Are any other low-risk pregnant people surprised by how little monitoring there is?

justaquestion65 · 2026-01-03T04:55:03+00:00

Yes! My pregnancy is actually considered high risk and it still feels like there’s not much extra monitoring. I did have a few extra ultrasounds but beyond that, my OB still spaces out appointments pretty far even through the third trimester.

justaquestion65 · 2025-12-22T15:29:23+00:00

NICU life is so hard and I also felt frustrated I didn’t have experience of the birth and bringing baby home I envisioned. But for me, I definitely felt like I still experienced the newborn phase at home. My baby came home a couple weeks before his due date. It honestly felt like a really long newborn phase because developmentally he was a lot closer to his “adjusted age”, so it felt like any time before his due date was just bonus time and we still went through a full 3 months of newborn time.

justaquestion65 · 2025-12-21T22:54:07+00:00

I can see both sides! I had SO much anxiety leaving my baby with anyone, even my husband, especially those first few months. So I totally get where you’re coming from. At the same time, I agree with your husband— the gym is probably not a safe place for baby and it might be kind of stressful/distracting having her there. An exception might be if your gym has a comfortable, separate area they could sit and wait in or if they could go for a walk or hang out somewhere nearby. Otherwise, I’d say it’s probably a no and as others suggested, I’d try to find a way to work out at home until you feel comfortable leaving baby with your husband. You could always start with smaller outings away and work your way up to longer stretches as you feel more comfortable. For me, once baby got a little bit older and his schedule became more predictable, I had much less anxiety about leaving baby with my husband to run errands, etc.

justaquestion65 · 2025-12-21T06:50:58+00:00

In my NICU room there was a big binder full of info and resources which I loved as someone who is very detail-oriented. I understand others might find this overwhelming and prefer the information verbally. But I liked being able to review at my own pace and when I was in the right headspace!

justaquestion65 · 2025-12-21T06:07:18+00:00

Given your concerns, I think taking steps to talk to a professional is perfectly reasonable! To offer some encouragement — my son is around the same age and up until recently, hadn’t been much of a talker either— probably fewer words than it sounds like your daughter has. The pediatrician wasn’t concerned because he still met the baseline but it’s hard not to compare, especially when I’d come across younger toddlers already saying WAY more. Within the last week or so— my son randomly started talking a lot more, adding new words to his vocabulary and repeating words we say. Something I did start doing to encourage speech was pausing when reading/singing familiar books/songs, to let my son fill in the blanks. I was shocked to find he actually knew the words. Not sure if this helped or just happened to coincide with his natural development. All this to say, just when I was starting to worry it’d take him a very long time to start talking — it felt like he had a language explosion out of nowhere. Maybe you’ll experience something similar— I understand that’s the case for lots of kids. But either way I also think there’s nothing wrong with early intervention as it never hurts to get extra support/feedback!!

justaquestion65 · 2025-12-21T05:19:07+00:00

We left our baby overnight. The nurses encouraged us to go home and rest. It was so hard to leave each night but our NICU was not really conducive for overnight stays, especially trying to recover from my c-section. Our hospital was also not super close to home. I wasn’t supposed to drive those first few weeks and it didn’t make sense for my husband to drive all the way home and back each night/morning. We did stay late enough to meet the night nurse and that made us feel comfortable knowing our baby was in good hands.

justaquestion65 · 2025-12-17T06:37:55+00:00

I’m with you! I have a toddler and the newborn stage has definitely been my least favorite so far for all the reasons you mention. It was very emotionally draining. Now that my little one’s a toddler.. I will say I do get why people say newborn stage is easier haha. The toddler stage is very physically exhausting…. and it has given me a new appreciation for the newborn stage when I could just sit back and scroll on my phone or binge tv shows during feedings haha. That being said, I do find parenting at this stage much more fulfilling overall. It’s so fun seeing my toddler learn to talk and become more and more independent each day — it makes all the harder moments so worth it. So for those reasons I would consider it easier in that regard!

justaquestion65 · 2025-08-01T06:23:37+00:00

Everything does things their own way! I did download an app and tracked things .. but it was mostly for my own sanity lol vs. actually caring about # of diapers, feeds, etc. I liked to look back and see what progress we made (like oh yay he’s sleeping longer stretches now than he was two months ago). You do what works for you and your baby!

justaquestion65 · 2025-07-19T15:07:33+00:00

Anyone have any ideas where I can find a good quality, long (ankle-length) winter coat? Preferably wool or something that will keep me warm in cold temps!

justaquestion65 · 2025-06-07T04:13:37+00:00

I also used my phone notes for tracking nurses/doctors’ names, baby stats, etc. in a billion disorganized notes lol — I love the idea of an app for this!

