I'm 8 months pregnant and as a gift to myself, I bought a really comfortable rocking chair. It helps with my back pain now, and I'm planning to use it for nursing when the baby arrives. It was expensive and a splurge for us, but I really wanted a nice chair for relaxing. I haven't been sleeping well and sitting in the chair seems to be one of the few ways I can rest right now.

Now that we are through the first trimester and things are looking good, we are gearing up to tell my ss 8 and sd6 that I'm pregnant.

We are excited to tell my skids about the baby, but a bit nervous. We want to do something that makes them feel included and conveys that this is a happy occasion... Anyone have any ideas? Can you please share how you told the news, and how it went?

Ancillary: how did you tell BM? Our relationship with her is so broken that I wonder if it is even worth sharing the news with her...but I'd love your thoughts.

DH and I have his kids 50% of the time. I put their needs ahead of mine most of the time, and spend hours planning fun weekends, I cook and clean, I talk to them and I try hard to teach them things and be a good, positive influence in their lives, despite the fact that it is often really hard for me to give up so much of my time and energy, particularly when my connection to them is so tenuous and seems to change at any time at their whim.

My 6 year old SD is really difficult to deal with lately. She used to adore me, but she came home from a vacation with her mother and then stopped interacting with me completely. She doesn't speak to me, she doesn't say hello and she basically acts like I am not in the room UNLESS her father is not around, and then she grudingly will engage if I try to get her to speak.