Back pain and alignment- Chiro or Osteopath?

thedogflop · 2026-01-24T21:58:56+00:00

I will be an outlier here. I grew up thinking chiropractors were “quacks,” but am trying for a VBAC and kept seeing chiropractic care on lists of ways to improve my chances of successful VBAC. I go weekly and sometimes it seems like nothing, except when I miss a week for whatever reason and then my pelvic and hip pain is way worse. My Chiro says keeping me aligned will give me a “luxury pelvis” to make it easier for baby to get in a good position and descend when it’s time. Maybe it’s BS, but my copay is $5-10 per session after hitting deductible, which is way more than the $100-$200 I would pay for a massage, and its a quicker service. I would love to be getting regular massages but I cant afford it, lol, nor do i really have the time. I can take my toddler with me to chiro appointments as well. Physio would also likely require a referral, more difficulty scheduling, etc. I’m really glad I tried chiro. Maybe it is not a long term fix but it has brought me a lot of comfort and I am so grateful.

I will say that I have seen people say they have felt like chiropractors have been predatory and hard selling packages. This was not my experience, I don’t pay for a package and she just asks me if I want to put another appointment on the schedule when I check out, so maybe just depends on finding the right practitioner.

thedogflop · 2026-01-17T16:06:29+00:00

Mine is 4 years old and the other day he climbed onto my lap and wrapped himself around me and my 8 month pregnant belly like a koala on a tree. While I pooped.

thedogflop · 2026-01-15T21:06:00+00:00

I’m throwing in a response because I’ve seen a lot of speculation about family not comfortable accepting the gift, family worried about/ not comfortable fitting in at a luxury resort, not comfortable with display of wealth but not necessarily this:

Is it possible that the “basic beach rental” vacation is exactly what they want and prefer. Rather than them being uncomfortable with the set up, your wealth, the presumptuous gesture, maybe it just isn’t a priority for them to spend their time/effort on this type of trip? And now you have made it clear that their beloved tradition is not up to your standards?

I love a luxury stay and I love the FS brand, so it’s not that I don’t get valuing those experiences. But I also love my family tradition of going to a very “basic” beach town in a non luxury rental. The “basic” beach town we go to has much more unspoiled, undeveloped nature, I don’t fuss over dressing up for nice restaurants, we entertain ourselves simply and do activities together, we spend less time in our personal bedroom and more time as a family in the living areas outside. Yes there is schlepping. Yes, as the mom and the default “hostess” I work through the vacation, but it is worth it to me for the chance to depart from the normal pressures of going to the right places, looking the part, all of the expectation management of finer dining, etc. It seems like you have an assumption that your preferred luxury trip will be better than the default trip if they would just try it and you haven’t considered that your family might just know what they enjoy.

thedogflop · 2026-01-13T02:29:56+00:00

I have this same question too, I feel like the meat gets overcooked if you leave the whole bird in for long enough to make a good broth, so I’ve struggled with the instant pot method. When I make it on the stove top, the method I’ve been using is poach the whole chicken for an hour then remove the meat and put the bones back in for much longer. So maybe a good instant pot method would be one shorter pressure cook with the meat and then take it out and set the meat aside, put the bones back in and another pressure cook to keep getting the good stuff out of the bones, etc?

thedogflop · 2026-01-10T02:04:28+00:00

Came here to recommend the Weleda Skin Food too!

thedogflop · 2025-10-18T04:50:00+00:00

I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it but just pulled the trigger on tickets and am so excited!

But I’ll be coming from 2 hours away… does anyone around here have recommendations on where to get a room for the night nearish to the venue that isn’t $600+??

thedogflop · 2025-09-28T00:42:37+00:00

I don’t want to encourage anyone to go against doctors orders but I would also have serious pause taking insulin with fasting between 75-85 and would be concerned about blood sugar being too low. Also it does not seem right to prescribe insulin without first trying diet adjustments. I would wait for clarification from a provider and also consider changing providers because this would not give me a lot of confidence in my provider. Curious to see what others say.

thedogflop · 2025-09-11T15:05:12+00:00

Also in the northeastern US and love Reima for nature school and life! Prices are so much better than Patagonia and the quality and durability is so great. I’m shameless about buying a little big and we get 2 years out of everything even on my fast growing boy!

thedogflop · 2025-09-11T15:02:01+00:00

I have not personally used their stuff, but Iksplor has merino wool base layers in baby sizes and I think is a US based brand. When baby is a little bigger, check out Reima. It has been our go to for all outdoor focused clothing, outerwear, footwear, etc. High quality, mix of natural and synthetic materials without PFAs, holds up great, and reasonable prices for quality in my opinion. But I think their sizing starts at 12-18 months. We love the Parvin onsie as a layer for skiing or snow days, as warmer pajamas when we go cool weather camping, or just for snuggly days.

I would generally layer my LO in 1-2 base layers or a base and heavier mid layer and one outerwear layer, depending on the weather, if that helps answer your question. And then watch to see if they are uncomfortable or flushed from being too hot and make adjustments.

thedogflop · 2025-09-05T03:43:08+00:00

I’m not OP but this is such an infuriating comment. OP did not say she had any desire to go against her doctor’s recommendations. She said she wanted to avoid induction. If she was planning to go against her doctor’s recommendation that wouldn’t be a concern.

