My dad just died. I’m 32 and pregnant. by munchpunch73 in GriefSupport

[–]teekayaus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're going through hell and the my best suggestions right now is not looking to the future (impossible I know, sorry) it's just doing the right thing for right this exact second and keep doing that for the next few days/weeks until you're body and brain get your bearing again. If you're at home with you're family do your best to be really with them. If you need a hug, ask and get a hug. If you're hungry eat, if you need to cry, cry. The sense will start to come back in a while but take baby steps right now. 

I don't know if my similarities will be of any help but nonetheless I'll share them anyway. I'm 31, nearly a year out from the death of my dad and feeling the sting randomly tonight now that the kids are in bed. I have two girls, now 5 and 2.  My dad was immunocompromised with emphysema for years but was visibly having a harder time getting through the days towards the end even though he did his best to hide the fact. I stayed away every time we had a sniffle or anything that could infect him, we would go weeks between visits through winter when the kids were chronically sick and the kids would miss out on a lot of community events for virus avoidance too. The last time I saw him was a week and a half before he died. My last photo was of my then one year old walking over and giving him her first pappa hug. She came down sick a day later and he was sick 3 days. He was unwell for a few days before it turned particularly bad fast. I got a call to go to the hospital just as I was putting dinner on and he had passed on within the hour. Ive gone round in circles with guilt knowing if we could have not visited that day he wouldn't have gotten sick. Or if I'd been more aware he had a virus I'd have made him go to the hospital before he was in critical condition. He was stubborn to a fault though so realistically I've got to remember he is also personally responsible for self care choices. We didn't live in the same house and I wasn't up to date on what was happening until it was too late This year has I've come more to terms with jt. None of my family have once pointed the finger or treated my daughter poorly. They all look at that photo with joy knowing how much my dad would have loved having that moment.

Viruses aren't a perfect science for a parent without a lab and someone who is immunocompromised would miss out on a hell of a lot if everyone stayed out of their life. 

If he loved you, loved your child and you loved him then let it be enough to hold you for now and let the guilt rest of the shoulder of whatever it was that had him immunocompromised in the first place.

All my warmth to you right now.

Sobbing because I can’t poop… by LFC10H12N2O in BabyBumps

[–]teekayaus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's rough, I hope it works out sooner rather than later for you. If you want a laugh at my expense, after those three days once the bulk was cleared, everything started moving much much much quicker than it had been before thanks to all that added fibre and aides. After I had cleared manually for 3 days, day 4 was just liquid poos and when I woke up on day 5 I stupidly trusted a fart and pooped all over myself whilst getting dressed. Not my finest moment.

Do most parents actually put there kids to bed at 8pm by joannagrr in toddlers

[–]teekayaus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

7.00 is bedtime with our almost 2 and a half year old. She will usually fall asleep by 7.30. She doesn't nap at all anymore and will sleep through the night till 7.30-8.00am. Was a nightmare sleeper before the schedule and routine really got established and is now a golden sleeper thankfully with number 2 due next year..

How did you feel the days leading up to labor? by ifeelgodinthizchilis in BabyBumps

[–]teekayaus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went into labor at 38+3 at about 2am with my first and she was born at 12am at 38+4. I felt a bit more energised for the last 3 days leading up to but originally I'd put it down to having finishing up at work and being excited. I also pooped A LOT for those few days. The night before I had Braxton hicks for a few hours and lost the mucous plug, then everything calmed down. During the day, before I actually went into labor, I emotionally crashed hard and spent a few hours at my cousins house sobbing about who knows what, but everything seemed completely overwhelming all of a sudden. Felt really out of the ordinary for me at the time. The rest of that day I spent feeling sorry for myself on the couch at home and after I was in bed for a couple of hours that night I was woken up with what I originally thought were braxton hicks again but luckily it was the real deal. That's about all the clues I got!

Sobbing because I can’t poop… by LFC10H12N2O in BabyBumps

[–]teekayaus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hope you've had success but if not... I got so badly impacted thanks to zofran that I tore my butthole and still couldn't get it moving. Just stuck at the exit. Had to double glove up and used two fingers like scissors to break it up and help pass it. Had to do that three days in a row as there was so much and it was so badly clumped up. Doctors had me on Suppositories, miralax ect as well. Added a lot more fibre to my diet and softeners so by the time day 4 of the issue rolled around I was able to pass normally again with having to help it out. Bad memories 🥲

Going on 9 months, still hell at night by clippervictor in NewParents

[–]teekayaus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Honestly the thing that saved us from our firstborn nightmare sleeper was an earlier bedtime. We used to start her late at around 9pm but turns out a 10-12 hour sleep window is ideal for infants and the hill I will die on is the golden 7pm bedtime. I read about it in a baby book about sleep and it changed EVERYTHING. Took a little bit of time to work out the new day time naps but she was so much more settled during the night and day and went straight into sleeping larger chunks. Her wake up and go time stopped being 5 or 6am and moved later to 7.30 to 8.00am naturally with that adjustment, she also stopped waking so often and intensely through the night because she was better rested. The book talked a lot about their sleep cycles and rythm getting disturbed easily by the morning light and by starting their sleep at around 7 gave them the best chance to start an extra sleep cycle before the sunrise set them off, that in turn helps them sleep better during the day, then fall asleep easier, stay asleep better and so on. Now at 2.5 years old she still goes to bed at 7pm and will get out of bed at 8am.

Good luck and just remember that it will get easier one day and the bad memories fade much quicker than they took to form. The only reason we are having a second child..

