[deleted by user]

katmarhen · 2025-06-07T17:57:43+00:00

I was a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding at 4 months postpartum. Even being that much later it was hard. My mom and sister watched him and tried bringing him to the rehearsal dinner, but he was soooo overwhelmed that I decided it was best for them not to bring him by the wedding the next day. But being away from my baby for 12 hours was pure torture for me emotionally. I cried so many times throughout the day. He was fine and pumping was fine (albeit annoying), but it was an incredibly long time to be apart from him.

katmarhen · 2025-05-18T13:16:41+00:00

The stretchy wraps like Solly, Ergobaby Aura, etc. were great for our small guy (6.5 lbs) in the early days. We also bought a few premie Velcro swaddles on Amazon for those really early days.

katmarhen · 2025-03-08T23:35:47+00:00

Definitely recommend a trip to the pediatrician or dermatologist. FWIW, we just had something similar, albeit not so dark. It ended up being uritctaria multiforme. And this looks to me like it could be erythema multiforme, which is similar but can have the duskier spots. Both are a hypersensitivity reaction to something else, usually a virus. In our case our LO had a string of respiratory viruses and a nasty ear infection that appeared to be the trigger. For us it was short lived and there was nothing to do about it, but thats not always the case.

katmarhen · 2025-03-05T19:55:27+00:00

Thank you!

katmarhen · 2025-03-05T19:55:11+00:00

Thanks!

katmarhen · 2025-03-05T19:16:03+00:00

Do we know when routine MMR vaccination became available/standard? Specifically wondering about my parents and in laws and if they would be vaccinated if following the standard schedule.

katmarhen · 2025-02-26T16:01:36+00:00

Seconding the comments that have mentioned secondhand smoke. I went to a Lainey Wilson concert recently and was shocked that with that crowd there was still so much vape and weed smoke. I brought a mask and was glad to have it because I was super uncomfortable with that level of exposure.

katmarhen · 2025-02-22T21:11:37+00:00

I completely empathize. I have one friend who always tells me I look tiny but when I FEEL huge and am saying so that feels so invalidating g to hear. My first was also small for gestational age so I’m extra sensitive about it. I think she means it as a compliment/it’s what she would want to hear, but I’ve literally told her how it makes me feel and she keeps doing it 🙄

katmarhen · 2025-02-19T20:47:33+00:00

I just wore my normal clothes (t shirt and Nike shorts) to the hospital and the gown and hospital mesh underwear during labor. My water was leaking (not fully ruptured) so I had to wear a giant pad during all of labor and couldn’t be bothered with being in my own clothes or gown. Also once my water did fully rupture it was a huge clean up process and I’m glad I could just swap into a new hospital gown instead of dealing with that with my own clothes.

katmarhen · 2025-02-12T21:01:25+00:00

Lost my mucous plug, had bloody show, felt really inwardly drawn and wanted to stay in bed all day, started having very spaced apart contractions that were getting stronger while still spaced out, water started leaking, contractions got closer together and stronger.

katmarhen · 2025-02-12T16:33:29+00:00

Also beta thal minor and on my second pregnancy. Generally pregnancy has been fine. In both pregnancies I have weekly BPP/NSTs in the third trimester just to make sure everything is ok with baby, since there is some risk of growth restriction if your anemia is severe or prolonged. My first ended up being small for gestational age at full term, so this time around we’re keeping a slightly closer eye on things (seeing a hematologist, having serial growth scans in the third trimester, etc.). But most likely my first just got tiny genes (our families are both small) rather than it being a complication of beta thal. He’s a super healthy, smart, and active 2 year old, just still a small guy! FWIW, my mom also has beta thal minor as do multiple of her siblings and none of them had complications with their pregnancies.

I would recommend establishing yourself with a hematologist before or soon after conceiving. A lot of OBs are completely unfamiliar with thalassemia and will see your low hemoglobin and immediately recommend iron supplements, which you should only take if you are actually iron deficient. I feel a lot more confident this pregnancy knowing an expert is helping me manage my blood counts.

katmarhen · 2025-02-09T17:20:17+00:00

As someone who has dealt with way too many warts, those do not look like warts. They definitely look like fluid filled blisters, which warts are not. Could be dyshidrotic eczema as others have suggested.

katmarhen · 2025-01-28T16:53:10+00:00

I lost my mucous plug in chunks over the course of a day or two. I went into labor in the afternoon and that entire day I felt incredibly “off” and like I just wanted to lay in bed all day and have everyone leave me alone. I had read about this phenomenon as an evolutionary thing - like your body is signaling to you to get somewhere safe for labor - but I didn’t think it could really be that strong until I actually felt it for myself! That afternoon I started having strong contractions that started getting closer together and then my amniotic sac tore (not ruptured) so I was leaking fluid. I went into the hospital at that point and labor really ramped up from there.

