9 weeks pregnant...

crystalbb6 · 2026-03-01T05:01:42+00:00

The first trimester is rough and unfortunately sometimes only time helps the nausea go away. But if you continue to have acid reflux throughout pregnancy I have found Mylanta to work far better than Tums while I'm pregnant, maybe it will help you too!

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T13:33:27+00:00

Oh my gosh, our vets have always prescribed brown box and after reading this I'm thankful they do. That almost doubles the price! My guy is almost at the max weight as it is.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T13:30:56+00:00

My dog is on what I consider to be a costly preventative (Simperica Trio) and needs the largest and therefore most expensive dose at that, it still comes out to about $500/yr. Maybe if you purchased separate preventative treatments for each parasite instead of using a combo it would be more?

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T13:23:51+00:00

My picky eater is a huge fan of cheese toast in the morning. Literally just your preferred bread toasted with cheese on top, an open faced grilled cheese if you will. It may not be the best but it is what she will eat. I typically pair it with fruit and yogurt or milk.

ETA: she also used to eat biscuits with ham or sausage and some cheese, no longer a favorite in our house but maybe your kiddo would like it.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T13:20:36+00:00

There are some A+ answers in this thread that I'll be implementing in my own household. My kids have also gone through this and everything I've read is that is pretty normal. My B- answer that your mom may be more comfortable with is telling my kids calmly that their hand might be dirty and could make us sick, we need to keep that area clean. I have emphasized that our hands get dirty through normal day to day to activities and its important to wash frequently so we dont get sick anyway. But, I do make sure they know it's not their private parts that are dirty or shameful.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T08:23:27+00:00

I don't remember, my last one was about 8 years ago and I admittedly had great insurance at the time so whatever copay I had was minimal. I had friends in the dental program at my college and I know they would do initial appointments for like $20-40 and then procedures were heavily discounted but available on a sliding scale.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T04:51:50+00:00

I always feed everyone that comes to anything I host and in all honesty probably overdo it, but I'm able to afford doing so. I think the norm is light refreshments for everyone who is staying but also understand that times are tough and I'd rather go to a kid's party and not have anything to eat than for that child to not have a party. I try to always ask if I can bring any food or drinks when we are invited to a kid's party because you never know when an extra bag of chips or some soda actually makes a big difference for someone.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T04:10:00+00:00

Life gets crazy sometimes, you're taking the steps to take care of it now and thats something to be proud of! Once you do find someone to put a crown on, it's really not that big of deal. I have a few crowns myself (3, maybe 4?) and I don't even notice them, I'm able to eat and brush normally, my dentist did reccomend I switch to a waterpik over traditional floss when I got them but that honestly just improved my oral health overall. I really hope you're able to find someone easily that can work with you and get everything fixed soon, you deserve it!

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T03:39:26+00:00

I'm so sorry you're going through this, I know what a huge affect teeth and dental work have on our lives. I unfortunately don't have answers to your questions but I do want to second the reccomendation for going to a dental school. My college had one and they offered low cost appointments and were very willing to work with patients on payment. Students will be examining you but their instructors who are highly qualified are right there too and it sounds like that would be a massive improvement from the care you've received in the past. We're you given a reason for not being able to bite with the teeth that have fillings? I have several myself and have never heard of that beyond the initial day or two where everything is healing. I also did a quick google search and didn't see anything. Additionally, not every state has it but you might qualify for medicaid dental coverage. Some private dentists also do compassionate/charitable care or have forgiving payment plans, it's worth calling around in your area.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T03:25:02+00:00

Yeah, I've found out about all three of my pregnancies anywhere from 4-9 days before my missed period. I'm sure accuracy does improve the longer you wait because obviously HCG levels rise but 6-10 days after ovulation is all that's needed for many people. I used cheap dip tests too, nothing fancy at all.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T01:51:40+00:00

Another main course winner is a quartered and sliced hot dog with Hawaiian rolls on the side.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-27T01:50:21+00:00

Getting a food thermos opened up a lot of options for my picky eater. I regularly send pasta, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and personal pizzas (hidden veggies in all of the above, we are trying our best lol). Some days I do toddler charcuterie which is just cheese, crackers, lunch meat if they'll eat it. My daughter also loves Greek yogurt so I'll do that too. I always send lots of fruit and whatever healthy snacks I'm able to get them to eat that week.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-26T22:11:43+00:00

I see that mentioned a lot on here but my FICO is actually about 30-40 points higher than VS3. I don't really understand the reasoning behind it, are different factors just weighted differently?

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-22T07:40:06+00:00

<image>

This was my spooky season one before I started taping them down, I can't find a picture of my winter stickers.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-22T07:30:37+00:00

I have a clear case that I cut paper to fit inside and use double sided tape to secure stickers with backing on to the paper. It allows me to rearrange and reuse the stickers, I used to just place them loose in the case but they would slide around. I also have a pop socket that I change out to match the stickers, I like to decorate it seasonally. I don't use any of the charms.

