Exactly what the title says! Just wondering if you ran the extra weight away or did a mixture of things to tone tummy after baby. Feeling so self conscious of my stomach I was 135lbs before being pregnant, still at 165lbs 2 and a half months PP. Took me awhile to start exercising due to lingering pain in my back and pelvis area. I know my body will never be exactly the same as it was before pregnancy but I’d like to try to get back to a healthy weight.

This is just a vent because the only other person I can whine to is my husband - and I think I've used up all of my "whine" allowances for the day.

Yesterday was the kind of day where everything was falling into place. This was much needed after a disastrous work year has burnt me to a crisp. You see, we have to relocate to the US in exactly 22 days...we have no where to live and my husband doesn't have a job.

That is until yesterday. After finally convincing someone to face time me - I AM real, I'm not trying to scam anyone - I thought I had FINALLY secured a place to live. It was perfect in every way. Perfect location (close to my toddler's day care), perfect size, and the price was manageable. The landlord even suggested I email my husband's resume because they might have an opening.

Finally! It's been a crap year. We've an incredibly scary year in terms of my toddler's health. I can't win at work. I'm struggling to keep everything together at home...y'all know how it is out here as a mom.

I started telling family: we have a place to live! Yes, you CAN visit us! We have room. The landlord had told us our paperwork checked out, he's ready for next steps. I called my mom and felt like I could FINALLY BREATHE! This was such a huge weight lifted from my aching shoulders.

And then BAM! 52 minutes after I ended the call with my mom...the email: "I've decided to go with someone else who applied earlier. Sorry."

To say I was gutted is an understatement. It's been back to the drawing board. Back to balancing trying to find a place to live, back to struggling to finish work, back to trying to pack and manage all of the mom things.

I just needed a space to vent. I'm so tired. I just wish a good thing would stick.

My friends husband told her kids that she is a fool behind her back, is it a normal behavior? Or is it out of contempt?

FTM here and I have a question I was hoping some of you may be able to shed some insight on; when did your baby start reliably social smiling/cooing at you (mom/main care giver)? I don't know if it's just the postpartum anxiety getting to me or if this is a common phase for babies, but it just doesn't seem like my baby wants to socialize with me/smile at me very much and I'm wondering if and when this'll change.

For some background info, she just turned 2 months old, so I know the social smiling/cooing is still in its early stages. First thing in the morning she is more likely to give me a few smiles and coo with me, but usually after that she almost never does the rest of the day. I'm the main caregiver and try my best to balance socializing/playing with her and giving her some space so she doesn't get overstimulated; I sing to her, talk to her, read to her, play, etc when we are social. BUT she'll also smile and coo at my husband nonstop all day long; any time he walks into the room she starts smiling, cooing at him, getting all wiggly. Super cute and I LOVE seeing her excited about her dad, but I selfishly also wish she'd be equally (or even close to) as excited to see me and interact with me.

I've heard this could be because the main caregiver isn't as exciting as the novelty of someone whose not with them all day, but does this ever change? I know all babies are different, but did anyone see a switch in their baby where all of a sudden they are way more interested in you? When did this happen for you? I'd love to at least hear if other moms felt similar and what their experience was with this scenario. Appreciate you all in advance!

Anyone else just feel overwhelmed lately?

I have no friends. I got rid of all of my social media, it was making me depressed and angry. No one checked in on me after I left.

I just feel angry all the time now. Economy, things cost way too much, bills are piling up, I am struggling to find a job to help out… I’m going to school full time at 37 and it is SO MUCH HARDER now than it was when I was in my 20s.

There’s other things right now that I’m just dealing with and I just need a breath of fresh air. A hug? Mom hug? Friends?

My kid is 3.5yo and a bit on the skinny/short side. After his illness couple weeks ago, he lost some weight and also his appetite. Has anyone tried any vitamins or supplements that can help kids want to eat and gain more weight? TIA for any suggestions.

Hi all - my actual 5 month (adjusted 3.5 months) has been given the go ahead to start purées by both her pediatrician and the neonate doctors she sees!

