Tell me Anna Duggar is not pg.

[nolongerIFBx]

Well, happy birthday Dad!

Well, I don't get that pleasure (??). I was born Feb. 10 and the doctor's EDD was Dec 31. Obviously someone messed up the dates somewhere but it was "your guess is as good as mine" as to when I would have been conceived. Mom said that she had morning sickness in April so she thinks I was due in January and was only a month late. I do know someone else who was also a month late. I guess in the late 70s they weren't as worried about getting babies here within two weeks of their due date.

Okay, back to topic now.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

his is what I think. Also, I'm struck by how sad and hollow-eyed Jana looks compared to Jessa, who looks positively radiant.

Maybe Jessa is in a courtship and Jana got told no way on her guy?

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I think Anna's been eating road food, getting way too little exercise and had two babies close together. No surprise if she IS pregnant, but I wonder after two kids, if they're still so gung-ho on having "all that God sends" They ARE totally used to having a zillion kids around so they could, but they seem to be going thru a materialistic phase typical of young adults who felt cheated in childhood.

[Feberin]

I also think Anna is pregnant but not as far along as others think. I think the eating out and two kids back to back have left her stomach muscles weak and she'll show pretty much right away. My guess is an early Fall baby. My main reason for thinking this is how Michael is pushed in front of her and it seems like there are few photos that include her stomach despite Josh posting tons of pictures.

[marmalade]

She kind of "popped" between the Keller kids' reunion in December and Priscilla's wedding in early February. It's especially obvious when she's wearing that horrid striped blue/white striped/flower-accessorized blousy top. There are pictures of her wearing the horrid thing at various stages between then and now (last one taken this past weekend...Michael is hiding a lot of her belly) and the difference is astounding.

Put her next to someone who is genetically prone to fat like Rachael Ray (who also has a propensity for wearing her clothes two sizes too small google her name with "SXSW 2012" and you'll seee what I mean). IMO, when you put the two side by side, you can tell the difference between pregnant and eating too much.

[fluttershies]

Maybe Jessa is in a courtship and Jana got told no way on her guy?

That is a very interesting theory. Maybe guy issues led to Jana's Journey visit?

[warpedfactor9]

I live with my parents and sister, and all three of us women are of menstruating age, so it's not hard to tell when it's Communist Week for us, and I see my mum's birth control pills in the medicine cabinet. But that's just part of living with other women; that's way different to detailing your cycle on the family calendar. Just really weird, and makes an idol of fertility imo.

I know I'm late climbing onto this thread, but I just wanted to say that my stepdad could always tell this about my mother and me simply because of our irritability and general moodiness. Also, I used to work as a corrections officer and one of the nurses told me when I asked why the females all seemed to want motrin the same nights that women who live together long term eventually get synchronized in their cycles.

[fluttershies]

I know I'm late climbing onto this thread, but I just wanted to say that my stepdad could always tell this about my mother and me simply because of our irritability and general moodiness. Also, I used to work as a corrections officer and one of the nurses told me when I asked why the females all seemed to want motrin the same nights that women who live together long term eventually get synchronized in their cycles.

Weirdly I have not synchronized with my mum and sister yet (they are synchronized) and it's been at least 3 cycles. I also have very short, light periods (though they are painful) and my mum has suspected endo, so there is a wide range of experiences within the house, lol. At least I know I'll never run out of pads!

[BelieveinScience]

Weirdly I have not synchronized with my mum and sister yet (they are synchronized) and it's been at least 3 cycles. I also have very short, light periods (though they are painful) and my mum has suspected endo, so there is a wide range of experiences within the house, lol. At least I know I'll never run out of pads!

I have never synchronized with anyone. I lived in a dorm with all girls for 2years and I never had the same schedule as them. I live with girl roommates now and I never synced up with them. I get my period every 2 weeks though so I dont know if thats why I can't sync up with anyone.

[fluttershies]

I have never synchronized with anyone. I lived in a dorm with all girls for 2years and I never had the same schedule as them. I live with girl roommates now and I never synced up with them. I get my period every 2 weeks though so I dont know if thats why I can't sync up with anyone.

