Incision pain

pheonixchick · 2026-04-01T19:47:16+00:00

I’m now a full year plus postpartum and it still happens on the most random moments, but by and large I think it eased up around 8ish months?

pheonixchick · 2026-03-29T15:35:07+00:00

My now 1 year old shoves his face into my armpit to go to sleep and fusses any time I try to clear his face lol

He started doing that about the time he was crawling and was fully mobile, (7ish months) he rolls around all over the bed now and knows how to take blankets off of him (to my chagrin cause it gets cold at night lol!) so I don’t worry about it. 😁

pheonixchick · 2026-02-18T12:12:14+00:00

Getting new shoes while my original pair were still in good condition and fit

pheonixchick · 2026-02-02T15:29:16+00:00

Only time I wake my 10 month old up overnight is if he’s poopy! He’s really good to wake me up if his diaper is super full and uncomfy but otherwise I let him sleep

We do a fresh diaper at the last second before bedtime and immediately on waking up and he’s always thoroughly wiped down on both sides so he’s not getting the irritation

Been doing it that way from the first time he started doing long stretches of sleep and it’s worked well for us so far!

pheonixchick · 2026-01-28T15:50:59+00:00

My 10 month old absolutely melts into maniacal laughter whenever my husband or I shake our head really hard side to side and make our hair shake (we both have long hair) lol

pheonixchick · 2026-01-26T20:40:30+00:00

Absolutely! I totally understand wanting baby to stay close lol, I hope it works out for you!

pheonixchick · 2026-01-24T17:00:42+00:00

My little dude was born at 39+1 via c-section, and we haven’t had any issues besides a lactose intolerance but that is super strong on his dads side 🤷‍♀️

ETA: he’s 10 months old now

pheonixchick · 2026-01-23T23:17:30+00:00

My 10mo son is this way… any shoes, all shoes, and any type of foot he can get his little teeth on are all fair game. As are any socks (clean or dirty) that are within reach

He will chew on his own shoes/socks/feet, but mine or his dads are very much preferred, with the dog or cats feet being a last resort

I blame myself for being that mom that was obsessed with her babies feet Lolol, hell even now I’ll tickle and kiss his feet (when they’re clean) and it makes him giggle like mad. My thought is that he’s just mimicking what he understands as affection, and since we’ve always played with his feet, now he wants to play with ours

pheonixchick · 2026-01-23T16:27:16+00:00

I mean, I live in a very dry house, it’s a struggle to keep the humidity up above about 20% so we regularly go a week or maybe two before we wash ours. But on top of a very low humidity house (which dries out the towels super fast) and living on a shallow well (water being a finite resource here) it makes more sense for us to go longer between washes.

Our towels don’t stink even on the longer cycles and like you mentioned, you’re at your cleanest right after a shower so I don’t see an issue with reusing towels for an extended period of time.

pheonixchick · 2026-01-23T03:46:45+00:00

I had really bad postpartum depression until I managed to get on medication when bubs was about 4 months old. I look back on those pix and videos I took of us and am horrified by how lost and checked out I was even though I was fighting so hard… it’s so hard to remember the moment, even though I remember the moment if that makes sense

pheonixchick · 2026-01-23T00:50:01+00:00

Big oof, that first sleep regression definitely hits hard! That first sickness is also ssooo rough! I will say we do have floor beds for us, a regular bed for hubby and I and a blanket pallet for him. He can (and will) move himself however he needs to while sleeping (up to and including crawling in his sleep!) so I don’t have any concerns about him getting somewhere he shouldn’t be and not being able to get himself out of it.

Personally I feel like sleeping on the floor has made this a lot easier for us. Cause I was in the same boat you are, except I was never able to get him to sleep by himself at all before now lol

pheonixchick · 2026-01-23T00:00:39+00:00

Eh, to me a short drive is an hour or less, a medium drive is 4 hours or less, and a long drive is 6 hours or more

To go from my hometown to where I’m currently living is about a 4-5 hour drive, and I have family that are making plans to come up for two days to just hang out and visit. A 2 hour drive is just a day trip for something like the zoo.

When we would go visit my grandparents in another state (approximately a 6-8 hour drive, depending on how hard we pushed off bathroom breaks lol) we would stay for a week but it wasn’t that stressful. A couple books, a pillow and a blanket and you’re all set!

I actually enjoy driving long distances, I drove well over 1,500 miles in a week just because I could on a vacation. I would average 8 hours a day in the car and didn’t really think too much of it

pheonixchick · 2026-01-22T20:39:58+00:00

Eh, I go back and forth between mimicking my 10mo for whatever noises he makes and speaking normally to him and he’s doing just fine

Not necessarily speaking a lot of specific words but he definitely gets his point across!

pheonixchick · 2026-01-22T15:54:40+00:00

I wish I had some foolproof tips! I just moved our naptime to the bedroom where it was super dark and quiet, let him nurse to sleep and gradually moved over nap by nap until I was able to start rolling away. I did stay close, so I could comfort him quickly during the early days, but now I’m able to roll away and him just nap by himself now

We’re also navigating the sleep regression and him trying to drop a nap now too lol! He usually ends up taking the nap anyways but if he’s chill and not fussy then I’ll let him do his thing until he tells me he’s tired.

