Is equate daytime sinus safe during pregnancy

Have you ever experienced something that shook you to your very core? Something that makes you remember every single little detail of your surroundings from that moment in time? Even years after? I can remember so vividly the moment I realized something was wrong with me. I was in my junior year of high school sitting in class, just like any other day. I remember the smell of erasers and cheap cologne that permeated off my classmate who sat next to me. I remember the scratchy tag on my t-shirt and how I was resisting taking it off in the middle of class just to cut it off. I remember what my teacher, Mrs. Brown, was talking about; 'the fall of Constantinople'. My mouth felt dry and I kept looking at the clock, counting down the minutes until I had lunch so I could get a soda. The sound of a pen clicking behind me was synchronized with the song that was stuck in my head.
All those things were going through my brain at once. My ADHD mind went a million miles per minute when it all came down to a cashing holt when I felt it at 11:23
I felt what I can only describe as a hand grabbing at the inner lining of my stomach. It didn't necessarily hurt, not at this point. That's not why I got so scared. You see, not only do I have ADHD. I also have OCD that manifests itself in the fear of anything growing or moving inside me. Even if I think about the concept of blood moving in my body or a heart that is beating in my chest, I have to think of something else. I've had full-blown panic attacks because of it. The closest term for this is 'Tokophobia'. That's technically the fear of pregnancy. I'm a guy, so it's not completely accurate but it's really the closest term. I mean, I also do have a huge fear of pregnancy. Not necessarily of me being pregnant, but even though I knew I could never get pregnant, the thought of it still made me feel sick
I bet you can imagine the terror that overcame me as I felt something moving in me. I made an audible groan and grabbed my stomach. My whole class turned to look at me. even my teacher stopped talking to ask if I was okay. I stood up and started to run to the nurses' office without even acknowledging my teacher. My first thought wasn't thinking that something was actually in my body. Even stomach aches and the feeling of gurgling in my stomach made me feel this way before. I didn't have anything on hand to help with a stomach ache, unfortunately. However, the nurse always did.
I sprinted across the school hoping and praying that my stomach wouldn't make that awful feeling again before I got there.
I turned the corner into the nurses' office with my tennis shoes squeaking in the process. I saw the school nurse, Mrs. Kennedy sitting on the couch in her office reading a magazine. She looked up at me with a sweet smile that quickly turned into worry.
"Sam, what is it? How can I help?" She said as she stood up and hurried over to me. Putting her hand over mine which was grabbing my stomach tightly.
"It's…It's my stomach. Something is wrong with it." I mumbled with a red face.
She shuffled her way over to her large medicine cabinet and she motioned for me to sit down.
She asked me questions about my stomach. Asking if it was pain, grumbling, cramps, nausea, etc. As she was asking me what my symptoms were and digging through bottles, The feeling happened again. However, this time was different. It felt like fingers grassing against the inside of my body. I screamed and wrapped my arms around my torso. Mrs. Kenneddy ran over to me to comfort me.
"This seems a lot worse than normal, maybe we should call your parents." She said as she put her hand on my back.
It felt like some days I saw Mrs. Kennedy more than my teachers. Any small ailment would distract me so badly from class that I had to go see her. Sometimes multiple times a day. She knew at this point when something was really wrong.
Within about 30 minutes both my parents were there with us. That may seem fast, but I'm an only child and my parents are very aware of my tendencies. They know I can spiral and like to be around if it happens.
They kept asking me where the pain was. I think they assumed by the way I wasn't responding to their questions the pain must've been really bad. The reality was that I just didn't know how to tell them what was going on.
I got so frustrated after they asked me over and over again that I just yelled at them.
"Something is inside me! Get it out, get it out, get it out!" I lifted my shirt and was ripping at my stomach. Leaving red nail scratches and cuts. My mom and dad ran to either side of me to grab my arms. Mrs. Kennedy had seen me go pretty crazy, but this was the worst I've ever gotten in front of her. My parents however had seen a similar situation before. Not exactly like this, but they didn't skip a beat on trying to help me.
"Sam. Breath, sweety. Just remember everything is in you for a reason. It's keeping you alive. Nothing is going to hurt you." My mom said softly to me. Trying to calm me down with the words my therapist gave her. "Ice cubes, get him ice cubes!" She said to Mrs. Kennedy as I started to hyperventilate.
Mrs. Kennedy grabbed a ziplock bag and started to fill it with ice cubes. My mom went over to her and grabbed an ice cube right out of the bag, opened up my hand, and put the ice cube in it. This worked in the past to distract me, I knew that's what she was doing, and trust me. I wanted it to work too, but this was different. I kept trying to tell myself that it was just a different feeling I hadn't felt before. That it wasn't possible something was physically inside my body. But I couldn't help it.
