anyone ttc or ntnp before there child is a year old?

[HAKing]

Jordyn, cute bump! Crazy how fast you start showing after 1st baby.

I'm glad the sleeping situtation went well this weekend. That's always the stressful part for us while traveling because the boys don't sleep as good when they aren't in their own bed.

Rachel, sorry about the possible evap. And, we should all move and be neighbors! haha

I do think that potty training, especially at 2 is a slow process. I've always heard the saying start at 2 be done at 3, start at 3 be done at 3. So I'm prepared for it to take a while. I was finding myself getting frustrated at first and now I'm a bit more laid back about it and it seems like its going smoother!

 

[Spiffynoodles]

I had great plans to have Alia potty trained when she turned 2, but then I realized what a time commitment that was going to take, and so I've just been putting it off. I think for her, I'll have to go the route where I just put her in underwear and give her the potty and let her wet herself a few times to see that she doesn't like it. But I don't really look forward to cleaning up pee off the floor, so it hasn't happened yet.

Well, okay, I decided to go take a proper bump pic. I figure if I post enough of these, ONE of you ladies will get baby fever bad enough to come join me!

 

[HAKing]

Great bump, Jordyn! And as for baby fever...It's been extra bad lately! I was telling DH yesterday and he said "I knew you wouldn't be able to wait until February"

As for potty training, I thought I would have Sam completely trained by 2.5 but that isn't the case obviously. I'm hoping by 3 he will be 100% though.

My nephew wasn't completely trained until he was 4!!! I didn't want to have that with Sam so that's partly why we started a bit earlier (especially for a boy).

Well, I think I'm coming down with a cold as well as Sam and Ben! I started feeling crummy on Sunday and then a sore throat and now a runny nose. I hope it passes quickly. I hate being sick.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Jordyn, that is a lovely bump! And yes, it does seem to be working.

I really don't want to rush the potty training, especially since I think Daniel is still kind of settling into being at home with the boys while still working from home. I don't want him or Ozzy to feel pressure to do it right away.

Heather, that sucks that you all are sick. I hope you all start to feel better soon! Try and get some rest if you can!

 

[Spiffynoodles]

Heather, that sucks that you're all sick. We're all dealing with bad allergies, here. Oh, and Liam is teething hardcore right now, and totally miserable all the time. He has 4 that have broken through, and one that's really close. He keeps trying to grab my hand/arm/leg/etc. and shove it into his mouth, and when I pull away, he gets more frantic and desperate to bite it.

Well, Alia wanted to "go pee" in her potty this morning after taking a bath, but really she just wanted to avoid me pinning her down and putting a diaper on her, so she got on and off her potty seat about 20 times before I finally just put the diaper on. I want to potty train her, but am honestly afraid of the work it's going to take once we really get started.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Whoa. Go, Liam, growin' those teeth. That seems fast, but I think my boys are just late teethers. Jimmy still only has his bottom two in the front, but I think he'll be getting more soon - he sticks everything in his mouth too!

Oh man, that stinks when they start to realize that they can "get out" of stuff by asking to do something else. Ozzy's started doing this too. His thing is saying he's hungry right before bed. I hate it because I don't want to send him to bed if he is actually hungry. So annoying. And I agree with you on the potty training. I'm just not ready to go 'gun ho' with it yet either. I think it's worth it to wait a little while longer so she's better able to recognize the sensation of having to pee. Give her body some time to develop and it will be easier a little ways down the road!

Also, just thought I'd let you know all know how much of a POAS addict I am - I walked to Walmart (I never shop there!) to get a test on my lunch break today. It is definitely a BFN, so that first test was an evap for sure. Can't say I'm disappointed, since I wasn't expecting otherwise, but it would have been nice anyway. (I think I am catching some baby fever!)

 

[blessedmomma]

Rachel- sorry about the bfn yay he pooped on the potty though!!!

