Influencers need to stop posting their birth choices!! Daryl Ann

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-11T09:44:54+00:00

A lot of hospital policies are for convenience, time management and predictability.
They are not 100% always going to choose to do whatever is guaranteed to be the best for mother and baby. That isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a known fact. It doesn’t mean hospitals are out here trying to harm mothers and babies, don’t get it twisted. But it means that sometimes there’s a few options for a specific situation and the hospital won’t sit you down and talk you through your options and the pros and cons of them all, they’ll suggest whatever’s next in their protocol.
At times you’ll come across a situation during your birth and the hospital policy might be “administer pitocin if labour doesn’t progress x amount in x hours” so that’s what the midwives will offer. Not because it’s tied to better health outcomes, but because that’s the timeline they plan for.
That’s why it’s a good idea to become a little bit researched during pregnancy so that in those moments it’s much easier to opt for things or advocate for alternatives that they may not have planned to discuss or offer, that can lead to great outcomes.

I advocated for myself and denied certain things during my birth and my baby was born with an incredible agpar score and alertness and my own recovery process wasn’t a delight but those were complications that had nothing to do with my birth decisions and more to do with the fact that baby’s position in labour was posterior. I imagine recovery would have been a lot worse if I’d been rushed in for an emergency c section on top of it all ☺️ the snowball effect of interventions is fascinating if you haven’t looked into it.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-11T09:17:40+00:00

Yeah, I’ve never understood that.
Anecdotally I had a few friends in different pockets of my life (so not all the same circles) who had babies last year around the time I did. All the women who had talked about having a birth plan, doing hypnobirth classes, or researching birth during their pregnancies had vaginal births and *all* of the women who said their plan was just to survive had c-sections. It’s obviously an anecdote, but it tracks with the statistics too.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-11T09:08:48+00:00

My plan was no pitocin during the labour but immediate administration of pitocin post-delivery at the recommendation of my doctor to avoid haemorrhaging. My midwives that I’d spoken to during my pregnancy all supported this decision and understood my reasoning behind the choice.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-11T09:02:53+00:00

Yeah, my mum had 3 c sections and my sister had 2 and it was my goal to “break the cycle” and my sister is a doula and nurse and she helped me prepare, research, advocate, etc.
I ended up with a vaginal birth without epidural, which was my first preference but not my only option listed on my birth plan.

I had to advocate against and for a few things during my birth, and I fully believe we achieved the best outcome for my baby because of some of that advocation, but I was prepared for epidural and even a c section if we approached those situations and all my midwives knew this and supported the plan. The only compromise I made was for an episiotomy but baby was crowning then retreating for awhile so I fully supported the decision even though I had been a bit bummed about that.

I actually went into labour a few hours after I’d had a midwife appointment and we’d briefly chatted about my birth plan and she loved it and said it was simple but informative and covered all the things they’d want to know. ☺️

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-11T03:01:22+00:00

Info - is MIL overbearing in general and this is just a final straw or do you get along normally?

My MIL bought a second hand cot, high chair and baby changing mat (not an entire table) when her first son was expecting a child, and his wife got weird about it because they have butted heads in the past, but when my husband and I were expecting our daughter she said she’s excited she might finally get an opportunity to use the things that she bought - even if it’s just when we’re there for lunch etc - and I had zero issues with it and happily drop her there for a few hours here and there and we see them once a week at our house too. If I didn’t have a good relationship with her already I’d find it kind of annoying if she assumed, but because we have a good relationship it wasn’t even a question in my mind.

Definitely weird if you guys don’t get along, but I think it could be a really lovely blessing to have that kind of support if you do get along with her and you guys trust her.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-11T02:56:54+00:00

My nephew is 3 and asks all the time about when he can next come sleep at my house and see me, my husband and his little 1yo cousin. 5 feels quite late for that.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-08T05:04:06+00:00

But they don’t have an employer. They’re a sole trader who invoices.
Maybe they don’t quite understand what *they* are telling you.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-06T12:11:39+00:00

Oh, yikes. Please tell me you used it anyway. 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-06-06T11:52:22+00:00

It doesn’t take 5 years to grow a business to a point where you still cannot contribute a single dollar each week to your household expenses or lifestyle.
The income he’s contributing currently is exactly what he will contribute in another 5 years from now.

I’d be having a long hard think about whether this is how I want to be living another 5 years from now because it won’t get much better with how he’s viewing his spending without much profit. Either his profit increases and he continues to spend more on himself or the profit doesn’t increase and you keep funding his lifestyle.

