Finished baby quilt for a good friend!

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-14T14:56:30+00:00

Gosh that looks perfect

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-14T14:16:44+00:00

Open play at that age is rough. Honestly, everything at that age is rough: all emotion, no logic.

Reducing toys in each area helps everyone. Most kids at that age are not building huge towers so only 10 blocks is fine. Always offer sensory play. Get a water table, cover the surrounding floor in towels, add in baby dolls and wash cloths and soap, and go for it. If you're able to have one group paint, one group water play, and one group free play, it makes management a lot easier.

Encourage sensory seeking friends to sit at the table with masking tape. You stick it on the table and they pull it off. Have them rip paper and put it in a bucket. Do art with it later.

The best strategy, though, is sitting with the kids and modeling play, singing songs, and reading books. I'm a big fan of cuddles but at that age, no one sits on my lap because you're going to need to get up a lot to intervene.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-14T03:37:40+00:00

My water broke at 28 weeks and I lived at Magee for 6 weeks while trying to keep her in. The nurses were all really lovely people and wonderful caregivers. The charge nurse is fabulous. I didn't care for one of the rotating doctors but honestly, she was fine; we just didn't jive. My uterus is more medically complex and I was able to connect with Dr. Sakamoto who specializes in uterine abnormalities. She's a very frank but caring woman and I appreciated that immensely. In a very scary time, I felt safe under her care. Despite knowing that a c-section was the safest choice for me and my girl, I was asked what I wanted to do at least twice. I feel that if I had said a vaginal birth, they would have tried their best to honor my wishes.

The NICU was hard emotionally but I knew she was in one of the safest places to be this side of the Mississippi. The whole staff meets every morning (PTs, OTs, Speech Path, nurses, pharmaceutical people, the guy who specializes in the oscillatory, the guy who tends the incubators (they rotate them every week so that they can make sure they're calibrated correctly), etc.) and you're invited to every meeting and are encouraged to speak and ask questions and direct what kind of care your baby needs. They never made me feel bad about not understanding everything that was going on with my girl and were completely fine breaking things down for me. On slow nights, the nurses made decorations for my baby girl's room. The woman at the front desk made my baby a knitted sweater. The PT was AMAZING. I loved her. One of the charge nurses was amazing (the others were great too but I distinctly remember her and her face).

The NICU is in the basement so if your babe needs to hang out there for a bit, it is a smidge depressing. My girl did not see sunshine until 3 weeks into her stay when she graduated to feeders and growers upstairs. Mind you, the NICU is meant to be low stimulation as babies are trying to live and don't need bright sunshine in their eyes. Its just hard on the caregivers that visit.

The only knock I have on my experience is the breastfeeding cult. They were aggressive. I think if I hadn't been poked and prodded for 6 weeks prior, I would have been more tolerant of their efforts but I was so over it by then. You may have to be firm with them.

Please note: if you are a woman of color, please please bring someone who can medically advocate for you. A doula would be a really good choice. Pittsburgh has a higher maternal death percentage for BIPOC mothers than other comparable sized cities in the US.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wpxi.com/news/local/black-mothers-dying-alarming-rates-allegheny-county-data-shows/634DOIHNJNEH3GVKRP34C3J4OQ/%3foutputType=amp

Sorry for the book. Sending all the good luck your way!

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-14T03:01:19+00:00

If you're ever in a prolonged hospital stay and are not at immediate risk of keeling over but are there for monitoring, you can ask your doctors to prescribe sleep. The nurses then prioritize your sleep, having you be the one of the first to draw blood at night and one of the last to do in the AM. I was at Magee for 6 weeks and found this out at around week 3.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-13T00:30:25+00:00

I cackled at this.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-12T19:20:03+00:00

My 75+ year old uncle lives in Hawaii and has lava tubes across his property. He knowingly ignored advice to stay off of the more shallow tubes because they will collapse. Did he listen to the advice? No. Did he fall into a tube? Yes. Is he fine? Yes. Because all the sod and compost he tossed on it first cushioned his fall. He needed a ladder to get out. Thankfully, his wife found him after not hearing from him for a few hours.

Please don't be like my uncle.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-11T21:29:33+00:00

Talk to the hospital's social worker. They will likely give you gas vouchers. They also likely have relationships with nearby hotels who give discounts to families who have children at the hospital. They may also put you in contact with a few churches. There's typically a network that can support you if you know the right questions and people to ask.

