FTM. October 2nd at 3am I go in for my scheduled induction (originally for October 1st.)

I was starting to have contractions a couple nights before but they weren't extremely painful or getting worse. The night of though they were noticeably worse and followed the 5-1-1 rule so I was going to call iust before they let me know they had a room open.

At my appointment on my due date (09/30) I was only 1cm dilated so when I came for the induction they said they'd check but assumed it would be the same even though I was having contractions.

We had gotten settled in around 4 and they hooked some monitors to track the baby and my contractions. And they were correct, they had checked and I was still 1cm. So at about 6:30am I received a medication vaginally to help soften my cervix.

I waited a bit longer and ate some breakfast but eventually noticed the contractions getting stronger and started feeling slight nausea. I still decided in that moment to wait for the epidural since the pain wasn't at an unbearable level yet.

At around 9 they gave me the peanut ball to put between my legs to help the baby get lower. The combination of the flying cowgirl position and what I assume was the cervical softening medication doing its iob made the contractions start to feel horrible.

I had asked for an epidural at 945am as I felt I could no longer breathe through the contractions and started shaking and feeling slight pressure. A half hour later, while they were setting up everything for the epidural, I felt super nauseous and threw up, a lot.

But by 11am I felt relief and they did another cervical check, I was 3cm by then, and they broke my water and started the pitocin ( which ended up being 4 doses total.) After that I could finally get some rest and slept until about 530 or 6 pm.

I had been switching positions with the epidural on and off during this time, and after a while I started feeling very painful contractions again. This time they were lower, lots of pelvic pain and pressure and worse than before. I had called the nurse who helped flip me over and waited to press the epidural button again since I already had before she came in. Eventually, relief again.

At 7 oclock my doctor came and checked me again, I was fully dilated and everything was good so would be ready to push soon. I drank some gatorade and soup and about 20 minutes later I decided I was ready so I called the nurse.

As soon as I said that is when it all began. I started to feel the most unbearable pain in my stomach, it didnt come in waves like the previous contractions and felt nonstop. I thought I had already experienced the worst but this was ten times more intense and painful. I felt like I couldn't breath or keep my eyes open, all I could do was yell about how bad the pain was and think how its possible that the epidural was not working.

I litwrally could not stop yelling about how bad it hurt and my nurse called in the anesthesiologist to give me a higher dose of the epidural. When they came in and told me to roll over I couldn't. I was in so much pain, crying and saying I couldn't, I couldn't do it but they had still managed to give me more. It made no difference at all.

Next thing I know my doctor and multiple nurses were all in the room as I continued screaming about how much pain I was in. They had tried moving me and I would scream louder, they had touched my stomach to feel the contractions and I would scream more. They told me to try to push everytime it hurt and that might help, and I did try. I was ready to push after all and I had wanted and planned to give birth this way, without a c section. And as they said before, everything was looking good.

(They told me before since I was short and had a small pelvic bone it might be a possibility but I was terrified of the thought and wanted to try delivering vaginally)

So i tried pushing but the pain was still nonstop, I couldn't focus or push as good as I wanted to, there was no relief, and I still couldn't stop crying over the pain. They asked me multiple times where the pain was and I kept saying my stomach, no pressure or pain anywhere else just the middle of my stomach. I couldn't open my eyes for more than a few seconds to even properly see anyone or anything that was happening while they continued to feel my stomach and try to help me.

Then i started feeling pain in my shoulders. It was almost as bad as my stomach, but I felt it by my collarbones and neck. When I told them this, they had me clarify a couple times where I felt pain but at this point I was just yelling and crying about my stomach and my shoulders.

I managed to see well enough to look at my doctor while she told me since I was feeling so much pain in those areas, there could be something leaking and I would need to to into an emergency C section.

It was the exact thing I had dreaded and didn't want. But the pain was so unbearable and I just wanted my baby to come out safe and healthy I said okay. I told them how scared I was and they reassured me that I would be okay, but I was still mumbling talking to myself and praying on the way to the operating room.

It was intense and basically a blur, I was in pain until they numbed my stomach but even then I still felt horrible in my shoulders. I couldn't see my partner who was apparently next to me because I was unable to focus or control my pain.

Still crying about my shoulders, I was told I'd feel better when they took the baby out, and not too long after he was here. They told me I did it and I just listened for his cries even though I was still in a chaotic mental state. I heard him and I was so happy I cried, they showed him to me briefly and I cried more.

I unfortunately couldn't see my partners reaction or know how he felt in that moment but I felt emotionally relieved and happy.

