Team J and B

I think the Canadian forum is pretty comfortable. Maybe it's because we're similar to Americans?

The cultural differences aren't as great, and the people here are less religious. People pass interviews because you tell the truth, not because your god made it happen! And we all get on well with our mates/spouses - no age, language, cultural barriers.

I remember the first few months here I particularly remember Krikit, trailmix, Kathryn41 as some of the nicer mods whose tones were professional and not condescending. There were other VJers offering advice but they were so condescending to people. When I realized they were Canadian, it felt pretty nice. I like how the above three people use emoticons to soften their responses, and they don't make nasty remarks. Feels nice to have these chaperones in the Canadian forum!

I also look at Effects of Family Changes on Immigration Benefits when I come to VJ. But lately I've become so jaded by what I read there usually about divorce and wanting to remain in the USA or abuse.

What about you?

Good information. I think I will buy a new one, even Medela's website mentions it.

People, don't listen to me about using a pre-owned breastpump. Apparently, I'm full of ######. IMO, I used a friend's breastpump and Monkey and I are fine, but it's not suggested to do so, so buy your own!

Autumnchik - you're right about not reusing pumps. But it is fine to buy them used as long as you buy all the accessories brand new (tubing, shield, etc.) I understand some women are skeptical about that still, so for them, if you feel safer buying brand new, do it! I will buy a used one that is more recent but use my own accessories.

And good advice about buying the pump after the baby is born.

Hope this helps.

Everyone-By the way, how many of you are doing/did breastfeeding/nursing versus forumla feeding? And what swayed you to choose one over the other? When did you decide to give your baby solid foods? Did you have any problems doing such too? Do you have any questions/concerns about such too?

Ant

Hi, Ant -

1) I've been bfing since day one. I've also pumped till my supply ran low. In the first six months I had too much milk so pumping was no problem and my husband could feed him when I didn't want to nurse.

2) I'm now pregnant again and my kid is still bfing. I eat for three, literally!

3) After my supply went down (around month six), I stopped pumping. I now nurse:

-when he wakes up in the morning

-before morning nap

-before afternoon nap (when he naps, that is)

-before bedtime

So I nurse 3-4 times a day.

4) He gets a bottle of formula about 10 minutes after I finish nursing him in the morning. While I have my coffee, he gets a formula bottle. So we do bfing and one formula bottle a day.

5) Rice cereal at six months. Then other mushy foods.

6) By eight months, he had six teeth so he was on our food. Now at a year he's on our food, just cut up. His new thing now is Japanese udon noodles - they're so chewy and fun to eat.

7) We go out to eat a lot and as long as he has food in front of him, he's cool. Eating out is great since eight months when he could sit up in a high chair. We don't hold back on spices or cuisine on him. He eats Chinese, Indian, Thai, American.

8) I am a believer in starting them with exciting tastes as soon as possible. I love hot, and he loves to sneak my food so he ends up eating some hot stuff. He doesn't care for meat, though. I don't eat meat so maybe he gets it there. He eats eggs, tofu, fish.

9) Some easy things to make: noodles, fried rice, scrambled eggs, toast with PB, cottage cheese with applesauce, fries, creamy soups.

Hope this helps!

O.

M.

G.

I'm addicted to this thread.

I wanna wrap them all up under my blankey!

I washed Monkey in our kitchen sink till he outgrew a regular cheapy tub (on loan from a friend). This pic looks like it was taken when he was a week old, so about exactly a year ago. He was around 7 lbs in that tub. So kitchen sink is definitely doable as long as you have a tub with a netting underneath for their comfort.

Our kitchen sink is quite large. The bathroom sinks in the rest of our house are regular sized; we don't have a laundry room sink; and we don't have a regular bathtub, so the kitchen sink was the best solution and it worked out splendidly.

I didn't buy anything new, except a few obvious things. I got most of my stuff on eBay, Craigslist (some free, some not), friends and family gave/loaned me tons of stuff, and Gramma and Grampa bought stuff we didn't want to buy ourselves.

I just purchased brand new a toddler car seat (Britax Roundabout $140 - lowest price). My next purchase will be the Medela Advanced breast pump in anticipation of #2. My friend had loaned me hers and it worked awesome so I think I will splurge and buy a new one myself if I can find one for under $200. If not, I will buy a used one for $150 or so. They run around $300 with taxes brand new.

If you guys have any questions on buying stuff new or used, feel free to ask me. I'm very frugal when it comes to baby stuff and my husband and I do a lot of research and always try to find the best deals online.

Neiks - when did you send in the application?

ADBA - replacement is quick. I've had to replace mine twice. I remember it didn't take longer than two months.

