u/Available_Pen_960

What the title says… I just paid it off in full after having it for about three years 😬 I still owed $12,000 on it. Lets just say I’m happy that its over and will NOT be making the same mistake ever again.

I feel like I’ve heard hundreds of names at this point, and either I don’t like them or I just cannot picture my daughter being named that.

The only two names that have really stood out to me are Seraphina and Arabella.

I actually had Seraphina picked out for quite a while and told a lot of people that would be her name. I absolutely LOVE the name and especially love the meaning behind it. My only hesitation is that I feel like people would inevitably shorten it to Sara, which I really dislike. I worry I’d constantly have to correct people, and I don’t want my daughter’s name to become something I didn’t choose.

I also really like Arabella. I think it’s elegant and feminine, and I love its meaning as well. I would prefer her to go by the full name Arabella, but I don’t mind Ara or Bella, and I could also see myself calling her Aria as a nickname.

I’m so stuck. I’m 32 weeks now, already packing my hospital bag, and people keep hounding me about how I “need to pick a name by now,” but honestly… nothing is clicking. 😭

Is it abnormal to be this far along and still not feel certain? And between Seraphina and Arabella, which one feels more wearable to you? I’d also love to hear any suggestions that have a similar vibe to these two, because maybe I just haven’t found the name yet.

I’m 22, 8 months pregnant with my first baby, and I’ve been having a lot of anxiety about my financial future and honestly my entire life.

I want to be completely honest that I’m not financially independent. I’ve been very dependent on my mom basically my entire life, and I still live with her. She helps support me in a lot of ways. I have about $15,000 in savings, but I don’t have stable traditional income or my own housing. I make money through my own clothing business, but even that isn’t reliable income. Some months are good and some months aren’t, and I use my savings almost like a checking account to cover things when I don’t make enough.

I’ve never had a 9-5 job. I’ve always been self-employed or had different “hustles” to make money. I’ve never really experienced having a traditional job, building a career, getting a regular paycheck, having benefits, etc. I feel like I’m missing a lot of basic life experience that other people my age have.

I’m also literally just now getting my driver’s license. I’ve had my permit, but I’m only now learning to drive independently and trying to get my actual license. There are a lot of things that I feel like most people figure out much earlier that I’m just now learning how to do.
I have good credit, but even that hasn’t really made me feel financially secure. I’ve had trouble refinancing my car because I’m self-employed and don’t have the traditional proof of income lenders want.

I have a 2019 Ford Transit Connect that I use for my business. The loan is around 22% APR, and I still owe about $12,000 on it. I’ve tried to refinance but haven’t been able to because of my income situation. It scares me knowing how much interest I’m paying.

And honestly, I’m starting to question whether I even want to continue with my business.

I’ve been doing this for a while, but lately it doesn’t feel reliable enough to build my entire future around. I almost feel like I’m getting signs that I should quit this hustle and start something completely different. I don’t know if that’s just anxiety because I’m about to have a baby, or if I’m genuinely realizing that I want a completely different career and a more stable path.

That’s where I’m really stuck. I’m in a place of a LOT of uncertainty right now.

My upbringing is also a huge reason why I think I feel so lost..
I’m an only child. My mom is 62 and had me when she was 40. She’s disabled, and we live together in a 2 bedroom apartment in a disabled community. She has basically never had a traditional career, and she homeschooled me growing up.

I love my mom and I’m not blaming her for my situation. But I’ve been dependent on her basically my entire life, and I’ve never really had someone in my life to look up to when it comes to having a career, going to college, becoming financially independent, managing money, buying a home, etc.

We also don’t have a large family or a big support system. It’s basically always been the two of us. I don’t have a bunch of relatives I can call and ask, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” or “How do I become financially independent?” I feel like I’m trying to figure out adulthood from scratch.

And now that I’m having a baby myself, it makes that feeling so much stronger.

