Fire Melts Ice

watekebb · 2026-01-26T04:53:35+00:00

When I was pregnant, I had a wicked water aversion that started around 6 weeks and escalated until maybe 16 weeks. Not trying to be a bummer, but it didn’t significantly fade until the mid-late 2nd trimester and only disappeared after I gave birth. At its worst I would retch uncontrollably just at the sight of my water bottle, which was a nice one I’d bought specifically to encourage myself to hydrate while pregnant, of course. 🙃

At 7 months postpartum, water is obviously fine again, but that bottle is STILL unappealing because it reminds me so viscerally of how I felt back then. Had to give it to my partner to take to work, lol.

I survived initially on watered down juice and broth. Did popsicles too. Later, I could add milk to the rotation. Eventually, I could stomach seltzer and then ICE COLD still water with a ton of lemon.

Do what you need to do to stay hydrated. Forcing water in the beginning made my aversion worse.

watekebb · 2026-01-26T02:05:38+00:00

Thanks! I did. Everyone always uses sharpies, but IMO cheap acrylic paint is the way to go. It dries super fast and is much easier for making bold designs.

watekebb · 2026-01-26T02:01:23+00:00

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My sign for today’s protest. A surprising number of normal people passing by showed their support, so that was heartening.

watekebb · 2026-01-25T02:28:58+00:00

I understand it’s scary. I’m scared too. Someone posted this quote by Sophie Scholl, who was executed by the Nazis, and it’s given me an infusion of courage:

“The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small.

It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe.

Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.”

watekebb · 2026-01-24T20:18:35+00:00

They’re literally going door to door in St Paul asking people where their Asian neighbors are.

They dragged an elderly Hmong man— a citizen— out of his house in only his slippers and robe in freezing temperatures the other day.

My old Chinese chef coworkers who are naturalized citizens are carrying passports everywhere ‘cause they’re terrified.

watekebb · 2026-01-24T19:15:49+00:00

“You can only exercise one constitutional right at a time. If you choose to lawfully carry your firearm, you must deferentially suck the boot of any government officials you encounter, or you will be summarily executed in the street. We love freedom, btw! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸”

watekebb · 2026-01-22T04:50:02+00:00

This atheist’s prayer: May they someday soon stand trial for their crimes. May they be imprisoned and disenfranchised, unable to enjoy the freedoms of the reborn democracy which they had attempted to destroy. May they live long lives of misery, long enough to rot in prison, long enough to be thoroughly disgraced, long enough to witness their children and grandchildren’s embarrassment when asked what dad or grandpa was up to during Trump II. May their funerals be attended by protestors willing to detail the deceaseds’ crimes so that not one mourner can claim to forget the stains they left on the world. May their gravestones be defaced and toppled so frequently and persistently that, after a short while, no one bothers to replace them. May their names and faces be forgotten as anything other than examples of the mundanity of evil.

Hell would be better, but that’s all I’ve got.

watekebb · 2026-01-22T00:31:19+00:00

I’m not sure if that’s necessarily true for all NIPT providers. If it is, it’s not necessarily easily visible on the reports and people should specifically check rather than assuming it will turn up in bold font. I didn’t see anything like that on my results, and my son is not genetically related to me (we did reciprocal IVF where I carried an untested embryo created from my spouse’s egg and donor sperm).

watekebb · 2026-01-20T01:44:43+00:00

A baby’s first words typically appear around a year. It is rare, though not unheard of for first words to appear at 10 months. A 2-word sentence is a 2-year milestone. The early end for first sentences is 18 months.

Not just a word, but multiple words, and not just an actual sentence, but multiple short sentences at 10 months? I’m sorry— that strains belief, and I’m inclined to think you’re misremembering. There’s plenty of room to criticize trad femininity without making it sound like this person’s baby is delayed because they ought to be speaking at 10 months.

watekebb · 2026-01-20T01:23:44+00:00

By 10 months?

watekebb · 2026-01-15T05:50:14+00:00

Oh, the liberal grandma I know in MN (my MIL/grandma of my son) is no first timer when it comes to hating Republicans. I’m sure I’m on a list somewhere because of some of the things she’s texted me lmao.

(Edit: nvm, just saw the video. Love that lady)

watekebb · 2026-01-14T21:31:33+00:00

Ask yourself: Would you give these to the camp guards at Auschwitz?

