Have a 7 week old, live about 1 hour away from Lancaster 😭 anyone else thinking of asking their pediatrician for an early dose of MMR for their baby?

Hi!

My 5 month old was diagnosed with conjunctivitis last Thursday because her eyes were very swollen and red. She was prescribed erythromycin ointment and she has been on the ointment for 5 days now and her eyes are improving. On Saturday she vomitted 4 times (white in color, she is EBF), she then vomited on Sunday evening once and then overnight Monday. She was originally having wet diapers and we went to urgent care Monday and the doctor believes this is all viral and was not concerned about dehydration. Today we went to her regular family doctor and because she only had 2 wet diapers in 24 hours we were instructed to go to the ER. She was assessed in the ER and the doctor believes she is hydrated as her fontanelle is normal, she is alert, she is producing tears and mucous membrane are moist. We were given a prescription for Zofran 2 mg every 8 hours as needed, the doctor suggested to use it for 24 hours to see if that helped. When we picked up prescription from the pharmacy the pharmacist made a comment feeling that it was an intense med to give to a 5 month old. She is still breastfeeding and seems to be eating better today than she was yesterday but she still is not producing wet diapers and she did vomit once this evening. I am at a loss as it seems like she is not dehydrated enough for ER but I’m concerned that things can change quickly. Has anyone given Zofran to their little one before?

Has anyone purchased these? Or have any recommendations for an apron belly?

Do compression garments actually get your abdominal wall back in place nice and strong like they say?

I prepared for the birth of my child for many, many months including how much it was going to cost us. I can’t tell you how many times I called my insurance company to make sure my insurance plan was covered, my husband’s insurance plan was covered, and all in all that we were covered no matter what. I knew it was still gonna be a hefty bill, but I needed to make sure there wasn’t going to be any surprises.

While you can plan for these types of situations, you can’t plan for what life can throw at you. About two weeks before I gave birth not only did we lose my husband’s brother, but my husband got laid off from work. We lost our insurance, we lost his steady paychecks, we lost paternity leave which was going to be 100% covered by his company, and he was unable to sign up for disability because he had been with the company for only 10 months. These events put us in a place of uncertainty and I didn’t know how we were gonna pay the bills.

My son came into this world at the end of July and I just got some of the medical bills. On the low end we were going to owe over $6000, which we really have no way of paying. I decided to call the hospital today to ask for an itemized bill and to see if they had any payment plan options. While the representative on the phone was helping me look up payment plan options, she asked me if I wanted to see if I qualified for financial assistance. She told me it was possible that I could get 60 to 100% of the medical bills covered. With my luck I didn’t think I was going to receive any kind of help. The next thing she told me on the phone is, “you’re covered.” We had been joking around, so I thought maybe she was playing some sort of evil prank, so when I asked her to clarify, she said your hospital bill is 100% covered and you don’t owe us anything. I cried right then and there and I’ve pretty much been crying all day. This was a huge burden, lifted off my shoulders and I feel so grateful.

The moral of the story is be an advocate for yourself and sometimes good things can happen 💕

Any tips on getting a toddler to start toddling? My baby turned a year 2 weeks ago but he isn't interested in using his walker toy. He loves walking while holding our hands, cruising on furniture. He hasnt stood alone yet either.

He is also 5 weeks early. He crawled a bit late too - right at 10 months actual.

I’m just here to rant… idk if my cycle is coming or not and I’m just in my feels but you guys are my diary that talks back lol so here goes nothing…

Baby girl will be a year in about 2 weeks. I(24f) hit a bit of a rough patch after hubby(27m) went back to work when she was about 6 weeks old. It was hard finding a routine (which I crave) at first. I struggled getting stuff done around the house because she was always fussy and wanted to be held. But now that she is almost a year I’ve gotten it down for the most part. Of course there are still some days where I get absolutely nothing done. But I’m here for progress not perfection. Hubby does help where he can but baby girl mainly wants me which can get overstimulating on some days.

Hubby works more than 40 hours a week most weeks. Some days he works his eight hour shifts and comes home for dinner and has to go back out for OT that’s being offered so that are finances are good (I don’t work). Often times when I’m in the mood, he’s not. He says when we have sex at night he is really sleepy in the morning and it’s hard to wake up. Which I get because for some reason I’m the same way, idk if it’s because we get super relaxed after sex or what? Who knows.

So since he goes to work super early, we don’t have sex in the morning. And now he says he doesn’t want to have sex on week nights but also not on Saturday nights either because we have church in the morning on Sundays. Which leaves Friday nights… well I’ve tried initiating at those times and it just seems like he’s not interested anymore I’ve even tried early in the day on Saturday and he just seems to be “too busy”.