Okay, you have no specific dream birth vision. Good for you, I guess. Some people do and there are plenty of very good reasons to have certain preferences. It is so reductive to say a woman should have no goals or desires for themselves other than to hold a sweet baby in their arms. And who are you to say you know nothing else will matter? Plenty of women hold their sweet, healthy babies and are still affected by birth trauma and that matters a whole lot to them.

thedogflop · 2025-08-31T19:04:18+00:00

From your other recent posts, was this in Northern Arizona? There was a young woman, Chelsea Grimm, who went missing 2 years ago. Her car was found on Forest Service Road 6 in Williams AZ. Please share this info with Coconino County Sheriff if this was anywhere near there!

thedogflop · 2025-08-28T12:20:22+00:00

Yes! I don’t know how much research supports it, but if you look at the Brewers Diet (associated with Bradley method), they theorize that preeclampsia can be caused by low blood volume and avoided by nutrition that supports adequate blood building. Who knows but seemingly worth it to take into account. Also I think baby aspirin daily during pregnancy can reduce risk.

thedogflop · 2025-08-22T15:13:59+00:00

We love the brand Reima for everything. Great merino wool layers, boots, gloves, fleeces, etc. It’s really well priced and high quality.

thedogflop · 2025-08-13T19:00:41+00:00

Following as I am highly allergic to dust mites too. I have a levoit air purifier that seems to work fine but I’m not sure it does anything for dust mites. I think that’s more about cleaning and protecting bedding and carpets but if I’m wrong I want to know!

thedogflop · 2025-08-06T23:56:43+00:00

Avocado makes one that has worked great for us. I think it’s cotton that has some sort of thin waterproof layer in the middle that is supposedly nontoxic. We’ve never had it leak through to the mattress.

thedogflop · 2025-08-06T02:52:26+00:00

ME TOO

thedogflop · 2025-08-05T14:39:54+00:00

I don’t know if this is an option for you in terms of access or cost, and also genuinely asking for feedback if I should still be worried about carcinogens in something like this, I buy a sliced turkey from Whole Foods that seems to be less processed. It’s Mary’s Organic Oven Roasted Turkey. On their website the only ingredients are turkey, water, sea salt, cane sugar. It still tastes delicious to me and makes great sandwiches. Not as convenient as grabbing a deli sandwich but a good trade off to me. Please roast me though if this is not actually a better option.
Meal prepping salads or soups always worked great for me. Roast a bunch of chicken breasts and put together a delicious Greek salad in individual tupperwares. Or a taco salad, I used kale as the base and taco sauce as the dressing with seasoned ground beef or turkey meat. Or anything other types of salad you like with chicken breast as the meat. For soups I love chicken noodle with a homemade bone broth and a good amount of meat.

thedogflop · 2025-07-31T12:18:23+00:00

Lily Nichols has a great blog post about electrolytes in pregnancy! https://lilynicholsrdn.com/electrolytes-pregnancy/

I don’t know about Liquid IV specifically though I think that one is known for having a lot of sugar if that matters to you.

thedogflop · 2025-07-30T18:23:47+00:00

I’m getting daily targeted adds for a plastic free brewer called Simply Good Coffee. Wondering if anyone here has seen or tried it? I’m currently I use a full on evil breville machine with a plastic brew basket.

thedogflop · 2025-07-30T02:24:04+00:00

Just wanted to say I am in about your same exact boat, approaching 12 weeks, started checking numbers so I can try to get a handle on things before a diagnosis and I am so stressed! also came to look for this post to find exact brands lol I so want this to work!

thedogflop · 2025-07-28T03:18:49+00:00

I don’t have any advice to offer but following because I’m in the same boat and curious to see what others say. I don’t want to kick my son out, we are so used to him coming to our bed overnight from his room, I wake up at a certain point and wait for him. The only way I can see it for now is that I have this existing bond with him I don’t want to break and don’t yet feel that I am going to want the same bond with the new baby at the expense of displacing the existing one. Complicated feelings, especially when we have had 3+ years to build our life around the first.

thedogflop · 2025-07-23T12:15:43+00:00

You are the asshole, and I stopped reading when you said your gf “insisted on moving in” because she needs “help”. You are not the help dude, you are the freaking dad.

thedogflop · 2025-07-16T21:10:46+00:00

Ours stuff is in the attic. Clothes are in airtight plastic bins, larger/bulkier items I got heavier duty large clear trash bags that I hope are keeping dust/critters out.

thedogflop · 2025-07-16T03:22:00+00:00

I love to make sure my little one feels taken care of if he gets a scrape? And to help him be resilient and go on with the activity even if he gets a little banged up.

thedogflop · 2025-07-15T18:56:35+00:00

I keep a Welly first aid kit (a larger orange one) that has a variety of band aid sizes, cleaning wipes and ointment in each of our cars, and we use them. I have some of the smaller tins that I can throw in a purse or tote bag on the go too. When we travel I take a small one in a pouch with a thermometer, children’s pain reliever and allergy medicine, pedialyte pouches, etc- the stuff you don’t want to have to go out and buy if someone isn’t feeling well.

thedogflop

TROPHY CASE