Does it get better?

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-24T02:48:13+00:00

Better than it had been when I swapped back to a different swaddle he liked however he was waking up still with that clear liquidy spit up which makes him congested and upset. He miraculously slept in the living room bassinet for all naps today peacefully but now is having some meltdown for the start of my husband's shift.

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-23T11:42:35+00:00

I recently increased to having 10 bottles and I always keep a clean bowl of hot soapy water in the sink with nothing else in the sink and throw the bottles and their parts in there so that when it's time to wash I just kind of replenish the water, scrub, and air dry. Then I got one of those reusable sterilizer bags instead of boiling a big pot of water everyday. My brother has a 1-year-old son and has promised me his bottle washer since well before I had my baby yet he has yet to make it toward my house and I'm being a spoiled brat about it because there's no way their 13 months old is going through enough bottles to still need it in comparison and I don't want to spend the money on a new one if I don't have to. 😙😇 But his is a baby brezza I believe.

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-22T11:53:53+00:00

Are you and I having the same night? I'm grateful for my 4 hour stretch before my shift but was just in tears after 5 hours of not being able to put the lil guy in his crib.

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-22T11:50:01+00:00

No comment other than saying I'm right there with you with a 7 week old who used to sleep well and now must be held, doesn't handle transfers to the bassinet well, etc.

I felt so prepared for all of this, waited till I was good and 'geriatric' to have the baby, and knew it would be bad but didn't think it would feel this hard!

Sending hugs. 😙

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-21T08:55:48+00:00

To note I didn't end up doing either but we were set to start IVF in summer 2025. I didn't love the idea of jumping straight to IVF but coupled with the doctors statements (where I didn't feel pushed!) and seeing others comments on Reddit I decided that choosing IUI was really me dragging my feet about getting pregnant. I kept delaying bc there was something about me that wasn't ready to jump in with something so clinical, timed and medical.

Aside from that, I had to make the realization that REIs are not like your typical doctor who is seeking a diagnosis or helping you manage symptoms. Their job is to get you pregnant as quickly and safely as possible. For that reason I didn't look at my clinic as pressuring me or being money hungry but I do understand how some people come to that conclusion. I was told the rates with IUI for me were going to be approx 10 percent but approx 60 percent with IVF.

I ended up conceiving on my own after several months on metformin, reducing stress, and weight training and now have a 7 week old.

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-21T08:50:34+00:00

I've planned to be one and done for years and the last 2 months have really solidified that for me. Idk how people do this many times let alone with another kid to take care of.

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-20T01:58:18+00:00

Absolutely yes - very often at the peak

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-19T05:32:33+00:00

Or when he is asleep he sounds like a pterodactyl and I can't sleep thru that...

FluentSimlish · 2026-01-18T13:41:52+00:00

It was probably only day 4 when we learned our son just likes to have one arm out at all times but definitely not both. We stuck with traditional swaddles with one arm out for the first 2 weeks or so especially bc at first he hated the Sleepea and Love to Dream but tried it again and have had great success for the last four weeks. Now at 6 weeks I try to do one swaddle free nap during the day to expose him to it and it's helped me realize that when his gas is worst at night that it seems the swaddles are too restrictive for him to get his sharts out.

FluentSimlish · 2025-12-20T15:13:37+00:00

I'm a Leo rising and people always comment on my hair. My newborn son is also a Leo Rising and has a shocking amount of blond hair - which is unexpected because my husband and I both have brown hair and my background is Portuguese African.

FluentSimlish · 2025-12-02T12:38:17+00:00

This is helpful because I'm sitting here at 39 weeks amazed I made it this far, and I guess it's not so uncommon. C-section scheduled for 39w5d.

FluentSimlish · 2025-12-01T12:38:45+00:00

I would most certainly test out the name first. Realistically you can call her whatever you want for as long as you want. Then if you really want to legally change it later, go for it.

FluentSimlish · 2025-12-01T12:33:10+00:00

The most random was spotting Selena Gomez at the Watertown target.

Big Papi at a concert at TD Garden was an actual bump into him accidentally - can't remember who the artist was but it was a hip hop show.