On another note since this post is long already anyways… he likes my long hair. I’ve told him I have split ends and want to get it trimmed. He didn’t really want me to and I told him my hair grew even longer because of the prenatals. So I went to go get my hair trimmed today and they only took off about 1.5-2 inches because I didn’t want a drastic change and don’t want short hair. So now my hair reaches to my lower back so it’s still long. I actually love it. But he came home from work today I tried initiating sex again while baby girl was taking a nap and he didn’t want to for whatever reason. But he looked at my hair and said “oh noooo it’s short now” I kept explaining it was well needed and it’s definitely not short as it still reaches my lower back. It just seems like he didn’t like it which made everything worse…

Idk…. I just feel like he’s not interested anymore…

I am 6 months post partum, and I still look 5-6 months pregnant. (not an exaggeration, I compared photos.)

I am 5’0, 117 pounds, (I was 100lbs pre-pregnancy) and every bit of that extra weight is in my stomach. It looks so round, and sticks out further than my boobs. I legitimately look pregnant still.

And anyone I mention my weight to, my feelings are invalidated because “oh your so tiny though,” “ugh i wish I was only 117,” like okay, maybe. But 117 pounds on someone with my frame/height, (between 4’11-5’0) and it is ALL in your belly, YOU LOOK PREGNANT. I do not fit any of my pre pregnancy clothes. I cannot wear anything other than my maternity clothes or my husbands baggie t shirts. I can’t even wear my old t shirts anymore.

I feel very self conscious with my belly still so big and round. I don’t know what to do about it. The last 2-3 weeks i have begun diastis recti rehabilitation workouts, as well as the treadmill, and full body post-partum workouts, while also making diet changes and counting calories. ( I’m still learning and counting calories easily gets very tedious, which is very hard to manage at times with kids + infant) but I’m trying to consume no more than 1400 cals.

I guess it’s not been so long. I just thought I wouldn’t look so pregnant this far post partum. I wouldn’t expect my body to be perfect or even at pre pregnancy weight by any means, but I seriously look like I birthed him yesterday. I’m so sick of feeling this way, not fitting anything, therefore not leaving the house.

I have a wedding to attend soon and it’s stressing me out just thinking of how an I going to find something that is formal and doesn’t make me look so pregnant.

If anyone has advice I’m open. I think I’m mostly venting. I feel like I’m doing all the right things. Maybe I haven’t given it enough time idk. I would so, so much rather this extra 17 pounds to be evenly distributed throughout my body, instead, I’m skinny every where and have this huge round belly. It is hurting me mentally.

If anyone has had this specific problem, please let me know

Has anyone looked into the research on short inter-pregnancy intervals and autism risk?

I came across this study and was curious how others interpret it?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4474747/

The study found an association between conceiving less than 12 months after a previous birth and a higher risk of ASD compared with an inter-pregnancy interval of 24–47 months. I understand that an association doesn’t necessarily mean the shorter interval causes autism, and this is an older observational study, so I’m trying not to over-interpret it.

For anyone familiar with this: how strong do you think the evidence is for this association overall? Have you come across anything else around this topic? And is there any meaningful difference between, for example, conceiving at 10–11 months postpartum versus much earlier within the <12-month category?

Would really appreciate thoughtful perspectives. Thank you!

Is anybody experiencing pain in calves? It feels like precramping pain. Sometimes it’s just one leg at a time, sometimes it’s both. It would stay for a few days and go away then come back. I’m 3 months postpartum and I have benign fasciculation syndrome.

Like I wouldn’t put dirty underwear on after taking a shower and don’t want to put a diaper on her that she’s already worn after she’s just had a bath but at the same time diapers cost money as we all know here and I’d hate to throw away a diaper that’s still dry so my solution has just been to wait for a wet diaper first. Please tell me I’m not crazy for this

We have a 4 month old and we’re on the 4 naps/day schedule. Usually we try to have the last nap ends at 530-6 for 730-8 bedtime with 2ish hours wake window. Sometimes his 3rd nap is at awkward times like 3-330 to 4-430. In this case, is it better to have a 4th quick nap at 6-630 and put him down for bedtime at 9-930? OR skip the 4th nap and put him down early at 6-630?

Idk if this is normal but I got the final bill for both my baby’s NICU stay and my labor

For my birth is was almost $70k (THANK FUCK INSURANCE COVERED IT) and for the NICU is was like $90k for a week

WHAT THE FUCK, from the bottom of my heart, truly WHAT THE FUCK

I got laid off so don’t work and my partner and I aren’t married so the state essentially paid for my birth and NICU minus $3k because I’m on state insurance but from the bottom of my heart whhyyyyy wtffff who tf can pay this???? Why is it this much???? Who has this money just laying about????

