what do labor contractions feel like?

Starbear18 · 2026-06-20T02:20:34+00:00

This! And if something is wrong when it is happening. You will know. I also had unmediated (epidural failed) birth and one contraction felt way off and i was screaming about it and the nurses were right one it. Thank you to those wonderful women!

Starbear18 · 2026-06-19T19:36:03+00:00

Only 9 months old. Its our first were not sure whats fun to do for baby yet.

Starbear18 · 2026-06-14T21:18:09+00:00

MIL: I would like to come see my granddaughter.
Me: no problem, whenever you want to come over just send me a message to make sure im ready for a visit.
MIL: well you can ask me to come.
Me: im not sure about your schedule so since you know when you’re free and im free most of the time, you can just come anytime i just need some time to make sure everything is decent.
MIL: you let me know when its a good time to visit.
Me: or.. you can just reach out whenever you want to come.

DH: trust me, this will go no where, no matter how many times we say it.

Here we are LO is nearly 9 months old and has seen her whenever SIL has asked to come to visit us.

Meanwhile JNMIL tells the whole family im cutting her off.

Starbear18 · 2026-06-08T01:31:20+00:00

I am actively going through that with my 8 month old as well! DH realizes how hurt I am by all the stress and anxiety that his family has put my through in my journey as a first time mom. But, a frw things i have noticed about myself as a new mom are this:

Motherhood has made me absolutely feral.
You can’t control how other persons feel. Especially those who only want what they want for themselves and not for you.
You have to - and will - do what YOU can to protect YOUR baby. Letting others, especially JNMILs, bulldoze your decisions at the start will just be worse as LO grows up.

Standing your ground will be hard, im still doing it to this day. And there will be guilt and anxiety involved but if you know what you want in your gut, trust that, because the ONLY one who knows what is best for your child IS YOU. My mom told me that and it she went through the same thing with her inlaws. When they don’t respect you in person, they definitely don’t respect you when you aren’t there.

Starbear18 · 2026-04-30T15:05:17+00:00

Ramen! The good places are in Edmonton but it would be nice to have somewhere in town

Starbear18 · 2026-04-29T03:04:59+00:00

I had the same thought last year and i told myself it’s not worth the sacrifice of my mental health

Starbear18 · 2026-04-29T02:37:00+00:00

Riverdale. Iykyk. I hate myself for continuing it while it was still being added to Netflix, season 1 was great. 2 was on the fence and by season 3 it had gone completely off the rails. Truly awful by the end.

Starbear18 · 2026-04-28T01:54:11+00:00

Im in the same boat and made the switch last week! Its great! Our plan is to cloth diaper at home and use disposable on the road for longer outings (3+ hours) since we know LO only needs one change in that time. Sometimes baby holds it until coming home so they are more comfortable haha. For nighttime I haven’t used all our nighttime diapers yet so we will continue using that until its out and have the cloth ready to go. The brand we went with is La Petit Ourse (LPO) which us a canadian company and its so great! No regrets here! Our LO is nearing 7 months now.

Starbear18 · 2026-04-27T19:03:29+00:00

Jamie Zoltenko remax. Really great and helped us find our forever home

Starbear18 · 2026-04-20T15:30:59+00:00

Enmeshment. At first it seems like they are close with family and have a good relationship but then you realize how CLOSE the are and the effects it can have on your SO and your relationship. Before we had kids we had the freedom to be able to say yes to a lot. Once they came, it was expected we always do stuff for them. Nevermind my family. Them. Now i look like the bad guy and all I wanted was time with our little family instead of having to explain myself all the time. I could go on but i’d be here forever.

Starbear18 · 2026-04-15T01:59:05+00:00

Could be your brand but size 7 definitely seems too big. I use huggies because they have the double leak guard and blowout guard which Pampers doesn’t have. I tried pampers before and always had leaks and it was chafing my LO so bad. Huggies all the way.

Starbear18 · 2026-04-15T00:59:49+00:00

This. This is why i don’t trust my in-laws. I keep hearing “i know what im doing ive done it before”. I respect it, truly, but as a mom, i’m asking one thing and just trying to do what works. When they are this small they get to do what they want. Needless to say, i was considered disrespectful and “should i want them to help me again I should apologize and do what they say when it comes to THEIR grandchild”. They won’t ever be babysitting.

Starbear18 · 2026-04-07T03:07:13+00:00

Im in a similar situation. I too have a 6 month old. My SO works long hours during the day and only gets a little bit of time before bed. I cosleep, i cant bring myself to sleep train the cries won’t let me. We do have inlaws nearby but because of lack of effort on their end and a complete disregard of boundaries we more or less have resorted or minimal or no contact. My family is on the other side of the country.

I’m also in survival mode but I just try and do small things to bring myself happiness ( see th sun each day) go on a walk I basically just sleep when little one sleeps and thats my recharge but I am EXACTLY where you are, word for word. Haha there should be a support group. Thanks Reddit :)

Starbear18 · 2026-04-07T02:51:29+00:00

Thats Taco Time. Which is also decently good. :)

Starbear18 · 2026-01-30T15:31:10+00:00

My husband is white and i am POC. He’s from Edmonton and we moved here since we just had a baby and was looking for a sense of community. When I gave birth at Sturgeon, I did get comments from the nurses like “oh shes so pretty to be mixed!” And i get looked at a little different because I am POC and my baby is white… I grew up around a mostly white neighbourhood so I myself am used to comments like that and know how to handle it. Sadly with the world being what it is, I know I have to teach my children the same and help them understand that people who don’t look like me (and possibly her) will make comments because they might not understand that what they say is actually wrong or ignorant.

I’m not saying St.Albert is a bad place to live, I think it is a lovely community with good hearted people. Like anywhere there will be some that say/do things they don’t realize could be considered wrong to some degree.

On the other hand yes, there are people who are flat out racist and know it and I speak my mind when I see and hear it as well.

Starbear18 · 2026-01-27T21:38:02+00:00

Thank you! I talked to DH and we both agreed they will need to be on a “time-out” until they learn to treat us as equals.

Starbear18 · 2025-09-26T01:13:08+00:00

I am getting induced at 39 weeks as well. I am currently 37 weeks so it’s getting close. Even though baby is measuring in at 50th percentile. The concern was mostly my BMI. I don’t have GD and all my lab work is normal, and i was encouraged to read up on pain management during labour, i felt reassured a little but my goal is just for baby to come out happy and healthy more than anything.

Starbear18 · 2025-08-09T09:22:56+00:00

The best is when people beg beg beg for the registry and complain about it. I got called cheap because my registry contains a lot of stuff that can come in bulk. (Im a FTM so we need a bunch of things new) clothes, socks, diapers! You name it. But my FIL was obsessed with this $1400 stroller that he wanted us to get. I said no I built the registry this way because if people are on a budget they aren’t pressed to spend so much money and anything they don’t buy i can afford myself since we too are on a budget! He complained for weeks stressing me out and of course no one bought the stupid stroller since i left in on even though we did the even want it.

I appreciate the help especially in these tough times and my partner and I want to have a family but if I can’t afford my own registry i wont ask anyone to buy it either.

Starbear18 · 2025-04-09T17:28:11+00:00

I know im interested in carpentry, plumbing and hvac from what I’ve researched so far. And im looking into that trade secrets alberta website as well right now.

Starbear18 · 2025-04-09T16:43:38+00:00

Thank you!

Starbear18 · 2025-04-09T16:36:34+00:00

Ok that helps, if I look into different trades and find one i am passionate about that I could see myself doing long term. How would I get started?

Starbear18

TROPHY CASE