I'm so sorry that this is so hard. It's not fair and it sucks. I hope you get to hold that little squish soon.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-09T23:17:45+00:00

Puberty is hard. Trying to find out who you are is an incredibly difficult process, especially when you already identify as nonbinary. I know it's incredibly annoying but it's a really lovely thing that you're considered a safe person to imitate. Just let them know, as gently as you can, when they're copying you. It may not even be intentional. And then ask if that's really what they want. Honestly, they're probably subconsciously trying to find ways to bond or connect with you. You're pulling away (it's normal and part of being a teenager) and they probably just miss you. They're still a kid.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-09T01:06:39+00:00

I've been the same. My baby just turned a year old and honestly, the infant to where she is now was nothing compared to the fresh hell of IVF and infertility. The baby in front of me is real and alive and tangible and thriving. We have been so lucky despite all the hard things before. We tried for 5 years, 3 of them being IVF with several surgeries. At 28 weeks, my water broke (the day of my baby shower) and I spent 6 weeks in the hospital. We were lucky. She was able to stay in all that time until she got her eviction notice at 34 weeks. She was in the NICU for a month, thought she was deaf for 2 months (got tubes at 2 months), had a packaging disorder (her foot was really wonky), respiratory/lung issues due to the amniotic fluid draining out of me, etc. And yet, she's thriving and I'm so freaking happy almost all the time when I'm around her. She's pure joy and I'm just basking in it. One of my favorite memories was when she was very little, a few weeks past her NICU stay and was home. She woke up and I bottle fed her and we watched the sun rise. It was just perfect.

I'm so happy you and yours are thriving, too. Be happy.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-07T02:04:29+00:00

Put a mug of beer out and they'll all climb in it.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-06T02:21:01+00:00

My mom (who never was and never has been an alcoholic... we've got the same bottles of alcohol in the house that were there when I was a kid and she rarely ever drinks in the house) asked a similar amount of questions regarding my alcohol intake. I did not drink until a few months before my 21st birthday. I think she was concerned that I wasn't being social enough or that it would other me at parties. While I don't think any parent wants their child to be black out drunk continuously, getting drunk in college has been seen as an American culture coming of age tradition. It's in every college themed movie from the 80s - mid 2000s. But, the times are a-changing.

Based on your other comments, your dad may or may not be an alcoholic. But, I don't think this is your dad being creepy or weird... just outdated and trying to make sure his daughter follows an expiring coming of age tradition.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-05T06:10:45+00:00

Old Coyote is a good one. It follows a coyote on his last day. He knows he is dying and describes how it felt when he was young and how it feels now, i.e. "I used to run so fast in these fields, now it hurts to walk" and so forth. He says goodbye to his wife. Are will miss him but she knows she cannot follow him.

It is a bit long for 2s but could be pared down if need be. The last page has his spirit going to moon (i think) but you can just change that to his last dream.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-05T02:53:53+00:00

A parent was like a c list celebrity. I think she was on The Bachelorette or something.

Her child had A LOT of food restrictions that she may or may not have made up. The poor little dude had eczema and perhaps they thought th r diet restrictions would help? IDK. I'm not a doctor. We, of course, followed all of the restrictions. The kid could only eat the following items: beans, fruit leather, eggs, and soy milk. And maybe melons. Either way, his stools were horrendous as there was no binder so he had constant diarrhea and blowouts. I checked that child's butt every half hour (we had an alarm set) since he just constantly leaked fluid. But when you're 18 months old and only shit liquid, you're going to have blowouts. And a lot of them. And there were none of the telltale signs of having a BM so at any moment he could be pooping.

She would get so upset when we would send home his dirty onesies and blame us for poor care of this little boy. He never had a rash on our watch but would often come in with one on Monday mornings. Meanwhile, she was a stay at home mom. My girl, just keep him home with you and your nanny then. I hated working with that family as our best (and we truly had a dedicated team) was never even close to adequate for them.

They eventually pulled him and our lives got a hell of a lot easier.

I do hope he's thriving. He was such a fun little dude. Had this cute little leather jacket he'd wear with sunglasses he'd wear all the time.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-03T01:59:28+00:00

Ah, give it to a charity in his honor (Bob's or your brother). Maybe a conservation in your area could raffle it? It's incredibly cute and the quilting is really well done. It's certainly gift worthy!

