Alice Pregnancy Addict (alicesbaby)

[CTec]

I've known OF Alice and the crazy for about 15 years... only found this place as it's been mentioned in the comments of her latest post. Surely a matter of time before she stops now?

[JemilyJ]

13 hours ago, CTec said:

I've known OF Alice and the crazy for about 15 years... only found this place as it's been mentioned in the comments of her latest post. Surely a matter of time before she stops now?

I suspect she won't because it seems to be her only social outlet (which I'm not knocking I've most of my friends online but several of them have gone on to be IRL friends) OR she will but she'll let people she's known online for a long time have access which would sort of defeat the object. I would put money on her not going private though.

[Lurky]

Re British School Attendance Orders & homeschooling - there was a nasty case of a death of a child through abuse this or last year that flagged children being taken out of school as a red flag that means they should be checked out, so I suspect SS departments will be upping the priority of  checking out homeschooling - not in a USA Homeschoolers Defense paranoia way, but in a "we need to check the kids are OK" style.  I suspect because homeschooling is so rare here, compared to the USA, & with our more densely populated geography, it's less of a budget problem (though of course, regional variations still apply)

[JemilyJ]

2 minutes ago, Lurky said:

Re British School Attendance Orders & homeschooling - there was a nasty case of a death of a child through abuse this or last year that flagged children being taken out of school as a red flag that means they should be checked out, so I suspect SS departments will be upping the priority of  checking out homeschooling - not in a USA Homeschoolers Defense paranoia way, but in a "we need to check the kids are OK" style.  I suspect because homeschooling is so rare here, compared to the USA, & with our more densely populated geography, it's less of a budget problem (though of course, regional variations still apply)

Would it be SS departments who check homeschoolers? Surely it would be the LEA? (local education authority) But obviously SS would monitor homeschoolers who they had other contacts with and would probably do so more closely than with families who sent their children to schools.  So many of these things vary not just from region to region but depending on who your assigned contact is too in my experience of social services though.

[Lurky]

Just now, JemilyJ said:

Would it be SS departments who check homeschoolers? Surely it would be the LEA? (local education authority) But obviously SS would monitor homeschoolers who they had other contacts with and would probably do so more closely than with families who sent their children to schools.  So many of these things vary not just from region to region but depending on who your assigned contact is too in my experience of social services though.

I don't have the details to hand, but having kids pulled out of school/never enrolling them was flagged in a Serious Case Review as a risk factor for abuse - of course not "all people who homeschool are abusers" way, but as a "we need to do a risk assessment" thing.  In same way frequent A&E attendance is a risk factor and so on.

Of course I get why people are squirrelly about Social Services, but the bottom line is it's better they are too careful than too blasé.

[JemilyJ]

Oh it's definitely better to be too careful than accepting and regret it, I don't deny that and automatic social services naysayers irritate me. I just have a little bit of experience (personal and professional) of people in the same area and one is told "no funding for X" by their social worker and another is told "of course we can fund x" by theirs.  If they are going to monitor home schooling (or anything really) than they need to be clear cut in the criteria they meausre by.

[Lurky]

@JemilyJ I guess the only criteria is that someone has to check all HS kids are ok - eg if there are no other risk factors, LEA just keep an eye out, but IMO, there should be a risk assessment done on all, even if it's just paper-based to say "Ok, LEA lead on this family" or whatever.  (I used to work v closely with Barnardo's, and also with people who worked on serious abuse cases & such, which colours my views - & I imagine "small govt." people would be horrified - but there are too many cases of avoidable horrors out there)

[ladyaudley]

My husband was homeschooled in Scotland 20 years ago and afaik it involved an initial visit by the LEA because he'd started in school and then regular check ups throughout the years. It was always the LEA though.

[Foudeb]

New post up. This time they were trying to *not* get pregnant, honest! Except that for some inexplicable reason she forgot how long the ovulation window is! so she might be pregnant! thinking about it she's quite quite sure she is in fact pregnant! only it's too soon to test!