Everyone in the room could see that this was getting intense. I think they assumed it was just a mental breakdown and that nothing was physically wrong with my body but I didn't care. I just wanted help.
My parents got me into the car with my mom even sitting in the backseat with me. She kept trying to distract me with conversation but my mind was only on that awful feeling in my stomach.
We pulled up to the ER and my mom guided me in while holding both my wrists. It felt like she was walking me on a leash but I didn't fight it. I knew she was just trying to stop me from scratching my stomach.
We walked in and I spoke to the receptionist. All I said was that I had terrible pain in my stomach. I didn't want to sound too crazy. I just needed a doctor to look at whatever was going on.
After giving the receptionist my name and insurance information we went to sit down. I was sitting in between my parents and I could see my mom lean back to try and mouth something to my dad without me seeing. I didn't think much of it. I was way more worried about other things.
My dad then went up to the receptionist. He pointed over to me and she looked a little concerned. I saw her pick up the clipboard that had my information on it and she started writing something else on it. I asked my dad what he did and he just said to not worry and that he wanted to let her know it was urgent.
No more than 10 minutes went by and I felt a terrible moving sensation. I cringed and grabbed my stomach. Immediately followed by not just the feeling of a hand grabbing my insides but also scratching and pinching. I yelled out in pain as the other people in the waiting room looked at me mortified.
A doctor and a couple of nurses came running over to me and helped me up. But I couldn't stand up. I was in too much pain. They put me in a wheelchair and started to head for a room. However, they didn't take me through the normal big ER doors that went to the standard examination rooms, they took me and my parents through a smaller door to the side that had a padlock on it.
We walked through a white hallway that was very quiet. The doctor and nurses showed us to my room and helped me into my bed as I was wiggling and wincing. I had one parent on either side of me. Patiently waited to stop my arms from scratching.
The doctor was trying to ask further questions but he could tell it wasn't going anywhere. I knew that my dad probably told that receptionist about my OCD tendencies and that I needed to go to the psych ward. Not just to the stranded side of the ER.
I couldn't take it anymore and blurted out that something was inside my stomach and it was trying to get out.
The doctor just looked at my parents for a reaction and they gave him a sad nod. It was like they warned him that this could happen. The doctor didn't just think I was crazy, my parents did too. The doctor took a deep breath and came up to me. I knew I was about to hear some kind of dumb speech about how this was just my OCD and everything was going to be okay.
As he came closer to me, I pulled up my shirt and he gasped. Not only was my stomach scratched up like crazy, but we saw movement. It looked like when a pregnant woman can see her baby kicking. But this was so much stronger. It was stretching my skin.
My parents stood up and gasped while the doctor looked frantic and unprepared.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" The doctor said as he backed out of the room. "Hang on! We are getting this taken care of, just hang tight."
Just seconds later a nurse came in to give me some painkillers. I started to feel the pain slip away, but something so much worse started to creep in. I heard a voice. Not my own. Not some creepy-sounding creature, but the voice of a normal-sounding man that I'd never heard before. But that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was what he was saying to me.
"Get me out. Get me out. Get me out!"
It started in a normal tone, but slowly became more urgent and rushed. Then demanding.
The voice would coincide with the moment inside me.
It was getting so loud that I was having a hard time hearing the people around me. The doctor came in just a few minutes after I last saw him. He was red and sweaty. Like he'd just run a marathon. He told me they needed to do just a few tests on what was inside me before taking action.
I was trying so hard to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth but all I could hear was the voice. The voice stopped for just a second and changed what he was saying. Now he started repeating,
"Cut me out, cut me out, cut me out, now!" I now knew this thing didn't just want out but it wanted out now. I begged the doctor to just get it out now but he wouldn't listen. The voice spoke up again.
"This is taking too long. Don't be afraid. Get me out yourself."
I think it could feel me resisting. Without realizing it, I was looking around the room for something. It was like I didn't even have control over my head or eyes anymore. I knew the voice was looking for a knife but I was trying to ignore the feeling. I knew there weren't any knives around. I was in a very safe place.
Just as I had the feeling I was safe, it was immediately taken away. The thought passed through my head that my dad probably had a pocket knife on him. My heart sank. I knew this thing could hear my thoughts. I knew what it would try to do.
