GTKY - The Bump!

nomangos23

What was the journey that brought you to The Bump and kept you participating? 

zuuls_mom

I joined back in 2016 when I was like 5 weeks (I think) with DS. A friend of mine kept raving about The Bump and all of the lifelong friends she had made in her BMB and that I would experience the same, so I decided to check it out and it's totally lived up to what she said! I was part of N16 and while we had some serious drama that split the group about a year-ish into our time on FB, I am still friends with a vast majority of them and talk to them every day! I will forever be grateful for the BMBs and all of the help, advice, love, friendship, etc. that they bring with them. It totally outweighs the risk for any potential drama. 

themadcamel

@zuuls_mom I love that you’re still in touch with people from your previous BMB! I’m hoping that our board will end up as a pretty close-knit group too. 

I joined TB in October (or maybe November?) 2018 when DH and I decided to TTC. I like to thoroughly research and learn about anything big that I’m planning, and hearing about others’ experiences is always helpful. The sense of community appealed to me more than other forums I found. 

threes_companypu

I joined in 2015 after searching the App Store for baby apps. I wasn’t too active, mainly because I got a lot of flak for my baby name choice and I also didn’t really understand how to use that part of the app. I joined again in January this year and decided to give it another shot. I’m so glad I did! 

dinosaur

I joined in TB in Aug 2016 but was a long time lurker (maybe a year?). Got my BFP Jan 2017. I stayed on TB because I had made a lot of good friends. I got my second BFP in Jan 2019, but was so busy I didn't join the BMB until recently. 

RedBreast35

I joined to participate in TTGP in April 2016 (i think?) but like most people, had lurked for months before that.  I got married in June 2015 and started trying right after that with no luck and found TB while I was searching for WTF I should do next.  I never really joined my first BMB but still talk regularly with and have met IRL a group of ladies from my time on TTGP!

LJMoon6

I joined TTGP in Nov 2017. We had been trying for 8ish months and I was getting super frustrated. I had no idea TB was more of a community and had fully intended to do a one-off “why aren’t we pregnant yet” post. Thank god there was the 2 day hold on my account otherwise I would have gotten flamed pretty hard. I stayed pretty active on TTGP until we started fertility treatment around the fall of 2018. At that point I was only posting once every other week. I loved the support I got from TTGP. There’s so much I learned about my body, my cycle, about infertility, and the struggles we all go through. I’m extremely happy with our BMB. I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of ladies.

kiddiesandkitties

I joined back in A13 during my first pregnancy (on the late side - was definitely a long time dirty lurker and swooped in just in time to join the FB group).  I popped in occasionally during my last two pregnancies but never committed or got active on either group. I started lurking again after our loss, hoping the Late Term & Child Loss board would be somewhat active, but it is DEADZO over there.  Got a BFP a month or so later and am hopeful that this board sticks around and becomes a tight group like A13!

lillywonderland

I joined right before I thought we were going to start TTC (summer 2015), but that ended up being a couple years before that happened so I just lurked and got a ton of info. I got PG with DS but never participated in my BMB because I was scared in first tri, and when I started feeling comfortable everyone already had made friends so I felt like an outsider. I joined TTGP this go-round because I needed an outlet so I didn’t scare DH off with how much I really wanted a second child. I have met some truly amazing ladies there, and am so grateful for this community.

kgg2241

I joined in Dec 2017 after TTC for a year. I was feeling super frustrated and stumbled on this community. I participated for a few months, but then stopped. I had a hard time keeping up with the conversations. I then had a loss in June 2018 and rejoined pretty much right after that. I mainly only hung out on the TTCAL thread on TTGP. I swear those ladies saved my sanity and I'm so glad I had that support system.

nomangos23

So fun to hear about everyone's journey! Mine started after losing angel baby when I started TTC again. I had no intentions of joining a community (like LJMoon) but boy am I glad I did. I had two losses after I joined, and spent most of my time being benched while we tried to level out by thyroid. The ladies over there were beyond patient, caring, understanding and of course, super informative. I  them so much! 

I agree about how awesome this BMB is. It's shaping up to be a really great community (and boy am I glad for the expertise of all the STMs!!). There's been little to no drama, no pushy personalities, not too many crazy drive bys... we got lucky!! I'm still looking for the catfish though 

mommyshark13

I joined waaaaay back in like 2011 when I ideally wanted to start TTC but we couldn't because of DH's job insecurity at the time. I was a part of Babies on the Brain and TTGP for a long time before joining my various BMBs. I am still very close with my July13 moms. We moved to Facebook in the summer of 2015 when a bunch of crap happened here with mods. I actually deleted my old account too. 

