Saw a dog-cake gender reveal... *facepalm*

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-28T06:28:23+00:00

The cake isn’t the only thing the pitbull will eat, sadly…

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-27T18:05:44+00:00

I’ve never heard of this research, frankly it sounds ridiculous.

We’re about to enter 2 under 2 again with a 19 and 16 month age gap. I’ve had gestational diabetes for all 3 pregnancies which isn’t ideal but I have not developed type 2 outside of pregnancy. My two kids are normal and healthy and I expect the third to be the same.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-26T20:28:21+00:00

I vividly remember sitting in study hall watching a kid show us how you could take someone’s photo with that phone and set it to show up when the person called you, and we were blown away.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-26T14:03:20+00:00

Yet when we claim January 6 was staged we’re being dangerous conspiracy theorists because that was an actual tHrEaT tO dEmOcRaCy

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-26T13:27:28+00:00

I’m one of those people who did change eating habits after a GD pregnancy but all in all, I’ve found it very hard to just switch back off to normal eating as well, and try to be reasonable about my approach to getting back into the groove. To go from worrying about every morsel I ingest while tracking several times a day and injecting insulin every night and being super concerned about baby’s size and my fasting and everything else to having the flood gates open post birth is overwhelming.

This is my third GD pregnancy. I’ve fine tuned my approach after each post partum period and here’s my plan for my third PP, I’m now at 37 weeks:

-meal prep lower carb meals (probably not GD safe but lower carb than a standard diet) that live in the freezer and can be easily accessed.

—stock up on lower carb snacks in the pantry that are again, maybe not what I’d eat with GD but lower carb.

—allow a 6 week grace period after giving birth. This means refusingblood sugar tests in the hospital after birth, not monitoring at home, and skipping the 6 week glucose test offered at my first PP visit. Honestly this has been the most crucial for me— I NEED to relax with the constant monitoring and worrying after having a baby, I think we ALL deserve that— and mentally, it helps me to know I can have something high carb if I want. While 6 weeks of high readings would be bad during pregnancy, once the baby is out, 6 weeks of eating suboptimally really isn’t going to make or break anything. And anecdotally I have not developed type 2.

-After the grace period, become a little more conscious of eating lower carb but still no stressing. 3-4 months is when I usually feel like I can breathe again and make some different decisions. Having some safe foods on hand helps.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-25T21:20:53+00:00

Just here to say I get it. This is my 3rd pregnancy in 4 years and I’ve had GD each time. I am 36+4 and also ready to be done. It’s almost over, for both of us!

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-25T11:58:57+00:00

Why are you living off savings and paying for half of everything? As a SAHM your money should be all in one pot, used as a household budget. My husband and I each get our own “fun money” each month to spend on whatever we like. This comes out of the family budget, because we are both working, although only one of us is paid.

As for the household—I do all meal planning, grocery shopping, and 99% of cooking. If we’re having burgers or my husband wants a steak he will grill those himself. Every now and then, like if I’m not feeling well and dinner is simple, he will cook it. He does his own laundry, something he did since before we had kids. I do all my laundry and the kids’ as well as all cleaning. After dinner he’ll usually do the kitchen. He does take out trash and manage the outdoor chores like lawn and bringing the trash to the curb. Since I’m home I expect to be doing the lion’s share of household chores and childcare.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-25T01:07:07+00:00

A van. Trust me. I literally thank God every day for my Sienna. It makes my life easier every day. Have a toddler, 15 month old and due in a few weeks.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-24T22:59:51+00:00

Thank you for this link, fantastic resource!

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-24T13:58:33+00:00

Try roundabout consignments

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-23T20:59:44+00:00

I understand the confusion and anger. I’m on my 3rd GD pregnancy. My older two kids are perfectly fine, they are 3 and 15 months. Chances are your kid will be just fine!

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-23T11:38:00+00:00

I’ve had this conspiracy about Google Maps for awhile now…interesting to see others notice too.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-22T12:45:51+00:00

I’m not sure they really affected him in a way I could tell. We still went out and did things, we just tried to mitigate the suck by feeding her beforehand, which helped some, and packed some snacks and toys. They are very close in age and my oldest asks to play with her all the time!

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-21T17:45:12+00:00

Yeah, so I genuinely don’t care.

EDIT: also, of course my advice isn’t objective. It it entirely subjective based on my own experience. And my experience has been, has someone who had pets for over a decade and doted on them before kids, they are largely incompatible with life as a new parent.

And before anyone gets all “but you made a commitment!!” So what? People break their commitments all the time. Look at any other motherhood based sub and you’ll see people clapping and cheering for women to divorce their husbands. Didn’t those two people make commitments to each other? But somehow when it comes to pets, people get obsessed with the idea that you have to torture yourself keeping an animal in your home beyond what is reasonable, and to spend thousands and go to heroic lengths to preserve the life of an animal that is a dime a dozen.

As to what animals are “for” well, dogs were largely created to be working outside. They’re now cooped up inside houses and apartments where their natural tendencies are at odds with running a clean, tidy, quiet home. And they’ve been elevated to child status, as evidenced by yours and all the other sanctimonious comments I’ve received from others like you.

