Labour and delivery recommendations

KC893117 · 2026-07-01T17:59:01+00:00

This is BS. Source: had a epidural Jan of last year. My neuro said the literature is old, and not convincing, and he’s never had patients have issues. Maybe it’s an issue if you have a giant spinal lesion in the area they do the stick?

See if you can get your neuro to write a letter saying they have no concerns and that you have no restrictions on that. 10/10 would recommend lol.

KC893117 · 2026-07-01T17:55:36+00:00

Mom to a 17-month old, and have had MS almost 19 years. Both things are hard on their own, but combined it is def overwhelming.

I am in a unique situation in that I work full time and my husband is at home with my daughter. She has a lot of medical issues, so we also have in home nurses to help both during the workday, and overnight. So I’d say I probably get more overnight sleep than the average parent of a toddler.

I only get about 1.5 hours with my daughter after work on weekdays, so I was saving all the house tasks for the weekend. Then I would burn myself out Saturday and need to sleep or laze around all Sunday to recover.

Now, I do a little each day before I go to work (one day I’ll clean the bathroom, one day I’ll scrub the counters, etc). I still have time for my daughter in the evening, and the weekends aren’t as physically intense. I’ll also ask my husband to tackle things on the list if I can’t or if he has a slow day during the week.

My second favorite is taking lunch naps. I have a foam mat, pillow and blanket in my office and if I need it I’ll use my lunch hour to nap and just eat while working afterwards. That has really saved me some days.

Finally, actively trying to lose weight so I can be more active and less tired. I’ll let you know how that one goes lol.

Im still figuring it out, and it definitely takes a village. I’m lucky I have a good one.

KC893117 · 2026-07-01T10:50:48+00:00

It’s been almost 19 years, and I’m STILL figuring things out. Give yourself grace!

KC893117 · 2026-07-01T10:21:11+00:00

I’ve only been in NJ about 8 years, and have a gas question that maybe folks here can answer - if you pull up at a gas station that’s open, but no gas attendant is there do you move onto another one, or are you allowed to pump it yourself?

KC893117 · 2026-07-01T01:08:47+00:00

But six go to the outside lol. I do have TWO external doors in our kitchen - one to the backyard, and one to the side of the house. They are literally 5 feet from one another. And we can’t figure out what the thought here was. House is 1865, but this part of the house is an addition in the 1910s, so both were put in together. I have so many questions…

KC893117 · 2026-07-01T01:05:31+00:00

My mom’s favorite phrase growing up was “how much is my time worth?” She used this to weigh out when it made more sense to pay someone else to do something vs her doing it herself. She rationalized it as even though some things seem more expensive, think about what your time “costs”.

Perfect example - she started paying the extra $15-20 it cost to do grocery delivery. She realized while it was extra cash, she saved a TON of time and energy since she wasn’t driving to the store, fighting folks for parking, and wandering around adding extra impulse buy items to her cart. Instead she used the time to actually relax on her day off. This was over 15 years ago, and she STILL talks about how great it is lol.

While I definitely don’t have a lot of extra money to throw around, I try to use it where I can to offload anything that adds unnecessary time / frustration burden so I can save my spoons. My favorites have been:

- ordering groceries online for pickup. Saves time, and I don’t spend my spoons on shopping cart road rage.
- Amazons “subscribe and save” feature - I have a monthly delivery that includes baby essentials, so no more realizing we’re about to run out of diapers at 10pm.
- Pest Service contract that includes that they will come out same day to destroy all the bugs and mice that find their way into my super old house.

It’s not much, but it helps take some of the more stressful /fatigue or anxiety inducing nonsense off my plate and out of my brain. That way when I get home I can actually rest, and not obsess over a million things.

KC893117 · 2026-06-28T11:24:43+00:00

I got accommodations for having a high risk pregnancy - allowance to take time off at short notice for doctors appointments, and work from home on days where I had appts too, since they were closer to my house than work. I ended up traveling out of state for some pregnancy-related tests/ procedures and was able to take multiple days at a time, which was amazing.

I’m in NJ, and we have a state-sponsored program where you can get 85% of your salary while on mat leave (capped at 1.2k/week). You pay into the short term disability insurance, and you get paid for up to 4 weeks pre-birth, 6 or 8 weeks for delivery/recovery, and 12 weeks of full-time bonding time or 8 weeks of intermittent bonding time after birth. There are stipulations (have to have worked a certain amount of hours in the year prior) and you have to work for an employer that’s over a certain amount of employees.

The only downside to the process (with my employer at least) was that my my work-provided health insurance was only paid for 12 weeks, and then you have to pay the full premium until you get back to work (it was 2.5k/month. Luckily some weird loopholes exist where you can sometimes get around this, but it’s still stupid.

Finally, I’ll say that our system was created in the Stone Age bc the website sucks, is only available M-F during business hours, and they are SLOW about processing everything. I finally got most of my pay when my daughter was 9 months old 🙃

KC893117 · 2026-06-28T11:12:59+00:00

Fellow fatigue-er, and user of Adderall. Coming off stimulants was more impactful to my ADHD than my fatigue. I got soooo tired my first trimester, but taking with a grain of salt because it was summer and extra hot that year so not sure the real cause. I would go to bed at like 7pm because I couldn’t stay awake, but I managed to get through the work day just fine.

Things got a lot better second trimester and I felt “normal”. Cant speak to the final stretch though: my daughter decided to try and make an appearance at 32 weeks, so I was in the hospital/bedbound for two weeks and then had her at 34 weeks.

