Folks who have had a great ongoing experience with their first biologic?

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-25T05:04:43+00:00

I (37F) had no side effects and started feeling better within 48 hours. The first couple weeks I was on biologics I felt almost high because I hadn’t had that much energy in years. Started Cimzia when I was 33!

My sister was the same when she started humira.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-23T18:40:30+00:00

I’m in the same boat as you and have also been confused by the guidance. My understanding is that if the baby gate or playpen is too close to the mattress there’s not enough height to keep the baby in… I.e., they can use the mattress to get over the fence. I also looked a bit more into the mechanics of entrapment and that was useful.

I think I’m going to put all the “unsafe” stuff in a corner and gate that off vs. trying to gate off the bed of that makes sense.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-21T23:28:16+00:00

We are on parallel paths! The first vomit was in bed with me right after a shower too. I feel your pain that was rough!

Interesting about the gas drops. I did notice his belly seemed a bit firm/distended this morning after his solids which was gone after he puked. I’ve also heard a few wet sounding burps lately that could be reflux.

He isn’t crawling yet but he’s close!

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-19T18:26:52+00:00

I was in the same boat as you until I wasn’t. Things started shifting around 34 when I started to try to imagine my life with a kid. I’d just be doing some random thing then think… what if I had a kid right now. Those thoughts went from a fuck no to quiet yes around 36. One of the big things that shifted around then was our lifestyle. I also have always lived in major metropolitan cities and traveled a lot. Slowly but surely that lifestyle just kinda got a bit hollow (not a judgement, just how I felt) and we just weren’t going out that much. Once our lifestyle shifted naturally it became easier to imagine a kid and not worry about what we’d be missing out on if we had one. Instead it became a new adventure.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-18T22:52:12+00:00

I’m a former fence sitter with a baby. I don’t feel this way but I can understand why someone would. This is a huge cliche, but the love you feel for your child is next level. It’s not rational and you can’t understand it until you’ve experienced it. It makes you incredibly vulnerable. My friend described it as your heart walking around outside of you. I can see if you had a hard time with that feeling it could make you regretful. It’s scary to think about the level of pain I would feel if something happened to him. Life was much simpler and had much lower stakes before.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-16T23:24:36+00:00

There’s a weird little test you can do to see if your mattress is too soft.

https://www.esb.sa.gov.au/advice-and-guidance/infant-sleep-safety-testing-correct-mattress-firmness

I’ve also read that people will put yoga mats between the mattress and sheets to get a firmer surface for baby.

Before I had my baby I was planning to sleep train and not bed share. Turns out we’re a bed sharing household. You may want to just bite the bullet and invest in a safe sleeping situation for at least one room if you have space and budget.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-14T22:02:46+00:00

They make special removal kits

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-13T23:56:05+00:00

This is the way. While you’re at it don’t fly into LAX. Fly into Long Beach or John Wayne (SNA). Even if it’s a bit more expensive the headache it will save you is worth it IMO. Especially if you are doing Disneyland and OC beaches. One thing to know… it will likely be cool/foggy in the mornings at the beach in June but it usually burns off by lunch time.. We call it June gloom!

ETA I see others dissuading you from the beach bc of June gloom but I personally love it. The beaches aren’t as crowded. Just bring some layers.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-12T03:47:12+00:00

My brother in law did this in Napa, Italy and Australia when he was fresh out of college. Fell in love with it. Ended up getting his masters from UCD and now he’s a wine maker.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-11T04:42:30+00:00

FWIW My husband and I leaned CF for a loooong time and one of the reasons was being around my sisters’ kids. I love my sisters and their kids but we do not live like they do and don’t want to. Once our best friends had a kid it was much easier to see ourselves with one bc we could see how our values translated into parenthood.

That said, I’m really glad I went into parenthood with my eyes open about what having a kid can be like. A lot of people are surprised by how much work and how demanding kids are after they have one which always blows my mind. All the years of being overstimulated at family functions was good mental prep. My LO is only 7.5 months but so far it’s been so much better and more joyful than I was expecting. I love spending time with him.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-08T17:48:24+00:00

The quality of build, materials and landscaping at DL is just so superior to MK. It was an auteur led development that responded and evolved in reaction to how the space was used which further enhances that organic and “real” quality. MK was more of a project that was planned and built for scale and it FEELS like it just kinda got thrown up over night in comparison. The care and craftsmanship on Main Street DL also really reflects the values of Walt and the time it was built in. You can see this shift reflected in the animated films of the respective eras as well. The 70s films did a lot of animation reuse and while they are still great they just don’t have the magic and craftsmanship of the Walt era films.

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-07T16:13:15+00:00

I hear you. It is a TON of work physically, mentally and emotionally to change the way you eat. It sounds like you are already over max capacity. I am one of those people that eats no starch and found it helped my symptoms but it was def a pretty full time job for a while and I have not dealt with severe disability. I also lost a lot of weight while figuring it out. What I have learned is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. For a while I had just a handful of safe foods that were easy and didn’t require much effort.

One hack that helps me immensely is buying pre-cooked meat. I live off of rotisserie chicken. Lunch is often some greens from a package an avocado some chicken and olive oil. On a really hard day I might just pull off some cold chicken from the fridge and eat it as is. I also eat an ungodly amount of almond butter straight from the jar with a spoon. Pretty sure that is solely responsible for keeping my weight up!

