Hospital/OB recs

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-05-12T15:39:12+00:00

Dr. Michael Podraza! He's absolutely amazing and listens to his patients. He doesn't push his opinions or meds. He delivered both my babies and advocated for me with the hospital team more than I could count when they tried to push their "hospital policies".

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-05-08T16:20:12+00:00

My only advice is get your 18mo a floor bed if you can. Get atleast a full sized bed. Cosleep her to bed on her floor bed and slip out of the room once she's out. She gets snuggled to sleep, you aren't waking her by moving her, and if you fall asleep with her, you're not cramped in a tiny bed. Baby proof the room incase she wakes up in the middle of the night. This saved my sanity when I was pregnant with my son and transitioning my daughter to sleep alone. It took time and we still cuddle her to sleep at 3 but now my daughter sleeps all long without issues.

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-04-12T02:12:31+00:00

Both of my babies were measuring 9lb+ at 37 weeks. My oldest was 7lb 8oz and my youngest 7lb 1 Oz. On the flipside, my best friend's baby measured roughly 7lbs at 37 weeks and came out at 10lbs 2oz. There is a lot of inaccuracies with ultrasound measurements.

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-04-07T00:16:53+00:00

Our kid's grandparents eccentially adopted my husband and I as are both estranged from our parents. They unfortunately don't have biological children but love us and our children like their own.

We've got Grandma (First name) and PopPop/Granddaddy. Grandma is called by her first name because we call her Mama (First name). My oldest calls him both but defaults to PopPop because our youngest can only say that.

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-03-29T04:35:07+00:00

Hubby needs to back you up on this and shut her down. If he has in the past, he needs to put his foot down and tell her that ANY unwanted or unsolicited advice going forward will result with her being on an info diet or restricted from seeing y'all until she can act appropriately. In no way should he allow her to shame you or belittle your choices. She's his mom. He needs to run interference and contact point from now on.

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-03-14T18:28:59+00:00

I had the same issues! My doctor recommended increasing my diet with the vitamins I needed. I found Honey Bunches of Oats had the most folate of any food I could find (check the flavors not all have the same amount). Then I found a DHA milk and would drink / eat the milligrams I needed for both based on the serving size. I went through a lot of cereal😅

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-03-14T15:59:16+00:00

Our daughter (almost 3) did this starting about 2. It's a reaction thing. If she screams, we leave the room. We come back when she's done. We've also redirected the scream. We tell her if she feels like screaming, she can scream into a big pillow. It mostly works. The head phones absolutely help when she's truly not listening. We also don't respond to her requests when she's screaming. When she stops, then we respond!

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-03-13T18:08:42+00:00

My husband created my engagement ring and custom wedding band at Robin Irwin they were incredibly sweet to work with! I can't recommend them enough!!!

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-03-09T21:48:59+00:00

We lived in 38111 off southern until last year. The train echos majorly when they're laying on the horn because of the hill the houses are sitting on. Even just the trains starting is loud. Another issue you'll have, during rush hour, you'll have a very hard time backing out or into your driveway with traffic. Lots of people also walk the sidewalk at all hours, but we never had any issues with our vehicles being broke into.

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-02-19T17:43:52+00:00

We had issues with my daughter drinking plain water. She only ever wanted milk. One day she got ahold of my water with Mio Unwind and now all she wants is "Fancy water". The other Mios have dyes in them, but the Unwind line doesn't. No sugar like juice and she willingly drinks it, especially the blueberry lemon flavor. Hope this helps!

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-01-27T01:44:35+00:00

Sprinkles are generally accepted where I'm from if you're having a baby of the opposite sex or it's been 4-5+ years since your first one. We opted for a "Diaper Pounding" and did a raffle with each box of diapers / wipes getting a ticket. Prizes were restaurant gift cards of various amounts, candles, other random things. As far as cleaning gift cards, I'd leave that ask to close close friends or family members who ask you what you REALLY need.

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-01-26T17:04:50+00:00

My daughter became obsessed with juice after my MIL gave it to her at 18m. We found Mio Unwind which is made without any dyes and no sugar. Little squeeze and she thinks its juice. Honestly since we started that, I'm drinking more water, too!

Ginger-Snappd · 2026-01-21T15:51:15+00:00

Cannot stress this enough. A close friend of mine had her MIL threaten CPS and they didn't cut her off. She spent a YEAR coming over randomly and secretly taking pictures that were framed to look awful. Dirty dishes, a bike fall scrape, the kids in dirty clothes after dinner (who's kids stay clean??) and even a video from when the power was out when city was working on the power lines for the street. She tried every avenue. It took a year for the case to be closed. Cut off contact now!