And there's a casual mention of homeschooling and potty training (feels like a hostage proof of life message), and a lengthy explanation of why she can't, really can't give more details about her existing, growing kids.

And then a load more details about how she feels pregnant.

That woman really has a problem with the relationship she has to her own body - chronicling every passing pain and level of mucus. I think the pregnancy addiction is only an extension of that - her body changes during pregnancy and she enjoys thinking about those changes. She's really weird. I predict that the moment she hits menopause she's going to invent some strange disease that for some reason the medical profession in their entirety can't seem to be able to diagnose.

[bea]

She's always pregnant. Even when she has her period exactly on time, it was CLEARLY a chemical pregnancy (these words do not mean what you think they mean, Alice) and she was pregnant.
Cramps and pain in her tailbone. And upcoming xray diagnostics. And an attempt to not get pregnant but she TOTALLY forgot how long to abstain for and hee hee, whoops. Alice, you idiot.

[Foudeb]

I think the UTI and her thinking of kidney stones and demanding x-rays from her doctor is in large part imaginary - her fertility is declining so she needs something else to obsess about. The moment she gets pregnant the UTI etc. will be gone, I guarantee it. Only to come back next time she's post-partum and takes longer than 2.5 seconds to conceive again.

[Closed Womb]

3 hours ago, Foudeb said:

New post up. This time they were trying to *not* get pregnant, honest! Except that for some inexplicable reason she forgot how long the ovulation window is! so she might be pregnant! thinking about it she's quite quite sure she is in fact pregnant! only it's too soon to test!

And there's a casual mention of homeschooling and potty training (feels like a hostage proof of life message), and a lengthy explanation of why she can't, really can't give more details about her existing, growing kids.

And then a load more details about how she feels pregnant.

That woman really has a problem with the relationship she has to her own body - chronicling every passing pain and level of mucus. I think the pregnancy addiction is only an extension of that - her body changes during pregnancy and she enjoys thinking about those changes. She's really weird. I predict that the moment she hits menopause she's going to invent some strange disease that for some reason the medical profession in their entirety can't seem to be able to diagnose.

Honestly, she has every right to blog about what she wants.  But she gave us 153 words on her UTI alone (under first spoiler) and then gave us 1,182 (one THOUSAND, one hundred and eighty two!) words about the probable/likely/whatever pregnancy that she's tried to avoid (under second spoiler.)  But her kids, meh.  She tells her friends about them on FB.  She's too exhausted to care about blog about them, but 1,182 on the miracle conception...

 

Spoiler

It has been a busy month. I had a UTI diagnosed and had antibiotics, then had those changed after my urine culture grew a strain of bacteria that needed a different antibiotic. I called the doctor again after I finished the course of treatment because I still had the occasional soreness when I wee, and also the same side pain, but it feels weirdly muscular, or perhaps even closer to the surface, and it radiates deep sometimes. It's definitely not feeling like a kidney stone. I even wondered about an ovarian cyst, but there's zero pain during intercourse (which is a common symptom), and it radiated up to my ribs which I would think is a bit high?? Anyway, they took another urine sample to be sure it's all cleared up, and I'm waiting for those results right now. I feel better in myself though. Waiting for the scan referral to come through.

Spoiler

As far as this month's cycle goes - it's the first time in what feels like MY LIFE that I've ever suggested to Neil that maybe we prevent pregnancy this month. Just because of the scans coming up - I am not sure if they would want to do X-ray and I can't have that if I am pregnant, so... We just really... contraception just does not sit right with us, even so. So we chose to abstain when I was most fertile. Except that I had some maybe/maybe-not fertile CM for several days that I wondered about - it wasn't EWCM, but it was the "precursor" that I often chart as EWCM for my own reference, because it's not any of the other types and I know it means the proper EWCM is coming. But I know that I have many days after the "precursor" stuff starts, before I'm fertile and ovulate - if I even do ovulate that time around. And it was WAY early in my cycle for me to be fertile - like CD11 or something. So we figured it was still okay for the parsnips.

