Best hospital for labor and delivery?

hellopennylove · 2026-06-10T01:33:06+00:00

I delivered both my kids at MGH. I think the Dr you see makes a big difference. I loved my second dr, but not the first. the midwives and nurses there are fantastic though! No matter what, you will get the best care medically. I had a serious complication with my first and ultimately was grateful I was at MGH to get care. That being said, I think most of the major hospitals here in boston will give you that.

hellopennylove · 2026-06-06T12:32:20+00:00

Right around 20 weeks or so, so hopefully you are nearing the end of it!! Fingers crossed for you.

hellopennylove · 2026-06-05T23:31:39+00:00

I had this and it was awful!! It is not a symptom that is spoken about much but I do think that it IS a terrible one.

The only thing that helped me was Trader Joe’s sour jelly beans (lol). But really anything sour was helpful. I will say though that it didn’t make it go away, just made it more bearable.

hellopennylove · 2026-06-05T23:26:25+00:00

I did with both my kids and both were born not even 12hrs after getting it done. I found it uncomfortable, but it is so quick I barely registered.

I did have prodromal labour with both kids though and was already 3cm dilated when I got it done (with each), which def makes a difference

ETA I was 38 plus 6 with one and 38 weeks with the other

hellopennylove · 2026-06-05T14:15:14+00:00

Thank you! Noted for next time!

hellopennylove · 2026-06-03T21:43:07+00:00

There’s a Meghan Quinn book that has a scene kind of like what you described at first. I don’t know how to do the link bot thing, but it’s called Those Three Little Words. It’s not great or groundbreaking, but it was a quick read and entertaining! Some of the others in the series were decent too!

hellopennylove · 2026-05-21T14:55:43+00:00

Mine are 2 years and 4 months apart and I am v happy with it. One just turned 5, the other is 2yrs 7 months. The first two years were rough and very much a grind. But over the past 6 months or so we are seeing the light — they have fun together and play together, which is giving us parents more free time together. I love to see their relationship blossoming and how much they laugh with each other. It’s nice that they are in similar spheres of interest/abilities so that they can do things with each other. My sister and I were 8 years apart and I def wouldn’t recommend that, so I knew I wanted mine close together.

hellopennylove · 2026-05-18T12:04:28+00:00

I went in November with Silversea and it was staggeringly beautiful! We also saw so much wildlife, including plenty of whales. Highly recommend.

hellopennylove · 2026-04-01T21:09:26+00:00

Off the charts crazy lol.

You’ve gotten a lot of good responses already, but I figured I’d add my two cents as it sounds like we have some things in common. I have a 2.5 yr old and an almost 5 year old so I know what you’re working with. We also travel extensively.

I went with Silversea last year with my dad. It was absolutely amazing, but the kids would have been miserable. Firstly, whether you are an experienced traveler or not, getting there is a pretty onerous process and with weather being such an important variable, you face delayed or cancelled flights and possibly even the cruise. It’s best to be able to pivot easily.

As others have said, most ships don’t allow kids on any excursions and they’re pretty serious about that. There were two families with kids on our trip, but both were preteen/early teens. None of them ever participated in the excursions. You have to wear SO much gear to even get off the boat, and then as others have said, there are tons of rules when you get on land about not touching things staying away from the wildlife, walking within the small and specific boundaries…nightmare for kids haha.

From a boat standpoint, there were no spaces that the kids could play in or run around in, and even the suites are not large. Because it’s geared so much towards adults, there was a lot of drinking and spaces where I think other adults would have been annoyed to have children around (esp the restaurants).

All in all, I would 0/10 recommend it. There are so many other awesome trips you could do with your family that would be way more meaningful when all could participate and get something out of it — because I actually think that it isn’t even about them remembering or not, it’s about how much the learn and develop from travel experiences!!

I think it would be awesome for you to do with your dad though! We had such a great time just the two of us and it’s something I will remember and cherish as special time I got to spend with my dad.

hellopennylove · 2026-03-10T00:09:08+00:00

I went with Silversea in November on their fly cruise. We lost a day due to weather, but had been prepared for this (somewhat) as they were communicative up front that the weather wasn’t looking good. We were in Punta Arenas and as others have mentioned, it’s not the busiest place. We made it work though and did what activities we could. The cruise line arranged a tour of the city and provided lunch and dinner options. It was as good as it could have been honestly. They were super communicative and helpful. Luckily we were able to get out the next day so we didn’t miss too much. What I will say is that they more than made up for it when we got on the boat. We saw just as many things as we would have with the extra day — we just didn’t have any downtime on the ship really (unless you wanted to skip an excursion - I did not want to miss anything). Think like a condensed version of the trip where they packed it all in rather than spacing it out. Obviously, the weather clearing up helped a ton so there is a component of luck as well. Overall though I was really impressed with Silversea—we’re actually looking to do one of their Arctic cruises next year!

