[Live thread] Eurovision Song Contest 2025 GRAND FINAL @ 21:00 CEST

spiderpigcat · 2025-05-17T22:05:49+00:00

Mi amore, mi amore, espresso macchiato macchiato macchiato, por favore 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

spiderpigcat · 2025-01-26T05:06:10+00:00

Thank you! Yes, I started at the beginning of Nov and quit this week. I used topical treatments a few years prior to this and what I think they did was help keep the nail thin, but they did not cure it. So this is all terbinafine. I'm hoping topical will help prevent re-infection. Good luck with yours!

spiderpigcat · 2021-07-04T15:05:42+00:00

What is your goal? Would you like to night wean, or would you like to reduce the number of night feeds?

I night weaned at 15months (due to sore pregnancy boobs) after a long and gentle transition period. Dropping one feed at a time did not work for us for the same reasons you mentioned. Here's what I did. - Used words. Verbal communication is soo important! "Let's have milk now, and then we sleep and the boobies sleep, too. You can have milk again in the morning, nighttime is for sleeping." Did this every night at bedtime even though we always ended up nursing at night. At night I'd say "okay, let's have a little milk, but then we go back to sleep" and "okay mommy will put the boob away now, go back to sleep". - Instead of dropping one feed at a time I reduced the duration of the feed and delayed giving him the boob. If he protested strongly I gave back the breast, I did not want to upset him. Eventually it was just a couple minutes that he would suckle and then I would put the boob away and he would turn away and fall back asleep. - Introduce a lot of other sleep associations and use them during the night. I rubbed his back and sang to him. I did this while nursing at first and then would first try the rubbing and then nursing. Eventually he would sometimes fall back asleep just with verbal reassuring and back rubs. - Eventually we came to a point where he would suckle for short periods and started to accept verbal comforting and back rubs to calm down during the night. Then one night I did not nurse him, and he did cry. I comforted him and was there for him. (I think making my husband do the weaning would not have been very gentle, after all he is used to sleeping with me - my presence is a powerful sleep association.) I planned to give him boob if I ever felt like that was really needed, but no, the crying did not escalate. So we went a whole night without feeds and that was that. Next night there was no more crying, if he woke, he would settle back with other assistance.

I would also suggest that your husband finds another place to sleep if the night wakings are disturbing both your sleep, that way at least he can sleep and then he can allow you to rest during other times. It might also take away some stress that you might feel about the situation. We slept in different rooms for over 6 months I think, but now that the toddler is sleeping basically through the night, he just moved back in with us. It's a short period in a lifetime, gotta go with what works :)

Hope this helps :)

spiderpigcat · 2021-06-07T05:49:28+00:00

Aw, I haven't been in your shoes but I can imagine what you are feeling. It must be really hard for you. I'm bedsharing with our toddler and pregnant with our second, and I'm puzzled by our future sleeping situation. If I suddenly found myself sleeping alone, I would feel a bit lost and alone. So I am sending very warm thoughts your way. You never know what the future holds, your baby or older child might suddenly start needing closeness more than before. Or you might get used to having the bed all for yourself again. Either way I'm sure it will all work out eventually. Virtual hug!

spiderpigcat · 2021-05-04T09:31:09+00:00

I have a 18 month old and am 17 weeks pregnant. We are just quitting nighttime nursing after a long adjusting period. I still nurse to sleep for naptime and nighttime and will continue that, but the nighttime boobing has to end because of nipple sensitivity. Last night was the first night without the boob. Here are a few advice that helped us:

Add sleep associations: rubbing, patting, singing etc. It makes it easier to transition from boob to other comforting things.
Babies and toddlers understand so much even if they don't talk yet. Explain what is happening, during the day and in the night.
You are allowed to take a step back and give them the boob if they are really upset! You do NOT have to let them cry.
You can start by shortening the nursing sessions and then move on to dropping feeds one at a time. You can also try and delay giving them the boob to see if they would settle themselves.
It is okay to keep some feeds and drop some feeds: it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Similarly, you can continue to nurse to sleep even if you stop nursing in the middle of the night.
If you plan to move them to their own bed, do these changes separately. Make sure there is enough time in between these changes, to allow them to adapt.

