*Baby Corner*

[chnst 6]

@Kelly: wow!! Ben loves anything sweet. My mom sent us a big package of german gingerbread-chocolates and hubby was supposed to watch Ben yesterday morning from 7-9am so I could get 2 hours of sleep but he passed out on the couch and Ben got into the box and ate the WHOLE thing of gingerbread! I'm afraid he got the sweet tooth from his mommy. Count your blessings, Zaid is a great kid!! haha. I am also amazed that he already says complete sentences! Ben talks a lot but he usually only says 2-words at a time. Smart boy!

@Nizzy&Christina: your 2 boys are so adorable! Kavi looks all grown up in that picture!

Mommies&Mommies-to-be: did you start your prenatal vitamins before you got pregnant? This is the first time that we are actually trying to have a baby and i think it is recommended.... Does it make sense to start early with the folic acid? With Ben I didn't find out about the pregnancy until I was 7 weeks pregnant so that's when I started the vitamins. I am still searching for a midwife/ob-gyn. Someone in our family has recommended a great midwife but unfortunately our insurance has just sent us a letter that the hospital she is affiliated to, is no longer covered in our plan. It sucks because it is brand new and only 10 minutes from our house.

[chri'stina 190]

Nizzy, will look forward to new pics of Eman when they work! hehe

Kelly, oh man, Kavi loves sweets. That is good that Zaid doesn't!

chnst- yeah I did start them before I was pregnant, because we were planning to try. I actually took them for about 6 months before I got pregnant now that I think about it. Well, it took about 5 months of trying before I took a positive preg test, and I started the vitamins about a month before we started trying just to get them going and get used to it.

[Anna C. 4]

chnst: I started a couple months beforehand, also fish oil pills for the DHA. The folic acid is as far as I have heard mainly important in the first few months to prevent spina bifida.

I got really sick from Rainbow One prenatals, I was fine with NOW. However in the last months I only took half the dose, cause it gets a little much sometimes - some of those prenatals have huge amounts of vitamin C or E... And I do eat some healthy food too!!

I just came across a study that correlated high amounts of folic acid with asthma. I know back in Germany my sisters were only given folic acid in high dosage for the first trimester or so, gotta ask. So... I think I will do it like in Germany to avoid over-exposure!

[Team J and B 2]

I started taking 1 prenatal and 1 DHA fish oil daily the week I found out I was pregnant. I switched to a couple of kinds before I realized I didn't need to buy the $20 for 30 pills so I have been taking drugstore brand ones for most of my first pregnancy.

I'm still breastfeeding (son is 11 months) and still taking the prenatal vitamins and DHA. Now I'm two months pregnant with the second. I will continue to take the prenatal vitamins and DHA after the second is born and maybe forever because they're just like daily multivitamins. I haven't had one chipped nail since I've been taking them. Strange, huh?

By the way, ladies...you CAN get pregnant when you're breastfeeding! Don't use breastfeeding as birth control! We were just surprised because I got pregnant again right after I got my period back.

[Anna C. 4]

Team JB: I didn't have my period til my son was 11 months old... But even before I was so paranoid, we had to use condoms. Now with my period returning regularly, it's easier to chart to avoid and then chart to conceive next spring I think lactational contraception only works for the first 6 months postpartum, and only if baby eats at least every 4 hours.

Oh yeah, I still take prenatals because Jona nurses 3-5 times a day, he doesn't drink any other milk yet (no need). But I take them like twice a week - just cause at least the brand I have is completely overdosed.

[Nizzy 1]

Those pre-natal vitamins made me gag. Do they have to make them so ginormous? I would take them, when my body would allow. Most of the time they made me so naseous that I could not keep them down.

@Kelly: Eman HATES anything chocolate (except for chocolate milk). He likes fruit flavored candy and LOVES fruit. I am so glad he is not a picky eater and will eat just about anything. His cousins are sooo picky. Their mom chases them around just so they can eat a bite or two of food. They just drink milk all day.

[Eveline 9]

You can also just break the prenatals in half. That's what I did. I'm not taking a supplement right now. I just take one VitD every now and then and one VitC every day. That's it.

I didn't take any in the beginning with Adam and even when I got pregnant with Allie I wasn't very good with them. As long as you eat good foods I think they are unnecessary but of course they might fill a gap that you have if you throw up a whole lot.

[Revenesque 2]

Awww how cute! And yes, I agree that all things in moderation. My dr. told me that coffee (just not starbucks) was okay. She said 1 to 2 cups was okay. I remember waiting for my coffee order and someone telling me " Are you sure you should be having coffee?" WIth all the hormones raging in me I wanted to sock him in his face...haha...

I took Eman for a haircut last week and he flat out refused to have it done. He wouldn't even take his hat off. I was so furious. I never thought I would be the kind of mom who would subject their child to an at home haircut but I had no choice. He has VERY thick hair (thanks to both daddy and I who have thick curly hair) and it grows so quickly. I took out the buzzer and off his hair went. It looks fine, exceot for the bangs. It looks like a bowl cut! Thank God it's winter and he wears a hat (he is being good about wearing a hat now : ) everywhere. I will try to post a pic.

