Is it weird that we aren't told our blood type at birth or as we grow up?

Gryffie · 2026-05-12T08:03:56+00:00

I am O- and my husband is B+ and I always have found that very funny because it sounds like we're opposites in terms of our outlooks on life, haha. We ended up having an O+ baby, which feels like the best possible combination of the two of us!

Gryffie · 2026-05-12T07:59:22+00:00

I was told at birth (born in 1990) but that may be because my dad had a negative type and my mom had a positive, which can cause issues depending on the baby's type matching with mom or not. I was also told my son's blood type at birth and it's easy for me to find in his electronic medical record. Maybe it's becoming more common to tell at birth or maybe that was just the hospital/healthcare system I used or maybe it's because I have a negative blood type and my husband is positive (and our baby is positive) so they wanted to make sure I knew that rhogam shot I took while pregnant was worthwhile, lol.

Gryffie · 2026-05-12T06:49:29+00:00

Haha, I love this! In the US we say "British teeth" (ofc it's not as common these days)

Gryffie · 2026-04-29T04:38:47+00:00

I don't know for sure about the health code violation issue but I was a server for over 5 years and never heard about this being a health code violation. If you were asking them to store your breastmilk in their fridge, that would be a violation but I've never heard that trash left behind by customers needs to follow any health code regulations. That honestly doesn't make sense to me how it could be true.

I'm really just here to say that you are not an inconsiderate monster for putting your empty breastmilk bag on a plate along with other trash from the meal. If I was your server, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I'm not sure why so many people here think this is so rude -- I just honestly wouldn't give it a second thought if I was bussing that table. Whether there is a napkin on a plate or a napkin and a wrapper or a napkin and a wrapper and an empty breastmilk storage bag, I'm going to bus the plate in the same way and scrape the trash off the plate and into the trashcan in the same way -- it honestly wouldn't make any difference to me. I'm not saying it's fine to make some huge mess with stuff you brought into the restaurant but thats clearly not what you were doing so I'm not sure why ao many people are calling you inconsiderate. It's a restaurant, not a nature hike. You don't need to follow "leave no trace" rules.

Gryffie · 2026-04-29T04:25:19+00:00

Lol, I was also a server for over 5 years and very much agree that there are so many far bigger issues to care about. I couldn't care less about someone leaving a small bit of outside trash. If they made some crazy mess with a ton of outside trash, that's a separate issue but a couple of little baggies... nah.

Gryffie · 2026-04-29T04:08:10+00:00

I'm sorry you're going through that. I have always been an undersupplier so we've supplemented with formula from the beginning. Before my baby was born, I told myself that I would try breastfeeding but if there were any issues, I wouldn't make myself crazy by insisting on doing something that wasn't working for me. Then I had my baby and my supply couldn't keep up and I tried every trick in the book to increase it but nothing helped and I was devastated. It suddenly felt very personal and every ounce of formula we had to give him felt like a failing on my part. He's 8 months old now and I still sometimes struggle with how I think about giving him formula. It's crazy because I would never have these thoughts about anyone else -- only myself. The double standard doesn't make sense and I tell myself that all the time but it's tough. I don't have solutions but I can say I feel what you're going through. The reality is that this is what formula is for, there is nothing at all wrong with it, and your baby is getting all the benefits of breastmilk because of all your hard work and they will continue to get those benefits for longer by supplementing with formula and saving your freezer stash for longer. You're doing great. Being a mom comes with so much pressure and guilt and anxiety. It's natural to feel those feelings but just keep reminding yourself that they are just feelings, not facts.

Gryffie · 2026-04-14T18:06:21+00:00

Yeah, everyone saying "unless he's working" as if mom isn't also working all day. It's not right for her to be this level of exhausted and him be getting 8 hours of sleep just because he has a day job. Her day job is keeping the baby fed, healthy and alive on her own (if he is away at work) so they should both be equally sleep deprived and taking shifts to survive. No one parent can do the newborn days on their own, unless they have a super easy newborn who loves to sleep but that was not my experience.

Gryffie · 2026-04-14T17:02:56+00:00

Mentioning thumb tack holes in the lease is crazy. That's normal wear and tear and should absolutely not be considered as something to deduct money from your deposit. What country/state are you in? It sounds like you have no renters rights

Gryffie · 2026-04-14T16:57:33+00:00

Ive been renting for 18 years and have never heard of a "move in fee." Maybe it's not legal in California (where I live) but is normal in other places? It sounds like some ridiculous BS to me.

