Diabetmin is helpful to pregnancy

I’m just looking for some advice, and I hope you don’t hate me too much for posting here. My much older sister in law (34, future SIL actually) couldn’t have kids, has failed IVF, and no longer trying from what I’ve been told. However her mental health is not good, but she refuses to get properly diagnosed or even speak to a therapist for that matter. I don’t have a close relationship with SIL because she always treated me coldly as a child for no reason. I’m also not close to my big brother. It’s so tiring to be walking on eggshells around her, and I was told that “she had a terrible meltdown” in front of my parents when a distant cousin of mine announced she was expecting. Her infertility is her entire personality.
Situation is: I’m currently 21 weeks pregnant. I’m only 22 and just graduated university this summer with a good job lined up. It was an accident. I have been with my partner for almost 7 years (since we were 15), and we got engaged before I found out. Please don’t send me hate messages, I don’t think I deserve to be degraded and I’ve been told that I should just “get rid of it cause you’re so young”. We can’t be more overjoyed to welcome our little girl. And our relationship has only grown stronger with this pregnancy. I have never even considered terminating, baby is perfectly healthy (I never had morning sickness or other serious pains). I’m getting bigger and it’s not possible to hide with clothing.
I’ve been staying away from SIL as much as I can, but obviously she will figure out sooner or later. She stalks my social media. I don’t have the guts to tell her. Unfortunately, my brother has chosen her over me and my parents, basically cutting off contact. I’m scared to death about potentially pushing her over the edge. I’m just hoping that some perspective from this community might help us.

I am California resident who delivered a baby last year in oct’23. I was out of work in Feb’23 due to complications in pregnancy. A friend of mine mentioned about disability leave given I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and pre post disability. I haven’t filed anything of that sort until now, I’m still allowed to do that as I’m no longer employed?
Is there a legal provision to file for pregnancy disability money back with the state of California or anything of that sort. Any helpful pointers would help. Thanks.

I am California resident who delivered a baby last year in oct’23. I was out of work in Feb’23 due to complications in pregnancy. A friend of mine mentioned about disability leave given I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and pre/post disability. I haven’t filed anything of that sort until now, I’m still allowed to do that as I’m no longer employed?
Is there a legal provision to file for pregnancy disability money back with the state of California or anything of that sort. Any helpful pointers would help. Thanks.

I’m 10 weeks pregnant (27F). The past two weeks have been very mild. I believe the pain escalated because I was laying in bed continuously due to morning sickness, the inactivity must’ve pinched the nerves or something. Today and yesterday have been unbearable, I can barely walk and have gotten “stuck” on the floor, bed, and couch unable to move. TMI -I couldn’t wipe my butt. I can’t stand straight, the only way I can get around my apartment is completely hunched over shuffling around. I tried stretching and I couldn’t tell if it helped or made it worse. What can I do to at least be somewhat functional again? I made plans to take my daughter to the beach for her birthday next week and I’m afraid I won’t be able to walk anymore. I’m afraid this will last my entire pregnancy. Or worse my entire life. I need recommendations. I don’t need to be fully cured I just need temporary relief of some kind.

Hello, all. As some history, I have my first child in December 2021. During the pregnancy and while breastfeeding, I actually had manageable back pain. I threw my back “out” maybe not even at all whereas before that I would do it every few months. In December 2022, when I was discontinuing breastfeeding, I messed up my back horribly. I was in crippling pain. Went to PT per my primary’s advice, but it didn’t help. Didn’t get an MRI until I think March 2023 and it revealed an extrusion/herniated disc at L4-L5 and some slight stenosis at L5-S1. I started going to a different PT who had me start with aqua therapy. This helped tremendously and with time I was able to move to “land” for regular PT. PT prevented me from ever really throwing my back out after that. I’d have an occasional flare-up, but nothing as debilitating as in the past and I knew how to manage it and recover quickly. In October 2023, I became pregnant again. I continued PT and they gave me a modified routine to do on a yoga ball and in kneeling. My back is thankfully been pretty decent through most of the pregnancy until about a week ago when I started experiencing really rough lower back pain with sciatica down my right thigh. I’m no longer in PT because I had graduated and they wanted me to save my visits for postpartum. In the mornings, I feel a fair amount better, but the pain gets worse as the day goes by. Sitting really seems to aggravate it. By the end of the night, I can barely walk and I get massively afraid of seriously injuring my back again. Any advice? Any hope? I’m having a really hard time.

I am atheist and my in-laws are Catholic. My husband and I have agreed to raise our children without religion, but to me, the role of ‘godparent’ is still very important. My parents are both atheist, but I have godparents. I am godmother to my niece.
My in-laws are very religious, but we have always been respectful of each other. I stand and bow my head at family dinners, I just don’t do the cross thing or say amen. I’ll offer for his parents to say grace in my home. I brought my baby to mass for Christmas and Easter because we happened to be in their town. I display the nativity scene my MIL gifted me among my holiday decorations. After nearly a decade of this, I thought we were all on the same page of live and let live.
We have become very close with my BIL & SIL and they are very involved in our son’s life. My BIL’s work had them staying as guests in our home every two weeks for the last two years. My SIL and I refer to each other as ‘sister’. My husband and I decided to ask them to be godparents to our second child (in my husband’s family, all siblings have different godparents). We assumed they would be really honoured.
Last night, we excitedly asked them. My SIL happily agreed and hugged us, but my BIL looked very uncomfortable, didn’t get up from his chair, and just slowly asked questions with a squished face about what that meant because to him, it was a very serious question. It was super awkward. It felt like something between an interview and asking for a raise. It was like we were asking for him to do us a huge favour that he was reluctant to do.
This has eaten away at me all day. In 10 years I’ve never felt like looked down on for not being Christian, until today. It was like he was offended we would ask him to be a godparent with no spiritual aspect. I also realize I’m pregnant and hormonal, but it’s not even clear to me that he agreed.
I can’t help but feel like his reaction was a slap in the face. I regret asking. If I knew he was going to react that way, I wouldn’t have. We already agreed to use BIL‘s name as a middle name if we have a boy and now that’s the last thing I want to do. It just leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. It feels like a stain on my otherwise blissful pregnancy. My husband is very defensive and thought his reaction was fine. I’m embarrassed and angry, but maybe that’s my own damn fault for asking a devoutly religious man to be the godfather to my heathen child.

