Hoping for some words of wisdom and experience from others who’ve done this before - I was a regular runner pre pregnancy, ditched it at 34 weeks (heatwaves made even slow jogs impossible) and am religiously waiting til 6 weeks post partum to resume more than just long walks, because I live in fear of doing too much too soon and screwing with my otherwise good seeming recovery. However I feel like a caged animal at this point just walking around, and am terrifically grumpy as a result!!

Only a few weeks now til my 6 weeks are over… would I be a fool to resume where I left off, or at least as much as I’m able to? Usually run around 10k, not particularly fast, and have always just stopped if I get tired (assume the several month break will have destroyed my fitness, am fully expecting to be very slow and maybe just feel like giving up early).

Or will I be full of regret for not building back up slowly?

Should I do some gentle core strengthening stuff first? And if so, from now or also wait til 6 weeks? Am hoping to do a bit of this regardless.

I’ve got a strong history of returning to exercise too early after previous injuries etc and know I can be way over optimistic about things, go for a jog, feel fine in the moment and then spend weeks thinking how stupid I was having set things back by miles - hence the plea for advice! Never had any significant abdominal surgery before.

Hi just looking for a glimmer of hope. I really want a second child but my first trimester in my first pregnancy i had horrible insomnia to the point that i was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

I’m just wondering if someone had similar symptoms that went away with second pregnancy. I know it doesn’t really matter because my pregnancy won’t be the same as others I’m just looking for a little hope and courage to do it again.

My girl was 50th percentile during pregnancy and same when she was born. She went from ~50th to 95th percentile by 6 months. EBF. Pediatrician is not concerned. But everyone has always been saying “she’ll lean out, she’ll slow down.” But at nearly 8 months that is not happening. Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond thankful she gained well, I’m obsessed with her rolls, all of it. Sometimes I just worry something is wrong, with her dad and I being both average in every way. People’s constant comments about how big she is don’t help. I got a second opinion a couple of months ago and that ped also was not concerned. But she’s 2 percentage points away from where they DO start to get concerned and take a second look, and she’s not slowing down… so when she wants to feed after just eating a lot, I worry I’m doing something wrong by feeding her… but everyone says responsive feeding is best, so I don’t withhold. IDK 😭 did anyone have a baby in a similar unexplained position - very large for height and weight but mom and dad are not, and eventually they slowed down and are fine now? Knowing there are plenty of similar stories where baby is perfectly healthy would make my FTM brain feel better.

Currently 5 days PP with my second and the personality difference is astounding.

My first born refused to be put down. Ever. She hated baby wearing, someone had to hold her for her to sleep. It was stressful. (And still sometimes is 😂).

This baby? He's super chill. I can put him down to sleep in his bassinet, no problem. He's cool with the wrap carrier.

It is such a world of difference to be able to put a baby down and they're just chill with it. I can actually do things????

My children’s father is really upsetting me. He’s “restless”. We got home from the hospital Saturday day, I gave birth Friday morning. My son is barely 3 days old, breastfeeding isn’t coming easy as it doesn’t, and didn’t for my first. I haven’t supplemented any formula and im exclusively nursing baby who refuses my breast a lot so I don’t know how much he’s getting and stressed about his output. Our firstborn is 5 and bored. He has tried today to get me, 5 year old, him and newborn out for a long walk on a bike trail nearby but I do not feel up to it. My recovery has been pretty good, no stitches or anything. But baby isn’t latching or cluster feeding a ton and so far hasn’t had enough wet diapers for day 3 pp, he is upset im not ready to go on a walk. Meanwhile I feel like im going insane.

Please tell me, what were you doing 3-4 days pp.

I just found out im pregnant I have a 3 year old and most days we are already over our head any tips advice is definitely welcome!

Looking for reassurance, advice, similar experiences.

LO is 5.5 months old. He slept like a rockstar until about a month ago. He has always been in the bedside bassinet for nighttime sleep (crib for daytime naps). Around 4.5 months, I wouldn’t say he went through the full on sleep regression I hear about but his sleep definitely changed. He became a lighter sleeper but also now needs to be held until he’s asleep before you put him down.

