u/LandscapeOwn8096

for context, i’m 31 weeks pregnant and have had type 1 diabetes for 25 years.
for those who aren’t familiar with type 1 diabetes in pregnancy, the glucose targets are INSANELY strict (to me at least), you’re expected to maintain blood sugars within a much tighter range, around 80–140 mg/dL, with some doctors recommending even tighter targets of 80–120. so suddenly, a reading above 140 is considered “high” which was completely foreign to me. but i did it, and throughout my pregnancy, i’ve had the tightest glucose control i’ve ever had in my life. before getting pregnant, i struggled with pretty severe diabetic burnout for about 2 to 3 years. i reached a point where i genuinely stopped caring about managing my diabetes, didnt check my bs, barely took insulin, honestly i dont know how i even survived but regardless pregnancy has helped me get back into the habit of taking care of myself, and for the first time in a long time, i felt motivated to manage my diabetes properly.
sadly lately i’ve started feeling myself slowly slipping back into those old feelings of burnout. i find myself reaching a point where i stop caring again but then i snap out of it because i feel this immense responsibility towards my baby.
i’m genuinely worried about what will happen once she’s born and i no longer have the same immediate motivation to maintain my sugars.
i still want to take care of myself, especially now. my daughter has given me another reason to prioritize my health. i want to be healthy, present, and around for her for as long as possible.
but i’m just so, so tired. 25 years of constantly thinking about blood sugars, insulin, food, and everything else, and especially after pregnancy with t1d and an impossible range to maintain, i feel beyond exhausted.
for those of you who have experienced diabetic burnout, how do you pull yourselves out of it? what has genuinely helped you regain your motivation and maintain it long term? please help me..

Hi all!
I’d love to hear how other families manage visits from grandparents who live abroad, particularly when it comes to setting boundaries and managing expectations.
My mother-in-law is very sweet, but I’m struggling with how to manage her expectations once our baby arrives.
For context I’m quite boundaried with my own mum, and she has accepted our dynamic. She lives nearby and will likely see our baby once or twice a week, and she’s understood that I will need a month to rest and recover with my husband and baby before we have any visitors (after the hospital).
My mother-in-law, however, lives in another country. She won’t be there for the birth (it’s difficult to arrange a flight and I honestly don’t know if I’m comfortable) so we’ve agreed for her to visit for 10 days when our baby is around one month old. We’re paying for her flights and hosting her in our home.
The issue is that she would prefer to stay much longer, potentially up to a month/couple of weeks.
While I completely understand her wanting to spend time with her grandchild, I find the prospect of hosting someone for several weeks, especially while freshly postpartum, quite overwhelming. She doesn’t have a lot of expectations, but I will still have this looming feeling that I need to “host”
She also doesn't know our country particularly well and isn't someone who enjoys going out independently. This means she would be spending most of her time with us at home, and we would also need to consider keeping her entertained and making arrangements for her.
I value my privacy and personal space, and I know this will become even more important while recovering from childbirth and adjusting to life with a newborn. I wouldn't be comfortable having my own mother stay with us for weeks/month either.
We've suggested another visit once baby is around 3 months old, when she could come with my husband's siblings for around a week. By then, I would also be further along in my postpartum recovery but I sensed she was still disappointed with these arrangements, and I do feel a little guilty. At the same time, I don't want to establish an expectation that she is welcome to stay for weeks or months at a time, I know I just wouldn’t be comfortable at all.
Looking ahead, we're considering having her visit every few months for approximately a week. We're also planning to visit my husband's family for around two weeks in summer 2027, with the intention of making this an annual trip.
My question is, does this seem like a reasonable arrangement for grandparents/direct family who live abroad? Is a week every few months too little?
I want my daughter to have a close and meaningful relationship with her grandmother and my husband’s family but I also want to maintain boundaries around our home and family life because I don’t want to be resentful.
For those of you whose parents or in-laws live in another country, how frequently do they visit? How long do they stay? And how do you manage expectations around hosting, particularly when you have a newborn?

Our housemaid lives with us and when she’s off duty or between tasks and relaxing in her room she sometimes leaves her door open. Her room is close to the living room, so I can hear her talking on the phone, eating, watching things, etc.
I completely understand that it’s her private time and I don’t care what she does in her room at all. The issue is that when I’m sitting in the living room trying to have some alone time, I can hear everything and I find it hard to fully relax or just be alone
I’ve never had a live in housemaid before and I don’t want to be rude so i want to ask, would it be rude or controlling to ask her to keep her door closed when she’s spending time in her room? I feel like it would give both of us more privacy, but I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable or like I’m policing her in her own space. What do you guys think please?

