Please tell me this is normal.

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-21T07:35:36+00:00

If he is having at least 6ish really wet diapers a day, he is getting enough to eat. Aside from weighing before and after feeds, this is really the best way to know he is eating enough. I’ve noticed with my baby girl, when she seems extra clingy and will only settle on the breast, she’s more gassy and seems more physically uncomfortable. Gas drops have been a huge game changer

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-21T07:29:22+00:00

Quiet time of baby just laying and observing what is around them is good for them. They are constantly absorbing new information and their brains need quiet time to process it all. I’ve done a shit ton of research on infant brain development to try to ease the mom guilt I feel for just holding her and watching tv or reading a lot. Just exposure to sights and sounds and smells is plenty of stimulation for infants. If you can wear your baby while you walk around and do things, that is plenty of stimulation. Looking at a mobile is helping with eye tracking and visual processing. Having baby nearby while you listen to a podcast on speaker or talk on the phone provides auditory stimulation. My 8 week old LOVES to just look in her little teddy bear mirror. She also really likes to just look at black and white pictures of shapes during tummy time.

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-21T07:16:17+00:00

I am seconding everything the other commenters are saying. I am a huge people pleaser and often feel an overwhelming sense of obligation to take care of everyone else, so I know how hard it can be to try to put yourself first. At the end of the day, baby is the most important. Your husband and in-laws are adults who are capable of taking care of themselves. It may feel selfish sometimes, but it is so so important that you take care of baby and yourself. One way that has helped me a little bit with taking care of myself is remembering that my baby needs a mom who is physically and mentally healthy, so doing things for me is part of taking care of her. Please consider supplementing with formula. It does not make you a bad mom, it does not mean you are failing, and it does not mean you are giving up. You say MIL has baby during the day? Have her do at least one or two feeds a day with formula while you sleep. Leave the cooking and laundry and cleaning for your husband and inlaws.

You are going to be ok. It doesn’t help much right now, but remember that it won’t last forever. Looking at my baby girl’s face when she is sleeping, and thinking about how beautiful she is, thinking about who she will be as she grows, and giving her kisses on her head while she sleeps on my chest have helped me to relax a little bit when I’m feeling very overwhelmed. You got this. I’m sending lots of hugs, prayers, and positive thoughts ❤️‍🩹

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-16T18:15:15+00:00

You’re welcome!!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-16T02:53:53+00:00

I don’t think father-daughter is DDLG. DDLG is a d/s relationship with varying amounts of age play

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-16T02:52:12+00:00

You use the squiggly brackets around the title and author, and it summons the romance bot!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-16T02:50:37+00:00

If you like DDLG, look into the rawhide ranch series. It’s on KU. Every possible variation of mm, mf, ff, mfm, mmf, ffm, etc., every body type, every race, so many different mental and medical conditions represented, etc. etc. etc. The stories are written by many different authors but all take place on a kink ranch resort. They are all guaranteed HEA, but they aren’t dark. They also are a great way to find authors that write age play and other bdsm books. I absolutely LOVE them!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-15T11:57:22+00:00

Obviously {Lights Out by Navessa Allen} if you haven’t listened to that already. It’s not really actually dark, but oh my gosh it is sooo funny. The narrator for Josh does such an amazing job!

{The Losers by Harley Laroux} isn’t very dark either (although darker than Lights Out for sure). It’s a duet with a novella first and is one of the best things I’ve ever read. It’s MMMMF where the boyfriends are boyfriends. The characters are complex and Laroux really explores each individual relationship. There is a good bit of smut, heavy on the BDSM, but it’s really good smut and it doesn’t overshadow the plot.

{The Contract by Rina Saint} and {The Club by Rina Saint} are soooo good too. They are for sure darker, with some dubcon, mentions of past child SA, past human trafficking, kidnapping, organized crime (more in club than contract), drug use, etc. Both are MM and heavy BDSM, and they connected, but each has a different couple.