The next thing I knew, I was on my feet, leaping for my dad. My body hit his. luckily, he's in pretty good shape for his age and had no problems putting me in my place.
He got on top of me and pinned me to the ground. All while I could barely hear my mom in the background. Yelling at my dad to be careful. My dad knew something was going on and that I just needed to be on the ground until I calmed down.
My body tried to flail but it wasn't successful. The whole time the voice in my head, now yelling and screaming. Not saying any distinguishable words, but just having what felt like a tantrum. What made my dad the most uncomfortable was the kicking feeling coming from my stomach.
After a couple of minutes, the voice calmed down and I felt in charge of my body again. My dad slowly got up and attempted to help me up. At this point with an audience of hospital staff that looked like they were getting ready to take me somewhere for more tests.
Just as I stood up straight, I felt the voice take over and I lost all sense of my own body. I felt like a shell of myself. My dad gave me a soft yet worried smile, and in that instance, I grabbed him and reached into his pocket. My heart sank as I felt his pocket knife. The room started to panic and about 5 people tried to grab it from me. The last thing I remember is plunging the knife into my stomach. I felt a blinding pain and everything went black.
Several hours later I started to wake up. Everything was extremely blurry and fuzzy. I could hear a very faint voice telling me to relax. As the minutes passed by, things started to become a little bit clearer. I looked around and saw I was in a large room with a few other patients. A nurse was going up to all the beds and checking in on them. I tried to sit up a bit to get more comfortable and noticed an incredible sourness in my stomach. I moved my hospital gown out of the way and saw a huge scare. About 6" across. Most of the scare looked very surgical. Like what I'd imagine a c-section surgery would look like. Except where I remembered the knife going in. It looked like a bunch of extra stitches had to be added where it went in. It also looked pretty bruised. I can imagine that a dull 10-year-old knife that was harshly shoved into a body really wouldn't cleanly cut through and leave some damage.
The feeling of shock from looking at my stomach was quickly gone when I realized that meant whatever was in me was now gone. I didn't hear the voice, I didn't feel a hand in my gut anymore, I didn't see that vile kicking anymore. I felt like I could breathe.
I asked the nurse what they found and she looked flush.
"Uh, that's something that you, uh. Your doctor will talk with you once you eat something and can speak clearly." She said as she scurried off looking upset.
Shortly after that, I was wheeled into a recovery room and my parents came to see me.
As they walked in they had a very similar look on their faces as the nurse did. They looked pale and didn't want to look me in the eye. I kept asking them questions about what was going on but they said the doctor needed to discuss it with me and he wanted to make sure I wasn't feeling high from the anesthesia while we had a conversation.
The doctor didn't come and see me for another 10 hours. Which felt strange. And to add to the strangeness, my parents were taking shifts hanging out with me. There was only overlap when they switched and the other parent took over while the other one left the room. I would understand if they weren't both with me for the whole time. I'm not that needy, but they were only both in my room together for about an hour. That was the hour before the doctor came to my room.
Finally, the doctor came in to talk to me. When he walked in, the room was cold and quiet. It was evident he didn't feel the same relief I was feeling.
He seemed awkward. Like he was talking way too long to get over to me. He grabbed a chair and scooted it close to me.
"Listen Sam. I know this last 24 hours has been very challenging. I apologize for not explaining what happened during your surgery sooner, but we all needed time to figure it out, and quite frankly, process what happened. We feel we have enough information to let you in on what is going on." A silence filled the room. It felt like no one was brave enough to break it.
"And?" I said with confusion.
"I think it'll be easier if we just show you."
The doctor along with my parents helped me into a wheelchair and we started to make our way across the hospital to an entirely different section. I couldn't believe all the things running through my head at what we were about to see. It felt like cruel and unusual punishment to leave me in anticipation and not just tell me what I was about to see.
When I went around the corner I couldn't process what I was looking at. I thought they were showing me a large tumor or growth of some kind, but why would a tumor be in a big incubation chamber with tubes connected to IVs and machines coming out of it?
As I got closer, I started to see human fetchers on it. It was mostly just a 6-pound lump of flesh, but I could see a hand sticking out of it. It was small, but what made it creepy was it looked like a fully developed man's hand. Just small. I could see a patch of hair coming out of what I assumed was its head. It had no discernible facial features. Just a few teeth scattered in one section.
