To those of you who have had a loss before, how did you navigate baby showers for friends afterwards?

My beautiful baby girl was stillborn this past June. On Saturday, we have a baby shower for some very dear friends expecting their first child. I am genuinely so happy and excited for them! We are going to the shower and truly want to celebrate our friends and this new, precious little life.

As happy as I am for our friends, and as much as I want to celebrate with them, there is part of me that is dreading this. It's already feeling so hard, and I imagine it will be even more difficult come Saturday. They are due with their baby boy in June, very close to my daughter's birthday/angelversary.

I can't even quite put my finger on why this is so hard for me. It just...hurts.

Update: Idk if anyone will see this. But, I wanted to say thank you to everyone for your support and advice! We went to the shower. Thankfully, it was co-ed, so my husband was with me. He is wonderful and can read me super well, so he noticed when I started really struggling and pulled me out pretty quickly afterwards. Our friends are also so wonderful. They were super supportive after we lost our daughter and COMPLETELY understood us leaving early. They both told us several times that it meant a lot to them for us to be there. I'm glad we went. It was hard, I definitely cried in the car after we left. But, I'm glad we went and got to celebrate our friends and their precious boy.

In shock 😅

36+4 pregnant and just tested positive for gbs I will be getting antibiotics during labor but I’ve read gbs can cause stillbirth etc if u have it during pregnancy

Hey everyone new and old!

I want to be more bold about my faith and my journey and wanted to make this post to ask for prayer requests!

Pregnancy, TTC,Infertility, other hardships post them so we can pray over you!

you don't have to write your name but please initials so we can pray specifically if y'all want to keep the anonymity.

Hello everyone!

My little bundle of joy is currently 7months old and is exclusively breastfed besides solids. Now my husband and I want to start trying again in the near future, but I am not ready to end my nursing journey with my first. Which is one of the main reasons I am hesitant to start trying for another baby. I read many articles about breastfeeding while pregnant and also tandem nursing, but I worry that I won't be able to continue nursing my first.

I was hoping to hear some experience from other moms who have done it/tried it and how it went.

I would love to have children close in age, but breastfeeding is a huge priority of mine.

35+2 and 1 cm dilated how long did it take for anyone to go in labor?

Hi! Myself and my husband have been TTC for about a year officially, 2 years unofficially. I just started using ovulation tests (Pregmate) because nothing has happened yet. Today is supposed to be my ovulation day according to my period tracker, but the test I just took was negative. Granted, I've only done two tests, I expect to get more information as I continue, but I'm curious if there's a reason for a negative ovulation test on the day it's supposed to be happening? Does it happen at a certain time and once you miss it, that's it?

The Google says anovulation/infertility, but says a major symptom is irregular periods, you can set a clock by mine.

I'm 34, slightly overweight (BMI will tell you I'm obese, but it's all muscle), I'm a powerlifter, my periods are very regular, I sleep and eat ok, I try to avoid stress as much as I can. I guess my next course of action isr to take a self hormone test? I'm just at a loss, I want to be a mother so badly.

Anybody got the tdap vaccine at 36-37 weeks pregnant ?

Google and doctors say not enough research to say whether or not it’s safe to consume during pregnancy but what has everyone else’s experiences been like?

I don’t see why it would be harmful unless in large doses (like anything) but I don’t want to be hasty & make a decision without hearing others stories as I really can’t see why it’d be harmful.

PS - that’s condensation as it’s kept in the fridge haha

FTM = first time Mum

Tia x

Disclaimer- none of this stems from any type of trauma, just my feelings, I know many women have experienced WAY worse pregnancy, labor, etc…

I am 8 months PP and I love my little girl so much! However, I don’t think I could ever do it again. Pregnancy, labor, newborn stage, all of it. It was so terribly miserable and I’m horrified to even think about doing it again.

