So msbogan did 4 pregnancy test today and it seems that there will be a 2nd baby bogan on the way, we thought about a month ago she was preg after one test came up positive but were think that 4 test should be right!!! Find out on friday for sure, so fingers crossed as we are hoping for a 2nd then for her to get the rod in the arm.

My wife is due on Superbowl Sunday. If I miss any Peyton Manningness I am going to be quite put off.

we're expecting #2 in August.

if I miss any of fantasy football draft weekend I'm going to be inconsolable.

add: j/k (sorta)...but that was a bit of poor planning on my part.

After the miscarriage last time, the last few weeks have been pretty nerve-wracking for my wife and I, but we managed to see a healthy baby on the ultrasound today and are expecting in September. Still keeping our fingers crossed. It will be our first.

been through that as well man.. its rough and makes that first pregnancy so nerve-wracking.


we were sitting on the couch last night and my wife pointed at her belly and said "look"

I could actually see her stomach jiggle slightly from the baby. I never saw that with my first...it was kinda cool.

Congratulations. Both our children were considered "high-risk" after losing our first child and yes it is nerve-wracking. There is no good way for it not to be nerve-wracking. But hopefully everything goes according to plan. Best of luck and keep us updated.

Mrs. Skandar delivered two healthy and beautiful baby boys on you guessed it 2/2! A charmed date and sure to be future 2+2ers. Were thrilled and exhausted and the boys are happy and hilarious. Here's a pic of Quinn and Collin AKA Pocket Aces.

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Great pic man!

We just found out the gender of our's...James283 will be a boy. He's our first, expected on July 2nd still

James

Good luck. I know exactly how nerve-wracking it can be. We spent a lot of energy figuring out how to worry productively about things without causing insane amounts of stress. Good luck finding a middle ground. Take care.

Jackson Carter is about 7 months old now. He's crawling and can clap and is making rudimentary sign language signs ('play' and 'diaper' so far). He's been a real easy baby so far. Sleeps through the night and isn't fussy at all. He likes to observe, is laid back, calm, and is generally happy.

how did you teach him the sign language?

Repetition. Just make the signs yourself and say the word at the same time, when the topic comes up. I usually do the sign a few times before I change his diaper so that's why he's picked that one up. He hasn't picked up eat yet, probably because he's spazzing out and can't focus on what I'm doing and he sees a bottle anyways so to him that is the sign for eat. When he attempts to sign it is VERY rudimentary but you can kind of pick up on what he means by his mood and just overall body language. I bought a little cheap book on it but I don't think it's necessary as long as you can find the signs online. Just start out with a select few major signs and he'll eventually get it.

Has anyone here had any experience with hypnobirthing? A lot of what I read seems to be positive, but some people suggest that it is sort of a scam. It's fairly expensive to take a class or even get a DVD, so I was just curious.

hypnotherapy of any kind is extremely hit and miss is is completely dependent on the person and their ability to relax to a state of suggestion.

I would think that labor would probably be the absolute worst environment for something like this. Not to mention everything ive seen on the matter is horrificaly expensive and very vague.

are you guys not wanting to do the epidural? imo people are way too freaked out about it nowadays. My wife said that after the epi the labor was seriously not even within the top 20 most painful experiences of her life. she'll be getting another one this time around. Everyones different though....it should depend on what makes her the most comfortable.

She is very concerned about having an epidural. She read something that said the baby will take in some of the narcotic and it will effect the baby's behavior up to a week after the birth. I am a little skeptical about this research since ther is obv no way to tell how a baby would have acted if the mom hadn't been given an epidural.

When you say people are too freaked about it...what exactly do you mean? Have you researched it a lot and found no cause for concern? Thanks for your help.

James

James,
When she is having 60 second contractions 90 seconds apart, she'll think pretty favorably of that epidural.

Have her discuss with her OB about the whole physiology of the epidural. Make sure she mentions what she read about that whole baby taking in some of the narcotic thing...

I am sure nobody doubts the effectiveness of the epidural as a pain reducer. But clearly being concerned about the effects the epidural would have on the baby are worth considering regardless of the pain. My first instinct is that I doubt it is harmful to the baby since it is so commonplace, but after reading so much about things that are actually harmful to the mother/baby that are commonplace, I always try to do the research before assuming.