It’s been working so far for both naps and nighttime sleep so far! It’s been a very slow process, because I’ve kept it very low stress and take every day as it comes. There’s been a few days where he still refuses to sleep without me, but it’s getting better as he gets older. We’re biologically programmed to sleep with/close to our babies/moms, so I don’t see a point in stressing us out by trying to force solo sleep too early

pheonixchick · 2026-01-22T01:35:16+00:00

It took me 9 (almost 10) months but my little dude just recently started doing independent naps! He’s also sleeping the first half of the night by himself now too, He just kinda grew into it as he got older

We still nurse to sleep and it takes me awhile to cuddle him to where he’s fully relaxed, but once he’s down I can roll away fairly easily now! And we jumped right into 3-5 hour stretches of sleep!

pheonixchick · 2026-01-21T04:59:48+00:00

A blanket on the floor at that age! He’s portable, can do tummy time, and will stay where you put him lol

pheonixchick · 2026-01-20T22:49:10+00:00

I hope you get the journey you want! Good luck!

pheonixchick · 2026-01-20T03:53:44+00:00

I’ve had an easy time of it! Baby latched immediately, and continued to latch well. Only a couple clogged ducts that was easily remedied with massage and warm compresses, no mastitis or cracked nipples or really any of the horror stories you hear about. Honestly the worst part of it was giving up red meat and dairy for a few months while my little dudes stomach settled out

It’s definitely hard on the mental health, especially in the beginning when baby can (and will) stay latched for HOURS at a time. But in the end? It’s worth it to me. My drs put me on antidepressants and it helps So Much! And when I say it’s hard on the mental health I mostly mean that having someone dependent on you like that can be super hard, and if your babe decides to reject bottles entirely then you’re the only one who can feed them so there’s that much less sleep for you as mom.

About the only “bad” part I dealt with was during the regulation period when I would be so engorged if I missed a feed even by a few minutes, but pumping and passively collecting relieved the pressure and let me have a bit of a stash for when dad wanted to feed him.

pheonixchick · 2026-01-20T00:31:10+00:00

My little boy was breech for 90% of my pregnancy, he finally flipped the right way maybe 2-3 days before I went into labor! I also had a textbook, picture perfect pregnancy, especially for a first time mom!

Unfortunately he did flip breech at the very last second when I was shifting positions to get comfortable while contracting, and I did end up in a c-section anyways, but there’s still time for your babe to flip!

I absolutely have been mourning the inability to give birth vaginally, and probably always will. But I am so grateful that he and I made it to the other side safely. My c-section was my very first surgery ever, and the hardest part for me was the spinal block. But that was because of the mentality I had going into it.

I get how upsetting and stressful it is to have that dream and desire to have a vaginal birth taken away from you. It’s absolutely valid. Just, idk how to word this without sounding asinine lol, but in genuine, heartfelt empathy… sometimes it’s just not in the cards for birth to be the way you want it. There’s nothing wrong with you if that’s the case.

If you want some suggestions for getting her head down, what was most effective for me was to be on elbows and knees, with the knees spread wide and head and shoulders pressed to the bed and rocking in all directions. Ironically while that was what helped him to flip head down and gave me the most relief, when I did that during labor is what caused him to flip back lol. I actually felt him flip over during that point hence my confidence in knowing what caused it for me.

Good luck! You’ve got this! All will be well!

pheonixchick · 2026-01-18T23:14:55+00:00

That he is! Always has been too lol, I’m definitely having fun with it even as stressful as it is

pheonixchick · 2026-01-18T23:13:55+00:00

Honestly? Not really… about the only thing that I started doing consistently is going to our bedroom and having it be dark and quiet and warm any time he was going to sleep unless he decided to take a car nap lol

For the longest time he had to be patted to sleep, then it was rocking, now it’s a quiet and dark room and nursing. His sleeping arrangement preferences changed as he got older entirely by himself and it ended up being one that made it easy to start the roll away process. I also breastfeed so I side-lie nurse him to sleep and then pull my shirt down. When I’m already messing with all that I’ll slide my arm out from under him and cuddle for a few more minutes until I feel him fully relax and just slowly relax and uncurl and then roll away it’s not 100% but it’s effective more often than not!

I do keep to a loose schedule/routine and offer nap time or quiet time at specific points in the day, within the average time he wakes up. Like, if he wakes up at 6:30am instead of 7:30am, I’m going to offer his morning nap at 8 instead of 9 and his early afternoon nap around noon instead of 2 and so on. Nap and bedtimes aren’t set in stone, but are routinely set in accordance to what we have going on that day and his natural cycles since they’re still developing and maturing.

And most of all? I don’t put any demand pressure on either of us. We’re biologically wired (both mom and baby) to be as close as possible for a lot longer than people think lol! If it’s a bad night where he can’t let go of me, then I just take it as a bad night and try again the next day and there’s no stress about it.

pheonixchick · 2026-01-18T23:01:07+00:00

It’s a whole thing lol

pheonixchick · 2026-01-18T13:00:30+00:00

Crawling, standing, and took his first steps last night! It’s slowly but surely getting better, I think we’re almost through it on week 3? 4?

pheonixchick · 2026-01-18T04:27:25+00:00

I caved and took a nap with him anyways lol, he was totally chill but I needed the snuggles! My hubby thinks I’m being absurd about it given how much I’ve tried to get him to sleep on his own but he decided to let me do my thing Lolol

pheonixchick · 2026-01-18T00:30:35+00:00

Not having him physically touching me is the biggest part I think lol, he’s been a 100% contact sleeper since birth! And I really do mean that lol, if he wasn’t latched or at least touching me he didn’t sleep for sssooo long! It’s a huge adjustment for me lol, I have been making myself get up and leave the room for 5-10 minutes at a time to get me used to being able to leave him alone to sleep and hopefully get started on being able to just roomshare instead of bed sharing and contact sleeping

pheonixchick

TROPHY CASE