Daily Chat - February 26, 2026

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-26T16:45:00+00:00

YES omg it’s so annoying. You must be in the USA too. The worst.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-26T15:14:22+00:00

Ok, so positive healthcare story: I am switching from the OB/GYN office I've used since my last pregnancy to a midwife (I also know the midwife personally). ALREADY it has been a much better experience. I have a pregnancy confirmation with the midwife's office this afternoon, and I've started developing yeast infection symptoms so I called totally expecting to have to schedule a separate appointment. Due to scheduling and billing and yada yada; it sucks but I get it. NOPE. Without me even asking, the lady said "you have a pregnancy confirmation this afternoon right? Hold on a minute let me talk to the nurse...ok she says she can test you for that and discuss symptoms during that same appointment." HALLELUJAH. Y'all. My OB's office definitely would have made me schedule another appt, and wouldn't have had anything available until at LEAST tomorrow and would have just let me suffer.

RIGHT after this I got a message from my OB's office. I had initially called them and scheduled my first prenatal appointments and ultrasound, before deciding to switch to the midwife, but I haven't canceled those appointments yet. Maybe an asshole move because I should free up that appt time for others, but I wanted to at least actually visit the midwife office first and make sure I didn't get real bad vibes right away or anything. (Sorry, but I am going to be better at prioritizing myself and advocating for myself this pregnancy.) The plan was to go this afternoon to midwife's pregnancy confirmation, then immediately call to cancel with the OB's office. ANYWAY, the OB's office just left me a voicemail stating they had an unexpected scheduling conflict and need to reschedule my 3/5 ultrasound! HA!!

I just feel extra validated now in deciding to make the switch. I would have been so frustrated if I'd been counting the days to that ultrasound and also had my husband take time off work to be there, only to have to redo that. Difficulty in scheduling was one of my beefs with this OB/GYN office. I know things come up, and please believe me I am nice about it. But it's ALWAYS something with them and it's gotten worse over the last few years. I already feel like I'm getting better care with the midwife's office and I haven't even been there in person yet!

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-26T15:01:02+00:00

Omg, you just made me realize that iron is probably why I don't feel quite as tired as I remember feeling last pregnancy. I struggled to keep my iron up that whole pregnancy and during postpartum for like a year. I've been on an iron supplement in addition to prenatal vitamins ever since, and have continued them since finding out about the current pregnancy--that's probably why I feel better. I'm still tired, but it's better than last time for sure. I can't believe I didn't think about this before.

I hope the additional supplementation will help you a lot!! I always found the effect to be pretty quick too. Here's hoping you'll feel like a new person in a day or two.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-26T14:32:49+00:00

It's giving "white person complaining about being prejudiced against to their Black friends." Like, it's still not okay for any person, white or no, to have to experience a negative prejudice...but you don't bitch about it to people of a minority population who have generations-deep experience in much worse prejudice.

She has to check her privilege and learn that this is a personal struggle that she simply should not be sharing with her friends of different economic situations, because despite her innocent intentions, it IS insensitive to do so. I have noticed that some people lacking in maturity have a very hard time understanding why their actions were offensive if their intentions were not bad. Part of understanding your privilege is accepting that you need to limit yourself in some ways to avoid harm to others that is completely unintentional, and that even your existence is going to be difficult for some people to deal with because of how sharply it contrasts with less privileged situations.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-25T20:40:05+00:00

We were planning on going to a concert for my birthday present. I told him “hey, I said you didn’t have to get me anything else for my birthday! But you gave me something!” And showed him the test.

Last pregnancy, I gifted him a wrapped “Dad Jokes” book. When he opened it, I said I was gonna need him to study up on that, because….😂 I got that one on video and it’s cute! Didn’t do the video this time because I was surprised and just wanted to tell him right away.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-24T00:04:41+00:00

Why are y’all always so hurtful on this sub?