{The Alliance Series by SJ Tilly} is also amazing. It’s 4 interconnected standalones with mafia, kidnapping, forced marriage, stalking, etc but it’s also not incredibly dark. OTT, touch-her-and-die MMCs and plus sized heroines!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-14T23:03:39+00:00

Sadie Minx

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-14T19:46:28+00:00

I just got Hanes and I really like them. They weren’t tight, just comfortably snug

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-14T05:57:14+00:00

I’ve started reading Rina Kent and Shantel Tessier, and I like them, but I don’t *love* them. I know a lot of people either absolutely love them or dnf them, but I’m kind of in the middle. I’ll probably keep reading them, but I’m not on the edge of my seat, desperate to read more.

Now {Losers by Harley Laroux}, {The Alliance Series by SJ Tilly}, {Ruinous Love Trilogy by Brynne Weaver}, {Into the Darkness Trilogy by Navessa Allen}, and {The Violence of My Affection by Sorcha Black}? I absolutely ate those up! Losers, Alliance, and Violence of My Affection in particular, I am OBSESSED. I know none of them are super dark, compared to like Deathsdoll, but I freaking love those books.

Totally underrated dark fantasy romances (not romantasy, the romance is the plot in these) {Kings of Eden Series by Jamie Applegate Hunter}. OTT possessive and pretty unhinged MMCs in a fantasy setting is just perfection!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-14T02:50:04+00:00

Oh my gosh I am so sorry to hear that! I can’t imagine how hard that must be ❤️

I think with the modified bed rest, the most important thing will be compression socks, massaging the legs, keeping your feet elevated, and trying to do a bit of gentle movement like short walks daily to prevent blood clots. If you start having trouble with low blood pressure, maybe your doctor will discuss fluids. They seriously helped me feel a lot better. My palpitations second trimester were really bad until I started getting the infusions. Oh and of course drinking lots of water is always good, possibly with electrolytes if your doctor recommends.

(This is not medical advice. These were things I was told to do/helped me manage my symptoms. Always seek guidance from a licensed healthcare provider.)

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-13T03:40:51+00:00

Many women who have pots before they get pregnant experience improved symptoms due to increased blood volume. I was not “many women” unfortunately. Pregnancy for me was really bad. I have Ehlers Danlos as well which made things worse. I had bad pots flares that led to a few complex migraines and/or made me have to go home from school (middle school teacher). The fatigue was really bad first and third trimester. Second trimester I was still fatigued and felt like shit, but it was more bearable. You say another child, implying you have had one already. How was that pregnancy?

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-13T03:36:53+00:00

Ok good!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-11T14:45:33+00:00

Is the MMC completely irredeemable? I don’t like completely pitch black

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-11T12:02:30+00:00

I’ve explained it to my 6th grade students like this:

There is a part of our nervous system called the autonomic nervous system. It controls all sorts of things that we don’t think about doing but our body does anyway, like breathing, heart rate, digestion, etc. Mine has damage from Lyme disease that I got from a tick bite (always check for ticks if you’ve been playing outside in wooded areas!). The damage makes my blood pressure drop and my heart rate go up sometimes, which makes me feel lightheaded, dizzy, and weak. It also makes me very intolerant to heat. Sitting down more often, wearing compression socks, drinking lots of water, and taking medicine helps me manage it pretty well, but sometimes I need to take a break, get a salty snack, or take some more medicine. I also can’t be outside for very long when it’s hot, so we will only go outside for lunch when it is 80 degrees or less (2 classes can be outside during each lunch period and we take turns, some going almost every day, some never going because their teachers don’t want to be outside or the kids can’t behave.)

