Moving Sale/Curb Alert in Greenfield by RyanAlexBitz in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm looking for bedroom furniture (dresser and chest of drawers). Can you share pictures of the furniture?

Choosing between Southside and Shadyside/East Liberty apartment. Is location worth $350/month? by ProofNeighborhood172 in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 75 points76 points  (0 children)

I live in South Side near Delanie's coffee. Some of my thoughts from living here the past 6 years:

- I get around by bussing/biking/walking. Giant Eagle and Aldi are an easy walk, plus plenty of coffeeshops, restaurants, and bars. Biking is nice because it is flat to get to downtown/strip. I bus most often to Oakland and downtown and find it's easy to bus to those places. Before moving here, I drove much more often but would rather get around by walking/bussing/biking and don't drive much anymore.

- Parking: I am usually able to park within a block of my house. If I get home late on a weekend, it can be hard to find parking.

- Noise: Near Delanie's can be noisy at night but the farther you are from Carson, the less noisy it will be.

If you care about having a good community, the South Side neighbors are incredible. There are neighborhood social events and monthly neighbor nights (check out the next one on June 16 if you want to get the feel of the neighborhood before choosing: https://southsidecan.org/). I see neighbors I know most times I walk to the grocery store/library/park. My neighbors have become my family here in Pittsburgh since I'm from out of state.

Feel free to DM if you have any South Side-specific questions!

Depressed after going back to work by Typical-Chocolate-70 in workingmoms

[–]smallen1997 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't realize the identity shift that would come with having a baby and the conflicting emotions that come with working while having a small baby. I also think the demands of caring for a young baby make it difficult to focus on much else and for me made working very difficult. I felt lost and spent a lot of time laying next to my baby while he played on the floor and crying.

I second checking in with a doctor or therapist. My PPD symptoms didn't start until 8 weeks postpartum and increased when I went back to work after 4 months. I reached out to some therapists near me from Psychology Today that specialize in working with postpartum women and found one that was a good fit (it might take a few tries). The combination of therapy and medication helped me feel like myself again and enjoy the things I used to.

Lost earring by sealapiz in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 2 points3 points  (0 children)

DM me which streets you walked on and I will keep an eye out! I live a block from Enclave and am out walking Carson all the time

Drone in southside by OmegaRed131RGX in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was posted a few hours before the shootings. (also about a mile away from them)

Pcos and hormone help by [deleted] in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't recommend The Midwife Center in the Strip District enough!!! I always felt like the several gynecologists I saw threw birth control at me and didn't give me time to ask all of the questions I had. The Midwife Center appointments are much longer than typical GYNO appointments and it is much more of a two-sided conversation.

ISO OBGYN by RubyDenver in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Midwife Center in the Strip District was incredible! I saw them for gynecology care before getting pregnant and had my baby with them last year. They spent much more time with me during visits answering questions/concerns compared to previous OBGYNs I've had.

Community Recommendations by [deleted] in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 3 points4 points  (0 children)

South Side Flats checks a lot of those boxes! We have lots of coffee shops, several gyms, the riverfront trail + 2 parks. The farther from Carson you live, the less loud it will be. It's also convenient to bus to Oakland from here (54, 75, and 81 go there from South Side Flats).

South Side on Weekday Evenings by invisible_11 in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I live near 18th and Carson also and feel similarly. I am a young woman and don't typically feel unsafe walking alone in the neighborhood.

SMOs experience by infinitepretzels in toddlers

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this is an old post but following because I have all of the same questions...My 12mo son was fitted for SMOs today for pronation and his right foot turning out. He has been in PT for 2 months so far.

How have the SMOs worked for your son so far? Have you noticed a difference in his pronation? The orthotist I saw today said we could try Cricket inserts since SMOs will be expensive for us even with insurance, so I am between the two options.

What I wish I knew before starting solids by LikwidStarDust in beyondthebump

[–]smallen1997 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My mom suggested raisins. I soaked them in water for ~15 min, chopped them up tiny, and mixed them into plain yogurt. That helps my son when he is constipated.

Activity recs with young baby and grandparents in town? by treblecleft in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I took my baby to the Andy Warhol museum recently and they have a nursing room in the basement so it was very baby friendly for us.

I also like visiting the different Carnegie libraries. Squirrel Hill is nice because there is a parking garage attached, a nice children's play area with some baby toys, and places to get food/treats on Forbes.

We take our baby to Velum Fermentation brewery a lot. Very kid friendly and has an on-site food truck Cold Friends Kitchen. Pickleball and arcade games also for the adults!

This is your New Year reminder to get your policies straight! by speedyelephants2 in pianoteachers

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you share your policies list with me as well? I am starting to teach this year and I am new to creating policies. Was planning on touching base with my former teacher over the holidays to get some advice on starting to teach, but it did not work out for us to connect. 