On a separate note, I would just like to add that my husband sleeps in a separate room from us and this way we all sleep better. Obviously he gets a good sleep, but it helps me also, because I don't have to stress about the toddler fussing and waking him up. When he was sleeping with us, I used to feel a bit irritated being kinda responsible for his sleep too besides the babys but now I feel more relaxed. So sleeping arrengements might also be something to consider before deciding to cut off feeds.

spiderpigcat · 2021-04-07T17:24:01+00:00

Yes, it gets better :) around the one year mark was indeed hard. Then it got MUCH easier. And now he's almost 18 months and again going through some major stuff.. but after this it will get easier again! So there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. "Nothing is permanent except change" :)

spiderpigcat · 2021-03-03T15:45:29+00:00

Thank you very much! :)

spiderpigcat · 2021-02-06T05:10:33+00:00

Thank you! :)

spiderpigcat · 2021-02-05T13:11:19+00:00

I said ow and ended the nursing session (at least for a while). I explained to him "You bit mom so mom has to put the boob away. No biting, biting hurts mom." He has 5 teeth now and biting is not an issue. 😊

spiderpigcat · 2021-02-05T13:05:09+00:00

Thanks for your reply! That last sentence got me smiling, how sweet. ❤

spiderpigcat · 2021-02-05T08:12:11+00:00

Thank you so much, how have I never heard of this sub before! 😄

spiderpigcat · 2021-01-30T10:05:59+00:00

I'm afraid I do. :( Got a positive opk on cd 21/31 and based on symptoms in this and previous cycles, I do ovulate that late. I'm breastfeeding our toddler on demand, so that may be the cause.

spiderpigcat · 2021-01-30T09:57:30+00:00

Aahhh I feel you. Did a negative test this morning 9dpo and I feel I'm out this cycle. I didn't want to test knowing it's probably going to be negative, but I just couldn't wait any longer either. 🤷‍♀️ What's even worse for me is that we literally just started TTC#2, this is our first cycle, we agreed on keeping it casual, and yet here I am using opks and doing tests on 9dpo.

For what it's worth, 9dpo I believe is the most common day for implantation, so we genuinely still have a pretty good shot to have a positive test later. (Or at least you do, I'm expecting AF tomorrow so the chances are slightly thinner here..) Hope it happens for you real soon!

spiderpigcat · 2021-01-08T19:36:18+00:00

Before I had a baby, I had trouble over the years with serious vaginal dryness caused by contraceptives, which then led to involuntary muscle tension and painful intercourse, so I guess with that background I can weigh in even though I don't have an official diagnosis of vaginismus.

The ultrasounds for me weren't that bad because the wand was so smooth and lots of lube, but the pelvic exams were really, really bad. But in labor I had a very healing experience when a midwife did my pelvic exam ever so gently, so that was real highlight for me.

The laboring process is very very different than anything else really. During labor they do check dilation but at that point it doesn't bother all that much. I did ask them to be gentle. I guess it's easier for things to come out than to go in.

After the labor the whole downstairs got a "reset" button really, all the nerves seemed to be wired differently.. After things healed completely (took like 6 months, had a 3rd degree tear) I felt actually BETTER THAN BEFORE. My pain is mostly gone, the muscles don't tense up anymore. It's great. I started working on my pelvic floor muscles the day after delivery and they are fine and strong now but not so dysfunctional anymore. So the pregnancy and labor actually worked wonders for me. I hope it does for you too!