I’m looking for unique foods you introduced via purées to your baby & any suggestions on what order to introduce foods in (like veggies before fruits, etc.) currently looking for an idea for a fun festive idea for Christmas as well (we floated the idea of cranberry to have her try something tart!)

She had her first today - sweet potatoes and loved it! 🫶🏻

Also - I get it, BLW works for a lot of people. Without sharing my daughters medical information we have NOT been cleared for this, strictly for purées so please don’t come here with that recommendation or to tell me how much better it is. Your full term baby is simply not the same as my preemie (and all preemies aren’t even the same!) I just feel the need to preface this because it’s all the advice we’re getting, not to be a brat about it!

Hello! What are your thoughts/experience with magnesium cream for helping your toddler fall sleep easy? I’ve been seeing this add on instagram about a magnesium cream to help them fall sleep faster. My daughter sleeps through the night with no problem. But getting her to fall sleep keeps getting harder and harder. I have heard from friends that they took it in pills form and some feedback I’ve got is that they have very real dreams.

My dad wants ideas for a “big gift” for my 5 year old daughter but I feel like she has everything. What are the bigger ticket items your kids are into that don’t take up a lot of space??

I panicked.

I have twins and both were screaming. One had pooped in her diaper so I had to clean her while the other was screaming at the top of her lungs.

So I panicked and opened a package of this binky and gave it to her right away.

I know fully well you're supposed to clean/sanitize it first but I just didn't have time. Trying to avoid reflux and all.

Now I feel really bad and am very worried. What if she gets sick from it? What if there's some germs I didn't know about? The package was a tight sealed plastic. Philips ones. I just hope she's okay. Short time usage is fine, right?

:-(

Rant: Had to just say f it real quick and leave the baby with my husband. It’s almost midnight and my 5 month old has been suckling my right boob on and off for the last 5 hrs. Literally just been laying there feeling like a deflating milk bag. I got up to pee cuz I hadn’t in a very long time. Well baby woke up and of course husband is irritated because he was about to go to sleep himself. He kept picking and picking and picking at me and saying stuff like “you knew he was about to wake you should have fed him” & “I was watching you looking at him wake up, you weren’t doing anything” and I just sat there on the bed like wtf…I just had to use the restroom. I just mumbled “I don’t deserve this” & grabbed the keys and I’m just sitting in my car outside feeling like crap. I literally just had to pee, it’s not my fault the baby woke up 😭😭😭

Background: my husband struggles with depression (especially in the winter) and it's been difficult for him to feel excited about our baby (due in April) and not just stressed about the change and all the work its gonna be. I've worked with kids for years and we have family/friends to help out, so I'm not worried but lately nothing is convincing him that this baby's arrival isn't gonna be a disaster (we've talked about, and both wanted kids, but this pregnancy came about a year earlier than we were planning to start trying)

Finances are tight as he's a full time college student and I'm our sole source of income. My job just told me I'll no longer have a position there starting the Friday before Christmas. I'm feeling so much anger and hurt and uncertainty.

I was absolutely dreading telling my husband for fear that it would make him feel even more down and hopeless. Welp. It did.

I'm doing what I can and applying for jobs and I'm taking the opportunity to look into jobs that may even work out better for this new season of life as a mom.

But anyway, I'm just struggling with my husband being physically here, but it's like I'm doing this baby thing alone AND now I have to start a new job at 24 weeks pregnant AND not only does my partner in life have zero capacity to support me, but also my troubles are literally making his troubles worse.

Oh yeah, and as we all know: pregnant mommas should try to keep their life stress-free or it will effect their growing baby 🙃

I’ve tried to explain this to my husband way too many times and I haven’t gotten through.

I’m exhausted, did your husbands ever “get it”

This is a bit of a rant on how the lack of gov assistance is causing depression.

My husband works full time. I have two kids 12 mo and 2.5yr old. I have been wanting to become a doula. Our plan was to wait until they’re old enough for school for me to continue schooling. But, our rent has gone up, we are out of health insurance and the grocery prices keep going up along with car insurance. This is causing me to want to pursue my career sooner so I can work and make money to contribute. My registration for becoming a doula is $1,500 and the preschool for my 2.5 yr old is $1000/mo. My 12 mo old is not included in that price.