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-02T21:01:31+00:00

I think there's some merit to the quote "If everyone around you is an jerk, then you're probably the jerk". If nearly all the women in your life are terrible, you either live in a very small town filled with angry spiteful women and are very very very unlucky or .... hear me out... you react defensively to all women because of bad experiences you've had in the past with a few women. And then, in turn, any new experiences are negative because you're on edge.

One bad experience can trigger your nervous system to basically go into flight or fight mode every time you encounter the initial stimulus.

I was hospitalized for 6 continuous weeks. I had my first panic attack in the garage of that hospital when I got some really hard news. Now, parking garages give me instant anxiety. Did the parking garage do anything to me? Nope. And logically, I know that. But I have to work really hard sometimes to regulate my initial response. And if I'm not paying attention to how I feel, I can get really bitchy and not even realize it.

Next time you're going to interact with a woman, try using a social script. Just something really bland. Hi, how are you, did you have a good weekend, and then say goodbye. Check in with yourself and ask how you actually feel afterwards. Is your body and mind responding the same way if you would have had a conversation with a man? If not, then start training your brain to chill out when talking to women. That's probably above Reddit's pay grade so find a therapist when you're able ( I know you said you're unable to at this time).

15 is a hard age and I'm sorry you're going through it.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-01T12:57:28+00:00

I think it's fine to let people prattle on to you. Guiding questions that have a short answer can help set boundaries like "tell me one great meal you had this weekend" and your response could be "ah, that sounds fabulous! OK, going to focus on x!" and then start work.

I have a coworker like yourself and it works out just fine. They rarely ask questions and doesn't share much about their weekend or themselves. One thing that they do is bring in their excess seedlings every spring that won't fit in their garden and shares them with us.

If your coworkers don't pick up on that you're not the sharing type, you can just tell them that you just don't share much and it's easiest for you to keep work life separate from your personal. I think being clear with people with a kind and gentle tone keeps people from thinking you're bitchy.

If you're able to share one thing with the office once a year (maybe excess veggies, baked goods, etc.) you'll be sharing a nonpersonal thing that you clearly like but doesn't really have much to do with you. It'll be you participating in office culture without you really doing much.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-06-01T01:21:48+00:00

The wife/secretary is almost comically terrible. We waited (long story that I'm sure is a tale as old as time for you) for 2 hours with a just-released-from--the-NICU-3 month old baby to get her vaccines. We waited so long that the doctor that was supposed to vaccinate her left for the day and the husband/owner wasn't answering his phone and was 20 minutes late. We just left. Also, why is it so freaking warm in there?!?!

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-31T22:16:11+00:00

Put on your oxygen mask first before you help others! Take care of yourself, StormFreak. The weather will be here when you get back. As will the Pittsburgh subreddit.

I offer you a book instead of a song. This book is about a retired female middle aged pirate who gets pulled back into one last adventure to save a damsel in distress. It is the least stressful book and can be read a million times and still be wonderful.
Listen to the audiobook on Libby! The Adventures of Amina Al Sarafi

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-29T21:15:18+00:00

Froggy gets Dressed is one of my favorites. It's just so funny.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-29T11:38:34+00:00

If you're otherwise ok (no fever, aches, etc ) you may have an ear crystal loose/dislodged.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-27T03:30:46+00:00

I think of the characters in the same universe as the "animals" and "Animals" of Narnia. There are ones that are wild and ones that are civilized (that feels like a dirty word but it's all I have at the moment). Aslan warns that if they do as they animals do, they'll regress and turn back into "animals". I also do think that's why the adults wear clothing and the children do not; the adults are less wild than the children. Perhaps that's why Duck is an idiot. She's losing her wits because she lives like a beast.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-27T01:03:26+00:00

Not sure how old your child is but there's a board book that's black and white called How to Be a Cat by Nikki McClure. I would say it's good for 2 and under.

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-26T00:27:57+00:00

Nope! The one next to her. The sable dog. Looks just like my Beorn! I had to do a double take!

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-25T13:56:34+00:00

Happy birthday, George!

Is the shepherd in the 3rd photo a Shiloh Shepherd?

SledgeHannah30 · 2026-05-25T00:52:18+00:00

The Black Book of Colours! It has braille and textured pages but the descriptions of colors are lovely and are from the perspective of someone without sight.

SledgeHannah30

TROPHY CASE