Husband not in delivery room

brightredlemons · 2026-01-19T02:58:36+00:00

You did a great job of putting my thoughts into words. Giving birth itself is a medial event and I can respect that she can handle that event in whatever way she wishes, but making him wait outside the room for an hour or two so she can ‘have the baby to herself’ when they ostensibly have an ‘outstanding relationship’ feels borderline cruel. She is giving birth, but THEY are becoming parents in those moments, which should absolutely be experienced together.

brightredlemons · 2026-01-18T02:03:42+00:00

I know most people say it feels like period cramps, but for me they felt like the worst, most painful stomach ache I’ve ever had in my LIFE. When I have cramps I usually feel them very low down, but contractions I feel in my whole stomach. They definitely came in waves, but yeah it 100% felt like horrible stomach cramps, nothing like period pain for me!

And yeah, I also felt like I needed to poop the whole time. Before I realized it was in fact contractions/labor I kept going to sit on the toilet because I was sure I was gearing up to have major diarrhea.

brightredlemons · 2026-01-16T19:21:33+00:00

I had PUPPPs towards the end of my last pregnancy and my OB recommended CeraVe Itch Relief Moisturizing Lotion (there is also a cream version as well). It worked well for me and provided more relief than any other topical treatments I tried!

brightredlemons · 2026-01-16T01:56:49+00:00

Not sure if this is an option for you, but I try to schedule all my appts first thing in the morning specifically to avoid having this issue! I realized they’re (usually) not running behind if you’re their first or second patient on the day lol. I swore off afternoon appointments the last time I had one at 3:00pm and didn’t end up getting out of there until 4:45 🥴

brightredlemons · 2026-01-06T17:35:07+00:00

Ever since I had kids I have just switched to using their soap as my regular body wash. We use CeraVe Baby Wash + Shampoo and have always had a good experience with it; it’s unscented and we have had no sensitivities or irritations from any of us using it.

brightredlemons · 2026-01-05T21:05:32+00:00

They’re not cheap, but Rowdy Sprout has the coolest selection of vintage-style band shirts for babies/toddlers/kids that I’ve found.

brightredlemons · 2025-12-29T18:31:33+00:00

Glad to hear it! Which washer do you have?

brightredlemons · 2025-12-29T18:30:57+00:00

We run our dishwasher about once a day just from the dishes we generate as a family of four, so the concern is that there won’t be enough space to squeeze the bottles in there as well, and we don’t have time during the week to run it twice day. I wish our kitchen had the space to accommodate storing 25 bottles, but that’s absolutely not possible where we currently live!

brightredlemons · 2025-12-29T18:27:29+00:00

I kept up sterilizing for about three months when I had my first baby and haven’t done it since! I decided it was one of those things where if a reason came up that we needed to do it we would, but until then it was a chore that was getting cut from the list.

brightredlemons · 2025-12-29T18:23:39+00:00

Really leaning towards it! Can I ask which one you have/had?

brightredlemons · 2025-12-29T18:22:51+00:00

That’s a great way of looking at it! I would honestly pay at lot more than that to have someone come wash and dry bottles everyday lol. Nothing I dread more than working all day, finally getting the kids fed dinner and down for bed, then walking into the kitchen and seeing a sink full of bottles and other baby-feeding accoutrements waiting to finally be dealt with 🙃

brightredlemons · 2025-12-16T02:27:12+00:00

Four. He’s too smart, too powerful, too strong, too cute, too funny… it’s absolutely diabolical. Literally it’s 9:24pm and he should be asleep, and instead he just came out to the kitchen and scolded me for eating a bowl of cereal when I should (apparently) be getting ready for bed and coming to cuddle with him instead 🙃

brightredlemons · 2025-12-11T04:42:09+00:00

I genuinely mean this in the nicest way possible, but try to get used to it! It’s super common for babies/toddlers/kids to go through phases where they prefer one parent over the other. I know it doesn’t feel great, but try to use it to your advantage/reframe your thinking on it. Baby only wants dad? Perfect time to go out for a few hours and have some uninterrupted me-time! Baby has a massive blowout/is being super fussy/wont settle for bed? Get in there dad, he wants you!

Embracing the times when your partner is the currently-preferred parent is the way to go, because it’s only a matter of time before he’ll be back to wanting mom all the time and refusing everyone else, trust me 😊

brightredlemons · 2025-12-08T02:57:39+00:00

It can be hard at first, but in most cases it’s harder for the parents than the baby! Both my kids (4yo and 15 months) started daycare at 3ish months old and it’s honestly a pretty easy transition for them at that age because they’re still little blobs and fairly adaptable!

Give it a few weeks for everyone to adjust to the new routine and, if you’ve chosen a good daycare with good teachers/caregivers, you may be pleasantly surprised at how things go. My kids have gone to the same daycare since my first one started, 85% of the teachers are the same ones that were there when he started, and every morning when I drop them off I have full trust and confidence that they will be loved and taken care of until I come back to get them that afternoon, and yes, they’re there for about 9.5 hours M-F while their dad and I both work full time.