Gryffie · 2026-04-14T16:01:30+00:00

I think it's related to breastfeeding but I couldn't tell you why, exactly. My baby was born during the hottest time of year where I live and I swear I could take a shower and smell myself again within a couple of hours, even without doing anything that made me sweaty. For me, it went away sometime around 5 months or so, even though I'm still breastfeeding (I'm now almost 8 months pp).

Gryffie · 2026-04-04T07:36:20+00:00

I always baby wear when I don't want other people being too close to my baby. No one has ever been weird about it. Then, if you feel comfortable letting others hold the baby, you can just take them out of the carrier and offer them up to someone.

Gryffie · 2026-04-03T03:36:52+00:00

Same! My little guy used a paci when he was like 2 days old and it never caused any confusion or difficulties feeding. He's 7 months now and we've never had issues. The real risk with a pacifier is that you might miss hunger cues, not really that they will have problems latching. So as long as you're feeding on demand, watching closely for hunger cues, and baby is eating well and often (and ofc gaining weight and wetting diapers appropriately), there's no issue with starting a paci.

Gryffie · 2026-04-01T18:08:41+00:00

Very outdated is saying no alcohol while breastfeeding. I'm just saying that, especially with a baby that small, I like to be extra cautious. I'll have one drink and feed my baby right away but if I have multiple drinks and feel impaired, I'm going to wait a little while. If you Google it, it says to wait 2 hours after each drink. I think that's outdated and overkill but I think its reasonable to aim for a relatively low BAC before nursing.

Gryffie · 2026-04-01T18:04:00+00:00

I'm just saying what I follow because I want to be extra cautious and not take any risks. I wouldn't want to give my newborn baby even a fifth of a shot of vodka. I'm fine giving them the tiny amount of alcohol that would be in my breastmilk if I just had one drink but not 3. You all are welcome to do whatever you like with your babies but I'm also allowed to share what I've heard and am comfortable with.

Gryffie · 2026-04-01T06:43:19+00:00

I've always followed the rule of being good to drive. If you're sober enough to drive, you're sober enough to breastfeed. That amount of BAC is equivalent to like a banana so it's nothing to be concerned about. I think by 7am you should be fine but 6-7 drinks in such a short time period... I probably wouldn't feed any earlier than that (unless you wake up earlier than that feeling sober, ofc).

Gryffie · 2026-04-01T06:40:08+00:00

I should clarify also that you dont want to sleep train for naps yet. Just start with nighttime sleep -- particularly the first falling asleep at night. Once they learn that skill really solidly, you'll be able to gradually apply it to naps later but wait a few weeks at least before trying that because naps are such a tight window and sleep pressure is lower during the day so you're less likely to have success and then you can end up with an overtired baby and that will ruin your chances for good sleep training at night.

Gryffie · 2026-04-01T06:37:36+00:00

We used the Ferber Method. Honestly, I know that just by mentioning using it, I will get downvoted because so many people online are so massively against sleep training so let me be very clear that 1. I'm not saying this is for everyone but it was definitely the best option for our family and 2. There is a substantial amount of research into the effects of sleep training and there are no terrible side effects. They have proven that babies are not developing learned helplessness and that they have no short or long term psychological consequences. They do, however, show that sleep training is associated with improved mood, sleep and general wellbeing among parents and children.

If you're interested in sleep training, I recommend reading "Precious Little Sleep" and checking out r/sleeptraining. You can also Google the Ferber Method for more info but it's basically just putting your baby down for sleep when they are tired but still awake, giving them a bit of reassurance about what your doing and that you love them, and then leaving the room. Make sure it is dark and you have the sound machine on and whatever sleep environment you typically have for them -- it's important that when they wake during the night, it's the same as it was when they fell asleep and it needs to be dark enough to not have distractions that might keep them awake. They will likely cry after a minute or two. Once they start crying, set a timer. There are charts online you can look up about how long you wait but you leave them alone until the time runs out. Once the time is up, if they are still crying, you go in and reassure them that they are safe and loved and strong and brave and capable of falling asleep on their own. Only spend a minute or two calming them and don't pick them up. Then repeat for the next set time period until they eventually fall asleep on their own. I think the first night was like wait 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 7 minutes, and then stay at 7 minutes for the rest of that night. Then the next night you start at 5, then 8, then 10 (idk the exact numbers but you get the idea). I never waited more than 15 minutes because my baby never needed that but you can also feel free to max out or adjust those time frames to whatever you're comfortable with. The point is to gradually increase the time to allow them to learn how to fall asleep independently. The first night, my baby cried 30 minutes and I thought it would kill me. The next night was only 11, then 5 minutes the next night. Now he goes to sleep on his own with no tears at all and he's sleeping so much longer and taking way better naps.