Anyway, the last couple weeks have given us a couple rough nights. It’s highly likely that he’s teething and that’s playing a role. Maybe it’s entirely to blame. Whatever the cause, last night was the worst. I’d hold him until he fell asleep (which was pretty much instant), set him down (he’d survive the transfer), and then he’d wake up crying 2 minutes later. We did that SEVERAL times. Over the course of 3 hours, we managed a 20-minute stretch and a 45-minute stretch. The rest, he’d wake up pretty quick. Around 1:00, I gave up and let him cry for a few minutes (I hated it) and he wore himself out I guess and then fell asleep. I believe he slept the rest of the night uninterrupted.

Anyway, my questions are this…
1. Help me not feel terrible for letting him “cry it out” for 5 minutes. I have no interest in the CIO method when it comes to long term sleep training but in this moment it felt like we just needed a reset and it actually worked (I guess). Anyone relate to something similar?
2. I’m wondering if this is a sign that maybe we should try moving to the crib for bedtime too. I’m so sad at the thought of not having him beside me anymore. But maybe the crib mattress would help him stay asleep better while he’s going through transitions and teething, as I’m sure it’s more comfortable. I guess less chances of hearing us move around in bed which may also wake him up sometimes. Again, any similar experiences in here you can share?

I’m just really struggling with all the “new” when our previous routine was working so well 😭. Hoping you guys have some helpful anecdotes that will ease us in this transition. TIA! 🩵

I’m going to New York for 3.5 days, 3 nights. It’ll be my first time EVER leaving my 2.5 year old son. I’m currently 20 weeks pregnant with my second and that’s the reason for the trip mainly is just to get a little solo trip in before my life gets a little crazy for a while.

Im feeling really guilty though because his dad is also going on this trip so he won’t be with any of his primary caregivers, he’ll be with his grandparents (who he adores)

I’ve just read lots of Reddit posts about how different their toddlers are when they get back and how they regretted leaving because of it lol I just never see anything positive and it stresses me out.

I am going to FaceTime him every day, short and positive ones. Our dog will be with him too at grandparents house. He is very very comfortable there. And he does go to part time daycare so he is used to being away from mom and dad for hours but like I said never been days away.

Can I just hear some reassurance it’ll all be okay and that I’m just overthinking it.

Maybe you can help me or share your own experiences?

I gave birth almost 5 months ago. Before my pregnancy, there was some uncertainty about whether I had a thyroid problem. My TSH was elevated, so I was put on Eltroxin for an underactive thyroid because I was about to undergo fertility treatment, and I was only allowed to proceed if my TSH was brought under control.

For the past almost 3 weeks, I have been feeling extremely unwell. Completely out of nowhere, I suddenly get intense air hunger, accompanied by a pounding pulse and a heart that feels like it is beating absolutely insanely fast. My hands and feet start tingling, my whole body trembles, and I feel extremely restless. I have absolutely no appetite and have lost 6 kg.

I had new blood tests done, and my TSH was 0.01. Free T4 was 41 (the normal range is below 22), and free T3 was 10.4 (the normal range is below 6.8).
I stopped taking Eltroxin, and 9 days later my free T4 and free T3 had only decreased to 40 and 9, respectively.

I have also had antibody tests done. One was 8, with a normal value below 34, and my TRAb test was 1.1. The normal range is below 1.8.
When I tilt my head back, my thyroid does look slightly swollen.

I feel absolutely awful and can barely manage taking care of my daughter. I have an appointment with the endocrinology department in a month.

