I do have someone that comes in on Thursday's to help with the kids. She also does some cleaning and laundry for me. I have Dr.'s appointments every 2 weeks from now on out so have made those on Thursday's so I don't have to take the kids with me. Last week was the first time, and it was nice to have someone entertain the kids and help with picking up. I got to go and pick peaches, apples and pears to make baby food for the new little one and pick up groceries without 3 helpers in tow. My mil also offered to come over once a week and my mom has been trying to come up once a week. So even though it is going to be a long 2 and a half months the help will be appreciated. I tried in May to find someone to come in during the week for a few days or afternoons and couldn't find anyone interested in helping out, even high school girls or college girls home for the summer. I will post picks, but I am so big this time around and my stomach is hard as a rock and stretching like crazy, I hate to think of how much extra skin I will have after the baby is born. After the baby is born, I will have to wait 6 weeks and have to have gallbladder surgery and will be out of commission for a few more weeks. I am definately not looking foreward to 2 surgeries so close together, but I am not going to keep dealing with the gallbladder attacks if I don't have to. Stacie girlsingardens

Hi every one of you wonderful supportive & very kind women! I am beyond grateful for finding this thread after quite a bit of searching on the net! I just turned 49 years old last Friday (Aug. 15th) & because of all your kind words & your personal stories you've all shared, you've made me feel sooooo much better! I have 2 sons, with my oldest being 19 & my youngest, being 16 & a half. They both are the absolute joy, treasures & blessings in my life & I thank God every day for blessing me with them, & I cannot believe how lucky I am to have these 2 incredible children & being given the privilege to be their mother! I was always told as a teenager & well into my mid-20s, that I would never be able to conceive a child due to the fact that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (aka PCOS). My ex-husband, whom I divorced over 6 years ago, is the father of my 2 sons. We did have many challenges re: infertility but, I was able to conceive my oldest son, after 2 years of fertility treatments. I should also mention, I know when I conceived, due to Trans-vaginal ultrasounds. I swear, within 2 days, I started having pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness, fatigue , craving Bologna & Cheese Whiz sandwiches in the middle of the night, etc. I had a urine Preg. Test, as well as blood work, @ 25 days, post conception but both were negative ! I didn't have a positive blood test, until Day 38, after conception! Although my Obstetrician disagreed with me, my 2nd son was conceived through acupuncture. I am an RN, but had a serious, work-related back injury & I was receiving the acupuncture to help control the constant back pain. Because of the PCOS, I've never, ever had a regular period, & there've been times through the years, when I've actually gone up to 2 years without a period. But, while I was the acupuncture treatments for about 3 months, I actually had a regular cycle every 28 days, whilst receiving the acupuncture. I'm not sure why, as I didn't have any pregnancy symptoms @ the time, something told me that I should buy a pregnancy test. Lo & behold, it was positive! I can't begin to describe the sheer, utter joy felt, when I did a HPT (Home Preg. Test). I should also mention; both of my pregnancies were extremely difficult, such as needing to be on bed rest with both boys from 18 weeks, to my delivery. I was also, especially with my 2nd son, very sick with constant "Morning Sickness", as well as being in & out of hospital numerous times with both boys. As well, with my 2nd son, I was literally walking down the hallway (no stairs involved), @ about 16 weeks, speaking on the telephone, when all of a sudden, I had this horrible extremely sharp pain, worse when I took a breath, non-stop pain & I literally collapsed on the floor! I couldn't move a muscle because of the pain. My husband @ the time, rushed home from work & had to actually carry me to our car; as well as carry me into our Chiropractor's office. Apparently, 2-3 discs in my mid-back had herniated, again...this all happened while I literally was doing NOTHING,(I do promise, there's a reason why I mentioned this, lol) my ex-husband & I, had always wanted 3 kids but even after numerous fertility treatments, we never were successful. 6+ years ago! post-divorce, I met the man of my dreams! He's the absolute love of my life, my best friend, my soulmate! He's never been married,nor has he any children. He is absolutely phenomenal with both my sons; especially with my youngest, who has moderate-to-severe autism. He truly is much more of a father to my sons, than their own father. About 3 years ago, I had my IUD removed, & ever since then, I'm absolutely astounded & flabbergasted because, I've had a regular period every 25-28 days, like clockwork! I actually had some symptoms similar to puberty, including acne, PMS, etc! I had my last period around the end of June, early July, 2014. I wasn't thinking about pregnancy, as well as, thought with the PCOS, & my age, pregnancy days were over. In the 3rd last week in July, of this year, I started getting extreme nausea. To this day, if I get too hot, too tired, or the smell of literally anything cooking, I end up with horrendous retching/dry heaves, for up to 30 min, many times a day. The only thing that helps, is to be in a cooler temp & free of any odours. My sense of smell, I swear, is multiplied by a thousand! My breast size has almost gone up one size since the nausea started. The only thing I've been able to eat, is red licorice(I don't mind it regularly but, I'd never eat it before all of this) & Jello Pudding cups. I'm exhausted beyond belief, my abdomen is growing daily, I'm either crying over a Hallmark Commercial, lol, or losing my temper over absolutely ridiculous things, (normally, I'm very good-tempered, rarely get angry, rarely cry). I've had unexplained heartburn, off & on, &, the most obvious sign...my abdomen is growing, a small bit everyday! When I should've had my period on Aug 6/Aug7th, I had some pink spotting but on Aug 7th, I had very heavy bleeding, with quarter-sized clots & a few times, it looked like very small bits of either more clots, or tissue!?!? Prior to this happening, the pregnancy symptoms were so severe, a few days before this, I literally couldn't get out of bed, due to the extreme nausea & fatigue. I had also had a lot of cramping before this too. I thought maybe that I'd had a very early miscarriage but, the bleeding only lasted 10 hours. After this, no further bleeding or cramping! I still have all the pregnancy symptoms but they're about 35-40% lessened in severity! As well, after the bleeding episode, as time goes on, they're starting to increase in severity! I really do think, I may've been pregnant with twins but possibly???, I may've very sadly, miscarried 1 of them? As well, what happened with my mid-back, with my 2nd son, literally occurred last Friday!!! Same pain, same scenario, where is literally standing still in the bathroom, just about to start putting my make up on, when...excruciating pain, bringing me immediately to the floor! As well, my very well-controlled asthma, again with my 2nd son, was so bad, I literally couldn't climb 2 steps, without getting short of breath. (This happened @ about 10 weeks with him. Same thing with my asthma, since this past weekend! I absolutely & most, most sincerely apologize for such a long post but the reason for such a long post is: I've been doing HPT, every 2-3 days, since my symptoms started. I've tried different brans, even tried with only the 1st morning urine, BUT, they're all coming up negative!!! However, 1 of the tests did have a very, very, very faint line, which my hubbie could see too! I did a HPT last night; negative! I was beginning to think I was going crazy here, lol, I thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time to read such a long post; as well as, for all of you sharing your experiences! I'd be eternally grateful, if anyone has any suggestions, or has had a similar story! I'm going to go to the ER today, with the hopes of getting some answers! I wish you all, nothing but the best, including much, much, much happiness, luck, light & love