Stacey- its so much fun when they start crawling

Jordyn- you look so precious!!! and the kiddos are pretty cute too lol

Heather- those boys are getting so big! so cute

potty training for us hasn't been too much of an issue. the girls were really easy. with the boys we started a few times and stopped when they weren't 'getting it' pretty quick. we started them again at 3 1/2 almost 4 and they were trained in 3 days-both of them. so I def think they have to be ready for it no matter what age or your just spinning wheels lol. I think there is a lot of societal pressure to do things as certain times with kids, but we just try to go with their own timing

I have started using progesterone for the same problems I had while bfing mason. they aren't as bad as I let it get with him, so hopefully I have caught it before any post partum depression sets in. so far just cant sleep and having pms symptoms.

 

[Spiffynoodles]

Melissa, it's so good to hear from you! Sorry to hear that you're having postpartum problems again, but at least you're acting more quickly this time around. I hope you feel better soon.

Rachel, it's amazing how the POAS obsession just sets back in again, huh? Well, I have no business taking tests at the moment, so if you even see a hint of something, you should post it, so I can obsess vicariously through you.

 

[blessedmomma]

forgot to say I also have stupid carpal tunnel probably from lupus. and im having hip pain at night. since the lupus is an inflammatory disease the progesterone should help it. but it will also likely bring back my cycles earlier than if I didn't use anything so we could end up preggo sooner than expected

 

[Harley Quinn]

Melissa, I hope the progesterone does the trick this time and it won't get as bad as PPD. And you are so right about the pressure from society to do things at certain times. Part of the pressure to get them potty trained before 3 is that (at least around here) most preschools require them to be fully trained. But then again, who says you have to send them to preschool, right?

Ha! Well, Jordyn, I can post all my evaps for you to stare at if you like!

 

[Spiffynoodles]

Melissa, how are you and DH feeling about the prospect of an 8th child? I know you're NTNP for life, but does it seem a little daunting, or are you just happy to think about expanding your family even more?

Rachel, I think preschool has a big part to play in the pressure to potty train early. I went to preschool, but that was when I was 4 years old, and my youngest brother did as well (for help with his speech) but my other two brothers didn't, and they were just fine. I definitely won't be sending my kids, but that's mostly because I'm a licensed school teacher, so why not teach them myself?

 

[blessedmomma]

Melissa, I hope the progesterone does the trick this time and it won't get as bad as PPD. And you are so right about the pressure from society to do things at certain times. Part of the pressure to get them potty trained before 3 is that (at least around here) most preschools require them to be fully trained. But then again, who says you have to send them to preschool, right?

thank you I hope it does too!!! wow they start young there! in my state here they have to be 4 by aug 31st to start that year. but here they actually aren't mandated to start school til 1st grade, so they don't have to go to preschool or kindergarten.

Melissa, how are you and DH feeling about the prospect of an 8th child? I know you're NTNP for life, but does it seem a little daunting, or are you just happy to think about expanding your family even more?

oh no we are always super excited thinking of another. this is my purpose in life, raising godly children to do great things for the Lord. its so much bigger than us and even keeps us leaning on Him. I couldn't make it one day without Jesus. I do know if its His will, my spirit is prepared and the rest will follow. I bet you will love homeschooling!!!! we certainly do

 

[Harley Quinn]

It's funny, before we had kids, we were considering homeschooling. Then, the other day DH started talking about how nice it will be for him when they are in school and he'll have lots of free time to write. I asked him, "So, does this mean you aren't thinking of homeschooling anymore?" He just chuckled and said no. Haha! Maybe if our work situations change by that time then I might be able to homeschool them for at least a few years. We'll see!

Anyway, here are my super big, big, fat negative HPTs!!!

The first one is from Monday evening (I mislabeled it when I named the image), and the second is from this afternoon. They're so negative, they didn't even become evaps! lol

Annnddd... I also did an OPK tonight. Also neg. Blah.

 

[Spiffynoodles]

Even if they're negative, I enjoy squinting and staring. Thanks for feeding my obsession. So have you and DH set an official TTC date, if it doesn't happen while NTNP? Or are you both fine with just waiting and letting it happen whenever it happens?