 

Fast forward a week or something, and I've ovulated. I counted a 5 day cut-off between the last parsnips and ovulation, which I figured was close but "safe" - it feels really weird talking like this about avoiding pregnancy! :/ Who would want to prevent such a blessing?! Or at least, that's how I feel about it. It feels strange to be making that choice, after all these years. Just for this month though.

 

Well, I was merrily going about my business, temping to be sure of my ovulation and charting to see it nicely, when my sweet friend Rebecca pointed out that it was a 4-day cut-off, not 5 days. I went back and counted again, and lo and behold, she was right! I can't believe I looked at a chart and counted wrong, haha! I guess I counted the day of the parsnips as day 1, instead of counting up to ovulation day from the day after parsnips.

 

Suddenly I felt kind of panicky - again WEIRD for me because the very chance of pregnancy is a thrill and a great excitement, God's timing - a blessing! But because I had had the mindset of preventing, I felt a bit thrown. So I am 6 days past ovulation today. Yesterday, 5DPO, my temp dropped like a STONE, right down to the coverline, like a pre-ovulation temp. That's really odd for me. At the time I thought, oh it's like an implantation dip, haha! Little did I know that maybe it IS one!

 

I checked all my previous charts for evidence of pregnancies that I've had from the exact timing of parsnips to ovulation, 4 days before, in the past. Guess what I came up with? Matthew, Nathan, Lydia and one chemical pregnancy. All of them one incidence of parsnips 4 days before ovulation. Hmmm! So I guess we wait and see. It feels surreal that there could be a chance, and I'm thinking surely NOT?! I mean, I can't just EVERY SINGLE CYCLE go "Oh! I might be pregnant!" lol! But usually, bizarrely, I might. Even this time.

 

I haven't really got any really obvious early symptoms. Well, I tell a lie - maybe I just don't want to imagine there are any? I have had bad cramps this morning. Proper ones with radiating back ache. Never happens unless I'm pregnant. Also a weird... sensation which is too personal to ever explain here (even in my previous pregnancies I've mentioned it in about the same detail as this) in my... nether regions (!) which again, I have only ever had in very early pregnancy. Not every time, but most of them. I am irritable and tired, but sometimes that's just normal tiredness when I've been woken a lot in the night like I often am. I am gassy, and to be honest very similar to early pregnancy gassiness, but I'm not making anything of it because it could easily be nothing to do with potential pregnancy. I have been having quite a lot of back ache and the odd bit of pelvic pain - I had pain in my tailbone when I got out of bed yesterday morning and I remember it really grabbed my attention (had no idea at that point that there was any chance of conception) because I hadn't had pain in that area since I was last pregnant. It just aches occasionally when I'm pregnant, but for whatever reason, it doesn't really bother me outside of pregnancy, except in the early weeks I guess when there's still relaxin or whatever it is in my system.

 

Anyway, that's it really. I am feeling sluggish and like I just want to eat junk and drink Coke, ha! I don't normally do that, but it could easily be a pre-period thing, so...

 

If I am not pregnant then I don't know what to expect of my luteal phase length. Maybe it could finish tomorrow even, shorter than the last 2 cycles but I am sure I conceived those cycles and that lengthened my LP to a day or two longer than it would otherwise have been.

 

I mentioned it to Neil, and it's like our roles are reversed! Normally I am the one all thrilled with the possibility and he's cautiously happy but anxious about providing (financially, that's his main concern). Now he has this new job coming up, he is so much less anxious. *I* was slightly anxious because what if, for thorough investigation, I need some diagnostics done that I can't get if I'm pregnant? What if they are annoyed with me for becoming pregnant when I knew those tests were upcoming? I did mean to prevent for that reason, but... Anyway. Neil was happy and even congratulated me and told me to test in the morning, lol! WAY premature for all that at only 6DPO when I still might get my period. He reassured me over the worries I had, and moved on to thinking about moving house again to somewhere bigger with even more space for our growing family. And you know the children will be THRILLED - so so happy to have another baby in the family.

