Board Organization

St0v3s

I hope no one minds if I take the initiative to help organize this board a bit.

Welcome to the March 2023 BMB! (I used this template from the February 2023 BMB) If you're new to TB, we're excited to have you! Below you will find information on how the flow of BMBs work, guidelines and helpful links. 

Some links that you may find helpful:

• What do all of those abbreviations mean?
• How do I add a siggy? Tickers? Spoilers?
• How do I gif?

How-To Guides:

• How to quote: Hit the "quote" at the bottom of the post you want to quote. You will be taken to the reply box with the quote set up already.
• How to tag: Add a "@" in front of the username of the person you are talking to.
• How to change your username: log in to TheKnot, hover over My Knot, and click Account Settings. If you are having issues doing it that way, you can email community@thebump.com and ask them to change your username. Give them a few suggestions just in case your top choice is taken. It may take up to 24 hours for the name to update.
• How to insert a spoiler box: click the drop down list arrow next to the paragraph symbol (third from the left, next to bold and italicize) and choose spoiler. It will insert a grey box, and everything that you type in there will go into the spoiler.

For the sake of board organization, here are some simple guidelines for posting threads:
DO: 

• Introduce yourself in the "Introductions!" thread 
• Feel free to start one of the weekly posts listed below: 
• Post your own thread if you have a confirmed loss (please use a TW)
• Post a thread that would apply to the entire community and doesn't fall into one of the categories for daily threads listed below (Ex: what to pack in your hospital bag, baby gear, etc)
• Comment, share advice and show support for your fellow bumpies; this is a two-way street, to get support, you must show it as well.

DON'T:

• Start a thread asking about symptoms; please post this in the current weekly "symptoms thread" - this is helpful because it keeps the board from getting cluttered and makes it so we can all see the whole discussion in one thread, rather than having one thread about MS, one about food cravings, another about vivid dreams, etc.
• Ask the community if you are pregnant, it is against TOU
• Start a thread asking for relationship advice; a professional is better suited for this task
• Post pictures of your pregnancy test, this is also against TOU
• Post a thread that asks a question only applying to yourself unless you suspect you may be going through a MC
• Get bent out of shape if someone calls you out for not following these guidelines; if you expect to be part of a supportive board (which we are), you need to be able to take the time to learn the ins and outs of the board

Weekly threads suggestions! Feel free to add any others you think would be helpful/fun. 

MONDAY
Monday Bitch Fest 
Weekly (or monthly) symptoms thread 

TUESDAY
GTKY ("Get to know you" posted with a thought-provoking question) 
High Risk Check-in

WEDNESDAY
Hump day/bump day 
PAIF check in 
Weekly randoms 
WTF Wednesday

THURSDAY

PGAL check in
Unpopular opinion (UO)
Thankful Thursdays 

FRIDAY
Flame Free Confessions 
TTGP Grad check in 

MONTHLY
What my pregnant self is eating/crying?               
AMA mama check in 
Ask a STM+

Once we all get farther along, we will also have pinned threads for things like ultrasounds, sex announcements, and birth announcements.

I've copy/pasted this from previous boards, and it seems to be the way that they are all organized, but of course we should feel free to tweak for our needs! For example, some boards do weekly ticker changes while others do weekly due date check-ins (ex, DD 1st week of March.). 

If anyone has a suggestion for other threads, please feel free to comment a suggestion.

Let's have a great BMB ladies! 

muggsd

Thanks for heading this up @St0v3s! The template looks good to me - in previous groups we’ve waited to see the size of active members before deciding on check-in frequency etc. to try and make it manageable. (I liked having a bit of a smaller check-in group cause it was easier to “get to know” people!) 

mamahosch

My previous BMB did the weekly due date check ins and that was kind of fun!

St0v3s

muggsd said:

Thanks for heading this up @St0v3s! The template looks good to me - in previous groups we’ve waited to see the size of active members before deciding on check-in frequency etc. to try and make it manageable. (I liked having a bit of a smaller check-in group cause it was easier to “get to know” people!) 

No problem. I took this from the February board we can definitely change it as needed. 

marebear15

@BumpAdmin Sticky please!

nopegoat

Are we going to do a (weekly/monthly) randoms thread? 

gravcass

@nopegoat I think that would be fun

marebear15

@nopegoat Yes! Let's do a weekly, since it usually gets a lot of traffic.

bbrahmbhatt

Hi everyone! How does everyone feel about individual posts? In my last BMB we only did the standard daily/weekly posts and there was just a big randoms/question thread for everything else. I feel like all the individual posts are making the board a bit cluttered and harder to find things. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

miss_lynn9

@bbrahm I agree. My last BMB didn't allow individual posts, things like that had to be posted in the weekly threads and it was so much easier to follow along.

firecracker_mama

@bbrahmbhatt I'm ok with either. Glad to see you here from TTC. I had taken a break from the board for my mental health so never made a pregnancy announcement.

bbrahmbhatt

@firecracker_mama thanks! Good to see you here too! 

@misslynn9 I agree, our board was the same. I think doing it that way, not allowing individual posts (with the exception of a TW loss post) makes the board feel more like a community instead of everyone just blasting their own thoughts into the void. 

mamahosch

@bbrahmbhatt I completely agree. My last BMB was the same. But anyone could make the group posts and come to a consensus about what was posted (for example, baby must haves, etc)

bbrahmbhatt

@miss_lynn9 @mamahosch @firecracker_mama anyone have ideas on how to get the board back in some kind of order? I feel like the one-off posts keep multiplying. 

miss_lynn9

@bbrahmbhatt in my other BMB someone would reply on the one off posts and direct them to post it in the weekly randoms or where ever it fits. 

gravcass

Could we have a VBAC check in? I think there are many of us that are trying for one on this BMB

bbrahmbhatt

Sure! Should we do a monthly for that one or a weekly?

gravcass

Let's start with weekly, and if it's slow change to monthly

muggsd

Agree with all of the above to try and curb one-offs! I’ve been trying to check in here over the past few days but keep getting overwhelmed by the number of threads. 