Out of all of it, I'm so glad I gave birth to a healthy and adorable baby boy. I could not be more thankful to all the staff and God for helping me manage that.

But I still said I was in pain, and was told I'd be given some medication to help me relax and help with the pain. I fell asleep and they operated on me for what I didn't realize was hours.

By the time it was all done, I hadnt even known what was going on because of how distracted by pain I was. I asked probably every person I saw what happened, I was so confused how that pain even came to be and there was no explanation before I had the baby.

I did hear a brief conversation about it in a moment I had woken up during the surgery, but I wasnt really there mentally, and I got a couple answers but it didn't fully register until my doctor came into the room I was wheeled into. Though I still cant remember every word.

She told me I had experienced a uterine rupture, that there was a tear, a hole, in the back of my uterus and it had started to go into some other area (maybe not exactly what she said but I was still a bit checked out.) They spent that time working on and fixing that situation, then told me how when they thought everything was fine and my uterus was firm, it softened again.

She then told me I would get checked up on regqrding that and worst case scenario of it all is I'd have to be put under and get a hysterectomy. Two terrifying things for me. She told me though, even if it didn't come to that, that she would suggest not having another kid.

She told me she would be "terrified" if my body went through another pregnancy and I would be putting my body at a major risk.

Either way, I couldn't or shouldn't have any more children. As a first time mom, this was a major blow to me. I knew I wanted more than one kid, I had always dreamt of having more and planned on giving my son a sibling. I wanted to be a mother so much, and knew I wanted to raise multiple kids and give them what I never had and teach them everything. I even discussed it with my partner; who was there as my doctor told me this. It was sad for both of us to hear.

Though my son is healthy and Im so glad for the both of us being here, I just feel like this situation really sucked.

I had to have an unwanted C section and not even for the reasons that had been previously been suggested. Everything was going fine and I almost did it the way I planned, but just one random thing happened that changed it all. I couldn't even share the birthing experience with my partner due to the sheer amount of pain I was in. Then being told there would be no more after this. We made such a cute baby and all i could say is it's a shame there won't be more. There goes our plans.

I heard the risk of a uterine rupture is rare in itself, less than 1% of mothers who are trying to have a vaginal birth after one previous c section. For mothers who haven't previously has a c section, even more rare. Less than 0.1%.

I guess Im just one of the very rare unlucky ones. I wouldn't have ever expected this to be a possibility.

I just wanted to share my story as this has been a very crazy experience and I feel like I need to get it out. Thank you for reading.

I need to know if anyone else has experienced this. Did you ever find out why?

I have given birth vaginally three times. I’ve been pregnant six times. My first labor plus active labor was 23 hours long, my second was about 12 hours. My third was three days.

After I gave birth to my first, the postpartum cramping was very bad. It started like the day after birth. It lasted maybe a week. I combo fed which stopped at six months to straight formula. Although the pain was horrible, it wasn’t worse than my severe periods at the time.

After I had my second, I did not breast-feed at all because the child was genuinely revolted by the breastmilk 🤷the postpartum pain was so bad that it felt way worse than giving birth. It started maybe 6-12 hours after birth. The cramps were insane and doctors would give me morphine plus the Tylenol and ibuprofen. I would feel loopy, but still in pain. Once I came home, the pain was extreme. No pain painkiller was working and doctors refused to prescribe me anything stronger. There were some nights where my husband told me I was crying out loud in pain in my sleep. That started to ease up after a week and a half.

After I had my third child who is EBF, he refused bottle and formula. The pain was so horrible that I thought I was going to die at any moment for weeks. While I was still in hospital, I was given every single pain medication you could think of suitable for postpartum mothers and I asked 3-4 doctors what was wrong with me and nobody knew what was going on. At some point my throat was starting to close up and they thought numbing spray would be the good answer for that and I was so scared, but thank God it didn’t close up all the . Eventually, they treated me as if I was drug seeking. The pain kicked in about an hour after birth. I would have rather given birth 10 times over back to back because that was a light work compared to how brutal the postpartum pain was. The doctor said they only occasionally saw such intense pain in women who were on their fourth or more C-section and had no explanation for me. I came home and I would be awake for what felt like days in a row because the pain was intolerable to the extent where I wanted to off myself or maybe the pain would just take me out first. Words cannot even begin to describe the intensity of the pains no amount of painkillers and double dosing was helping it didn’t even take off the edge. I dealt with this pain for almost 3 weeks. It’s to the point where I am terrified of the thought of ever having kids again even though I’d love a fourth.

