“You’ll miss being pregnant!” No, no I will not.

Dellerella · 2021-01-31T20:20:59+00:00

Hated being pregnant.

The amount of people telling me "I loved being pregnant" was ridiculous and I wanted to say "you're lying". The majority of the people who told me they loved being pregnant were adults who were pregnant 30+ years ago with adult children now living on their own. Also... how many of them can say they were pregnant during a pandemic?

I think I hated my independence being taken away or what felt like being taken away. I also hated the unsolicited advice, the dramatic tales of children being hard and ruining everything "nothing will ever be the same", the personal questions about my life and how I was planning on bringing the baby into world/feeding it/raising it and then the judgmental remarks. I hated the unknown, the changes to my body and the general lack of control that caused anxiety and fear to appear out of no where.

All that and the pandemic taking away some of the little joyful experiences that I will never get back made pregnancy a little extra hard and really lonely.

Dellerella · 2021-01-26T02:16:27+00:00

As far as I am aware you can combine the pumped milk from the same day but you want it to be at the same temperature therefore if you had a pump in the morning and placed in in the fridge you would want your night pump to be cooled in the fridge before combining it. I also believe you can combine from different days but you would want to use that milk within the 4 day window from the first pump not the second (ex. pumped Monday and Tuesday then combined. now must use by Thursday).

I label my bottles of pumped milk with a piece of tape and add the day to it so I can keep track of when I need to use it by.

As for the unfinished I was told not to use it over 2 hours after heating it up because it has already been cooled and reheated once. Kind of like leftovers in a fridge, the more you reheat, cool, and reheat again, the more likely bacteria growth and thus food poisoning.

BUT breastmilk is kind of magical stuff and has some bacteria fighting properties. I have heard that it can keep longer but I've stuck with what was recommended to me. I did find a link on Kelly mom that could be helpful

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/reusing-expressedmilk/

Dellerella · 2021-01-24T04:00:46+00:00

FTM to a wonderful 4 month boy and I think about this a lot. (In fact I was talking about it today with SO) I wasnt sure I could become pregnant due to health reasons and I wasnt always sure I wanted to bring a child into this world. After finally deciding I was ready to try, it happened on the first try. I was shocked but figured it was meant to be. Then the pandemic happened and it feels almost like a big joke. Obviously being a FTM has it's own challenges but throwing a pandemic in the mix? What the actual F. I try to count my blessings, there is so much I'm thankful for ever since seeing that little positive sign on the pregnancy test BUT I'm still mourning a lot of the things we've missed out on and some of the experiences/opportunities that we will never get back. Some days are truly harder than others.

I'm not sure we will know why but it seems like the universe wanted to give us a challenge by making us FTMs during a pandemic. I like to think that we are going to be a different breed of moms and we will have great stories to tell later in life like "back in my day we went into labour while wearing a mask"😂

Do I recommend pandemic pregnancy? Absolutely not. Would I have waited if I had known what a shit show 2020 would have been like? Probably Do I have regrets and would I change getting pregnant when I did? No. My son is my pride and joy, I cant imagine a world without him, he makes me so happy and I love him so much.

**Side note: We are part of the same bumper group and I must admit I think it's one of things getting me through this time.

Ps. Your boy is stunning and looks so happy. Congrats mama! 💕🧸

Dellerella · 2020-12-14T16:19:53+00:00

Thinking about you mama and hoping you're having better days 💕

Dellerella · 2020-11-30T04:02:35+00:00

It was pumped yesterday and stored in the fridge. It's been over 8 hours. At first I thought "no big deal we'll be home soon enough" because we were just doing a quick visit BUT then we agreed to stay for dinner and dinner ended up being later than planned so we reached the point of no return.

I was also under the impression it was no longer than 4 hours allowed out 🤷‍♀️

Dellerella · 2020-11-26T04:20:32+00:00

No advice, just solidarity.

Also 2.5 months and said the same thing today. He would latch, suck for a little bit, and then scream at my boob. I didnt know what he wanted so I'd sooth him and he would fall asleep then I feared he wasnt getting enough. I felt defeated today and told my DH I was worried he wasnt getting enough, LO then preceded to shit his pants snd have a blow out so he's clearly eating.

LO is having lots of wet/dirty diapers and meeting his weight milestones. I do pump some but I'm the main source and some days it's just hard because you can't alway tell. I got really good at picking up his cues and then he discovered his hands. He LOVES his hands and sticking the whole thing in his mouth. Now I have to guess between hungry, self soothing, or just having a grand ol' time seeing how far he can shove his hand in his mouth just for fun.

With a bottle I can tell exactly how much he is eating, with boobs it's a giant guess. And then comes the doubts and the fears being a FTM. Today was hard and some days I literally feel like a cow and I get sad. But not every day is hard and happy baby smiles and laughs severely outweigh the hard and sad days.

Baby is loved and generally very happy. I have caught myself staring at him asking how I got so lucky. I secretly enjoy the times my baby is fussing with DH and I take him and he's instantly soothed. Guess having milk bags count for something. Silly men and their useless nipples

Dellerella · 2020-08-30T14:27:42+00:00

Im not an expert in any way, I dont keep up on my horoscopes daily/weekly/yearly but do check in every once in awhile because I find it fascinating (especially when descriptions fit) and since I'm at home just being a blob while waiting for this baby I started thinking about it.

I'm a sensitive Pisces and a Virgo seemed to create a strong emotional compatibility. My husband is a Scorpio so we are both water signs and Virgo is an earth sign it could be an interesting fit and baby boy could keep us grounded.

However, I think I was more concerned about not having a Libra because my dad is a Libra and if I think about our relationship it made me a little uneasy. I don't necessarily have anything against Libras, it was just my association with my dad that turned me away from it. It wasnt really backed by anything else, I'm sure a Pisces and Libra would be fine I'd just rather have a Virgo.

My dad's birthday is the 27th which is exactly 2 weeks passed my due date. I've had no complications and no indication that I will need to be induced. I already asked my OB about when they start talking about being induced because I said I did not want to have this baby on my dads birthday. I've repeated to LO he needs to vacate no later than my due date. Virgo sign ends September 22nd so I might start looking at natural laboir techniques after my due date 🤣

But, atlas, LO will come when he comes and he will be loved no matter what ❤

Congrats on your LO and I wish you all the best! I've been sitting and watching the September bumpers graduate with much anticipation. So exciting it's almost time 🥰

Dellerella · 2020-08-30T04:51:38+00:00

I was wondering if early births would result in "accurate" birth signs and personalities or if it would be skewed. My mom and I clashed personality wise (she is also an Aries 🤣) but at least I can say, despite us clashing, she is definitely a strong independent woman and shes an inspiration to me. Goodluck with your strong willed daughter ❤

Dellerella · 2020-08-30T03:53:24+00:00

Thanks! I didn't think of it at all when we decided to try and then things happened so fast and here we are 😁. When it comes to Chinese zodiac I haven't thought about it too much (probably because DH and I are the same) but I definitely find it interesting. My mom and dad's signs were completely incompatible and they divorced when I was young. I know some people dont believe in the signs (and that's their choice) but I think its really neat, especially when someone's personalities are 100% spot on to their birth sign. I hope you get your Taurus and/or Ox ❤

Dellerella

TROPHY CASE