I haaaaate the “bonding” bullshit. Me and the baby spend most of our time struggling and even when it’s going well, she’s just zoned out going suck-suck-suck with her eyes closed. My partner does most of the burping and the nappies and so on and is talking to her and singing to her and ... bonding!!

I moved (actually my partner did the physical moving) a standing shelf thingie beside the couch for water, medicine, tissues, etc, it’s been great! I am sad I don’t have a recliner chair or something instead though. I can’t really doze off just by leaning back on this couch.

We did it, Copper! <3 I’m so glad we could share the journey!

Might try asking around; someone must’ve done it, maybe you’ll find a kind friend-of-a-friend who could advise.

Yeah, I was up for a shower within about 12 hours. And the nurse said to just sit in the shower and let the water go over me, needn’t bother with shampoo etc, but I felt well able to stand and do a proper wash, and much better after!

I love shopping, but clothes shopping can be HELL, especially when you’re under pressure to get something specific. I hate trying things on, I hate awkward sizes, I hate slogging back and forth for ages and not evening finding anything decent.

Oh my god I want twelve pumpkins!! 

Do it, and do it sooner rather than later. Your fiance should do his proposal asap (or maybe you could agree he’ll do a big romantic gesture for the honeymoon or something to make a story to tell?) I seriously doubt your parents will consider it a distraction in a bad way, it sounds like it will be a lovely,…

We are both very good and shockingly healthy and broadly happy (but prone to fits of crying). I’m actually bewildered at how physically okay-ish I feel. I thought I would be in loads of pain and hobbling around, but I’m just a little stiff and sore! 

Ha! Luckily the little Kenderín is long so she just looks like she’s a few weeks older than she is!

Aww, thank you! I’ve really enjoyed sharing my journey here, I’m glad other people enjoyed it too!

Thank you Maya! You’ve been a wonderful friend here.

I am typing this one-handed because I HAD A BABY!!!

A healthy adult should be urinating about once every 2 hours when awake. You must realise your body behaves differently when you’re asleep, right? Most healthy teens/adults should absolutely have to piss at least once during a 3+ hour flight.

I also think it’s weird that so many of the comments are “I don’t have kids [and that was the right choice for me]”. Like, that’s cool, and fine, and I know it’s the other side of this question, but I wouldn’t go on an article asking how people feel about having gotten a dog and write “Well I don’t have a dog and I…

I am fascinated by the “Why are people not having kids??” thing that sometimes comes up. It seems like there’s a LOT of good reasons to not have kids in America right now. I would not feel comfortable having a kid with no maternity leave and where medical care can bankrupt you!

To anecdotally reassure you: I’m five and a half years older than my only sibling. We get on brilliantly and have since day 1. I was old enough to understand what was going on with the new baby and be interested in him. I never really felt supplanted because I certainly wasn’t my parents’ “baby” when he was born, I…

But it is gendered. Unless New Yorkers have started saying things like “I met a great guy yesterday, her name was Nicole”? Which would be fine. Language evolves. Slang ways to refer to groups in specific regional dialects can be needlessly gendered and can also evolve, to something not needlessly gendered.

It’ll be pretty niche situations where you’re talking to someone who can’t figure out that you just meant Sean, since Sean wasn’t home. Language always has little gaps where someone might occasionally need to ask for clarification.

I love babies too! I’m a bit apprehensive about, y’know, keeping a newborn alive!! But I’m enjoying gathering all the cute little baby clothes and setting up the cot and stuff. It’s getting exciting!