As I looked at it with disgust, coming to terms with this thing that was just in my body, I had a realization. I wasn't feeling sick at the thought of something being in my body. Sure, I was grossed out that this particular thing was just in me, but the thought of the bacteria in my body didn't make me want to throw up. I thought about all the blood pumping through my veins and I felt… normal. Not only was the voice and kicking gone. But my OCD was gone too. I didn't have a mental illness. It was just this thing. Trying to find its way out for years.
As I was staring at the creature, the doctor came and put his hand on my shoulder.
"We believe this is your twin brother." I immediately looked up at my parents who looked very disturbed and upset. I let the doctor finish talking. "We believe that you absorbed him in the womb and that he has been living inside you your whole life. This is an extremely rare condition called fetus-in-fetu. It seems he didn't quite have the best opportunity to develop normally. That's why he looks the way he does. Despite his appearance, he has all the organs he needs to survive. Looks like he's missing a lung and his gallbladder. Also a piece of his liver but other than that, it looks like he will live for at least a few years. He won't be able to leave this room due to him needing a feeding tube and a few other things that his body can not do on its own. He needs lots of support just to live. What makes this situation extremely unique is that your twin is still alive despite your body not sustaining him anymore. Even though we have him hooked up to a few IVs and machines, It is unexplainable how he is living while outside of your body."
I was in complete shock. I didn't want to believe it. I asked my mom why she never told me I absorbed my twin in the womb, she said she had no clue. There was never a sign when she was pregnant with me.
He also mentioned that sometimes even in pregnancies women will go their whole pregnancy without even getting a belly. It's called a 'Cryptic pregnancy'. I've always had a bit of a gut but never anything big enough to cause suspicion. I guess in my case I had a fetus-fetu and an experience similar to a cryptic pregnancy. Even though it was in my stomach. At least that was the doctor's best guess. Although, it all sounded like BS to me.
The doctor and my parents kept trying to explain more and more details to me. I don't know why they didn't slow down a little bit for my sake. How could they not tell I wasn't processing any of this?
I noticed something while they were trying to explain things to me. They kept calling it a 'He'.
Now listen. I'm not some kind of asshole that won't respect someone who wants to be called a specific pronoun. I've never been that kind of person. But this is where I draw the line.
Not just that. But this thing had a name. My parents named it and said today was its birthday. While they told me all this information, they didn't look happy about it. It seemed like they were forced to do all this nonsense. And now it was my turn to be convinced. I could tell they were trying to force it.
The doctor told me despite it not having a high probability for a long life that we should still try and give it the love it deserves. Of course, the doctor referred to it as a 'He' but I refused to.
This disgusted me. This thing tried to kill me and ruined my quality of life for so long, and now we are going to treat it like it's some kind of prince? No, absolutely not.
Luckily, it seemed like it would never leave the hospital, but my parents planned on going to visit it daily. Visiting it? Are you kidding me? it has no eyes, no ears, it's probably miserable and has no concept of people even being around it.
I'm refusing to ever see this thing again or acknowledge its existence again.
I could get in trouble for even talking about this. The hospital or anyone involved has signed NDAs to not share any information about this until it officially dies. This is because it's a medical anomaly and the first of its kind. They want to do the proper research on how this all occurred before coming out with a statement. I just have to get this all off my chest. I feel like I'm the crazy one here when I know I'm not. I don't care if I get in trouble.
I am scared that the doctors are trying to force my parents into giving this thing a proper life. I think that's why it took them so long to tell me. I think they scared my parents into keeping it alive and guilting them or even forcing them into being its parent.
I'm all for every life being important and all that stuff, but I have a feeling my parents are terrified of this thing just like I am.
I am convinced they gaslit my parents into believing this thing is my brother. If there wasn't any sign of him while my mom was pregnant with me, could this thing be something else?
This all happened about two years ago. It's still alive and they are still researching it. My parents continue to visit it despite everything. My therapist told me that I'm probably just struggling with jealousy now that I'm not an only child anymore and so much of my parents' attention is on him now, but it's so much bigger than just jealousy.
Since this thing showed up and my OCD is pretty much gone, I've hardly seen my parents. I know I'm not just jealous. There is something more to this. I know it.
Something just feels so off about this whole thing. What is this thing? Where did it come from? And what does it want?