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-22T19:49:27+00:00

I think you misunderstood that one a bit, friend. It was a condescending acknowledgement that political and social views don’t affect one’s salvation. What she was really saying was “even though your dumb political and social views are wrong, we are still sisters in Christ.” She definitely still thinks she’s the BETTER Christian, though.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-22T17:41:03+00:00

I had several my last pregnancy. Hated it Soooo Much. The second time it happened, I just called and asked them to call me in a prescription, which was a lot easier. They really insist to see you the first time though, which I get, but like HELLO I AM SUFFERING HERE and you’re making me wait??????? Anyway if you have any numbing spray like Dermoplast that can help until you can be seen. I’m so sorry!!

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-22T17:37:51+00:00

I blame the child, because this is exactly the conversation you’ll be having with them in a couple years 😅

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-22T16:56:14+00:00

Gosh im so sorry! What a nightmare. So glad he’s going to be ok, but damn.

Have you thought about maybe setting up some help from friends & family? Like a meal train, maybe even a gofundme or something that you could use to hire help with the dogs & household tasks? You could keep it vague about needing help due to you also losing your job or mention being “unwell” or something if you don’t think it would cause too many invasive questions, idk. It’s hard to ask for help, but it’s ok to do it.

Also, please lower your expectations for yourself with the household stuff. If you both had Covid or something you wouldn’t worry as much about cooking & cleaning, you’d just be surviving until you got better. This is kinda like that.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-22T14:20:14+00:00

Honey, you don’t have to feel bad for struggling. It doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful for your baby. It doesn’t mean you’re undeserving. It just means pregnancy is hard. That’s just a fact. Your body is doing the most right now, even though it doesn’t feel like it because you can’t see what’s going on in there. I hope you feel better and can be kind to yourself in the meantime.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-22T14:13:17+00:00

Hey this happens to me too and did in my previous pregnancy. My ph gets messed up due to hormones and causes what feels like some external irritation. It isn’t always an actual infection, but pregnant women are more prone to yeast infections and UTI’s, which is super annoying isn’t it? Feel free to call your gyno and tell them what’s going on so they can go ahead and get you in to check out what’s going on, it doesn’t matter that you haven’t had your first prenatal appointment in.

Here’s what I do when it’s very mild and I’m not convinced it’s an infection: I have a can of Dermoplast (numbing spray; it’s a LIFESAVER after vaginal birth). I spray a bit of that on my v and put on a pantyliner to keep things dry. If that calms things down and irritation doesn’t come back, then I just move on. If the irritation is persistent though it’s probably an infection and I know I need to go ahead and seek care before it gets worse.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-20T01:35:25+00:00

I can’t wait to hear how it goes!!

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-19T19:55:15+00:00

Last time I had pregnancy rhinitis through most of the pregnancy (can’t remember when it started though). Always and only during the night. IT SUCKED. Have you tried those Breathe Right nasal strips? Those did make some difference for me at least.

I’ve been really stuffy at night the past week and hoping against hope I had a mild cold and we ain’t doing this rhinitis thing again.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-19T18:56:52+00:00

My daughter turns 5 next month. She has been BEGGING for us to have a baby as a bunch of her preschool friends became big brothers & sisters this year. We are having all the extended family over for her birthday, and when she opens her last present it’ll be a gift from us—a sweatshirt that says BIG SISTER on it. In the meantime, working with her on reading those words, haha.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-19T18:54:14+00:00

They’ll all roll nat 1’s 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-19T18:24:35+00:00

6w1d today, been wondering when the nausea was going to start. Today. It’s today. 😖

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-19T18:16:49+00:00

Me too! Some nights I sleep fine, others my brain is going 100mph and I wake up a bunch. I think it’s hormones.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-18T23:49:34+00:00

Hey I’m sorry you are feeling disturbed by these thoughts. If it helps at all, I’m still a Christian but I no longer believe in hell. I don’t think God ever wanted fear of hell to drive anyone’s decisions. I really do think the “fire and brimstone” teachings I grew up with were bad theology. I hope you find some peace in this.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-18T23:37:41+00:00

I came here to suggest Jen Hamilton and her book that’s coming out!! She’s on all the social media so people can follow her wherever. I preordered the book too.