Update: thanks guys! I’ve let her know and she seems to have taken it well :-) appreciate the replies

i’m going to have a planned c-section and as the date gets closer, i’m getting more and more anxious. i genuinely feel like a mess thinking about it.
i can’t imagine lying there on the operating table, feeling pressure and everything happening around me, without having a full-blown panic attack. how do people do it?!
do they give you any medication to help you relax? if so, does it work? i’d really love to hear your experiences. were you calm and relaxed during your planned/elective c-section?
i genuinely feel like with how anxious i get, i might start panicking, screaming or asking someone to help me because i’ll feel so overwhelmed.

hi all i’m 29 weeks, ive been noticing lots of pain in my infusion sites lately. the first day will be fine then the 2nd or 3rd day it gets soooo incredibly sore. i’m wondering if its related to the increased amount of insulin i’m pumping as my resistance has kicked off. has anyone had a similar experience? anything helped soothe the pain? i can’t keep changing my sites before the 3 day mark (medtronic 780g) because i have a limited supply that my insurance covers, so i really need some help? or just proof that im not insane lol

hi all
i don’t have the best relationship with going to the hospital and usually put it off as much as i can, so being pregnant has been a bit challenging in that sense. this is my first pregnancy so i never know what’s considered “normal” or worth getting checked for.
a lot of the time when i ask about symptoms here, people recommend going in to get checked.
i’m 23 weeks for reference and i’ve been having on and off cramps throughout the day that have now woken me up from sleep. i don’t know if it’s gas, dehydration, or something else since i haven’t been great with drinking water lately.
anyway the pain freaked me out enough that i’ve come to the hospital and i’m waiting to be checked now.
i’m wondering, how often do you guys end up going in between your regular appointments to get checked “just in case” especially in your first pregnancy? i’m always worried i’m overthinking things and going in unnecessarily, but i also don’t want to ignore something important. i hope im making sense

23 weeks pregnant and today i’ve been so sore in my vulva area. it almost feels like someone’s punched me there, and i also have this weird cold, achey feeling, almost like someone’s sprayed ice spray on it 😭
i used to get a similar feeling during my period, but i haven’t felt it at all throughout pregnancy until today. i’ve put some ice on my crotch because it’s so uncomfortable lol but i’m not even sure if that’s okay.
is this normal? has anyone else had this kind of vulva soreness or aching in the second trimester?

i could barely sleep tonight from the smell of the sewage stench coming from outside. is it just me? i’m living in pulse villas dubai south. i know some areas get a sewage smell i’ve lived in mirdif and nad alhammar and that happens sometimes but ive never smelled anything like this. its so strong, it smells like straight up garbage. still going on right now please is anyone experiencing this too?

my husband only speaks english meanwhile i speak english and arabic, and its so important to me that our daughter speaks arabic. we also live in an arabic speaking country but its super multicultural heavily expat based and everyone predominantly speaks english in our community

i already know the basics like speaking to her in arabic, making sure i encourage that she speaks back to me in arabic, reading to her in arabic and making sure i stay consistent with it

what worries me is the later years because nowadays a lot of kids lose their arabic skills once they start school since they end up speaking english with classmates and friends and realistically she will hear me and her dad speaking english to each other at home too

so im wondering what helps kids stay interested in their second language and actually maintain it as they get older?

did anyone do things like reading books in their second language in exchange for money or privileges or getting a weekly private tutor or anything else that may have worked?

if youve successfully raised older children who speak your native language in a bilingual/mixed household id love to hear your tips please this is so important to me and i see so many parents around me struggling to keep the language alive even in arabic families because of how dominant english has become in our community :((

hi all
my mom (on the spectrum) never taught me life skills. i never learned to brush my teeth, clean myself, shower, change my menstrual pads. tidy up after myself or anything. i also have a chronic illness that she never taught me how to manage. she never taught me how to dress nice or look nice, i remember when i started getting into self care as a teenager and bought myself my first matching pajamas she was very weirded out and asked me who i was doing all that for. i had to learn on my own. it was a really bumpy road and i felt very alienated and strange and, disarmed, in a way for a very long time. im the only daughter as well. i’m pregnant now with a daughter and i just keep thinking about how important its going to be to raise her to care for herself and be independent. just wondering if anyones had similar experiences growing up in relation to life skills and how they’ve navigated it.

hi everyone i’m only 20 weeks but its my first pregnancy and im really starting to feel it. i feel so unbelievably heavy. and i have constant back aches and rib aches. i know i still have a long way ahead so it feels a bit daunting that this is going to get worse - is there ANYTHING that could relieve this? i just feel so HEAVY.

hi all,
i wanted to know everyone’s opinion on sleepovers? for context, i had a negative experience as a child during a sleepover with an older cousin (who was also still a child at the time). because of that, i’m wondering if i have a bias or if i’m projecting my fears onto my daughter.
my husband and i were discussing a hypothetical situation. for example, if my brother in law who has two young sons, asked for our daughter to sleep over at their house, my husband said he would be okay for her to sleep over but my immediate reaction is NO. his boys are genuinely lovely, sweet, well behaved children, and my brother and sister in law are wonderful parents and this isn’t about distrusting them i just feel so scared and feel like overall the risks outweigh the benefits.
i’m wondering whether it’s reasonable to have a blanket rule of no sleepovers with anyone, or whether you would make exceptions if you or another trusted adult were present and supervising the children the entire time.
i’d be interested to hear how other parents approach this?

so idk if this is dumb but sometimes certain juices or gummies - despite having the same amount of carbs - correct my lows quicker and more sharper than others. for example theres a certain brand of sweetened cranberry juice that is FANTASTIC for my lows - gets me back up so quickly. i could literally have the same equivalent amount of carbs of apple juice but it wont work as quick in comparison!
does anyone else notice this if so what do foods do you notice it with?