TL;DR - I’m 24w pregnant and at my breaking point with my current job. Have a new job already but it won’t pay me for 2 months. My family thinks I’m stupid bc I want to quit right now. Would It be a bad decision?
First of all Ty for reading. I’m at a huge dilemma right now that is causing me extreme stress.
I (19F) am 24 weeks pregnant and a FTM. My fiancé (21M) and I have been together for 4 years, we own a house together, have decent paying jobs and have been living together for almost a year, about to be married in July, so we are pretty put together for our age. We also have everything in order for our son, if he was born tomorrow (which I obviously don’t hope for!) he’d have everything he could ever need for his first few months of life, including crib, car seat, clothes, diapers etc. I have been very excited for this pregnancy and also wanted to prove myself as a young mom so I made sure of this before I even hit trimester 3, plus with so many big events coming up, we had an early baby shower with a diaper raffle and everything.
So my problem is I’m working full time as a CNA to help with my half of the bills, and I absolutely HATE my job. Not only is the job itself grueling, but as I get farther along in my pregnancy it has become exhausting and every day is a mental battle. My job consists of constant bending over, lifting 300+ lb residents either in bed or into chairs, sitting on my knees (well really my butt bc of circulation issues) and being on my feet majority of the day. I could put up with it easier if I had any inclination of help throughout the day. Healthcare facilities are usually understaffed, but my building recently had a walk-out of literally 20 staff members, most of them CNAs, and it leaves the rest of us short handed pretty much every day. I have had several instances of asking nurses and MACs for help and they outright refuse or come up with stupid excuses why it’s not their job. Just yesterday I reported a nurse for walking out of the room when I pretty much TOLD her to help me because I couldn’t do cares on a specific individual myself, she walked out because I was “arguing” with her. I had a huge screaming match with my managers a couple of weeks ago basically threatening to sue them if they kept putting me on this one unit, which I am almost guaranteed to take on 20 patients by myself when I work there. They are so short staffed that they can’t even afford to fire me. My paychecks have been inconsistent for months starting back when they cut all of my hours, now half of the employees left they are constantly asking me to pick up extra shifts. I constantly say no because I can barely make myself go work my regular scheduled shifts. My paychecks continue to be inconsistent because of the amount of times I’ve called in. I just have stopped caring and the only reason I haven’t walked out yet is because I want to be responsible and I know I won’t get fired for missing work anyway.
I am BEYOND over it. I have been wanting to quit for weeks, but struggled to find another job that suited my wants and needs, as I DID NOT want to be a CNA anymore so I told myself I wouldn’t quit until I had something good lined up. It’s difficult to get hired while pregnant because most employers see it as a loss due to maternity leave and pay. The thing is, I actually did find another job and have already been hired and technically making money, I just won’t get paid until after I get my license which will take bout 2 months. It’s 100% commission based but the company has trades in the NYSE and I can make really good money there if I can get clients. I am ready to throw myself and my focus into this new career, and I’ve been looking for any excuse to leave my current job, I really don’t care if I’m not getting paid atm.
I talked to my fiancé, my parents, and my bsf about this and they all pretty much told me I’m stupid for thinking I can quit my current job right now. My fiancé is actually the most supportive out of all of them but he is scared about our finances and worries about how he’s going to pay the bills on his own. Mind you, he has $5000 in personal savings and our shared account that we put money in for our bills is about two months ahead of our monthly expenses, so it’s not like we don’t have ANY money at all. I definitely don’t want to drain our savings in the meantime, but with this new career I could potentially make more than I am currently making, meaning I could soon put way more into savings than I ever was since we moved in. My parents think I should wait until after the wedding to quit my job so I know I’ll have money for the expenses, however, we already paid for majority of the venue costs and they agreed to help us with the rest of the expenses like food, my dress etc (I am NOT getting an expensive dress, it’ll be $300 at most.) they act like I will be constantly asking them for money, which I haven’t done once since living on my own, or that I won’t be able take care of myself. My plans were to get my last paycheck from my current job and put it all towards our bills. We are also expecting one last rent payment from our roommates who are in the process of moving out. At worst we will only need to take a bit out of savings and I can’t allow myself any frivolous spending until I start making money again.
I just feel trapped and like nobody close to me understands what I’m going through. I cried for like an hour last night just thinking about having to go back to work, I just have no idea how I can keep this up for another two months. My self confidence in my ability to prosper in this new job is also deflated due to my family’s reaction. Pregnancy hormones aren’t helping … I thought I’d ask y’all bc ik my family is just worried about my financial security and doesn’t want anything bad to happen. I just want to message HR tonight and never go back.
BTW my current job doesn’t offer paid maternity leave so there’s no reason to wait for that.
Any thoughts?

My son T is in preK, he is four almost five at the beginning of summer. Within the past two days (Monday and Tuesday) we have had calls about his behavior from the school. On Monday the principal called to say that he was hitting in class and told many times to stop, when he didn’t he was sent to the office where she had a talk to him, and asked my husband and I to talk to him and made us aware of the behavior. My husband and I had a talk with him about using our words and asking for an adult to help when we are frustrated and to not use our hands when we are upset that night.
Today (Tuesday) I asked him if he was sent to the back table (something they do when they misbehave and have to talk to the teacher) and he said yes because he accidentally scratched someone grabbing a crayon for coloring time. I told him that he should be more careful when doing activities because it’s not nice to hurt people, on purpose or accident, and left it at that unless I got more information from the school that something else happened. Later I get a message from the teacher assistant that today wasn’t any better and that he was hitting and scratching kids, he had his lunch recess taken away and was sent to the office to read and color. And he had a walk and talk with a teacher around the track. She and the principal had a meeting and decided that T will now line up in a separate line from the other kids and if that does not help he will then have recess somewhere else.
I then had a more detailed talk with T about hitting, saying it’s never okay to hit and that when we are upset that we use our words or ask for help. I told him that I was not mad at him and that I loved him, that I know he’s a good boy but was disappointed that he was hurting other kids. I’m at a loss at what else to do, my talks aren’t working and I don’t want this behavior to continue. I want to better help him and make sure he is okay and that he’s not disrupting his classmates/classroom, but I feel like I’m at a loss at what to do.
Some backstory on home life is that I am 37 weeks pregnant with baby 3, he has a younger brother who is 2.5 and is definitely in a learning to communicate and not use hands phase. I’m not sure if the stress of almost having another baby from me is affecting him and/or his brother’s behavior is. I find that since I obviously can’t keep up with the boys with my current state I am yelling more at them to stop or listen before I can reach them since I am so much slower than they are, and have actively been trying to use a more calm tone when I am trying to discipline/make them listen before I reach them. They definitely rough house with each other and things can get heated, and when they do we can get them to say sorry to each other and hug it out and all is well again. This baby was unplanned so I do feel like I am more stressed about the change we will be facing, and we’ve been having random house issues pop up that have added to my stress, but we try to keep talk of the baby positive and tell him things are going to change but for the better, it’s okay to be upset but we still love you. When I ask how he feels about the baby he says he is happy to be getting a little sister.
I have noticed a change in behavior in not listening as much to me as I have gotten farther along in my pregnancy and just some listening issues that would randomly happen, and maybe getting more frustrated with his brother getting in his business. His brother is still learning to communicate effectively, he was a slow talker and can’t always communicate clearly what he wants.
I’m just not sure what to do. He gets out of school in 3 weeks and I am due the same time, I want his last weeks of school to be fun and a good time so he can be excited for kindergarten. I feel like a failure and am so confused how this just started in the last two days. I just love him and want him to be okay and want people to like him and am sadly embarrassed this is happening. I just would really appreciate any advice on what to do and how else to talk to him or what other actions I can take. I know this was a lot of word vomit but if you read all of this I would truly appreciate any advice or words of encouragement.

hello!! as the title suggests I believe I could have pcos (and/or endometriosis). to start with my period has always been somewhat regular up until december of 2023 (4 months ago). Recently, my cycles have been fluctuating from 21-37 days with extremely weird symptoms. for example, this period I still haven’t gotten but I am suffering from horrible cramps , and constant brown spotting (pregnancy test negative). Despite this I have always experienced horrible cramps. about 6-7 years ago I was on hormonal birth control and even then I had cramps that made me light headed and sweat from the pain. In 2021 I got a copper IUD which made my cramps worse, and I have since been put on a medication I have to take days before my suspected period to help with pain from cramps. When I get cramps, they are so debilitating all I can do is sit there, bend over and breathe through them. they make me insanely sweaty and dizzy from the pain.
Two main points I can remember is that one time I was not on my period or around ovulation, and I was getting such intense waves of pain that I thought my appendix burst. This ended up with me going to the ER, and since they couldn’t find anything except elevated white blood cells they suggested it could have been an ovarian cyst. The second one is I gained insulin resistance in 2020 and was put onto metformin - but they couldn’t find any metabolic reason that could have caused it. I have since stopped taking metformin and my insulin levels are normal.
I also get weird dark, long hairs on my neck and chin, my skin is always oily, and I feel it’s so difficult to lose weight around my stomach. Any advice on what you guys think could be going on would be so appreciated, and if any clarification is needed please let me know :)