Possibly. Mine are irregular thanks to what is probably PCOS which probably affects it.

[BelieveinScience]

Possibly. Mine are irregular thanks to what is probably PCOS which probably affects it.

I have fake PCOS I only match 2 of the criteria for PCOS (IR but just barely and I have a tad bit higher amount of testosterone than is desirable) but i"m missing a lot of the other things associated with it evidently like weight gain (I have the opposite issue), high bp (I have the Opposite issue) high blood suger (I have low sugar issues) etc... I missed one period in my entire life so I went to the GYN to make sure it was all okay they put me on BCP (mostly because of my age) and now I get a period every 2 weeks instead of once a month like I used to. Hooray!

[luv2laugh]

I have fake PCOS I only match 2 of the criteria for PCOS (IR but just barely and I have a tad bit higher amount of testosterone than is desirable) but i"m missing a lot of the other things associated with it evidently like weight gain (I have the opposite issue), high bp (I have the Opposite issue) high blood suger (I have low sugar issues) etc... I missed one period in my entire life so I went to the GYN to make sure it was all okay they put me on BCP (mostly because of my age) and now I get a period every 2 weeks instead of once a month like I used to. Hooray!

Interesting... What are your DHEA levels? Are they high?

[BelieveinScience]

Interesting... What are your DHEA levels? Are they high?

You know I don't think I've been tested for that unless it can be found on another name. I've had SO many blood tests and levels of various things checked that i could have just overlooked that one.

ETA: I just googled it some and it looks like its something tested in menopausal women if I'm reading that correctly. I'm only in my early 20s so maybe my doctor didn't see it as an issue to test that?

[bananacat]

The period synchronization thing is largely a myth. Every woman has different cycles. Cycles will overlap once in a while just like an eclipse. And because periods can last up to 7 days, it's just statistically common to share one or more days of bleeding.

[nomi]

On the placenta topic. I've read that it helps a woman to recover from birth faster as well as wards off PPD. I had crippling PPD after my son was born and I had an extremely harrowing birth with my daughter with a hemorrhage. I had my mom cut up pieces of the placenta and put it in a smoothie so I never tasted it, but benefited from it. I don't know if it was the placenta or what but I didn't have PPD with her, although my recovery was pretty slow. I was only bedridden for two days though so maybe it helped with that too. I had four placenta smoothies.

and now I will be labeled a board freak. :lol:

As for Anna, I'm thinking she's gaining weight because of all this eating out. When my ex returned from deployments the first thing he wanted to do was eat out at all the restaurants he'd missed while he was deployed. Then we'd go on vacation and spend 1-2 weeks eating out at more restaurants. I always gained weight during that time no matter what I ate. Sometimes those "healthy" salads at restaurants have more calories than the steak and potatoes.

[Coconut Flan]

The period synchronization thing is largely a myth. Every woman has different cycles. Cycles will overlap once in a while just like an eclipse. And because periods can last up to 7 days, it's just statistically common to share one or more days of bleeding.

I agree. I've lived many decades with other women, in dorms, at camp, with daughters, etc, and never seen any synching. I'd have thought it would have happened at least once if there was any truth to it.

[ohpotteryourotter]

I 'sync' with my mother and so do lots of mothers and daughters, which makes me think it's just common to share a same "cycle timetable" between relatives?

[Minerva]

I 'sync' with my mother and so do lots of mothers and daughters, which makes me think it's just common to share a same "cycle timetable" between relatives?

My roommates and I synced. I think in my case it might just have been a coincidence because I was on birth control all along, and I doubt you release the same pheromones on BC cycles as you do during an actual menstrual cycle. But they either synced up with me since mine wouldn't budge thanks to the pill, or they just synced up together and mine happened to be at the same time.

One of my high school teachers told us about going to an all girls boarding school, and the 5 of them sharing a living space of some kind were perfectly synced, then their cycles would unsync when they went home for the summer, then sync back up in September...

[chiccy]

If the syncing thing were true, fundie mamas and daughters wouldn't need different color dots. So there.

