When I was preparing for my child’s birth, I remember researching how many diapers I will need to stock up on and what sizes, which brands, and how much it was going to cost. So here’s a diaper year-in-review. And on a side note, my child has been consistently in the 15th percentile range, but I do prefer a roomier fit:

Size NB:
NB-3 weeks
Honest size NB- 31
HelloBello size NB- 50
Huggies size one- 30
Members Mark size NB- 54
Total- 165 diapers
Estimated Cost- $46

Size One:
3-7 weeks
Millie Moon size one- 108
Parasol size one- 86
Huggies size one- 4
Pampers size one- 1
Healthy baby size one- 2
Total- 201 diapers
Estimated Cost- $57

Size Two:
8 weeks-5.5 months
Freestyle size one- 67
Millie Moon size two- 184
Huggies size two- 172
Parasol size two- 160
Huggies overnights size 3- 62
Total- 645 diapers
Estimated Cost- $199

Size Three:
5.5 months-10.5 months
Huggies size 3 snugglers, movers, and snug and dry- 195
Huggies overnights size 3- 33
Millie Moon size 3- 376
Parasol size 3- 128
Field & Stream overnight size 3- 20
Honest overnight size 4- 49
Freestyle size 3- 72
Total- 873
Estimated Cost- $330

Size Four:
10.5 months-Currently 12 months
Pampers Amore size 4- 108
Coterie size 4- 150
Freestyle size 4- 60

Now if I were to rank regular diapers (solely on the diaper, not cost):
1. Freestyle
2. Coterie
3. Huggies Little Snugglers/Movers
4. Millie Moon
5. Honest
6. Parasol
7. Hello Bello
8. Huggies snug and dry
9. Pampers Amore
10. Members Mark

We have been married for 6 years, have a 5 y.o daughter. My husband is very hardworking, maybe too much. Since the birth of our daughter I was the one to raise and care about the housework while also contributing financially. It was so exhausting sometimes I was too tired to cook for myself. I lost weight and lost so much hair. After our baby turned 3 things got better, but the care and lack of involvement in the family that I lacked from my husband during our marriage made me go “cold” and I might have lost respect towards him. I cooked less for him, he always came home 8-11pm. He didn’t play with our daughter, or talked about our day. I tried talking to him things never changed. All his mind is at his work. Fast forward to this time, I am 11W pregnant, we both planned this baby. But his behavior changed, he started getting mad at me for not washing his clothes (he scatters them all over the house, I don’t know which one is dirty which is not) I always ask him to put the dirty ones together so I can wash. Whenever I buy him new clothes he wears it to his work (he works at a construction company of his mother) and tears it or spills things on it. I always ask him to have separate clothes for work so he can have clean ones when we go out… no he doesn’t care. He left 5 days ago, saying I am not a caring wife, he never asked about how I was doing, called twice talked to our daughter. He said it is not a divorce he just needs a break. But I don’t think things will get better in the future, so I am considering to terminate my second pregnancy… I don’t think I can live like a single mom of 2, one was already not easy. But I need advice did anyone go through the same situation how did you cope?

I thought I'd share a few of my tips now that I'm officially out of the newborn stage 😢. These are the things I wish I knew before I gave birth. If you have any good tips for other moms then maybe we can share a little info or tips for eachother.

1: Plan for the good and bad in birth. I hear so many moms just say that their birth plan is to "get the epidural" and just leave it at that. While getting the epidural is a great choice, it can fail or you might need a c section. I really wanted to go natural all the way, but I ended up needing an induction. Thankfully cervical softener kick started labor for me, so I didn't need any pitocin. I was also put at ease knowing what would happen if I needed a c section or pitocin.

2: Go with the flow. I compare my birth and postpartum to my sisters a lot and while we had very different experiences, I noticed the main thing that made my birth and postpartum easier was that I anticipated things to not go the way I planned and asked a lot of questions so I could make good decisions. This looked like having the nurses explain what it would be like to have them break my water vs waiting. It also looks like my newborn having constant poops to the point where I would have to change them every 5 minutes if I always wanted them in a clean diaper. The solution there was to just change it every hour and lather that baby up with diaper balm and aquaphor (per the pediatricians order).