I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do. I’m 19 and pregnant, the babies father is my on and off boyfriend of almost three years. I don’t think I love him. Ever since finding out I was pregnant I was having these thoughts. I thought about abortion, but I myself, could not do that without having an extremely guilty and probably dangerous conscious. I live with him, and I don’t want to be with him. I have no where to go. I don’t speak to my mother, she has said and done some very bad things during my pregnancy, and living with her would just give her power over me. I can’t live with my brother (who I lived with before) he doesn’t want a baby in the house. I can’t live with my sister, she’s a slob and can’t handle her finances whatsoever. My best option is to stay put, but it’s ruining my mental health. I live with him and his parents. His parents are gonna help out while we go to school, financially and taking care of my daughter. His mom makes a good amount, and his father doesn’t work. So it works out perfectly, they’ve been very supportive this pregnancy, but he hasn’t. He’s been very self centered, and I know it isn’t all about me, but I am carrying his child. I have my doubts about him. Ever since getting pregnant I’ve questioned his ability as a man, a father and a partner. He’s not a good fit for me. I’ve had major sexuality issues. Since it’s been imbedded in my brain that I’m with him forever, I question my sexuality even more. I don’t find myself attracted to him, but attracted to women. I always knew I was attracted to bother genders, but now I question my heterosexuality. He’s still a boy, and I’m becoming a woman, I feel like I’m moving light years ahead of him. He’s so immature and impatient, and gets upset over very small things. It’s hard to be happy or content around him. I feel almost emotionally abused and drained. I’m struggling with suicidal thoughts. I’m on antidepressants. I call the hotline when things get bad. But the thoughts are there. I don’t want to just because I have another life inside me. But if I were to do anything life ending, well then I wouldn’t be in this situation. I love my daughter already so much, but I’m trying to think about myself too. I can’t take care of her when I can’t even take care of myself. I want a good life for her, and I’m scared me or her father is gonna mess that up. I grew up in a broken home, that’s the last thing I want for her. Some days I just want to sleep, and dream forever.

A breast lift, or mastopexy, is a cosmetic surgical procedure designed to elevate and reshape sagging breasts by removing excess skin and tightening the surrounding tissue. This surgery helps restore a youthful and firm breast contour without significantly altering breast volume. Ideal candidates are women experiencing breast sagging due to aging, pregnancy, breastfeeding, or weight fluctuations. The procedure involves repositioning the nipples and areolas to a higher, more aesthetically pleasing position. Recovery typically involves swelling and bruising for a few weeks, with most patients returning to normal activities within 1-2 weeks. While results are long-lasting, they may be affected by future pregnancies, weight changes, and the natural aging process.

I've been a Christian for almost a year, God has changed my life in many ways and I believe truly that Jesus died for my sins and it was something so awesome and I am not deserving of it. But I am struggling with my obedience to Him and I'm asking for advice.
I'm going through my first pregnancy and I know I'm struggling with prenatal depression, but my depression is holding me back from coming to Jesus. Instead, I sit on my phone and sleep and play on my phone and sleep. I can barely keep up with the house and I feel like I am being a bad wife and a bad Christian. I feel like I am sort of trying. Like I could do more but I don't and I ask God to help me do more and he gives me that chance but then I run right back to my phone and my couch.
I look up how to be a more obedient follower on the internet and the steps include "step 1: come to God, step 2: obey him". I don't know what answers I'm expecting because I know it's really obvious. I just feel like, when I'm in my darker moments, that obvious thing feels so impossible to do.

Hi guys. This is my first pregnancy so maternity leave info is just very confusing for me. I had my preemie baby back on March 24th (29 weeks preemie). She's been in the NICU for the last month and half while I'm on my maternity leave for 10 weeks (due to C-section). She'll most likely will still be there when I'm done due to her conditions. My maternity leave is only on short term disability. The place I work at only allow FMLA to employers who work there for a year or more. I just happen to be right outside of that eligibility. My starting date was May 26, 2023. My short term disability ends on May 31st, so it's coming up. Am I able to apply for FMLA once my one year date passes? And should I apply for intermittent FMLA? Being in NICU, we don't know when our baby will come home. I would love to take some time off for some bonding time once she gets discharged. What are the steps I should take to help my situation? My workplace works with Sedgewick for any LOA things. Another note to add, once I'm eligible for FMLA, I am also eligible for parental paid leave up to 80 hours. TIA!

Hi, I am 34F and spouse is 42M . We have a toddler (just turned 1) together and married 6yrs now. It was a very difficult time until very recently. I have had to take on 80% of childcare from birth despite lasting physical disability from the pregnancy and postpartum ( only just getting better in the last 2 months). 10% of help has come from family who stepped in when I couldn't cope while the remaining 10% has been his contribution. I did communicate that I needed help over time but he says I didn't mention it enough. I work and contribute 50% financially. Unfortunately things have been strained in the last year and difficult conversations had. We are at a point where we are hoping we can find a way to move forward. Amongst what was said was that he does not see a forever with me and that I am not his safe place. His explanation being that I am attached to my family more than he would like. As per my family , we grew up under difficulty circumstances so we have been there for each other. We learnt as children that when we stick together we find a way to make things work. We have been each others support syatem. He recently mentioned trying for another child shortly but I am not sure if this is the fine. I feel that he wants to have children with me for whatever reasons following the conversations and then leave after that for someone he considers his forever. I am at a loss as to what way to go. Please how would you approach this situation?

