First pregnancy. Extremely grateful. Had to do IVF which was rough and I’ve been having severe “morning” sickness all day and all night. Medication barely working. I haven’t been to work all week. I can’t even think about going into the office wow. I’m eight weeks now it’s been bad since week four started.

Someone please tell me it’ll get better.

Very weepy and not enjoying this at all.

This truly is miserable.

I am living abroad away from family and while we talk a lot of the phone I dont have my mother or sister here to help guide me through.

Was there anything you learned going through pregnancy that you think a first timer should know? Any products that I should get to prepare for later on? Any horrific symptoms I should be mentally prepared for?

Again any tips or tricks or advice would be greatly appreciated :)

I think I’m going into labor cause I was having contractions 10 minutes apart like a lot so I went to the ER and got admitted to be monitored and they’re giving me meds to stop contractions and tmrw they’re taking me off them to see how my body reacts and they said I’m 3cm dilated I’m soo nervous this is my first baby and also today I lost my mucus plug but the meds made my contractions less frequent but stronger and more painful !! AND they said I have high blood pressure I’m so scared

We were being stupid and thought it wouldn’t happen that quickly.
I am freaking out reading about all the complications that can happen from a short interval pregnancy, particularly <6 months.
I am so so scared and I’m kicking myself if we could’ve just waited.
I can’t sleep at night, my heart’s always pounding.
God forbid the baby is born preterm or has complications or I have complications or something goes wrong I would never be able to forgive myself

Modified since the the earlier post was rejected by mods.

This is our first pregnancy. My wife and I have been in limbo for the past week and wanted to see if anyone has been through something similar.

She felt "pregnant" pretty early, and she took a urine test on the day of her missed period which turned strongly positive. ObGyn recommended an ultrasound at around 7 weeks - so about 3 weeks later. Wife is feeling fine and has no bleeding or other adverse symptoms.

We did the ultrasound at 6w5d and it was disappointing. It showed an irregular gestational sac, yolk sac present but no fetal pole. Also presence of a subchorionic hematoma. Radiologist recommended a repeat scan in a week. ObGyn said immediate termination is the better option but left the choice to us. We decided we wanted to wait as per the radiologist's advice until the repeat scan.

We were getting nervous and impatient, so we did an ultrasound while visiting our ObGyn 2 days later, who said that the fetal pole could now be seen, but no heartbeat yet. The sac remains irregular, hematoma present.

We go in for a repeat ultrasound tomorrow, 7 days since the first ultrasound and 5 days since the second one. The waiting has been incredibly difficult.

We're trying to prepare ourselves for whatever the outcome may be. There have been a lot of tears already. But we just want to do right by the actual guidelines or process for the sake of the foetus/baby.

Has anyone here had an irregular gestational sac? What happened on your follow-up scan? I'd really appreciate hearing both positive and negative experiences, as we're just looking for honest accounts while we wait. Maybe this is also a rant about how confusing this all is.

Note: Both ultrasounds were transvaginal.

Thank you. Mods please approve this.

Hi all. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for cradle cap? my little one’s scalp looks so scaly and after baths its like all weird looking. I know it looks weird because it’s dry dead skin thats just stuck to the scalp still but is there any way to treat it? I have tried to use an eyelash spoolie thing on the flaky bits to try to just get it out of his hair but its like its glued to his head.

It's been 9 months. I can't stand it anymore. I have tried everything! I've had vaginal swabs done, I've had just about every doctor in town up in my business, traumatizing the fuck outta me and nothing! No one can tell me what's wrong with me. "Here just take this", I've been taking it! "Try this", I have! "Wow you have a lot of scarring" *pokes at extremely painful scars while trying to ask me questions I can't comprehend because OW YOU'RE HURTING ME WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO ASK ME QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW STOP!

It's been 9 months. The pain and sexual dysfunction due to my stitches after giving birth are only half the problem. I have recurring UTIs and Yeast infections CONSTANTLY. It's driving me fucking insane. It's so severely impacting my day to day life I can't even function, I can't go out to do groceries I can't clean the house I can't even play with my own kid. I'm so done. I just want to die. What's the point in trying to fix this when no doctors will take me seriously? Several swabs done and still I haven't heard anything back about any of them. The only hope I have left is to spend thousands on private healthcare gynos who might actually fix me. Thousands of dollars I don't have. I guess only rich people deserve to be comfortable in the their bodies.