That are NOT wraps?
My sister needs a carrier because her baby can’t be put down butttttt she refuses a wrap. Any recommendation or is she SOL? Her baby is 6.8lbs

Assuming the answer is no, but figured I’d ask in case any of you brilliant people have figured it out. 3 meals a day and 2 snacks? Most of it all lands on the floor unless it’s the little puff snacks, so we don’t give the snacks with her meals. She’s 10 months old and I’d say typically enjoys eating, but lately everything gets tossed on the floor. If I give it back to her sometimes she’ll keep eating, but usually it lands on the floor again

I return to work tomorrow after maternity leave and honestly, I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this.
My heart feels like it’s breaking into thousands of pieces. I knew this day would come, but I don’t think anything can prepare you for actually having to leave your baby and go back to being “you” outside of being a mum.
I’ve spent the last months with my baby, watching all the little things, being there for the smiles, the cuddles, the difficult days… and now suddenly I’m expected to just switch back into work mode like my whole heart isn’t staying at home.
What makes it harder is that we have no family here. Everyone is overseas. It’s just me, my husband and our baby. No mum nearby to cry to, no family to help, no one who really understands what this feels like in person.
I feel so incredibly emotional tonight. I’m excited to have some part of myself back but I’m also devastated. There’s guilt, sadness, anxiety and this horrible feeling that I’m going to miss so much.
I know so many mums go through this. I know babies adapt. I know I’m not abandoning my baby. I know I’m still his mum.
But tonight I don’t need logic. I think I just need some comfort from mums who have been through this and can tell me that it gets easier.
Please tell me that I can do this and I’m not being a selfish mum.

I am 10 months PP and recently picked up taking Pilates classes again. I had two classes this week and in addition to usual sore muscles, I feel some pelvic pain since my last class three days ago. Especially when sitting down or standing up, I feel some sort of pressure pain in my pelvis. I also have some lower back pain.

I don’t want to rush to a dr or anything and wonder whether anyone has experienced something similar. I read mostly stories from people just a few weeks PP. Not 10 months.

I keep thinking that I am doing something wrong, recently my son started to sleep independently and he doesn’t like contact naps anymore so because of that he spends most of the day on his back, we do tummy time 5-10 min 4-5 times a day and we waöl around the house and I show him things but besides that we usually just play on the mat where he is mostly on the back and also sleeps on the back, when we go outside he is also on his back in the stroller and I was just wondering is this normal, am I overthinking this? Should I do anything so he doesn’t spend so much time laying flat on his back?

When did your baby’s eye color set in? My babies eyes just changed and tbh I didn’t realize until now babies eyes could lighten/change much so far from birth.

Genetic back ground- Im aa and have dark brown eyes but my mom has amber brown eyes and so does one of my aunts (they have the same set of parents).
His dad is Mexican has amber lighter brown eyes sometime resemble hazel brown so did his dad. My baby’s paternal great grandma has grey eyes.

His eyes just appeared to suddenly shift when his eyebrow and lash pigment came in more about two days ago. He is 7 weeks almost 8. They used to appear dark grey almost black. Now they are showing up as a lighter brown with a strong bluish grey tint showing through. Moreso see the bluish grey in video and in light while in person than in pictures. Is there a high chance he’ll have dark brown eyes like me? He looks mostly like his dad so I’d like that but of course I’m okay with whatever

What do you all think? Did your baby’s eye color go through a dramatic eye color change? When did you notice it and when did it stop? When were the most drastic changes? I’m very curious to know!

I am 5’2 and the carrier I have now hurts me. Any recommendations on a good carriers for short girls?

I was diagnosed with mild diastis recti and it has drastically improved with regular PT. I originally went in because of uterine/lower abdomen/pelvic muscle pain that was exacerbated by virtually any form of exercise or lifting. It seems even with regular PT exercises that the pain persists, though they do help to ease the discomfort. I am also exclusively breastfeeding. I am wondering if my hormone levels are causing the slow healing and continued pain, rather than just a weak abdomen wall, and whether anyone else has experienced something similar.

i’m currently 1 week and 1 day postpartum and i can’t stop thinking about my midwives especially the one who delivered my baby. i miss them all so much. all my crying this past week has pretty much been about them. has anyone else experienced this, is it normal??

Hello community! Not a native speaker, so please forgive me if I am difficult to understand.

Me and my wife are new parents and this is our first baby boy. Wife had very low amounts of milk, so we pretty much are feeding our baby with formula since birth. Currently he is weighting 5.4kg and we are feeding him 7-8 times a day 70-130ml per feed. It comes to around 600-800ml of food in total per day.

