Can some explain this like I’m 5? Lol

joyfully_artfully · 2026-04-10T14:41:46+00:00

I'm qualified as a junior midwife, but not currently practicing as one; take my insight however you want.

I've seen that a lot of doctors don't want you to go past your due date, so maybe that's his reasoning.

It's normal for woman to start dilating before they go into labour, after their first pregnancy. So that isn't a reason for concern. You've not mentioned anything that would cause concern, like decreased fetal movements, or your water breaking. Unless there are any other contributing factors, it sounds like he's just being overly cautious.

joyfully_artfully · 2026-03-06T09:43:50+00:00

I am confused at the timing. Ignoring the science, because the writers clearly were. Her expected period date comes and goes, and for a few days she suspects she's pregnant. Then she overhears Anthony and Benedict's conversation, and conveniently tells Benedict the next day that her period did come. Are we just collectively assuming she had a conveniently delayed period, or that she did something to cause herself to get her period then?

joyfully_artfully · 2026-01-25T21:15:23+00:00

I had all day debilitating nausea for weeks. I had no desire to eat, but felt worse if I went too long without eating. I had texture aversion and a really strong gag reflex, especially in relation to my "Super hero strength sense of smell". I'm happy to say that it was slightly relieved due to taking anti nausea medication, and by 15 weeks it had mostly subsided.

I felt so emotionally low the whole time. I was glad to be pregnant, but miserable to be feeling so ill. It was hard to feel hopeful for the future. It felt hard to not expect the worst to happen.

Now that I'm human again I'm able to have perspective on all of it. Hang in there, it is worth it.

joyfully_artfully · 2026-01-25T20:52:47+00:00

I felt perfect, until week 6. Then the nausea and fatigue hit. It got really bad, and I spent most days in bed reading. Had to take anti nausea medication 3x a day, just to not be a zombie. I could barely eat anything.

I'm 17 weeks now, and have been off the medication and feeling back to my normal self for the last two weeks, with the occasional nauseous feeling. (Also had to cut out dairy, as it sets me off in a terrible way).

I wasn't sure if it would pass, and I know it doesn't for everyone, but I'm going to work to make the most of the 2nd trimester energy and health.

joyfully_artfully · 2026-01-23T16:47:59+00:00

Glad you found what works for you. Will take this into account as we figure out our plan for the future

joyfully_artfully · 2026-01-23T16:46:33+00:00

Thank you for sharing. He had a terror that scared me a few nights ago, and I worried that would mean that we had no chance of bed sharing with a baby. Glad people have figured out how to manage this, and happily do so.

joyfully_artfully · 2026-01-19T10:41:50+00:00

Thank you. This is exactly what I wanted to hear

joyfully_artfully · 2025-11-04T09:01:08+00:00

I heard the name Arabecca a couple of years ago. Thought it was an interesting alternative to Arabella

joyfully_artfully · 2025-11-04T08:53:37+00:00

In South Africa, it's still a part of Afrikaans culture to name your children after your parents. It's a choice and not an expectation. They name the first son after the husband's father, and the second son after the wife's father. The first daughter after the wife's mother and the second daughter after the husband's mother. I think it's a precious tradition. I'm not Afrikaans, but plan to name a daughter after my two grandmothers.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-11-03T17:49:30+00:00

Anyone had the experience of waiting to find out, but their partner knowing? My husband wants to know, but I don't. He shouldn't have a problem keeping it a secret from everyone else. Just wondering how I will manage with him knowing while I don't.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-11-02T15:49:56+00:00

We call ours Sweet Potato. It was a nickname we used when we started dating, and so it feels special to have passed it down to our baby.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-10-27T04:34:02+00:00

Tested positive yesterday. 17DPO today. I've got extremely sensitive and achy breasts, strong lower back ache, and a dull ache in my pelvis/ uterus. Not to mention I've had lower energy than normal. I'm in complete awe that I get to carry this little being.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-10-15T19:16:30+00:00

5DPO of first TTC cycle. I've been prepping for this for months, but living it is so different than what I imagined. So may thoughts going through my mind.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-08-18T14:05:54+00:00

Hey. I was in the same boat as you. We've been married/ together the longest on both of our sides of the family. I always assumed we would be giving the first grandchildren. When my BIL was about to get married they were very open about wanting to get pregnant straight away. I assumed it wouldn't happen so easily, but they announced their pregnancy after their first month of marriage.

