Tell me Anna Duggar is not pg.

[Miggy]

I knew my mom's. But only because we were all on the same cycle. Within days. It was kinda freaky. (But at least I never ran out of stuff!)

It is normal that females living in the same house cycle together. (Mother+daughters, girls sharing at uni, whoever.) It is logical that the Duggar girls know their mothers cycle because it would be the same as theirs. The bit that's "kinda freaky" is having Michelle and/or the girls talk about it for all the world to hear!

As for Anna's next birth, I'm going for a New York hotel while on a book signing tour with the Duggar girls "Growing Up Duggar".

[marmalade]

She has already lost the looking up to him in awe when he speaks like Michelle still does for Jim Bob.

Not so. They spoke at that church a couple of months ago and she had the adoring gaze down pat. Of course, when she spoke, he was surfing his i-phone. Ass.

[Third]

It is normal that females living in the same house cycle together. (Mother+daughters, girls sharing at uni, whoever.) It is logical that the Duggar girls know their mothers cycle because it would be the same as theirs. The bit that's "kinda freaky" is having Michelle and/or the girls talk about it for all the world to hear!

As for Anna's next birth, I'm going for a New York hotel while on a book signing tour with the Duggar girls "Growing Up Duggar".

Fair enough. Still I don't want to know when my mom's fertile!

[3 is enough]

I'm still not convinced. Speculation about a possible pregnancy started almost 2 months ago, and I don't see any noticeable difference in Anna's belly. Most women show quicker with each subsequent pregnancy, so if she really was pregnant, it would be difficult to hide by now.

Also, they've been on the campaign trail. Lots of people have seen them all over the place, and surely the speculation about a possible pregnancy would have become public at some point.

Between the world tour and campaigning, they've been on the road constantly since Michael was born. Eating out all the time, even with the healthiest menu choices, combined with a lack of a daily routine would make it very difficult to lose the baby weight.

[spragger]

My friend asked me when my mum's birthday was and when mine was. I realised it was nine months exactly before mine and felt sick.

Take comfort then. If you weren't born early, then you may not have been birthday sex. Pregnancy actually takes 40 weeks, not 9 months. The question is: What happened 3-4 weeks before your mother's birthday?

I was in college when I got pregnant and still can't figure out what the date of conception was. The doctor gave me a "you slut!" look when I told him I had no idea. I said, "Well, we were using birth control and it was always the same guy!!!"

[Beeks]

Take comfort then. If you weren't born early, then you may not have been birthday sex. Pregnancy actually takes 40 weeks, not 9 months. The question is: What happened 3-4 weeks before your mother's birthday?

I was in college when I got pregnant and still can't figure out what the date of conception was. The doctor gave me a "you slut!" look when I told him I had no idea. I said, "Well, we were using birth control and it was always the same guy!!!"

That's not really correct - yes, 40 weeks are counted, but that's counting from your last menstrual period. So it actually counts the first few weeks BEFORE conception.

[xReems]

The past few months, Smuggar has managed to post less than 5 pictures of home cooked meals from Anna. Unless he doesn't find Anna's cooking worthy enough to be posted on his Instagram compared to Outback and chinese take out, it's safe to assume that they have been eating out more than having a home cooked meal. If that's the case, Anna might have just gained a lot of weight from being on the road. Either that or she's picked up Smuggar's eating habit just a wee bit.

If she is pregnant, they're probably waiting until they can make an announcement on the Today Show before the "pregnancy announcement" episode airs.

[spragger]

That's not really correct - yes, 40 weeks are counted, but that's counting from your last menstrual period. So it actually counts the first few weeks BEFORE conception.

That hurts my brains. B/c don't women have a varied number of days in their cycles? I know my periods were about 6 weeks apart. And there is that "luteal phase" that can be short or long. I don't think I knew the date of the last day of my period. I wasn't sure. I was feeling "under the weather" and went in to see if I had some type of virus and said, hey can you give me a blood test and see if I'm pregnant, and I was. I think they were able to calculate pretty accurately even with not knowing the date of conception or last day of my period. I guess they used the ultrasound? I had one of those vaginal ultrasounds and I think that helped. Hopefully it will always be a mystery to my daughter because I'm sure it will gross her out.

And I guess that would make conception 9 1/2 months back?