By popular demand, I guess...
I was kinda just being a smart-ass, but some of you wanted more so here it is: epilogues for every NPC as if they didn't continue to travel with Gorion's Ward and instead just decided to live their own life. Obviously, there are some implied alignment changes here.
This turned out to be longer than I expected and I kinda just threw it all together while I was working. Please excuse any typos or sloppy writing.
I want to apologize for one thing, though. Viconia's epilogue really only works if GW is a male, so I had to make that assumption for the sake of her story. If it matters any, I easily play just as many female GWs as I do male GWs. In fact, I probably play more female GWs because I don't care for the romances, frequently play the canon party, and want to nip the lame Jah romance in the bud.
But, to have them all in one place, I included my original smart-ass epilogues with the additional ones I created. Now, every character from BG1 and BG2 has an epilogue. I don't have the EE characters, though, because I play the original games and don't really know them.
So, just for funsies, which one is your favorite and why?
"Anomen continued to wait at the Copper Coronet for a party of adventurers willing to travel with him. Maybe it was the grating sound of his voice, or perhaps the way he leered at women, but he continued to remain alone. Eventually, he needed to find work to make ends meet. With Gorion's Ward having disbanded the slave traders and pit fights, Hendak had to find a new form of entertainment for the patrons. As such, he invented an all male review ladies night, and Anomen found work as a 'dancer'. He left the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart to join the less noble order of the pole. He also renounced his faith to Helm and instead allied himself with Waukeen because if you wanna see some groin, you gotta have some coin."
"Despite Gorion's Ward clearing the trolls from her keep, Nalia was not able to reclaim her lands and instead lost her estate to Lord Roenall. The lord offered to let her retain residence in her family's ancestral home, but only in exchange for her hand in marriage. Nalia found the proposition to be repugnant. Instead, she salvaged whatever wealth she could from her family's keep and moved to Athkatla to start a new life. She no longer helped the less fortunate, as she was now among their numbers and had her own problems. Nalia's lack of any practical skills combined with her sense of entitlement sent her into a life of failure followed by drinking and debauchery. She now spends more time back at the Copper Coronet than anywhere else. It is hard to say where she squanders her wealth more, the alcohol, or on the dancers during Ladies Night."
"After the incident with the Planar Sphere, Valygar was finally free of his past, could retire to his cabin, and pursue his true passion: writing. Ironically, the only inspiration he found ended up stemming from his family's checkered past. Valygar's only works that even had middling success were 'Tuesdays with Lavok' and 'Dude, Where's My Planar Sphere', with the latter being made into a production at the Five Flagoons Theater."
"Haer'Dalis continued to work as a performer at the Five Flagoons Theater. Unfortunately, it struggled due to poor management. It might have turned out better if an outside agent with fresh ideas had stepped in, but Gorion's Ward had better things to do than be a bard. While the work was generally steady, the returns were not great and the material was a little low-brow for Haer'Dalis' liking. The tiefling realized he reached rock bottom when he was cast as the lead in a play about a buffoon who apparently lost a plane-shifting apparatus the size of a small castle and had to find it before his parents returned from Neverwinter. After the opening night, he took his own life in his dressing room. His body was found the next morning with a note saying, 'Art is dead and I am art, so I shall join art in death.' Biff the Understudy stepped in for Haer'Dalis despite never having an opportunity to read the script. Nevertheless, the production was a resounding success and launched Biff's career to new heights."
“A heartbroken Garrick found work as a character actor at the Five Flagoons Theater, but eventually gained more success as a writer and director. He found it to be a mostly agreeable situation, aside from a tiefling primadonna who would constantly belittle his work and call it ”trite" and “drivel”. Fortunately, that situation worked itself out in time and Garrick found Biff to be much easier to direct. With the tiefling gone, his ideas had room to grow. He invented a new kind of love story, one where the protagonist doesn't always get the girl at the end but the journey to that ending would be quite amusing. He labeled this genre “the Comedy of Romance” and the works were mostly based on his own life. His plays were quite popular among the commoners, with his top selling shows being 'Sleepless in Saradush', 'Silverymoon Linings Playbook', and 'Crazy Rich Aasimars'. He eventually fully transitioned off the stage into the director's chair. By the peak of his fame, he was married to none other than Queen Ellesime."
“Aerie continued to work at the circus and WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT HER DAMN WINGS. Even Quayle eventually grew sick of hearing about it. This put strain on their relationship. Things took a turn for the better when Ribald Barterman acquired a new curiosity for his shop. It was a magical ring which he sold to Quayle at a reduced rate out of sympathy. This ”treasure" was actually a cursed Ring of Deafness, which Quayle found to be anything but a curse and wore it for the rest of his days."
“Xzar and Montaron were both slain at the hands of the Athkatla Harpers, but this is actually where their story begins. Xzar, as he had done so many times before, had a backup plan of an arcane nature should death befall either he or the halfling. Their mortal essences were pulled to a pocket plane he created. There they could be channeled into restored bodies cloned at his estate. With this particular round of ritual, Xzar had incidentally made a slight error in the incantation and the two found themselves in a time suspended state in Xzar's pocket plane. It was only five minutes for the rest of the world, but it was fifty years for them. This turned out to be a pivot point in their relationship. Having only each other's company in this shadowy void, they were finally able to work out their feelings for each other. When they had returned to the prime material plane, they discovered their mutual animosity was replaced with love. Rather than pick up their life where they left off with the Zhentarim, they decided to pack it all in, moved to Bryn Shander, and start a bed and breakfast. Montaron rediscovered his halfling roots and love for the culinary arts while Xzar would perform seances to connect guests with their late loved ones. Scones and Bones became an overnight success and was consistently listed as a “must see” in Volo's travel guides. In their golden years, the couple co-wrote a memoir of their journey, ‘Brokeback Montaron’, which is sold in bookstores everywhere."
“After briefly crossing paths with Gorion's Ward, Mazzy Fentan continued her crusade as a de facto halfling paladin. She eventually found herself petitioning for membership at the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in Athkatla after she had singlehandedly saved a village from an ancient dracolich. Despite the extent of her virtue and accomplishment, her petition was denied on the basis that halflings could not possibly be real paladins. This inspired her next crusade, one to break down vocational barriers for all demihuman races. Why couldn't halflings be paladins or dwarves be wizards? And why did gnomes always have to be illusionists? It simply made no goddamn sense. She began to get traction with her quest when she attended lectures by the wizards of the (sword) coast in Candlekeep. With their help, she ushered Faerun into a new edition era where there would be no vocational barriers for adventurers based on their race. Soon, the world began to see roguish halflings that also venerated Helm, while tending to the wilds as a druid. Half-orc bards also studied as wizards while manifesting natural arcane abilities as sorcerers. Tiefling paladins took their crusades to the wilderness and served as rangers, while sidelining as clergy to Mystra. The world was now a liberated place, free to not make any goddamn sense in a myriad of new ways. At one point, Lady Mazzy Fentan of Trademeet (now formally a paladin) crossed paths with a dwarven shadowdancebard and in that moment she regretted everything. Seriously, just take a moment and picture that. It would look fucking ridiculous.”
“Yeslick's clanhome was flooded once again. Despondent and without options, he took work at a smithy in Baldur's Gate but never stopped dreaming of finding both a clan and a home. He found a way to bring this dream to life after a courageous halfling paladin broke down the barriers for, among other things, dwarves to be wizards. Yeslick had an idea. He studied magic diligently until he was able to cast two spells of great importance: Water Breathing and Permanence. He then searched the lands for other clanless dwarves who would be willing to try something new. With the new clan he formed, Yeslick permanently gave all his fellow clansman the ability to breath underwater. They then moved into the flooded Cloakwood Mines and built the first underwater dwarven stronghold. Using his arcane powers, Yeslick also developed the ability to speak with the marine life that shared this stronghold. And, with that, the clan Aquadwarf was born. At one point, Valygar visited and wrote a play based on Yeslick's story. However, he couldn't even get it to stage at the Five Flagoons Theater. The illustrious director Garrick was quoted as saying, “A hero that can breath underwater and talk to fish? Nobody would go for that!"
“Keldorn finally retired from the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart and looked forward to a much simpler life. He rekindled his marriage with Lady Maria and life seemed to improve. It was rather early on when the couple discovered that Maria had become pregnant again. It was also not long after that when Peony, the housekeeper, also became pregnant. Maria started to ask Keldorn about this, but Keldorn started to get defensive and asked, ”Hey, who's the Inquisitor here?" Then Keldorn started to do the math with her to track the conception of Maria's pregnancy. She certainly did not want him to get to the end of that equation, so she quickly changed the subject. She suggested getting a new maid, but Keldorn chastised her for abandoning someone in their time of need who had been like family for years. He forbade Peony's departure claiming that his god, Torm, would not stand for it. Maria then made a passive aggressive comment about Torm being the god of loyalty, but she was mostly just muttering under her breath to get the last word in. Eventually, both children were born and had probably the most awkward upbringing of anyone in Faerun."
“After Gorion's Ward helped Coran take down a wyvern, the rogue brought the beast's head back to the mayor of Beregost for the reward and accolades. He thought this put him in a position to be a hero of great renown and perhaps, just maybe, people would stop mocking him for his flashy attire and completely superfluous eye mask. They didn't. He only gained acceptance when he crossed paths with a ranger who seemed indifferent towards Coran's keen fashion sense. Coran traveled the Sword Coast with his ranger sidekick, righting the wrongs against the ‘little guy’ and taking the law into their own hands when needed. This partnership dissolved when he discovered that the ranger thought Coran was the sidekick. As if! Coran tried to correct the ranger, whose argument was, 'Really, man, if that outfit doesn't scream sidekick then I'm Elminster's twin brother.' The ranger was not related to Elminster and shared no resemblance.
“Kivan never was able to get his revenge on Tazok. Unbeknownst to him, that honor was taken by Gorion's Ward. His thirst for vengeance continued to eat away at him until he found himself in a bat infested cave in the wilderness. It was then he snapped. He turned the cave into his secret hideaway, put together a disguise and started wandering the sword coast looking for evil-doers to punish. He would leave his calling card wherever he saved the day, a token of a bat with longer ears like an elf. And bats already had rather long ears so these bat ears were almost comically obtrusive. Nevertheless, his deeds were generally appreciated and the people stared calling him Bat-elf. For a short spell, another elf tagged along with him and tried to help, but he was so flamboyantly dressed that one could pick his sidekick out of the shadows blindfolded. Kivan eventually had to send him on his way. Unfortunately, his vigilante crusade abruptly ended after receiving a cease and decist order from DC Comics. Kivan could fight both monster and marauder all day, but his 14 Constitution wouldn't hold up against a lawsuit for trademark infringement.”
“Skie was deeply affected by both the death of her brother and the assassination of her father. And yes, her father was actually murdered and didn't lol-jk back to life in some crappy DLC. In any event, through these traumas, she came to realize the puerility of what she thought was her brilliant criminal masterminding. Instead, she decided to settle down and live a more responsible life as an upstanding citizen of Baldur's Gate. She took the reins of her father's estate after his death and rose to prominence as one of the Grand Dukes of the city. She maintained her relationship with Eldoth for quite some time, inexplicably, as he refused to get a job because he didn't want to take attention from his band which he swore was going to make it. However, the bard spent most of the day either lounging at Skie’s estate or gambling away his allowance with games of three-dragon-ante at the Helm and Cloak. Eventually, inspired by the book “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar," she decided to call it quits with Eldoth and sent him packing. Shortly thereafter, she met a man who was nothing like Eldoth and they settled down together to start a family."
“Eldoth's dreams of being a world-famous musician fronting the greatest band in Faerun never reached fruition. This was partly because he didn't actually have a band and partly because he didn't have the talent to write music. Instead, he just had a lute he purchased at Lucky Aello's Discount Store that only had one A-string and was missing the E-string. Also, Eldoth could only play power chords and he couldn't really sing and play at the same time. Most of the time he would just strum a chord or two and then talk about what the song would do next, often describing a solo and half playing it on an ”air lute" (while he was still holding an actual lute, mind you) to give people the idea as to how the song would sound when it was finally written. Yeah, he was one of those guys. After Skie kicked him to the curb, he bounced between various barmaids who clearly had low self-esteem, but not low enough to keep him around for long. Eventually, he got one of them pregnant and was forced into a shotgun wedding by the barmaid's father. He now works in the kitchen at the same inn as his barmaid wife. She helps the customers up front and he cooks eggs in the back. Eldoth continues to tell himself that this experience will just provide inspiration for his music and that someday he was going to get the band back together."
“After being rescued by Gorion's Ward, Xan made his way to Baldur's Gate to regroup. He spent an inordinate amount of time beating himself up over his failures and trying to muster the gumption to continue his quest to unravel the political turmoil of the region. However, it took him months to get to this point, and by that time, Gorion's Ward already sorted out the problems in the region. Discovering this, he deemed himself a failure yet again and sunk into a deeper depression. He pulled himself out of it when he met a woman who lost most of her family to violent deaths during the iron crisis, yet she still kept herself together and became a local success in a few short years. Xan immediately fell in love with the recently single Skie Silvershield and began to court her. They eventually married and started a family. At Xan's insistence, and inspired by his wife's name, their two daughters were named Sunshine and Rainbow. Xan was a staunch supporter of his wife's career and stayed home to raise the kids. When they were older and needed less attending, he followed a new dream and became a motivational speaker.”