I'm totally gonna be that mom who will do that at-home bowl cut, LOL.

[Revenesque 2]

Foods: The studies concluded that caffeine only had an effect the first 16 weeks... After that, the risk of caffeine-correlating miscarriage goes way down... So I had decaff lattes and frappuccinos til 16 weeks and then I indulged in my vice completely. I didn't have a problem complying with most "rules" since I'm a picky eater and raw fish and fish at all makes me run like Forrest Gump! Cheeses, btw, are rarely non=pasteurized these days so no worries!!! The issue about raw foods like dairy and meats is toxoplasmosis, and you can test for immunity. It is mostly transmitted through raw foods are cat feces. I swore I must be immune since I lived all my life with kitties, yet I wasn't immune. So go ahead and have yourselves tested to see whether you can eat those yummie foods or not. The upside was for me that DH had to clean the litter box, hehehe.

I rarely cooked those lunch meats - concern here is listeriosis, a food poisoning bacteria. I was way tooooooo hungry and going nuts for that deli sandwich - I had to eat them a couple of times and I was fine. I figured the chance of food poisoning at the Deli is low, I mean how often does that really happen???? I mean I had food poisoning in October, it wasn't pretty, and I even cooked the meat entirely (it was ground beef from the supermarket), so you never know - but like I said, chances are slim.

Honestly, next time I won't fret it that much.

Thanks, Anna and all the ladies here about caffeine and food. I had two cups of green tea yesterday cuz it was just wierd to ask for hot water at Starbucks. But after this, I'm cutting down on caffeine. I'm also going to miss rare steak. :-(

[Revenesque 2]

Oh that is from Eman's 1st birthday? LOL His little outfit is cute.

First pic from Oct visiting family, 2nd pic from Thanksgiving day.

Kavi is sooo adorable! Thanks for sharing!

[Revenesque 2]

@Kelly: wow!! Ben loves anything sweet. My mom sent us a big package of german gingerbread-chocolates and hubby was supposed to watch Ben yesterday morning from 7-9am so I could get 2 hours of sleep but he passed out on the couch and Ben got into the box and ate the WHOLE thing of gingerbread! I'm afraid he got the sweet tooth from his mommy. Count your blessings, Zaid is a great kid!! haha. I am also amazed that he already says complete sentences! Ben talks a lot but he usually only says 2-words at a time. Smart boy!

@Nizzy&Christina: your 2 boys are so adorable! Kavi looks all grown up in that picture!

Mommies&Mommies-to-be: did you start your prenatal vitamins before you got pregnant? This is the first time that we are actually trying to have a baby and i think it is recommended.... Does it make sense to start early with the folic acid? With Ben I didn't find out about the pregnancy until I was 7 weeks pregnant so that's when I started the vitamins. I am still searching for a midwife/ob-gyn. Someone in our family has recommended a great midwife but unfortunately our insurance has just sent us a letter that the hospital she is affiliated to, is no longer covered in our plan. It sucks because it is brand new and only 10 minutes from our house.

I went on prenatal vitamins as soon as I got off birth control (cuz you never know...) and was on them for 4 months when I got pregnant.

re: midwife not being covered under your insurance, that bites! Hope your search went well.

[Nizzy 1]

I'm totally gonna be that mom who will do that at-home bowl cut, LOL.

The only reason I didn't want to do it was because I hated when my mom would give me haircuts at home. She butchered my hair...lol...I am just glad he is a boy because I could just give him a buzz cut and call it a day. At least now when he is older I can tell him it was his own fault...lol...

[Revenesque 2]

The only reason I didn't want to do it was because I hated when my mom would give me haircuts at home. She butchered my hair...lol...I am just glad he is a boy because I could just give him a buzz cut and call it a day. At least now when he is older I can tell him it was his own fault...lol...

LMAO! My mom too...but that memory makes a great story. :-)

[chnst 6]

thanks... I wasn't taking the prenatals very regularly after Ben was born. I guess I could start getting back into the swing. Last time I had prescription prenatals but I forgot the name! duh. I am not a big believer in all the supplements when you are healthy, so prenatal vitamins and that's it. I eat healthy and we use flaxseed oil in a lot of food for Ben's constipation so I guess I don't need the DHA stuff anyways. One thing I am looking forward to is the shiny hair and the nice fingernails. The only 2 attractive side effects of pregnancy...

About the nursing- we tell mom's in the hospital that they can get pregnant right away - nursing or not and recommend using birth control. You can ovulate without having your period. There is a girl I go to school with who has 11 months in between her 3 kids and she was bf.

[Autumnchik 6]

I live in East Vancouver, a couple blocks from central Burnaby. If you do come and visit, give me a holler!--we can go for coffee. :-)

Definitely