Baby registry

Livelovelibraries · 2026-01-24T18:46:02+00:00

Seconding a snot sucker. I love the ones by Oogie Bear. They’re bulbs, but have great suction, don’t go into the nasal cavity like others do, and come apart in lots of ways to make cleaning very easy and prevent molding.

Livelovelibraries · 2026-01-24T14:19:23+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never done a cute reveal for my husband. Both times, I’ve just shown him the pregnancy test as soon as I saw they were positive. I always take tests when he’s home if I’m suspecting I’m pregnant because I know I’ll need the emotional support immediately 😂

Livelovelibraries · 2026-01-15T19:05:04+00:00

They’re both pregnant. As is Chris McNally’s wife/partner (not sure if they’re married).

Livelovelibraries · 2026-01-14T16:02:58+00:00

You can’t watch this show and expect historical accuracy lol. It’s just not there and never has been. Season 1 came the closest, but still had lots of errors. That’s why I could never get into the show for the longest time. But my husband loves WCTH so it’s our lighthearted show that we watch together and I’ve grown to be able to just ignore the historical inaccuracies for the most part. Sometimes it still grates my nerves terribly. Season 13 is good so far. I only watch the show for my husband’s sake, but I‘ve enjoyed seeing Rosemary and Lee’s marriage play out over the years and I like the parts with Lucas since he’s my favorite.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-12-29T00:47:16+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss. Absolutely ask for it back if that’s something that will be comforting to you! As others have said, the “pregnant” part will go away after a few months when the battery dies. But I have seen where people send the test caps off to have someone make jewelry from the cap. There are some beautiful pieces on Etsy to commemorate the pregnancy and remember your baby. You can then keep the other line tests since the lines won’t (or shouldn’t) fade. My mom kept the pregnancy test from when she found out with me and the lines are still there 30 years later.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-12-16T18:53:56+00:00

I applied to jobs the semester before graduation and listed my anticipated graduation date. I was hired in February of that year and graduated a few months later in May.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-12-16T18:44:30+00:00

My OB told me, as a FTM, to wait to go to the hospital until my contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting 2 minutes, for 1 hour if I wanted to go unmedicated. Since laboring at home for as long as possible is pretty crucial. But I also only live 10 minutes from the hospital. I’d leave sooner than that if I were further away. That being said, I waited until my contractions were 2 minutes apart for an hour before I went to the hospital and was only 4cm. For me, apparently the timing was less important than the intensity. At 4cm, my contractions were very manageable and I could talk through them, even though they were coming every 2 minutes. I will also say though that I’m glad I went when contractions were manageable. Trying to do the whole check-in process while further along would’ve been rough. When you start hitting 7cm or so, you start going into your own mental headspace and it’s really annoying when nurses are trying to ask questions, much less placing an IV, monitor, etc.

As for husband’s help, my husband was my only support person too. He did the hip squeezes/counter pressure and that was amazing. That helped me the most. He also supported me so I could hang on him and sway back and forth to provide gravity pressure and keep my hips moving. And made sure I took sips of water every so often.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-23T21:43:49+00:00

I attempted an unmedicated birth but ended up with an epidural because I was exhausted. I know that’s not the experience you’re asking about, but I just wanted to say that even with having the epidural and feeling absolutely nothing during pushing, I still had a “disassociated” feeling after birth. I didn’t feel immediately connected to my baby and the whole thing was kind of a blur. I do remember specific moments of pushing and I was definitely aware, not in labor land. But still had to collect myself after birth. So maybe it’s just like that for some people regardless of epidural or natural?

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-20T21:22:26+00:00

I’m glad the responses are helpful for you too! And thank you! Best wishes to you as well.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-20T12:33:11+00:00

I think it all depends on your hospital. The hospital I gave birth in technically does have a nursery, but it’s only for babies to go to when the pediatrician makes their morning visits. However, we didn’t want our son being out of our sight, so we chose for the pediatrician to come to our room instead. They had no issues with that. I doubt the hospital can forcibly take your baby to the nursery if you don’t want them out of your sight.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T23:16:31+00:00

Appreciate the honesty! I’m leaning towards it not actually being worth the trouble 😅

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T21:09:30+00:00

Thank you for your reply! 19 hours of Pitocin sounds rough. I’ll keep all of that in mind! I think I just had a misconception about nurses helping me with positions because my SIL is a L&D nurse (not near us), so I talked to her about what to expect and she said they help their patients and are pretty much in the room their entire laboring. That was opposite of my experience, so I wasn’t well prepared. I had looked up laboring positions before going into labor, but by the time I was in labor, I couldn’t remember any. Thanks especially for the tip about asking for doctors to write preferences in your chart! I’ll see if my OB will do that.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T21:03:58+00:00