I have not enrolled her in preschool because I am on a waitlist for childcare assistance through the government. They are saying there is a lack of funding. When I speak to other moms in my county, they say that’s BS and to file a complaint through the state because there’s funding.

I asked my grandma, who’s a millionaire and has no issues giving money to her kids and grandkids, and she said that she cannot give me money because she cannot see me being successful. Her words exactly. I can’t ask my dad, who is also well off, because he does not like to help people unless he is going through a manic episode. He is bipolar and narcissistic. So his gifts come with strings attached.

What really bothers me is how when I asked my grandma, she said I should sell my car. I asked how am I supposed to drive places? She then said my car and kids are luxuries…. My car is a Honda. It is not like I’m driving a BMW or Lexus.

It has come to a point where maybe I should put my kids in foster care since I can’t afford them. totally sarcastic but I am tempted to go to the social services office and say that so I can get the help I need because we don’t make enough for one income, paying for health insurance, and the increase in prices. I don’t even eat because I want to make sure my kids are fed and I can’t afford to get food.

Thank you for reading and letting me rant.

I am so exhausted. I am 7 months pp with my first and I'm a sahm, my husband is thankfully home every night but works exceptionally long hours and since it's always such random hours he can't help me out with the baby past 9 pm unless it's the weekend. Our baby is teething and so night time is a big stress, but right now, for the first time in my life I'm really working towards my dream and that's to go back to school. I want to go to university so badly and I have the school funds for it, so I've applied and I have my pre admissions test tomorrow morning, but my son won't go to sleep. I have NO ONE who can watch him overnight to let me sleep and as previously mentioned I can't ask my husband to do it. We've had several discussions about it and it's just not possible for him and I understand so I don't want anyone to come for him for "not helping me out". He's a wonderful father and when he is at home does everything he possibly can to help me and take care of our child and treat me like a queen. But for right now, I don't know what to do. I cannot get my child to sleep, my test is in less than 12 hours and I've tried everything I can possibly think of. I know I probably won't get many replies before suggestions will be null & void but I just needed to rant. He's a wonderful little boy and my husband is a lovely lovely man, but I just feel so lost all the time because I'm so tired. And right now because I REALLY need my rest for the first time since giving birth I'm so stressed and panicked that I'm going to fail because I won't get enough sleep.

So our dog,Hund, died on Saturday, he was sick for a while & he ended up being diagnosed with DCM & he was suffering so we had to put him down.

& that crushed my 9 year old son(I’ll call James),all of my kids are sad but especially him,because Hund was everything to him,he didn’t know what loving an animal was like until Hund came in his life,they did everything together,they always played football in the yard,Hund followed him everywhere,they were best friends.

& lately James has been acting not like himself & he’s been doing things that make me worried,like he & my 5 year old share a room & usually they’ll be up at 4am & play together until it’s time to get up & get ready but after Hund died he stopped doing it with his brother & also this morning I went in their room & I couldn’t find my son & I went to look for him & found him in one of my other kids’ bed & he said it was cause James kicked him out of their room.

& also he hasn’t played football with the neighborhood kids,when they knock at our door asking if he can come out he says he doesn’t want to & he doesn’t want to go to football practice,nor karate,he just sits in his room building with Lego’s on his bed.

But what worries me the most is on Sunday he didn’t want to go to church & a couple hours ago I went on his room to get my other son’s robe because I was getting his ready for a bath & I saw on his bed his journal was opened what he wrote in it said “this isn’t fair,I was on my knees every night every night and we still ended up here, my prayers weren’t answered my dog is dead,I asked for him to be healed and he’s not,he’s in the ground and all he’s gonna get is a gravestone.”He wrote more but that’s all that really matters. (But with the last part I think only other Christian moms can understand it,non Christian’s can probably give an an opinion as well but I think that mostly other Christians can understand).

But do you guys have any advice,maybe you’ve been through this?