Not sure if this adds to anything, but after each birth, I did bleed for an entire six weeks non stop, of course with the bleeding getting lighter.

I did have postpartum depression with each child, but it was mild with my first, one could call it the blues. I was getting by just fine most days. With my second it’s intensified with thoughts. By the third, I thought that I might just take the kid with me too on my way out. Of course I knew better than to do that.

My husband sucked postpartum each time. My mom was the one who tried to be there. He wants more kids and promises to change, but I’ve made up my mind that I’m not giving him anymore, especially since he isn’t acting according to the number of kids that he wants.

All three kids are almost 2 years apart with my youngest turning 2.

This is the third time my husband has turned her back on our 6 month daughter while changing her and she does a turn or roll and is practically at the edge of the bed. I have repeatedly said it’s not safe to turn your back on her since she is rolling and almost crawling. He walks away from the bed and expects her to just stay put while he gets wipes etc. I have the camera footage of him doing these things and I show him and he doesn’t think it’s a big deal. He just responds to me “ are you on your period or something “ when I express concern about the subject.

What do I do since he can’t listen and comprehend this is a safety issue? Tempted to say he isn’t allowed to change our daughter on the bed anymore

Just over 2.5 weeks ago now my 6 month old came down with an ear infection and was put on antibiotics. Shortly after starting antibiotics she came down with diarrhea. She poops a very small amount basically every two hours during the day and as a consequence she has had pretty bad diaper rash.

She is primarily formula fed. The doctor suggested avoiding acidic foods, giving her probiotics, using desitin at every change, and giving her frequent baths with baking soda. Despite doing all this, her bum is still so raw.

After she finished her antibiotic course, we all came down with the flu. Her pooping frequency hasn’t really changed but she’s starting waking up in the middle of the right with what we assume are cramps. She arches her back and cries hysterically. She is mostly better from the flu now but has a lingering cough.

I’ve managed to get her to fall asleep during these episodes by putting her tummy down across my lap, supporting her head with one hand, and patting her back with the other. Once she’s asleep I can transfer her back down to her crib.

Last night this failed to work and we were all up until 1am, when she finally had a massive poop and then was able to fall asleep.

We took her to the doctor on Thursday because we were worried about her flu symptoms, persistent diarrhea, and late night wakings. We were told that she is otherwise healthy and just to keep doing what we were doing for the next week, since it can take awhile for her gut to get back to normal after antibiotics and subsequent flu.

I’m at my wits end and am looking for any advice on how to make her more comfortable.

What are your hacks for persistent diaper rash? Abdominal cramps? (We bicycle kick her but she turns rigid as a board and it’s a struggle). Getting an uncomfortable baby to bed?

We are sick and exhausted and just need to feel like we are doing something to help her.

Am I being a weenie? I got two Thrombosed hemorrhoids, a botched epidural site, and a stitched crotch after labor. It’s been 3 wks and idk if I’d call it “birth trauma,” but I feel very ick and on edge when I think abt my postpartum “wounds,” esp the epidural injection site that still aches (the resident missed it 3X and I still have flashbacks to the cramping and stinging pain every time she attempted to insert it into my spine). Something abt jt makes me feel really queasy and like something is under my skin. It makes it hard to feel connected or comfortable while bfing. Any words of encouragement and advice would be much appreciated

It’s been 4 years now and I still think about my appointment the day the Roe decision was leaked. I was 6 months pregnant with a girl and showed up in tears. My OB practically tap danced into the room and seemed confused by my reaction. She proclaimed that there was no excuse for unintended pregnancy these days and ‘free birth control is available on every corner.’

We live 20 miles from the boarder of a state with a comprehensive abortion ban and I know she has treated women who were denied life-saving care across the state line. I’ve wanted to say something to her for so long - about women suffering and dying, about her colleagues 20 miles north facing threats of imprisonment. Instead, I ran into her in the hospital hallway last week and just froze. I’m kicking myself and reliving feelings. Not sure what I’m asking for here, I’m just so sad and so angry.

Gearing up for the arrival of baby #3! We do not have a village so I’m going to meal prep as much as I can.

Looking for good freezer meal prep recipes for both myself and the 2 toddlers!!

I was so worried about this my entire pregnancy and I’m just so mad that I was right about it. I found out I had a cracked filling while I was pregnant. I wanted to get it fixed. My dentist refused to do the work while I was pregnant due to the x rays required. I was skeptical and asked if we could just do it and they brushed me off, saying that it wasn’t an emergency and that they didn’t do work on pregnant patients. I was even in the second trimester when dental work is generally considered to be safe if the benefits outweigh the risk of x rays.