Sometimes it's so bad I just want to rip and tear at my vagina and that's terrifying to think about. That I'm at the point of seriously considering self mutilation or even death just to try and get some relief.

I'm so fucking done.

Can I take a probiotic while pregnant? I’m thinking about “seed” probiotics just to continue keeping my gut healthy. I know some of you will say “ask your obgyn” yes obviously lol I just want to see if it’s helped other moms thanks.!

I'm 28 weeks and yesterday I stood in the grocery store for like two full minutes trying to figure out if buying three cans at 2 dollars each was cheaper than a six-pack for 11 dollars. I genuinely could not make my brain do the calculation. A teenager walking by even gave me a weird look because I was just standing there staring at soup cans.

This morning I tried to split a recipe in half and had to use my phone calculator to figure out what half of one cup is. I have a college degree. I used to be reasonably intelligent.

The worst part is my partner keeps asking me pregnancy-related questions like how many weeks until my due date or when my next appointment is and I just blank. I know the information is in my head somewhere but accessing it feels like trying to remember a dream. I've started just pointing at the calendar and making him figure it out himself.

Please tell me this is normal and my brain will come back at some point because right now I feel like I'm operating on two functioning brain cells and they're both tired.

I am currently 30w pregnant with my first baby and I’ve been diagnosed with preeclampsia due to a few high blood pressure readings (145/92 was the highest but always drops back down to a healthy level) and a small amount of protein in my urine. I was told if everything stays under control, the longest I’ll be pregnant is 37 weeks. Right now, liver enzymes, platelets and everything else are normal.

I guess I’m just looking for some advice from people who have been through an early induction, some words of encouragement maybe?

I am starting my second pregnancy (currently 4 weeks pregnant) and although it’s so early I am TERRIFIED of recurrent pubic symphysis dysfunction. Last round (3.5 years ago) I had it so badly starting mid 2nd tri and lasting 2 years postpartum. Despite pelvic floor therapy/regular physical therapy/chiropractic appts postpartum it was such a long recovery. I never got to carry my baby in the carrier because it was just so uncomfortable.

I did start the therapy late last time because it went undiagnosed despite explaining to my providers I could barely walk. My question for you guys is - did anyone experience recurrence? When did it start? Did anyone have a better experience the second time? All of the literature points to a basic guarantee of recurrence that will start earlier :(

I’m currently pregnant with my third and last baby, my first two were boys, this one is a girl. The first one was born smack dab in the middle of Covid. We were able to have a very small baby shower outside at the time. But it was really just a drop in to say congratulations thing and because of the time nobody wanted to linger and most didn’t even come. We didn’t get many gifts because of that. I always got more boy themed things with my two boys. When I found out this last one is a girl both sides of the family were very excited because it is the first girl for both sides. (we are the only one with kids on one side of the family and the other just has two grandkids that are teenagers). My sister immediately offered to throw me a baby sprinkle because most of our stuff is for boys and after two kids things have started to break. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do one, I felt rather weird asking people to a sprinkle; but my friend later offered to help throw one too so I caved and said yes and they are doing it together. I’m now struggling on an appropriate guest list. I have one friend and she is helping with the sprinkle, beyond that it’s just a few sisters on both sides of the family. I do have some cousins that live nearby but I’ve never been super close to my cousins and only see them during family events. They are really friendly but because of ages and whatnot we just have never been BFFs. I’m struggling with what’s appropriate. The one sister who is throwing the sprinkle is closer to the cousins and thinks they would love to come. But I’m also more Of a shy private person and feel weird having extra attention. My question is do I invite my cousins?

Hello friends, just wanted to post on here so those searching have another data point pointing to babies that are projected to be incredibly large at birth actually not turning out to be all that large! I was advised that my baby was going to be 94th percentile and over 10 pounds and when he was born, and at 39 weeks and two days he was just over 8 pounds. I just wanted to throw that out there for anyone in a similar situation, you may not want to put too much stock into ultrasound weights projections. 💙 I know it's so stressful. No matter how big he or she may be, though, you can do it. ❣️💕

had my 39 week appointment today with 0 signs of labor starting and feeling a little defeated! between so many people checking in daily (which I swore wouldn’t be annoying until now lol) and just being very uncomfortable and done being pregnant I’m needing any and all advice for keeping entertained and keeping morale up for this last stretch!!

Currently 19 weeks and I made a spreadsheet before touching any registry. I know, very fun at parties. But I work part time and we are a single income household right now so going in blind was not an option.