[Minerva]

Doing the same thing, I was my mother's birthday sex. Somethings children need never know and that is why I am lucky with my sons not caring. Now their wives might and tell their husbands that your folks like to party it up on holidays. :oops:

Never have I been this happy that my mom has forgotten my due date.

[Minerva]

I swear I saw on an episode the girls were so excited because it was time to test and they knew her cycles and maybe even her fertile times. They were all betting among themselves if they could tell mama was pregnant again. This may have been for or before Josie.

I will go on pretending my parents only have had sex twice in the past 34 years. *sticks fingers in ears* la la la la

My parents had me believing that until I was about 11. It was very kind of them...

[Rachel333]

Yeah, I realized a while ago that my birthday is just about right for a Valentine's Day conception, and then I found out that I was an accident. Not really what I wanted to think about.

[littlehouse]

Bwhaha, my two littles were made on my birthday. And I was made on Christmas. It was nuts to figure that out myself, my Mom laughed and laughed. Now my littles get to do the same, oh the fun I will have when they figure it out.

I still think Anna is preggers. So we will get to watch Smugger eat, and have a nap. As their two children toddle around and Anna is pushing out another toilet baby.

[bubbabearzle]

LOL!

I'm surprised my son hasn't done that. He knows how late he was, so he can work out his EDD and count back until he gets to Valentines day!

ROFLMAO! I can top that: both of my kids were conceived on holidays, LOL! My older son was conceived in New Year's Eve, and my younger on the 4th of July. Dh and I had=ve a running joke about us and fireworks!

[bubbabearzle]

My friend asked me when my mum's birthday was and when mine was. I realised it was nine months exactly before mine and felt sick.

Oh my goodness, you've just grossed me out - my mom's birthday is June 12th and mine is March 14th - ick!

[bubbabearzle]

My mom had an issue with her abdominal muscles separating after she had my youngest brother. She has a body shape (Thin arms/legs and carries weight in the middle) similar to Anna's and her stomach still sticks out past her chest. Of course my mom was 42 when she had my brother, not 23. So she could very well be pregnant, considering that she is back in maternity wear this could be very likely.

Your mom's body sounds identical to mine, sadly enough! At one point in time, i was hoping that there was hope for my rectus muscles going back pretty close to each other, but without surgery it ain't gonna happen (it's been 11 years now since I had my youngest). le sigh!

[Maul the Koala]

I was conceived right after my parents' wedding. My parents had been together for years before they got married but my mom didn't want to be pregnant until after my parents got married for a variety of reasons.

[alaeangelorum]

That hurts my brains. B/c don't women have a varied number of days in their cycles? I know my periods were about 6 weeks apart. And there is that "luteal phase" that can be short or long. I don't think I knew the date of the last day of my period. I wasn't sure. I was feeling "under the weather" and went in to see if I had some type of virus and said, hey can you give me a blood test and see if I'm pregnant, and I was. I think they were able to calculate pretty accurately even with not knowing the date of conception or last day of my period. I guess they used the ultrasound? I had one of those vaginal ultrasounds and I think that helped. Hopefully it will always be a mystery to my daughter because I'm sure it will gross her out.

And I guess that would make conception 9 1/2 months back?

It's not totally accurate, no, but it's usually not more than a couple of weeks out. Anyway, that's why we now have ultrasound dating. They still include about two weeks extra when dating pregnancies though, eg if a pregnancy is dated at 8 weeks on a scan it will have been conceived 6 weeks ago... supposedly to reduce confusion between the two systems.

[lilith]

My father and my aunt are born almost exactly two years apart - each 9 months after my grandfather had home leave from the air force...........

[LadyBlue]

Your mom's body sounds identical to mine, sadly enough! At one point in time, i was hoping that there was hope for my rectus muscles going back pretty close to each other, but without surgery it ain't gonna happen (it's been 11 years now since I had my youngest). le sigh!

Have you tried the exercises from http://www.amazon.com/Lose-Mummy-Tummy- ... 0738209813? Or this really quick exercise from Elizabeth Noble? Elizabeth's exercise for diastasis is to lie on your back, put your feet flat on the ground. Cross your arms over the worst spot to hold it together and then lift your head just barely up. Do 10 times a couple times a day. Once it starts making a difference, you can lift your head a bit further. She also says to avoid regular crunches/sit ups etc that put a lot of pressure on your abs. When I was working to get rid of mine, I made a point of rolling to my side before sitting up from lying.

