u/Good-Fig5330

To make a long story short: My stepfather-in-law was laid off in January. My husband and I both begrudgingly tolerate the man. His ego and quirks make him difficult to be around, but fortunately, we only have to see him once or twice a year (they live five hours away) on our obligatory visits to visit my mother-in-law. 

Here’s the kicker. On month eight of unemployment, he decided to start what I can only comfortably describe as a poor attempt at AI-enabled grifting. He started by generating Toby Keith-esque country songs and posting full-length “albums” on Facebook. My husband and I rolled our eyes, thinking it was just a “local boomer discovers AI” sort of situation. He’s since piloted a LinkedIn-style leadership motivation series of AI-generated texts and images, the pairs of which almost never make sense. Again, we mostly ignored it. 

But then, the books started. Which meant I was dragged into it. 

For a little extra color — I’m a career journalist turned specialized corporate content writer/strategist by day. By night (mostly early mornings, actually), I write novels. I’ve spent the last six years working daily on a series that means the world to me, and I’m currently in the trenches of my seventh round of edits on the first book, with the full intention of querying my best work (I got so close in the last round, but my word count sank that ship - lesson learned!). I take this hobby as seriously as I take my daytime career. I am no master of this craft. It’s a day-in and day-out process to become 1% better at storytelling every time I sit down to write or edit. 

So when my father-in-law unceremoniously sent me his AI-generated manuscript wanting to “get my thoughts,” I was torn. Of course, in nearly any other situation, I’d be more than happy to review a friend or family member’s writing. I do it all the time! But this felt different. He’s fully intent on self-publishing this novel. 

Do I think it’ll sell? No. I don’t! I can’t say I feel “threatened” by another writer, or that I’m worried this book is going to be a runaway Amazon success. I read it. It’s… fine. The prose isn’t egregious because the AI was decently well-prompted. The characters have no arc. The plot barely moves. It’s 90% atmosphere, 5% police procedural tropes, and 5% repeated descriptions that are immediate AI red flags to a semi-trained eye. 

My mother-in-law has urged me to “please be nice” about the whole thing. She knows that even though I work for a company that plays in the AI space (we’re healthcare-adjacent), I have strong convictions about the use of gen-AI for creative work, especially when someone is trying to pass off the work as their own. 

We’re visiting in a few weeks, and they “can’t wait to talk to me” about this. Writer to… writer. I guess. 

My question for you all: What do I owe him in this inevitable conversation? Has anyone else encountered a situation where they’ve been asked to review/critique someone’s AI-generated work? I feel icky even having read it, but I really struggle pushing back on this guy. He’s exhausting to be around as-is, and I’d prefer to keep things as light as possible, just to get through the trip. 

I’m officially six weeks as of today! My husband and I are equal parts excited and nervous — we’ve been together for 10 years and this is our first pregnancy. We were super lucky to conceive after just two cycles of bona-fide trying.

Here’s where I’m a little stuck/uncertain right now. (OK, fine… I’m stuck and uncertain about a million little things, but this is fresh on my mind!) Is there a point/milestone where it’s generally acceptable to start buying a few things for the baby?

We’re going to be buying our first house within the next few months (yay!), which means budgets will be tight for a hot minute. Thinking about all the furniture, appliances, etc. we’ll have to buy on top of other new home expenses is about to send me into a spiral 😅 We won’t be getting any big-ticket nursery items/gear until we have a place to put it all, so there’s no point in stressing about that just yet.

But a few onesies? A swaddle or two?

Shortly after I got the positive test, I went to Target and picked out a single gender-neutral outfit (we obviously don’t know yet), some socks, and a little thumbie… as well as a basket with a lid to put it all in so I don’t obsess. I bought a few more onesies and a swaddle while out shopping today.

When I mentioned this to my mom, she seemed a little hesitant and told me it’s not a good idea to think about this stuff yet. She suffered a few miscarriages when she was my age, so I completely understand where she’s coming from. I know I’m not out of the woods yet at 6 weeks, and I’m still guarding my heart. I feel this bizarre guilt for buying a few items.

Still, even if something does happen, I know these things will get used someday. Emotions are wild right now! But I’d love to know when everyone else started… mildly nesting.

Hi friends! Three days ago, I got a positive pregnancy test after two months of my husband and I trying. I was over-the-moon! My ovulation date was a little tricky to catch in May, so I was honestly so surprised when I missed my period and tested positive at 14 DPO (grain of salt on the date). At this point, I should be somewhere around 4w5d.

I already had an appointment with my PCP scheduled on the day I found out because I’d been feeling so awful for days. During the appointment, I told her I tested positive, but that the line was somewhat faint and I’d love to get a blood test to confirm.

The results of the blood test were exciting at first because I didn’t quite know what I was looking at, in retrospect. Beta hCG was 26, which was just above the line of being positive. Of course, I started obsessively researching the number and realized that it may be stunningly low.

I reached out to my PCP immediately to ask for a repeat lab to see if the values were increasingly, but it’s been three days… and she hasn’t gotten back to me.

I’m heading into this weekend a nervous wreck. On one hand, I’m having so many of the first trimester symptoms I “should” be having. I can tell something is up. But I’m trying so hard not to get my hopes up. My mother miscarried twice before she had me. When I told her the news about the positive test, she was very hesitant to get excited.

I wish so badly that I could get the repeat bloodwork done just to know something. Should I be going to my OB-GYN instead? I won’t see her until the 9 week mark, but I’m just… feeling very discouraged and panicked right now. I’m the first of my friends to be pregnant, so I’m feeling very alone in this.

Any advice appreciated ❤️