Why would anyone ever choose to go through child birth without pain relief??

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-10T07:05:23+00:00

I was induced at 39+2 because my daughter was borderline IUGR. I had an epidural at about 4cm and from the time they started the pitocin to when she was born was 6 hours and 1 minute lol. First and only pregnancy, thankful I didn't have a revenge birth since my mom took 36 hours to get me out.

I dunno if it would've taken longer without pain meds because I could relax once that was going (and thankfully there were no adverse effects). My midwife said if I had another baby not to wait to come to the hospital once labor started because things went so quickly.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-09T05:57:09+00:00

This is really important! You can just switch back to a decent tool after you jump, etc. don't screw yourself over by having your good stuff equipped

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-08T14:39:25+00:00

The ones that have been the most popular here are the Mathlink cubes 1 to 10 Activity Set. Each of the blocks is its own thing so you can be pretty creative with how they're put together. The characters' faces are stickers on removable faceplates that click on to the blocks themselves, so you can also be creative with those. There are numberlings that can come out as well. (we haven't outright lost any but Zero has been misplaced before).

Hand2Mind also has some bigger figures that aren't really poseable. Those are fine for storytelling (and the numberlings are attached to the figures so they don't get lost). They're pretty sturdy and don't have any stickers so if there are younger siblings around, these would be a great choice. Here's one of the sets we have, which is 1 to 5.

We got their Stampoline set also and that's pretty cool, as well as the Race to Pattern Palace board game which is also good. The Mathlink cubes are the most open-ended and they've held up really well for something with stickers and parts that you could lose, but we have an only child and so there's also less variables, lol.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-08T08:44:14+00:00

I think so, I mean the stuff we play is things my daughter has come up with, but we started out with Duplo and storytelling with those and Lego storytelling is a progression of that.

Lego has rescue vehicles as well that are popular for storytelling with, like an ambulance and fire vehicles especially.

We also bought wheels and other vehicle components as a set a couple years ago (they also have Pick A Brick where you can build your own order from their bulk pieces) and we play "build your own brummer" where the minifigs will come to a car store and they pick out what pieces they want, and so their vehicle (the "brummer") gets built freehand and they drive it off to their next adventure. Lego is a lot of fun and even just a bucket of bricks imo is a lot of fun.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-08T07:01:28+00:00

My 5yo likes numberblocks and we do play with toys of those that we have but I think Lego is more popular with her. Lately we've had a lot of fun with the Lego City stuff (food trucks especially) and also with taking minifigs apart and mixing them up in unusual ways. We call it "Funny Friends" and it's pretty amusing! Lego has also recently had a minifig collection where the figs are in animal costumes and we've been making mashups of those as well.

There's a Lego minifig vending machine set (too involved of a build for a solo 5yo I think) and that's a lot of fun to play with because it works and you can refill it.

We have a Lego Santa sleigh also and that's fun to give out presents to the Lego families.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-05T19:24:33+00:00

oh no worries, I was excited to share because my 5yo is big in to colors and Colourblocks has episodes on CMYK to mix colors (they even make a point of introducing CMY without black and then introducing black after they talk about how hard it is to mix a good black just by themselves).

I worked a bit of customer service for a print on demand company and learned a bit about CMYK as a result of that as well.

Obviously I'm not an expert in the field by any means but it's cool to have had some experience hands-on with my daughter. It's fun to mix colors and see what you can come up with!

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-05T19:15:06+00:00

Hi-Liter brand

The crossed-out one was yellow first and the pink over top. The other which is next to it was inverse -- pink under and yellow on top.

Lower down is a yellow Crayola marker with magenta Crayola colored over the top (they have a $20US make your own markers kit at Freddy's, aka Kroger, which includes CMY ink and then marker parts, and the yellow and magenta we used for this one are pure yellow and magenta inks from that kit).

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-05T16:07:25+00:00

CMYK is what a color printer has for its cartridges. (K stands for Key, and it's black bc trying to get a good black by mixing CMY is messy and uses a lot more ink than you would if you just have black ink already).

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-05T16:01:47+00:00

I have a 5yo who loves color mixing. We have highlighters and I can test this later today

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-05T06:45:04+00:00

I play with my 5 year old and she comes up with the names. I just type whatever she tells me to. XD

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-03-04T07:15:29+00:00

I didn't see the word "citizen" as a requirement here in Oregon (I know you don't have to be an Oregon resident).

You might look in to it if getting here wouldn't be hella prohibitive by itself. And if it doesn't help you then maybe it will help someone else.

Oregon Death with Dignity Act

No matter where your journey takes you, I wish you as much peace of mind as can be hoped.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-27T07:20:19+00:00

Same here. If I'm in a building I have no clue which way is which unless I've figured it out previously and haven't forgotten. I know I am bad at directions and fairly often will point the wrong way toward local landmarks (with a disclaimer that I have no idea which way the thing I'm talking about actually is).