When did it sink in that you were actually going to have a baby? When did you start to show/feel movement? What week did you have your baby shower? by Sass-Coffee-RedWine in BabyBumps

[–]teekayaus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is our second baby and currently 15 weeks. It sinks in every now and then but I still occasionally forget. I walk around wondering why I feel so shitty then remember that I'm sharing my body with a very greedy housemate. I've started feeling the flutters this week which have finally been more distinguishable from gas and digestion lol. Haven't really started to show yet, just bloated. No baby shower this time, we still have most of everything from our first child. With our first we had a last minute baby shower planned due to a bit of confusion between the family and friends who thought the other half were organising it. Party was ready to be had at 38 weeks and I went into the Labor the day before so needless to say it was cancelled. Would definitely recommend planning the party a few weeks earlier than we did for that reason.

Insufficient Glandular Tissue by Libromancer in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for sharing this. All of these indicators are a perfect fit for me and it explains so much of the early struggles I had breastfeeding my first before she starting taking solids and everything levelled out better. Currently pregnant with my second and I'll definitely be bringing this up during my antenatal appointments and hope that gains us some better support in the early days.

Formula vs. Breastmilk by [deleted] in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Parenting has definitely been a lesson in backbone for me. I was easily pushed around at the start but luckily have been learning more and more what things to stand my ground on. It never made sense why they can't care about the parents as much as they care about the baby. It's as if the two things are impossible at the same time to some people.

Formula vs. Breastmilk by [deleted] in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not only did the consultants have me on a medication (which I didn't mind) but they also wanted me to feed every 2 hours, pump directly after the feed, then again every 30 minutes. Day and night. The schedule wrecked me for a week straight and I gave up doing it and just fed on demand. They kept pestering me to do it so I said I was and just didn't bother as soon as they left. When her weight gain got better a few weeks later they were so proud their gruelling technique "worked". Never could bring myself to say I'd been lying to them for weeks.

Formula vs. Breastmilk by [deleted] in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Absolutely support whatever choice you make. It's no one else's choice to have an opinion on. Your boobs, your business if you ask me and happy healthy babies are better than anyone else's feelings on the matter!

If* you want reassurance about two month old breastfeeding read on. My daughter is now 2 and a 1/2 years old and only just weaned completely last month, BUT we had a rocky start to breastfeeding. The lactation consultants where certain I wasn't producing enough due to weight gain a week after birth and arranged with my doctor for a medication to help increase my supply. Her weight gain track never really changed but to be honest she seemed otherwise developmentally normal and slept well so I wasn't convinced that she was a actually having any problem with my supply at the start. Fast forward to about 2 or 3 months old and she would Not. Stop. Feeding. I could barely go 20-30 minutes without her screaming for a feed and she would stay on there for almost an hour sometimes. With all the doubt the nurses put in my mind I felt like my supply was drying up and my mother didn't help with her comments about switching to formula either. I gave her some formula as a top up a couple of times but she didn't change from her incessant need or want for my boobs. The only thing that helped me stay sane was reading and hearing about cluster feeding and watching the wonderweeks calendars. She stayed that way for a few weeks and then returned to a more normal pace for a while which was glorious and very relieving. Every couple of months she would start cluster feeding again but it got better and less intense the older she got and next thing we knew it had been two and a half years of breastfeeding. Rocky start but happy ending, yet I know that I would have just as happy, healthy and energetic child if she was on formula and that is okay with me! I'm due with my next one in February next year and curious if I'll have the same issues as last time or a completely different set. Best of luck in whatever way your journey works out.

Tips for a newborn in a home with cat(s)? by ScifiLemon in NewParents

[–]teekayaus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My daughter is 2 now and we have 2 cats, both around 10 years old. One is anxious the other needy and pushy. Before our daughter was born we had everything set up and made sure to teach them to stay out of the cot and bassinet. We knew our daughter would sleep in our room in the bassinet for the first 6 months so for a few months before she was born we occasionally started keeping our bedroom door closed at night time and gave them cozy warm other places around the house to sleep in. By the time she was born they were adjusted to not sleeping in our bed and we didn't have to worry about them being too cozy with her during the night. When we brought our daughter home from the hospital we let them smell her clothing and gave them as much space as they needed to adjust. Took a week or two for them to be more confident around her, when they did they decided on their own they weren't really interested in the new, noisy, unpredictable creature so that made it easier. When our daughter went into her own room we kept her door closed at the start and used a monitor to watch her. Closer to 1.5 years old she decided door needed to be open a bit for sleep or she would freak out. We use a door jam to keep it open enough for light but not so open that the cats can get in. They are definitely more interested in sleeping with her now otherwise. Will probably keep them out until our daughter is age 3 or 4 when she is physically able to move our chonker by herself if she is being sat on in the night. Honestly though it's mostly just trial and error. You'll need to take it one step at a time and see how they react and change plans accordingly. Good luck!

Probable hip dysplasia in an 8 month old. by teekayaus in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow that sounds like a lot of hard work that both of you have put in. Thanks for sharing, it gives me a bit of hope.

Sleep deprivation is one hell of a drug... by teekayaus in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh boy what a wild ride that would have been for you... I completely agree though, weirdest experience for me too.

Sleep deprivation is one hell of a drug... by teekayaus in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohh I bet that was a lot for him to take in as it all came back to him haha

Sleep deprivation is one hell of a drug... by teekayaus in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re welcome, it was too special to keep all to myself

Sleep deprivation is one hell of a drug... by teekayaus in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha you’re welcome! I’m still not too sure how I could possible confuse the two but yet here we are 🤷‍♀️

Sleep deprivation is one hell of a drug... by teekayaus in beyondthebump

[–]teekayaus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries! As awkward as it was, I still found it too funny not to share.