“Korgan had his revenge against his backstabbing crew and employer, but he felt...empty. It was done, but he felt no satisfaction. Disgruntled and disappointed, he decided to lose himself in his cups at the Copper Coronet. Even this did nothing to alleviate his malaise. One night, having passed out drunk in a peasant room at the Copper Coronet, he dreamt of that final fight but something was different. In the background of the battle, there was a glow coming from the door of a shack and he heard the whispering of a language that sounded like it was from Kara-Tur. When he woke the next morning, Korgan returned to the rooftop and found the shack from his dream. He knocked and was greeted by a priest of Illmater. Korgan told the priest of his dream and he was led into the backroom where he found a man from Kara-Tur infirm and huddled over a cup of tea. The priest explained that he had just reincarnated this man of the faith using a heart delivered by a passing adventurer. Korgan took this as a sign, converted to the faith, and the two paired up to help those in suffering as a result of the schemes of others. The tales of Korgan and Yoshimo were not only told in many of a tavern by the bards, but also collected in graphic serials that were popular among the children of Athkatla.”
“Ajantis' death sent him into an afterlife at Everwatch, the realm of Helm. For his honor and diligence, the devout knight was granted an audience with his patron. Ajantis then told Helm what utter bullshit the god was. I mean, c'mon, he's the god of protection, the Vigilant One, and he couldn't protect a group of knights from a dragon's cheap illusion spell that a mage even tried to dispel with True Sight? It was like Helm wasn't even trying. Helm was stunned by the confrontation but also had no valid defense. Ajantis called Helm to a trial that was mediated by Tyr. After careful deliberation, Tyr determined that Helm was sleeping on the job and the judgment was to demote him to a lesser deity. Now, Helm was the patron of guards, but not actual guards that ever see action, just the ceremonial ones whose weapons and armor are super shiny and probably not even real. Ajantis was then granted Helm's old portfolio and became a god that truly protected his followers.”
“Viconia left Athkatla's government district perplexed. She was rescued from burning at the stake by Gorion's Ward and then immediately dismissed. She found this to be unusual behavior for a male. She was accustomed to men either trying to bed her or kill her, but this casual indifference was completely new. Viconia came to be obsessed with Gorion's Ward from a distance. She spiraled into a fantasy where the two of them had a future together. It was pretty bad. There were some extremely embarrassing vision boards involved and that wasn't even the worst of it. When her mania reached critical mass, her obsession actually collapsed and she had an epiphany. She came to realize that she did not need this man, or any for that matter. She started on a journey of self discovery and took a moral inventory of her past relationships. She wrote about it in the book, “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar”. She then used the revenue from the book sales to open Athkatla's first feminist bookstore. In Her Words became a mecca for women, particularly those who felt trapped in bad relationships. The community that emerged here created the group, Friends of Galia, which strove to free women from abusive relationships. Eventually, the bookstore expanded to include an apartment block above that became a shelter for such women. Occasionally, the partners of these victims would come around to In Her Words in an attempt to drag their partners back home. You can probably guess how a confrontation between a drunken 0-level commoner and a Drow priestess of Shar ends."
“Faldorn was defeated by Jaheira in Trademeet and lost her title of Arch-Druid. In truth, she was relieved to be relieved of the position. Years of pushing forward the Shadow Druid agenda led Faldorn to realize that she had lost touch with the real Faldorn along the way. After some soul-searching, she reinvented herself as a lifestyle guru and developed an entire line of organic health and beauty products under the name, She-Wolf. Both her products and seminars were all the rage in Athkatla, specifically among noblewomen who clearly had too much free time. Faldorn eventually gave up her residence in natural environs for a lavish estate in Athkatla's government district. Her following soon pressured her to petition to join the Council of Six after the fall of the Cowled Wizards left the position open (aside from a short-term replacement). Her petition was a success and she soon found herself on the Council of Six. Under her leadership, she created created the FDAA, the Food and Drink Association of Athkatla. Now, instead of draconian rules governing magic in the city, equally restrictive rules and standards were applied to the food and drink that the people consumed.”
“Barely surviving being gravely wounded by Irenicus, Tiax left Spellhold for Athkatla where he intended to do what he did best: rule. Learning from his past campaign mistakes in Baldur's Gate, he changed his slogan from ”Tiax Rules!" to “Make Athkatla Great Again”. Of course, what he thought would make Athkatla great was putting himself in charge as a despotic leader. But, he toned down that aspect of his platform and instead focused on the history of scheming and backroom dealing of the Cowled Wizards (as if he was any less evil or scheming) and promised the people he would be different than all the other corrupt politicians. Miraculously, despite his obviously apparent character flaws, he succeeded in replacing the Cowled Wizards' representative on the Council of Six. He decided to take their stance on restrictive magic to the next level and banned magic entirely. Since he didn't study the arcane himself, it was no skin of his nose. This move undermined his support base leaving him with only the most backwards and ignorant followers. He was ultimately removed from his position when he insisted the city build a wall around the planar sphere and was expecting that the city's wizards would be the ones to pay for it. After his removal, his few remaining extreme supporters organized an invasion of the main government building under the guise of freedom of assembly. All nine of these “rebels” were rounded up, tried, and sent to prison. Tiax was convicted of treason and reincarnated in Spellhold, which was now just a common prison. After his eventual release, he was prohibited from seeking any position of power in Amn."
"Edwin Odesseiron continued to lay low with the Shadow Thieves for a while. The Cowled Wizards suffered a crippling blow as a side effect of the conflict between Gorion's Ward and Irenicus. Edwin decided to step in and finish the job. His thought was that he could wipe out the Cowled Wizard remnants and then take credit for their defeat, thereby gaining him more clout among the Red Wizards of Thay. After many conspicuous mage battles in the streets of Athkatla, he succeeded. However, the people who noticed his efforts the most were actually the people of Athkatla. They were tired of living under the Cowled Wizards' iron fist and Edwin was lauded as a liberator and hero. He even had a statue in his image raised in Waukeen's Promenade. Edwin was initially nonplussed over people finally giving him the credit he always felt he so rightfully deserved. But, he quickly came to accept their praise and bought in to being a champion for the people. Edwin continued his agenda of liberation when a clearly insane gnome who found his way on the Council of Six tried to ban magic entirely in the city. Edwin and his followers were primarily responsible for having the madman removed from his seat.
“Shar-Teel, Safana, Branwen, and Alora all happened to cross paths with each other at Elfsong one evening. Shar-Teel was looking to fight a man, Safana was looking to shag a man, Branwen was recently petrified by a man, and Alora was just excited to be somewhere new. The four got to talking with each other and, despite having wildly different personalities, seemed to hit it off. Shar-Teel was sarcastic and aggressive, Safana was self-absorbed and man-hungry, Alora was kind and sweet, and Branwen was the matriarch of the group. You wouldn't think this lot would get along, but they actually did, and their differences merely become the fuel for innocuous hi-jinks week after week.”
"With Gorion's Ward's help, Cernd was able to rescue his child that he then abandoned again at the druid grove near Trademeet. He promised that he would return to raise the child, he just needed to run to the general shop in Trademeet for some pipeweed. He never returned, but that was pretty obvious since he didn’t even smoke. Cernd continued to wander Faerun. It came to light in Cormyr that Cernd had actually married, and had children, with numerous women in Cormyr, Amn, the Sword Coast, Tethyr, Calimshan, Turmish, Halruaa, Icewind Dale, Chondath, Sembia, Impiltur, the Silver Marches, and even the Troll Hills (don't ask). Furthermore, it was discovered that Cernd was not actually a druid, just a werewolf that had a Ring of Goodberries. The druid con was so that he could have a reason to abandon his wives and children and move on to a new situation. You would be surprised at how many women could fall for a guy that can conjure an impromptu picnic in the park. Unfortunately for Cernd, Cormyr was not the kind of place to run afoul of the legal system. For the crime of bigamy, he was sentenced to life in prison. He never set foot near a druid grove again, but he was allowed to participate in a work-release program tending to the gardens of nobles.
“Kagain returned to his shop and grew even more bitter, but not over what the death of Entar Silvershield's son had done to his reputation and business. Instead, he resented that even the Enhanced Edition of the game didn't give him a remotely decent companion quest. By Moradin's hammer, Cernd even had a pretty involved companion quest and the story there both starts and ends with a deadbeat dad! Also, Kagain can regenerate! Korgan can't even do that. And another thing! He was sick of people confusing the two of them as if all dwarves look alike or something. Ok, granted, they're both old dwarves with greying beards, but Korgan's beard is tied while Kagain's beard is brushed out. Of course, none of this made sense to anyone, even to Kagain who never actually crossed paths with Cernd or Korgan. However, the dwarf had nothing to do with his time except stand in his shop, isolated and alone, until he was done in by insanity and plantar fasciitis.”
“The death of Khalid shook Jaheira to the core. She convinced herself that she could never love again, certainly not so soon after his death nor with anyone that would be a child in her eyes. That would be absurd and rather tacky. After her escape from Irenicus' prison and deposing Faldorn from the druid grove, she took over as Arch-Druid. Being a Harper just wouldn't be the same without Khalid. However, the grove would allow her to explore a new, but comfortingly familiar, phase of life. She had barely been installed as the Arch-Druid when Cernd dropped off his child and disappeared again. He did not even stay long enough to tell Jaheira the child's name. Knowing he would likely not return, she named the child Khalid after her lost love. Realizing there were other children our there without families to care for them, Jahaeira would send her subordinates to wander nearby lands and bring them to the grove for a better life. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these children happened to be Cernd's. She eventually renamed the grove to Kinder Garden in honor of the grove's new purpose of giving these children a kinder upbringing. Jaheira's headstrong personality served her well with these lost children, who all loved her as they would any mother. The Kinder Garden became the most thriving druid grove in all of Faerun. Jaheira eventually died in 1547 DR, with hundreds of children haven been rescued in her lifetime, and a memorial was erected in her honor at the grove. The inscription read, 'Nature's Servant Awaits.'"
“After being freed from Irenicus' dungeon, Minsc put his boots on the ground at the Copper Coronet. Being the simple man that he was, he found himself unwittingly recruited into fighting in the gladiator pits (before Gorion's Ward was able to free the slaves). Yet again, Minsc took a blow to the head. But this time, its effects were something completely new. No longer was he the slow-witted evil-slaying ranger, armed to the teeth and packing a hamster. Instead, his intelligence and wisdom started to blossom and he explored, through dissertation, the impact of modern civilization on the overall ecosystem of Faerun. Indeed, before Minsc started his work, the people of Faerun didn't even have the concept of an ”ecosystem". He left Athkatla to pursue a residency at Jaheira's grove where he could study and work in peace. He published works like, “The Intersection of Geopolitics and Biodiversity: Living More but Dying Sooner”, “The Essential Symbiosis Between the Savage and Civilization”, and “Moral Urbanization: Seeking a More Comprehensive Prosperity”. Minsc continued his studies and writing and ultimately produced enough groundbreaking works to have his own annex in Candlekeep. It was shortly after the dedication of this annex that Minsc disappeared from Faerun, never to be seen again."
“Jan Jansen's fate was the most impressive of all as his endeavors shaped the very fabric of Faerun for centuries to come. His story truly serves as a moral lesson for everyone and we should heed its virtue quite seriously. Helping Lissa and Jaella planted a seed of regret in Lissa with regards to her marriage to Vaelag. Speaking of seeds, this reminds Jan of a time when he was helping his Uncle Scratchy with his turnip farm. However, Uncle Scratchy was hoodwinked and the seeds he received were actually purple carrot seeds. You can imagine Uncle Scratchy's surprise when they sprouted and he suddenly had a field of purple carrots. Well, as you probably know, you can't make turnip stew, or turnip casserole, or turnip pie with purple carrots. But it just so happened there was a mage tower nearby and the resident mage needed a vast number of carrots. Apparently, her plan was to animate them as a kind of vegetable army to combat a myconid infestation in cave system rather close to her tower. Of course, animated carrots are quite self-assured and were immune to myconoid's confusion spores. Anyway, Jan had a once-removed cousin, Bobil, that was lost in those caves when he was a young gnome. He had wandered so deep that he found himself in the den of a solitary xvart who was obsessed with a magic ring. Bobil happened to purloin that ring but it turned out to not be magic at all. However, it was still worth enough for Bobil to buy himself a nice cottage in Trademeet. He then started his own turnip farm and had better luck than Uncle Scratchy. Wait, what were we talking about, again?”
“Boo continued his mission to study the sentient life forms of Faerun and determine their potential impact on the metaverse. He preferred the continued company of Minsc due to the ranger's kindness and protectiveness. Boo found this to be quite valuable in his current miniaturized state. Even after Minsc's accident, where his intellect began to expand, Minsc never lost his good heart and inherent kindness and the two remained the best of friends. It was a number of years later that the term of Boo's mission was complete. A team of his fellow people arrived on a spelljammer to collect the giant miniaturized space hamster. Minsc (and Boo) were on a retreat in a remote part of the Neverwinter Wood when a vessel shaped like a giant acorn landed in a nearby clearing. A number of human-sized anthropomorphic hamster-like beings, who called themselves the Ysoki, emerged and met with Boo. One had a strange crystalline device which it used to restore Boo to his proper size. Minsc naturally remained composed while all this was happening. He and Boo talked often and he knew this day would be coming. Boo returned to the spelljammer with his brethren to debrief on the mission. The Ysoki wanted to bring a sample back to their homeworld for further learning and study. Boo offered Minsc for the task, as the exemplar human would fit in nicely with the Ysoki's advanced culture and society. Everyone was in agreement and made the offer to the ranger. Minsc felt like he had made every contribution he could to the people of Faerun, so he accepted and boarded the ship. Boo, excited to finally be on a spelljammer again, took the helm and plotted a course for his homeworld. At his side sat his friend and faithful companion, Minsc.”

