BABY PRODUCTS SAFETY RATINGS

My New Baby

There is so much to find out when a baby is born! What does it smell like, and when will it walk? When does it sleep, and what does it like to eat? A new addition to any family is exciting, but the experience can alsobe worrying and confusing for siblings. Coping with the new situations and emotions that arise can be very challenging. This series of four board books deals with the anticipation of waiting for the new baby, the excitement of the arrival itself, and the beginnings of the special relationship that develops between siblings. The simple conversational text and lively illustrations are carefully designed to encourage further dialogue between reader and child.

Part of my being gone had to do with my period going haywire and me
thinking I was pregnant, twice, and getting really depressed when it
turned out that I wasn't. It made me want to retreat from everything.
When we were first married, I knew I wasn't ready for a baby and was
constantly terrified that I was pregnant. We spent tons of money on
preg tests, but all were negative. I had been trying to find some BC
method that suited me, but I hate extra chemicals and hormones, and
with the history of fibroid tumors in my family, I wasn't comfortable
with any of the options I could find, so I had not used any form of
BC. I had heard of the Rhythm Method as the only "natural" option, but
that it is very unreliable. Around six months ago, my attitude changed
and I started to -want- a baby. When I again thought I was pregnant
three months into that time, I was happy, only to waste more money on
preg tests and be disappointed. Again recently, I thought I was
pregnant and was delighted, but decided to wait a whole month before
buying a test, to ward off expensive disappointment. Bought the test,
which turned up negative again. I was crushed. I was terrified that I
might be infertile. We want kids very badly. We'd love to adopt, as
well, but...to go through the process of pregnancy and birth is
something amazing that I want to experience for myself. (This is not
to say I am looking forward to labor, but I -am- looking forward to
being a mother.) Anyway, part of my wanting to have a baby -right now-
was the fear that I might not be able to have kids at all. In all
honestly, I would love to wait until we have a home big enough for
kids and I am back down to a healthier weight; I've just been so
scared that there's something wrong with me that I ignored those
things. I'd rather have a baby now than not at all.
Knowing about my unpredictable periods and disappointment in not
getting pregnant, two different friends suggested a book to me called
Taking Charge of your Fertility, by Toni Weschler. I checked it out of
the library and have spent most of the morning reading it. I'm not
even halfway through it yet, but it makes so much -sense-!
Basically, it explains FAM (Fertility Awareness Method). By paying
attention to and charting three things; your temperature every
morning, the consistency of your cervical fluids (I had noticed that
this changes throughout the month, but I never really paid attention
to -when- it changes), and the position of your cervix (this is a
slightly more difficult and optional third step), you can know
-exactly- when you are fertile, when your period is coming, and when
you have gotten pregnant.
The book also explains that a lot of the time a couple thinks they are
infertile because they are planning sex on a 28 day cycle (based in
the Rhythm method), when a lot of women have different length cycles.
It says a couple can have sex twice a week for a year and not get
pregnant simply because they are mistiming the fertile days. I felt so
incredibly relieved to read that.The charts for FAM seem a little
confusing at first, but I think I can figure it out. I'm going to
start using this method and wait to try to get pregnant. Now that I
know how to time it right, I feel like the pressure is off and we can
wait until we're more prepared.
Even if you're doing other stuff for birth control, I would suggest
reading this book just to understand your own body better. It's
helping me so much and relieving a -ton- of stress! [I'm sorry that
this is so long, but this it a -huge- thing for me!]

Am guessing my folks are heading out for the East on their big car trip, gone about a month, while Grandma took care of Bubbie. Mom is pregnant with the baby that was still born four months later, on that "awful night." [repost with much darker blacks, and the letter digitized since then.]

February 11, 1939

Dear Ma and Bud:

I started this several days ago, but since it wasn't finished then I will try to do so now.

Bubby wants me to tell you how much he likes his bathrobe, he still insists it is a coat though. Thank you so much for it and it surely comes in handy this cold weather. He is fine now and hope he stays that way for a long time. He talks all the time and says quite long sentences. We took him for a ride today and went to the airport in Santa Maria, and he saw the airplanes and had a big time and he and I played Boo! with the handkerchief all the way home from Pismo and he laughed and laughed.

Edison is studying now, but he has to go to Los Angeles and get some glasses whenever he can get off for a day or so, as his eyes burn whenever he reads. Dr. Marshall has been away for a week and just returned tonight.

Edison has an old lady, 90 years old with a broken leg and he has been busy with her this week, she is better now though.

I am feeling better, but don't seem to get my strength back like I did when Bubby came, but guess I will have to be patient for awhile, though it is hard to do. Mrs. Larue has been very good, but she is gone now, and though I get along all right with the work, it is very lonesome here all day, but I do not mention this to anyone else, only as you probably know how that is, but I can't bear to talk about it with anyone else. I was going home this week, but I can't go yet as I don't want anyone to see me like this, even Edison doesn't know how I feel. My folks would only worry and would insist I come home and I have to get used to this some time, and I've never minded staying alone before, and so if I stay with it, it surely will go away after a while. Bubbie is so sweet and good and I have so many things to be thankful for that of course, I must think of those things instead of that awful night. Edison has been so wonderful to me and I never knew what real love was until trouble came.

I hope I can be a much better wife and mother now. Please forgive me for all the things I've said and done that have hurt you in the past. I never meant them and I do not blame you for not liking me so I think I know now how you felt. But you can believe this that I have never tried to take any of Edison's affections away from you, nor will I ever try. I can truthfully say that I've never said one thing against you or Buddy.

Love to both,

The handmade books presented here offer creative ways for you to explore your personal styles and interests: Create a record of this year's garden with a book made out of seed packets. Collect your favorite recipes under the protective cover of a plastic cutting mat. Make simple memo pads out of recycle bin scraps. In this collection of twenty-eight Japanese bookbinding projects, traditional techniques meet contemporary style, from easy-to-fold accordion books to the intricate and interesting Japanese stab-stitch bindings.

Book artist Erin Zamrzla makes Japanese stab binding easy and unintimidating. Her clear step-by-step instructions make even the more complicated stitches easy to re-create. Information on the basics of bookbinding, including terminology, tools, and techniques are included and many projects encourage the creative use of ordinary and recycled materials.

Make the projects in this book and discover creative ways to chronicle your life's adventures.