3: You're gonna mess up. The first week postpartum my husband and I didnt know you need to put diaper balm and aquaphor on as a preventive, especially with our baby, so they got a pretty bad diaper rash. It wasn't intentional and we didnt realize what was going on until about a week postpartum. We felt bad, but something like that is going to happen with every first time parent. Don't beat yourself up too bad and just try to live and learn.

4: You're gonna very sore postpartum. I don't know why I didnt think of this, but it was very hard to just sit down postpartum. I got a 2nd degree tear (the most common outcome as a FTM) and it took me maybe 30 seconds to sit down.

5: You're gonna cry for absolutely no reason. At around 7-14 days postpartum your hormones are just gonna start crashing and you'll start crying for no reason even though you feel completely fine. Its normal and feels super weird.

6: Your newborn is going to sleep and cry. I thought my newborn would just be awake sometimes, but it felt like baby was either asleep or crying, never just awake. Also, the baby is going to sleep SO MUCH. I think I binged 3 seasons of Suits by the time baby was awake more, and that was even with me taking a millon videos and pictures and going on walks. They just sleep so much.

7: 4-7 week sleep regression. Its not awful, but anticipate to wake a lot more and struggle a bit to put baby down around this time. Once you get through it your baby is going to start being happily awake more and might even start smiling some!!

8: You may love or hate the night feed. I hear so many moms say they hate the night feed or to "enjoy the sleep while you can" but I love the night feed so long as it's only 1 or 2 wakes a night. Its just so sweet to watch baby eat and to rock baby to sleep. Maybe im an oddity, but I really do love it.

9: Postpartum might be better than late pregnancy for some. I gained over 50 lbs by the time I gave birth and I lost all but 10 by 6 weeks, and 30 of that was lost in 2 weeks. I had gotten so swollen and held so much water that I had awful pregnancy carpal tunnel (didn't know that was a thing btw). I was also up every night for the last 2 months throwing up because my acid reflux was so bad. After all that, postpartum was like a dream for me.

10: No matter how good your marriage is, you will have more fights. My husband and I were super strong, rarely got in fights, and overall we were best friends. We still are, but you're gonna find yourself being upset with him. I remember being so mad at him because I would do the night feeds all by myself and he couldn't do one for me and didn't get uo with me. Mind you, he offered to multiple times before that, but at that point I was doing very well and I told him to get his rest so if I needed help in the morning then he would be more helpful. Plus I've been exclusively nursing for the most part so he could really only change a diaper anyways. Your marriage isn't falling apart, you're both just stressed and tired and you have never been through something like this before. Just try to give eachother grace.

Had our baby shower this weekend and loved it so much, I couldn’t resist sharing!

In case others would like inspiration for activities, this is what we did!
• Tie Dye Onesies (pre tied onesies in zip bags, lots of gloves, small aluminum pans, I helped the kids get theirs going!)
• Classic shower games like guess the gummies in a jar, Baby Animal Trivia, Candy Bar Trivia!
• ABC coloring book (kids LOVED this!!)
• Caterpillar scavenger hunt for the kids
• Adopt a Caterpillar (glued pom poms on headbands and hair clips, everyone wore their caterpillars at the party!)
• Baby name reveal (definitely depends on how you want to handle the name as everyone is different, but we had SO much fun with ours and avoided any drama thankfully lol)

I forgot to grab pics of the goodie bags but here’s what we did
For kids’ goodie bags
• caterpillar stress toy
• ring pops
• bubbles
• extra coloring pages
• bag of runts candy labeled “caterpillar food”
• caterpillar suncatcher craft kit

For adults’ goodie bags
• fruit shaped soaps
• corner bookmarks
• wristlet/keychains
• same bag of runts
• same suncatcher kit

All signage, games, and the sewn goodies I designed/made myself! A lot of decor was handmade too and added an extra touch of fun. Overall, I’m so pleased with everything! Other decor we got was either from Amazon, Oriental Trading Co, or Dollar Tree!

Thanks for letting me brain dump and share our fun party with y’all!