As the headline says, I got some pretty mind blowing news today. For context, I’m the oldest of 4 grown adult children in my 40s, mom is in 60s my siblings are 12 years + younger with the baby 26. Long set up but I promise it sets the tone…My mom has always been very controlling of everything, utilizing her children as commodities for visits with family and other parents etc. I never knew my dad and when relationships ended with the other siblings fathers, they only got access on her say so etc which was not often. By the time I was 16, I was in high school raising 3 siblings ranging from infant to toddler. She was barely home working long haul trucking while stepdad at time was recovering from flipping his big truck. He ultimately tried to kill himself again in my presence with my siblings asleep (he was Vietnam vet with ptsd) one night and I stopped him and called for help. He went away for a few months but ultimately she brought him home one day months later, shipped my siblings off to my aunt and told me at 17, I had 24 hours to find place to live. I was still in high school but newly dating a guy who had lawyers for parents. They stepped in took custody of me.
Needless to say I was traumatized, she took off with stepdad and went back on road with him. I didn’t get to see my siblings often because they were hour away from me and I barely spoke to my mom. She ultimately didn’t speak to me till the weekend of my 18 birthday. She called to tell me to come back home and quit school to take care of siblings because my aunt was no longer going to do it while they continued to drive cross country. I was senior in high school months from graduation and said NO. She said she would never speak to me again because I was selfish and I couldn’t see my siblings either.
This started decades long cycle, I barely got to see my siblings as they grew unless I did what she wanted which as I grew up, I chose less and less to conform. I only got to see them at family affairs that I was invited to with all family. My grandparents came to my 1st wedding when she refused to. Ultimately the stepfather in questioned that she chose over her own kids in my teens left her and cleared their bank account of his inheritance money the night she came to my house to visit with my second child shortly after I gave birth.
She has been relatively a single parent since, she had to come off road long haul trucking because she had no one to watch 3 young children all the time. The siblings grew into teens and young adults with some major issues. The two older ones cannot stay out of prison, the youngest struggled early in teen years, I tried to help where I could but it was not easy. Their 1st born was in dfcs custody before 2 months old, I took guardianship of both child and parent but they did not stick around and did their own thing. After 2 + years of failed parenting plans etc, we adopted to keep them in family despite the fact my own children were teens at this point.
My mom was angry and said I should have left them in dfcs to disappear but later tried to say I stole the child. My sibling does not feel the same way but they are still very heavily reliant on my mom financially (she control their bank account and money) she would not let them tell me she was pregnant with 2nd child and I didn’t find out till they were 4 months old. They hid pregnancy and baby from rest of family. By the 3rd child we had a better connection but they are still very reliant on my moms financial assistance and when she does not want me to know something or participate in certain events they won’t tell us or avoid contact. I don’t play into the antics though and one of my mom’s biggest issues with me is that I don’t call/text her on daily basis as my siblings supposedly do. I’ve explained that I have a busy life of my own multiple times. I have full time job, manage care of a special needs child and assist with care of aging fil while running a household of 6 people. My grown children still live at home because college and living expenses are too much to handle in this economy.
I do make an effort to text or call every few weeks. I connect for sure on holidays, birthdays etc. I knew when she called to come over today it was important and I was available despite it being a work day normally. She came in bluntly told me about her widow maker heart attack and triple bypass surgery that occurred while she was out on a run in the truck. My sister and aunt where has power of attorney over her will etc was notified in time for them to travel several hours to another state to be there by time she was out of surgery. Per my mom she told them to notify those who called or were in her 2 week call history. Which apparently left me out. I went back into both my call log and text history and showed her our communication with in 10 days of the event and she said she had no idea about it, she was high on morphine at time. I showed her the multiple text conversations we had had since no more than 3 weeks apart between each conversation since January, asking why she never mentioned it during those conversations. She never answered my calls during that time but that was not too unusual. I had met up with my baby sibling a few weeks ago to get the kids together and they never mentioned it either. My mom has been living with them since the event full time and has not worked since. No mention what so ever. I did find out two of her own siblings were also left out intentionally as well and found out much later too. The only reason I found out today was because she found out she had cancer in her kidney and has to have another surgery soon and wants me to get test to make sure I don’t have it. She is not apologetic about leaving me out of the loop at all. She says I have to call her or text once a week in order to be considered for notification of such events.
I’m hurt, I’m flabbergasted and have no idea how to proceed. I’ve discussed cutting all contact with my husband and adult children in relation to mom but that means cutting contact with my baby sibling who is bio parent to my youngest, this cutting their connection to their younger siblings. The older siblings are easier because well honestly they are in jail more than not. I feel like this will never end and she will go to her grave trying to control the narrative.