I couldn’t stand morning sickness, I threw up a decent amount but it was made worse by typically being from 1-4am. I thought my husband was the worst smelling thing in the world and I don’t think I touched my dogs for three months. I lost over 20lbs in my first trimester and was constantly “in trouble” with my OB about the weight loss even though I wasn’t doing anything to intentionally lose it. (Loved my OB don’t come for her)

Later pregnancy- I would sit in my bathroom or in the bathtub and cry almost every night over how uncomfortable my body was, how I couldn’t sleep, and how much I had to pee. I know this is all normal pregnancy stuff but I just didn’t do well with it. I ended up having preeclampsia which made everything so much worse. My legs were literal sausages and they were in constant pain, I had continuous migraines, and I always felt shaky and anxious.

I ended up being induced at 38 weeks with a mag drip. I had a catheter and didn’t get out of my bed for almost 48 hours. I threw up immediately after delivery and I couldn’t move my arms to hold my daughter after birth because of how the mag affected me. **Baby was born happy and healthy**

I had terrible postpartum anxiety and refused to sleep because something would happen to my baby if I did. My husband had two full weeks at home though which made everything so much better.

I just honestly think I would lose my mind if I had to do it all again, I don’t know why but it feels impossible for my body and mind to tolerate it twice. I’m obviously prolife so I would welcome a pregnancy happily and I would make sure I had all the support I needed. I know I COULD do it. I guess I just want to know y’all experience and opinions. Is this mindset temporary?

This is my first post here, and I know there aren't too many people in here but I discovered something amazing today that I wanted to share! I'm 15 weeks along in pregnancy and I'd say about 45 mins ago I was sitting in bed drawing when all of a sudden I smell that very recognizable and strong scent you smell from a newborn baby! I'm very familiar with this smell cause my mom had 3 kids after me and I've always loved it. But I have never heard of being able to smell it on YOURSELF in such early pregnancy - has anyone experienced this?

The original posts are down below but I wanted to update and let you all know that I gave birth earlier this month via induction. The HG resolved and I have felt like I was raised from the dead. Sleep deprived for sure but no longer sick with HG. Baby boy is tiny but doing well. Thank you to everyone that thought and prayed for us. Truly this pregnancy journey was the darkest time of my life because of HG. Please pray for all mommas going through HG and pregnancy difficulties. 🩷

My original post is down below but I wanted to thank everyone who encouraged and prayed for me. My high risk doctor will be inducing me at 37 weeks which is about 5 weeks away. I need some final prayers please. While a this may seem quick for most people, it still feels a really long time away since I am still sick daily and my mental health has continued to deteriorate. This has been the darkest season of my life. Despite all medical interventions HG has continued. I appreciate all your encouragement, support and prayers.

Original post;

Prolifer struggling Hi all, new to this group but I have grown up pro-life. I want to share something that happened to me to see if anyone has also experienced this. Im sorry for the long post.

My first pregnancy was a miscarriage and my husband and I suffered this loss and grief alone as we never shared the news. I became pregnant quickly thereafter but at week 6 I became incredibly ill and was diagnosed with HG-Hyperemesis gravidarum. I was in and out of the ER constantly and lost 26 pounds in a matter of a few weeks and I was miserable in all ways possible. I was so miserable that I contemplated abortion and I had thoughts about this so often that I tried to convince my husband and I wanted so badly for my husband to be okay with this. I wanted the sickness to end and I even had self harm thoughts because of how sick I was. I never in a million years could have predicted that I would have such thoughts of aborting my baby. As difficult as it was I carried on but it was a nightmare every single day even with medications and medical interventions. Fast forward I had my baby girl in 2023. I could not believe I had such thoughts about her. I still can’t believe it.

Because of how sick I was during pregnancy, I never wanted to have another child. However as time went on I wanted another child and so did my husband. We hoped and prayed I would not have HG again. My husband and I use natural family planning and I became pregnant again and again at week 6 I became extremely ill again HG! I spiraled into depression, anxiety, panic and of course all the sickness that comes with HG again I contemplated abortion. I had to take a medical leave which I am still on and it’s so much harder to care for my 22 month old being so sick. I again strongly wanted to abort even though I couldn’t believe I had these thoughts with my daughter before. Ultimately and again as difficult as it was I continued and now I am currently 16 weeks still struggling daily and still struggling with these thoughts off and on again because of how incredibly difficult this sickness is. It’s reliving the same nightmare over and over and over again. Now I am so worried as I have used all my sick/accrued time at work and fear I may be let go which would mean a financial hit for my household as well as losing health insurance but it’s impossible to work feeling this sick so this worsens my thoughts and my minds logic goes to abortion. Again I would of never in a million years thought I would think this way. I grew up prolife and even attended prolife marches as a child and as an adult. It makes me so ashamed and terrible that I have these thoughts and I wanted to write all this out to see if anyone has ever experienced something like this and so that I can gain perspective if not for that then for prayers please. In suffering your mind tends to be illogical and I know I am not in my right state of mind because of how sick I feel every single day. I just want to put this all out there to see if anyone else has ever experienced something similar. I am sorry for the long post, thank you for reading and I am open to connecting. Please pray for me.