[Tator Tot Tubby]

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

Am I the only one here who discovered my parents had sex due to an unfortunate experience involving my forgetting to knock? Also, if anyone was wondering, the only thing worse than walking in on your mom and dad is walking in on your mom and a guy who isn't your dad :shock:

ETA: My mom wasn't cheating, my parents were divorced. So it wasn't as traumatic as it could have been

[LadyBlue]

On the placenta topic. I've read that it helps a woman to recover from birth faster as well as wards off PPD. I had crippling PPD after my son was born and I had an extremely harrowing birth with my daughter with a hemorrhage. I had my mom cut up pieces of the placenta and put it in a smoothie so I never tasted it, but benefited from it. I don't know if it was the placenta or what but I didn't have PPD with her, although my recovery was pretty slow. I was only bedridden for two days though so maybe it helped with that too. I had four placenta smoothies.

and now I will be labeled a board freak. :lol:

We can be freaks together. :lol: I encapsulated my placenta with my last 2 babies.

Glad the diastasis info was helpful.

[bubbabearzle]

Am I the only one here who discovered my parents had sex due to an unfortunate experience involving my forgetting to knock? Also, if anyone was wondering, the only thing worse than walking in on your mom and dad is walking in on your mom and a guy who isn't your dad :shock:

ETA: My mom wasn't cheating, my parents were divorced. So it wasn't as traumatic as it could have been

Hell, I might have seen my little sistr being conceived - we used to live in a tiny house and my bedroom had a curtain instead of a door. I woke up one night to noises in the LR :doh: Kinda shocking for a 5 year old!

Also in said house, my tiny bedroom shared a very thin wall with theirs, so I heard way too much about my dad and step-mother. :gag:!

[bubbabearzle]

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.

I will certainly check that info out - it looks great! I knew I couldn't do the regular crunches/sit-ups (a 3-4" ridge forms down the center of my abdomen, which makes me worry about popping my hernia). Thank you!

Pregnancy length is odd in my family: my mom swears that all 4 of us kids were two weeks late (and all born on Sundays, go figure!) - that makes me suspect that she might have an odd cycle perhaps, especially since at 5lb8oz I was the largest of the 3!! My older son was induced at 10 days late and was 7lb14oz, but my younger son was born at 37 weeks and was 5lb12oz. I needed a c-section with my older son because women in my family don't pass babies who are nearly 8lb - I am only 4'11", but my husband is 6'4" (and has a big head - I don't know why the doctor let me go 24 hours into an induced labor when a quick glance at me and DH should have told him it wasn't gonna happen!).

[B5SnowDog]

You know I don't think I've been tested for that unless it can be found on another name. I've had SO many blood tests and levels of various things checked that i could have just overlooked that one.

ETA: I just googled it some and it looks like its something tested in menopausal women if I'm reading that correctly. I'm only in my early 20s so maybe my doctor didn't see it as an issue to test that?

No, my levels were tested when I first started having symptoms of PCOS at 19 and they were elevated. Have you ever spoken with an endocrinologist? A lot of GYNs don't have enough specialized knowledge about PCOS to treat it properly. I went through about 4 endocrinologists before finding one who has finally been able to help me.

[BelieveinScience]

No, my levels were tested when I first started having symptoms of PCOS at 19 and they were elevated. Have you ever spoken with an endocrinologist? A lot of GYNs don't have enough specialized knowledge about PCOS to treat it properly. I went through about 4 endocrinologists before finding one who has finally been able to help me.

Yes I see an endocrinologist. He's never said anything about it neither has my GYN. And they always tell me everything they test for and I've never heard the word DHEA brought up which now I'm finding weird. But maybe since my IR is just barely IR and the fact my regular testosterone levels are normal and i just have a slightly elevated free flowing testosterone makes it so my doctors arent concerned about that? Then again I have more important issues going and maybe doctors think the PCOS fake diagnosis is nothing compared everything else and lost focus on it. I'm seeing my endo ina few weeks and I'm going to bring it up with him now, though.