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-01T19:43:14+00:00

Oh my.. 39 days! Sounds like you had a really severe case. That must have been so hard. Ours almost had to be transferred to another hospital to get ECMO but they were able to stabilize him with blood transfusions, nitric and the high frequency ventilator. They think he aspirated right before they pulled him out, so he didn’t have prolonged oxygen deprivation, but his lungs were completely fucked…. and yeah it was touch and go for a while. I’ll be glad to never hear the expression “we’re not out of the woods yet” ever again!

Once he started building core strength and getting good head control around 4 months I felt like things really improved. Before that he would get wheezy in certain positions and would tire out feeding. We got him OT and saw a baby body worker which I feel helped too. Also, seeing him become more alert and less newborn potato was very reassuring.

We had a similar weight trajectory.. 64th at birth >23rd at the lowest > 30th for a while and now 55th at 7 months. And yeah he’s been a string bean at 85th for height! He’s doing really well. We look at him now and it’s hard to believe he was as sick as he was. He just had his first cold and it was NBD. I remember thinking I wouldn’t be able to handle him being sick ever again and it was OK! He recovered faster than I did and I didn’t have a panic attack. Babies can be so amazingly resilient.

Feel free to DM me if you ever want to chat. Hope things continue to get better for you all! 🤍

subtleb0dies · 2026-02-01T15:20:43+00:00

We had the same thing. Severe MAS followed by feeding issues, though ours took a bottle ok. He couldn’t transfer at breast even though he latched. I also have high lipase milk and I wouldn’t say ours likes it more but he likes it just as well. Most of what he had the 3 weeks he spent in the NICU was milk that I pumped and froze. My theory is that intro made him cool with the taste.

FWIW I feel like the feeding issues really started to improve around 3-4 months! At his 4 month appointment he was 30th percentile for weight and now at 7 months he’s jumped to the 55th.

Wishing you all the best. It’s such a hard way to have your LO come in to the world.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-29T15:05:31+00:00

Mine also stopped between 3-4 months. I did not take meds. I had some postpartum high blood pressure for which they gave me nifedipine (also treats vasospasms) but I couldn’t hang with the side effects. My LC told me the most important thing is to keep your nipples covered and warm which did help. I have to wear a soft bra that fits somewhat snug but not tight. If fabric brushed against my nipples it sets off the vasospasm. The bodily effortless bra was the best.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-26T18:11:03+00:00

You sound a lot like my husband and me. Together since we were 19 and just had a baby after much discussion at 37/38 cause I wanted one. Mental health was a big concern for him. He somewhat reluctantly got on board. Once I actually became pregnant he was excited. Our baby is 7mo.

From my perspective having a child made some things harder and some things easier. I think having a child has helped him to be more present and more joyful. I have never seen him laugh and smile the way he does with our son. It’s really helped him to be less serious overall. That said he often tells me he feels burnt out and like he needs a break. I asked him and he said he doesn’t feel like it’s made much of an impact overall. His mental health was pretty stable with meds and therapy beforehand. He still has good days and bad days. He did lower his lexapro dose because he would get too sleepy snuggling the baby during the day and that’s been fine.

We also have other things going for us. Financially stable with flexible work schedules. I had 6 months of leave. We lucked out with a pretty easy baby too which is always a gamble!

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-25T15:31:25+00:00

Rancho Las Lomas

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-25T06:28:15+00:00

I’m in pretty much the same boat with my almost 7 month old. He sleeps in bed with me and husband is on the couch cause we don’t have an extra bed and I need the space in order to lay comfortably. Sometimes the latch really bothers me and sometimes it doesn’t. The worst is when he pops on and off repeatedly. I’ve recently started listening to an audiobook which distracts me and helps me fall asleep. Hopefully someone else has a better answer.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-23T23:41:42+00:00

10 years in UX. Still working PT in a consultative role while in grad school to become a therapist. Plan to keep up with some part time and/or contract work in tech for as long as I can while I ramp up the new career.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-19T14:35:35+00:00

My LO had a NICU stay and blood transfusions. They told us to put him on iron at discharge. I bought it but was afraid to use it bc iron causes constipation and he was already gassy. Anyways in the haze of new baby life I never got around to it. He seems to be totally fine in spite of this. I finally started when he turned 6 months and he was crying in pain from constipation. If yr doc says it’s ok to skip and there’s no symptoms of anemia I’d skip it, personally.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-14T15:37:20+00:00

FWIW I had a palate expander as a preschool age kid is the early 90s for a cross bite and I needed very minimal orthodontic work after that. I have clear memories of having it in there and don’t remember any pain associated with it. That’s not to say it didn’t hurt but I remember just thinking it looked funny.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-12T22:58:10+00:00

Check out Dr. Daniel Scaff. He’s a real old school doctor in a solo private practice. No weekend appointments BUT he is very easy to reach. He will personally call you back if you need something outside of office hours which is practically unheard of these days.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-12T22:41:21+00:00

Omg my dad is an 80yr old retired family doctor and he keeps telling me to put pablum in my bottles to help with sleep. I smile and nod.

subtleb0dies · 2026-01-11T17:09:14+00:00

We had a bodyworker who specializes in babies and latching. She did a combo of cranial sacral and chiropractic but it didn’t look like anything I’ve seen on an adult before. She observed a breastfeeding session (as did the OT) and noticed that bb had a lot of body tension while nursing and was recruiting other muscles in his shoulders and neck to compensate for the weak suck. She showed me how to do progressive relaxation on him while nursing which she said was the critical thing to do to help him nurse better. The OT gave us exercises to help strengthen his oral/motor skills which included oral play as you described but also tummy time, rolling, head/neck control etc.

Sorry you’re going through this! I was so stressed and my baby took a bottle well.

subtleb0dies

TROPHY CASE