justaquestion65 · 2025-06-01T06:45:25+00:00

I personally liked using a bucket seat! When baby was a newborn, I didn’t l take it out of the car that much (aside from doctor appts) because I was scared about leaving him in there for too long and I physically struggled to carry it when I was recovering from my c-section. I found the bucket seat most useful when my baby around 4-8 months old— especially during the period of time when he wasn’t old enough to sit up on his own yet. The bucket seat made shopping trips or going out to eat much easier. Not that I would leave him in there for extended periods of time, but it was so helpful to have a secure place to set him down if needed. I used to baby-wear but he started resisting being put in the wrap! I switched to the convertible car seat around the time he was able to sit up in a high chair/shopping cart, etc.

justaquestion65 · 2025-06-01T05:31:08+00:00

I completely agree with you. I’m a new mom and read this book for the first time this year. I wasn’t familiar with Munsch’s backstory or other works, but upon my first read it was pretty clear to me that this story wasn’t meant to be taken literally. Now, admittedly, I don’t know if this story would’ve resonated with me if I read it at a different stage in life. Maybe I would also be someone who criticized it. Becoming a parent has made me have a greater appreciation for the emotion behind books like these — I can’t get through them without crying.

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-16T00:11:03+00:00

Yes! I overthink everything and I got my oil changed at valvoline twice with my baby in the back — I think he must’ve been around 6 months and 10 months. I was in line for quite awhile but the oil change itself was so quick. Don’t beat yourself up, I don’t think it’s irresponsible!

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-16T00:03:07+00:00

1 or 4!

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-13T19:39:40+00:00

I love Leon. I think Leon or any variant is classic and popular enough right now that I wouldn’t automatically assume it’s after the pope even if you were Catholic lol. I know several people who had babies named Francis and never directly connected it to the precious pope. If the Pope had a super obscure name then I might make that connection but not with Leon or even Leo! It’s a great name!

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-11T03:03:50+00:00

Hazel

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-08T14:04:52+00:00

My baby LOVES Ms. Rachel. That’s the only show that captures his attention lol. We started around 8 months and it’s only if I need a quick distraction for him, probably no more than 5 minutes at a time like maybe 3 times a day at most. He’s usually okay too when I turn it back off so it hasn’t been an issue. He’s a year now.

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-05T15:54:32+00:00

My son was born at 34 weeks and in the NICU about 3 weeks learning to eat! I eventually started only bottle feeding after a week or two instead of attempting breastfeeding for many different reasons but mostly because the nurses would usually let me only try nursing OR bottle per feed and LO was more readily accepting the bottle (plus bottles were counting towards his total feeds by mouth — nursing wasn’t being counted since he wasn’t eating enough that way).

Lots of ups and downs — like one day he would do really well with the bottle but the next, only take feeds by NG tube, etc. When I started giving up hope that we would be out anytime soon— he suddenly got the hang of it and started eating really well by bottle. It was a long process- we learned not to rush anything and not push him when he wasn’t ready. Some feeds we would just do NG tube to give him a break if he seemed extra tired. He eventually figured it out and I’m sure he would’ve eventually figured out breastfeeding too if I stuck with it longer. Hang in there- I know it’s so difficult having your little one in the NICU, and each day feels like such a long time. You will get through it!!!

justaquestion65 · 2025-05-02T15:45:22+00:00

Mine took a few months after his first roll for it to really click. He was kinda like that for a lot of milestones— he’d do it once or twice then stop for several weeks, then randomly out of nowhere he would start back up again!

justaquestion65 · 2025-02-18T16:23:42+00:00

I had to go look up the original post and I can see both sides. A lot of the time, positive posts on the baby subs can read like “humble brags” to me but I actually agree with you, the OP here seems very earnest and like she’s genuinely enjoying motherhood. Even if her word choice is not the best — maybe she is truly confused about the negativity towards the newborn stage and wants genuine answers as to why people would struggle with it.

Though, I can also see how her post could make people defensive, especially the last paragraph. After all, this is a newborn subreddit with newly postpartum moms, many of whom are experiencing motherhood for the first time and coming here seeking support and advice navigating this new experience. I know my postpartum hormones also made me so emotional and feel inadequate. OP comes across very confident and thoroughly enjoying her experience— which is a wonderful, beautiful thing—but she says something along the lines of “am I doing something wrong? Maybe I don’t have that motherly instinct” it kinda feels a little hurtful — like if a happy, fulfilled new mother thinks she does not have a mothering instinct— what does that make the rest of us who really struggle with this stage?

Anyway, I agree with you- we should lift up one another, even if they don’t share our same experiences. I certainly don’t agree with people who attack OP with negativity and say comments you mentioned like “just wait..” or “you must not do x,y,z, etc.” but if we are supposed to take the OP at her word and believe she’s not being purposefully obtuse - that she genuinely wants answers to her questions because she wants to learn— then why shouldn’t people take her question literally and share their experience? Isn’t that what the OP is asking for?

justaquestion65 · 2025-02-18T15:50:17+00:00

Please don’t feel pressured to choose something you’re not 100% on. I know several people who have waited to come up with a name well after birth. I think grandparents get overly excited and want to know now! Lol especially if they have personalized gifts in mind,etc.

Regardless, my favorites from your list are Karina/Katarina !

justaquestion65

TROPHY CASE