MsBeachNJ

I joined TTGP in the Fall of 2015 when we intended to start trying for our first child, I had no idea what to expect and didn't feel comfortable talking to anyone in real life about it. I had no idea it was such a community - I really thought it was like a good place to get random questions answered. I (very gratefully) got pregnant right away and joined June 2016 where I met some amazing women. I joined a Facebook group with about 50 of them just before our babies were born, and that group is still super active everyday, I talk to those ladies more than I do my own family (who I am super close with!). We've seen each other through all the trials and tribulations of motherhood, pregnancy, loss, deaths of parents, kids with serious illnesses, divorces, you name it. They are my tribe I really have no idea how women dealt with all this stuff alone before there were online groups to talk to at 3am when you're freaking out with a newborn with a new symptom! Its been a God send. 

nomangos23

@mommyshark13 Yeah I keep hearing about a time when The Bump completely dissipated.. What was that all about? 

jaykay2004

I joined when we started TTC for #1 back in 2010. I was in the March 2011 bmb, and we are still close today! We migrated to facebook, of course, but still have tons of active members and many have met in person and are IRL friends now, too! I'm also in my December 2014 group for #2, and I love those girls--but we are much smaller in number and there has been a lot of drama that has caused a lot of people to leave the group.

satuttle1014

Joined TB back in 2015. I was Feb 2016 and we created a fb group which we still participate in everyday. My Sept 2017 was okay but some drama so didn’t really do much from that group like fb or anything. So far this board is looking pretty good, would be nice to connect with some more mamas. 

cheshyre319

Cyber stalked for a long time whenever I had questions but never joined in until my BFP in Jan of 2019. 

kdl89

We used the Knot for a wedding website so when I found out the Bump was a sister site I was like that's what I will use. So I joined in March of 2017 when I found out we were expecting our DD ... at that time we hadn't told anybody so I was great to get support from others going through the same things. I still talk to my Nov 2017 girls on Facebook and hoping to do the same this time around. As we have become very close. I also lurked the TTGP board while we were trying this time around But never posted anything.... And that brings us to this group. I am so happy to part of another amazing group of bump ladies!!

kaceyallan

I feel like my journey to the bump was a bit different than most. I didn't know the forums existed over here. When I found out I was pregnant I knew I wanted to find an app to give me weekly stats. I googled what apps were the best and that's how I found the Bump. I only thought it would be a 'your baby is the size of a...' app. After a couple days of roaming around the app I realized it had forums, so I checked that out, found my birth month, and thought it would be a beneficial tool to have during my pregnancy. So glad I found this and that it is turning out to be so tight knit and informative! 

ternsetc

I found the bump month boards late in the day while pregnant with DS and googling yet another symptom (ocular migraines, I think) - it was way too late to join in but I lurked for a bit and thought it was so much more organized/easier to navigate than other sites and decided if I got pregnant again I'd make an account. So that's what I did!

bluepeach565

I also joined when we decided we were TTC, I was looking for resources on what on earth was going on with real people. I was super intimidated and didn't join in the conversations at all, but once I realized there were groups for birth months I was so so excited. I remember just refreshing and refreshing the app waiting for this group to open up. I was just excited to have other people to talk to, and not drive DH insane with how much I talk about a new topic. For how excited I was - you'd think I'd chime in more, but I think it's partially due to time constraints (working for yourself means no paid maternity leave) and also a little fearfulness of how open these public groups are (I've had some trouble in the past with an acquaintance from high school kindof internet stalking) - I promise to be way more active in a PG or FB group!!

mommyshark13

@nomangos23 There used to be several "Bump Gods" who were like admins of the site. The only one i remember is "Bump Jackie" bc everyone just called her BJ. Somehow a user figured out that they were basically all the same person and not interns or experts as they claimed. Several long time TTGP members got banned for asking questions, a lot of people felt betrayed, and boom... it imploded. There was also a lot of drama over bump "rules" not be fairly enforced and people getting banned or blocked for seemingly no reason. It was crazy.

monkeysmom80

I joined the knot in 09 when planning our wedding, moved over to the nest in 11 when we got married and initially joined the bump at the same time. I was closest to our local nest board and we moved to FB so I stopped using the bump back then.  Rejoined this past Dec (?) when we were trying but didn't post until this board.