting to panic a little...) The tank arrives today, a bit early just in case, but I don't expect to inseminate until the weekend.
QOTD: We've already had to combine some traditions from our families. Ren?e balked at some of the changes at first, but now they are what she expects and what we will continue with future kids. Opening one gift Christmas Eve - always pajamas now. Breakfast (German pancakes) and stockings Christmas morning (although there is always great discussion on the timing - our families do it totally differently!)
The one thing I miss and don't know how to work in: When I was little, my dad's family (Greek Orthodox) always celebrated with another family we were very close to, who were Jewish. Growing up, I never knew that they weren't blood relatives or that Hanukkah wasn't part of our Christmas traditions. I have a lot of good memories from the Hanukkah nights, that I would love to share but now that I know it's not "our" tradition it seems strange. Thinking maybe just a general exploration of traditions from other cultures will be what we end up doing.
We're in our new home. This was a huge PCP item (although we started ttc for the two cycles before moving). Since the last bfn I haven't been charting and it has been a nice break. I'm pretty sure based on other signs that I ovulated this weekend. I think I'll wait til CD 1 and start charting again so I'll have a recent record when we start again. As of right now the plan is January, but it could be pushed back. As I mentioned in my TTT post, I'm not looking forward to it. I definitely want to be pregnant, and enjoyed the possibility/hope, but I with a bit of distance I've realized how stressful the process was. For now, I'm just going to enjoy making our new place our home, training our dog and getting healthier.
AOTD: A holiday tradition I had growing up that I plan on continuing with our dhildren is stockings. My nana makes stockings for each member of our family. They're beautiful. She's already planning on making one for our baby once I'm pregnant. C's really into Christmas and doesn't like the idea of having a tree or doing Santa, but we will spend it with my family most years and have stockings.
Oh 2brides, I am WITH ya on this one!!! My DD has a thing right now about not wanting to wear jeans or any kind of pants with buttons or snaps at the waist...so that leaves sweats (ugh, not every day!) or stretch pants which are cute but not really winter-appropriate...SIGH. 3 is SOOOOO the new 2!!! I keep hoping she will outgrow this soon, I bought the cutest flared jeans that would fit her lil bum perfectly and she has YET to try them on...
Christmas Traditions: I bake homemade cutout sugar cookies every year (using the same cookie cutters my mom used when I was a kid!) and I hope to pass the tradition on to my little one.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the matching pjs idea...I think we are going to start it this year, matching pjs for us on Christmas Eve...then when we have little ones, matching pjs for all on Christmas Eve...
Thanks everyone for sharing! I love reading and learning and stealing
TTC#1 since 2004
LGBT
4 cycles @ home with known donor - BFN
RE un-medicated IUI cycles # 1-7= BFN
NEW RE Clomid 50mg/ Ovidrel/ IUI #8 BFN
Took long break
Nov 2009 - Clomid 50mg/ Ovidrel/IUI #9 = BFP
Beta 12/4 - 10...Beta #2 12/7- 28 Beta #3 12/9 - 80!
1st sonogram 12/28 - slow hb and growth
m/c 1/1/2010 Courtland 8w0d
Nov 2010 cycle cancelled - polyp removal/hysteroscopy
April 4 2011 - IUI #10 BFFN
July 5, 2011 - #11 BFFN AMH .62 Boo
I am feeling kind of sad today. I guess I have been living in a bit of dream where Ella is just fine and catching up on her milestones. I guess I realized the other day that she hasn't progressed as much as I thought she would. At EI I could tell our cw was a little concerned about how Ella doesn't do very well at tummmy time or that she is not reaching a grabing yet. We are getting a pt consult for a neck problem and I think pt will be starting soon for this and her lack of progress. She is gaining weight and starting to do some more things (she laughed the other day) but when I see and hear about other babies and what they are doing it really hits home. Sue's cousin posted on fb that her baby who was born the day E came home is rolling over. We will be seeing them in a few weeks for a holiday party and I don't want to go. I know everyone is going to compare them and I don't think I can deal with everyone pointing out how far behind E is. I cried this morning when I read Blues blog and I hate that. I want to feel excited for all the other babies in my life but today I just feel sad and cheated and scared about what is to come.
