My mom told me that having a baby is nothing like they make it out to be in movies. She said you're more likely to fall asleep than act all happy and cry like they do in movies. makes sense to me.

I never fell asleep. I got a post-labor "high", even though I had my girls at 2 and 6 AM and had been up all night... I couldn't sleep till I went to bed that night. lol

awwww!

It wasn't for lack of trying, my midwives told me to rest, nap, take it easy, so other than feeding the baby and changing diapers I did exactly as they told me. I just was wired, way too excited to sleep. I even called my mom like 10 seconds after Adrienne was born, they were still wiping her down and drying her off when I called her. lol I waited just a little bit longer when I had Genevieve.

I, too, always got the post labor high. But I think that it's pretty normal to have the opposite reaction.... and I just wanted to make people aware that your initial reaction is not something to worry about or feel GUILTY about. (Lord knows there's enough to feel guilty about!) Just because you want to let Dad hold the baby for the first couple of hours while you take a nap is nothing to be worried about.

After all, some of us were not all that in love with our spouses when we first met either... and it all worked out.

*bashfully raises her hand* And then there's a few of us who started dating their fiance after only knowing them for 36 hours....

God bless-
LGLG

Hiya, Red. I haven't been posting all that much lately, and so, imagine my surprise to learn you were enciente! (expecting) Congrats! ! May our Lord bless you and your little family-to-be.

Red, when are you due?

God bless-
LGLG

thanks HisChild!

LGLG, i'm due Feb. 22

You're kidding! That's the day after my birthday and the day after Ash Wednesday. I pray that you aren't 3 weeks late though like my mom was....

God bless-
LGLG

i knew it was the day after Ash Wednesday i hope i'm not 3 weeks late either!

Please know I'm not saying that I hope you have a child on my birthday, but do you suppose if you gave birth on Ash Wednesday, both you and child could recieve ashes?

God bless-
LGLG

i suppose if the priest came to me, instead of me going to Mass

All of my kids have birthdays during Lent. We still have cake and ice cream !

My birthday always falls in Lent. Grrr.

I have cake, too - but this one-off sugar rush makes the rest of my fast so much more difficult to complete...

Well, since we're talking about birthdays in Lent, I have a question. Yes I'm going to hijack this thread for a second.

My 21st birthday is on Ash Wednesday, plus it's my golden birthday. I want to celebrate with my friends but I want to fast and abstain as well. I guess this is a time in which I can't have my cake and eat it too. Any advice?

God bless-
LGLG

I return this thread from being hijacked.

[hijack]oh, sorry, no. that really stinks though! maybe you could just offer it up and have a huge blast at the Easter Vigil?[/hijack]

February seems so close!

not close enough some days

I bet!

Ouch. There's a wonderful day called Shrove Tuesday, if you fancy celebrating a day early!

Another person whose birthday always falls in Lent

Some times my sisters birthday falls on Easter, but a ton of the time it's in Lent, we usually give her preasents and stuff, and then have a big cake on Easter!

One of my friends from my parish is getting married this weekend and my mom is her wedding coordinator. She's going to be just lovely. I'm so happy for her. She and her bridegroom are just great - totally faithful Catholics. I'll be sad when she moves away!


(This was my non-lame bump. Try it sometime. Hah.)

my best friend is having another baby (it'll be her second).

L_D and I are getting married the weekend after Easter.

My cousin just got married to this WONDERFUL woman:yahoo:. We all love her. Maybe it's just because she's so normal (in a good way!) and we are just freaks:crazy: ! I am so happy for them. Even if I wasn't I couldn't say anything, because his new bride is also my hair dresser and I dont want to end up like this:punk: or having to wear one of these

Your marriage preparations are in my prayers. I pray the Lord blesses you abundantly during this time.

I am hoping to bring this thread back to life. I am hoping that others who are looking to boost their discernment to marriage can have a place to talk and hear from the phamily who is married, about to get married and discerning marriage.

God bless-
LGLG

That would be really cool.

Last weekend we had a Day of Thanksgiving for all the good works the Family Apostolate in our diocese has been given the grace to do during the last year (is this even a sentence? I'm so sleepy, I should switch to Dutch...), and I had a couple of wonderful conversations with faithful Catholic married couples.

The couple leading the Family Apostolate studied at the John Paul II Institute for Families in Rome and they're so cool! I had a long chat with the husband, about how the married live is really a vocation, too, not just something you do because it comes up... he was talking with the rector of our seminary the other day, and they sadly concluded that we have about as many "real faithful" married couples as we have seminarians, which says something about how many, or more how little, people answer the call. (He also told me that while discerning, he'd said he was going to be a priest, and his brother laughed at him... guess who's a priest now? )

Anyway. What I was meaning to say the vocation to the married life is beautiful. Marriage is beautiful. I wish there was another one of me so I could marry her off to a nice Catholic guy

Haha, so true!

marriage is beautiful. it makes me nervous to see so many of my young friends moving in with guys and then getting married... or eloping on a cruise in the bahamas. i just worry that they dont understand the sanctity of marriage and how special and beautiful and powerful it is. i mean, i truly worry about the quality of some of the marriages around me.

i pray God strengthens those are preparing for marriage as well as those who have already said their vows...

I am (more or less certain) God willing, called to be married. It's a long story, but I think God put my boyfriend and I on the same path for a reason. There is a lot that makes things difficult for us--school, work, distance, parents, etc.--but despite all of this God has given us so much grace through each other. I guess when something you do is glorifying God naturally, that's when you know it's a real calling. I find that I serve God better with him then I ever could on my own.

Of course, I am doing my best to keep my heart open if He calls me elsewhere. My boyfriend knows this, and wants me to do what God wants me to do. I would say the same for his vocation, but at the moment, he isn't Catholic.

For the married couples with tons of kids--how do you physically MANAGE it? I am open to children if I marry, but I'm terrified of having so many kids that I can't give them the love and care they need (I also have physical issues that would make having a large family extremely difficult).

I know God will only give us as many as we can handle, but I am curious to know how big family parents make things easier.

Prayers to all my fellow PMers discerning marriage! And thank you, LGLG, for getting this going. It's so desperately needed here.

Great thread.

For anyone who saw my thread a while back about my freaking out and lack of peace you know where I'm coming from. Well a little update on that. For the last 2 months (since easter- coincidence?) I have been so much better- much more peace and order and sanity back into my life. Good as new.

Well I was kinda starting to think I was slipping back into all the worrying and anxiety about a month ago, right around when the Pope came. I went to the youth ralley at St. Josephs in yonkers. It was amazing, but I was worried at first that with all the talk of vocations that day and such I'd start tweaking out again and all the progress I had made over the past month would be undone.

So sometime during the week after I saw the Pope, something hit me. Something clicked. And I can't pinpoint exactly when or how. But thats how the Holy Spirit works- I became aware that I am called to marriage. And this awareness was much deeper, much different than when in the past I had found myself thinking about marriage or considering it. This was different because there is a knowing, and that knowing breeds direction and peace and joy. I'm so excited. I'll of course continue to be open to God but I really feel that marriage is where he's calling me. And my spiritual director seems to agree.

Kinda an interesting journey over the past few months to get me to this point, but now I can kinda see how that all played out to get me here.

I have. Funny sceen. Do you have teh wing?