Pregnancy length...most babies are born between 38-42 weeks, although drs have pushed that down to 37 weeks with inductions and cesareans, most without medical indication. The March of Dimes is trying to get OBs to stop doing that and avoid delivering babies before 39 weeks unless medically indicated. The average first pregnancy is actually 41 weeks 3 days for Caucasian women and about 10 days shorter for black women. The average for subsequent pregnancies is 40 weeks 5 days. Length can also be affected by how long your cycle is and when you ovulate, although drs rarely consider that a later ovulation will mean a later baby. If you know when you ovulated, and it's later than day 14 from the first day of your period, just subtract 14 days and give that date for your period.

Most OBs & even midwives use Naegle's method for calculating due dates (the standard 40 weeks we're all so familiar with). It's horribly flawed, being based on a very tiny number of women who were all from the same area. Recent studies show that the Mittendorf-Williams method is far more accurate, but most people have never even heard of it.

Mine have been getting longer instead, which is annoying. My most recent was 42 weeks and 3 days. I know women who regularly have 45 or 46 week pregnancies. One in particular had babies with all the signs of prematurity when they were born earlier. It's rare, but also normal.

Sorry, I've been studying pregnancy and birth for about 10 yrs and easily go off on tangents.

[Sola]

Your mom's body sounds identical to mine, sadly enough! At one point in time, i was hoping that there was hope for my rectus muscles going back pretty close to each other, but without surgery it ain't gonna happen (it's been 11 years now since I had my youngest). le sigh!

I've just had the surgery, a couple of months ago. I also had a hernia poking through too though (that looked really attractive). Before I had it done I looked pregnant and no amount of diet or exercise changed that. Now it's all back to normal and I don't look like I am about to give birth any more. :D

[SheWoreLemon]

Thanks for all the information about diastasis! I had three major stomach surgeries about three years ago, and I've had a pregnant looking stomach ever since. I thought this huge ridge up my stomach was scar tissue (and perhaps some of it is), but I definitley think my major problem is the diastasis. I've got the Lose Your Mommy Tummy book on hold at the library. I am SUPER EXCITED!

[persuas1ve]

There is no we Anna can give birth while cooking Josh a meal--we all know they don't eat at home! I think a more likely scenario involves either a restaurant birth or Josh waking up from his traditional labor nap to warm up some leftover Chinese. I can actually imagine him trying to coach Anna w/ a mouth full of lo mein!

[BelieveinScience]

Never have I been this happy that my mom has forgotten my due date.

I can't decide if its worse that your parents realize that you're having sex or if you realize your parents are having sex.

[spragger]

It's not totally accurate, no, but it's usually not more than a couple of weeks out. Anyway, that's why we now have ultrasound dating. They still include about two weeks extra when dating pregnancies though, eg if a pregnancy is dated at 8 weeks on a scan it will have been conceived 6 weeks ago... supposedly to reduce confusion between the two systems.

This discussion has made me realize that my daughter was most likely conceived on MY birthday! She was born Nov 5, and by b-day is Jan 20--I'm not sure if we had the party exactly on my bday, or what my exact fertile days were, but Hahahahaha! I hope she never figures it out! I always thought maybe she was a Valentine's baby, but I think that would be a couple of weeks too late.

[spragger]

Thanks for all the information about diastasis! I had three major stomach surgeries about three years ago, and I've had a pregnant looking stomach ever since. I thought this huge ridge up my stomach was scar tissue (and perhaps some of it is), but I definitley think my major problem is the diastasis. I've got the Lose Your Mommy Tummy book on hold at the library. I am SUPER EXCITED!

Thanks from me as well, because I have never heard of it and I am now years out from looking this way and am guessing that is what is going on with me from reading about it. I'm going in for my PAP next week, so I'm going to have them check. I am absolutely not excited however because from just the small amount of reading I have done, it looks like the only fix it a full tummy tuck. I am not sure the "Lose Your Mommy Tummy" book gets that good of results with severe cases. I would love to hear your results, SWL.

I am however, very relieved there is a relatively benign reason that I only weigh 10 more lbs than my sister, yet looks 6 months pregnant! :( Also, this explains the reason that the inches do not come off my waist when I lose weight (when I relax my stomach it's just like there is a balloon inside it! I had no idea!). It's also a relief that is it not all "heart attack fat." I am sort of frustrated that my OB/GYN never pointed this out to me. Is it not commonly known?