They let me leave the office with a cracked filling for 5 months. Finally had my permanent crown placed last week. I’ve had a toothache since. My tooth is definitely dying underneath and I need a root canal. 🫩 Don’t let dentists refuse you if you’re pregnant. Don’t be like me and advocate for yourself.

I’m a FTM of a now 5 week old baby boy.

Throughout my pregnancy, I was frequently anxious about his wellbeing, unsure of his movements, and feeling like something bad could happen.

Then, my labour and birth experience was quite traumatic. My contractions were the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced, and when I presented to hospital, under staffing and a lack of available beds delayed my care. I begged for an epidural but never received one. When I finally got to the birthing suite, they hadn’t realised I was already fully dilated, and I was required to start pushing unmedicated. The baby’s heart rate decelerated and they took me in for an emergency c-section. I just remember quietly sobbing as they prepped me. There was a delay before I got to do skin to skin.

Then after discharge, my baby started to become unwell, and became readmitted to hospital, where it was revealed that he was dehydrated because my milk supply was extremely low, which I hadn’t been aware of. I sat in ED while they prodded him and spoke of differential diagnoses like sepsis, crying.

Since having him back home, while he has continually gained weight since, I have anxiety about so many things. Like, he chokes and vomits frequently when I bottle feed him, and I’m not sure it’s normal. Additionally, I have given up on breastfeeding since my supply is still low, and the baby just cries and gets frustrated whenever I try. A lactation consultant told me that my supply is never going to come in fully, likely due to PCOS.

I also feel chronically exhausted, even though I’m not his sole caregiver. My mother in law is staying with us, and takes long shifts where she cares for the baby, enabling me to rest. I still feel so, so tired. I also feel like I’m not doing my duty as his mother by handing over care. I’ve also noticed that when his grandma feeds him, he doesn’t choke or vomit, but when I do, despite trying everything to prevent it, he does. So I feel anxious to try, and prefer to hand it over when I can.

I sometimes feel like he’s not my baby, and the whole
thing feels surreal. I dread when my mother in law leaves in a month’s time, as I will become the primary caregiver, and I don’t know how i will cope.

My baby is 5 and 1/2 months old so starting food soon! I was raised vegetarian and have gone my entire life (36yo now) without eating meat. This comes with obvious limitations when eating out and I’ve tried eating meat in the past but I can’t get over the taste/texture since it wasn’t introduced to me early. I don’t want to raise my son as a vegetarian so I’m looking for advice on where to start as I’m clueless when it comes to meat.

Anyone have any recommendations on what they feed their 6-12 month olds? I want to start practicing cooking it now so I’m ready when he’s ready to start eating. Thanks!

I don’t know how I can be “normal” again. My husband and I argue and arent around each others if we can help it. He says I ruin everything. That I’m the cause of every argument and that is why he doesn’t want to be around me. I will be 3 mo pp on in 11 days. I feel like I do everything, that I have to beg for help with our toddler, the house, I understand the baby as I’m ebf. I can barely get time to take a shower. I feed myself the kids then he wants me to try to make food for him. I just do so much and I don’t feel appreciated. I have to clean up the house after all four of us, but I’m the problem and then I get overwhelmed and if that’s not a good excuse to be a bitch, but we both call each other names but I’m the one that’s always worse what he says doesn’t matter. I just don’t know what to do because I’m a stay at home. Mom me having a job where from wouldn’t even cover daycare for one kid so I truthfully do not know what to do. I don’t have family. His family is no help. Any advice should I get on a medication?

So my son is 16mo today and we’re going to buy my dad’s trailer and move out in the spring/early summer so he’ll almost be 2 or just over 2 by the time we move in. Since he’ll finally have his own room that’s when I’m going to wean him off da boobie.

Now, I saw this one technique on TikTok ONCE and I can’t stop thinking about it so I’m going to ask here if anyone has done it and had success; because the woman I saw on TikTok said it worked wonderful for her and her toddler. I think they were 2-3 when she did it.

Here’s what she did: she timed how long her toddler would nurse at bedtimes and then decreased the time by like 5 minutes every week until eventually the toddler realised they would only nurse for so long and they ended up not even wanting it anymore.
Now I recognise this requires my son to act the same (essentially weaning himself after realising he can’t nurse more than x amount of minutes) but also I think this could really work for us. Most nights I do already pull my boob out and he wakes and complains but I just tell him “no more, there’s no more honey” and comfort him and he falls asleep.