this may be an obvious question to some but I feel like our whole lives we have been taught that you cannot have unprotected while not using birth control at any point during your cycle. with any NFP/FAM method, once ovulation is confirmed, it is safe to have unprotected sex while not using birth control, meaning not using withdrawl and the male finishing inside the female? I feel like this is something that isn’t really talked about because it feels TMI but there is confusion around it for me. Could anyone explain with more detail, especially in regards to trying to avoid pregnancy?

I have diagnosed BPD and ADD, my ex has bipolar and ADD (diagnosed as well).
I always without fail took the pill, but my ex never used protection so we just got very very unlucky falling pregnant.
He instantly lost his shit. Fell into depression. Started ignoring me. Telling me he can't have this baby.
I never wanted kids because of my childhood trauma but once I found out I was pregnant I guess hormones kicked in and I loved the baby. I saw it on ultrasounds and it was measuring perfect. For once I took proper care of my body and health. For my baby. All my actions pointed to me wanting to keep it.
However with my ex desperate for an abortion and the moral window closing soon (if I got an abortion I'd want it before 8 weeks - no nervous system on brain activity yet, so it would not feel or be aware of anything) things were getting super tense.
My ex threatened suicide. He said he would leave me and never want to see our child. He already abandoned another child (that he told me his ex kept from him, but during my pregnancy admitted to never wanting), so I knew he was capable of that.
When his bipolar gets bad he's usually off the rails getting into debt and bouts on unemployment, so I knew financially he'd contribute next to nothing. (he pays his ex 100/150 a month)
I asked my family if they would support me (let me live there for the first few months with baby) and they basically said no. Then I thought about it and hated myself for wanting to bring my baby into the lives of the people who traumatised me.
But I had no one else. I struggle with codependency like my mom so I was unhealthily attached to my ex and had no support system whatsoever.
I got a lot of counselling from unwanted/unplanned pregnancy therapists but it always came down to its up to you, if you want it, keep it.
I wanted to keep it so badly but how could I, faced with reality:

• I have BPD. I'm easily overstimulated and completely shut down when I am. Frequently fall into depression and suicidal ideation where I'm unable to function for days. I can barely take care of myself. I don't have life skills, I cannot teach a child how to regulate themselves. I'd resent them depending on me probably.
  
• I'm codependent and would probably repeat the same dynamics with my child that my mother did with me. Enmeshment. Emotional dependence. Traumatising my child for life even though I'd love it with all my heart.
  