It's still weird for me to think that we'll actually be preventing after this baby, at least for a little bit (since I still think I want to try formula feeding from the get-go this time) but I really do think my body needs a little break. I've been getting a few random painful contractions, almost like a really strong cramp that lasts for a few seconds, and I know it's only bound to get worse as time goes on. I asked my OB if she'd be doing a cervix check for me before 36 weeks, since Liam came at 36 weeks and I'd like a little head up, and she said maybe they'd check me at 34 weeks. Then when I told her later that my contractions started up at 8 weeks, she just laughed and said, "Oh honey, you're going to be getting SO many cervix checks this pregnancy!"

 

[Harley Quinn]

You're welcome! You can post your bump pics for me to stare at, and I'll post my test pics for you to squint at!

I'm glad you asked about that, because we hadn't actually discussed it yet. I turned to DH after reading your question and asked him what he thought. Ha. Well, it turned out we really did need to talk about it because he's thinking he'd like to wait until Jimmy is 2!!! I don't think I can wait that long. The thought of it makes me want to cry. I think we will probably settle on some middle-ground. I guess he just really doesn't want to have 2 under 2 again, which is understandable. So I think he might agree to TTC once Jimmy is, say... 15 months. That way he would for sure be at least 2 by the time #3 arrives.

However, I also told him that I really want to have sex soon (we have to plan these things or it'll never happen) and that we could use a condom and he said he was okay with not. So... I guess he's still fully on board with NTNP, even though it could mean having 2 under 2, but he doesn't want to try for 2 under 2 again. Works for me, I guess!

 

[Duejan2012]

Jordyn: I love your baby bump. I'm quite jelous because I always wanted my belly button to pop and it never did for any of my pregnancies lol. You deff are glowing though! That is a cute video of Liam. That is exactly how Jonathan sleeps at times. Idk if you remember me saying I'm scared to move him to a toddler bed because of this. He has fallen off a queen size bed a couple times. I don't see him doing it as much as he used to so hopefully he is finally starting to grow out of it. Lol you deff are giving me baby fever with your bump pic. Still planning to stay team yellow? Have you thought about any names?

Melissa: it's great to hear from you. I hope you start feeling better soon! Glad you didn't wait as long to start. That's exiting that you may be able to get number 8 a bit sooner this time

Rachel: we all should move to Texas and be neighbors lol Texas is a really great place to work to have a family. Schools are good ( well where I'm from) sorry about the bfn. At least you didn't mind either way. But I hope you can ttc earlier then later.

Heather: I live those pics of the boys. It's so sad how fast they grow. That's great that Sam is talking loads and really starting to use the potty. I can't wait to see pics of the new place. Like I told Rachel, we should all move to Texas haha. It would be fun lol

Afm: Eva is super fast at crawling now. Like one min she will be in my room. The next she will be all the way in the living room pulling on the speaker of our surround sound haha. Jordyn I forgot to mention that crazy Liam has so much teeth. Jonathan had 9 by 8 months lol. Natalia none until 11 months and Eva got her bottom two at 8 and still has only those two lol. She has also learned out to pull herself up in her crib and well everywhere. She walks very fast holding onto things it makes me wonder when she will walk haha.

Jonathan is I believe fully potty trained. He has got poop in the potty for the past 5 days. Been in regular under where and not having accidents. I think he trained so well partly for Natalia. He saw her to or say I'm going to go pee haha then he would say pee. The pull ups really helped him. He started realizing he was wet by peeing alittle then holding it I believe. He also doesn't use the little potty he uses the regular one. The. He watches my dh pee so now puts the seat up and sits without the seat like a guy pees standing haha it's very funny. I'm very proud of him. He will be starting daycare on Tuesday. He will be able to go to the one Natalia goes. She was very nice because they are not supposed to take kids who are younger then 2 1/2 so he won't be til July but she said she'll take him anyways. I will have another lady watch Eva I think. I havnt met her yet but she used to work at the daycare Natalia goes too and was a teAcher for 25 years or so. We will go meet with her within the next few days.