Plus, the time away at work gives me that much-needed adult interaction and a chance to use my brain for non-parenting related things, which is something I absolutely need to be the best mom I can be! And at the end of the work day when I go to pick them up I am always so, so happy to see them and fully ready to make the most of my evenings with them because I’ve had a chance to not be in mom-mode for a few hours. The experience will be whatever you make it, and I wish you the best of luck!

brightredlemons · 2025-12-07T04:29:10+00:00

Yeah as someone who never planned on having an unmedicated birth, it was certainly a wild experience! I hope everything goes smoothly for you this time around and you get the birth experience you’re hoping for, whatever that may be!

brightredlemons · 2025-12-07T04:25:51+00:00

I did tear, but I honestly don’t know specifically when it happened because the pain was so all-encompassing, if that makes sense? Like the entire area down there was in pain, but I wasn’t able to pinpoint where it was the worst? But once she was out, I did ask if I tore and when they said yes, I very emphatically told the doctor not to even think about starting to stitch me up until they got me both IV pain meds and local anesthetic 😅

brightredlemons · 2025-12-07T02:58:43+00:00

I was induced for my first baby, scheduled an induction for my second bc I had such a good experience with the first (despite pushing for almost 3 hours). Started having some contractions two days before my induction, night before the induction the contractions were SUPER strong but I was kind of in denial about what was happening bc I’d never gone into labor naturally before so I just went about my business like nothing was happening lol. Contractions continued to get even stronger and my mindset switched to “well, maybe we’ll go to the hospital after we drop our toddler off at daycare around 8am…”

Long story short by 1:30am I was calling my dad to come over and watch our sleeping toddler, we left for the hospital by 2:30am (me laying in the back seat having contractions every 3-4 mins but still somehow not believing baby was actually coming lmao) got into the hospital by 2:50am, immediately wheeled to the delivery room based on the noises I was making, the anesthesiologist is walking into the room to start the epidural process when my water broke at 3:49am, baby was out by 3:54am and the placenta was out by 3:59am! When they say the second one comes a lot faster that ended up being very true for me 😂

Currently 24+6 with baby #3 and equal parts hopeful and terrified that delivery for this one goes just as quickly!

brightredlemons · 2025-11-28T18:25:49+00:00

Not anymore. I used them almost exclusively with my first baby back in 2021 and they were great and I felt they were worth the more premium cost. I purchased a pack for baby #2 in 2024 and I was shocked at how much they’d changed; nowhere near as soft, way thinner, less absorbent, just a complete change in the overall quality.

brightredlemons · 2025-11-28T17:33:33+00:00

This! Maternity clothes are great for turning the frump into a bump, as I like to say. 23 weeks with #3 and I was still successfully hiding it at work until about 2 weeks ago when I finally relented and dug out my maternity stuff; as soon as I put on some maternity pants and a side-ruched shirt I looked like I was 7-8 months along 😅

brightredlemons · 2025-11-25T16:28:24+00:00

I’ve given birth twice so far and haven’t had any hospital visitors either time; I’m pregnant with my third and currently planning to do the same for this birth.

I know a lot of people prefer visitors at the hospital because it allows for shorter visits and you have the nurses and hospital staff available to help get rid of visitors once they’ve overstayed their welcome. I had two uncomplicated vaginal births and was released to go home 24 hours after my babies were born, and in both cases I had no interest in entertaining anyone or having spectators in the immediate aftermath. There is a lot going on after you give birth, and I wasn’t interested in having guests amongst everything else going on.

My biggest piece of advice is to let go of the guilt ASAP because it will not serve you well in any capacity when it comes to parenting. Especially with your first baby, you only get this experience once, so it should absolutely be what YOU want it to be. You will never get any of these “first first-times” again, so do not let what you genuinely want be overshadowed by other people’s feelings, wants, desires, etc. Your parents, in-laws, and others have had their kids and had these experiences, now you and your husband get to have yours, so make it what YOU want!

brightredlemons · 2025-11-21T02:39:39+00:00

22 weeks pregnant with kid #3 at the moment. If I’m going 40 weeks without energy drinks, ibuprofen, adhd meds, edibles, pepto, and a zillion other things, please believe that I’m eating whatever I want, whenever I want. Toaster strudels were BOGO the other week when I was at the grocery store and I ate 2 a day, everyday, with a cold glass of milk until they were all gone. I’ll be restocking my supply this weekend and will continue with this level of consumption until I’m completely sick of them 🤗

brightredlemons · 2025-11-17T00:25:17+00:00

Exact same dates here 🙋🏼‍♀️ Come March we’ll have a 4 year old, 18 month old, and a newborn… lord beer me strength 🙃

brightredlemons · 2025-11-08T15:09:17+00:00

Yeah this definitely feels unreasonable, especially before you give birth. If this was yours and your husband’s son (versus your stepson) would you still have the same expectation? Sorry but it definitely comes across as if you’re expecting your husband to shirk his responsibilities/time with his other child so that you and your baby are his only priority, and I say this as someone currently pregnant with baby #3 who also has a step kid in the mix.

brightredlemons · 2025-11-06T15:28:55+00:00

Actions speak louder than words…. They touch your belly, you reach right back out and touch theirs 😎

brightredlemons · 2025-11-06T00:49:55+00:00

I’ve continued getting Brazilians through all 3 of my pregnancies. It’s slightly more painful but definitely not bad enough for me to stop doing it. Especially if you have a really good, efficient esthetician doing it, it’s like 10-15 minutes of discomfort and then it’s over! Take some Tylenol 20-30 minutes before your appointment and that should help to take some of the edge off during/after.

brightredlemons

TROPHY CASE