A long time ago there was a commercial for a pregnancy test on TV that showed a woman standing up and thinking, “I can’t concentrate. Could I be pregnant?” For years, my husband and I laughed at the commercial because we could not make the connection as to what one had to do with the other. Why would she think she was pregnant just because she couldn’t concentrate? The idea seemed absolutely ludicrous to us.

Now that I’m pregnant with our second child, I find that I am the woman from that commercial. And, I’m eating my words – or laughter, in this case. I totally get it now. I’m unable to concentrate and am having a somewhat hard time adjusting and maintaining my work-life balance.

More specifically, I’m finding it a bit difficult to deal with the pregnancy symptoms  – the various aches, and especially the lack of energy – plus entertain and play with my baby girl. I’m getting tired of saying, “Mommy’s not feeling good” and I know she must be tired of hearing it. I can only do so many couch-based activities with her before she requires more stimulation. I’ve tried reading together, watching movies, and playing board games, to name a few things. I get up and moving with her when I can, but it’s not long before, “Mommy has to sit down and take a break.”

I know she’s an understanding girl and for the most part moves on to do another activity. Often times my husband will take over and do something with her until I can keep playing. But, the mommy guilt is coming on full-force these days and I can feel she’s getting frustrated. I’m getting frustrated. It’s even causing tension between us and I find these days we are often snapping at each other; the hormones aren’t helping with my patience either.

Of course, other aspects of our home life are affected, such as keeping up with the household. Luckily, I have a great husband who is doing his part to keep up with things around the house. But, that is not as serious an issue in my mind as the connection with my daughter. That is something he cannot help with.

So, today I want to hear from all of you who already have two, three, and especially those of you who have four or more kids. I want to know how you managed your pregnancies while also working, managing a household, and caring for and entertaining your kids. Hopefully I’m not the only one out there who’s had this issue when pregnant the second time around and you’ll be able to provide some input.

How did you deal with the pregnancy symptoms and maintain a sense of work-life balance?

As you may know, the husband and I have been trying to conceive our second child. I’m happy to share with you that we are expecting a fourth member of our family and will be welcoming him or her in December! Earlier this week, I announced our good news on our pregnancy blog. You can read more information there about how I’m currently feeling, how far along I am, and the big sister’s reactions to the news.

We’re very excited and I’m looking forward to the next few months and preparing for our new baby. I won’t be posting much about the pregnancy itself on here, so if you want to follow along the next few months, make sure to subscribe to the feed for 40weeks Plus and stay updated.

Survey

As I mentioned before, I was working on a survey to gather more information about you, the readers. Please help me out and take this quick and short survey so I can learn more about who you are, what you like about this blog, and how you think it can be improved. I promise it’ll only take you about 2 minutes to complete it. Thanks so much!

I first saw this story on the Orlando Sentinel’s Moms at Work blog, but with a quick search found other stories like the one on NYDailyNews.com.

What do you think?

What is your initial reaction to the billboard?

Do you think it’s effective in getting their message across?

You may have to read the stories to find out the meaning behind the billboard.

Photo via NYDailyNews.com

For all you moms or soon-to-be moms out there, I’m sure you can relate. We’ve all heard those annoying comments or questions when pregnant.

The one I used to hate the most was, “Getting Pretty Big, huh?“.

I used to just smile and nod, or fake a lil laugh, but man, do I wish I could have just told them off.

I think next time, if I get the same question, I’ll try to answer with something like, “Big? You think I’m getting big? You don’t think I could be pregnant, do you?”.

What sorts of questions/comments did you get when pregnant or as a new mom? What was your answer (or what you wish you had said)?

Don’t you wish you could have just handed them this?

My brother and sister-in-law just had their baby last night!

I have a brand new nephew to add to the collection.

She was in labor for a little under 23 hours before they did a c-section.

My little nephew just didn’t want to make his way down the canal. Try as they did, he stopped mid-way.

All is well and everyone is healthy.

As dumb as it might sound, I asked her, “If he was already making his way down, how did they pull him back up to deliver him via c-section?”