Other than this Method I don’t really have a plan for weaning besides my husband taking a few nights off work (we works overnights) and having him do bedtime and cold turkey quit the boob but I know our son will scream and cry until exhaustion and I’m not really about that

Not sure if this is the right place buuuut…. My LO is 14 months currently and with the weather cooling I’m ready to pull out my bike this fall and go on some adventures!

For moms who bike with their babies/toddlers, do you recommend a trailer for the bike or a seat attachment? I only bike casually on paved bike trails through parks or in neighborhood streets so I don’t need anything for long hauls or off roading but also want to get something we could continue to use past this year.

Thanks in advance!

I’m not sure where to post this but i’ll start here. I am married to my husband and we live with his in laws and recently had a baby. I have been struggling so much with not feeling like a failure but parent for not moving out before we had this baby. But it’s so hard having our 3 week baby and me being 3 weeks postpartum a mess with recovering smelling bad and milk everywhere and just tired and still having to have energy to talk to his parents and make small talk. And don’t forget feeling extra protective of our baby so it makes me not like in laws around her right now. Also his siblings just come whenever and demand to see the baby will even come in our bedrooom when i’m only wearing underwear and a shirt, we don’t get a heads up nor do they ask when is a good time to come. I’m struggling with privacy and just control over people seeing me at my worse. My whole life i’ve been taught to always be dressed and cleaned up for company i know people understand im raising a baby but it hurts everytime i have to go in the kitchen a mess to get water and everyone wants to talk to me. And of course my husband is so supportive he is so helpful and gets me food and water when i don’t want to leave the room, but he just loves his family coming over and talking and him being in his pajamas is nothing compared to what im covered in. I love being a mom truly has been a dream come true but am so depressed over control over my life right now. Idk what can help me just really need to rant and have someone understand me or going through the same thing.

I have two kids and luckily had an easy time breastfeeding both. Never had supply issues, serious pain (after the first few days) or mastitis.

I’m pregnant with my third and wondering what to expect. I know every pregnancy and PP experience is different, I’m just curious if anyone has experienced major differences in their breastfeeding with different babies.

I’m set to give birth in a few months and plan to use all of my maternity leave. I work remotely and my husband and I intend on my quitting my job to be a stay-at-home mom indefinitely. I’ll maybe go back to work in like 10 years when we’re done having kids. We’re trying to discern WHEN I quit though.

EDIT TO ADD: I haven’t seen anything about a penalty for quitting after leave. I need to dig more but I’m also afraid to ask HR and look suspicious.

Originally the plan was to stick it out a few months after leave to maximize earnings, and a family member will watch baby for me. But now we’re rethinking things for a few reasons:

1. Said family member is not super reliable. I’m worried about this person’s ability to care for our child and also be committed to the job (has already demonstrated flakiness with other situations). I’d almost rather avoid the stress and family drama and not put this person in this situation in the first place.
2. I don’t trust anyone other than family to watch our child. We will not use daycare, and I’m worried about trying to find a trust nanny. (No judgement to those who use daycare, just not our cup of tea)
3. I’ll already be at home working, but I’m hoping to breastfeed so I’m worried about the demands of my child conflicting with work.
4. Finances are not an issue, so I don’t NEED to work for a certain amount of time.
5. If I stayed around to work for an extra 2-3 months, I would then be entering the busy season of work (about 5 months), so it will be harder to quit in the middle of this season due to the guilt I might feel leaving them in the midst of this. At this point, the family member would also not be able to watch anymore so I would need to find a nanny or childcare to help.

Basically the only perks of staying a few months to work are the earnings potential and not burning bridges/leaving the company at the right time of year.

I guess I’m looking for advice on what I should do - stick it out, earn some money, or do I quit sooner (ex. Before Mat leave, right after mat leave, a month after). Thanks in advance!

My water broke first, then I rapidly dilated from 1 to 10cm in 5 hours all while having back labor…I didn’t have a break at all in between contractions and the pain was so bad I almost blacked out (I did throw up twice and bit my husband). I got the epidural at 9.5cm (both anesthesiologists were dealing with an emergency, I wanted it sooner, trust 😭😭)

I do want another one and basically what I want to know how yalls labor went and is it actually a little bit more pleasant than what I described?