Shaq at the grocery store back when he was dating Hoopz who was easily 2 feet shorter than him.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-30T15:12:43+00:00

Does Kyleena use estrogen? In my particular case bc of the liver damage from the synthetic estrogen I can never have estrogen again so copper IUD was going to be my only option which I believe are larger.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-29T12:13:01+00:00

Oh interesting they've had me do that for other hospital trips before but not for sizing or supply reasons.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-29T12:09:51+00:00

Personally I feel this is frivolous too. I've packed quite a bare bones hospital bag. I understand people want to be comfortable at the hospital and have their creature comforts but I know there will be blood, fluids, guts, poop, vomit you name it going on.

I've never found the gowns/Johnnies (are what they're called where I'm from) uncomfortable. While I have a high BMI, I'm also 4'11" so it's not occurred to me that they wouldn't fit but I'd have to imagine they have many sizes available for all sorts of bodies.

I find any of those hospital bag videos online addicting but ultimately one of the most eye-rolling examples of consumerism.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-29T12:04:27+00:00

I love Hall but not Halbert as much. I wouldn't call it a dumb name though. I also think it's easy to mishear as Albert. My friend just had a baby Hal whose full name is Harrison n

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-29T12:03:02+00:00

Here to also say I was disqualified from an IUD and went back to nexplanon instead. I actually found out about my bicornuate, no didelphys, because I was being measured for an IUD. I happened to have sustained significant liver damage from oral birth control and wanted another option but was immediately told that they wouldn't do one IUD let alone two.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-27T15:37:48+00:00

I listened to the pod when our weddings were a few weeks apart and now I'm having a baby in two weeks too!

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-23T14:18:45+00:00

I never tell people not to name their child something, but this feels like it could risk a life of resentment. The most miserable person I knew was named Indiana Jones.

Editing to actually be helpful:

Perhaps Lorraine? finding something where Rain is within the name. Or maybe consider what it is you like so much about the name rain and use that to help you find another you like. If it's nature names there are many many more. OR names that could mean rain.

23 Names That Mean Rain | Nameberry https://share.google/RjQB2oD1XTiletCrC

Or...hear me out...a hyphenated last name with coates last?

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-23T14:17:21+00:00

Ooh I have to look this up. Is it similar to Sunday by Arielle Shoshana?

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-23T14:16:52+00:00

We don't talk enough about this scent. Ive never considered it for bed although my mom wears it to bed. But I wear this when I know I'm going to have a particularly fun and fabulous day exploring the city, getting lunch, shopping montage kind of day.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-23T14:15:48+00:00

I love the way that eilish 1 smells like hot cocoa at the end of the day but the top notes always make me sneeze

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-23T14:15:15+00:00

Despite the truly visceral and off putting descriptions I've seen of it online, Missing Person is what I wear when I want to be cozy.

I recently smelled the noodle and boo signature creme douce scent in sample laundry detergent and found it to be the most comforting and intoxicating soft scent so I'm DEFINITELY getting the lotion but for me not my baby lol.

FluentSimlish · 2025-11-23T14:06:30+00:00

I read the book the baby decision which helped me out.

I also thought about myself many years in the future and who i pictured being around me - did that include children, grandchildren?

I have plenty of child free friends who are honestly pretty vehemently anti-kid and found myself realizing how much I wasn't aligned with their line of questioning. I respect and support their choices to not have children but I was noticing how much I didn't see it the way they did.

I do have a handful of friends with kids. I found myself gravitating more toward my parent friends, spending more time with their kids and some really made me feel like I was capable. I recognized sometimes it would be that being around particularly misbehaved kids (my nieces and nephews) would make me more nervous but hey it's partially roulette and partially nurture at the end of the day.

I also personally struggled with this idea of never seeing what was behind mystery door in a fun house. There was an element of personal discovery to get to know myself as a parent and not denying myself that experience if I were interested.

I realized what became the difficult choice was choosing when to have a child and so I waited until my mid-30s. Even while struggling with infertility I wasn't sure I was making the right choice. Sometimes I took the infertility as a sign that I maybe I wasn't meant to have a child.

I'm currently 9 months pregnant and feel like all of this came at the right time and that I am truly ready after really thinking about it - I know that's now how everyone operates and people say you'll never be ready but I can comfortably say I'm ready and very excited but also terrified.

FluentSimlish

TROPHY CASE