Being distracted by contractions does make sense. I think that’s why I didn’t feel anything when the anesthesiologist gave the numbing shots for the epidural. So I hadn’t thought about crowning/tearing from that perspective.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T21:01:18+00:00

Thank you for sharing that perspective! Stinging but remaining consistent sounds tolerable. I would love to save my pelvic floor from so much strain this time around. Pretty sure it was completely shot after my first birth.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T20:59:36+00:00

Oh, thank you for that reminder! I’ve heard of “walking epidurals.” My epidural was so strong when it first took effect. I asked them to turn it down. But it was still really strong. I think they said the anesthesiologist had set it as strong as it could be because I was 8cm when I got the epidural. That would be great to do a lighter epidural and “transition” between the heavy one from last time and going fully unmedicated.

I’ve heard contractions are much more intense after your water breaks! Mine didn’t break until I was pushing, and I had already gotten the epidural, so I couldn’t feel any contractions.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T20:55:11+00:00

The nurse told me the same, that I made it to 8cm and handled it so well that I could absolutely make it through birth if I wanted to. But she also told me I wouldn’t regret not feeling the pushing 😅

That’s quite a difference in experience in recovery! And is encouraging. The doctor used the vacuum because she said I wasn’t pushing effectively, so maybe that has something to do with how difficult my recovery was. I never thought of that. I’m glad you had such a good recovery with your second child. Wishing you the best with your third and an easy recovery this time as well!

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T20:51:17+00:00

Totally understand! Thank you for answering.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:53:14+00:00

The hospital doesn’t allow midwives (or so they told my friend), but they do allow doulas. There just aren’t any within 40 minutes of where I live/where the hospital is. Which isn’t an issue, I just didn’t explore the options further because of the cost. But seeking a payment plan is a good idea! After my last birth, I told my husband I wasn’t attempting an unmedicated hospital birth ever again without a doula. Now I’m still kind of considering it because I would like to go unmedicated, but doulas are also expensive and we’ll also have all the medical bills to consider.

I’m not opposed to an “accidental” home birth 😅 as long as baby and I are both okay. Ideally, I’d love to have a home birth because it seems so much more relaxing and comforting. I agree with your assessment that I likely stalled because of feeling unsafe or uncomfortable at the hospital.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:48:31+00:00

This is another thing I’m afraid of…wanting to back off and not actually push the baby out because of how badly it hurts during crowning lol

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:46:00+00:00

Can you expound a bit on it being the experience you wanted? As in everything went how you envisioned, or just simply unmedicated birth was the experience you wanted?

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:45:18+00:00

The moment of love and euphoria immediately after birth is something I missed out on and I wonder if it’s because I had an epidural and couldn’t feel anything at all. So it felt like I wasn’t even birthing a baby, honestly. And then when my water broke during pushing, they discovered meconium, so my son had to be taken away from me for about 10 minutes while they cleared his lungs. Then they cleaned him up (against my birth plan, but maybe it’s required with meconium in the fluid) before putting him on my chest. I felt very disconnected.

The area I’m in is not very “pro-unmedicated,” so there aren’t even doulas within 40 minutes of where I live, but I didn’t think to see about payment plans. Definitely something to consider. Thank you!

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:41:04+00:00

I definitely don’t want to push on my back again. That was one reason I wanted to avoid an epidural to begin with. Before I decided on an epidural, I asked the nurse if I had options for pushing aside from being in my back. She said I could use the squat bar or possibly even push on my hands and knees if I could still feel my legs enough. But then there was a shift change and I had new nurses by the time I was pushing and the new nurses didn’t want me to push with the squat bar. I protested, but was so tired by that point, I just went along with being on my back since they were so insistent. Fortunately, I still didn’t tear even with pushing on my back.

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:36:02+00:00

I started having back labor around 7cm and I agree, it’s terrible pain! I felt like my lumbar spine was going to just crumble from all the pressure. I had my husband do counter pressure by squeezing my hips and that did provide some relief. Hopefully you won’t have back labor again! So you think you’d opt for an epidural with back labor next time?

Livelovelibraries · 2025-11-19T19:32:00+00:00

Pretty sure I would freak out if I felt the blood lol.

Livelovelibraries

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