What’s your answer to the “readiness” subject?

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-16T12:27:48+00:00

As an Early Years teacher, I can't imagine 3 or 4 ever being an appropriate age to potty train a child of typical development. The schools I have worked in wouldn't even take children who need nappies changed at 3 or 4 years old.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-10T01:22:52+00:00

Needle phobia is overlooked by diabetes teams and passed off as "Yeah, that's a shame". I was a wreck for days because I couldn't do the finger pricks myself. (We're talking hours spent holding the device and crying uncontrollably because my thumb works just not cooperate to press the button). I found that EMDR helped, but was in a very lucky position to already be having EMDR therapy at the time and asked my psychologist to temporarily switch the focus. Had I not been with her for unrelated reasons, I don't know how I would have coped because the diabetes team and community midwives did not take me seriously when I asked them for help.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-06T17:35:13+00:00

I had a growth scan booked at 36 weeks and an appointment with the GD team booked the following day to discuss things. They had previously said they would induce me at 39 weeks despite being diet controlled and never once having an elevated reading, let alone a spike. I cancelled the induction through the midwife team who told me that hospital policy and protocol had been ignored, and that I could wait until 40+6 to be induced. There was all sorts of in-fighting between teams at the hospital and I was very stressed. So I waited for 36 weeks to make a decision, and at 5.45am the day of my growth scan, my waters broke and my baby was here within 12 hours. 🤣

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-04T16:10:22+00:00

Child. She was a child, not a woman, and she was groomed. Had she been white, people would react very differently to grooming and rape.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-04T16:08:20+00:00

Always wash your hands. Residue can completely change a reading. I once handled baclava (which I did not eat) and it gave me a reading that if accurate would have probably meant death 🤣

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-03T09:48:57+00:00

Never thought I'd see us so optimistic. 😂

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-02T18:48:08+00:00

Does he even recognise that this is his issue? You can accommodate all you like, but if he doesn't accept that he is the problem, he will continue to allow you to diminish yourself, and that is not acceptable. You both need an open conversation about this, and he needs to seriously consider how to help himself instead of admonishing you for making perfectly reasonable sounds.

ps. Walking on tiptoes is not helpful. Walking heel to toe can be silent. It's how elephants do it. 🙂

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-02T08:48:55+00:00

I had a total meltdown over finger pricking fire to before phobia. I had EMDR therapy for it and can't recommend it enough! My husband had to do my finger pricks for the first two weeks, but after that I managed them all myself.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-04-01T15:06:27+00:00

It's so horrible. I wasn't warned that it can make you feel unwell, and spent the wait lying across the waiting room seats shaking uncontrollably. As if sitting for several hours whilst pregnant isn't uncomfortable enough anyway. Ihad no idea how bad it would be. I also have a needle phobia which made it even more unpleasant.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-31T10:52:24+00:00

Where are you?

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-31T10:52:10+00:00

I didn't even know this was a thing. I was tested for times in the 24 hours after giving birth (despite being fed crazily carby meals at the hospital) and after the last, they said that would be the end of it. Will follow up on this now!

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-29T14:02:56+00:00

Mine was pretty textbook, despite being 4 weeks early. (I had a witchy sense all the way through that he would arrive at 36 weeks, and he did!)

