u/Prof_Not_Your_Mother

My husband has a long, two-part last name, let’s say X Y but with 15 letters, and not hyphenated. The second part of his last name is very easy to pronounce and use here as it’s a common wine/region and I don’t think we’d ever have to spell it out. lol

My last name is much shorter and easier to pronounce than X Y, but I always have to spell it out here because of the letters “b” and “v” in it. I always had to spell it out back home too and they’d still get it wrong (because it’s easily mistaken for other, more common surnames) so I had to always double check documents. I actually haven’t run into that problem in Canada as much. Lol

I was thinking of just using Y as the baby’s last name, but I’m not sure if that’s doable if we’re both birth parents. I also don’t know if we’ll run into any problems if none of us have the same exact last name as the baby.

I suppose another option would be to give the baby my last name. My husband even wanted to take my last name when we first started talking about marriage because he was so tired of his long and inconvenient last name. lol

I always imagined just using Y because it’s easy and convenient and impossible to get wrong, but now I’m faced with this dilemma. We would never give the baby his full surname because that’s just cruel.

I’m curious if anyone has done something like that, especially if you have dual citizenship. Just want to know what’s possible over here and how inconvenient things might be if travelling internationally.

PS I suppose the baby sharing my last name might help for when travelling without my husband to see family.

I’m trying to decide on the spelling for a non-English name. Could you let me know what would be your first instinct when coming across each of these? Thanks in advance!

1. Narrin
2. Naurin
3. Nawreen
4. Narin

First time parent here, expecting our baby mid December. I recently went shopping with my aunt and she made me question everything. Lol Apologies in advance I’m not using the right word for every item. I’m very new to all of this.

For those of you with winter babies, how many layers did you dress the baby in, either during the day or at night? I was thinking of a cozy sleeping sack and a zip-up or snap footie for sleep, but my aunt was pretty sure that I would also beed a onesie (as in a short sleeve, no legs snap on) underneath. I thought the footie would be enough and we both had a moment doubting ourselves because her youngest is also in her thirties and she can’t remember right. lol Her logic was that the PJs wouldn’t keep the baby’s belly warm. I remember my mom also being obsessed with this when I was a kid, and now I don’t know if they still make those undergarments anymore. Is that a generational thing, or did you all do this for your babies! I thought the t-shirt onesies would be for warmer weather.

Also, I think taking off three layers for a diaper change in the middle of the night is not ideal.

My partner and I are expecting our first baby, and everybody in the family is super excited, of course. I have a family member who is almost like a mother to me. She is a creative and has great taste, and she also tends to feel lonely or bored. She loves children and she’s especially excited about our baby because she doesn’t think she’ll have grandchildren of her own.

While I love her dearly and she was just lovely helping out with our wedding decorations, she also tends to turn things into large, overwhelming projects. She currently has a huge renovation underway, which she’s having a hard time with because it turned into a bigger project than anticipated.

She was over today and I showed her some wallpaper samples that happened to have just arrived. She didn’t like any of them and suggested I/we find a way to design our own wallpaper to match what I’d initially had in mind (which I quickly found out just didn’t exist lol). I told her none of us were painters or illustrators, so no.

Then I showed her the room and talked about where all the furniture would go, which I had outlined on the floor using painter’s tape. I wanted her help choosing an accent wall. She got all excited and said before we do anything else, we need to have a playhouse custom made. She’d brought up this idea before and I had said it was cute, but secretly thought it would be too much work. Plus, I want to leave some space for toys and a play area. I figured the room would kind of grow with the child, and I don’t really want to have a wooden house made if my daughter’s going to outgrow it within a year. We also have a really cute crawl space in the basement that I’ve always imagined decorating one day as a surprise for my child.

Anyways, I told her I didn’t really have the energy for a project that big, and that I wanted to keep things manageable. Plus, the baby wouldn’t even be playing in the “house” for another year or two, so we could always have something built later. Maybe it’s just me, but I also think there’s joy in giving your toddler who’s just started imaginative play a playhouse or tent, and it doesn’t need to be permanent or fancy. Seeing the look on their face beats them just playing withsomething they’ve had in their room since birth.

She understood and backed down, but part of me feels like an AH because she was sooo excited about this house idea. I also feel bad because I pointed out a flaw of hers when she was really just happy to welcome the baby. AITAH for implying that she tends to turn things into projects she can’t handle? It’s not that I’m busy or overwhelmed already. I have already ordered all the furniture, chosen a color palette, and started a registry. I also expect to have some free time a couple months before my due date. Still, I don’t want something custom made to act as a roadblock or bottle neck, if that makes sense.

I know this might sound like a minor issue, but I guess I feel guilty because I just wasn’t on the same level as her, emotionally. She tends to have more pronounced highs and lows, if you know what I mean.

Hi folks!

I'm almost petite and often struggle with bras (32DD). If I gain just the tiniest bit of weight in my breasts, my traps start killing me unless I wear the most supportive bra. I can't even wear any crossback sports bras or swimsuits because they put too much pressure on my traps. I'm doing OK right now because I'm only in my first trimester and I lost some weight before trying to conceive, but I have a feeling the pain will return as soon as my breasts start growing and will continue to be there while babywearing.

Has anybody in the same boat found a carrier that they liked? Do I have to look for the same qualities as I do in a bra? As in, super supportive material, thick straps that fall more on the shoulders and less on the traps? Any brand recommendations?

Also, I'm not sure if this is at all feasible but I have two medium-sized terriers that pull like crazy. It would be great if the carrier allowed me to bend down to pick up the poop. Or is that unsafe to do regardless of the type of carrier?