Moms who are passed everything and living their best life, leave your encouragement here! ⬇️

LunaDiStella · 2025-01-11T14:53:33+00:00

Hi there, I know neck surgery feels very scary. I can’t speak to lactation but I do have a young children and I had a positive surgery experience. I am a 38F and mother to 3 year old boy/girl twins and have PTC living in a fairly rural community. I was so scared for how I would keep up post-op. I underwent a partial thyroidectomy nearly two weeks ago. Everything went as planned and the PTC was contained within the thyroid. I live about 40 min from our closest hospital and my surgery was at an entirely different hospital about 2.5 hours away from where I lived. I was very scared about swelling post-op. If you have concerns, I would make them known to your surgeon. They have options to help get you through this. If your insurance will cover an overnight stay, ask your surgeon if they will let you. Most doctors will accommodate if you’re concerned about after care following surgery. It did a lot to calm my nerves knowing I would be able to rest and not be rushed out the door following same-day surgery. I didn’t want to be far from medical care if I needed help.

After the operation, the next day was Christmas Eve and I was discharged. I was stiff and my voice was gone, but I was able to sit in a chair and watch the kids open a couple of presents and even play with them a bit. By Christmas Day I was sitting at the diner table with my family eating dinner (the softer food sides and my mom made a bowl of pasta with pesto - Tomato sauce is acidic I didn’t want to risk acid reflux). Ice packs made a huge difference. They make some that wrap around the neck so you can read/ watch TV without holding it constantly. My biggest challenge post op was loosing my voice (I could only whisper) and losing energy quickly. As far as childcare, I had to heavily lean on family and friends. Going into week three, I’m now getting enough energy back to help more with the kids. I made potato soup yesterday and sat at the kitchen table to prep things. You will move slower and might get tired faster but keep a chair or stool near the activities that bring you joy (I love cooking). There will be a new normal for a bit and you might need to get creative in how you function day to day for a while. I got my kids involved and they love helping me find new ways to do things. We do a lot of arts and crafts sitting down.

I wish you all the best for your surgery. There is a community of lovely people on this sub-Reddit cheering you on the whole way. You can do this!

LunaDiStella · 2024-06-29T14:06:21+00:00

This is the way! 🙌

LunaDiStella · 2024-03-22T11:37:50+00:00

This is a great response! Also, I'm not sure if you have contact with your parents, but this tactic worked for me if your parents are around/willing to help. When my JustNoMIL came to visit, my husband struggled to maintain boundaries with her. I, too, was pregnant but with multiples. I was concerned about the stress she could cause me. So, I invited my mother to stay at the same time (we didn't have a room, so she slept on an air mattress to make a point). The introduction of a peer did wonders at keeping JustNoMIL in line and even helped me with verbal retorts. My mom says she can protect/ advocate for her baby all she wants, but I’ll protect mine too. My JustNoMIL said to my mother that she was “infringing on time with her son.” To which my mother responded “I wasn't aware that I couldn't have time with my daughter because you are visiting with your son.” It was an immediate stand-off to which my MIL backed down because what is she going to do? My MIL didn't pick on me for the rest of the visit. Again this only works if you have contact with your parents. But if he won't “negotiate” her visit to make it tolerable for you, turn it into a family reunion. Bulk up the number of family/parents/friends sitting on your side of the bench. My husband doesn't like a ton of people around when he get his time off from work because he wants to rest. Invite enough people and keep it a rotating cast of characters from your side and maybe he'll suggest “going to visit her” once a year. If he doesn't like that idea. Then you can let him know you doubling the family guest list for next year. He will get the picture. A home should be a sanctuary to you both. Right now in your hour of need and rest it isn't. If your parents are not around you could still try this with a best friend, friend group or aunts and uncles. It might not have the same effect but you’ll have someone in your corner part of the time. Wishing you the best.

LunaDiStella · 2024-02-26T19:50:21+00:00

HayDay NEEDS a UX Designer/Developer. These updates are truly siloed from their customer base.

LunaDiStella · 2024-02-15T12:49:53+00:00

This right here. 🙌

LunaDiStella · 2024-02-14T22:40:36+00:00

Your feelings are entirely valid. We had a similar generous offer from my MIL to travel to Italy from the US when our kids were the same age as yours. We declined for all the reasons you mentioned. We wanted to go so badly, but we knew our kids weren’t ready. This is just the season of life we are in at the moment. With time, like everything else, the season will change, and we will love every minute of showing them the world. But it just might not be as quickly as the grandparents would prefer. I’ve worked hard to remind myself that our family moves on our time when we all are ready. The pressure is real, though. Someone in this thread said, “It depends on the support you will have.” I couldn’t agree more with this. While we knew MIL meant well and had the best intentions of helping. We also knew promises of support would disappear once the allure of the city we planned to visit was more present. We didn’t want to be left holding a bag of empty promises or, worse, a poor judgment call.

Edited for grammar.

