Flexi17

I have an 18 month old son who is an angel. He is the light of my life and I LOVE being his mom.

Before getting pregnant, I heard a lot of really negative things about motherhood -- that you have to completely give yourself up, that you'll never sleep again, that your marriage will be destroyed, that caring for a child is the hardest thing you will ever do.

I feel bad for saying this, but since I am blessed with a supportive family and partner, I've been able to maintain hobbies and friends, my husband and I have a strong marriage, and I sleep great. I know this isn't everyone's experience, and I definitely know it isn't something I'm doing "right" that others are doing "wrong." It's luck

I think it’s insane the level of pressure and guilt you get for being OAD as if a second child just magically appears and doesn’t come with risk to life and limb via pregnancy and childbirth.

It’s like people think you shouldn’t have a child unless you’re 100% committed to having at least two regardless of the health, financial, psychological consequences (some of which are impossible to know before you get pregnant ! You don’t know how your body will react to pregnancy and childbirth and not all of us are built for it!). Not to mention people who struggle with secondary infertility— should we all just not have children because of the chance of secondary infertility ?

The way people speak

14 months ago today I had my son by scheduled C-section for fetal macrosomia. Due to the circumference of his shoulders, he was incredibly difficult for the surgeons to remove.

Recovering from this surgery is ongoing and has been harrowing. I was completely unprepared for the experience that I’ve had — stories from friends and family about C-section recovery described it as “easy breezy” or ,at the very worst, a few months of pain and difficulty before feeling mostly okay again.

I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of why this isn’t my experience and wondering if I wasn’t as tough, fit, or mentally strong as other women.

Countless sessions of physical therapy and medical appointm

Hi all! I had a TERRIBLE postpartum experience and am still in daily pain 8 months later. I am almost certain I will not be doing this again.

How do you deal with constant comments from the peanut gallery??

Husbands aunt who I’ve met ONCE pulling me aside and saying “make sure you have another one in a couple of years” completely out of nowhere.

Uncle saying “you need one for the other hip!” when I walk in with my son.

Any attempt by me to express hesitation for a second with “oh… but wasn’t your son worth it???”

It’s just constant messaging of I MUST have another baby by soooo many people from all sides of the family and friends. I did not anticipate people putting this much pressu

Hey all. I had a traumatic post c section experience largely due to avoidable circumstances. Part of feeling better about it for me has been offering information to others who are planning to have one so they can hopefully side step some of the pain I’ve experienced. If this helps even one person I will be overjoyed.

TW-negative post c section experience (but by preventable things)

Medications: My hospital was short staffed and nurses routinely forgot to give me medications I was supposed to be taking. Many of these are over the counter and you can bring them yourself. Here’s what I recommend bringing: Tylenol, ibuprofen, gas-x, dulcolax stool softeners, miralax, magnesium citrate bottle.

I had an elective c section back in March. The surgery itself from my understanding went well but I am still in daily pain 8 months later and every time I think or talk about my hospital stay or ongoing recovery I start crying.

My doctors were against doing a c section but my baby was macrosomic and I insisted. After the surgery they sheepishly admitted a vaginal birth would have been bad— my sons shoulders got stuck in the c section incision and they had to jerk me around a ton and struggled to get him out. I had insane bruising all up and down my torso from the force they used to extract him.

Since then I have dealt with the following:

1. Begging and screaming for more pain relief and

My son turns 1 soon and I don’t want to throw a party. My in laws and parents don’t get along and I’m always stressed when I have to plan an event that includes all of them. I’d rather take a trip with my son and my husband to celebrate instead… however I feel like our families will be offended if they aren’t able to spend his birthday with him. WIBTA?

I feel horrible leaving my 6 month old baby with his new nanny. She is great— I have no concerns with her specifically and I vetted her as best I could. She was with her last family for 8 years and they loved her.

However… my son has recently developed stranger danger and does not want to be with anyone when mom and dad are not there. I feel physically sick when he cries as I’m leaving and I know he cries a lot during the day for her and she’s struggling to get him to nap. She is an experienced nanny and said this is very normal and he will adjust but I didn’t expect to feel physically so sick over it. I hate leaving him. I’m scared to let her drive him anywhere even though I told her she

My baby is 6 months old. I have paid for childcare already (non refundable) and was told last minute that all of my work appointments for the day were canceled due to a scheduling mistake... So basically I had a free day off while my baby was with his nanny. I took advantage and went to hot yoga, showered afterwards at the gym, went to a coffee shop and read a cozy mystery book, and am now headed for TJ Maxx to get some clothes that actually fit my postpartum body. This is my first day to myself since my son was born and I feel sort of guilty about it but I also feel like a new woman.

Parents- what would you do with a miracle free day off? I feel unlikely to be so blessed again but love he

Hey all. I’ve had a rough go of my c section recovery. I still can’t comfortably lay on my stomach, run, jump, or do anything much more strenuous than a brisk walk. My doctor told me after 6 weeks I could be back to normal activities which I wasn’t naive enough to believe— but 6 months seems insane to not be able to even jog. My incision hurts so bad when I try these things even taking it embarrassingly slowly.

I’ve done PT which said I look good and my healing is on track. I’ve been doing the core and pelvic floor exercises they gave me l. No major diastasis or pelvic floor issues. Incision looks fine. Mild scar adhesions I’ve been doing massage for.

Is anyone else still feeling this bu

My in laws are not interested in providing child care for my husband and I because they want to enjoy their retirement without responsibilities (even minimally like 1-2 times per month). I’m fine with this, as I understand that we are not entitled to their help. However, it does make me less inclined to bend over backwards for them to spend time with him in a fun setting where my husband and I do all the work. Our free time with our son outside of work is so limited and I feel like we are “entertaining” when my in laws are there. I feel this especially because my family (none of whom are retired) have been working so hard to help us out (babysitting him while we go on date nights, bringing u

I have had such a hard c-section recovery and am finally starting to see the light after four long painful months. A few days ago I started experiencing painful symptoms that my provider is worried are gallstones. I am in an absolute doom spiral at the thought of another abdominal surgery and I am honestly not sure how I will get through this. The only thing I am praying for is that this isn't really gallstones. I am in so much panic and anxiety and I don't know what to do. Anyone with similar experiences, any words of encouragement would help so much. I'm feeling crushed.

I gave birth to my beautiful son via c section 3 months ago. He is the light of my life and an angel baby but my c section recovery was HARD and I had some complications. I also hated being pregnant. My mom and MIL are already starting to make comments like “when he has a sibling…” and “you have to have at least one more…”

When I say I’m not sure if I can put myself through this again everyone jumps down my throat with “but look at him wasn’t he worth it????”

Of course he was worth it. But that doesn’t mean I want to do it again.

Am I missing something here? Am I really implying my baby wasn’t worth it just because I’m not sure I could do pregnancy and delivery again? All these comments

I wanted to let people know about my experience with my baby whose abdominal circumference was >99th percentile and LATE diagnosed gestational diabetes (37 weeks). I feel like I dodged a major bullet by electing for a c section and I wanted to let other people know to do their own research if they find themselves in this situation!!

My baby’s abdominal circumference measured >95th percentile at 21 weeks and >99th percentile at 36 weeks. His weight was predicted to be 9.5 lbs by 40 weeks so they suggested a 39 week induction. NO ONE brought up a c section and when I asked about it they said “oh women give birth to big babies all the time…” “as long as you don’t have GD your body won’t make a