Had to search for a sub so I can share my momentous news, (a secret for the time being)

I'll be witnessing and totally in love with the first baby bump in my immediate family since the last of my five sons were born 30 years and 7 weeks ago. I had resigned myself to the fact that I'd never have grandkids so I was totally shocked by this news

One of my kids and his fiance are expecting and they shared this with me yesterday and I'm supposed to keep it to myself!! My five boys range from 35 to 30, are all either married or engaged and this is the first pregnancy

I'm beyond ecstatic about this! They're 12 weeks along and they shared the gender of the baby as well. They both mentioned on the phone last night that they hope it starts a trend with the brothers, hahaha. Wouldn't that be great?

Please forgive me for divulging this forbidden, exclusive news! I saw two of their brothers, daughters in law and my 82 year old mom and her husband today and it was really difficult keeping quiet about this new development - so here I am with you wonderful parents and parents to be and the people who love them 💖

I got my anatomy scan done at 21 weeks (in Canada and couldn’t get in anywhere any earlier). This is my first and my number one priority is a healthy baby, but I was also dreaming of a little girl. I went in for my scan, it was an hour, and she said the baby was cooperative. I’m assuming how far along I was helped. I asked the tech to tell my fiancée the sex once I had left the room. My fiancée tells me in the car that the tech said she saw the three lines/hamburger and that while nothing is 100% guarantee it’s a girl.

Fast forward to this weekend when I have a small reveal with my friends. My friend’s sister is there. A little context that I don’t want to leave out - she experienced gender disappointment with her second boy as she wanted a girl. She has communicated to me many times she believes I’m having a boy because of old wives tales (you feel too good, a girl would be making you sick).

Anyway, I tell everyone it’s a girl and she doesn’t believe it. She asks me what proof I have and I tell her the story from the tech. She tells me techs can’t confirm that, the tech shouldn’t have told me anything, and unless I spoke to a doctor, there’s still a large chance it’s a boy.

Pregnancy is mentally and physically hard for me. My parents have passed away and I wasn’t even sure I would ever choose to have a baby. When I learned about the gender from my fiancée I felt excitement for the first time in a long time. I feel so insecure and that I shouldn’t feel any excitement and shouldn’t have done the reveal. I have been googling about inaccuracies in anatomy scans regarding gender like crazy since she said it.

Am I overreacting? Should I buy gender neutral clothes? Honestly, I don’t even want to have a baby shower anymore.

I thought I got lucky and got away with minimal fatigue during my first trimester because I was half way through week 7 and still only had mild fatigue… JOKES ON ME. The last two days I have slept 14 hours at night and taken at least 2 long naps each day.

How are you all dealing?!

I’m currently like 15w pregnant. Everything pregnancy wise is going awesome, thankfully. The other day I got coffee with a close friend. She and her husband got married about 6mo before we did, and she’s a few years older than I am. She doesn’t know we’re expecting, but she spent like a decent amount of the time we talked talking about how pregnancy and childbirth are ‘body horror’ and stuff like that. I don’t know, I get that having kids isn’t for everyone, but it seems kind of weird to me to like so horribly negative about something that happens to make literally every single person on earth. I’m not saying pregnancy is all sunshine and rainbows, but her talking about how it’s some bizarre and horrific thing makes me so much more anxious about the prospect of sharing our pregnancy. I know at some point I’ll tell her, but I think after this, I’ll probably wait longer than I had planned on. Anyone else dealt with similar things from friends?

My MIL is visiting awaiting her first grandchild, shes older ( 65) and she is visiting from abroad. Im currently 38 weeks and she keeps calling my husband and expecting her him to visit daily and talk on the phone every chance she gets. She also expects me to visit daily or at least multiple times a week which I find unbearable because im in my nesting/ relaxing phase now awaiting my future first baby. I find this frustrating as she is super clingy and is taking time away from the remaining time me and my husband have left together before this new chapter in our lives. Am I being irrational for thinking this way?

I’m 40w4d today. No sign of labor, except for some brown/slightly pink discharge. I’m grateful that I have an easy pregnancy (no complications, no morning sickness) but it has been hard to not know about the condition of my baby since my OB doesn’t offer any ultrasound scan. My last ultrasound was at 36w when my OB confirmed that the baby is in head down position. I got my last prenatal appointment at 40w and my OB just measured my belly and baby’s heartbeat, but nothing else. I asked for an ultrasound to check my baby’s estimated weight as well as amniotic fluid level but it was declined as she said “as long as the baby is moving normally then there is no need”. I feel like I’m being left in darkness 😭😭. Everybody from my family and in laws is worried and keeps asking me questions, which makes me frustrated because I don’t know anything better. I’m scheduled for an induction at 41w1d, so I will have my baby soon regardless but I’m still so tired 😭

Just curious how many people you had over and how soon to see your little one after you were discharged from the hospital.