As for more children. I want another soo bad but my dh isn't feeling it yet. He still is like no like 3 years from now maybe. Idk when I think it will be sooner than that though lol

Natalia is super smart I think she will do great in kindergarden this aug. She knows all the abcs. Even in random order. She can write her full name first middle last. And can count by 10s up to 100. Idk what A preschooler should know by now but they said that is great! I feel she's going to be one of those girls who is more focused on her studies then other things going on. She is going to be the " smart girl" who ways has her nose in a book. ( which is fine by me haha)

 

[Duejan2012]

I forgot to add we are all under flood warnings again. Our rivers are about to flood over and have in some areas. We have had a huge mud slide too. From all the snow melting then all the rain. It's like sept all over again

 

[Spiffynoodles]

Yikes! I hope you are okay and that the flooding isn't as bad as last year.

Yep, we're still team yellow, and planning on staying that way. I'm feeling pretty sure it's a girl, though, simply because this pregnancy is so similar to my pregnancy with Alia. As for names, I think we have them picked out, but as always, we tell ourselves that they are subject to change if we come up with something we like better. Also we're keeping the names secret from friends and family until we announce the birth, because of some of the comments we've gotten from our families about possible names in the past.

Girl: Eden Tamra Koch
Boy: Ammon Robert Koch

The girl middle name is DH's mother's name, and the boy middle name is DH's grandfather's name, who passed away two years ago.

Stacey, that's great that you got Jonathon into the daycare you wanted, and it sounds like Natalia will definitely be ready for kindergarten! Here in Utah, they only require that a child know at least 10 letters and can count to 10, I think. Alia can already do that! (She can identify all the letters, but can't say them all in order, from memory). It sounds like Eva will probably be an early walker, like Jonathon was. I have no idea when Liam will walk, but I'm sure it will be before Alia did.

Rachel and Stacey, I've found that, in general, men tend get nervous about more kids and set dates for TTC much farther out in the beginning, but slowly they usually warm up to the idea and agree to try sooner. That was the case with my DH, my BIL, my DH's best friend, and many others I've heard from.

 

[Harley Quinn]

Stacey, I don't really know what a preschool is supposed to know, but Natalia sure does sound smart to me! And how awesome that Jonathan is potty trained now. And oh my gosh, that's super cute that he wants to pee like his daddy does. Haha! I hope this round of flooding isn't as bad as the last one. I'll pray you and your family stay safe.

Jimmy is just now starting to be really fast at crawling too. And cruising around furniture and such. He doesn't seem very close to walking though. It's so crazy to think that when Ozzy was his age he was only a few weeks away from walking! I'm glad Jimmy's not quite there yet. lol

Jordyn, those are fabulous names! I keep changing my list of potential baby names, so I'm thinking I might want to keep ours a secret too (if I get pregnant again, obviously). I've never really cared what people say about our name choices, which is good since we've gotten a lot of comments about Ozymandias (and rightly so, I mean it is the best name ever in the universe ) But I think I want to reserve the right to change my choices at any minute, and I think that would be harder if I'd already told a whole bunch of people.

And I hope you're right about men eventually warming up to having babies sooner. When Daniel said he wanted to wait until Jimmy was 2 so that we didn't have 2 under 2, I was like, "And then Jimmy will be 3 by the time the baby is born..." It's like he suddenly forgot all his math skills. To avoid having 2 under 2, all we need to do is wait until Jimmy is over 15 months. It's like he forgot about the whole 9 months of gestation!!!

Also, he doesn't have a biological clock ticking away like I do. I'm 32, and I already feel this sense of urgency starting to kick in about having babies!

 

[Spiffynoodles]

Yeah, I'm only 25 (almost 26), but I'd really like to have all my kids by the time I'm 35, if possible, so that I don't have to be considered high-risk because of my age. Also, I'm just afraid I won't have the energy to keep up with a toddler when I'm 40 like I do now (and I barely have the energy now! )