u/Empty_Win_9933

Hi everyone, unsure if this is the right place to post but I’ve started seeing a TCM practitioner who performed acupuncture on me today. I’m 39 weeks pregnant and I haven’t done labour inducing pressure points (she won’t until I’m overdue). Today before our session she touched/gently pinched my left index finger and felt a slightly quicker beat/pulse, and said it was a sign of soon/incoming labour. I have tried looking this up online but can’t find anything. She said it was a bit of a wives tale amongst practitioners. Anyone come across something similar?

Sincerely, a heavily pregnant woman desperate to meet her baby 😂

FTM here! 39 weeks tomorrow, no signs of labour (no loss of mucous plug etc). Haven’t even had the nesting urge. I am very lucky that baby has been able to cook for this long, as I think about the amount of strength and resilience that NICU and sleeping angel mums have.

I’m of the mind that baby will come when he wants to, so I’ve not really done the fads online (miles circuit, spicy food etc) as they’ve been proven to not work and are mostly coincidental. I’m sure I’ll give it a few days and then I’ll be doing everything 😂

In saying this, I’m SO fucking over it. I know that the most common week is 40weeks for first timers, but how did you get through the final weeks of waiting? I want to enjoy this time as I know I’ll never have this privacy and alone time again 😂 what did you all do to take your mind off things and what actually made time go a bit quicker!?

Expecting mum here, due in two weeks. My partner (Dad) & I aren’t married, and he’s really fine with whichever surname we pick for our baby. I have a surname with an apostrophe and a capitalisation that gets overlooked (think long, Irish last name). I consistently get mine spelt wrong, the apostrophe isn’t recognised on government websites (getting a passport, Medicare card or anything similar is a bitch).

His is direct and easily spelled. I was thinking of having my last name as a middle name for baby, and my partner’s last name as baby’s last name. Having it hyphenated with an apostrophe just sounds like a logistical nightmare for the poor kid 😂

Have any parents come across difficulties when travelling solo with their kid with a different last name, or on medical records etc? I could give birth any day now and still haven’t solved the last name conundrum 🤡

Hi all,

This one is a bit out there so stay with me 😂 I’d love to hear from people who are really into astrology, birth charts, particularly if it’s your area of expertise! I know this isn’t for everyone, (my partner included!) but please treat this question with curiousity and grace.

I’m in my last trimester of pregnancy and although I am aiming for a vaginal birth, there is always the chance of needing and pre-booking a c section if medically necessary in these last few weeks.

I am wondering how deciding on a planned date for my child’s birth would affect their birth chart. Am I intervening too much into their personality, traits etc that are determined by their time and date of birth? Or should I trust that the universe has decided that this date is their time and is meant to be, and that their signs will reflect that, even though it is decided ahead?

Parents who had pre planned c sections & and who are into this “mumbo jumbo”, how did you find it?

I’m currently 34 weeks pregnant with my first, and although I’ve tried staying off social media and keeping my algorithm as consistent as it was pre pregnancy, I am inundated with posts/reels/tik toks about how awful the first trimester is, and how incredibly hard it is, and how there is no help, and everyone abandons you, and your friends don’t give a shit anymore, etc etc etc

Everyone just seems MISERABLE post partum, or they make jokes about it being in the absolute trenches. I’m not expecting or asking for an easy baby. I’m not being unrealistic about my expectations. I know it won’t be perfect, I know I will feel down and have hormones all over the place. But it seems that society is telling me that the period after I give birth to my son and welcome him into the world will just be horrible and hard even though it’s “worth it”. Is it possible to actually enjoy it?

This of course doesn’t apply to those experiencing PPD & PPA, which there needs to be way more supports and less stigma towards.

My question is, did anyone actually enjoy it? Did anyone go “oh shit that wasn’t actually as bad as I was told to believe”?

Currently witnessing a friend going through PND/PPA. She’s extremely anxious, depressed and isolates herself despite me and others now inserting ourselves into her life (at first we tiptoed around it) but 7mths on after the baby’s birth it’s still so persistent. Her partner places himself first and she’s in denial about his capabilities as a dad when everyone else can see he’s a selfish POS who thinks the sun shines out of his ass whenever he changes a nappy or takes a selfie.