Drat that morning sickness! Blech! I easily ate eggs all my life growing up, scrambled, over easy, omelettes, hard boiled etc. Became pregnant with number #1, and one of the few things I could eat was eggs. Craved them. After he was born, I couldn't eat an egg without feeling ill, and I'd brush my teeth over and over to try to get the 'taste' of the egg out. When I became pregnant with #2, I wanted eggs again and could eat them again...until I came home with #2 and fixed me up an egg to eat because I was hungry, and after I wanted to puke. Haven't been able to eat eggs since. Neither kid will eat them. And milk, I drank a litre or more a day, would wake up in the morning after dreaming of drinking milk straight from the taps in the house. Weird. #1 Loves milk (has to be chocolate now tho'). With #2 I could barely get a glass of milk down a day, did it only because I had to, but loved fruit and juices. #2 favors fruit and juices. Also ate lots of peanut butter with #2, and now #2 enjoys peanut butter. I didn't eat any peanut butter with #1, and guess what - he won't touch the stuff! Here's hoping the taste buds and cravings get back to normal for you (and baby).

I was having trouble finding castor oil (for soap making) locally. My DH insisted I should be looking in the baby section and said "isn't that what they give babies in cartoons when they aren't feeling well?" lol! Yes. But now we know that it causes people to barf and poop because it is poison, so I don't think they keep it there any more. We did eventually find it, on the bottom shelf of a locked up section with the stuff you take right before a colonoscopy hahaha! My mom talks about being a young nurse and giving all the children in the ward a spoon of cod liver oil before bed. *blerg*. I was raised by wolves (fiercely protective but often absent, we were left to fend for ourselves and be independent). My husband was raised by monkeys. I haven't asked my daughter what kind of animals we are yet, I'll wait until she is 30 and has had a few years of therapy under her belt ROFL! Dances.