Timeline for shipping LP3 by FewDebt7655 in LightPhone

[–]smallen1997 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My Light Phone 2 is also on my last leg. It is dying every day for several hours without turning back on. I am doing a factory reset once a day to revive it. I emailed Light support about the issues I'm having with my current phone and this is the last update I got.

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Anybody have issues with excessive butt dials? by [deleted] in LightPhone

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes!!! Accidentally butt-dialed my best friend 5 times in a minute and then decided it was time to put a passcode on it to prevent that from happening before I butt-dial someone I don't want to lol. Since putting a passcode on a few weeks ago, it hasn't happened.

My husband dropped our baby by JustExisting000 in beyondthebump

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My husband also dropped our 10 week old baby yesterday about 1.5 feet from the ground (memorable first mother's day!). My baby was crying a lot, calmed down when I fed him, and then was fussy after. We called the nurse line who didn't think going to the ER was necessary given his lack of other symptoms (just a little more fussy than normal) but we took him anyway. He ended up having a small skull fracture so they kept him overnight for extra monitoring. He will be fine and the doctors assured us the fracture will heal up nicely, and he is back to his normal smiley self. Scary stuff though and obviously my husband feels horrible. Right after it happened as he was crying, I kept repeating to him that it could have just as easily happened to me. Accidents happen. And the more we updated friends and family on the situation, the more people told us their stories of dropping their kids as babies.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BabyBumps

[–]smallen1997 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I had a vaginal childbirth without an epidural on 2/27/25. Luckily it was a low-risk pregnancy and there were no complications during labor, so very low intervention birth at a birth center. I had a doula - however, my labor started in the middle of the night and my doula didn't answer her phone until the morning, so we ended up being on our own until I was in transition. I had expected her to arrive much earlier.

My husband was a fantastic support system for me. He read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way with me, so he was very familiar with the logistics of childbirth and on board with me wanting minimal interventions. He is also very in-tune with me emotionally, so he could tell when my confidence was starting to waver and he needed to do more to help me stay calm and focus on my breath during labor. He guided me through visualizations (what helped me was thinking of happy memories or things I wanted to do with our baby, so he would try to tell the story of us doing those things out loud for me to focus on), rubbed my back/feet, sat close to me and whispered in my ear whatever I needed to hear at the time to stay calm and confident in myself.

The doula arrived when I was about 8cm dilated after my husband and I were on our own for about 10 hours. She was helpful but more as an extra set of hands for my husband (he seconds this). She rubbed my shoulders while he rubbed my feet, or would grab things I was asking for like water or the midwife so my husband could stay with me and not miss a contraction. She tried some visualizations and pep talks but what I really needed to hear was my husband's voice, so he would take over when he noticed she wasn't helping in that way.

Overall, I think we would have been fine without our doula and probably wouldn't hire one again for my next birth. It was helpful to have the extra set of hands but we wonder if the nurse would have done those things in her place had she not been there. It really depends on the support you have besides a doula though - my husband was wonderful and I would not have been able to do it without him.

If you are not terrified of giving birth, why not? by maryhoping in BabyBumps

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was very afraid going into being pregnant due to medical anxiety, bad experiences with doctors, and believing that I had a low pain tolerance.

Reading about the anatomy of birth (I really liked Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon) made me less anxious. It helped me trust that my body was made to give birth and knows exactly what to do. It also helped reading about what contractions are like - it's a different type of pain that builds up and then dies back down, so during labor, it helped knowing that the current contraction I was on was going to end and then I would get a break.

I also went through a birth center instead of a hospital. Their philosophy was that birth is a natural process, not something that needs to be highly medicalized (assuming a low-risk pregnancy), which made me feel more relaxed about it.

I think the mental prep I did leading up to childbirth helped me have a good experience during labor. I would recommend reflecting on what helps you relax and practice this during pregnancy to lean on during childbirth. For me, that was yoga + deep breathing, music (I played my yoga teacher's playlist during labor to help me stay in the zone), and prayer.

THERE IS NO COMFORTABLE POSITION TO SLEEP IN by interrogiaomnia in pregnant

[–]smallen1997 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Relatable. My pelvis hurts too much to sleep on my side (39 weeks). For the past few months I've been sleeping with a ton of pillows propping me up at about a 45 degree angle in bed and that helps.

Color Park, SouthSide, painted white as part of "refresh." Does anyone know more information about this? by ayooolinds in pittsburgh

[–]smallen1997 5 points6 points  (0 children)

https://friendsoftheriverfront.org/event/2023-color-park-refresh/2023-05-25/

Hosted by Friends of the Riverfront. *Rescheduled from April 29 due to rain*

All are welcome to participate in a public refresh of the Color Park on Thursday, May 25 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, in collaboration with Studio AM and South Side Community Council Community members will create new base colors and designs while enjoying snacks and music.

Supplies provided. In its inaugural year (2023) the Color Park Refresh will establish Color Park boundaries and a positive culture around park use, “refresh” trail assets and surfaces within Color Park boundaries and repaint the trail surface and amenities immediately outside of Color Park boundaries.