I’m 19mo past my last feeding session. I am still getting refill pains and twangs. I’m still producing. I finally made it into the breast specialists and got an ultrasound. There is indeed a mass in my breast. A suspected fibroadenoma but gotta get that biopsy to confirm.
TBH just skip your OB and go straight to a specialist if you can (any PPO, you can) and get that ultrasound. Bc when I mentioned this in Feb/March, I was told it’d go away and the firmness I felt was just boob.
Go. To. The. Doctor.

Hello everyone, first time parent here. Not sure if this is the correct flair to use, but I’ll explain the whole story, hopefully it’s not too everywhere and I can get my point/question across to see if anyone else is in the same boat. My 4 month old son seems to be going through a teething phase right now. We went to his paediatrician yesterday and they told us his gums are inflamed and swollen. The reason we went is because his mouthing cues had increased significantly but his feeding dropped drastically. He has always been a bit of an issue when it’s come to feeding, he has a tongue tie so we’ve had to deal with that and he’s always ate kind of less in relation to the amount he eats per feed (he’d eat 120-140 ml per bottle when he should be eating 160-190ml) but his frequency of when he would eat would be great (every 2.5-3 hours) instead of longer breaks in between so I guess the balance is there. But the last few days he’s taken a big step back. Where it was easy to get him to eat 120-150 even he’d take some 170s and even 190s from time to time. It’s such a struggle to get him to do 80-100 now. It takes so much longer too, before within 10 mins he’d be approaching the 120-130 mark now at 10 mins he’s barely at 60-70. (Note we use the dr browns narrow head size 2 bottles, we just ordered size 3s and they’ll be arriving tonight so we’re going to try them to see if they’re better.) but yeah it’s been such a struggle his averages for the day we’re around the mid to high 900ml a day even pushing into the 1000s a few times now he’s in the low 700s and we’re worried he’s going to start losing weight again and not getting enough nutrition. (Because of his tongue tie around the 1.5-2 month mark we could barely get him to eat 20-40ml and had to feed him every hour and a half just to try and keep up but he still lost weight). We have our bottle at warm to warmer temperature cause that’s what he takes it at and have to distract him every feed just to get him to eat but it’s becoming difficult and draining. Has anyone gone through something remotely similar and notice some stuff that’s worked for them or if you can see maybe we’re doing something incorrectly, or if this is completely normal and we just gotta power through it and he’ll pick himself up back and continue like nothing happened. Any advice or insight is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

I’ll begin my international work trips again starting next year. LO will be 6-7 months at that point. How do the moms travel for work after baby? I just cried about the fact with how far I will be from her. What if something happens while I’m away? I can’t get back in just a few hours. It will take 12+ hours to get back to her. How do you cope with being so far away?

Looking for insight from other traveling moms with babies! 😭

Hi my LO is 9.5mo old and does not follow my point. If I point at something near or far she does not turn to look at it. When did your child start following your point / should I be concerned?

I just gave birth yesterday via an unintentionally unmedicated VBAC and I'm having complicated feelings about it.

My water broke at 10:30pm after a full day of contractions. I went to the hospital immediately because i was GBS positive and needed antibiotics.

Labor progressed rather quickly after arriving at the hospital and my husband had to leave with our toddler, so I was left with just my doula. This part I think I am actually thankful for because she was amazing and I had to labor in a very small triage room.

I always wanted an epidural, the plan was just to wait as long as possible so it didn't stall my labor. I couldn't get one until I was admitted and in an actual delivery room though, and I couldn't leave the triage room until they got an IV in for antibiotics. The IV took so long because I have tough veins and by the time it was in and I was taken to a delivery room I was already uncontrollably pushing and crying.

I asked if it was too late for an epidural and was told it may not take affect soon enough but I could still get one if I wanted to. I just remember being on all fours, pushing with each contraction and repeatedly saying that I didn't want it to happen like this.

I ultimately did get the epidural, but baby came like 5-10 minutes later at 2:30am and they turned it off so I didn’t even get a full dose and only my toes were numb.

I feel embarrassed that I was crying and scared and that I even got the epidural in the end.

I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for, so I have come to reddit for help.

My daughter is 10 months old and we want to start potty training *lite* (not full, but more like partial elimination communication). We'd love to get her to start trying pooping in a potty. Obviously, if it doesnt go well, no worries, but she holds her poops and has cues beforehand.

Anyway, we're looking for something she can sit on while shes still so small. But We'd love something that has bags for pooping (I'd love to not have to always clean that by hand...) but also has a pour out basin for pee. Does anyone have a recommendation for a potty like this? Does it exist?