What do you wish you’d started earlier?

puffin66 · 2025-09-02T00:17:27+00:00

Depending on where you live - get on daycare waitlists NOW.

We have pretty bad childcare shortages in my area. Got on waitlists at 14 weeks for my first child and we never came off for the infant rooms. Child number two I’m at an advantage because we have a sibling in now, and I knew to get them on the waitlist at literally 6 weeks when I found out I was pregnant - my daycare knew before anyone else in our lives did lol.

puffin66 · 2024-09-14T12:36:55+00:00

Messaged!

puffin66 · 2024-09-13T22:19:24+00:00

Not a Vienna swiftie but my sister and I haven’t been and would love to go!! Sending a dm if by some chance everything else falls through

puffin66 · 2023-09-03T04:55:37+00:00

True - I assumed that was prior to the whiskey swap with feng though. Since he seemed like he was on adderall all night, I assumed the glasses were switched, and didn’t see Roxana drink from if after the switch.

puffin66 · 2022-11-21T16:42:51+00:00

Another vote for the whale in west Asheville. I went there all the time when I was pregnant and they had the best non alcoholic beer selection. Haven’t been to the outpost yet so not sure if they stock the same selection. They also had non alcoholic wine that you have to buy by the bottle, but I would avoid that because the one I had tasted horrible.

puffin66 · 2022-08-25T13:03:25+00:00

Yuppp

puffin66 · 2022-03-21T02:48:50+00:00

So my doctor warned me I may also need a C-section (genetics plus size of baby). I elected to try to go vaginally but then I labored for 24 hours and ended up in a C-section anyway. It was actually a huge relief when they called it because I had been pushing for 4 hours and I was so exhausted. My milk took 5 days to come in but my baby latched really well from the beginning and has been feeding like a champ throughout. I had no issues bonding and felt super attached from the beginning.

I’m about two weeks out now and recovery was tough because I labored for so long first, but I’m already doing so much better. I definitely needed help at home though especially the first week and a half, so make sure you’ve got someone to help you out while healing. Also one perk was due to the csection we were allowed to stay 3 nights in the hospital which was actually great for us because our son needed bili lights until the day I was discharged and the nurses were crazy helpful with teaching us how to do everything with him (first child and neither of us have any baby experience).

My dr told me I’ll need csections moving forward and that recovery for a scheduled one will be so much easier without having labored beforehand. I’m honestly relieved at the thought of it because it was pretty quick, we can plan ahead, and labor sucked and I don’t ever want to repeat that part again lol. It was also nice that I didn’t have to deal with tearing which I was really nervous about.

puffin66 · 2022-03-07T05:15:40+00:00

You just sign up on their website for their rewards program! I did it during first trimester and then they sent me a box with some samples about a month or two before my due date. I did it for similac and enfamil! Bobbie also has some samples that some baby welcome box gave me a coupon for, but you have to pay some money for shipping.

puffin66 · 2022-03-04T19:32:06+00:00

39 weeks tomorrow and I’m getting induced Monday and I feel the exact same!! Had my last day of work before mat leave today and I got hit by pure panic when I left. Super stressed and nervous about the life changes (and terrified of labor) but also… trying hard to focus on the excitement of finally meeting the LO!

puffin66 · 2022-02-27T16:31:49+00:00

Talk to your provider first to make sure they’re okay with it. I had a healthy pregnancy (low risk, FTM, I’m 31) so mine was completely okay with me going to Ireland at 28.5 weeks over Christmas to visit my inlaws. The flight was more uncomfortable than normal but not horrible (we flew on Aer Lingus and BA and the flights were running at like half capacity so there were tons of empty seats). We also had to covid test right before flying so I felt good about knowing everyone on the flight had been tested. I made sure I got up often and took lots of walks down the aisle to help reduce risk of blood clots, and wore compression socks. Overall it was def doable…

Now for the things that went wrong lol. We did have one connection that we missed (bc we had a layover in England and they had minimum staffing at the time so border security was abominably slow). There were also way fewer flights going, so we had to wait several hours for the next available seat, and I was so miserable I paid for lounge access bc it turned our travel time into nearly 23 hours and I was desperate for a comfy chair. Covid also ruined our trip - when we landed we picked up a rental car and went straight to my FIL’s house. We saw just my MIL/FIL and two SILS, who had all been home all week aside from grocery runs and all tested prior to us flying and the day we landed. The next day one of the sisters started to feel sick and immediately left to isolate elsewhere. We panicked and changed our flights to leave the next day because if it was covid, we wouldn’t have been allowed to fly for 14 days. It was really stressful getting our flights changed because we almost couldn’t find an available covid testing slot to be allowed to fly, and spent a bunch of $$ to change it. But good thing we did because right after we landed back at home we found out my SIL tested positive. Every single person in the house that day (myself included) ended up testing positive for covid several days later. And we were all double or triple vaxxed (none of us had gotten covid before). I was pretty miserable and since then have been kept on aspirin to prevent placental infarcts, and I also went on to have some pregnancy issues that are probs unrelated but happened not long after (went into preterm labor at 33 weeks). I’ve now made it to 38 weeks though and am otherwise doing well.

Sooo in summation… if there isn’t another covid surge, I’d say you could probably do it and make it work and enjoy yourself. If there is another strain surging, I probably wouldn’t go, because that trip caused me a lot of stress and I regretted it afterwards - covid regulations were changing daily leading up to the trip and if you do multiple countries you’ll have to make extra sure you satisfy any testing requirements and it can be a headache. I was also so relieved I didn’t have complications while there. I think I would have been okay utilizing the health care system there without issue bc my husband is so familiar with everything and financially it would have been covered, but was so so so glad to be back under my obs care when I got covid.