...and thats a good thing. Its good parenting.

basically we just asked our dr. flat out if she would get one if she was pregnant. she said she would. that pretty much summed it up for us. We could listen to a bunch of stuff on the internet or the person we're trusting to bring this life into the world. Easy decision.


and yeah... unless you're girl's superwoman she'll want one once the time comes.

Did you ever read Freakonomics? Remember the part about the Real Estate Agents? Do what you will, but hearing about the Epidural-Pitocin-Epidural-Pitocin-Emergency C-section cycle scared the crap out of me.

http://www.sarahjbuckley.com/article...ural-risks.htm

First heard about it watching "The Business of Being Born". Link to website.

of course there's risk... theres also risk that the pain will be so bad that she'll pass out, which is extremely dangerous during labor. theres risk with everything....but if my doctor says she'd get the epi then we're getting the epi. Our doctor has aslo unfortuantely had a stillbrth herself..... shes probably pretty high on the list of extrmely conservative doctors and even she said that she'd still get an epi. and did on her last kid too.

im a huge opponent of this whole diagnose yourself via internet scares movement... that a lot of first time parents get sucked into nowadays.

I mean I see where you are coming from as far as thinking that people get freaked out about things too easily...but especially with things like nutrition and health in general a lot of doctors just give the information they learned in med school 15 years ago without keeping current. But yeah, I will just keep doing research on the hypnobirthing stuff...thanks for your input livin!

James

James-

Keep researching stuff for yourself; it's the only way to really feel comfortable with the answer. I don't know how much you know about my background here (feel free to ask, but the short story is that we're fairly paranoid given that we've had some serious tragedy in the past, and we're fairly informed given that I'm a biophysicist and my wife's an evolutionary biologist and we both read a lot of primary literature), but my wife and I did a lot of research with our daughter's birth 22 months ago. In the end, our birth plan said that we'd go epidural-free if possible, but get an epidural if my wife really wanted/needed it.

She did really want/need it. She has a bad reaction to some of the stuff they generally stick in an epidural, so we had them tweak the cocktail a bit, but the epidural was great and our daughter had no lingering epidural-related effects. That's only one datapoint, but be very careful you're not reading about epidurals from a decade+ ago. Anesthesiology has gotten much better.

Also, it's very worth it for your wife to think these things through. If there's a chance you'll want an epidural, you're going to want to make sure that you won't feel guilty for not having a "natural" birth. Guilt about these things involves some really complex and subtle psychology. One thing that's worth remembering is that "natural" does not necessarily mean "good." Death, for instance, is very natural.

I don't know anyone who's done hypnobirthing recently, but my grandparents used to train people in it, and had great things to say about it. If you do end up trying it out, please post back about it!

self-discovery via the internet can be pretty tough, but my wife and i really wanted to feel like we knew a lot ourselves, rather than rely upon an ob (relying upon an ob led to disastrous things in the past). We read a ton of primary literature. If you go that route, I have two big pieces of advice:

1. Check out pubmedcentral

2. Most doctors appear to have no understanding of basic statistics, so pay close attention to the actual data in the tables compare your conclusions with theirs. Also, pay *very* close attention to how the controls were/weren't done.

This is what we ended up with as well. My wife ended up not needing it and everything went fine. IMO, knowing you're going to get it sets you up to not fully consider that maybe you don't need it (at the time). I think the above should be the default stance going in, but realize that's not realistic.

I think with proper preparation and knowledge (learning the breathing, knowing the different stages and what will happen, etc.) and getting a doula (they help a lot in the heat of battle, so to speak) there should be no problem planning to go without. If that plan doesn't work, then you can get it at that point. Even ending up getting an epidural, the prep work for going without will still help and make it an easier experience, IMO.

id definately advocate research, but honestly id rather dfo most of that finding out about the track record of the hospital and maternity ward. things go so fast it seems like in that room that its hard to stop people to ask questions, make recommendations/demands.

we're actually really lucky to have one of the best rated maternity hospitals in the country a few blocks from our house. me and my wife both feel extrmely safe with them. Like i said before... I know theres risks with every decisions... do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable...just dont go to the point of thinking that you are in any way shape or form more qualified to make better recommendations than the doctor is. thats just egotistical and dangerous.