I guess this should have gone in friday feelings but I don't think I can wait that long.
qotd: I love my stocking and I look forward to filling Ella's with cool stuff. I always got boursin cheese and crackers in mine (I know I am a freak!) and can't wait to figure out what E will always get in hers. A slab of gouda perhaps?
FWIW - I have found some cute jeans and khakis at Target that have soley elastic waists (which is very important to for 2 newly potty trained kids who 1) wait to the last possible second to go to the bathroom and 2) can't button, snap, or zip their own pants.
I am so tired of seeing him in t-shirts. We try to buy cute t's from Gymboree (outlet or on sale!) - but variety would be nice. His brother doesn't mind buttons but doesn't like "things" on his shirts. Sigh.
Its so neat to read everyone's holiday traditions! I'm getting some good ideas.
QOTD: My family always would watch Miracle on 34th St either after Thanksgiving dinner or the next day to "start off the season". The movie starts with Thanksgiving, so it seemed fitting. I'll definitely want to do that. Also all presents and stockings are opened Christmas morning.
Otherwise I think we'll sort of figure it out as we go.
Updates: Heartburn. I've had it for a while now, but it has gotten horrible recently. Keeping me from falling asleep. So I finally gave up on the Tums and switched to Zantac last night. That plus two extra pillows and it was better. Still not great, but much much better. A friend is going to lend me her snoogle, so I'll see if I can get more comfortable with that, but hopefully the Zantac will do the trick because a few more pillows and Trav won't have any room left!
Had an appointment this morning and everything looks good. Still measuring on track and heard the nice strong heartbeat. I got my 28w shot of RhoGam, so I'm good to go until post-birth.
Maybe I don't have a heightened sense of smell, but I've never smelled any vagina on my pants. -- TSD
Bloggity Blog - You know you want to...
Thanks 2brides, I'm going to try Target this weekend!!! The Oshkosh outlets near me have cute T-shirts for both boys and girls that they do a $5/shortsleeve or $6/longsleeve special and their emailed coupons are great. You might try there to get some variety!
((((big huge hug)))))
i'm so sorry you're sad. i can imagine that its very hard not to compare but i wanted to send along a reminder that Ella is perfect. she will roll over. she will grab. and walk. and talk. and go to school. and she will be amazing (as she already is!).
hang in there mommy.
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
SSG - I know you know this - but Ella will almost certainly catch up before her 2nd birthday. She will roll over, she'll sit up, she'll walk, and she'll run all over the place (sometimes making you wish she was a teeny non-moving baby!) Grayson went through PT for torticollis and it really helped quickly (they gave us some great ides to do at home too.)
It is perfectly fine to be sad and mourn was isn't - hang in there. She is beautiful and you are doing an amazing job with her!
Ditto CT 100%.
sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
Update: We're all set to have our first iui next week! And we can't wait.
QOTD: Growing up, my parents and I would always read The Night Before Chritmas right before bed on Christmas Eve. My parents bought a really pretty, hard cover edition of the book the first Christmas they were married. For Christmas last year, they bought us our own pretty hard covered book. Can't wait to use it!
Ditto this entirely.
I used to nanny for quadruplets who were obviously preemies. They needed the works: OT, PT, ST... but now they are healthy, happy, "normal", thriving 10 year olds. And you would never know that they came early or were ever delayed.
Maybe I don't have a heightened sense of smell, but I've never smelled any vagina on my pants. -- TSD
Bloggity Blog - You know you want to...
Annie has her first really bad cold. I am getting really good with the snot sucker this week. Tonight was so much fun. While I was getting ready for work she was sitting with Carol in the recliner. Carol was snorting like a pig at her and Annie was laughing... a full out real big belly laugh. This went on about 5 minutes. My heart melted.
QOTD: Opening family presents on Christmas Eve and Santa presents on Christmas morning. Also reading the Christmas story from the bible on Christmas morning so that you don't forget the meaning behind the holiday. I am so excited for our first Christmas as a family of three!
~Kennedy