My mom isn’t young, I’m an only child, and we don’t have a lot of family. I know that eventually I need to be able to stand on my own financially, take care of my daughter, and potentially be able to take care of my mom too. That responsibility feels really overwhelming when I don’t even feel fully independent myself.

I don’t have a degree or a career. I’ve thought about going to college, possibly for nursing or another healthcare career, but I’m terrified that I would fail. I was homeschooled and my math skills are extremely poor. I’m honestly probably around a 2nd grade level with math, and the thought of having to take college math or entrance exams is overwhelming.

I feel like I’m supposed to suddenly have everything figured out when I don’t even feel like I’ve figured out myself.

I want to eventually be financially independent. I want my own home someday. I want a stable career. I want my daughter to have a good life and opportunities that I didn’t have. I want to be able to support her without having to rely on my mom.

But right now I don’t feel like I have a lot going for me. I know $15k in savings is technically something, and I know having good credit is something, but emotionally I don’t feel secure at all. I don’t have a career, I don’t have stable income, I don’t have my own home, I’ve never had a traditional job, I’m still dependent on my mom, and I’m only now getting my driver’s license.

I’m also scared that if I’m constantly taking money out of savings to cover my expenses, I’m slowly spending down the only financial cushion I have.

I’m scared about what happens when my daughter is born. My income may change, I’ll have another person to provide for.

I’m not looking for judgment about being pregnant at 22. I’m also not expecting Reddit to solve my entire life. I just genuinely don’t know what I should prioritize.

If you were in my position, 22, 8 months pregnant, living with my disabled 62 year old mom, extremely dependent on her, self-employed with unreliable income, $15k savings, good credit, and a $12k car loan at 22% APR, what would you do?

Would you focus on paying down the car? Keep as much cash as possible for the baby? Work on making my self-employment income more official and documented? Go to community college and try to catch up academically first? Try to find a traditional job? Start an entirely different career? Focus on increasing my business income?
I genuinely don’t know anymore.

And if anyone has come from a similar background, being homeschooled, never having a traditional job or career, not having a career-oriented parent to learn from, being academically behind, being extremely dependent on a parent, having a very small family and support system, and suddenly having to figure out adulthood for yourself, how did you eventually get your life together?

I feel really lost right now.

I am a 22 year old female who is 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby and today is day 7 of a migraine that has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.

I have never had a history of migraines or headaches before pregnancy and was not taking any medications before this started.

I ended up being admitted to the hospital for several days because the pain became severe (10/10) and wasn’t responding to treatment.

While I was there they:
Had the neurology team evaluate me.
Had ophthalmology evaluate me, and they found no papilledema.
Did CTA/CTV scans of my head and CTA scan of my neck with IV contrast/dye (all normal).
Performed two occipital nerve block injections in the back of my head.
Gave me multiple migraine treatments including Compazine, Reglan, Zofran, Tylenol, Benadryl, magnesium sulfate, sumatriptan, oxycodone, and butalbital-acetaminophen-caffeine (ESGIC).
Monitored me for several days.

Despite all of this, the migraine has barely improved. The nerve blocks did not give me noticeable relief either.
After several days, my pain became slightly more tolerable, so the neurology team and hospital felt comfortable discharging me.

They prescribed me ESGIC/ESGIV (butalbital/acetaminophen/caffeine), Benadryl, and Ativan as needed. The problem is the medication does not seem to take the pain away completely. I’m still waking up every couple of hours because of the headache.

The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that the headache is very positional:
The pain is mostly in the front of my head/temple area with some occipital pain.
It feels like a squeezing pressure with throbbing/pulsing.
I have light and sound sensitivity.
When I stand up or sit down, I get a sudden intense throbbing, pulsing, and sharp pain sensation that feels significantly worse for about 20 seconds before settling back down.

Changing positions (standing, sitting, or lying down) seems to trigger the worst spikes of pain.
Some background: this is my first pregnancy, and I am considered higher risk for preeclampsia because during my anatomy scan they found left uterine artery notching, so my OB is monitoring me more closely.

