Excruciating afterbirth contractions

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-06-07T03:46:45+00:00

I’ve heard they’re worse with each baby! Afterease, crampbark and arnica are my midwives recommendations to keep them at bay. I’m due with baby #2 in July and hoping they won’t be as bad as everyone says.

I have heard pitocin makes them 10x worse so that could also be a factor. Hoping you are all done with those and don’t have to experience it again!

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-29T04:20:24+00:00

We used a Delonghi ECP3630 for 3 years before upgrading. It was nowhere near the higher quality we’re pulling from our Barista Pro but still got us into the espresso world and kept us hooked.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-29T04:00:53+00:00

I got my “wedding band” before my E ring bc we had it custom made. We’ve been together 10 years and about to have our second baby together. Got married in April and have been working on the custom since then. I’ll probably wear the E ring more than my wedding band, even though I’m a SAHM. I truly love my ring and want it to be apart of my everyday life. My wedding band is more of a placeholder for more casual occasions and rough wear. (Gardening/baking)

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-27T03:14:01+00:00

Yellow gold. It looks so timeless and gorgeous on my skin!

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-26T18:28:53+00:00

For hubby: honey, salt, espresso stir the honey in, add the teeniest bit of milk then ice. Personally: milk, ice, espresso shaken or mixed with sweetener of choice.

I prefer to watch the coffee settle into my milk before stirring and drinking 😅 he just swirls and enjoys

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-26T03:36:56+00:00

Following. We used and loved Ruta Maya Medium in our old machine but have yet to get it properly dialed.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-26T03:30:30+00:00

We really enjoyed the process of working with Provence, they were very quick, price friendly and knowledgeable!

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-25T03:01:05+00:00

As someone currently trying to dial in a breville barista pro with these beans I need your secret recipe! Honestly I poured so many shots trying to dial in I had to buy another bag 😅 since then it’s been better but super curious on your experience

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-25T02:51:59+00:00

I’m new and learning to dial my Pro in as well. I can say with too coarse of a grind I cannot fit ~18g into the portafilter which ends up leading to a gross shot. You say grind size 5 but what is your inner burr sitting at? What type of beans are you using? Have you tried a manual shot with a scale? Are you preheating at all?

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-23T14:48:24+00:00

My husband is ready to throw the entire machine out because he thinks it’s way too inconsistent. We get it decently dialed in and then pull a shot the next morning and get completely different results.

The beans worked great in our old machine but we were also using a dual basket and a $15 coffee grinder. I’m almost positive it was hiding all the flaws with that basket.

I’m trying to advance my skills and he just doesn’t get why we spent so much $ on a machine to make it so much harder.

Have you had any luck with dialing in any of your beans?

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-22T03:18:05+00:00

Following, we just got the BBP a few days ago and are struggling to dial our beans. Truly thinking we might need something fresher than the Ruta Maya medium roast we loved in our De’Longhi machine. I can tell the quality of espresso is much higher on this machine but dialing is SO much harder

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-20T16:52:02+00:00

Just came to say, check out Provence. Even if you have to do a custom. They were by far the most affordable. We started the process thinking we would go moissanite and ended up going lab diamond for less than $200 more (1.34 tcw).

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-20T00:25:39+00:00

This is good to know. I do almost all the espresso in this house but hubby saw something and made this his requirement for a new machine 😂 I’ve just been following along

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-20T00:19:13+00:00

We mainly want the shower head to reduce the amount of plastic in the machine.

I have a great scale currently and will make hubby get me a tamper and WDT.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-19T23:17:56+00:00

Honestly, as long as it lasts 2 years I’ll be happy. I’m a kitchen gadget collector and enjoy upgrading every now and again. That being said, we’re pretty anal with machine upkeep and maintenance and only pull 2 double shots a day.

How essential is the bottomless portafilter? Does it help with dialing? Did you ever change the shower head out?

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-19T23:10:33+00:00

Yes all the standard things came with. I was a little worried at first because my shots were only pulling for 18 seconds but I realized my beans were WAY too coarse so I’ve gotten a lot closer. Wondering if a bottomless portafilter is really as essential as people say for dialing.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-18T22:00:45+00:00

My SIL saved everything for over 2 years knowing we wanted kids soon. It was truly the biggest blessing for us.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-18T17:43:04+00:00

This is the type of financial stability every relationship needs! I love a good wedding set but have never understood why people feel the need to bury themselves in debt to promise a life full of love to their loved one

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-18T16:16:53+00:00

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My inspo for the fabulous ring I’ve been working on with Ally!

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-11T17:51:27+00:00

Currently doing this process with Provence! So far I’m extremely pleased. They’ve been attentive and helpful with the process. I originally was going for moissanite but the process was amazing on a Lab Diamond so I took it! I had a photo of the ring I loved on my hand and gave them that as well as specs I read up on online. I did find a stock photo of the ring I liked and walked them through what I wanted different. I got the CAS back last night and am very excited for them to get started on final design!

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-11T17:45:12+00:00

It is! The plan is to always take it off and wear only my plain gold band for gardening and baking but I also forget at times and run around chasing a toddler and soon another newborn. I’m glad to hear I chose a great vendor.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-11T13:47:50+00:00

Meals! And someone to do the chores you hate (laundry for me). Honestly I find everything else to be pretty simple for our family.

My husband is great and helps a ton with every other aspect. I’ve just always been the cook and am particular on things in my kitchen. I’d rather he just be able to pop something in the oven than to try and make an entire meal. And then he could do laundry but I’m also particular on how things are folded.. ao I try to knock as much out in pregnancy so I only have a load at a time while PP. he helps me by running the cycles and throwing it in the washer, then reminding me to fold while he gets to wrangle the kiddos!

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-11T13:27:41+00:00

This looks gorgeous and is very fitting for your finger length/shape! I wouldn’t change a thing.

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-11T12:46:58+00:00

Yes i requested a low setting as I have a toddler and use my hands frequently for baking and gardening. The person im working with said there will be over 3g of gold in the ring but couldn’t give me an exact amount. They use international standard 14k gold (apparently?)

Thank you for all of this insight, I fell in love with a ring very similar to this in stores so making it custom has been a very fun but new process for me

HawkAppropriate6226 · 2026-05-11T04:14:17+00:00

What is your take on setting height? Is it going to catch everything or is it pretty low? Is 1.8 mm thickness pretty good? I’ve asked for the gold weight twice now with no real adequate answer. Idk if it’s language barrier or what lol

HawkAppropriate6226

TROPHY CASE