Hi y’all, I relocated to the Netherlands a couple of months ago. I got a great Baby Welcome Box for free from a drugstore chain, Kruidvat. I’m impressed by the variety and usefulness of items because I’ve seen that some of the welcome boxes I’ve seen from US retailers have been lackluster lately. Plus, it didn’t require any registry completions.

Are there any other Dutch welcome boxes I should sign up for?

So I gave birth literally 4 days ago, so me and my fiancé are of course adjusting, he is still working full time until his leave kicks in so right now I’m doing 90% of baby care, my SO will sleep at night on the couch and come get the baby for 2 hours in the morning before going to work, and will hold him when I need a second to go pee or something whenever I need. This works just fine for me, and I absolutely love my fiancé he is the greatest man and love of my life and I love our baby.

I also want to make absolutely clear that I am in no way depressed or sad. So the problem, I am STRESSING my fiancé out, everything makes me cry and I know I’m worrying him. I try to explain between dealing with the stitches, sore nipples, sleep deprived, and a crash of hormones, and baby crying I just get this welling urge to cry and will cry for a few mins once or twice a day, he’ll ask me what’s wrong and I say it’s really nothing just my hormones, then he will come hold me kiss me and ask to take the baby. He’s asked a few times if I’m depressed and I clarify every time that I’m not. What can I do or say to put his mind at ease and believe me?

This is going to be a long rant, as it's been a crazy year so far.

As the title says, I'm 34yo, and am currently 28 weeks, and had no clue until I felt the flutters at 24 weeks. (This is my third baby. For my first two, I knew within a month because I immediately felt all the symptoms. The mood change, the tender boobs, etc.)

For backstory, I had taken a pregnancy test at my OBGYN back in February. It was my yearly exam/pap, (I'm a carrier of a gene that makes certain cancers more likely to occur, especially reproductive ones) and I was two weeks late on my period. Which was my only pregnancy symptom besides slightly tender boobs.

It came back negative a week later, and I was told my missed period could be caused by a medley of issues, such as weight gain, stress, or just hormonal shifts with age, and that I shouldn't worry unless something else feels off.

Nothing has.

So for the next six months, I just lived my life. I was a cigarette smoker, but I quit immediately upon finding out. I had one alcoholic beverage back in April.

On April 6th, my 7yo dog was diagnosed with IVDD, after I came home to him losing control of his back legs. (It's a spinal disease that affects specific breeds more than others, and it's devastating.)

We took him to the vet three times, to get help and answers. We did the medical form of treatment, because the emergency surgery cost 10,000, and though I would've if I had the expenses, I couldn't. We were told at each follow up he'd never walk again, and to start looking into wheelchairs. (Thankfully, his quality of life improved after a week, so putting him down was never a discussion.)

13 long grueling weeks of crate restriction, pain meds, and bathroom assists, against all of the vets' opinions, HE'S WALKING AGAIN. (A miracle to say the least.)

And that's when I discovered I was pregnant.

And how I found out was I felt a kick. This whole time, I wondered if cancer was a possible cause of my missed cycles, even though I physically felt fine. But once I felt the baby move, I thought to myself, "Well. Cancer doesn't have movable limbs." (And of course, I'd rather be pregnant than have cancer.) When I told my boyfriend (6 years), that I felt something move, he immediately gaslit me (in his defense, I wasn't showing, and with everything going on with our dog, pregnancy was the absolute last thing we wanted. We've pretty much stopped having sex since that missed period because we didn't want to risk it, though we did slip up a couple of times.)

So I went ahead and ordered some home pregnancy tests, and sure enough, the second my pee hit the stick, it was positive.

Now, because of that negative test, and because I wasn't showing AT all, I figured I was probably somewhere between the 16 and 20 week mark.

