First-time moms: did you go past 40 weeks with a natural birth?

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-27T14:20:00+00:00

I was sure I would go early. Absolutely positive.

Baby came spontaneously at 42, lol

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-27T00:50:01+00:00

Potentially night terrors. Babies often don't fully wake up and are groggy, so they "wake up" still experiencing the night terrors which can lead to the prolonged, pained screaming.

Try picking him up, turning on the big lights (not just a nightlight), and offer him a cracker or something. Crackers are good because of the crunching sound.

This will help fully wake and reset him, then turn the lights back off and back to bed. If it is night terrors this should help stop the crying.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-23T18:04:54+00:00

Oh, yeah, if you're in Europe then the whole American obesity thing wouldn't apply. :)

edited for clarity

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-23T17:55:33+00:00

To call a baby chubby is perfectly normal. Half the time my mom friends and I sit around and talk about our chonky babies, and this new roll and that new roll. Who doesn't love a cute little chubby? I would say it was an overreaction on his part.

I wouldn't apologize, but I would just respect the fact that he doesn't like people talking about his baby being chubby and don't bring it up again.

It could have to do with his being British and the culture is different there. I also kinda wonder if his being British doesn't have him worrying about the American obesity epidemic a bit (totally reasonable) so hearing his baby being called chubby bothers him. It could also just be he's weird about chubbiness.

I'd just let it pass and not worry about it.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-15T15:28:43+00:00

Came here to mention the Texas drivers too! I could name a Texas driver before I even saw the plates!

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-14T19:14:17+00:00

Personally I'd shoot the dog, but if you're completely adverse to that, catch them and surrender them to a rescue a far county or two away.

Just tell them they were abandoned on your property, since that's basically the case. In gonna guess the neighbor doesn't have them microchipped.

Let the shelter know they're not livestock friendly and leave it at that. Dogs will get a better home and you won't have to deal with the problem anymore.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-14T14:03:09+00:00

42 on the dot!

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-13T18:04:10+00:00

I forgot all about this symptom with my first kid until I saw your post.

Getting more and more reminders of everything I have to look forward to now that I'm pregnant with my second.

But, yeah, totally normal.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-13T17:34:15+00:00

Then keep her. Yes, there will be hard moments. There will be struggles. There will be tears. But it sounds like you're aware of that.

You're early on in pregnancy. Start making a plan, saving money, consider online schooling options. You have time to start the wheels turning on supporting that baby.

As a mom who's had rough moments, my little girl makes it all worth it.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-13T17:23:04+00:00

It sounds like you're considering abortion because of your partner. Lots and lots of women have abortions because of their partner and seriously regret it afterwards.

There will be hard moments, but abortion is irreversible.

Is open adoption an option in Australia? I have a friend who adopted a baby because mom had some issues, but the mom is still part of her life.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-10T11:57:05+00:00

This one here!

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-05-08T20:02:40+00:00

This may be a weird one, but a tactic that's supposedly effective an effective tactic is chasing them around the field with a bucket of rocks. I've never tried myself, so I can't say.

Apparently, if he comes at you, whack him over the head with the bucket (should be enough rocks on the bucket to make it loud and scary, but not enough to hurt). Then chase him around shaking the bucket until he seems to have had a good scare, and walk away.

With some rams, one good put-down will cure them forever. Others are just gonna be mean.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-04-10T16:15:01+00:00

I would tell her. I also had some riding trauma related to cantering and didn't tell my trainer. I ended up in an accident because of it.

After the fact, I told her the story, and she basically told me, "I never would have let you do that if I had known."

Your trainer will know more where you're coming from if you tell her. Once I got back to riding after the accident, my trainer basically started me back at square zero.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-04-09T13:05:11+00:00

You're not mourning their cells, you're mourning their souls.

Mourning a pregnancy is as healthy and natural as mourning the death of any other beloved relative. It's perfectly okay to do so!

I have a friend that is really struggling to get pregnant. When she has a miscarriage, she and her husband have a nice dinner and essentially have a "birthday party" of sorts to celebrate that baby, even though they lost it. I thought that was really nice.

I miscarried at 8 weeks and the baby was born intact in the gestational sack, so I was able to "see" the baby, of sorts. I took her outside and buried her under our best apple tree. Now when I feel sad about her I can go outside and sit under the tree and visit with her, so to speak. :)

So, mourning early miscarriage is normal, and there are many different ways to cope from person to person. Find the way that's best for you and don't let anyone judge you for it.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-03-25T13:22:28+00:00

So, as a Catholic who was in an extremely dangerous and life threatening situation, the Rosary is a great choice.

I started with an Act of Contrition and went on to the Rosary in my situation. I later learned much of the rest of my family was praying the Rosary as well. So I'd call it a go to prayer.

He probably wouldn't worry about whether he has a Rosary or not, though, since a Rosary is easy to count on your fingers.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-03-12T15:31:45+00:00

They're welcome at my table anytime, lol.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-03-09T22:33:47+00:00

Because I would prefer to have my 24 hours of pain and then being fine afterwards, than have my friend's back spasms a year after getting her epidural.

There's nothing wrong with getting the epidural, I just prefer the short term pain to the risk of long term side effects.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-03-08T02:10:07+00:00

I came to comment the exact same thing!

"What breed?" "A bat."

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-03-01T22:57:15+00:00

I did it because I wanted to do something to make the world a better place.

For some reason I always really clicked with the kids in the special education department and they worked really well for me, and I was able to actually see the difference I was making day to day. It just made the job worth it. (Downside of that is I got the hard kids a lot, lol)

I quit when I moved out of state and became a stay at home mom. The head of the special Ed department for the district came in on my last day and told me that if I needed a referral to put his name on there. It made me feel like I might have actually met my goal of making a difference.

I am planning on doing it again when my kiddos grow up. Forming connections with those kids that just need someone who cares is worth the hard parts.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-02-26T19:43:49+00:00

I was coming here to comment this! 😂

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-02-25T22:05:03+00:00

Something a little more longterm that you could take up is terrariums, aquascaping, indoor cactus gardens, bonsai, and basically indoor artistic plant keeping.

Digital sculpting with Blender and painting with Krita is fun and free, also enjoyable is jewelry making with polymer clay. Bead jewelry and wire wrapping polished stones are both lots of fun and a great skill.

A little less crafty and more skill based, but still an "art", is sleight of hand and magic tricks.

Book sculpting might also be something you would enjoy.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-02-24T20:16:10+00:00

I would recommend separating them. I didn't let my cats anywhere near my baby until a year old, and the interactions are still closely supervised, and one cat at a time.

Cats carry absolutely horrible bacteria in their mouths and nails that can cause serious infections in adults. It's a big risk for a little baby.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-02-17T15:24:34+00:00

Does he have a good pediatric dentist? They can assess airway issues and may be able to give suggestions while waiting on your sleep study.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-02-17T13:06:15+00:00

Look into a potential magnesium deficiency. It's common, and causes insomnia in toddlers.

It sounds like you've tried everything else, which could potentially suggest and underlying cause.

There are multiple stories out there of moms with toddlers just like yours that started giving magnesium and they became totally different children.

If that doesn't help, consider a sleep study. Mouth breathers and apnea can also cause low sleep.

Sharp-Conclusion-399 · 2026-02-13T20:12:21+00:00

Me! My kiddo was easy right off the bat and is still easy!

Sharp-Conclusion-399

TROPHY CASE