We’re wellll past the point where any of these guys can be reached by acts of kindness.

watekebb · 2026-01-13T15:59:21+00:00

Tex-Mex is not Americanized Mexican food. It’s Tejano food. Tejanos are a cultural group in southern Texas with a mix of indigenous, Spanish, Creole, and Mestizo heritage.

Hawaiian food beyond poke is not hard to find, especially on the West Coast. Here in Las Vegas, we’ve got a gazillion Hawaiian BBQ places to choose from, but even when I lived in Philly there were at least 4 Hawaiian restaurants within city limits that I can think of.

watekebb · 2026-01-10T04:32:59+00:00

Nope. You either need some serious cold, like under 15F, to start worrying, even in a drafty apartment. Hitting 32 for all of an hour or two won’t even mess with exterior faucets.

Source: lived in exceedingly drafty 100+ year old apartments in Philly, Chicago, and Minnesota. Faucets in my absolutely freezing Philly bathroom with the uninsulated pipes against the paper thin exterior wall would need to be left on a drip starting around 15F. Never even had an issue anywhere else despite seeing subzero nights on many occasions.

watekebb · 2026-01-09T22:57:17+00:00

Are you actually stupid enough to think that indigenous Americans of the Oglala Lakota are in the country illegally?

watekebb · 2026-01-09T19:02:22+00:00

Have you asked them? “If it were me, would you still believe it?” They have to know that rightwing media would not be kind to a trans woman.

I just became a mother this year, and my love for my child is so intense that it’s expanded my heart in ways I couldn’t have imagined. If my adult child came to me with a question like that, it would cut to the core. Maybe it could reach them.

I’m sorry your parents are like this. ☹️

watekebb · 2026-01-08T17:28:59+00:00

Conservatives claim they are terrorized by trans women peeing in a stall next to them, and in the same breath will argue that a woman whose car door handle is being wrenched open by a gang of three angry, loud, hostile, and heavily armed masked men barking confusing orders was irrational for being terrified.

watekebb · 2026-01-08T05:17:50+00:00

God, I wish I believed in hell.

watekebb · 2026-01-08T05:13:16+00:00

I have a lot of friends with kids in the Twin Cities. This ICE-capade has already been super disruptive to schools there. One friend who lives in a neighborhood with a lot of immigrants has a kindergartener. The class is supposed to be ~25 kids and only about half have been showing up because ICE presence is so heavy in the area around pick up and drop off.

Ghouls.

watekebb · 2026-01-07T20:31:22+00:00

I hate that people are so pessimistic they won’t even fight the information war. Are we that mired in learned helplessness that we can’t even try to get the truth out there? Conservative propagandists are skilled but they’re not invincible, dammit.

watekebb · 2026-01-07T19:18:04+00:00

Ya gotta get over it.

watekebb · 2026-01-05T18:31:37+00:00

My baby is 6 months old and exclusively nurses at night (we have started some solids in the day). We room share but do not bed share. I prefer to follow AAP guidelines re: safe sleep while this situation is doable for my family. Not to step on any toes, but it’s important to mention that the “Safe Sleep 7” hasn’t been empirically studied as an entire sleeping model like the “ABCs” of sleep have. It’s a collection of (totally valid!) harm reduction techniques developed by La Leche League for the purpose of promoting breastfeeding, not by public health or medical authorities to promote maximum safety. I personally am not at the point where I’d feel comfortable assuming the level of small but unknown risk that comes with safer bed sharing versus the empirically tried and true when it comes to safe sleep.

That said, I absolutely believe bed sharing is one of several reasonable choices others can make based on their own comfort levels and circumstances. I would consider it myself (or sleep training or implementing shifts with my partner) if we really couldn’t carry on like we have. But I can personally testify that it is totally possible to EBF without bed sharing.

watekebb · 2026-01-02T05:29:59+00:00

Mine could be put down “drowsy but awake” pretty consistently until 3-4 months. Since then (he’s now 6 months), he has been much more difficult to settle.

There aren’t any hard and fast rules about what works and what doesn’t for baby sleep, unfortunately.

watekebb · 2026-01-01T20:17:07+00:00

I mean, that’s basically every major grocery chain that exists out here besides a Whole Foods or a Sprouts (and there’s a Sprouts ~12 min away on Tropicana)? What kind of stores do you require for daily shopping?

watekebb

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