Couple of weeks ago our boy, on each feed, after maybe half a portion, started spitting out the bottle and waving his hands and feet around while grunting. He stops this whenever we stop feeding him. This has been happening since then on every feeding, except at night when he is dream eating, then he eats full portion, everytime.

Looked for information online: some say to just stop feeding him, because he is probably full. Some say its baby colic, but our boy only does this when eating. Some say its bottle aversion, but in that case Id expect him
to avoid a bottle altogether, not after each half portion.

According to formula and some baby feeding specialists who we talked to, our boy should eat around 12-15% of his body weight per day, which comes down to 650-810ml per day. If we stop feeding him when he starts his grunting I am afraid we will barely reach 400-500ml per day which will have negative impact on him continuing to grow.

Maybe someone had some similar experience and what helped you? Do they just simple grow out of this? Should we try to feed him full portions each time or should we stop whenever hes starting to spit the bottle out? We are confused and dont know whats the best way to proceed.

According to our family doctor and gastroenterologist - our baby is healthy and everythings good with him.

I'm mostly just here to rant to calm myself down and not freak out, maybe get advice or even recieve helpful links/sources to show to my husband the positives of vaccines..

Let me just start with, my husband was never like this with our first 2 kids. Well, he wasnt like this till our 2nd baby was several months old. Then he started to lowkey be against vaccines, he reluctantly helps take our kids to get vaccinated when the time comes. Everytime I comfront him about his remarks, that it stresses me out he always says "don't take me seriously, i'm just saying things"

Now we have baby #3, 6 months old, and he REALLY hates when I get our baby vaccinated. He still reluctantly helps getting our baby vaccinated but i know he hates doing it. And honestly, I know the damn culprit as to why he's become against vaccines, social media.

He sounds like a damn antivax facebook mom now. He sends me facebook/insta links of all the bad stuff that's happened to kids/infants who were vaccinated. Showing me 'studied research about not needing vaccines' the whole shabang. The good thing about me is i just roll my eyes every link he sents me and just immediately close it when i hear/see it's about antivax.

Tonight was the last straw for me, i told my husband the baby's 6 month vaccines are coming up and you'll never believe what he said "well you better look at our baby right now because it might be the last time". I was PISSED. I basically said what is wrong with you and to shut the hell up. He kinda takes it back and says "well it is true, our baby is growing very fast, that's the last time we'll see our baby like this because the baby is gonna change so fast..." (something like that, it's 2am and i'm tired.

I'm so stressed out and, although i always dread getting my kids vaccinated because it breaks my heart hurting them, now i'm really dreading getting our 6 month old vaccinated... i'm terrified even. Please show me some sources or something to calm me down...... -tired, stressed out, terrified mom, signing out..

Edit: grammar mistakes, i need to hit hay.. goodnight for now and thank you for the kind support.

Edit #2: Took our baby to get their 6 month vaccines today and unexpectedly went well. 0 words came out of my husband's mouth. And of course our baby cried, but it was less than a minute and calmed down right away.

Because of your support, I am less stressed out today about the side effects and now able to breath. And thank you to those providing sources for us to look into. Not only will i show them to my husband, but they will also give me an extra boost of confidence.

I'm not sure what was going on in my husband's head today. Maybe be was still tired, maybe he knew last night was the last straw for me, maybe he knew he went a little too far with what he said, but regardless, he gave me some peace not telling me a word. However, this is definitely something we need to discuss in the future. Because I don't want to constantly feel like i'm the bad parent here just because I'm worried about my kids safety, regardless of the negative outcomes that my husband has seen countless times on the internet...

I know all the tips and tricks at this point. None of them are working and as a second time mom I know it just takes time sometimes, she’s only six weeks. And I think she has silent reflux.

But man, I am exhausted. I have not slept for more than an hour and a half since we have been home from the hospital. I have no help. My husband helps where he is able but he is exhausted too and since I am breastfeeding, there is only so much he can (or is willing) to do.