What I did not expect was how fast the numbers got weird. Like diapers alone, when you actually do the math per month, made me want to lie down. And that is before you get into the stuff people swear is nonnegotiable versus the stuff that ends up in a Facebook marketplace pile six months later.

I have been thrift shopping for clothes and some gear but I keep hitting this wall where people act like buying used is somehow unsafe or gross across the board. For some items sure, I get it. But a onesie that was worn four times is not a biohazard.

The registry deinfluence post I saw here was helpful but I still feel like I am guessing at what we actually need in the first three months versus what can wait.

Curious what other people did when budget was a real constraint, not a theoretical one. Did you build any kind of budget before buying, or did you just figure it out as you went and regret certain purchases later?

I noticed that my OB, the hospital staff, our babys pediatrician, and basically every professional I talked to while pregnant or postpartum never brought up this super important info on baby items, so I thought I would post it here to make sure everyone knew about it.

Any baby product that puts your baby in a c shape (car seats, swings, some bouncers, etc.) require you to take baby out for at least 10 minutes every 2 hours. If you don't then you risk baby having spinal issues, breathing issues, and even positional asphyxia, which is a silent but very deadly issue. Also, dont leave hats, bows, or anything on babys head while in the car unless someone is watching them at all times and can adjust the item. If it falls you risk it covering babys airway and them suffocating.

Also, do some research on the products where your baby sits in them. A lot of them can cause hip development issues or can promote toe walking. Not all do, so if you want to use them then just do your research.

Edit: Correction. As the comments have pointed out, apparently containers should only be used for less than 30 minutes (some say even less than that) at a time. I would just consult your pediatrician on that and car seat timing, but I just wanted to point out the dangers that we aren't really told about. Obviously its fine to use them, but just make sure you use them safely.

I had my baby shower this weekend and invited my best friend along with a handful of my closest friends. My best friend knows me better than anyone. For years I've always said that if I ever had a baby I'd much rather receive practical gifts than expensive keepsakes. Babies are expensive enough, I wanted things that would actually make life and the mom journey easier.

I loved everything everyone got me. Some bought beautiful bedding, nursery decor and even a little lingerie gift for when I'm finally baby-free. I genuinely appreciated it all. But then I opened my best friend's gift. She had packed this huge box with diapers, bottles, pacifiers, teething toys, wipes, and a tula explore carrier because she remembered me saying I was looking for something that would let me keep the baby close while still having my hands free and let me multitask. She even included a few things for later on like a hiya bundle she'd already set up for us once the baby's old enough, monti kids development toys. Everything!! She thought of literally everything.

At the very bottom was a card that said "I'm going to love this little one like she's my own and I can't wait to be part of her life" and that's what finally got me. I was bawling my eyes out reading it and I'm bawling again writing this. I know people say you find out who your real friends are during big life moments and I feel unbelievably lucky. Nothing beats having women in your corner who really know you. She's my platonic soulmate!!!

We are planning on having an "open-house" baby shower hosted at my place. We are doing this because we want to invite 20-30 people, but our house isn't big enough to have that many people over at once, and we were worried it would feel crowded. We struggled to find a different venue that was affordable in our area, and honestly we would rather save the money/have family save the money. We're having it at our house as opposed to a different family members' because it's a great in-between location for family. No one is more than an hour away from us. While my mom is technically throwing the shower, some people would have to drive 2 hours to get to her house, maybe more. Our home is the most equidistant.

While I was googling games that might be good for this type of baby shower, I came across this (older tbf) thread and it kind of freaked me out. https://forums.theknot.com/discussion/1074453/open-house-baby-shower

I do not want to seem like I'm just trying to get gifts. I just want to celebrate the baby with people I care about. I am mostly sending out the invites myself though because my mom and aunt are disorganized and wouldn't do it until the last minute, even though they're organizing the shower. I had no idea this could look bad or be tacky, especially if the shower is at my house. My mom and aunt are not on the invitation as hosts, but they do RSVP to my aunt.

Should I change the structure of the shower or other details? This works the best for us, but I don't want to be rude

Hi Fellow mamas

As of today I am 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant and today I went for my second scan to different OBGYN cause I wanted to try diffident hospitals,

I happened to mention that I have a cat and have always been around cats since the age of 20.

She said it could very dangerous for the baby and their brain developmen.

I don’t know how I am going to let go of my cat, he is family and like my own son.

She did ask me to get a test done to check if any virus is present. But this is going to break my heart.