Hi all! My son will be 1 on the 27th. I started working again 2 weeks ago, and the transition was less hard than expected. I’ve been able to pump relatively fine, he loves his babysitter, and I’m actually enjoying my job. Today during pickup, his babysitter informed me that he’s not taking to his bottles like normal anymore, and is preferring water instead. He’s still nursing at home perfectly fine, and we haven’t dealt with bottle refusal too often in the past. I’m wondering if he’s self weaning? My supply is also dropping a bit, I’m not sure if that matters? I’m a little sad over all this because I wanted to breastfeed a bit longer before beginning to wean. Any input would help immensely!

Do you wrap the items/presents that go into your Christmas stockings? 🤔

I feel like no one talks about the burnout of being the primary parent, being pregnant, and transitioning life to bring in your new addition. Or in my case additions...in 24 wks pregnant with twins. I need advice before I reach 2007 Brittany Spears lbvs!

Today I am just at my ends! I wanted to eat pizza in bed, my shows and to sleep! But I'm a mom first and I took care of toddler all day and then my husband got called into work right when my stepson got out of school so I got stuck with both kids alone and this man opened my block of mozzarella and left wide open in the fridge so it was hard and collecting all the shit from fridge. I contemplated divorce over my pregnancy craving I won't lie! I need some advice to get past these winter blue ( I live in the Midwest) while this far into my pregnancy because my first was a summer baby so by this time in my pregnancy it was warm and I could be outside! Thank you in advance

I’m on Reddit late at night while everyone is sleeping.. I should be too.

This just gave me such a flashback to the times I’d wake up every 3 hours to pump for our baby girl in NICU. Reddit got me through those 25 minute sessions..

What were some of your blissful distractions while late night feeding or pumping?

My first born will be 10 next week and baby #2 is 9wks old.

I haven’t discussed this desire does anyone except my husband. But ive had plenty of unsolicited comments and suggestions made for AND against having kids “back to back”.

I’ve always wanted 3-4 kids but in my “mental plans” ideally would have been pregnant with my last within the next year.

Life circumstances has brought me to where I am now & in a marriage I feel confident to have children.

I know how difficult it will be I have many people close to me that have 1/2/3 year age gaps. But I really want to get thru the newborn stage. I fear if I wait until this one is out of diapers BEFORE I’m even pregnant, I would not have more children. I don’t want to be in my late 30s or 40s with toddlers. My mom had me at 39 and my brother at 40 (my older siblings are all 7 years apart). so she has given me her advice to just have them back to back.

But just want to pick your guys brains and hear your opinions on both sides.

Mother of two, one with a birthday in December.

Between constant Christmas/ end of year things, a birthday, trying to sort out all the impending childcare issues for next year, and the usual merry-go-round of dishes-cooking-laundry-cleaning, I am about to completely lose it.

Truly all I want for Christmas is to use the toilet in peace, to eat a meal without having to shovel it in so fast I make myself sick, a house that isn’t being actively re-dirtied as I clean it etc etc.

My kids are good and my husband is too, and I’m still at my wits’ end.

My son is almost 14 months. Should I get a large sleeping sack or should I get a blanket?

Short story, unvaccinated in laws flying in from out of state. Terrified my 3 month old baby will get covid or flu. Obviously I will ask to wash hands and not kiss, but that doesn't help ease my mind.

I just got pregnant with my third with a (unknowingly) misplaced copper IUD. This will be my last child. Did anyone go through tubal litigation after having their last child? How soon were you able to get the surgery and how was your recovery?

TW: drug addiction, PPD, PPA, SA

Looking for some serious advice with my (23F) current struggles! I have 2 beautiful boys. 2.5 years and 5 months.. they are my reason for breathing. I'm a stay at home mom. For context, I grew up in a home watching my mom struggle with serious unmanaged mental illnesses, and drug addiction. She recently passed away from an overdose. And my father was angry & always yelling, step mom was MEAN and they beat my siblings.

