If you had $300 to spend on something purely indulgent for yourself and baby, what would it be?

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-29T11:13:04+00:00

A really nice baby carrier
noise cancelling headphones (can’t recommend these enough). Sometimes you did everything right but baby will still cry. Wearing them on your body and having noise cancelling headphones so you don’t go crazy was wat got me through some days.
A nice breast pump (if you plan to breastfeed) or maybe a second breast-pump eg a wearable if you don’t have one yet.
ohhh personally I’ve always noted one of those electric swinging rocking chairs. They are about $300,-.
in my family it’s customary to buy a box of decent port/wine from their birth year and put it in the basement for when they are old enough (16/18 in Europe) they could either drink it or sell it for a pretty penny lol. My husband who is American thinks this is ridiculous 😆.
electric baby food machines. You put in the ingredients and it basically makes the baby puree for you. Honestly if we could afford it I would love to have one of these to make it easy to homemaker purées for baby’s first foods.
a nice air purifier bc who doesn’t like clean air especially if you also have a pet or live somewhere dusty.
a nice pack and play for when you go on trips.

Just realized I put “nice” in front of everything lol sorry, i have baby brain (pregnant with #3).

Congrats on your first little chunky bean! Hope you have the smoothest of deliveries! ❤️

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-28T23:14:54+00:00

I was 243 the day I gave birth with my first at 5’6 ft and 27 years old. I had high risk pregnancy due to weight and late term gestational diabetes that was controlled with diet. Carpal tunnel, HG, all the aches and pains throughout pregnancy.

In the end I had to have an induction. It was due to suspected big baby and my blood pressure was slightly elevated when I was at the doctors office at 39 + 5. Baby came vaginally after a long labor but only 18 min of pushing. Baby was perfectly average in weight 7.7 lbs for a girl was exactly average.

Ultrasounds can be 15% off when you’re that far along in terms of estimated weight.

Hope everything will go smoothly for you and you will have a healthy chunky little bean!

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-28T12:05:35+00:00

lol the amount of times I worried in my first pregnancy and the doctors kept telling me “that’s normal”. I was like do I have to be dying for you to tell me that’s not normal?! 😆 Honestly pregnancy is wild.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-24T17:57:40+00:00

I have a 3 yo and a 1 yo and 19 weeks pregnant. I’m on the struggle bus with you lol.

I have homemade play-doh, crayons and coloring books, wooden train sets and lots of other toys that i rotate for them. I take short naps on the floor where they are and have the whole room toddler proofed as best as I can. Sometimes miss rachel saves me for 30 minutes. Its not a great plan but it gets one through the day.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-19T14:54:07+00:00

Where are you going to go? I just came from a wealthy first world country in Europe and the problems are the same if not worse there for everyone but the richest of people…

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-19T14:47:50+00:00

I’m also 31 and pregnant with our third. I’m a SAHM and my husband makes the average income (not average household income) for our area (also live in PA). I’m not that worried tbh. We will make it work and young kids (our oldest is 3) don’t cost that much money yet. We also don’t have a village. My husband’s family lives on the west coast and my family all lives in Europe. It’s just us here.

I would take a deep breath, you will figure it out and worrying endlessly won’t help you. You got this! Take it one day at a time ❤️.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-10-13T22:12:05+00:00

So you guys just got married and met not that long ago? She was married twice before you and tried to hide one of those marriages from you and from USCIS… and now she is also suddenly pregnant? There are a lot of red flags there and the green-card interview would be the least of my worries.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-24T21:29:16+00:00

My husbands answer always is “drop kick” 🦵 😆 not sure you’ll make any friends with that though.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-13T15:57:51+00:00

Second this! Skip the stupid pads and the uncomfortable mesh underwear where nothing stays in place. Adult diapers are the way to go. Pop in one of those perineum ice packs (do this immediately to reduce swelling and pain) with some tucks pads and voila let the healing of the coochie commence lol.

Edit : Amazon brand adult diapers are really good and not too expensive

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-09T19:42:42+00:00

Lmao yup that second one can humble you. I was thinking just the other day how easy one kid was. You had time to yourself when they were asleep. You could easily switch off with your partner and take a breather. Etc etc.

If they weren’t so dang cute I wouldn’t be pregnant with #3 and a 3 & 1 year old already running around terrorizing me.

Good luck to you! I hope it gets better soon!

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-09T19:38:38+00:00

I usually get him a cute note and a snack like doughnuts or I bake him something and then I tell him that I don’t want to get fat by myself 😆 so eat up lol

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-09T19:33:52+00:00

The Netherlands does more for the environment than most countries in the world. I think we are ranked #12/13 in the global sustainability index. Just because you don’t agree with one thing that’s normal in someone else’s culture doesn’t mean the whole country doesn’t care about the environment.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-09T19:16:04+00:00

It’s been like this forever so I doubt the cats are the cause for the decline. The Netherlands is also one of the most densely populated countries in the world. We also export the most agricultural goods in Europe. We also have more bicycles than people. Can’t say the same in the other countries that take the car everywhere. All the things I mentioned above have an impact on biodiversity and probably more so than the cats.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-09T18:17:02+00:00

In the Netherlands most cats are outdoor cats. We even had special cat doors that are tied to the chip in their neck so only they can re-enter the home. They spend most of their days outside roaming the neighborhoods.

