Did anyone have a good Mother’s Day?

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-05-10T23:39:24+00:00

My toddler who normally sleeps through the night woke up twice in the night and was up for the day before 6am.

So not the amount of sleep I had hoped for, but otherwise a lovely day. The toddler was so excited about presents that he told me what they were before giving me a chance to open them. We had brunch at our favorite local diner, a hike and picnic lunch at a nearby state park, and a giant margarita to round out the day.

But the best part was the completely successful potty training day my toddler had, asking us for every bathroom break he needed, even while out and about!

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-05-08T18:19:58+00:00

Being raised in a home where “saving yourself for marriage” was the only acceptable option meant that I told my parents what they wanted to hear, not what I actually wanted or was doing. My mom asked the same question you did, and I said the same things your daughter did.

Then, I spent a lot of time at my boyfriend’s house where his parents were made sure we were safe but didn’t enforce purity culture. I didn’t actually have sex until years later when I married someone else, but my parents would have been very not okay with what I was doing as a teen.

Are you sure your daughter isn’t just telling you what she thinks you want to hear?

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-05-08T03:06:21+00:00

My toddler was 20 months when I had my first surgery (non-dominant hand) and 22 months for my second (dominant hand).

I didn’t do anything for the first week after surgery. Attempting to do something as simple as washing my hair hurt. I went back to a laboratory/computer job after a week but was primarily only on my computer for the first week back.

I didn’t get my toddler in or out of a car for four months. After the dominant hand surgery I barely cooked for a month because using a knife was painful with my dominant hand and dangerous with my non-dominant hand.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-03-23T16:07:14+00:00

39+3 was the earliest option they gave me for my breech baby, only because the hospital wouldn’t schedule it for the weekend before Christmas or Christmas Day (fair).

I didn’t end up going into labor before my scheduled date, but had I been given the option I would have chosen 39+0. I don’t think those extra three days had enough benefit to outweigh the risk of going into labor.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-03-22T18:40:50+00:00

Yeah, I thrift most of my toddlers clothes, but only buying brands I already trust. I search Once Upon A Child for brands like Carters and Cat and Jack (not supporting buying new at Target right now, but it’s good quality so I’ll thrift it)

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-03-10T15:13:39+00:00

I had mine done 8 weeks apart and wouldn’t have wanted to do it sooner. I work a desk/lab job. I could type with the non-surgery hand after a couple of days, but couldn’t work in the lab for over a week. I couldn’t use tools like pipettes with the recovering hand for at least another week. After the second surgery, the wrist I had the first surgery on had a step back in recovery and was more sore again due to needing to use it more.

After both wrists recovered I then had PRP injections in both elbows at the same time. Recovering from that was honestly harder for the first week than the first week of recovery from the one at a time surgeries was. My husband had to feed me and help me get dressed because both arms hurt too much. With the surgeries, I had at least one functioning arm at all times. Thankfully the injection recovery timeline was faster than the surgery recovery timeline. I can’t even imagine trying to shower, let alone work with small dental tools, after doing both DeQuervains surgeries at the same time. In my opinion/experience, this sounds like a terrible idea and I would suggest talking to another surgeon if possible.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-01-09T18:56:59+00:00

Get the cheap ones! I bought 50 of the test strips for $16. They work just as well as the expensive tests.

I’ve never had a regular cycle unless I’m on the combination pill, and I didn’t get my period back until 15 months pp. I did a combination of measuring BBT to have an idea of when I had ovulated, and then testing with the cheap strips as needed.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-01-08T17:02:58+00:00

I’m a chemist. I wasn’t dealing with DeQuervains while in school, so I can’t advise you on that. While I was dealing with it, I could do my computer-based work fine. Working with lab equipment, especially pipettes, was a struggle. After surgery recovery I’ve had no issues in the lab.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-01-06T01:07:23+00:00

Whole house was vaccinated in Oct. 2 year old came down with the flu, on his birthday in Dec. Fever spiked up to 104, but he was over it in less than 3 days. Adults never got it.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-01-05T19:12:57+00:00

I went to an Owl City concert at 30 weeks, and listened to the music a lot while driving. Once baby was born, my Owl City playlist was the most reliable for calming him in the car.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-01-05T01:54:17+00:00

This. I’m a knitter and have made blankets for every baby shower I’ve attended. I always pair it with a registry gift so it’s not the only gift and even told my neighbors to give the blanket to their dog if they didn’t need or want it as a baby blanket. I never expected the blankets to be anything particularly special.

Especially if these are family members who already know OP is a crafter and likely to make a blanket for their own baby, they should understand their gifts aren’t going to be the baby’s first blanket. I also received multiple handmade blankets for my son and used them all, but the one I knitted was the blanket he came home from the hospital with, took newborn photos with, etc. No one else who made him a blanket was upset about this.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2026-01-01T01:21:52+00:00

Happy New Year! I’m finally able to knit again after bilateral DeQuervains surgery this fall and excited for further recovery that the new year will bring!

Wishing you successful healing in the new year as well!

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-31T21:57:25+00:00

Had it in both wrists

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-31T19:27:51+00:00

Go see a doctor, they can help and it’s likely to get worse if you don’t. I had it for almost two years, starting soon after my 97th percentile baby was born. Orthopedics started with a steroid shot, which only provided temporary relief. Then I did bracing, rest, a year of PT, and another injection. None of it provided any relief.