I don't feel good enough, for anything or anyone and have felt this way my whole life. I'm dealing with a little bit of post partum depression & severe Post partum anxiety (although I've felt this anxiety my whole life). I overthink and over analize everything..all day long. My mind is never quiet. I could be as present as I possibly can with my toddler, being silly, belly laughing and once that's over ive already convinced myself I'm not doing enough for him. I am just finally starting to bond with my younger one, but with the lack of sleep and his tummy issues, I'm so high strung, overtired and stressed. I have set my standards higher for myself than I would expect from anyone else.

Oh you had a rough day and put TV on too long? That's so normal mama!...i do it, I'm a POS mom who doesn't deserve my son. 3 hours of broken up sleep and loose cool toddler, but apologixed and connected after? Wow mama good job for making them feel safe after and correcting it.. I do it, I spend the rest of week belittling myself to the point I cry in bed at night. You didn't feel like you played enough with toddler today because you were so busy with the baby? Oh mama relax, you did your very best, and independent play is so crutial..I do it, I feel like I'm neglecting him and he's gonna have no connection with me because I couldn't spend all day playing.

I feel so broken. I am aware of why I do this. I begged my mom to get clean for me my whole life, she even attempted to unalive herself infront of me when I was 12. it wired my brain to think it was fault and I wasn't enough, and I've carried this into motherhood.

Also, I was SA by a baby sitter when I was 5, and also have irrational fears of my boys being kidnapped and this happening to them.

I'm at my breaking point. Im irrationally angry, self loothing, I have ZERO compassion for myself. And I'm just so burnt out. Where do I go from here. To add, I am on the waiting list to see a psychiatrist, and a therapist. I should have done this years ago, but I didn't know it was this bad, becoming a mother has brought everything up as I can no longer hold onto it. I don't want to be on any form of anxiety meds, I just simply want to feel enough. And enjoy the beatiful life I've created with my family and let GO. Please help me

Does anyone else feel like you’re just playing a character that’s a mom? Like I love my baby with my whole heart and we are bonded and all that.. but like I see other women and they are MOMMIN IT and I’m like do I do that? Am I really a mom too? Like does my Christmas stocking need to say Mom or my name? Am I just weird? Lol

So I had my postpartum checkup yesterday and it was completely different than with my first. The doctor didn't look at my belly or felt around like they did with my first which I found odd. So when I mentioned having a bulge and showed him I asked if it was diastasis recti or a hernia and he explained its diastasis recti then he said "that's your punishment for having two kids" I'm sorry but what?! I expect more from a doctor

Hi everyone! My partner and I recently had to wash a memory foam pillow of ours. Not an incredibly expensive one but nonetheless we want to save it. I know we aren’t supposed to wash these but we had a foster cat pee on it and felt our hands were tied.

We live in an apartment so small washer/dryer. No option for extra spin cycles. My partner tried wringing it out with little success in drying it. We then left it to dry on a flat surface and nothing.

Today I tried to figure out how to do an extra spin cycle but just ended up rinsing it again. We tried ringing it out again. Then put it in the dryer on low & then regular heat in desperation. We did it alone and with towels in the dryer. No success, still wet. If it was summer we would put it outside but we live in Canada and our pillow will freeze lol.

The pillow is from Costco if anyone else has had to wash this.

Any advice would be so appreciated! TIA

TLDR: Memory foam pillow won’t dry (air or dryer). Any advice?

Hi guys! Looking for some feedback to help (or worsen) my nerves LOL. I had a Precipitous labor with my first baby (less than 3 hours).

Birth story: water broke at 10:30pm, contractions started back to back immediately afterwards. We got to the hospital and I had a baby at 11:51pm. No IV in my arm, no meds. They literally threw a gown over my actual shirt because I hadn’t even fully changed yet. So less than 2 hours start to finish. 39wks, he was perfectly healthy!

Currently pregnant with #2 and I’m just curious if anyone had 2 precipitous labors? I’m currently terrified we won’t even make it to the hospital this time considering we barely did the last time.

My OB said there’s an increased risk of it happening again and he’s going to be monitoring me extremely close towards the end but it’s honestly just going to be a surprise.

Does anyone have experience with this? I’m a little nervous and my husband wants to get things for the house just in case baby comes too quick. (We live 20 minutes from the hospital).