I’m looking to hire a live-out driver starting around the end of November for only two trips per day, 6 days a week, for approximately 6 months.

Route:
• 9:00 PM: Pick up a home nurse from DIP Metro Station and drop her at Pulse Villas, Dubai South.
• 9:00 AM: Pick up the nurse from Pulse Villas, Dubai South and drop her back at DIP Metro Station.

This is around a 15-20 minute trip.

A monthly payment of 1200 AED will be provided.

Please comment or DM me if you know someone who might be interested. Preferably someone based near Dubai South or DIP to keep travel time and costs reasonable for everyone involved.

Thank you.

So we have a helper. Usually I take my dog for walks myself, but I’m pregnant and hired a helper mainly to help with dog-related tasks. She’s been great with my dog and has walked her many times before, so I don’t want to blame her for this but maybe she’s not as in tune with my dogs exhaustion signs as I would be? I’m not sure. Anyways today she took my dog on the same walk they always do. It was around 6:30 pm, the sun was going down, and it wasn’t scorching but relatively humid as it always is in Dubai summers. My dog is an 11 year old Pomeranian and she doesn’t do long walks anyway. According to my helper, she was walking normally the whole time. Then when they got back to our doorstep, she suddenly paused, tensed up, and collapsed. My helper freaked out and immediately carried her inside. Everyone in the house was panicking and we quickly put a cloth soaked in cool water on her, offered water, and she gradually became more responsive. She drank a lot of water and we added some ice to help cool her down. This all happened within about 10 minutes and then she was back to her normal self, walking around and acting completely fine and even spritely. We called our vet, who advised us to monitor her overnight and bring her in tomorrow. He said it sounded like heat stroke or heat exhaustion, especially since she recovered so quickly once cooled down. I’ve been reading about it online and keep seeing advice from people in cooler countries saying not to walk dogs if it’s above 30°C, even if the sun isn’t out but how do people manage this in the UAE ?? Do you completely avoid walks in summer?? I’m curious how other dog owners here handle it. I’m quite traumatized now.

So we have a helper. Usually I take my dog for walks myself, but I’m pregnant and hired a helper mainly to help with dog-related tasks. She’s been great with my dog and has walked her many times before, so I don’t want to blame her for this but maybe she’s not as in tune with my dogs exhaustion signs as I would be? I’m not sure. Anyways today she took my dog on the same walk they always do. It was around 6:30 pm, the sun was going down, and it wasn’t scorching but relatively humid as it always is in Dubai summers. My dog is an 11 year old Pomeranian and she doesn’t do long walks anyway. According to my helper, she was walking normally the whole time. Then when they got back to our doorstep, she suddenly paused, tensed up, and collapsed. My helper freaked out and immediately carried her inside. Everyone in the house was panicking and we quickly put a cloth soaked in cool water on her, offered water, and she gradually became more responsive. She drank a lot of water and we added some ice to help cool her down. This all happened within about 10 minutes and then she was back to her normal self, walking around and acting completely fine and even spritely. We called our vet, who advised us to monitor her overnight and bring her in tomorrow. He said it sounded like heat stroke or heat exhaustion, especially since she recovered so quickly once cooled down. I’ve been reading about it online and keep seeing advice from people in cooler countries saying not to walk dogs if it’s above 30°C, even if the sun isn’t out but how do people manage this in the UAE ?? Do you completely avoid walks in summer?? I’m curious how other dog owners here handle it. I’m quite traumatized now.

i’m 15 weeks. At my 13 week scan, my doctor told me I had a low-lying anterior placenta. Then around 14 weeks, I felt what seemed like little flutters, but now they’re gone and I’m feeling a bit worried. Part of me is wondering if maybe my placenta has moved up slightly and is now cushioning some of those sensations, but I’m not sure if that’s even how it works. Should I get another scan, or is this normal? For those who felt flutters early on, did they steadily increase from there, or did they stop and come and go for a while before becoming more consistent?

I’m 15 weeks, my A1C is 5.4 so far. I did start off with 7.2, Im just bracing myself for when she’s going to start measuring bigger and how anxious it’ll make me feel. Right now she’s measuring on time and all is well.
When did your baby start measuring ahead? :(