Wishilivedinflorida

Omg I’m in love with all of you. I hate disorganized boards, but I’m an old crusty member now and have been through some terrible and great BMBs. You guys rock. 

bbrahmbhatt

You're welcome! The chaos before was making me anxious/ragey lol. 

Anyone have any thoughts on when to start the HDBD weeklies? I know some are ~8 weeks already, so maybe in another 5 weeks or so? I'm open to starting them sooner, but I think there will be a bit more buzz once we start showing more. I've heard that STM+ moms show much sooner, so that's always a possibility!

heytallmama

@bbrahmbhatt maybe when we’re in the 12 week zone? Otherwise we’re just gonna be showing off our bloat 🙃

muggsd

@heytallmama I was thinking the same thing… I don’t want to be showing off the food/bloat baby I’ve got going on 😂

bbrahmbhatt

Ok, I think about 5ish weeks (end of August) will be a good time to start them then, some of our members with earlier EDD will probably be showing by then and the thread will get busier probably by mid to end of September. 

Wishilivedinflorida

Are we going to do product spotlight threads eventually? I LITERALLY sold 75% of my old gear two weeks ago before I got my BFP 🤦🏻‍♀️ Plus I know there’s a lot of great new stuff on the market. Oh and also I’ll need a lot of advice on cramming three across…and at least one new car….help!

bbrahmbhatt

@Wishilivedinflorida yes, I think we can do a baby gear/postpartum products thread once we get a little further along, maybe once most hit second tri?

firecracker_mama

Wishilivedinflorida said:

Are we going to do product spotlight threads eventually? I LITERALLY sold 75% of my old gear two weeks ago before I got my BFP 🤦🏻‍♀️ Plus I know there’s a lot of great new stuff on the market. Oh and also I’ll need a lot of advice on cramming three across…and at least one new car….help!

Good idea. In terms of 3 across, safeintheseat on IG or Facebook is such a great resource. She has a car seat buying guide that literally looks at alllllll things you need to know, consider, or think about including 3 across specific to your vehicle

Wishilivedinflorida

@firecracker_mama But then I’d have to sign up for FB/IG 🤣 I’ll have to see if there’s anything I can see without an account or just use my moms account. Thanks for the tip!

@bbrahmbhatt I think other groups did a weekly category and 2nd tri sounds great! I can even post the threads when the time comes. 

muggsd

@Wishilivedinflorida Diono car seats are known to be compact enough to fit 3 across. My sister has 3 across in her Santa Fe and I believe she got one Diono which goes between 2 Graco convertible seats. 

I also have 3 across but my SUV is the width of a truck so the seats fit easily regardless. 

firecracker_mama

Wishilivedinflorida said:

@firecracker_mama But then I’d have to sign up for FB/IG 🤣 I’ll have to see if there’s anything I can see without an account or just use my moms account. Thanks for the tip!

@bbrahmbhatt I think other groups did a weekly category and 2nd tri sounds great! I can even post the threads when the time comes. 

She also has a website! That is where you get the course anyways.

babymac4321

I just posted a “pregnant after fertility treatments” post, I hope that’s ok! I know we have different weekly check ins for different things but I haven’t seen anything for those of us who did fertility treatments. I figure if no one really comments, it’ll just be a one and done post. 

Does that sound ok? Maybe even just bi weekly ? 

bbrahmbhatt

@babymac4321 sounds great!

@firecracker_mama I love safe in the seat! She's so great!

@whishIlivedinflorida sounds perfect!

Anyone feel free to start the weekly check-ins, or if you have a new check-in for a different group that we've missed. I started everything because I could not handle all the one-off chaos haha, but I do not have to be the only one starting them!

Wishilivedinflorida

Bumping because holy drive bys!

bbrahmbhatt

@Wishilivedinflorida I caaaan't. I'm counting down until the steady-state group moves to a private group lol. 

miss_lynn9

The drive bys are seriously so much. I don't remember this in my last two BMBs

Wishilivedinflorida

miss_lynn9 said:

The drive bys are seriously so much. I don't remember this in my last two BMBs

I actually left March 17 because they fed into the drive bys so much. I can’t wait to hit 20 weeks and get inundated with “omgz here’s my anatomy scan and they said girl but I swear there’s a penis there…what do YOU think?” 🙄

miss_lynn9

My 2020 group was very no BS. I am very greatful lol

mamahosch

@miss_lynn9 same!! I was in Oct 2020 and we were like GTFO lol

heytallmama

I loved my 2015 board. No tolerance for the drive bys and shit stirrers we’re met with snark and gifs. 

Fun fact: my best friend and I met on that board: me in MD and her in Chicago. Our girls are 2 weeks apart, and we’re flying out next weekend for our annual visit! 

miss_lynn9

@heytallmama awe that's so fun! In my 2020 board, us FTMs decided to make our own chat group outside of here. There are 10 of us and we still talk daily. I'm always asked how I got through a pandemic being and FTM with a newborn and zero help. Those ladies are how I got through it and how I get through the rough days today. We haven't met yet but plan to all get together. 

heytallmama

@miss_lynn9 that’s so cool! I’m glad your crew was really strong, too. I think our group went to a private board and then eventually SnapChat I think (hellooooo 2015/16). Now the group doesn’t talk but we all follow one another on social and catch up that way. It was a surprisingly close knit experience. I think we wound up doing 3 group meet ups in the first few years, and I was fortunate to attend all 3.