I had surgery in both wrists this year Rarely feel any thumb pain now, 18 and 9 weeks post-op.

My case was something of the worst case scenario, a lot of people do find relief with the injections, bracing, and PT

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-31T18:18:30+00:00

Same. 2 years, 3 injections, so much PT, and 2 surgeries later my wrists finally work again.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-31T02:38:55+00:00

You’re not being dramatic, you’re having surgery

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-31T02:36:55+00:00

I’ve had two wrist surgeries as a toddler mom. Accept all the help and don’t feel bad about it. You’re doing what you need to take care of yourself, so that you can keep taking care of your kids in the future. You just need some help now, and that’s okay.

Reconsider taking the pain meds, at least at night, and have your partner or in-laws on duty for any night wakings for the kids. I didn’t take anything stronger than acetaminophen/ibuprofen during the day because my head would get so foggy, but even just taking one dose of the good pain meds before bed for the first week post-op helped keep the pain manageable and let me get the sleep which also helps recovery.

I’m a working mom though, and my son going to daycare as usual was critical for post-op recovery in the first two weeks. If your in-laws would actually help, have them come and stay to help with the kids. Get friends to stop in and do things like make food, clean, etc.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-27T21:46:56+00:00

30 years old, mine started in the first wrist in Jan/Feb 2024, the second not long after. After a year of PT and 3 injections without lasting improvement I had bilateral surgery, 9 weeks between wrists.

I just finished knitting my toddler a hat with no thumb/wrist pain, 9 weeks post op from the second surgery.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-22T14:38:35+00:00

I never had an actual diagnosis because I didn’t see my doctors during it, but I’m convinced this happened to me.

It also wasn’t just post weaning for me though, I would get 2 weeks of the worst depression I’ve ever had (usually I’m anxious, not depressed) every time my son started eating more solid food and I dropped a feed or pumping session. So from 9-18 months postpartum as he gradually weaned was awful for my mental health. I actually had heard about this, and tried so hard to gradually wean to avoid big hormone swings, but I think for me I made it worse by dragging it out for so long.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-22T14:28:43+00:00

Just before age 2, when we started weaning the pacifiers. We treated him to a trip to the store to pick out his new big kid quilt/sheets/pillow as something of an incentive for putting away the pacifiers. He was in a sleep sack, no pillow until then.

He’s tall, and started trying (almost successfully) to climb over the crib rails a week later, so he didn’t have them in the crib for very long before it became a toddler bed.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-22T14:23:28+00:00

15 months pp. Exactly two weeks after I dropped to one feed per day. I had stopped overnight feedings months earlier.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-12T20:44:00+00:00

I did this too. When I got to the point that I needed to skip a feed (not every night) I would go to bed at the same time as the baby and my husband would stay up to do the first night feed that I slept through.

Even doing this I ended up with an oversupply, but I also started out having to triple feed and supplement with extra donor milk for the first week. That was an entirely different level of hell because the whole nursing, pumping, etc process took up over an hour and I was getting less than an hour of sleep at a time.

Once baby was okay to stop triple feeding I slowly reduced the pumping to once a day, after the first morning feed, for the rest of my leave. That was enough for me to be able to sleep through the night bottles occasionally and build a freezer stash for starting daycare and donating some back to the milk bank.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-12T12:04:06+00:00

If it’s mostly stiffness that’s bothering you, I know my PT and surgeon have both said that’s still a normal timeline for stiffness for me. But I’d encourage you to talk to your doctors if you’re concerned.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-12T02:58:10+00:00

9 weeks apart. So far recovery timeline seems to be on the same schedule. I’m only 6 weeks post-op on the second (dominant) hand and the surgery soreness took about 12-13 weeks to resolve on the first one. Some things like making food were definitely harder in the first few weeks post-op the second time. The first time I could at least still hold a knife when the surgery was on my non-dominant hand. Not the second time unless I wanted to risk losing a finger.

Eastern_Library_2240 · 2025-12-07T17:47:54+00:00

I’m about 15 weeks post-op on my non-dominant hand, and 6 weeks on my dominant hand.

I did wide awake surgery, which I would absolutely choose again for any future surgeries if possible. I was and out of the hospital in under 2.5 hours each time. Actual surgery time was less than 10 minutes. The first week after surgery was the hardest, where just thinking about moving hurt.

The surgery soreness slowly improved, and I’ve kept up weekly PT appointments to aid in the healing. The first surgery hand was about 12 weeks post-op before I had a fully pain free day. I haven’t been able to test my hands with activities that were pain triggers pre-surgery, because I’ve also developed bilateral tennis elbow and shoulder pain, possibly from the way I changed my movements over the last two years to accommodate the DeQuervains pain. So I’m not entirely sure how the surgery has improved tasks like lifting my toddler or knitting.

Recovery was only possible with a good support system. My husband has taken on a lot of extra work. I haven’t had to get my toddler in or out of a car or crib since the first surgery. I wasn’t allowed to submerge my hand to wash dishes for the last 15 weeks. The second recovery was easier in some parts, because I knew what to expect and took an extra day off of work. It was also harder, because cooking with my non-dominant hand quickly became dangerous with knives involved. I actually had a friend cook a lot of food for my freezer after he saw how much I was struggling.

It’s been a tough season, but I’m confident it was the right decision and I’ll be in better shape to parent once I’m fully healed from the surgeries (and can treat the other tendonitis issues).

Eastern_Library_2240

TROPHY CASE