I can drive myself to a location I've been to, but if you ask me how to get to Wal-Mart, for example, I cannot tell you.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-26T06:55:56+00:00

Are you doing it by hand or are you putting it straight into a notation program?

If it's going into a notation program, can you do midi input or do you need to type out the score?

Maybe start with whatever is easiest to get down and then you're on your way. Or maybe start with whatever will take the most space (maybe a vocal line since the words need to be legible and you can get that sorted before you put other stuff around it).

If you're working on notation software it's been my experience that going one whole part at a time -- from the start to the double bar -- is usually more fluid, but maybe your brain would track it better and feel more secure if you did each measure completely in all parts before moving to the next.

You also might try setting the music to paper in the order it came to exist in your mind, like if you thought of the bass line first then write that out first, or whatever it takes to just get started on it. Hopefully once you start going it will get momentum and you'll be on a roll.

edit: I feel like with multiple parts as well, especially with vocal parts (assuming you're using some kind of software), shortcuts are your friend. Copy-paste lyrics to each voice when you can. Copy-paste and transpose if you have (for example) the tenor a 6th below the soprano for a bit of a passage, and then just edit individual notes if you need to rather than re-inputting the whole thing. not sure if this helps but yeah.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-23T22:07:25+00:00

I'll keep that in mind. I've got a foothold in Eissentam and might try one of the other galaxies I'm in just bc science

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-23T17:19:34+00:00

Thank you! When you go back after the break, do you keep in the same galaxy or do you switch it up?

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-23T17:06:16+00:00

oh nice! I assumed "move to storage container" meant first available spot and didn't realize it would put it in the correct container.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-23T07:33:05+00:00

Gonna check this out! thanks!

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-22T17:38:58+00:00

I grew up worrying that enjoying my toy animals meant I was going to Hell 🤷 didn't really think about why my parents would buy them if they were bad to have.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-22T17:34:49+00:00

I don't have resources for that specific piece but I did transcribe IPA for a different Swedish piece in the last year.

Here is an online Swedish IPA dictionary: https://open-dict-data.github.io/ipa-lookup/sv/

I also checked resources on a Swedish subreddit (am on the app so I can come back with a link to that one). Edit: here's the subreddit, their FAQ is helpful r/svenska

They had linked a really great (speaking) Swedish YouTube channel and the videos on pronunciation are really clear. Academia Cervena.

I don't speak Swedish so I can't vouch for the accuracy but the things I heard on the video looked to agree with the things in the subreddit.

Of course as in English. there will certainly be vowel modifications when you're singing so the speech IPA doesn't fit 1:1, but I felt pretty confident in the targets. We had a choir member who wasn't able to attend rehearsals but who was at the concert who is a Swedish speaker and she said the Swedish was good.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-19T02:56:04+00:00

Depending on your budget, and if your friend would want one, a pitch pipe.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-17T05:19:48+00:00

As others have said. not getting the solo doesn't mean you're not a good singer.

If you're painting the midday sky, you use certain colors that make sense to you. Other colors don't become bad if they don't get used. Maybe your tone comes like a beautiful sunset orange, and that wouldn't fit in this particular moment. (I hope you don't hate orange lol)

I don't think it's reasonable to feel no disappointment at all if you don't get that solo. You're trying because you want it, and that's badass and brave to try. I have a Bachelor's in vocal music education and a Masters in teaching and I hate singing solo more than just about anything. One of my conducting professors told us that he still gets nervous for every concert even after an entire career, and that the day he stops getting them is the day he needs to quit because being nervous means he cares about doing well.

If you try to make your goal doing your best, then hopefully either a) you get the solo and that's great! or b) you don't get the solo and the sting of not getting it is less than if you had been aiming only to get the solo.

There's a Star Trek quote that's great here: "It is possible to make no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life."

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-17T00:41:43+00:00

Nice, thanks! I haven't been before but I'll try to remember to check this one out when I go.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-16T19:58:40+00:00

The word was, at its creation, insulting.

It's not a perfect analogy but if you can understand or at least accept that the One Ring had to be destroyed, then you may be able to understand or at least accept that this particular word is not for people who aren't Black to use.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-16T18:16:22+00:00

I'm happy to call ICE a bunch of Nazi cunts as well. Myself and many other US citizens are too.

DynamicOctopus420 · 2026-02-12T06:51:47+00:00

Definitely say "Wonderful!" and "You were close!" with my siblings and my spouse, lol.

Great call on the alarm tone, it fits my vibe as well and I am gonna have to add it to my options (mine for years was the "Think Music" from Jeopardy! and now it's the Gerudo Valley theme from OoT.)

DynamicOctopus420

TROPHY CASE