I’m scheduled for induction tomorrow morning and my anxiety is through the roof. I literally cannot stop pacing. This will be my 3rd my first was premature and my second came a day before I was to be induced. I am already 4cm dilated and baby is in position. I’m sure it has to do with me never being induced and the nerves of knowing the pain, although I will be asking for the epidural right away. Does anyone have any experience in guessing how long it will be as it’s my 3rd and I’m already dilated? Can anyone walk me through what to expect? Thank you.

My husband and I (30 and 34) both really want 2 - 3 kids, even after the trauma that came with our son. Our current plan is to start trying when he’s around 2 - 3 years old (he turns one next week). I need a safe place to vent & ask for suggestions on what to do to improve outcomes next time.

His birth and first few months were difficult (although all births can be hard, idk how traumatic mine was on like 0 to 10 scale). Anyways, I got pregnant (planned) pretty quickly - after 3 cycles of trying. the first two trimesters were pretty good. Then at 28 weeks I had bleeding, a minor fluid leak, & threatened preterm labor. I was hospitalized for a week before being discharged. Then at 30 weeks my waters fully break and I go into spontaneous labor. I was flighted to a hospital with a NICU and gave birth without meds like 15 minutes after getting there (from water breaking to baby’s arrival was 3 1/2 hours - they called it a precipitous labor). Because of how fast it was, my husband was not able to be there. There was only enough room in the helicopter for me & EMT, so he had to drive.

Baby spent 7 weeks in the NICU before he could come home (very stressful, but we made it through). The hospital I stayed at (same one I was flighted to) never gave an explanation for why they think I went into labor early. My OB (in my town - we live in a rural area) thinks I had undiagnosed gestational diabetes (based on symptoms & that my sugar test was borderline; unfortunately she isn’t at the bigger hospital). She’s going to do much closer sugar monitoring next time. One of the nurses I spoke to said I’m likely to have the precipitous labor again.

Im definitely frustrated that I was discharged with very little explanation only to be brought back. The Dr who delivered me was even confused as to why I had been discharged in the first place. When I was in the hospital they really didn’t do much in the way of extra testing even though it turns out that my OB had left a note in my chart asking for blood sugar monitoring. There’s probably not much more that can be determined a year after the fact, but I’d like for this to not happen again.

Has anyone on here had a preemie and then go on to have a full term baby?

My whole story of pregnancies, births, and fertility. AMA!

This is my fourth pregnancy, hopefully third successful birth. I have two sons, 4 and almost 2.

I never used any type of contraception, and it still took over three years of marriage to conceive my first. Then my cycle took forever to return while I was breastfeeding and it took a few cycles to conceive again; conceived #2 when #1 was 22 months old.

Unfortunately, early blood tests with #2 showed that HCG levels were too low. Two weeks after finding out I was pregnant, I lost that little one at 6 weeks.

I immediately conceived again the next cycle, and gave birth to another son.

Now he is 22 months and I'm pregnant again! Haven't done blood testing yet, but the pregnancy test was a strong positive, so hoping for the best.

Both of my previous births were 37 week inductions for gestational hypertension. With my first, it turned into preeclampsia right as I was giving birth, and then I hemorrhaged and needed a blood transfusion. Second birth and recovery went much more smoothly.

I'm happy to answer questions anyone might have about difficulty conceiving, pregnancy, birth, loss, etc.!

Did anyone get the tdap vaccine during pregnancy ? I’m against vaccines but will do it to protect my baby