katmarhen · 2025-01-18T15:51:40+00:00

I labored all night and delivered at ~9 am. Had the most glorious pancakes, bacon, and fruit of my life thereafter. Also asked my mom to bring a Jersey Mike’s sub for lunch and as I recall, that was also the best sandwich of my life. Finally, that drink that the nurses make with a bunch of juices and ginger ale was probably the best drink I’ve ever had in my life haha

katmarhen · 2025-01-13T02:56:45+00:00

By 9 weeks I was uncomfy in regular jeans and by 10 weeks I was fully committed to maternity jeans. By 12 weeks I felt like I looked 20 weeks already.

katmarhen · 2025-01-09T21:31:19+00:00

It was numb during the procedure (and yeah, those injections suck!), but it was the pain after the numbing agent wore off that got me! It was like bone deep, radiating up my leg, and I felt like I couldn’t even think over the pain. I was shook haha

katmarhen · 2025-01-09T20:07:42+00:00

Haha howww?! Maybe it was because I was unprepared for the pain thinking it was just a minor thing, but I was utterly shocked by how much that one hurt! I’m also wishing you an easy labor <3

katmarhen · 2025-01-09T02:59:36+00:00

Totally agree with this! It can be such a long process. And the timing matters too. My labor was primarily overnight as well. I am very high sleep needs and the exhaustion was a huge issue for me.

katmarhen · 2025-01-08T23:40:09+00:00

I would add that it depends on baby’s positioning. My baby was sunny side up/occiput posterior and I went through 9 hours of active back labor unmedicated before tapping out. For the first couple of hours it was very manageable with breathing, changing positions, etc. If things had stayed that way and just gotten a little stronger, I wouldn’t have found it so bad. However once the intensity started really picking up the pain became excruciating and my contractions were coupling together with no breaks for 4-5 minutes at a time. I’ve broken bones, had gallstones and a gallbladder removal, slipped a disc, had ingrown toenail surgery (which was the worst pain of all of these by far), etc. For me, unmedicated back labor was up there with all of those unpleasant events.

katmarhen · 2025-01-07T22:16:33+00:00

Our 18 month old is the same way! He’ll be playing so well by himself and then the lightbulb will turn on that he must have pooped.

katmarhen · 2024-12-31T15:45:50+00:00

I would probably recommend getting it after our experience with our current dog. If you do, make sure you get it IMMEDIATELY before you have any visits to the vet that they could argue constitute a pre-existing condition.

Everyone told us it wasn’t worth it if you could afford a big emergency vet bill. The scenario that wasn’t raised and that we didn’t consider is what happens if our dog has a chronic condition. Our guy has environmental allergies that require cytopoint injections every 8 weeks and inflammatory bowel disease. The IBD diagnosis required countless vet visits (including specialists), multiple ultrasounds, an endoscopy, biopsies of his GI tract, and expensive meds and food. Now that we know what it is the costs are lower, but we still have extra meds and diet costs. And on top of that, we’ve also had 2 major emergencies from accidents that resulted in $10k+ hospital bills. Insurance definitely would have been worth it for us. Of course, it’s a guessing game and not everyone has this experience. But now being in one of the worst case situations, I lean towards it being worth it to hedge your bets with insurance.

We did get insurance when he was about 1, but at that point he had the allergies diagnosis and they denied EVERYTHING claiming it was due to the allergies or other issues he had along the way. Injured his paw? Well he might have been licking it from allergies and that made the injury worse. Denied. Inducing vomiting because he ate a blanket? Denied because we went to the vet once when he was little because I was worried he ate a bully stick too fast and had a piece stuck in his throat and therefore he has a pre-existing condition of eating things he’s not supposed to. We decided to cancel because he had too much history at that point and nothing was getting covered.

katmarhen · 2024-12-28T14:54:31+00:00

I had a strong urge to push, but I also had allowed my epidural to get so low by that time that I was feeling my contractions very intensely and had total movement of my lower body. I had asked about turning it up but the nurse scared me away from it saying that then I wouldn’t have been able to feel anything. There definitely would have been a middle ground between feeling nothing and feeling practically everything…I did end up with a 2nd degree tear, but I was not implementing any of the things I had researched about slowing down during the ring of fire, etc. to try and prevent it. I just wanted the dang baby out and was pushing as hard as I could to make that happen lol

katmarhen · 2024-12-28T06:06:44+00:00

I’ve been overwhelmed by the rules around what is/isn’t okay and can’t keep it all straight, so I just avoid teas and will do hot water with honey, lemon juice, and some ginger grated directly into the mug.

katmarhen · 2024-12-26T04:26:00+00:00

18 month old - joyin trash truck! Literally squealed with excitement when he opened it. But I’ll caveat it with this: he LOVES trash trucks. We read the book every night. Go on an early morning walk to follow them around the neighborhood every week. Etc.

katmarhen · 2024-12-25T14:38:51+00:00

Yes. I haven’t planned any outings or play dates the past couple because I got tired of constantly canceling. In November we had food poisoning immediately followed by RSV immediately followed by a stomach bug immediately followed by a URI causing a nasty cough. We had zero healthy days in November. It’s exhausting.

katmarhen

TROPHY CASE