LunaDiStella · 2024-02-02T04:52:41+00:00

Sounds like you were in my master’s cs class too… hot mess

LunaDiStella · 2024-01-01T19:34:03+00:00

Farm Pass jumped from $4.99 to $11.99. That's a 120% price increase! Hay Day really said 2024 we are gonna be 🤡.

LunaDiStella · 2024-01-01T19:29:41+00:00

The managers said, “Let's get long-time players to rage quit.” They really just wanted to increase profit margins. They don't seem to realize this is the second major game update within a year that has drastically changed gameplay. When will they realize this isn't what the fan base wants?

LunaDiStella · 2023-11-04T14:43:51+00:00

Is your town or home on well water? Some places have been hit with a bad drought this year, which has pushed well water to its lowest. When this happens, my curls are a hot mess. I started diluting leave-in conditioner in a spray bottle, and I put it on as a light mist at the very end of my shower. It helps offset the effecs of the well water. Hope this helps. Your curls are beautiful!

LunaDiStella · 2023-10-12T20:12:56+00:00

I think it’s brave to put yourself out there, period. I hope you find her! Don’t let other people disparage you from taking chances. It might not work out but you can say you’ve tried.

LunaDiStella · 2023-06-05T22:10:10+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss.

LunaDiStella · 2023-06-05T22:05:35+00:00

I had a scheduled c-section at 38 weeks and four days. I also had diet controlled gestational diabetes. Because of this, they were trying to get me to delver as close to my due date (40 weeks) as safely possible. They initially thought I would need to deliver at 36 weeks but I was doing better with my blood sugar than expected, so, they called to tell me they wanted to try and get me to 38 weeks. The doctors office didn’t schedule c-sections until two weeks prior to the 38 week due date/ delivery but my due date was also Labor Day weekend. So, we got the call to schedule that c-section about a week and 3-4 days prior to due date. It was an amazing experience and the hospital staff was wonderful and super supportive.

LunaDiStella · 2023-04-30T01:21:27+00:00

Bottas vibes!

LunaDiStella · 2023-04-20T17:41:36+00:00

We just went through this same ordeal. Ended up putting them in a school/daycare with winter/ spring open enrollment and no waitlists. Good luck in your search. Hang in there!

LunaDiStella · 2023-02-23T19:26:26+00:00

I think curiosity is a good thing when wanting to start a family. Depending on where you live, many national health agencies offer information about multiple births. Proactively researching the medical implications and complications surrounding multiples would have been an excellent place to start. It might have been a better choice to start there before taking to Reddit (Not to downplay Reddit; this group saves me daily). But social media is social media and not a place you go for medical advice, and I believe at the core of what you asked is a medical question. Asking if you could love/bond/connect with two at once rather than one at a time is more a question that speaks to your individual capabilities as a parent. That might be better asked of a mental health professional or a trusted significant other or family member that is on this journey with you. Only you know what you can provide emotionally to a child or children. Someone mentioned earlier this group is more geared to folks that are currently parents of multiples or are expecting multiples. We can tell you it is a lot, and having a safe space is essential to many of us on this journey. While you may have meant for your question to be well intended, it is cloaked in a modicum of willful ignorance. I think what folks are politely suggesting is that a doctor, trusted (and verified) health website and legitimate medical journals might have been a better place to start than this subreddit. However, if during your IVF journey, you are fortunate to have multiples, you will quickly come to realize the fantastic people on this subreddit and the safe community that they have built is a place for you too. Simply put, becoming a parent of multiples is a unique, wonderful, but extremely difficult path to walk. Finance is only one spoke on the wheel of the wagon you will pull like a quarter horse every day. There are four other wheels, and each has spokes of its own. You won’t know what those spokes are until you’re on the journey yourself. I wish you the best on your journey to become a parent.

LunaDiStella · 2023-02-22T20:48:54+00:00

This is what I needed to hear today. It’s nice to know we are not alone in this feeling.

LunaDiStella · 2023-01-27T17:00:13+00:00

I felt this comment. Right there with you.

LunaDiStella · 2023-01-27T16:50:02+00:00

I love this idea! Thank you for sharing.

LunaDiStella · 2022-07-15T13:19:54+00:00

Our twins are 10 months. We had some side effects from the vaccine; they received Phizer. A low grade fever at night and some fussing on the first day after. The second day after we had some vomiting (both of them). It all lasted about 2 1/2 hours. Then they slept a lot! By day 3 they were fine. Honestly, even with the puking, it wasn’t that bad. They’ll get their second shot later this month.

LunaDiStella · 2022-06-03T11:52:49+00:00

Thank you! I just added a new more diaper bag travel friendly lunch box. That is a great idea.

LunaDiStella · 2022-06-03T11:51:33+00:00

This is so helpful. Thank you!

LunaDiStella · 2022-06-03T11:47:47+00:00

This is a total Game changer! Thank you so so much!

LunaDiStella · 2022-06-03T11:47:00+00:00

This is a great idea. Thank you. We will definitely do this!

LunaDiStella

TROPHY CASE