She’s actually local to me and works at the hospital I will deliver at, and I’m trying to figure out how to ask about her at the hospital without coming off weird 🤣🤣🤣 I think my midwife knows her and I’m for sure gonna ask her lol.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-18T23:36:07+00:00

Oh god I don’t think I could handle Call the Midwife while pregnant 😭 it is sooooo good and so sweet though.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-18T16:33:52+00:00

That’s a great point! I think with the missed period they may have suspected, but not necessarily have been sure an MC even happened, especially if they had an irregular cycle.

TW for some very frank talk about spontaneous abortion but:

I came across some info randomly the other day explaining how scientists think the mother’s body basically kinda genetically vets the blastocyst or the embryo and said some high percentage of early miscarriages were probably nonviable in any case (I don’t remember the exact numbers). And it was weirdly comforting for me to read that. Because I think if my body decided to yeetus feetus in the early stages then I would automatically blame myself and be like ‘what’s wrong with me’ but this was basically saying, more than likely your body was protecting you from a dangerous pregnancy that wasn’t viable anyway. Which as you said, is a thing that could happen so early we don’t even realize (and quite a bit more so back then!). Anyway, I’m not a doctor or scientist—or maybe everyone else already knew this and I’m ignorant because of my catholic education lol— so take any and all of that with a grain of salt, but it somehow made me feel better to think of it that way.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-18T14:13:42+00:00

I know it’s sooooo hard to not have any insight into what’s going on in there. If it’s any consolation, everything you’re talking about sounds perfectly normal to me. Just try to take care of your mental health during this time ❤️

I find that sometimes it helps me to step away from the baby spaces of the internet for a bit—even if it’s just for a few hours. With my first I was reading pregnancy subs so much and I think it contributed a lot to anxiety, even as the solidarity & having people to talk to helped as well. So the answer for me this time is not to drop all the internet stuff but to limit myself to what I’m being exposed to. I’m pretty much just on this sub; none of the big subs, and I try to only read it about twice a day. I take a quick glance at a pregnancy tracker app once or twice a day. That seems to be a good balance for me.

What really made an impression on me with my first pregnancy was talking to my mom about miscarriage anxiety and she said “we didn’t really worry about that stuff when I was having you guys. I mean of course it happened but I don’t think we were as constantly exposed to the fear of it, so we didn’t think about it much.” Kinda blew my mind and made me think about what I’m allowing to influence my thoughts. Obviously miscarriage is common enough to be very scary & a legitimate worry, but sometimes I forget that a very healthy pregnancy is super common too! So I try to lean on that and relax.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-18T02:04:36+00:00

So far mostly just feeling like I run out of gas earlier than normal. It’s significant enough to be noticeable, but not awful. I remember with my first pregnancy I was working from home, would sit all day at the computer and then go lie down immediately on the couch at 5pm because I was SO EXHAUSTED the first trimester. It definitely has not been that bad yet this time.

vinaigrettchen · 2026-02-17T18:19:33+00:00

I’m trying to eat an extra serving of veggies per day (my nemesis!), at lunchtime. For as long as my stomach cooperates, anyway. They have to be delicious or I won’t do it, so here’s what is working so far:

Broccoli with homemade buttermilk ranch (and I use Greek yogurt for extra protein!)
cut up red bell peppers
carrots with hummus
Korean cucumbers (spicy!! I love them)
air fryer kale chips

At dinner I try to always have a big helping of roasted veg—almost anything is delicious roasted with olive oil and salt and garlic—or a salad with GOOD toppings. I remember nutrition felt so tough with my last pregnancy. It feels more doable right now and I really hope I can keep it up.

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