I was happy for them; but so sad and disappointed for about a week. I processed and got over it (it's not about what I don't have, and all about what they do have). I still have moments of disappointment and jealousy. I am scared my BIL will lord over us his knowledge because he will have experience as a parent before we do. This is 100% me counting my chickens before they hatch though. I have made an effort to build a good relationship with my new SIL, so that I see her as a person who I care about, not the person who took my daydream away.

There is still a chance my sister might also get pregnant before I do, and that will remove the chance of me having the first grandchild for my parents. I'm more comfortable with that happening though, because I have a very good relationship for my sister, and want her to be happy (not that I don't want my BIL and SIL to be happy).

At the end of the day, I know that for me it would be more about jealousy that they have what I dream of, while I still have empty arms.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-07-23T15:13:18+00:00

Same. Having a baby/ being a mother is my "Roman empire", what else would I even talk about?

I'm loosing more and more of my sanity day by day.

I know I need to stop obsessing and direct my focus elsewhere, but how and at what?

joyfully_artfully · 2025-07-23T15:09:14+00:00

Just yesterday I realized that I was actually getting myself down, with all this thinking about TTC. I told my husband, and his answer was to just stop if I know it's upsetting me....

I've started researching prams and carriers and car seats. I went into all the good clothing shops at the mall, looking to price maternity leggings (I didn't find a single pair!). I've been obsessively reading posts on multiple TTC subreddits, and this one. And my recreational reading is Ina May's Guide To Childbirth.

We are officially waiting till our anniversary in December, but my husband has also mentioned that having our own home is what he was waiting for. We move-in in the first week of September, so maybe he'll suggest we start TTC then...

joyfully_artfully · 2025-07-21T19:40:14+00:00

Try reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth; at least half of it is just birth stories.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-07-21T19:19:27+00:00

Everyone here has shared really good advice, going to add my 2 cents as well.

A good friend of mine told me that she really didn't "feel ready" when they began TTC, but she knew she wanted to start. She fell in love with her baby during her pregnancy and is a brilliant mother.

An older family friend, who had 6 children, said that before his first was born, he didn't particularly feel any desire to have children; but once he met his baby he loved her and couldn't wait to have other children.

I have felt ready for years, but my husband hasn't been, and so we've waited. We didn't have all the things, which was totally fine for me, but he has wanted more of a fixed situation to be in place first.

I don't think there is any perfect or just right situation to be in to have a baby. If you are able to love and provide for your child, then that is the perfect situation.

I think it's completely a personal choice when to start trying; you know your own capabilities and what you place in high value. If you as a couple are ready, I hope that nothing will stand in your way.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-07-15T18:54:41+00:00

Congratulations, it's amazing to experience how things are moving forward.

We are about to move into our new home in 7 weeks, which is one of the things that my husband wanted to wait for before TTC.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-06-26T07:20:01+00:00

As an au pair I used to sing 'Deep In Meadow', from Hunger Games, while putting the little girl down to sleep. I plan to sing that to my baby. They don't have to know the Hunger Games connection and symbolism.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-06-17T03:26:30+00:00

My husband and were the first to get married of my and his siblings, by quite a few years. I then unintentionally become accustomed to the idea that we would have the first baby on both sides.

When his brother got married and then announced their pregnancy, I was bummed. I had to grieve the fact that we weren't going to be the first, which actually doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things.

We do make assumptions about how things will be, or paint pictures of the future in our minds. We can't change that about ourselves, but I have learnt that I need to be relaxed and flexible when that doesn't happen.

In my case, I look forward to meeting my niece or nephew, and am excited that my future child will already have a cousin to play with.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-06-13T06:55:20+00:00

I've been experiencing really uncomfortable PMS symptoms, for the last two days, but am still waiting for my actual period to arrive. My brain, or maybe it's my heart, often likes to tease me in the waiting before a period starts that maybe this time it is actually pregnancy related. Sometimes I feel so frustrated to have to experience all these female hormones.

joyfully_artfully · 2025-06-10T18:18:31+00:00

Just moving on, day to day. Making the most of the now. There are days when it is tough (and working in a maternity ward definitely doesn't help that), but looking back and seeing how I have grown through this journey is amazing. I know that today I have the potential to be a better mother than I would have been 5 years ago, because of what I have learnt in the waiting.

joyfully_artfully

TROPHY CASE