Reading up for the big adventure!

[ravenwycce]

So, my husband (Dan) and I have been married since March 2001, and have been in our house for 2 years as of next month. He is 30. I am 28. I want three kids. He says he can only conceive of 1 at a time (let's hope he's right about that! LOL!). We have agreed to settle on 2, but I have already informed him that, if the first two are of the same gender, I will want to try for a third.I would like, if possible, to be done by 35, before everything becomes "high-risk." Suffice it to say, the proverbial clock is ticking.

Recently, we decided to just put the whole thing into the capable hands of Mother Nature. We aren't *trying* per se, but we aren't actively preventing either. And I am starting to get lots of hand-me-downs from my family, and to read as much as I can to get myself ready for the days when we (hopefully!) get some good news.

The books I have now are:
DK Publishing's "Pregnancy and Birth"
William and Martha Sears' "The Pregnancy Book"
and
The "Mayo Clinic Complete Book of Pregnancy and Baby's First Year"

These three have taught me a LOT, but I don't have much for a basis of comparison. Are there any others that I should be checking out, in addition to these three?

Thanks!
-Karri

[zennifer]

:wavey: Hi Carrie!!!! Good to see you on the board!
As far as books go those are great choices!!!

[ravenwycce]

:wavey: Hi Carrie!!!! Good to see you on the board!
As far as books go those are great choices!!!
Thanks Jenn!
:wink:

[Calypso]

Congratulations on being OTL (Open to Life) Karri!

Good luck! :)

[Kyra]

Good luck Karri.

[ravenwycce]

Thanks! I thought for a few days last week that I might be getting some news... but alas, AF arrived right on schedule. If only early PG and PMS symptoms weren't so similar!

-Karri

[Calypso]

Tell me about it! That is so frustrating! I'm sorry this cycle was a bust and wish you good luck for the next!

[zennifer]

It'll happen soon don't worry. As you know it took Will and I 6 months of actively trying.

[ravenwycce]

Yeah, I think it will. Once we are moved, things will be better, too. Because the cost of living is so low out there, I will probably even be able to stay home! No hour-and-a-half commute every night means less time at night being taken up by housework, and more time for BD! Woohoo! LOL...

It's just a matter of time for us, I figure. 6 months is about average, from what I have gathered; so I won't start worrying until 2005...

Hugs!

[zennifer]

So what's up any news on the move front?

[ravenwycce]

Well, we have our realtor working with us to get this house sold. It is scheduled to go on the market on the 26th of this month with the first showing slated for May 2. That might end up being pushed back a week, if we run out of time for packing, but it won't be pushed back more than a week, two at most. Since we aren't moving everything out, though, I don't think it will be pushed back at all.

In the meantime, we have a realtor working with us out in Shipp to help us find a good place out there. Dan has several applications in at area businesses, and will more than likely be hearing something back soon. College educations are more rare out there than they are here, so his degree will go far, especially since he is back in school, and doubly so since he is in for Business Management.

If all goes well, he is looking to move out there at the beginning of June. If that works out, I will hopefully follow at the beginning of July. The only thing that might keep me here longer would be if his benefits took longer than a month to kick in. Then I would stay behind as long as possible to avoid having to pay for COBRA. That would run us almost 800 bucks a month! *cringe*

So, we don't have anything set in stone yet, but progress is definitely being made!
I will keep you posted!

Hugs!
-Karri

[Kyra]

Hi Karri. So where are you moving to?

[ravenwycce]

We are in the Philadelphia area now, but are looking to move out to Central PA, south of Harrisburg. We are looking primarily at Shippensburg, Chambersburg, Carlisle, Mechanicsburg, etc., somewhere in that stretch right along I-81. It's a nice area, in the middle of nowhere, as compared to Philly, but the highway really makes things more convenient than you would expect for cow country. LOL!

Things are in a bit of a lull right now; but I expect progress will start up again in full-force after Easter...