Agree with trailmix about the pathetic timeline. What a joke.

Ant+D+BabyA, can you please add my #1's info to the pretty list?

Name: Monkey

DOB 1/14/2009

EDD 1/25/2009

Boy (didn't know till born)

19"

7 lbs 4.7 oz

Autumnchik - Declan birfday is our anniversary!

I'm from Vancouver and we like our KD just ok. Maybe elsewhere in Canada it's a favored food?

That being said, I find people in San Francisco are more obsessed with mac 'n cheese. It's on the menu at a lot of restaurants we go to that are kid-friendly! Some are even gourmet for the adults, not just on the kiddie menu.

Good morning!

Welcome, everyone! Even if you had kids eons ago or even if you are still a baby yourself, feel free to join in with a quip or two or just to blab. I want ALL Canadians and other VJers to feel welcome in this thread. I vow not to clog this thread with posts and picture about every cute thing my kid does. I can share those with my kids' grandparents.

Let's just share and have a good laugh during this whole visa process from the very beginning to those that are now Amurkins.

Congratulations all the new expecting parents and to Blitz who will be giving birth any day now. You got your bag ready, missy?

TheATeam - I will try probiotics. I saw a grocer carry them. They're also good for irregularity, right?

My husband and I both also want three. #2 will be here in July. I need to get pregnant next year again to have another by the time I turn 36. I think I can do it. Just put on some heels and exchange looks with husband. Hahaha...yes, he does love high heels. Unfortunate for him, I'm all about comfort now. Big, chunky Keens. Opposite of sexy.

Mmm...KD with Tobasco...mmm...

Silly Americans prolly all believe this is true!

Hey, people of the Big Baby Thread! Staashi forced us Canadians to participate here so here I am.

Today is our spawn's first birthday and the nice mom that I am I scheduled his one year check up for today as well. He's 18 lbs 11 oz, meaning he is in the TOP 3-4% for weight! Hahahah...well, he's healthy and happy. Just genetically on the thinner side!

I know there is a pair of twins on this forum so happy birthday, twins!

I would have loved to have been married for at least a year before starting a family. But my husband stared at me too long when I was trying on shoes for him the week before our wedding that we had our baby 8.5 months after we got married.

This May we will have been married for 24 months. I will have been pregnant for 15 of those months.

Nothing has worked out as planned, but somehow everything still manages to fall in place.

Good thing we didn't wait till we were "ready" to have kids, either. We're no spring chickens! With this parenting thing, I just learn as I go along.

Do any of you have a "bitter tongue?"

I think in my case, that's part of the reason for my cravings of things are especially sour or hot or flavorful. My tongue just tastes bitter all the darn time. I chew gum, but once I stop chewing the gum, the taste comes back. It's such a disgusting feeling.

And acid reflux city.

Ew.

I've only read the last couple of pages of this thread, but I'm blessed I don't have any friends like ones you're all talking about. None have turned on me yet, anyway. All my close friends have been since high school and I'm now well into my 30s.

I will take this thread as a reminder to look within myself and make sure I'm the kind of friend to my loved ones that I expect others them to be to me.

Sorry, guys! I got a bit too graphic. I will watch myself from now on.

I'm a proper lady!

Oh, and how we found out we're pregnant? My husband just needs to stare me in the eye and bam, I'm sperminated.

I was trying on shoes for my wedding and modeling them for him the week before we got married. They were all red stiletto heels I ordered from Zappos.

He got hot watching me sashay down the hall. Called me from the room to help him with something, I went in, then he pinned me against the wall and had his way with me.

After a missed period, I knew. His sperms took.

Nice stories!

Ok, I'll share my son's birth. It's kind of a nice one. No complications. Language might not be suitable for the prim and proper. I haven't shared it with others before so forgive me if it's long and unedited. Childbirth doesn't have to be a horrific experience, just be aware that things sometimes might not work out the way you had planned, so have a back up plan.

At 5.30 AM Jan. 14, 2009, I went to use the washroom. I think my water broke. I woke my husband. I called the hospital to let them know. They told me it hadn't broken after much discussion. Told me to call back in the morning.

Back to bed. Woke at 7ish. Felt ok, usual Braxton Hicks since I've had months ago, but irregular. We go for breakfast. I'm timing the contractions during breakfast, irregular. Some were 3 minutes apart, some were 10 minutes apart.

Husband drops me off at hospital whilst he parked the car at home. We live three blocks away.

I check in, the nurse tells me I'm wrong and my water did not break and was mocking me because first time mothers all think a little urine is the water. Condescending. She says she'll call my doctor just in case, since he's next door.

