two helpful NFP items; teaching tidiness
It might be misleading to say that I'm using NFP currently. Basically, right now I am charting, but I am neither trying to conceive nor trying not to conceive; I am just writing down what happens.
But what's great about NFP is that it's so much more than just pregnancy achievement or avoidance. My cycles are still all wacky and long due to me still breastfeeding, so if I did get pregnant and they did the due date based on LMP (last menstrual period), where they assume you have a 28 day cycle, the due date could potentially be weeks off. By charting, I'll have a much better idea of when I conceived, if I conceive, and I'll have a much better idea when to start taking pregnancy tests.
Anyway, currently I'm using the iOS app Pink Pad. It's available for Android as well. What I like about it is that it's very stylish and easy to use. It can be used with various different methods of NFP because you can record many different markers as well as temps. It also allows you to record your weight if you want to use it as a weight tracker as well. And I love that it comes with different themes. It looks like a day planner instead of looking very stark and technical like many fertility apps do. Plus you can password protect the app if people might be using your iPad whom you are not comfortable sharing that kind of intimate data with.
The sweet thing is that the Pink Pad HD for iPad is the same as Pink Pad Pro for iPhone but is free. So if you have an iPad it's definitely the way to go for fertility tracking.
Secondly there's a new website called IUseNFP that aims to be both an advocacy and informational site about NFP. So it contains a lot of eye catching graphics to appeal to the contemporary eye, but also a lot of solid information on the various methods of NFP. Definitely a good introduction/links clearinghouse.
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Since we're moving along towards child #2, it sort of brings to the fore things I'm going to need to do with #1 that will make my life much easier when I have two, chiefly teaching tidiness, teaching patience with not having mama's attention every second, teaching not to hurt others, etc. All of these are of course things I need to teach her anyway, but "I could potentially have a newborn in nine months oh goodness" makes these things more pressing to model.
I have two issues that I'm thinking about. The first is a larger issue of knowing just what a child of her age is or is not capable of doing. While I think a general consensus of 14 mo olds lacking much impulse control, not having an adult concept of time, not being able to process complicated scenarios/think about more than one thing at once, etc, is held, the specifics are not at all clearcut. Moreover, as with all things parenting, people can get super nasty about it in both directions--either you're expecting too much and you're going to crush your child, or you're being too permissive and your child will be a brat. Usually both. Sometimes from the same person!
So I struggle with that, because it's all so ambiguous. A lot of it probably has to do with individual kids, too. I mean, not only are kids wildly different at these ages in terms of development (especially when you throw premature kids into the mix, who could be a month or more behind), but you've got personality differences too. For example, Pippa has a very extroverted, independent, and bold personality. A friend's week younger baby Theresa is already visibly introverted, quiet, and cautious. Obviously, my expectations for Pippa in terms of being comfortable in strange situations are going to be much higher than my friend's for Theresa, but on the other hand, my friend can have much higher expectations for Theresa in terms of Theresa sticking with her and not going off exploring in public places. In each case, one of us is following the child's natural inclinations while the other is fighting them.
I've gotta cut this short now but hopefully I can make a follow-up post tomorrow.
Edit: Pippa is just miserable, I think it's the teeth issue again. Just inconsolable and not herself. Finally got her back to sleep. I never got to write about the tidiness issue so I guess the post title looks real weird.
But what's great about NFP is that it's so much more than just pregnancy achievement or avoidance. My cycles are still all wacky and long due to me still breastfeeding, so if I did get pregnant and they did the due date based on LMP (last menstrual period), where they assume you have a 28 day cycle, the due date could potentially be weeks off. By charting, I'll have a much better idea of when I conceived, if I conceive, and I'll have a much better idea when to start taking pregnancy tests.
Anyway, currently I'm using the iOS app Pink Pad. It's available for Android as well. What I like about it is that it's very stylish and easy to use. It can be used with various different methods of NFP because you can record many different markers as well as temps. It also allows you to record your weight if you want to use it as a weight tracker as well. And I love that it comes with different themes. It looks like a day planner instead of looking very stark and technical like many fertility apps do. Plus you can password protect the app if people might be using your iPad whom you are not comfortable sharing that kind of intimate data with.
The sweet thing is that the Pink Pad HD for iPad is the same as Pink Pad Pro for iPhone but is free. So if you have an iPad it's definitely the way to go for fertility tracking.
Secondly there's a new website called IUseNFP that aims to be both an advocacy and informational site about NFP. So it contains a lot of eye catching graphics to appeal to the contemporary eye, but also a lot of solid information on the various methods of NFP. Definitely a good introduction/links clearinghouse.
---
Since we're moving along towards child #2, it sort of brings to the fore things I'm going to need to do with #1 that will make my life much easier when I have two, chiefly teaching tidiness, teaching patience with not having mama's attention every second, teaching not to hurt others, etc. All of these are of course things I need to teach her anyway, but "I could potentially have a newborn in nine months oh goodness" makes these things more pressing to model.
I have two issues that I'm thinking about. The first is a larger issue of knowing just what a child of her age is or is not capable of doing. While I think a general consensus of 14 mo olds lacking much impulse control, not having an adult concept of time, not being able to process complicated scenarios/think about more than one thing at once, etc, is held, the specifics are not at all clearcut. Moreover, as with all things parenting, people can get super nasty about it in both directions--either you're expecting too much and you're going to crush your child, or you're being too permissive and your child will be a brat. Usually both. Sometimes from the same person!
So I struggle with that, because it's all so ambiguous. A lot of it probably has to do with individual kids, too. I mean, not only are kids wildly different at these ages in terms of development (especially when you throw premature kids into the mix, who could be a month or more behind), but you've got personality differences too. For example, Pippa has a very extroverted, independent, and bold personality. A friend's week younger baby Theresa is already visibly introverted, quiet, and cautious. Obviously, my expectations for Pippa in terms of being comfortable in strange situations are going to be much higher than my friend's for Theresa, but on the other hand, my friend can have much higher expectations for Theresa in terms of Theresa sticking with her and not going off exploring in public places. In each case, one of us is following the child's natural inclinations while the other is fighting them.
I've gotta cut this short now but hopefully I can make a follow-up post tomorrow.
Edit: Pippa is just miserable, I think it's the teeth issue again. Just inconsolable and not herself. Finally got her back to sleep. I never got to write about the tidiness issue so I guess the post title looks real weird.