February 15 i found out my husband and i were finally expecting our first baby. this was something i had absolutely begged and prayed for. i was over the moon, My entire life now revolved around “ im pregnant”
Towards the end of February i notice i was getting some intense cramping that would make me sick to my stomach, i spoke with some other moms and we’re all told by them “it’s normal”.
March 3 i was just waking up getting some breakfast and had an extremely sharp pain, this pain made me collapse to the floor. I immediately called my husband (Paramedic/FF) and he had a squad pick me up with him and take me to the ER.
By the time we arrived the cramp was gone, i felt completely “normal”. They still wanted to do a scan and just check everything out. We sat in the room for 2 hours before i was taken back to my scan. I walked into the room, the lady asked me to go use the bathroom to make sure i had no urine in my bladder, so i did. After she asked me to get on the table and explained to me the entire process.
I was so excited. i was finally going to be able to get a glimpse of my baby! i was 5 weeks so i hadn’t have had my first scan yet. i ask her if i can see what everything looks like, she approves if she can see anything. She goes from talking and carrying a conversation to total silence.
As i lay there all i can think is “is something wrong?”. She then helps me get off the table and gives me a hand towel to clean myself off. As i walk into the bathroom to do so and get my pants back on, i go to wipe.
There it was. Blood. Everywhere. My stomach immediately dropped as all i can repeating say “no no no”. The lady wheels me back to my room where my husband is sitting with a smile waiting for me to return. When he sees my face he knows something isn’t right.
Of course while waiting for results i’m googling “blood while 5 weeks” “brown blood at 5 weeks, is this normal?”. My doctor then walks in, grabs the tv remote and turns the tv off and sits down. She then looks at me grabs my hand and lets me know of the news. Ectopic Pregnancy. At this moment my entire life was just crushed. everything was ruined. My husband attempted to console me with no success.
I was also informed that due to the scan the pregnancy had bursted and i was needed to be transported to a different hospital that was 30 minutes away from there to have emergency surgery to remove my tube.
I begged and begged for the Transportation to allow my husband to ride with me.I needed him too. Of course this was denied. 30 Minutes of crying, screaming, not understanding what i did wrong.
Today, i am still having the hardest time finding a way to cope. Anytime i get a reminder i just uncontrollably loose it. Yes i understand this takes time, but it’s almost feeling like the longer it’s been, the harder it is. We have finally been cleared from my surgeon to try again, My husband is So excited. I, am not. All i can think about is how bad it hurt me to know i lost a part of me. I don’t know if i can go through that again. Now i’m so lost. the one thing i prayed for, begged for and hoped for i am absolutely terrified to have happen.