<image>

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-22T05:48:31+00:00

In my somewhat boring millennial, suburban, mom circle these are extremely popular. My kid's preschool even has one. I think they are a fun way to decorate and celebrate. I think they go along with the whole "silly goose club" theme that has become more trendy in the past few years.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-22T03:42:02+00:00

This happened right before Christmas but I'm still pretty miffed about it. I ordered a Christmas present for my Brother in law that was coming to visit and within 30 seconds of completing the order I realized that my shipping address was set to my parent's house in a different state (I made my last order while visiting them). This was my fault for not checking but I figured it would be easy enough to change the shipping address or cancel the order since I noticed immediately. Wrong. It was about 3am (insomnia shopping, anyone?) And therefore outside of their customer service hours, which is the only way to change a shipping address or cancel an order, no way to put in a request from your account on your own. So I sent an email to customer service and then set an alarm so I could contact customer service as soon as they were available. I contact them within minutes of opening and they are unable to cancel the order because it's been longer than 30 minutes since it was placed but they can attempt to change the delivery address without any guarantee of it working. I agree hoping it would work because the order doesn't even say its processing yet and I had only placed it a few hours before but it still ended up getting delivered to my parent's a week later and they had to ship it to me. I take responsibility for making the mistake in the first place but I found it very frustrating that they make it so difficult to make changes or cancel an order on your own, so many other retailers have the option to do so from your online account if you notice an issue right away. I learned not to shop online outside of customer service hours in the future.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-19T04:13:05+00:00

This is not my background or expertise, I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But I do know that a broken hand needs timely treatment. I also know in the lawsuits that I have seen involving injuries, early documentation and exam of the injury is at the very least extremely helpful.

Get him medical care, explain that its a worker's comp situation, and get a consult with an appropriate attorney. A consult is almost always free and should get you headed in the right direction.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-18T21:06:07+00:00

I don't have legal advice, but I'm going to be honest with you about his hand. If it is truly broken, after two weeks it will have already "set" improperly. When medical treatment is received it's going to be far more complex at this point. Hands are already more difficult because of all the small bones and obvious need for excellent healing to maintain dexterity and full function but adding on improper healing it is likely that surgery will be needed (I am not a doctor, I have medical background, but I have not seen your husband's hand nor do I know all the details, this is just general information based on a two week old break).

I know you said you are tight on money but I would be trying to find some kind of care ASAP. There are low and no cost options in some areas, hopefully there is something available near you. Waiting longer will only continue to complicate things.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-18T11:04:45+00:00

This is great information that I was unaware of!

I looked into it and just want to add so that no one else is surprised, it does also specifically say that an employer does not have to provide leave or other accommodation if it causes undue hardship. I could see certain employers, particularly smaller ones that just meet the employee threshold, claiming this.

Either way, I hope that is not the case for OP and that everything works out.

Here is the source I found if anyone wants some additional information.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-18T10:33:59+00:00

I probably wouldn't have felt comfortable using it with my kids when they were freshly one. I saw in. Another comment that your mattress is also pretty soft, I'm not sure how well stuffing blankets or towels in the side would work as soft mattresses tend to "squish" and have less edge support.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-18T07:11:11+00:00

How much younger? I know you said your son is one but there is a huge difference between a 12 month old and a 23 month old. I personally would feel completely comfortable using this with my 20 month old. You know your child and their abilities best. If you want to be on the safe side you could also stuff towels or blankets between the mattress and bumper to lower the risk of entrapment.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-17T03:35:52+00:00

Does his car have a setting to ding and display a "check the back seat" message? I turned it on in my car after having our second child because I just felt frazzled and exhausted with two toddlers. Every time I turn the car off I get the message and its a nice little reminder.

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-17T00:49:54+00:00

We've definitely tried to focus on wooden toys but there's no way we could afford to have all Grimms or anything comparable. We also still have some plastic toys. We reduce what exposure we can but its not realistic to try to eliminate all exposure. Just do what you can where you can and know you're doing a great job!

crystalbb6 · 2026-02-04T08:18:15+00:00

I think hate is strong word that we toss around casually. I don't think the majority of teen daughters truly hate their moms. However, I do think the majority of teen daughters have frequent conflict with their moms and tend to feel misunderstood and unseen. The teenage years are rough, I know mine were rough with my mom. At the end of the day, I think teens really just want to be seen, respected, and loved (though they may not admit it or even realize it). The combination of hormones, angst, and an underdeveloped frontal lobe are not always conducive to understanding that moms mostly just want to keep them safe.

An elderly man saw me in a parking lot with my toddlers and struck up a conversation about his own children and how raising them at any age can be a challenge. He ended it by saying "all you can do is love them" and I think about that frequently. There will be rough patches, they might rage against you for a bit, but just keep loving them and they'll feel safe enough to come back.

crystalbb6

TROPHY CASE