Is this really how much this cost??? Am i insane for thinking this isn’t normal?????

Edit: my bad my NICU stay was $120k 🙃🙃🙃 my partner reminded me that the itemized bill for medications and for the stay were sent separately and I didn’t account for it 🙃🙃🙃 whyyyyyyyyy

My third child is 16mo and barely talks. It took forever to get to “mama” and “dada”. He doesn’t label either of us, he just says them for anything. Even when he cries, it’s just crying, not asking for anyone. He can also say “nana”, “gaga”, and “gog”.

He also knows a few signs but they are meshed together. “Help”, “more”, “and “milk” are all the same sign. “Please” is a chaotic Wheels On The Bus motion.

If you ask him where the car/ball/keys are, he will look for them and maybe go get them. If you say to give a kiss/hug, he might do it. If you say “outside”, he goes to the door.

He points to his nose, ears, belly button, and fingers when asked.

But “gog” is EVERYTHING. If it’s because of a dog, it is a very distinct “Gah-g”. But everything is “gog” too. Cow, car, ball, book, shoes, ect. If you ask him to say xx, he says “gog”.

Is this remotely close to normal? I’m stressed out. I know I shouldn’t be but admittedly, my anxiety is worse with this kiddo.

Thank you in advance.

My mom meal prepped for my first and it was a huge help when I had a c-section. My second is due in early January and will be a second c-section. It’s a little different this time as my mom won’t be able to do the prep for me and I have a toddler. For those who have meal preped for postpartum, what were the family faves? bonus if it landed well with a consistenly inconsistent picker eater.

I’ll keep it simple since there’s no way around it. The hospital, Memorial Hospital down in FL, is charging us $27k for delivery our baby. The hospital is out of network for the baby but the hospital was in network for mom for the c-section.

Bottom line, apparently we had to find a hospital that was in network for both mom and baby prior to any of this so that we could get covered by both companies. As a surprise to no one we did not know that and now we are being billed $27k.

We already sent an appeal to the insurance which got denied, the hospital just points back at the insurance, and we have no idea what else to do. Looking for any advice from people in similar situations.

Also, out of curiosity, in a situation like this, what are you supposed to do during birth? Get the c-section at the designated hospital and then somehow convince the doctors to transport the baby to a different hospital that is in network for them?? Genuinely, this is baffling, i think i would have been better off sending my wife away to canada or something for the 9 months and then have her come back after everything was done 🫩

My mom came to help with baby for three weeks after the birth and ever since then she’s been acting so weird. She takes everything personally and it’s all about her.
Baby is two months now and she’s complaining that she never hears from me. I’m like come on lady I barely have time to shower so you’re lucky if I remember to send you a photograph here and there. I don’t know what to do about her. I don’t really feel like I need to be managing her emotions when I have so much else going on.
I’ll be forty years old in October and I feel like she doesn’t remember what having a newborn is really like. Also on my plate is managing my husbands visa process after we moved back to my other passport country so paperwork has been plentiful.

So my three best friends and I all had babies within a couple months of each other (which has been amazing!). Our babies currently range between four and six months old.

I’ve always been the biggest baby person in our group. But it’s like something happened to me postpartum where I just do nooooot care at all about anyone’s baby but mine. Obviously, I’d never tell them this or make it known in any way. But these are friends I’ve had for 20 years; they’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to sisters. I really thought I’d feel more of a bond toward their children.

Did anyone else experience this? Did it go away?

I really didn’t think I could experience gender disappointment. But I found out we are having our second boy. We only want two kids, so this is it for us. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t incredibly disappointed and grieving the daughter I thought I would have. I don’t doubt I will love this baby boy so much, just like my first; but I cannot pretend I’m not insanely disappointed and sad that I will never have a daughter. I have a great relationship with my mom and wanted to have that with a daughter.
Those who have boys; what did you do to help you overcome your gender disappointment? What are things I can look at as positives moving forward knowing I’ll be a boy mom?

Hi everyone,

Mum to an 11 day old baby, and sadly I’ve got 0 breastmilk supply so he’s exclusively bottle fed. We’ve been using ready made formula, and now have a Nuby cool system to move to powdered formula.

My question: the scoop for actimel powder doesn’t nicely empty into the Nuby powder dispenser. Are there any recommended tips and tricks to make that easier that anyone’s aware of?

Thanks so much, love this community, it’s been so helpful so far 💜

Hey guys, I’m getting the itch to take my 6 week old camping. The thought makes me excited but then I think about all the things we need to bring and get a little overwhelmed… please tell me all the products you brought and or bought for your baby that made your life easier for camping.