 

I will see what my temp does from now, and just wait. When I was feeling very crampy today, I had a really full heavy feel in the pit of my abdomen, almost in my groin, and I also felt very "leaky". I kept going to the loo to see if my period was starting early, but (of course) nothing was there except my usual suspiciously "pregnant" CM. Which I'm trying not to get too focused on. It's way too surreal, for some reason. And it could all just be for nothing, if I end up with my period anyway.

 

My temp went up again this morning, after yesterday's big dip, and I'll see about tomorrow's. Will update again soon.

 

[MsSaylor]

Wow there's no words. I wish she would have a different obsession. Maybe even other people's large families, like me! 

[PopRox]

I'm okay with her not sharing much about her growing kids; they deserve privacy. I worry about the kids of Mommybloggers who have all their personal growing-up moments splashed all over the internet for the sake of clicks.

But pie-oh-my, that was some serious word salad about her possible-conception. I don't even know what half those acronyms mean, and I also own a set of lady parts. Too much information, woman!!

[Granwych]

 After reading the "possible pregnancy" page, all I can say is "Good Fucking Grief!!"

[Closed Womb]

23 hours ago, PopRox said:

I'm okay with her not sharing much about her growing kids; they deserve privacy. I worry about the kids of Mommybloggers who have all their personal growing-up moments splashed all over the internet for the sake of clicks.

But pie-oh-my, that was some serious word salad about her possible-conception. I don't even know what half those acronyms mean, and I also own a set of lady parts. Too much information, woman!!

It would be great if Alice cared about her kid's privacy.  I'd applaud that.  But, most people get the feeling that she doesn't blog about her kids because she only cares about the pregnancy and baby stage.  After reading years and years of her blogs, I'd agree with that.   I don't think anyone here is disappointed that they don't get updates on the boy children; we're disappointed because she doesn't care much about the older kids (which happens to be the boy children.  Although, anyone else notice that we're not getting much information about Lydia now that Rosalie is here??)  

That said, she's been tipped off to us (someone mentioned it in the comments of her blog, grrr), so I'm guessing she'll suddenly use that as an excuse or "reason" for not blogging about the older kids.  It's much more reasonable than her latest, which is that she just doesn't have time. 

[ILoveJellybeans]

TMI, I think I know more about this woman's uterus than I do about my own.

[JemilyJ]

Alice has just updated again. I have one word to describe it: batshit

[sophie10130]

Reading Alice's blog makes me tired. I can't imagine having to think that much about your body. I even slack on plugging my period into a period tracker app on my phone. 

[JMO]

Just when I think I'm crazy with over analyzing my body while I'm TTC I know I can check in on Alice and feel more rational.  

[Closed Womb]

2 hours ago, JemilyJ said:

Alice has just updated again. I have one word to describe it: batshit

But does she have weirdly soft skin?  What about that symptom?

 

Alice, you're slipping.  

[Foudeb]

That one seemed oddly lucid to me, as good as admitting that no, she's not pregnant, and yes, she'll be having a period soon.

Quote

I struggle such a lot with health anxiety

Nailed it.

[JemilyJ]

I have in the past blogged a fair amount of detail about my own meds and symptoms (along the lines of X symptom is better now I'm trying Y med etc) - but that's because I know several people with the same condition as me or with kids with the condition sometimes read my blog and I used to find that sort of information useful when I read other blogs.  Then I stopped blogging about that because I realised that level of focus wasn't good for me mentally, especially when others would push for more details/updates.  I can't help but think a similar revelation would really help Alice's health anxiety.

[AmazonGrace]

It must be so hard on her because every time that a regular person would have a period she miscarries a baby.

[3KidsAndStopped]

Oh.my.days 

i genuinely don't know whether to laugh or cry at that pregnancy test. Laugh because someone who has actually seen a positive result would know that is not positive, cry because by posting it so publicly she believes it.