Im currently 39+1 with my 2nd baby, and im SO uncomfortable and sore. I'm dealing with severe pelvic pain, reflux so bad that I throw up, back aches and cramps, intense lightning crotch, and near constant braxton hicks.
For the last 2+ weeks, ive been getting proper braxtons hicks (which I didn't have for majority of this pregnancy), which is fine. But for the past week, they've been getting more and more regular, and for the past few days, I've been lucky to go 5 minutes without having one. They're usually not accompanied by cramps, but they last about 2 minutes and are very uncomfortable. It feels like everything triggers them, and it doesn't help that I have a 2 year old climbing all over me. I'm just so done 😭. I'm in constant pain, and haven't felt comfortable in months

TL;DR
I informed my partner that I no longer want to work. We have been together for 8 years, and I am a massage therapist (28F) while he is a line cook (35M). We have a six-year-old child. When I got pregnant in 2017, we were still boyfriend and girlfriend and not living together. I continued working while pregnant to cover my expenses and rent since I was living alone.
When I reached my sixth month of pregnancy, I decided to move in with him because I couldn't continue doing massages, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pay the rent. I thought it would be easier if I had someone to support me financially since he was still working in a call center at that time. However, when we started living together, he had a conflict with someone in his company and he resigned. He didn't apply for another job since then. (Note: I was seven months pregnant when he resigned).
We were in a tight situation, but luckily we were able to live with his family, so we didn't have to pay rent. I went to public hospitals for my check-ups and delivery, so we didn't have to spend money on that. But for our food and our baby's needs, his mother provided for us. At that time, his two siblings were still in college, and his mother was only selling food, so the budget she left for us was only 50 pesos a day. We would get our meals from the food she sold.
I felt really embarrassed to ask for more, to the point that I ran out of money to buy cleaning supplies for my stitches after my C-section. I used panty liners and tape to cover the wound. I didn't want to ask for help from my parents because since I got pregnant, my father and mother didn't want me to be with him. I was the one who insisted.
Six months after giving birth, I went back to doing massages even though it was difficult for me, and he's left at home to take care of our child and do the household chores. But whenever there's an opportunity, I also help out because he always says that being a house husband is tiring. I really forced myself to work because I felt sorry for us, always relying on handouts. I tried telling him to find work, but the thing is, he keeps flunking the medical exams because of his lung scar. When he applied and failed, he didn't want to try again.
Since then, I have been the one shouldering all the expenses, from baptism, birthdays, Christmas, and everything else. My brother forced him to work as a construction worker, and he did it for almost three months, but when the project was finished, he lost his job again. In December 2023, his friend got him a job at a restaurant, and he asked me to quit my job so that I could take care of our child. So I resigned, but I still do freelance work twice a week to supplement our budget.
However, there was a problem with their job, so the one-month salary they were supposed to receive was not given immediately. I used up my earnings to support him and our household expenses (bills, food, and our child's school allowance). I was forced to work again because we had nothing left. After two months, he found another job. We both started working, and we hired someone to take care of our child.
I told him that we should split the expenses, but he refused because he only earns minimum wage and he thinks I earn more. I earn 700 pesos per day plus tips (400-700 pesos per day), and on my two rest days, I do freelance work and earn 3,000 pesos weekly. So our weekly budget is 2,000 pesos, including our child's allowance. I divide it into two so that we each contribute 1,000 pesos. Since I earn more, I pay for the water, electricity, internet, caregiver's fee, and gas. The 1,000 pesos is his only contribution, but he still pushing to cut down on what he's chipping in. He wants me to reduce his share so that he can buy things for himself since he thinks I earn a lot. I don't want to agree to that.
I understand that maybe now, since he has finally earned some money through his hard work, he wants to be able to buy the things he desires. But what about our child's needs? I want him to be obligated to provide for our son, but I can't really say it. I always get scared when I try to voice out my feelings because he gets angry right away and says I talk too much.
I'm really struggling, but I have no one to talk to because I don't want my family's view of him to change. I can't even tell his family because they are still his relatives. I don't have any close friends I can confide in. It's difficult because he is a good father to our child, he doesn't cheat on me, and he is caring, especially before when he didn't have a job. He just doesn't have a provider mindset.
I have already told him before that in my line of work, I can't avoid indecent proposals and harassment, even though I don't tolerate them. It's inevitable that there will be people who will try to take advantage. That's why I don't want to work anymore, especially since I have been the only one working throughout our relationship. We've been together for 8 years. If we count the days we've been together, he hasn't even worked for a year yet, he just agrees without making any effort to apply for a job.
I'm so tired, I feel like I'm completely neglecting myself and my mental health. The thought of separating has crossed my mind, but I'm worried about the impact it would have on our child. I also don't want to add more worries for my elderly parents since they are both senior citizens. I'm really struggling with this decision. Should I give in to him again? Should I cut him some slack and reduce his contribution even more?

Hello, everyone, and thank you for clicking on my post to read it! I am a recently post-partum mom to a 2 month old girl. My pregnancy had many complications that prevented me from working, unfortunately, but thankfully my babygirl and I made it out healthy and so so happy. Recently, as well, my husband and I have had to fork out a good chunk of money to move into a new place due to our lease being up and just to achieve a cheaper rent payment. This has put us in a bit of a financial rut. The baby has plenty of food, we made sure of that first, stocked up on a few cans, but we're slim on resources. I've gotten into my new job, thankfully, but will not be recieving my first paycheck for a couple of weeks and we have to save my husband's paycheck for rent/utilities. Anything would really help, if anyone is able. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day/night.
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We are getting ready to do a cycle of reciprocal IVF and I’m just looking to hear from people who’ve been through it! My partner(25ftm) is going to get an egg retrieval before going back on to testosterone. We are going to do reciprocal IVF because of my genetic condition. They estimated $12,500 for his retrieval, which may or may not be covered by insurance. He works for Starbucks, which may also help with costs. Then the sperm donor costs. The implantation into me will be 6k. I am really excited but also nervous. I really want to experience pregnancy, but after that we plan to adopt and foster. We’re also doing a science baby fund with our wedding registry! Is it weird to also share that on like Facebook? Anyway, I just was hoping to connect with other couples who’ve been through something similar!

Hey friends:) my period is six days late (i already took two pregnancy tests, both negative), which is super duper uncommon for me. My periods are almost always 30 days apart.
I realized that I had a minor cold during the few days that my Flo app predicted ovulation this past month. Mainly congestion, fatigue and a sore throat. I was also moving at this time, both myself and I spent a day helping a friend move on the day I was meant to ovulate AND was the sickest. It was pretty stressful but I am incredibly stressed person in general so i just cant believe that would throw my cycle off so much.
Is that enough to delay ovulation and thus my period? My periods are never ever later than a day or two, so this is really freaking me out. I can’t think of any other explanation.