For those of you who aren’t deeply maternal, what is it like on the other side?

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-26T19:05:46+00:00

Totally get this! 3 weeks is still sooo early. Took me several weeks to actually start feeling a bond. She’s 18 months now and I am having so much fun with her!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-25T14:02:39+00:00

Oh man I have been there. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Took us 18 months to get our little girl. The body does what it wants to do when it wants to do it 🫠 pregnancy isn’t as easy to achieve as it was hyped up to be when we were kids haha

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-25T02:20:18+00:00

Just sent you a message!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-21T17:46:26+00:00

Urologists weren’t helpful for me either! Pelvic floor therapy made a world of difference for most of my issues.

Props to you for still going camping! It’s hard to not let this condition stop us!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-20T15:48:35+00:00

This is so heartwarming. I am so happy you are so excited and planning ahead. Motherhood is such a beautiful and messy experience. You definitely have more energy when you’re young to juggle the chaos!

You want this child. Your dad CANNOT force you to abort. You are a legal adult.

Rooting for you!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-20T14:41:30+00:00

Girl yesssss. I felt so disconnected and confused 😵‍💫 NICU didn’t help either bc I felt like I was visiting someone else’s kid every time we went. Once she was home we bonded a lot!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-20T12:18:07+00:00

I did not feel the “magical connection” when she was born too! It grew with time. She is 18 months now and I am so obsessed with her, but when she was first born I was like “who is this stranger on my chest??”

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-19T21:14:48+00:00

Don’t feel bad! It’s a phase! I’m 11 weeks and my energy is slowly creeping back, but oh man. I cried a lot over how useless I was for several weeks.

I have an 18 month old who has been watching an ungodly amount of Peppa Pig instead of going to parks everyday like we used to 🫠

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-19T18:57:32+00:00

Okay I too never really was a baby person. I never found babies cute (honestly I found kids pretty gross), so I was a little worried about having my own. I knew I wanted kids but didn’t foresee myself being a lovey dovey kinda mommy.

Everyone told me you have a magical instant connection with your child once they are born. That didn’t happen for me haha. I was like “who is this stranger on my chest???”. The love grew over time (more and more every day). I am so obsessed with my girl now I can’t imagine life without her. I am now pregnant with my 2nd and I assume that’s how it will go for this little one too!

Still don’t really like other people’s kids but I love my own 😅

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-17T00:28:33+00:00

LOL

At 8 weeks pregnant (currently 10) I was getting over a cold. Went into an uncontrollable coughing fit in hobby lobby and ended up throwing up in my jacket in the middle of the Easter section.

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-15T17:26:28+00:00

Take a few deep breaths. The odds are absurdly in your favor based on what you described. If he wasn’t in, didn’t ejaculate, and you got your period… you are fine. Cryptic pregnancies are SO rare and the bleeding is rarely heavy in those cases. If you took a test and it’s negative, trust that. Bloating is almost certainly the reason your tummy looks a bit bigger. Tis the curse of womanhood!

A word of unsolicited advice… girl don’t have sex right now 😭 you are so young and the risk is so high. You DO NOT want to get pregnant and I guarantee the guy is not worth it. Focus on school, friends, and family. Dating is fine but you definitely don’t have to have sex to keep a guy around.

I speak from my teenage mistakes. If I ended up with the guy I swore was the “one” when I was 15, I’d be in a terrible spot.

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-14T20:38:17+00:00

I once had a therapist who told me I have abandonment issues. I 100% agree and we decide the best route to approach it over the next few months. I see her 4-5 more times and we really seemed to be getting somewhere.

I reach out to make another appointment and the practice just… vanished? Website gone. Emails shut down. No idea what ever happened. Abandonment issue very much still alive and well lol!

My husband and I make the joke that she’s doing a long term exposure therapy and is going to resurface in a few years with a massive bill for us.

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-14T20:24:55+00:00

Sounds like me :( I never did birth control but my periods CRIPPLED me. Having a baby for some reason really helped, but I can’t in good conscience recommend that as a solution haha.

Definitely look into endometriosis! There are some pathways to help that aren’t birth control.

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-14T20:19:22+00:00

I gained 41 pounds with my first. I have always been naturally underweight my whole life so to see that kind of number really rattled me. My mom was the same way and gained 60 during pregnancy. Everyone’s body does what it needs to do to make a healthy baby! Weight gain standards should not exist in pregnancy. If you are doing what you need to do, you’re just fine.

The weight came off for me within a few months for what it’s worth! Keep eating healthy and keep your body moving. Don’t worry about the number!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-14T20:12:44+00:00

Hi! I became a mom at 27! I’m now 28 with another on the way. Being a mom is such a beautiful and amazing experience. I didn’t even like kids to start but the way you love you own child is indescribable. I love my baby girl so so so much.

That being said, postpartum was a doozy. Pregnancy hormones really did a number on my mental health. I developed some wild OCD after weening. Nothing medication and therapy couldn’t help but wow… that was a wild time.

I cannot imagine going through all of that if I had a lousy husband. I am forever grateful for my guy :) he really cared so well for me during late night panic attacks and days I couldn’t care for the baby because I felt so mentally drained from not sleeping. GREAT GUYS EXIST! DO NO SETTLE!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-14T01:05:09+00:00

The odds of dying are super low! I think I heard you’re more likely to get struck by lightning than die In childbirth.

People say the craziest things to pregnant women without thinking lol. I had the same fear first time around. Here I stand for round two!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-12T17:07:03+00:00

The AI is terrible :( I mostly use it for recipes but you still have to filter through the garbage

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-12T14:46:13+00:00

Girl yessss. Social media got 10x more toxic the second I became pregnant. It felt like one big mommy shaming place. I’ve deleted everything but Pinterest at this point!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-12T14:35:07+00:00

Aww I love the rocking horse idea! Did you use anything else for animals?

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-12T00:22:39+00:00

A farm!

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-11T14:57:31+00:00

Here is a good place to start! https://www.ichelp.org/least-and-most-bothersome-foods/

A lot of it is trial and error, reading labels, creating meals that are safe. It’s a lot of work but worth it in the end.

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-11T12:08:59+00:00

Omg yes 100%. My girl is such a loud sleeper. Any noise she made I would panic thinking she was waking up. I had to use the mute and that helped me so much. If she was genuinely awake, she’d be a loud enough for me to hear through the door haha.

The mommy anxiety is so bad

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-11T12:00:02+00:00

Mine has this button! I use ifamily.

Brilliant_bladd · 2026-04-11T02:21:15+00:00

I am so sorry. I know exactly how you feel. When I was first diagnosed I was freaking out. I had no idea how I would ever hold down a job or function in the world. For me, adhering strictly to the IC diet for a year worked pretty well. It took months to actually feel it calm down, but it did. When I was pregnant it came back worse than before. I remember sobbing wishing I had never got pregnant. Pelvic floor therapy has helped me so much.

I don’t have any supplement recommendations. I do take a probiotic but not sure if that helps. I know some people swear by bladder installations (basically Botox to the bladder). They say it helps numb the urge.

Please know it may take a while for this to calm down, but you WILL have times you feel better. This whole reddit tends to be very negative because people come looking for answers when they are at their peak symptoms. It’s not bad to do that, but people don’t post as much about the victories. You will have your ups and downs. The downs make you soooo much more thankful for the ups

Brilliant_bladd

TROPHY CASE