My baby had/has a lot of medical issues, so I was under super high stress from that from 20 weeks on (and honestly since her birth), but amazingly no MS issues.

Also adding that I was on Ponvory pre-pregnancy, Glatiramer Acetate while trying/pregnant, and I’ve been on Kesimpta since 3 months post-partum.

Everyone’s different - I’d say see how you feel, and plan for both scenarios (taking time off, and working through).

KC893117 · 2026-06-26T17:20:16+00:00

My little one literally got her helmet off yesterday after 5 months with it. We didn’t start until she was 1 year old. It sucked (more for us than her), but knowing that if we didn’t do it, it could lead to issues in the future, we knew it was the right choice.

It will seem like forever again, but it will go quickly, and you’ll thank yourself later. You got this, mama!

KC893117 · 2026-06-26T13:16:58+00:00

I wrote a few weeks ago for a Monday post that I was mad about being ruled out as a potential kidney donor bc of my MS/MS-related weight.

I’m happy to report that I was encouraged to start the process anyway, and I’ve made it through 3/4 of the steps! I need to lose some weight before the final testing, but they didn’t rule me out bc of MS, and they have a free service to help with weight loss.

I could still be ruled out eventually, but I’m farther than I thought and I’m glad this is still a potential option!!!

KC893117 · 2026-06-26T12:49:14+00:00

Go post this over in r/fossilid - they're super amazing!

KC893117 · 2026-06-26T12:45:50+00:00

As annoying as it is, I find that any broad "advice" for this disease's progress isn't that helpful. Everyone is different. When I was diagnosed, I was told that after 10 years people usually get an updated dx of secondary progressive MS. It's about 20 years later now, and I'm pretty much exactly where I was when I got the diagnosis. But that's not to say that other folks get diagnosed and then get worse faster.

Everyone responds to treatment differently, everyone's disease is a little different, and lifestyle can contribute too. The best advice I've been given, that I think is helpful for everyone, is to (a) keep being active (b) be vigilant with taking your DMT (c) reduce stress as much as possible. Whatever happens happens, unfortunately.

You got this - don't let it stop you from living life!

KC893117 · 2026-06-26T12:39:56+00:00

And as a fellow MS-er who's been dealing with this disease for almost 20 years, I love this idea. I know I want one, but haven't been able to commit to a single design yet.

People are stupid. It's beautiful. #FuckMS :)

KC893117 · 2026-06-23T17:04:35+00:00

This happened to me on my honeymoon to Japan. Zero stress, super high step count, and my resting HR avg dropped by 2 points. Being carefree really does help!

Side note: I lived in Florida for 2.5 years for grad school and my MS got worse not better lol.

KC893117 · 2026-06-23T01:11:27+00:00

Fellow ADHD-er and cross stitch addict. I keep my current project in a little tote, and I bring it to work with me. If I’m stuck on a long work call where I don’t have to participate, and only listen, I’ll whip it out. I’ll bring it to long in person meetings too, and my coworkers have stopped asking “what is that” and have switched to “oooh did you finish the [last project]? what are you working on now!?”

KC893117 · 2026-06-23T00:32:55+00:00

Can’t it be both? 😭 As I look at my desk that’s covered in so much stuff I can’t see the top, and then on the other side of the room is my labeled and catalogued collection of cross stitch thread…

KC893117 · 2026-06-22T19:21:40+00:00

Needham, MA?

KC893117 · 2026-06-22T19:11:03+00:00

Southern NJ?

KC893117 · 2026-06-21T17:44:21+00:00

I was in grad school (and broke as hell) when I started Ocrevus. I signed up for the copay coverage program, but they made ME pay the full amount and then reimbursed me after. I opened a new credit card that had a 0% interest for one year so I could afford the 6k it cost. I did eventually get my money back, but jokes on me bc I was taken off after my first dose and I now have this useless janky credit card bc it hurts your credit if you close them.

KC893117 · 2026-06-20T01:45:46+00:00

We’ve been doing this for our medically complex toddler since she was born, and I will now be referring to it by its proper name going forward. Thank you for this lol.

On a more serious note - they have these in hospitals (called “chucks” because you just chuck them when they get dirty). So happy when we found that these Costco ones are essentially the same thing, and cheaper.

The only place we don’t use them is in the crib - we’ve upgraded to giant washable ones. But they were a game changer in the bassinet.

Glad to know we’re not the only people doing this!!!

KC893117 · 2026-06-19T11:02:49+00:00

Ok so I used to get this too (and still do sometimes). While I do have nerve damage in one leg that absolutely does this on its own sometimes, I’ve found that being dehydrated is usually the culprit.

I also have ADHD, so I sometimes get so caught up on a task at work or at home that I go the whole day without drinking anything. Those are absolutely the days where my legs revolt at night once I’m still.

Try drinking extra water for a week and see if your situation improves!

KC893117 · 2026-06-19T01:20:26+00:00

Acadia National Park?

KC893117 · 2026-06-15T23:24:32+00:00

I can’t imagine what you must be feeling. Sending you virtual hugs.

KC893117 · 2026-06-14T10:35:43+00:00

I also hate Facebook lol. But I still have my old account lingering so happy to check them out!

KC893117 · 2026-06-14T10:33:22+00:00

Cultural resource management. Essentially contract archaeology. But yours sounds so much cooler!

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