She had no clue either and didn’t bother to ask. I don’t blame her.

Back when, I started a series of parenting resources and I still have two more parts that I haven’t posted! I’m such a slacker. Anyhow, here is part 3 of the four part series.

These are various sites with information on pregnancy, parenting, ways to connect with other moms (or parents), newsletters, free tools, etc.

1. Clubmom
2. PregnancyandBaby.com
3. PregnancyWeekly
4. Savvy Mommy
5. Parents.com
6. Connecting Moms

technorati: pregnancy, motherhood, parenting, free, newsletters, clubmom, parents, connecting moms, parenting resources

As promised, here is the second part of my list of resources:

Baby Food – they all mail (or email) coupons

1. Nursery Water – http://nurserywater.com/home.html
2. Gerber – http://www.gerber.com/home
3. Beechnut – http://beechnut.com/

Gerber also has a separate site for their clothing items at http://www.gerberchildrenswear.com/.

Did you use the Nursery Water for your baby’s milk? Or, did you boil your own water?

technorati: pregnancy, motherhood, parenting, samples, coupons, free, baby food, gerber, beechnut, nursery water

Throughout my pregnancy, I collected a variety of websites that offer free information, newsletters, samples, coupons, etc. Some of them, I still keep up with as they also have great parenting information. Now that my sister-in-law is with child, I decided to compile a list for her so that she too can reap the benefits. Since I’m such a nice person :ahem: I decided to share this list with everyone. Now, you might already know about these, but maybe, just maybe, you’ll find one you didn’t know about yet.

Here, the first part of my list:

Formula and diaper companies – they all mail out free samples and coupons, so I highly suggest you sign up with these companies.

1. Similac – http://welcomeaddition.com/
2. Nestle – http://www.verybestbaby.com
3. Enfamil – https://www.enfamil.com/
4. Pampers – http://us.pampers.com/ – I really like Pampers because they have a rewards program where the wipes & diapers all have points you can collect & redeem for toys and other products
5. Huggies – http://www.huggiesbabynetwork.com
6. Luvs – http://www.luvs.com

Next time, baby food.

What formula did (or do) you prefer for your baby? How about which diaper brand?

technorati: pregnancy, motherhood, parenting, samples, coupons, free, baby food, diapers, formula

I came across this posting at VivirLatino.com and then an article at Scotsman.com about a 67 year old woman in Spain who gave birth to twins after undergoing fertility treatment (she is now the oldest mother on record).

Now, I don’t want to be mean and I do think it’s great that this woman was able to have children (it is her first birth), but I’m just not sure this is fair for the babies. This woman might not even live to be around for their teenage years. Is there a point where one needs to step back and think – Ok, I might be physically able and science may provide me the means to become a mother, but maybe I shouldn’t? Is there a point where one becomes too old to enter into motherhood? Actually, this applies to men also, since they too can become fathers at a late age. But, should they?

What do you think? Just how old is too old to have children? Or, is there no age limit?

Image via stock.xchng

technorati: world’s oldest mom, 67 year old mom, vivirlatino, motherhood, too old

To go along with that last post…

I have been having a major case of forgetfulness. I have lists everywhere and for everything and I still can’t seem to get everything in order or remember everything. Perfect example – my husband’s company Christmas party was this past weekend.

He went to work for a while and I was to meet him there in time for the party. He asked that I buy him a sweater and bring it with me so that he could wear it to the party. I bought him a nice sweater and put the bag next to the counter in the kitchen, so I wouldn’t forget it. Guess what? You got it! I forgot the stupid bag and only remembered as I’m 2 minutes away from my husband’s job. Luckily it wasn’t very cold that night, so he was ok, but still, I forgot. And, I’ve been like that for a few other things lately.

Ok, I’m done whining now. I’m sure there are more important things to worry about, but being a person who used to remember everything and who was very organized, it’s hard to realize you can’t keep up with everything anymore. All this from just having a baby???!!! lol

technorati: forgetfulness, lists, organized, whining, motherhood