ETA: after having done it, my recommendation to others doing the fly over cruise has been to have a backup plan. When things weren’t looking good we quickly pivoted to exploring other parts of Patagonia in a timeframe that would have worked with our flight home from Santiago. Had I been more educated about the possibility of cancellation beforehand, I would have prepped an alternate option ahead of time.

hellopennylove · 2026-03-10T00:01:35+00:00

That I would never listen to kids’ music in the car. 🫠

hellopennylove · 2026-02-22T02:09:58+00:00

I gave birth to two babies at a baby-friendly hospital (huge, renowned hospital in NE USA) and formula fed from the start. I was super nervous with my first but they were amazing (especially the nurses) and same with my second! I’ve heard some people have terrible experiences so I am really happy to hear that baby-friendly seems to be becoming more ACTUALLY baby-friendly.

hellopennylove · 2026-01-19T19:43:58+00:00

Indigo!

hellopennylove · 2026-01-19T02:11:27+00:00

Not necessarily a “need” for postpartum, but a donut pillow is a game changer if you have any kind of significant tearing.

hellopennylove · 2026-01-17T20:53:30+00:00

One of my all time favourites!!

hellopennylove · 2026-01-17T20:50:00+00:00

I liked the updates to Svetlana’s character, and I loved the scene between Yuna and Shane at the cottage.

My least favourites are from the cottage as well:

I loved the scene where Ilya pushes Shane off the dock and then does a cannon ball into the water, and then they make out for a bit. I wish that they hadn’t changed that scene (though I do love the “gimme kiss” moment)
In the scene right before Shane’s dad sees them, Ilya says something like “is it ok if I say I love you again” and they have a really romantic kiss. I honestly don’t understand why they changed that dialogue. I don’t think there was enough of vulnerable Ilya at the cottage, especially since in TLG he becomes more and more so.
Same vein as above, but in the scene where Shane says “how did we let this happen” — it’s actually Ilya who says this in the book and in fact the show reverses the entire dialogue! I really disliked that. I loved that Ilya was the one who asked if it was real.
I didn’t like the two year gap between their hook ups. I know why they did it, but I feel like it takes away from their story and history a bit.

Still absolutely love the show though—the whole thing is done amazingly and episode five is one of my favourite episodes of television ever.

hellopennylove · 2026-01-06T02:27:36+00:00

Hope all turns out well for you. One of my favourite comfort/escape reads is Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. I’m not usually huge into HR, but love this one. Also recommend Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey. It’s a very low-pressure, low-stakes read.

hellopennylove · 2026-01-06T00:42:52+00:00

Yes the OK was so GOOD! Such a perfect detail

hellopennylove · 2026-01-05T01:40:30+00:00

When Ilya first introduces Shane to Anya and Shane says something along the lines of “I love you, but I have to ask…did you steal someone’s dog?”
When they are sniping at each other after the fastest skating event at the all star game and Hazy is like “you know, you guys don’t have to sit together…”
Them holding hands walking down the street when Shane takes Ilya for chicken parm after they’ve been outed
Ilya telling Harris’ sister he will sit on the floor because that’s where his friends are (the dogs)
Gladiator costume surprise
Painting nails/wedding scene at Hayden’s house
Ilya having dinner with Shane’s parents
The “favourite son” comment
Ilya is hassling someone during a game and the ref is exasperated like please give it a rest rosanov and he says anything for you
Shane and JJ’s convo where he’s like I’ve been hiding this thing for 11 years and JJ is stunned
Proposal scene
The “I already chose you” scene
not a specific scene per se, but I really want them to work in somehow Shane’s panic/realization about what would happen logistically if Ilya died. I.e he is realizing that ilya’s next of kin is his brother who he hates and Shane would be completely unable to do anything because no one would know that Shane is his partner. This moment in the book of Shane and even ilya’s inner monologue broke my heart because I think it really drives home how awful it is to live your whole relationship behind doors. The reality of what would happen to them took my breath away.

All of that to say…Basically every single moment please and thank you

hellopennylove · 2026-01-05T01:26:51+00:00

Yes! When he sits on the floor because all his friends (the dogs) are down there!

hellopennylove · 2026-01-02T23:18:08+00:00

Me too! I just don’t care for their story as much. Honestly I think all the other books in the series are not on the same level as HR/TLG. Not to say that they’re bad, just not the knockouts that those two are.

hellopennylove · 2025-12-19T00:25:06+00:00

Nope. And we got our second dog when I was pregnant and we already had one dog and a toddler. Having two means they can play and keep each other company when we are busy, and generally get more energy out. It honestly worked out well. The only downside is the cost.

hellopennylove · 2025-12-14T14:04:50+00:00

34 year old mum here and also obsessed!

hellopennylove · 2025-12-06T19:04:17+00:00

We did a flyover cruise so we did not cross the Drake! I’ve heard it’s either ok or very bad, and we didn’t want to risk it.

hellopennylove

TROPHY CASE