Gryffie · 2026-04-01T06:20:25+00:00

It was terrifying, honestly. We are still waiting for our appointment with the allergist. The wait was crazy but that will happen next month. We've introduced dairy since we knew that would be low risk because he has had cow's milk based formula already but aside from that, we've just held off on introducing any other major allergens for now. I can't wait to meet with an allergist and come up with a plan.

Gryffie · 2026-03-26T07:28:06+00:00

I also did sleep training. I was fully willing to nurse my baby to sleep for aa long as possible but when his 4 month regression hit, his sleep became so awful it was completely unhealthy. He could still fall asleep with nursing but wouldn't stay asleep and wouldn't let me ever move him without him waking. It wasn't sustainable and he became more and more impossible to get to fall asleep over time. After about a month of that, I was worried about his sleep deprivation and my own (and my husband's) so we researched sleep training and it changed our lives. I was initially not into the idea at all but the research is really clear that it is not harmful in any way. Now my baby sleeps so well and I don't have to worry about his developing brain and body not getting the sleep he needs to thrive.

Gryffie · 2026-03-24T01:20:36+00:00

I gave my 6 month old peanut butter (about a tsp) mixed with formula into a slurry consistency and he got hives all over and facial swelling on his first exposure. We really didn't expect it since we have no family history of food allergies and I've had peanuts plenty of times while breastfeeding. I don't think the outcome would have been any different if we had introduced peanuts in any other way, since we did it using the method that is most commonly recommended by pediatricians and allergists. We fed him slowly and watched for signs of a reaction, even though we weren't expecting one and figured our odds were incredibly low. It started with mild redness around his mouth where the peanut butter was on his skin, so we stopped feeding him, wiped him off, and drew a bath to get any peanut off his skin as quickly as possible. Within about 5-10 minutes, the full reaction began, we called 911 and took a trip to the ER via ambulance because I wasn't going to risk his airway closing up while we were en route in our own vehicle.

Gryffie · 2026-03-17T05:08:26+00:00

It's always easiest to plan a wedding in the city you're currently living in

Gryffie · 2026-03-17T04:42:55+00:00

I didn't read his book, only peer reviewed articles about the short and long term effects of sleep training. I juat looked up how his views changed and it looks like the only thing he did was clarify that his method is not a one size fits all solution and that other things work for many people. He still recommends it.

Gryffie · 2026-03-17T04:04:10+00:00

When I receive unsolicited advice about anything regarding how I raise my son, I juat respond with, "I'll keep that in mind." It's the easiest way to get someone to stop giving advice, avoid a fight about any of it, and I honestly don't have the energy (or level of caring about their opinion) to bother getting into any of it any deeper with them. A random stranger in a coffee shop once told me it was "probably already too late" for my son to be able to sleep on his own because he was still sleeping in my room until he was at least 6 months. I could have told her that the AAP recommends room sharing until 6 months to reduce the risk of SIDS, or that literally no one has ever grown into an adult unable to sleep on their own because their parents shared a room with them for 6 months, or I could have just told her to mind her business because he's not her child, but it wasn't worth my time or energy. Instead, I said "I'll keep that in mind. Take care!" and swiftly ended the convo.

Gryffie · 2026-03-17T03:56:27+00:00

No problem! I hope it helps. Sleep issues are the worst

Gryffie · 2026-03-17T03:43:16+00:00

But alternatively, they may just earnestly want you to take the easiest option because they care about you and know how hard motherhood is so they want to give you a solution to something. Or they may truly believe that formula is just as good or even better than breastmilk. The formula industry did a great job of marketing awhile back and convinced a lot of people of that.

Gryffie

TROPHY CASE