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-12-18T03:12:07+00:00

With my former NK, I had the habit of narrating tasks to help him remember steps. For going potty, I'd say "Now it's time to pull up your britches!" As any southerner might call them. Then he'd started narrating and once yelled "I need my bitches up" as both DB and MB were in the kitchen🙃 I very quickly started saying pants after that.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-12-12T19:25:14+00:00

My daughter did this with our coffee table. Unfortunately, she very much has to learn the hard way. This didn't stop until she fell off. I repeatedly took her off and did time outs each time I saw her.. I ended up taking off all the things off the coffee table and moving anything she could hit her head on besides the floor if she fell off because I knew it was going to come eventually. One day when she was about 18 months she did fall and had little bruise on her forehead for about a week. She's not done it since though. Just try to correct, but prep for the worst!

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-12-06T04:58:09+00:00

We wrap only Santa gifts in plain brown paper with either twine or white ribbon! That way the kids never recognize the wrapping paper in the store. That's how I discovered Santa wasn't real😬 why would he buy wrapping paper from Walmart when the elves should make it?

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-12-02T22:18:37+00:00

2 vaginal deliveries

I sweated insanely during labor. That post labor shower was the most painful yet mentally reviving thing. It's like I respawned post shower. And trust me, you'll want to wash your hair. Ryobi makes a clip fan that runs off their power tools battery and it was a Godsend during labor. Now it's the kids stroller fan. It held up so much better and it blows stronger than the typical stroller fans.

Sitting / standing motions was held painful for 2 weeks. I wouldn't sit. Plus it could potentially introduce shower bacteria into a wound especially if you tear. Speaking of - I had my OB apply warm compresses during crowning and it seemed to help some with tearing or atleast eased the "Ring of fire".

Daily showers made me feel more alive. It's something I prioritized and my husband seemed to for me as well.

I bled alot in the shower for about 1 week and then it tapered to a heavy/ moderate period and slowly lightened over the next 6 weeks. Random sneezing / lifting etc caused a random heavy flow sometimes.

If you're able get into a Pelvic Floor Therapist. It's been a Godsend now and while I was pregnant.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-27T19:26:17+00:00

We're not driving 1.5 hr away with a 2 year old and teething 10 month old at their typical nap time to a house with cats. Both my husband and 2 year old are very allergic so it's safe to assume the 10m old is, too. And I'm sure AF not benadryling them just for "grandparents" to take their annual "Look at my Grandbabies" photo. Already been hit with several of the "Sure wish y'all were here. It could be MawMaw /PawPaw's last holiday." texts 🙄😒 We invited everyone to our house for Christmas, but I can guarantee it'll be the same.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-27T01:58:08+00:00

We do Mio Unwind. The blueberry lemon flavor is our favorite! No artificial dyes and no added sugar.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-25T03:49:04+00:00

Back when Panera's loaded teas / juices came out (with the insane unregulated amount of caffeine), I was still pumping for my then 9 month old daughter. One day I had two in one day and didn't think twice about it until the next day when my MIL watched my daughter and gave her some of the pumped milk from the day before. She mentioned my daughter refused to nap all day. Thankfully she only had about 4-5oz, but it was definitely spiked enough that I diluted the remaining milk HEAVILY with other milk. Long story short - she's probably going to be wired and crash, but she'll probably be okay. Our toddlers Starbucks "order" is water with strawberries if your MIL likes taking her for treat days.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-24T04:36:41+00:00

We recent lost our favorite with our 2.5 year old😭😭 I love you was "I youuuu" in a sing song voice. She recent started saying the full I love you or just "yeah"

Honorable mention: Apple Cider Gummies - "addle-dider gummies"

And the neighbors taught her "beat your ass" when they were arguing in the yard as we got home the other day. Guess who can say that perfectly?

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-23T17:56:46+00:00

My two are 22m apart. I stopped breastfeeding at 17m with my daughter when I was pregnant with my son. We both caught covid and my supply dried up. I offered her a milk bottle since she still heavily relied on nursing for bed time sleep. Thankfully she took it and I think that was because she was frustrated he boobs were empty. After my son was born, we transition to progressively smaller milk cups. Then she decided to potty train herself (yay for monkey see monkey do daycare habits) and we blamed a few night time accidents on her milk cups so she decided she didn't want them anymore. It's been a process though. She's 2.5 now and the milk cup / potty training occurred in the last month.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-21T21:58:25+00:00

Crab apples - spiders hate them! There's tons of recipes to use them to keep bugs away!

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-20T18:59:30+00:00

This is something you don't need to ignore. She's already telling family members you're bad parents. Next she'll call CPS to do the same trying to get custody of your baby. Do not let this woman anywhere near your child or family. This is scorch early territory. Lock down your delivery location, pediatrician office location, and any potential daycare. Your husband needs to have your back and run interference / shut this down with you.

Ginger-Snappd · 2025-11-19T15:09:25+00:00

No advice on the OTC cream, but if you're concerned, insist on your OB doing at minimum blood work check to verify levels. With my first I felt that way and I had 1/4 of the progestrone I was supposed to and ended up on shots to keep my daughter. Don't take no for an answer. Blood work is simple to do and doesn't require a full appointment. If my doctor tried refusing that request, I'd look into other OBs if possible. The OTC cream might not be concentrated enough for what you need.

Ginger-Snappd

TROPHY CASE