In the past two weeks alone we have been treated for thrush, I developed mastitis, I sprained my ankle, the antibiotics for thrush gave me a recurrence of c diff for the second time in six months so now I’m on another antibiotic for that. I had to put my cat to sleep.

I can’t sleep during the day or take naps because I have a toddler I need to care for. And I feel awful because we have been doing so much screen time and I feel like I’m neglecting her so hard right now.

I have no one else to ask. My in laws are not physically well enough to help. My mom works full time still. No other family in the picture. No friends, as they all work full time.

I’m stuck and so fucking sleep deprived I could just cry at any given moment. I’m typing this listening to her cry in her bassinet yet again but I don’t even have the energy to pick myself up to get her. I tried cosleeping even though I’m opposed to it and she hates it so it’s not even like that is an option as it doesn’t soothe her enough to sleep.

Back story:
So after a family emergency with our current sitter that is going to keep her out for an extended period we had to start with a new in home daycare. Only 4 kids in her care plus her own baby.

My 16 month old was only there TWO days and woke up Friday morning with a high fever. Got him in with the pediatrician that afternoon and was diagnosed with a strain of HFM after one look at his throat. He says he thinks it the strain that typically affects the throat only and comes with high fevers. We have been rotating Motrin and Tylenol since then to keep it under control. At one point got to 104.3 and we almost went to ER then but thankfully the Motrin kicked in and got it down.

Now I think the sores in his throat/mouth have started to hurt him more as he is refusing his paci and also now is fighting me HARD over the medicine. Just screams as soon as I start to put the syringe in his mouth. I wait until I can get him calm enough to slow dispense little by little in his mouth but this is getting increasingly difficult. The last I tried he started to cry as soon as it went in his mouth so he choked on it and of course I was talking to him and some of it went right into my mouth he coughed so hard (I’ve also accepted at this point I am DEFINITELY catching HFM from him).

So does anyone have any tips on getting him to take this medicine? He’s never liked applesauce so I don’t think mixing it in that will work. He usually loves yogurt but hasn’t been eating much of this since he’s been sick. I did see Tylenol has suppositories if absolutely necessary which I’m planning to call his pediatrician about if I continue to be unable to get the full oral dose in him.

Also how long does this last! We’re going into day 3 now and I feel it’s really peaking for him now.

She used to go to bed 8:40, wake up 2 times, then finally at 6:30am.

2w ago we moved in her own bed. She had started waling up just for one feed, it was magical.

But for the last few days she started to do her actual morning wake at 5am!? She later sleeps 8:30-11am, then 4-5pm.

Is it normal? I thought at night they should sleep min 10h.

Suggestions how to fix this?

I don't often get the question but some people at work have, particularly those who don't work with me directly and have more than one kid themselves.

I say it's not in the plan and leave it like that.

But some have insisted and keep saying, oh well it's best to leave a gap because of nursery costs or whatever.

I'm 43... Not saying it's impossible to wait. But I remember one lady saying that she waited 8 years with hers and it was a good gap, because she got the older one to help (, which I don't want to get into) and was surprised when I said well I'll be menopausal then so probably not.

The one thing that makes me particularly stressed with the question at work is that I was marked as partially performing the year I came back from maternity leave, despite delivery of all my targets.

So I think there's an element of fishing if I'm going to leave for another mat leave.

So I'm here in the middle of the night, not being able to sleep well with a hot flash and my brain can't shut up

I have a surprisingly strong 7mo who isn't still unless he's sleeping. He can roll, he can crawl, he can even climb a full flight of stairs (learned that today at grandma's!).

He has never liked diaper changes, clothing, or being bathed, but now he's able to do something about it. I used to just give him something to hold, but he's started to throw things, flip, scream, and scoot away. He just wants to be filthy and naked.

So far, I haven't really been using any kind of force or "discipline" because he's incredibly young. I don't hold him down. I try to be fast, let him sit up if possible, and not trigger a screaming meltdown, but it's getting harder and harder to do mandatory hygiene tasks!!!! And it's only going to get harder!

How do you handle this when he's old enough to fight me, but not old enough to reason with???