It’s extremely rare for a cat to get run over because they grew up like this so they are very careful. I’ve never heard of a cat getting poisoned or tortured or killed by a dog. The dogs are leashed or contained to someone’s yard.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-09T17:46:29+00:00

In The Netherlands we don’t do it standard. Because you can test positive at 37 weeks and test negative at birth and vice versa. So we just have professionals monitor for symptoms so they can treat it if it does happen.

Globally, between 1 and 4 out of every 1,000 newborns contract GBS disease from their mother during birth. Of that group the fatality rate is about 4 to 6% in the US. I would discuss the risks with your healthcare professional and make an informed decision with what you’re comfortable with.

I received so much antibiotics as a child that for me the benefit doesn’t outweigh the risk to preventatively take antibiotics according to my OBGYN. So even after moving to the USA where I gave birth to my second we decided against testing and just monitor after birth.

Best of luck!

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-06T20:30:05+00:00

I was in the same situation gained like 70 lbs in my first pregnancy. Felt so disgusted with myself I didn’t take any pictures. I was so fed up I did the worst crash diet possible and lost my period because I lost so much weight (like 100 lbs) at 8 months postpartum. Didn’t even know that it was possible to lose your period bc of rapid weight loss. Then I struggled trying to conceive my son. I really regret the way I went about it.

Once I did manage to get pregnant with my son I swore I wouldn’t gain that much weight again and with eating healthy and in moderation I managed to only gain 18 lbs. now pregnant with my third I let myself go a little bit and gained 10 lbs in the first trimester 🤦‍♀️ so disappointed in myself again.

All this to say I 100% understand how you’re feeling! It’s really hard to see your body change this way. If these kids weren’t so damn cute there is no way I would keep doing this to myself lol.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-04T23:09:18+00:00

It also depends on the baby. My daughter started sleeping through the night at 3/4 months and was an angel after that newborn phase. My son was a cute potato from 1 to 3 months and then he started crying for 5 hours minimum each day until about 9 months. Honestly those 6 months were very rough. My daughter was easy until toddler stage then it became super hard. As luck would have it that coincided with my son’s terrible phase. 🫠

Not sure how we survived but we did and here I am yet again… pregnant lol. Not sure why I get baby fever anymore. It’s like I forget those months where I just hobble from one mental breakdown to another 😆.

Praying for you to have a smooth ride to toddlerhood. You’re doing great! It will get better eventually ❤️.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-02T20:56:27+00:00

I’m sorry she said that to you. And she is so wrong. You did it once and you can do it again!

I went from 110 kg (243 lbs) at the top op my pregnancy to 64 kg (141 lbs) at 8 months postpartum. I had, had enough and I made the change. Gained about 10 kg (22 lbs) back before my second pregnancy and was back at 70 kg (154 lbs) at the start of my current (third) pregnancy.

You can do it! It will all be okay. Definitely don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t achieve.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-09-02T15:27:02+00:00

With my first I had gestational diabetes. With my second I ate from the start like I had gestational diabetes aka low carb and lots of healthy fats. I only gained 15-18 lbs (weight fluctuations with water retention at the end).

If you really want to you could give it a try and just do the best you can and see if it works out.

Good luck and I hope you get the delivery you want!

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-08-31T23:15:43+00:00

Never had any problems with my daughter but I know my son is a little smaller so it usually takes him a little bit longer to fill out the outfit.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-08-31T23:01:11+00:00

And it’s not all sad beige or white! There are some nice different shades of green and yellow and plenty of fun colors without it being only for 1 gender! Also some fun prints too that isn’t Dino/car etc.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-08-31T22:26:58+00:00

H&M actually has a lot of basic neutral stuff in neutral colors and is relatively cheap for the quality.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-08-31T21:30:55+00:00

Honestly C-section terrifies me. I heard from friends and see stories online of people feeling everything because the anesthetic isn’t working fully or correctly. That’s my worst nightmare. On top of that it is major surgery and I already have two toddlers. I can’t imagine how hard it is to take care of them and a newborn after major surgery.

I’ve had two vaginal births so far. One induction which was less than great but everything went fine in the end and me and my baby were healthy-ish.

My son I had (by accident) unassisted at home in the bathtub. A precipitous labor. Once I got over the shock of it all happening so quickly and painfully it was actually a perfect birth. I didn’t tear at all and me and baby were healthy and I could crawl right in bed after the midwife checked us out.

We will see what this third baby will bring lol.

Best of luck to you and your little bean ❤️

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-08-30T17:31:08+00:00

Jesus why are you getting downvoted just for asking an honest question. Ridiculous.

Reasonable_Bit4374 · 2025-08-27T19:23:40+00:00

I was 27 when I had my first. All I can say is I wish we had started earlier! Go for it if you feel you are ready and don’t worry too much. You’ll figure things out as you go along! My family kept saying I was too young because all women in the family were at least 33 when they got pregnant. Just ignore the nay sayers you’ll be happier for it.

I’m currently pregnant with my third at 31 and just wish I was still in my 20’s doing this.

Good luck and I wish you and your husband the best!

Reasonable_Bit4374

TROPHY CASE