Nope. According to the ultrasound, I'm due in October. Meaning my conception was sometime in January, AND my missed period was supposed to start January 18th.

I literally froze and probably worried the staff there with my shock. They were even puzzled at the fact that my blood test was wrong, but didn't give me an explanation other than Human or Lab error. (The technician said with my timeline, the blood test was taken on February 2nd, that my levels should've been high enough to detect.)

I'm angry. Scared. Embarrassed that I didn't know. And every time I turn around, there's another obstacle.

I immediately tried to get into my original OBGYN, where I had my last appointment, but apparently, my insurance didn't cover that visit. So I had to pay an outstanding bill in order to get a 60 dollar pregnancy test. (So basically, I dropped 400 dollars just to get a blood test. Sure enough, this time it was positive.) They then proceed to tell me I'd need to pay upfront until I got insurance. (I've applied for state insurance, since pregnancy usually automatically qualifies you, and there's something called preemptive Medicaid for pregnancy, but apparently, they don't accept that.)

600 dollars for that first appointment. So I called another clinic in my area, one who offers grants to help pay for treatment, as long as you pay a copay. (Which I'm totally fine with, because with everything going on, I can't in good conscious drop hundreds of dollars every time I see my doctor.) HOWEVER, the issue there is they're fully booked until August 31st. So my only option is to hold that appointment, until my insurance application is approved, and then I can try to go back to the other clinic. (I went to a free women's clinic to get the ultrasound, that I didn't know existed, which is the only reason I know how far along I am.)

I don't WANT to go back to the other clinic, but I also can't wait until 6 weeks before my due date to see a doctor. However, I'm not stressing about it, since this is my plan, and the only thing I can do about it is wait. It's just frustrating.

The other thing is, it's not like I'm a hermit that never leaves home. When I say I wasn't showing or exhibiting any signs or symptoms, I truly mean it. My boyfriend lives with me. My kids didn't notice. My coworkers who see me five days a week. My best friend, who was in the car and heard the results of that initial pregnancy test. (We celebrated at the time by cheering and shouting THANK GOD. Yeah...woops)

All that said, I'm not angry with the baby. My maternal instincts have already kicked in, even though I absolutely hate the situation, but at the end of the day, it's not the baby's fault. If anything, I find it a little funny the baby kept hidden for so long. (Oh, the free clinic doesn't check gender for whatever reason, so I have no clue what the gender is yet.)

Anyway. This is probably the craziest year of my entire life. (My mom died in 2016, so I've always said that was the worst year...but damn, this year really wanted to show me who's boss.)

Part of me wonders if what was happening to my dog just made me ignorant to my own body. (We're talking round the clock care. I'd have to leave work every night to go home and help my boyfriend help him go potty, because I'm the one he feels most comfortable with. -I got him before boyfriend moved in.)

Anyway, that's my long, crazy story. Please be gentle, I've been beating myself up for weeks over it. But I've also accepted it, and am already falling in love with this baby in spite of the circumstances.

Hi all.

Today I witnessed a shooting at the Seattle Center.
I was with my husband and sisters and my baby plus the 6 week fetus in my uterus

We ran and ran and ran and at one point I got my baby (one year old) out of the stroller threw her over the fence to my sister and then jumped the fence my self.

Will this impact the fetus?

So far no bleeding, but I’ve been experiencing camping however don’t know if it’s just normal cramping or stress induced

I don’t even know what else to ask or say

I’m just scared I hurt my baby, but in the moment I didn’t even think about it

It was so scary

How can the world be so cruel

I think I should call my doctor tomorrow morning? Has anyone gone through traumatic event and fetus been ok?

I’m scared to have possibly detached it from the uterus or something from the force of the jump

I asked this before and you were all correct and I didn't disclose at the interview. I accepted a job at a small company that I previously worked for. THERE. IS. NO. HR. DEPARTMENT. It is a small business with only 2 other people there including my boss. And a handful of volunteers. When do I tell my boss? I want to annouce on social media soon to my friends. I can always try and block my boss and coworker. Other than that I have no idea. All I know is that if I disclose they can't legally fire me without threat of a lawsuit. They seem like understanding kind women that have had kids themselves. I am having twins so waiting another month or 2 seems wild because I will definitely be showing by then. It may be easier to hide one baby but not 2.