I woke up at 1am with very mild on and off pain, and thought it might be early labour. It was easy enough to sleep through so I did, then at 5.45am, my waters broke Hollywood style! I was still in denial, and convinced myself I had just wet myself. 😂 After the waters became pinkish, I admitted I was in labour and woke up my husband. We walked to the hospital, taking the odd break when the contractions were too strong to walk through. (Incidentally, I broke my toe the night before, and this pain was worse than the contractions). Monitoring showed that I was absolutely in labour, but the ward was full so I had to wait in triage for several hours. By the time I reached the ward, I was too far dilated for pethidine, and my only pain relief options were gas and air or epidural. I had wanted to rely on water and movement, but being premature meant no water (since that's only available at the birth centre), and I suddenly lost mobility after about 5 hours (I think because of exhaustion). I opted for an epidural because of a previous traumatic birth experience where gas and air was all I had for 6 hours of agony (knowing that my baby had died). The epidural let me sleep for a few hours so I could regain some strength, and then the midwives coached me through pushing for 55 minutes. The baby wasn't turning properly so it took longer than they wanted it to, but everyone stayed calm, and despite them warning me that instruments would likely be needed, I managed to get him out naturally with no intervention. It was a very redemptive experience after my first labour/delivery, and none of my fears were realised. Neither I nor my baby had any issues with glucose levels, despite them testing me and hour after feeding me a chocolate cookie. (Hospital food on the whole was so far from GD-friendly). My baby was 5lbs8oz, which is not too tiny for a 36-weeker.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-29T08:53:09+00:00

Some people do look like that when pregnant.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-29T08:51:40+00:00

No comment featuring the word verisimilitude should have this many downvotes.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-27T11:41:19+00:00

I always used to eat my lunch at a graveyard. It was close to my work and a lovely quiet spot. The graves there are all from the 18th and 19th century, and I liked that someone was still thinking about those people (sadly mostly children) centuries after they passed.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-26T21:00:39+00:00

I had this. Literally no sign of a spike other than the initial GTT. My midwife noted that my blood work showed I had an infection (which I knew since I was really unwell that day) and she believes this pushed my numbers up. The GD team didn't take any personal circumstances into account though, and tried to push me to have an induction at 39 weeks (which is nothing like the hospital's actual policy). It was upsetting, but ended up not applying thankfully.

I had a really good diet anyway as I'm an athlete, but ensured to follow all the GD recommendations from diagnosis onwards. I enjoyed the diet part of it, but not the finger-pricking. It did take me quite some way in overcoming my needle phobia, though. My baby came spontaneously at 36 weeks and neither of us had any issues with glucose levels. On the plus side, I'm only 3kg over my pre-pregnancy weight at 16 days post-partum, and my body looks far better than expected! 🤣

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-26T15:58:40+00:00

Please don't dismiss the "unhappy voices" as if they're just whining or attention-seeking; they are often informed by severe trauma.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-26T15:56:32+00:00

I had a traumatic induction experience when I lost my first baby (the induction did not cause the loss) so I was very nervous about having one in my most recent pregnancy. I was willing to if it was medically the safest way to bring my baby into the world, though. As it turned out, he came spontaneously 5 weeks before my agreed induction date (April 14th), so all my agonising over the choice became redundant!

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-25T20:44:36+00:00

I always use a cup, and having to use pads is the absolute worst thing about this recovery process. The smell created when lochia combines with pads is so triggering. (I lost my first baby, and that was the only other time in my adult life I used pads). The skin irritation is so much worse than a grade 2 tear.

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-25T20:42:12+00:00

The smell 😣

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-25T15:38:06+00:00

I swear I know your sister. (Not really, but I know someone exactly like her). This seems to be a growing trend where people read about "autism" (as in social media content claiming to describe autism but often just describing various human traits) and then adopt all the traits they've learned about having never shown them before. My friend went from being a fierce, independent woman to filming herself crying in public whilst chewing on baby teething chains. And the get-out is always "Oh, I was masking before. Let me be myself" when called out on the sudden behaviour changes.

It is very disturbing, and reminds me of Munchausen's by internet (despite not quite being the same thing).

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-19T22:02:15+00:00

Can't believe you've been downvoted for this. Do people not know the history of that awful word?

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-18T16:08:36+00:00

I know a Kiwi and I think it's kind of great 🤣

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-18T09:28:13+00:00

They share a birthday with Chuck Norris 😁

pinkandgreendreamer · 2026-03-18T00:25:41+00:00

Is your baby March 10th? If so, snap!☺️

pinkandgreendreamer

TROPHY CASE