During my hospital stay, my labs were also checked:
CBC showed normal white blood cells (9.5) and normal platelets (283), with mild anemia (hemoglobin 11.5).
Metabolic panel was mostly normal, including sodium (140), potassium (4.0), kidney function (eGFR >100), AST (23), and ALT (15).
Blood pressure remained normal/low during admission (around 92–121/52–76).

My neurological exams were normal (normal strength, sensation, reflexes, and mental status), and my imaging was normal, which is reassuring. But I’m honestly getting anxious because it has been a full week and the migraine has barely improved.

Has anyone experienced a migraine lasting this long, especially during pregnancy? Has anyone had a migraine that required hospitalization and multiple treatments before it finally broke?
What finally helped you get relief?
I do plan on following up with my doctors because my home medications aren’t providing enough relief, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar because right now it feels like this is never going to end.

I’m 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby and today is day 7 of a migraine that has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.

I have never had a history of migraines or headaches before pregnancy and was not taking any medications before this started.

I ended up being admitted to the hospital for several days because the pain became severe (10/10) and wasn’t responding to treatment.

While I was there they:
Had the neurology team evaluate me.
Had ophthalmology evaluate me, and they found no papilledema.
Did CTA/CTV scans of my head and CTA scan of my neck with IV contrast/dye (all normal).
Performed two occipital nerve block injections in the back of my head.
Gave me multiple migraine treatments including Compazine, Reglan, Zofran, Tylenol, Benadryl, magnesium sulfate, sumatriptan, oxycodone, and butalbital-acetaminophen-caffeine (ESGIC).
Monitored me for several days.

Despite all of this, the migraine has barely improved. The nerve blocks did not give me noticeable relief either.
After several days, my pain became slightly more tolerable, so the neurology team and hospital felt comfortable discharging me.

They prescribed me ESGIC/ESGIV (butalbital/acetaminophen/caffeine), Benadryl, and Ativan as needed. The problem is the medication does not seem to take the pain away completely. I’m still waking up every couple of hours because of the headache.

The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that the headache is very positional:
The pain is mostly in the front of my head/temple area with some occipital pain.
It feels like a squeezing pressure with throbbing/pulsing.
I have light and sound sensitivity.
When I stand up or sit down, I get a sudden intense throbbing, pulsing, and sharp pain sensation that feels significantly worse for about 20 seconds before settling back down.

Changing positions (standing, sitting, or lying down) seems to trigger the worst spikes of pain.
Some background: this is my first pregnancy, and I am considered higher risk for preeclampsia because during my anatomy scan they found left uterine artery notching, so my OB is monitoring me more closely.

During my hospital stay, my labs were also checked:
CBC showed normal white blood cells (9.5) and normal platelets (283), with mild anemia (hemoglobin 11.5).
Metabolic panel was mostly normal, including sodium (140), potassium (4.0), kidney function (eGFR >100), AST (23), and ALT (15).
Blood pressure remained normal/low during admission (around 92–121/52–76).

My neurological exams were normal (normal strength, sensation, reflexes, and mental status), and my imaging was normal, which is reassuring. But I’m honestly getting anxious because it has been a full week and the migraine has barely improved.

Has anyone experienced a migraine lasting this long, especially during pregnancy? Has anyone had a migraine that required hospitalization and multiple treatments before it finally broke?
What finally helped you get relief?
I do plan on following up with my doctors because my home medications aren’t providing enough relief, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar because right now it feels like this is never going to end.

does anyone have trouble just standing still vs actually walking around, i feel much worse standing still for example in line, or at a cashier paying for my groceries i get pre-syncope symptoms and if i dont sit down i end up fainting.

additionally, does anyones heart act weird while laying down in bed as well, its hard to describe but it beats weird or has palpitations even while laying, or pumps too hard? im not diagnosed with pots but i have an appointment with a cardiologist and plan to switch insurances to see the stanford autonomic disorder specialists.

also no matter how much sleep i get im exhausted feels like i did a big workout today