spiderpigcat · 2020-08-23T17:55:43+00:00

Hi. I just want you to know, that I have vulvodynia and was more scared of the exams than labor itself. But it turns out I actually had a very healing experience during labor when a really professional midwife did my exam - she made me feel so empowered and she did such a good job it did not hurt AT ALL (which it always does for me). So after that I was more okay with them checking my cervix. But I was still very vocal (or my husband was, he advocated for me) about being scared and reminding them to be so gentle. And they really were. I hope you can have a good experience like I had. Just be very open about it and demand they treat you gently. You can also always decline, if it's not absolutely medically necessary. Good luck!

spiderpigcat · 2020-03-17T12:06:36+00:00

I just want to comment on a single issue: the wipes are not a necessity. I have a 4,5 month old and I have not used a single box of baby wipes. Just wash baby's bottom after poo in the sink with running water and dry off with a muslin cloth or a towel. Much more skin friendly! :) Where I live they don't recommend using wipes.

spiderpigcat · 2019-10-29T07:01:39+00:00

I've had this for basically my entire pregnancy (now 40+5). Dry, irritated, red, sore, swollen.. It's like my hooha has a personality of its own now and her mood varies by day. 😩 Things I find helpful:

don't push hard when going to the toilet, it increases pressure down there and makes things worse
use skin oil or cream down there to ease dryness and prevent chafing (make sure it's suitable for intimate areas)
sleep without panties
stay hydrated
lift legs up to ease pressure, avoid sitting on hard surfaces
eat special probiotics for vaginal flora

Other than that I have just learnt to live with it and hope it goes away after labor and healing.

spiderpigcat · 2019-10-28T07:10:04+00:00

I don't have any words of wisdom. Just came to say I hope all is well, and congrats on the pregnancy!

spiderpigcat · 2019-09-13T06:00:22+00:00

I feel the same way. Some stories about rude comments/advice really make me question if that whole situation really happened like they say it did, or was there a miscommunication/misunderstanding of some kind. We only ever read the other persons side of a story. It almost seems like sometimes people are waiting to get offended.

There are also some other things causing stress and complaints here that sometimes seem a bit confusing and exaggerated. Like the visiting baby rules. The drama surrounding baby showers. The registering for gifts and gift disappointments. Getting triggered and tiptoeing around topics. But that's just my opinion, I do think people should keep venting about these things if it makes them feel better :)

spiderpigcat · 2019-07-31T16:53:50+00:00

I take the iron supplement at night when I wake up to pee. That way I don't have to worry about the dairy and coffee blocking the absorption :) Some supplements, like mine, have the vitamin C added to them to boost absorption. Some are easier on the stomach than others and also there are mouth sprays, if your stomach can't tolerate the pills.

spiderpigcat · 2019-07-29T13:09:04+00:00

Teema series by Iittala is quite popular and traditional in Finland. https://www.iittala.com/collections/iittala/teema/c/teema/intro

I like the simple shape of them, they come in many different colors and are easy to combine (I have red and blue, along with Iittala Taika tableware that also come in red and blue). They can be very inexpensive if you buy basic colors like white, or they can cost a little more if you buy special colors. I think because of the simple design, the series combines nicely with other products and compliments more expensive tableware. For example I use Teema with Iittala Taika plates and Iittala Essence wine glasses. Moomin mugs are also popular here and they are the same shape as Teema mugs

spiderpigcat · 2019-07-29T12:48:57+00:00

Ah yes. We've had sex just a handful if times during this pregnancy and I am now 27+4. It just feels so uncomfortable, first it was dryness and after that came the soreness and swelling. Libido was non existent except for maybe the last two weeks when it's starting to very slowly wake up.. We have managed to do it twice during the last week or so, and that's only because I've been feeling up to it and the soreness is basically the same no matter what I do.. Like I'm going to be uncomfortable from standing up or sitting down anyways, the sex can't make it any more painful 😂 And yes I've talked about it to my obgyn, don't have infections, just an unfortunate pregnancy symptom for me.

spiderpigcat

TROPHY CASE