u/DearestClementine

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are considering (very early stages of considering) becoming foster parents. My biggest worry/concern is being able to handle the behavioral aspects of parenting children with trauma. I would love to hear any first hand experiences. Was it harder than you expected? How much did it affect your existing relationships and obligations? I worry about being able to thrive in my job while trying to raise a foster child who has high behavioral needs. A little more about us below:

We live in a single family home, 4 bedrooms & 1.5 baths, about 1800 sq feet. No children of our own. I’m 34 and my husband is 40. We make about $240k combined in a HCOL area with a very high mortgage, so we have decent savings but nothing crazy. My husband is full time remote and I go to the office twice a week. We are both salaried and have benefits. We both manage people so even when we WFH, it can be demanding, both in sense of time but also emotionally demanding when dealing with personnel issues. We do have flexibility in the day, but most of the time we are quite busy.

We have two cats who are gentle and sweet. We have tons of support around us - we have 5 parents between the two of us and all are very supportive and hands on. Even more support in our extended family. We are both patient and calm, and I feel our household would be a very serene environment for a foster child. I’m not at all worried about my or my husband’s ability to remain calm and patient in the face of behavioral issues, more about the time and resources. Especially in the beginning during the adjustment period, do you take off work? Did you find it hard to balance your career/job with the demands of your new foster child?

I want to be sure we are prepared and have appropriate expectations, because I would never want to embark on this if I could not provide the care a child needs.

I would love to hear anything you want to share. Thank you.

I was hoping for an in person appointment or at minimum a phone call to discuss what Grave’s disease is, my medication plan, my plan for trying to conceive, etc. but instead I just got a message in my portal saying it’s Graves, no explanation, and that methimazole is at my pharmacy. Is this expected? This is my first chronic illness so I’m not used to dealing with doctors very often. Am I expecting too much?

I went to a Labcorp last week and the woman at the front desk checking me in was scrolling IG reels on her phone the whole time. Like while talking to me and taking my paperwork she was scrolling through reels. I went to the blood draw station and to my surprise, she arrived at the station and started setting up the equipment, all while still scrolling reels and laughing. She was not wearing scrubs, she wore regular clothes. I figured she was setting up for the phlebotomist but no, she proceeded to draw my blood. I let her do it, she did wiggle the needle a bit which hurt and I had arm pain later in the week but nothing serious.

Is this normal? Obviously the scrolling reels is not okay, but I didn’t expect the same person checking me in to draw my blood. Is Labcorp hiring phlebotomists to do the admin work to save money? This was the second Labcorp I went to because the one closest to me is so incredibly dirty and the staff don’t say a word to me there. Just wondering if this poor experience is specific to my area or if this is a Labcorp thing. Maybe I’m old but I don’t recall it being this way years ago (I’m only 34).

Hi everyone,

I just found out I have hyperthyroidism (TSH <0.005, T4 2.88). I have yet to be prescribed medication as I literally just found this out this morning.

My husband (40) and I (34) have been trying to conceive for 9 months. We had one positive pregnancy test in month 5, but that ended in miscarriage. I’m now suspecting my thyroid has something to do with my fertility issues. I also have very short and light periods, ear sensitivity, bouts of rapid heart rate, anxiety, heat intolerance, and fatigue.

I’m wondering if anyone has had similar thyroid issues and what was your treatment & timeline like with trying to conceive? I’m worried this is going to push our timeline back even further, and concerned about being on medication while trying or while pregnant. I will of course ask my doctor all of this, but would love to hear some anecdotal experience from others. Thank you!