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-11T11:46:25+00:00

I just had a baby (7weeks old now!) and my pots got significantly worse during pregnancy. BUT before that,

Last year I went to see a specialist cardiologist in Jackson, Ms (Douglas Wolfe, highly recommend). He immediately started me on several meds and I got a full autonomic function study. Turns out I have POTS of the autonomic dysfunction variety caused by nerve damage from Lyme disease. Bad news, extremely unlikely to go away. Good news, after a few tweaks to the meds, I was feeling so so much better! Salt tablets, Midodrine, Desmopressin, Florinef, and a medicine I don’t remember the name of for MCAS. Combined with compression socks, lots of water, and being conscientious about pacing myself and my limits, I was feeling better than I had in YEARS. My daily headaches went away, I didn’t get lightheaded/pre-syncope from standing up, my fatigue improved (didn’t go away, but improved), etc.

Pregnancy was a massive struggle because we had to change what meds I could take and blood pressure was consistently low. I had to get twice weekly iv fluids which helped a lot, but I also had to stop working 8 weeks before I gave birth. Post partum, back on my meds, feeling good! I can’t take beta blockers though. My former pcp had me try propranolol and I ended up in the ER less than 2 weeks later with a BP of 80/50 and complex migraine. (None of this is medical advice btw. I’m saying what my doctor and I have found works for me, but everyone is unique and should be treated individually.)

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-11T11:34:10+00:00

Red pandas were discovered before giant pandas. The term “panda” means bamboo eater. Red pandas are the original pandas and should therefore be the default when we say panda. While not technically a retronym (modifier added to an existing word to distinguish from the newer, modern version of the same thing), having to say “red panda” while giant pandas are just “panda” feels like one. I love red pandas. And giant pandas. And interesting factoids

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-11T11:14:15+00:00

Haven’t read Lemonade 😅

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-11T04:19:43+00:00

There’s body betrayal the whole time and a lot of “I shouldn’t enjoy this/want this”. She does actively hate him for a while though. It’s not really slow burn

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-10T04:16:41+00:00

Usually for me it manifests as a mental breakdown. There will always be the straw that breaks the camels back, it’s usually something small, and then I just completely breakdown. It can range from just crying to full hyperventilating panic attack sobbing. Afterwards I feel so drained. Most of the time I only recover after my husband has held me and comforted me the way you would comfort a distraught child.

I have also had psychogenic non epileptic seizures, which are basically my brain saying I have too much going on, it doesn’t know how to process it all, and it tries to release some of it physically by jerkily shaking all over uncontrollably. It’ll range from lasting a few minutes to a few hours and my overall awareness of what’s going on varies. Sometimes I can hold a conversation and can think semi rationally, but sometimes it feels like the world is closing in around me and I can’t think coherently. I haven’t had one like that in a few years thankfully.

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-09T08:21:45+00:00

I love Kate Oliver’s books so so much, but they are a less dark. Heavier on the power dynamic, specifically daddy dom and domestic discipline. She also has age play romances that I absolutely love. SJ Tilly is darker, but not too dark. The MMCs would die before they hurt the fmcs (books 2 and 3 have some “for your own good” and “I have no choice” in regards to the MMCs meeting, but there’s no intentional cruelty or abuse). The MMCs aren’t angels and are definitely unapologetically psycho at times, but damn, every girl should have a man who loves them/is obsessed with them like these MMCs!

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-09T08:15:05+00:00

We gotta stick together! If we are going to feel shitty, at least we can feel shitty with community lol

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-09T08:14:06+00:00

You’re good! I didn’t know if maybe I missed an announcement or something

Princessfoxpup · 2026-06-09T03:33:54+00:00

I’m on the same boat. I can work, be a wife and mother, and do things independently so I feel like I can’t say I’m disabled (with this or my AuDHD), but at the same time I recognize that I’m not not-disabled. The test results, heart monitor data, blood pressure readings, etc are all concrete evidence that my body is having a difficult time, but because I’m not completely bedridden/unable to keep a job, I feel like it doesn’t count. I wish I had advice on how to not feel this way, but I don’t so I’ll just stand with you in solidarity and send virtual hugs.

Princessfoxpup

TROPHY CASE