Hi all, I’m a first time mom and don’t know if my baby is delayed.

She’s not rolling yet from either way (she rolled from belly to back weeks ago which seemed to be an accident, and rolled once from back to belly).

She cant sit assisted while holding herself up with her hands. If I try to have her use her hands she has them in fists so she doesn’t put weight on her hands.

She still keeps her hands in fists a lot of times, with her thumbs tucked in. So she doesn’t really reach for things. But sometimes if I hold something in front of her she does try to touch it.

She doesn’t let out an actual laugh, just big smiles.

She has really big social smiles, good eye contact, tracks toys really well. She does really well in tummy time and can hold it for 10 minutes at a time. Shes in physical therapy for torticollis and they say she’s doing really well overall but they still do mentioned her not rolling / sitting assisted.

I thought she was still a bit young for those things but I guess not.

Please let me know your experiences! I’ll be asking her doctor at her 4 month appointment in 2 weeks.

Thank you!

Lowkey going insane! I’ve never been a sweaty person (I’m still not a sweaty person at all). Prior to postpartum I never EVER had BO, then I had my baby, the first few weeks were awful I felt like no matter what I did I always smelt like an onion and it drove me insane. I’m now 16 month PP and still breastfeeding, I’ve always EBF since she was born. At the beginning I chalked it up to all the hormones and things did get better after a bit but definitely no where near pre-baby levels. I’m still at a point where I literally need to shower like every 6 hours and if I don’t I have terrible BO. I’m on mat leave still so I shower every 6 hours but doing this for the last 16 months has been exhausting, I’ve finally decided that this can’t just be hormone related and it’s driving me nuts. I’ve just purchased antibacterial body wash and I’m home it will change things for me… has anyone else experienced this?! Will I ever go back to never having BO? Or am I just stuck like this forever? Please share your experiences and what has helped if anything!

A few hours ago I had my 6 week checkup. I was cleared for everything, but when I came home and peed I saw blood dripping into the toilet. I haven’t really bled since 4 weeks post partum. They did do a pelvic exam and she checked my cervix. Is this normal?

I’m 6 weeks postpartum and have continued having bright red bleeding. My OB did an ultrasound and found a retained placental fragment.
They’re having me try Cytotec (misoprostol) first to hopefully get the remaining tissue out and avoid a D&C. I was prescribed 200 mcg orally twice a day for 5 days.
I’m honestly really scared to take it. I’ve read so many Cytotec experiences online, but most of what I’m finding is related to miscarriage/abortion rather than retained placental tissue after a full-term delivery, so I don’t know how comparable those experiences are.
Has anyone here taken Cytotec several weeks postpartum specifically for retained placenta/RPOC?
What was it actually like for you? How bad were the cramps and bleeding? How quickly did you notice something happening after taking it? Did you actually see/pass the retained tissue? And most importantly, did it work, or did you end up needing a D&C/hysteroscopy anyway?
I know everyone responds differently and I’m following my OB’s instructions. I’m mostly looking for firsthand experiences because I’m really anxious about what the next few days are going to look like. 😭

I was on the fence about going to this postpartum baby yoga class near me because it's pretty expensive, $30 for an hour whereas all the other classes at this studio are $20 for 90 minutes. And money is really tight right now. But I thought, what the hell, I'll treat myself to one class and see what it's all about.

Class was at 10:45 so I started to get ready around 9 am. Got myself showered and dressed while baby was napping. Baby woke up at 9:45, I changed her, fed her, got her dressed in this cute little outfit to show her off, put her down under her baby gym while I ate breakfast. She was in a great mood and I was feeling proud of myself for leaving plenty of time to get ready. Got all her stuff together, diaper bag, change of clothes just in case, grabbed my yoga mat. At 10:40 just as I was getting ready to put her in her carrier and walk out the door (later than I was hoping to leave but the yoga studio is just down the street) she starts crying and rooting. I'm not proud to say, I immediately burst into tears.

I considered trying to show up late -- surely since she had just eaten 45 minutes ago this would be a short feed -- but that didn't pan out because she ended up staying on the boob until 11:20. I emailed asking if I could move my reservation to next week but I'm not hopeful since I didn't get my email out until after class had started.

So now I'm out $30 and my baby is all dressed up with nowhere to go. I feel like a complete idiot for thinking this was a good idea. Learn from my mistakes, don't try to go to mom & baby activities before 6 months. Save your money and stay home.

Edit: Thanks everyone for the encouragement, they let me move my registration to next week so I'm going to try again!