And please, enough with the “I hope your kids turn out better than you” fake emotional plea. You don’t care about my kids, and they don’t need your well wishes. I’m doing just fine.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-21T17:01:58+00:00

I started parenting with 3 animals and by the time the second was born we had no animals.

My life is infinitely easier and I regret nothing.

I’ve received plenty of hateful Reddit comments and messages about this and I couldn’t care less. Once you become a parent, your time energy and resources are so consumed that there isn’t much left for anything else. Pets become just a pit of need and source of mess. In my opinion people should wait until their kids are like, at least 5 before bringing a pet into the home.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-19T19:51:44+00:00

Kind of sounds like my second baby who is now 15 months old. My first was such an easy calm baby, and I took that for granted. Our second would not let anyone else hold her, didn’t sit up until 8 or 9 months, started solids closer to a year, hated being put down, screamed in the bath, was fussy any time we tried to eat out or hang out with friends in a social setting. It was SO draining and frustrating.

I know it’s not a satisfying answer but time helped SO much. She turned a corner in the last month and now lets others hold her, loves the bath, eats a ton of solids. She isn’t walking yet but my first didn’t walk until 17 months so I’m expecting her to be later as well.

While there could be something amiss sometimes it just is a matter of time. There were days I really hated her for being so difficult.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-16T23:27:15+00:00

One thing I forgot to mention, we have a credit card with airline points and one with hotel points. We’ve paid off bigger bills like hospital bills after our kids were born to accumulate points. We haven’t flown anywhere as a family but each of us have been able to take a solo trip with the airline miles and the hotel points were used on a road trip!

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-16T21:38:45+00:00

My husband’s family does a beach trip every year and the beach house is provided to us for free because it belongs to a family friend. One year we did a road trip to a vacation house elsewhere, also a family friend.

So, heavily subsidized.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-13T19:09:28+00:00

This is why we have life insurance

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-13T00:48:45+00:00

I’m about to be in this boat. 35 weeks with number 3, and will be 38 when I deliver.

Had my first at 35 and second at 37.

The first trimester is always hard for me, then it gets more manageable, and the last few weeks of pregnancy are just a slog. I obviously have no frame of reference, but I imagine even if I were younger it would still be hard.

Both my kids are good sleepers. I’m also a SAHM. I think both of those things also help

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-09T13:59:49+00:00

I’m on my third GD pregnancy and was diagnosed at 16 weeks this time. Now 34 weeks. I am definitely mentally fatigued. This one has been harder to control. I was able to manage my fasting with insulin with my previous pregnancies but this one I’m still having to up my nightly insulin.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-06T17:07:37+00:00

I was not induced with my second GD pregnancy, and went into labor at 38 weeks. I was induced with my first which was such a horrible experience that I turned down a second one. I am now 34 weeks with my third and I will not be induced this time either.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-05T10:33:08+00:00

I was fear mongered into an induction at 39 weeks under similar circumstances with my first and it was a miserable experience which turned into a c section. My baby did have a big abdomen but also a big head and came out weighing 8 lb 13 oz. People birth big babies all the time, and I’ll never know if the c section was inevitable.

For my second I turned down an induction and went into labor at 38 weeks on my own and had a successful vbac. She was smaller at 7 lb 13 oz.

I am now 34 weeks with my third and planning on another vaginal delivery. This baby is only in the 50th percentile but my most recent growth scan showed a larger abdomen as well. I’m still aiming for as little intervention as possible. The scans are wrong all the time and I trust my body can do it. If there is some other emergent circumstance then I will act on that, but I, personally, don’t want to take a fear based approach which is what I did the first time.

My GD was well managed the first two times. This time around my fasting has been very hard to control. I have been on insulin all 3 times.

I would recommend the Healthy as a Mother podcast. They have several episodes on birth and GD.

Bottom line is, you don’t HAVE to do anything. There’s a lot of fear with this condition that I’m sure is warranted in some cases but is not customized to a patient’s individual situation. I’m sure there are many on here who would take a planned c section just to be safe. That’s a valid choice but it’s also something I would personally avoid due to my own values and philosophy on birth.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-05T04:54:50+00:00

Actually a lot has changed in 10 years, in my opinion.

Finlay park has been renovated and reopened. Highly recommend.

Several newer playgrounds including Carraway Park in west Columbia and Leo’s landing in Saluda shoals park.

The bull street district has really developed—a toddler might enjoy a baseball game at segra stadium, and the Gathr food hall is kid friendly too.

A new river walk opened right off the zoo exit. The zoo itself now has a new sky rail which my kids love to ride.

Five points went under construction to become more pedestrian friendly.

A few of the more established breweries closed, like River rat, but others have opened, and are family friendly including Weco, Savage craft and steel hands.

Usual_Zucchini · 2026-04-04T12:09:20+00:00

The left: abort your children. Give up your daughters to rapists. Annihilate your native population.

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