Her baby is incredibly fussy, has massive wake windows, doesn’t take a bottle (so Dad literally sleeps through the night whilst she works overtime to feed), cries and cries, and she’s constantly changing her plans so she’s stays at home with baby.

I’m due in a few months. I really want a calm and relaxed baby. I’m thinking of adopting the possums method, and my partner is looking to be SUPER involved with feeds, shifts during the night, and we want to work hard at sharing the load (I’ll pump but also breastfeed). Failing that, we’ll mix BF with formula (I really don’t want advice on the way I choose to feed). I want to be able to go out to cafes and pubs (during the day) for lunches and dinners, and do other things with friends to keep social. Is this just a pipe dream? If the more relaxed I am, does this transfer to baby? Or is it really just based on their personality?

I probably sound really judgmental, but witnessing my friend over 6 mths later in the throes of PND/PNA is something I’m extremely worried about.

I’m due in a few months, and

FTM here, 29 weeks.

Had a dream first trimester, then in my second I started experiencing severe migraines which I’d never had before. I’m epileptic, so I went to the ER to check them out. Didn’t feel bad about visit, as a seizure would have been really concerning.

Second time: vaginal bleeding for the first time. I was about 16-18 weeks? Found out I had a low lying placenta, we have monitored it during appts etc.

Third time: reduced movement, cramping, general feeling of unease. Everything was literally fine.

Fourth time now, I’m currently writing this from an ER bed. Had chest pains, faintness, shortness of breath, headaches. Vitals are fine. Baby is fine, I’m fine, they are just doing blood tests and waiting for results.

I understand how stretched the system is, and how overworked and underpaid nurses and midwives are. I just feel like I’m starting to go CRAZY and am becoming the mum who cried wolf. It’s so hard when you’ve never been pregnant before so you don’t know what’s normal. I don’t enjoy being here, I don’t like taking up time and resources that are better used for people who are in more need. Did anyone else present to the hospital multiple times during pregnancy?

I also think it’s a good idea for me to get into maternal counselling; although they don’t feel like panic attacks, these multiple visits may be pre and post natal anxiety.

Hey there! Expecting a baby in Aug and want to get on waiting lists as soon as possible. I’ve heard the waiting for Government childcare is obscene.

I’ve heard good things about Vic Uni childcare as a hidden gem. We live close to the Angliss children’s centre, anyone been there?

Would love more recommendations and advice.

I had a DREAM pregnancy up until week 18. I had two weeks of nausea around 9-12weeks, only vomiting a few times (I prefer vomiting over gagging, it feels like I’m actually getting something out) and considered myself lucky because it wasn’t everyday, and when it happened it was one vomit in the morning. I went swimming, did Pilates, I thought “oh I’ve got this in the bag!” HOW WRONG I WAS.

Second trimester, weeks 18 to now (23wks) has been horrendous, nausea, headaches, insomnia. Gagging every morning, I had to vomit in the street a few weeks back, insane headaches that last for hours (I went to the ER for one that had lasted 24hrs, incase it was preeclampsia or anything else - it was a “tension headache”). My fatigue is ridiculous, I either get very little sleep or too much, and either way I’m fucked. I’m trying to eat anything I can, and snack throughout the day, but I’m nauseous if I eat, and if I don’t eat. Today I have to go into work for a closing shift, and I’ve tried the BRAT diet for the first half of the day, a hydramama, a ginger tea, Pepsi, water, and Polaramine, nothing has worked. I can’t do any light housework, and my partner has been doing overtime and working his ass off at work to get up his time in lieu he can use once baby arrives. I work part time. I haven’t cooked for weeks, or cleaned for about two.

There’s been moments I’ve absolutely adored: feeling his fist movements and seeing them, having a bump, having people want to talk about my pregnancy. I thought this was supposed to be the honeymoon period, but I feel so deflated and tired. It seems no one else in my circle or in wider pregnancy support groups has this issue. I feel robbed. 🫠🫠🫠