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Having a new baby can be overwhelming! There is always some little thing I forget to purchase when I have a new one. When I had my first I had so many questions about what was happening to my body, what labor was going to be like, and did I really have to wear my maternity clothes home.

I came across this site and think it should be the go-to place for any mama on the journey to snuggling with a new little one. It is simply The Cradle. It is very well put together, user friendly, and full of helpful info.

I am a Mad Men lover. I have been catching up online and recently watched the episode where Betty has the new baby. I am reminded what having children used to be like. I hear the stories, however, it never seems real because I wasn’t alive back then. It was a “condition”, they wore huge tents, they only guessed at the sex, and fathers weren’t involved. Now we have 3D ultra sounds, celebrate our womanly curves, and the fathers are right next to us hopefully giving encouragement. I am constantly amazed at technology! This reality wasn’t very long ago,and to see how far pregnancy has come. I watched this episode with a heart of gratitude. It wasn’t long ago NAIT was unknown. My condition wasn’t discovered until the mid 90’s and even then doctors weren’t sure how to treat it. If I had been just 10 years older, I would only have one baby instead of my magnificent 4. Every time I am reminded of this, tears come to my eyes.

If you are pregnant, know someone who is, or just had your baby, ponder this. Have a heart full of gratitude that medicine has come so far, and daddies are now included. Oh, and there are some really hot maternity clothing.

You have 3 kids and feel one is missing. You and your partner try for awhile to have that fourth baby only to discover it won’t happen without medical intervention. You go through the agonizing and expensive process of IVF. Recently riding the roller coaster of implantation, you eagerly await “that” call. The phone rings and the doctor says “CONGRAGULATIONS!”. You are beyond yourself with excitment….”oh, yea” they add, “we made a mistake and you have been implanted with the wrong embryo.”

That is exactly what happened to Sean and Carolyn Savage. Now, they are faced with a choice. Do they continue the pregnancy knowing in the end they will have to give the baby to the other couple? Or, do they terminate the pregnancy? They say termination was never an option. Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of the story, Carolyn will not be able to be pregnant again because of health issues, although they do hope to use a surrogate for the remaining embryos.

Here is the interview with the couple, Shannon and Paul Morell who will be adding a new little son soon. Hopefully they will be able to fully connect with the baby since they haven’t had the chance during pregnancy.

I am now 24 1/2 weeks along.  Four weeks of IVIG down, too many more too go.  Too many blown veins from the IV every week.  A doctor’s appointment every week or so with another ultrasound next week.  I must confess, I knew what I was getting myself into, however, didn’t really.  Ya know?  One thing I am grateful for is the fact I am not on bed rest.  I have no idea how this girl could handle letting my house go, and being stuck lying down all day.  One day for IVIG is bad enough (about 8-9 hours).

I have to accept this is just a stage of life.  A crazy one at that!  If you are one who is on bed rest (even modified), my heart goes out to you.  What we go through to have babies is certainly a labor of love just for a “normal” pregnancy (no shame in admitting those who have them, I am jealous!).  Those of us who have a little extra to do, how much sweeter is that moment when the doctor lays your precious one on your breasts.  That is the moment I keep looking forward too (hoping for a VBAC).  Knowing all I do is because I already love this little girl more than words can express.  All of this is worth it!

On those days when you don’t want to be pregnant (every Tuesday evening when I remember in the morning I will have to have another IV put in, and hoping I will only have to be poked once or twice), focus on that moment.  The moment when you finally meet your little one.  Know also, you aren’t the only one and it doesn’t make you any less of a loving mama.

How do I explain to my 5 year old son how a man can be pregnant?  Thankfully my brain quickly came up with a simple answer he understood.  People on t.v were referring to Thomas Beatie (the pregnant man from Bend, Oregon) who is pregnant again.  I know these children are born into a family full of love which is what any kid needs.  However, how do you explain to those kids that the person they think is daddy was the one to birth them?  I wonder about peer teasing and how they will be accepted.  I personally feel sorry for Thomas because he seems to be confused.  He wants to be a man yet at the same time he wants to do the one thing that truly sets woman and men apart.  I see the ability to have babies a woman’s sacred ability.  I can understand transgender thinking, however, I just cannot wrap my mind around this.  He wants the be man and woman.  What do you think?

Clearblue has always been on the cutting edge of pregnancy/conception tests.  They have come through with another groundbreaking test.  You will soon be able to find the exact day you conceived.  It will be meant to confirm your pregnancy as well as tell you the date of conception for about $20.  It will work like a regular pregnancy test, however, it will also contain two hCG hormone detectors.  A digital screen will tell you exactly how many weeks pregnant you are.  In labratory testing, it has proven to be 92% accurate.  Maybe Maury Povich can invest in some of these.  Perhaps when these become mainstream, he may be out of a job.