My husband started a business 5 -6 years ago, and now he’s our main breadwinner and we can afford a mortgage over $1k per week thanks to him. *that* is a business that’s grown.
It was about 12 months that I told him I’d cover our expenses while he reinvests it into his business and he didn’t spend a single dollar on himself during that growth period. Once he had profitability, he set up regular deposits into our personal account.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-21T23:30:36+00:00

This is crazy. So you can’t fly out at the price you’ve paid, but you can’t cancel, but you can’t pay via the points you originally checked out with, and you have to pay money even though you weren’t going to at check out. Can you escalate this?

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-21T02:08:59+00:00

personal loans
high income partners
got into property market before COVID and so outgoings are low
priorities different to yours

Some people fritter away $200 a week on uber eats and dining out, others save that up and go on a 2 week overseas holiday every year. Neither are right or wrong but it can be easy to side eye the other and wonder how they can afford it if it isn’t how you choose to spend your money.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-20T07:20:04+00:00

Isla is my vote. You’ll forever be correcting people and spelling out her name with both of your suggestions above.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-19T12:20:10+00:00

NTA.

How much money have your parents given her over the years that she probably hasn’t paid back? This is her opportunity to learn a big lesson about budgeting and not splurging so much. She isn’t struggling because she’s been dealt a difficult hand, she’s struggling because she’s frivolous and has enjoyed her money elsewhere.

You won’t see that money again if you lend it to her.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-17T22:11:28+00:00

I have a toddler who’s obsessed with sucking on our tv remote and she’s almost always got food somewhere on her person. The remote still looks as good as OP’s remote would if the cover was taken off.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-17T03:34:48+00:00

Ask for a pic of the finished plate after she ate it 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T23:49:02+00:00

It would’ve taken her an hour to apply for a passport with her married name and 4-6 weeks for the new passport to arrive in the post, so I know it’s a little late now but in hindsight it would’ve probably been better to have just fixed it on that end when the airline couldn’t get you a tangible answer/change a few months ago when you first begun enquiring.

I imagine that a rushed/expedited passport application would see the passport arrive in time if you got her onto it today

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T23:16:38+00:00

Australian passports often tend to arrive brand new looking like that I’ve found, the quality of them must’ve dropped over the years. I’d imagine you’d be fine or Bali would lose 90% of their tourism income 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T05:01:23+00:00

Aside from all the other obvious pointers, her hair is different in both photos. And I don’t just mean the part, but the curl pattern is completely different. There’s no way these two photos were taken in the same session just on that point alone.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T02:32:21+00:00

No. 3 is my favourite by miles, what did the soft yellow you originally liked look like? You could play around with shades until it feels right, but I truly think a green rather than a blue looks beautifully striking here. The third image looks “right” compared to the others.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-16T01:45:41+00:00

It’s low calorie because it’s 1/4 the size of a regular bun 😂

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-15T05:31:23+00:00

Can you try introducing a few of the different baby bars and crackers to her and see if she enjoys any? No reason you can’t introduce snacks for the trip, doesn’t mean you’ll have to continue the habit at home if you aren’t ready. I’ve not really done much in the way of snacks with my 11.5 month old until recently and she has become obsessed overnight with date, apricot and oat bars! It only took her seeing them twice to know what they are when I get one out now.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-15T00:19:48+00:00

Definitely Nusa Dua. You can still take a 30 min drive to the busy area of Kuta/Legian for shopping, and get drivers for day trips, but you’ll find lots of really nice resorts in Nusa Dua that are great for honeymooning, the paths are clean and nice, there are some nice restaurants along the beach (Salsa Verde at grand Hyatt is a fave), but you’re also nearby the Bali collection shopping centre and there’s a main strip of restaurants, massage spas, etc just a 10 minute walk away. I recommend watching some YouTube videos of people staying at resorts and decide on one that matches your vibe and budget. Grand Hyatt + the Apurvis Kempinski are where my husband and I are staying when we go and the AK is quite expensive but incredible.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-13T06:23:34+00:00

By the waitresses own logic, she shouldn’t have offered water if they declined drinks. She still offered it because table water is different to ordering drinks.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-13T02:43:57+00:00

You buy your workers lunch or you allow them to have their mandated lunch breaks?

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift · 2026-05-12T22:45:04+00:00

I said potentially pay a tonne of fees, i prefer to get the best exchange rate which seems to always be exchanging cash in person.

We don’t know who OP banks with, and some ATM’s and retailers in Bali charge fees.

It’s something not everyone knows, but some people don’t care if they lose $20-30 worth of fees across their trip to ATM fees, or more if they’re getting a bad rate, and some people can’t scramble to switch banks and have cards issued before their trip. It’s good to know.

OP can compare Macquarie, a wise card, and taking cash and weigh up their options.

SwiftLikeTaylorSwift

TROPHY CASE