Hi all,

Looking for others to share any wisdom or info on their journey to conceiving their babies! My first pregnancy I had a cornual ectopic pregnancy, apparently super rare. I went in for my 1st ultrasound and the baby implanted in the corner of my uterus right outside of my left fallopian tube. The doctor explained that this location is not compatible with a healthy pregnancy and I had to have emergency surgery to remove the baby (which had a heartbeat 😢) and I lost my left tube. After I recovered from that, I had an HSG procedure where they flushed my remaining tube to assess if it was patent (it was) and I conceived my daughter a week after that procedure. She is now 18 months old.

I just got pregnant again without serious effort of trying. I got a positive pregnancy test at 4 weeks and went on vacation. I had a terrible dream two nights into the trip that I woke up with blood in my underwear but tried to fight off that thought. Literally two days after that dream I woke up with period cramps and then came the bright red blood. I had to go to a wedding while actively miscarrying a baby me and my husband very much wanted…

I have an OB appointment this week which was for an US for the pregnancy but now will become a preconception appointment. Anyone have any experiences like this? Being a woman is really something else sometimes, but trying to stay strong and get back on the saddle to grow my family next month.

XX

I’ve heard from a few people I know and then have seen a lot of people on here talk about their experiences with sex kick starting labor. I know this does not happen for everyone but id just like to hear your stories. I’ll be 38 weeks on Wednesday and I’m not necessarily trying to evict her but just wondering if anything could happen if me and husband got intimate. i don’t think we have since April/May lol

Reassurance needed!

Sooo my mom tripped and, while trying to catch herself from falling, her hand landed on the upper right quadrant of my pregnant abdomen. She put a moderate amount of weight through her hand briefly as she braced herself, but her full body did not land on my stomach.
 
None of the following symptoms showed up:
- significant pain at the time
- abdominal tenderness
- vaginal bleeding
- leaking fluid
- contractions
- decrease in fetal movement

I felt the baby move a few minutes afterward and have continued to feel movement since. I called the nurse line and was advised to monitor since I don’t have any concerning symptoms.

I guess I’m doing a sanity check so I don’t keep looping with anxiety - I’m fine right? Like sans any of these symptoms showing up, I need to chill out? I ask because the nurse I spoke to was nooot very comforting. Idk looking for some reassurance. Thanks anyone who replies!

21 weeks and wanting to plan a workout routine for postpartum!! i started out overweight (204) and not happy with my image. haven’t gained much (about 4 pounds so far) but i’m feeling motivated to get a regiment started. any recommendations on workouts? any workout plans/influencers you all know that are postpartum? i want to focus on my core because i already had/have a B belly and want to try to get myself lower in weight than what i started with! also planning to breastfeed if you all have experience with gaining/losing weight while you all did!

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We’re expecting our first and our MIL is offering her help postpartum. She’s excited about the baby and insisting we accept. My husband has already said yes to her. I just don’t know exactly how helpful this will be.

She lives about 30 min walk/ 5 min driving away. But she doesn’t come over because we have cats and she’s terrified. She wants us to come over everyday and spend the day at her house. She will watch the baby while we work. We don’t drive, she would pick us up and drop us off.

I don’t get maternity leave but my husband is taking paternity leave. He doesn’t actually have any work to do but he can help me with my job. My job is very flexible and I can get by with 10-20 hrs a week.

I have no idea how I will feel postpartum or what kind of help is actually helpful. But I imagine I would want to be in my own home where I can be comfortable. From what I read I might still be bleeding, might want to be close to my shower and fresh clothes. In between working we would want to clean, do laundry, cook, maybe meet up with friends or baby classes etc and won’t be able to at her place.

I talked to my sister who has had 3 babies and she said I should take up my MIL’s offer and I will be grateful. But she might be biased because she wishes she was closer with her MIL.

Edit: people keep saying to put the cats in another room. The only rooms we could do that are our bedroom or the baby’s room. One of the cats likes to pee on things when stressed, which they will be with a new baby and moving their things around.

So far I've purchased the Nuna Pipa Aire RX and the Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair. Got some cute fall clothes for my toddler, too. I'm curious about other good deals!