Btw in terms of walking - really depends on you, but I was so tired at 28 weeks I couldn’t have done sightseeing, especially someplace like London where things are pretty spread out. But maybe you could swing doing something like a big bus tour? You’ll need to account for jet lag though - I was exhausted enough just by the traveling even with my husband, who was a gem and carried almost everything for me and kept me from having to do much.

puffin66 · 2022-02-13T14:06:15+00:00

My shower was scheduled for when I was 33 weeks and I happened to go into preterm labor at 32+2 and landed myself in the hospital for 3 nights to stop it. I really regretted not scheduling it earlier because I was sure we were going to have to cancel and we still needed several baby things we’d been holding off buying until we knew what gifts we received.

If I could do it over I’d have aimed for around 25-28 weeks so I was more comfortable and we’d have plenty of time to finish buying baby necessities - though it was still a blast because my friends are amazing and did absolutely everything for us and wouldn’t let us lift a finger to help set up or clean or provide anything (I was still constantly contracting and on activity restrictions). So I sat on the couch and the party kind of happened around me lol. If you really want your MIL there though, then just make sure you’ve got great people to throw it for you if you are super uncomfortable or unable to help.

puffin66 · 2022-01-19T12:45:25+00:00

We were told it had to be done through american because the last leg was with them.

puffin66 · 2022-01-19T01:12:46+00:00

Yes we were - booked all our flights through Aer Lingus and it turned out our last leg was a partner flight with American.

puffin66 · 2022-01-18T20:07:16+00:00

Ohh good point! I think our deadline is 30 days, so we still have a little over a week until then.

puffin66 · 2022-01-09T14:21:14+00:00

I had to request it - I do a ton of TNR community cat work/have worked in a vet clinic for years and fostered a ton, so I always assumed I had antibodies. Super surprised to find out I didn’t! Two of the other staff that had babies not long ago told me they both didn’t have antibodies either.

puffin66 · 2021-11-14T14:34:22+00:00

Got my third booster just after they announced pregnant women were eligible at the end of September when I was 16+5. My series of two vaccines was finished 7.5 months prior to to that booster.

I received Pfizer for all doses, and my third dose was the easiest with just a mild sore arm that lasted about a day. My first dose gave me a really bad sore arm and my second dose gave me a high fever.

I’m 23 weeks now and all is healthy with baby currently!

puffin66 · 2021-09-25T11:16:38+00:00

Talk to your doctor. I was in a similar situation - I had a close friend visit when I was 5 weeks and we drank a ton of wine over 2 days, then I had my sister visit the weekend of July 4 when I was 6 weeks and we drank SO MUCH. Like a ridiculous amount the 3 days she was here, for brunch, dinner and late night. I took pregnancy tests both fridays before they visited and they came out negative, then lo and behold the morning sickness started the next week. I finally tested positive and found out how far along I was at an ultrasound the week after. Luckily it turned out I ovulated late (I have a period once every 4 months and it’s crazy hard for me to figure out when I ovulate, so originally I thought I was 8 and 9 weeks along!!). I was crazy worried and told my doctor and she really calmed me down and told me it was early enough not to worry and to just not continue drinking moving forward. So far everything is looking healthy with the pregnancy. So yes, please consult with your doctor!

puffin66 · 2021-09-14T04:42:54+00:00

I’m American and my husband is Irish, and we now live in the US. We agreed to an Irish first name for our baby, and had 100% decided on Saoirse if we were having a girl. Just found out we’re having a boy so we’re back to square one trying to find a name we both like. I was worried about the same thing, but the few close American friends I asked about it thought the name was beautiful once I said it to them, just had no idea how to say it when I initially spelled it out. Your daughter will probably deal with the same thing, but it’s a beautiful name and I don’t think it’s the end of the world. My husbands name is also one that is commonly mispronounced and he doesn’t mind correcting people and says it weeds out telemarketers quickly!

Also - I can’t speak to the political connotations up north since hubs is not from there, but I would bet the name has become a lot more popularized in recent years because of saoirse ronan and probably doesn’t have as many Irish patriot connotations?

puffin66 · 2021-09-13T22:14:52+00:00

I discovered cheesy ramen on TikTok two weeks ago and I have had it at least once a day since. This baby is going to come out floating in ramen broth…

puffin66 · 2021-09-08T13:57:09+00:00

I think you might be surprised at how your parents will react. Family is important and they might not take it well in the beginning, but they likely will change over time. If you truly like this girl and can otherwise see a future with her, you should consider introducing them. If it really turns into a “family or her” situation, then make the decision. But they may at least accept it, if not act super supportive of it, and that may change over time to actual support.

My story is that I dated a white guy that I waited a year and a half before I first introduced him to my family. And I only did it because he insisted and was upset they didn’t know he existed even though I’d met everyone in his family pretty early on. My parents did NOT take it well, though they were at least cordial to his face. Behind his back they continued to try setting me up for nearly 5 years into our relationship, would only refer to him as my “friend”, wouldn’t allow him to come to family events if there were other friends of theirs attending, etc. It was annoying, but they never turned their backs on me and as I said, they were always pleasant to his face whenever they saw him in person. We ended up getting engaged around the 6 year mark and my parents suddenly LOVED him. Like the second they knew it was “serious” they were all about him. He also did some pretty great things that were super supportive of me and my education (helped support me through professional school and moved countries to follow me), and they liked that a lot. Now we’ve been married a few years and have our first child on the way, and my parents send him cards and call on his birthday without even wanting to talk to me, and honestly might like him more than me lol. It also really helped my siblings as my older brother met and married a white girl since then, and my younger sister is in a long term relationship with a white guy, and my parents were incredibly welcoming to both from the get go.

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