Where are you from?
-Karri

[Calypso]

Hi Karri, just stopping by to say hello. :) I didn't realize that you were moving. I've been to PA a few times on business and liked it. I wish I'd been able to see more of it though. I love the names of the townships. (Is that what they're called?)

[ravenwycce]

We have townships, towns, boroughs and cities in PA. I'm not really sure what the difference is between them, but it seems like Boroughs are towns that stand alone, with no shared government or agency with any other town; while townships consist of multiple towns, who often share the same police force or local government. I am sure it is more complicated than that, actually; but that is what it seems like, anyway.

Its true that we have some cool place names in PA. We had some pretty creative people naming the towns when they were built! One of my favorites is the town of "Jersey Shore," which is located in the Northern and Western part of the state, in the heart of the Appalachians. I think whoever named that town must have been the vicitm of wishful thinking! LOL...

A lot of places have interesting histories, too, and PA abounds with useless trivia. For example, according to one of our friends who is from the part of Central PA we are hoping to move to, a lot of the towns out there are 11 miles apart (which certainly seemed to be the case when we went out there to visit). You will have a town, then 11 miles of farmland, then a town, then another 11 miles of farmland, and so on. The reason for this, as reported by my friend, is that 11 miles is the average distance that a Conestoga Wagon could travel in a single day. Cool, huh?

So, right now, there isn't much happening with the move. I expect the ball will start rolling once Easter is over and done with and we get into prime real estate season. I am going to use this weekend to pack!

-Karri

[finzel]

Yup, your friend is right - those towns spaced ~10 miles apart was how long it tooked to travel in a day. "Post towns" is what I've heard them referred to. In fact (Patti's useless PA trivia...), Mechanicsburg was so named because that's where a settlement of mechanics lived, that could repair a conestoga wagon before it drove into the wilderness - which was just on the other side of the county. Wasn't much between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh at the time!

I think you'll like Shippensburg. It's a quiet college town, with a community livestock fair at the end of July. GOOD food, and plenty of it. I think there's a corn festival in August, too. It's not all agriculture, but you will see some Mennonite and Amish families around. Buy yourself a homemade quilt; they are the best things ever made.

[MandyLynne]

Hi Karri. I just wanted to stop by and see how things are going with the move.

A couple of books that I liked were What to Expect When Your Expecting (alot of people didn't like this book), I liked it because it had a ton of information. When ever I had a question I would just look it up in the book. I also like What to Expect the First Year (this one helps you identify the Milestones).

I also read The Everything You Need to Know About Pregnancy Book. This one was my second Favorite.

~Mandy

[ravenwycce]

I have read mixed reviews on the "What to Expect... " books. I haven't actually looked at them myself, but I probably should. I will check them out next time I am in Borders...

The move is going well, and is just around the corner now!

I am looking forward to all of it being done with, and when I can live with DH in the new place, sometime in August. That will be when we can really get back to TTC again! Woohoo!

Thanks for the input, Mandy!
:-)

[peaches312004]

Just dropping in to see how things are going and if you have are TTC again? please update us when u get a chance:smile:

[ravenwycce]

Well, we are back to being OTL again. I generally post in my journal (see the link in my siggie). It is a lot of just life, with a lot of the ups and downs of going between OTL, TTC, neither and back again, depending on life circumstances...

But, at this point, we are OTL and really hoping that this is our year!
:-)

[peaches312004]

Karri,
GoodLuck, i really hope this is you're year to get that BFP, i have been ttc for about 7 yrs i know i am so ready to see mine, Feel free to PM me if you ever wanna talk or if you hvae questions or anything, or you can just post here, i am always lurking around and posting. My thoughts and prayers are with you for 2005.

[peaches312004]

Karri
I wanted to drop in and see how the TTC was going so far? Update us when you get a chance.

[Calypso]

Good luck with this cycle Karri!

[peaches312004]

Hi, Karri
Just dropping in to see how you and see how things were going ? I hope eveyrthing is going good.:smile:

[peaches312004]

HI, Karri
Just wanted to drop by and see if you have come out from hiding yet, I hope you are doing good, can't ait to see a update from you soon.
Take care