He comes, sticks his finger in. I'm like 4 cms. Haha!

Dum-dee-dum. Get me all set up, etc.

Husband and I are chillin in the delivery room, making jokes, taking pictures. My doc had another delivery that day, a serious one.

At 12, my husband got a call from Macy's. We had left a note on our front door for the delivery men to please call us to deliver our couch. If we had rescheduled we'd have to wait another few weeks. So my husband ran home to let them in, then ran back all in 20 minutes. During that time, I had gotten my epidural.

The only time I cried during this whole birthing thing and the most painful was getting the epidural. It's a big needle that goes in your spine and it's not just a quick jab. The worst is the epidural, imo.

After the epidural, all is fine and happy again. More pictures, more posing, more lame jokes.

From 2.30 to 6, I pushed and pushed, but I know and my husband knows and the nurse knows I didn't give it my all. Why? I was too posh to push out "other things." Though I know that's natural, I just couldn't get over it. I farted once and covered my face and asked my husband, "Oh no, did I just poop?" He said no. So I was relieved. Haha. But my advice to everyone is fark your modesty, just push. I was also afraid to push so hard my rectum would come out. Then you wouldn't have to do lame lady pushes like I did for 3.5 hours and have your husband, the nurse, the doctor all standing there looking at you like you're being a child. So for my next one, I'm pushing hard.

During the last hour, my doctor had a bowl of olive oil and he had to oil my ####### to stretch me out. You don't really feel much, just a little pressure.

He came out right at 6 PM, all blue and plastic-looking. My belly felt like mush. But that night I finished my whole dinner. Hadn't had any food since 8 AM. The acid reflux disappeared the moment the baby came out. That was the best thing about having the baby - no more acid reflux!

The first week your vulva is all puffy but you can take Ibuprofen and wear frozen maxipads and clean yourself with water to relieve the soreness. It wasn't so much painful as it was sore.

I also breastfeed, and by month two or three, my uterus shrunk, and I lost all my baby weight except the breasts. Those shrunk about six to seven months after birth.

I'm size 0P, 5'1", <100 lbs. My baby was 7 lbs 6 oz. Your body will be able to pass your child through. During your last few weeks of check ups the doctor will be able to guesstimate if your baby is too big to deliver by V, so don't worry it won't be a last minute decision.

I wasn't cut, I ripped. I had insane back labour and I did it without drugs... its probably the main reason I only have one child. They say you forget the pain, it's been 11 years and I havent forgot.

That happened to my girl friend, too. She had everything planned out from when to conceive to what method to use when delivering. Unfortunately, she had back labor and crawled from admissions to her delivery room - she was in that much pain. And they couldn't drug her up in time so she delivered au naturel, much to her dismay. Poor woman.

No worries, the nurses will drug you up as soon as time is right!

I guess I shouldn't mention the bowl of olive oil...

Oh ValerieA...you're the squeamish one, right?

Have I got a surprise for you...heheheh...

Ps - when I had #1, I thought I was having twins because after I pushed him out, I pushed something else out, too. The uterus! Got it on picture, too.

But no worries, you won't feel a thing if your doc cuts you or sews you back up. I looked down after delivery and asked him, "Whatcha doin?" He said, "I'm sewing." Oh, ok. Back to taking pictures!

I am the foreigner and when the time comes I will file for citizenship. I will still retain my Canadianness, just adding on a new American identity.

If it meant I could only keep one or the other, I'd need to think about it long and hard. But I can have both, so I will.

Krikit - what a story!

Thanks for sharing.

I feel a bit like a nympho, since there is absolutely no way I could figure out my conception date.

Haha...nice.

Aren't most people nymphos, though? I thought that's the reason why they calculate from the LMP? Because most women remember that?

I only had two cycles back before getting pregnant again. Your first few cycles after pregnancy are irregular, btw.

I had the first ultrasound at around eight weeks. The doc inserted the ####### thing and bingo I saw the kidney bean lying there all proud, heart beating on the screen. It was touching.

I want to make a comment here about that first ultrasound. I know an abortion counselor who worked at a Planned Parenthood type place and she would encourage pregnant women to have their eight week ultrasound first before making a final decision on pregnancy termination. Now I know why. Just at two months, that image of something inside you is really quite indescribable.

My husband and myself are quite liberal and pro-choice all the way, but I think the pro-lifers really win the battle when they can urge a woman who wants an abortion to have the eight week ultrasound first. I am sure my friend has changed many minds.

Ok, that's all I have to say about that. Not preaching here. Heck knows I've had my fair share of terrible sins.