• my ex has severe mental illness and ADD like me (what is the genetic element in this? Would our baby be more likely to suffer from mental illness/disability as well)
  
• no support system whatsoever.... Literally no one except my mentally ill parents. I'm not stable either. How am I going to show up for my child in the best way every single day? As much as I told myself I'd die for my child and do it all, that is wishful thinking and unrealistic and unfair.
  
• despite many moms doing it alone on purpose the thought of my child not having a dad, knowing that they were abandoned, and me not having a partner to support me, it felt wrong. Like every child deserves two loving parents.
  
• I'd have to get off my meds because they weren't pregnancy safe. I'm on an extremely high dose so without it who knows what would happen to me on different/no meds.
  

I had the abortion because in my mind love was simply not enough.
Afterwards my ex cheated, threw me out and made me homeless, I was hospitalized for an od because I just couldn't handle living anymore.
My 'due date' is coming up and I am still so incredibly sad, grieving. People tell me the baby was 'nothing' yet. But it was everything to me. My whole heart. Something more than me. I feel so sorry. Guilty. Curious how it would have been. Wishing I could have been enough.
Just tell me I did the right thing for my baby and myself.

Any tips for breastfeeding during pregnancy? I’m only 6 weeks but my nipples are so tender it hurts all the sudden, after never having hurt before. It mostly hurts when she holds one boob/nip while nursing on the other (I do asked her to be gentle and she listens but she clearly finds holding the other one comforting and won’t easily stop).
I planned on weaning before trying for #2 but my toddler and I had a surprisingly wonderful, easy breastfeeding journey and I’m not quite ready for it to end (and she is really not!). She’s two now, been night weaned for over a year and we only nurse first thing in the morning and before bed, with some daytime nursing when she’s sick or having a big big meltdown. It’s 100% her favorite thing. I took an 8 day work trip and the first thing she asked when I came home was to nurse. She understands we only do it at home now, and at a certain times. But she’s definitely not on the immediate path to full weaning. I was fine with this before I got pregnant.
I love our cozy snuggle time and having a cheat code when she’s sick/upset, so I’m not ready to give it up either. I’m also already feeling guilty about how the new baby will take my attention away from her so not eager to have that start 9 months early.
One nipple was sore last night so I put a bandaid on it and told her she could only have the other boob and omg the sobs! She was so so devastated. Doesn’t bode well for an actual wean.
Then again, I think about breastfeeding a cluster feeding newborn and a toddler and just, absolutely not. Sooo not sure what my actual plan is here!
If you navigated this, please let me know how it went?

I got diagnosed in 2020 when my rosacea (type2) was at its worst. I took more than a year of trying various treatments to get it under control. Two separate cycles of Doxy, Clindamycin and Metrogel, as well as changing out my entire skincare routine to be very gentle and non-triggering.
I started getting a flare up earlier this year and it was really bad, so I went back to the derm again but my derm has left this clinic so I got a new one.
I have very red inflamed skin on my forehead and chin but some on the cheeks, with whiteheads and bumps. Some flaky skin as well.
Been trying to conceive for the past year - so I told them to the derm who agreed at I shouldn’t be on Doxy.
He prescribed me:

1. Metrogel to be applied twice a day
2. Antibacterial face wash
3. Benzoyl Peroxide

I tried the antibacterial face wash which broke me out after 2 days with multiple white heads and acne.
My derm said it is safe to use metrogel during pregnancy/TTC but to be honest not much was studied. Can anyone share if you’ve used metrogel during your pregnancy and if was ok for you?
Would like some asssurance before I start it :)

I rescued my chihuahua miniature pinscher 8 years ago, and he’s probably about 9 years old. He has always been difficult with others, and likely experienced some kind of abuse and trauma before we rescued him. He’s not good with others for the most part, even worse with dogs, and extremely reactive. But has always been amazing with my wife and mostly good with me, but she’s definitely his person.
His more severe seizures started a year ago, and he’s now heavily medicated and the seizures are under control but his behavior is getting worse and he’s on even more of a hair wire trigger now then he’s ever been. He’s now barking at cars just driving by, goes red any time he sees another dog now, won’t let anyone near my wife or daughter, etc.
We had a baby 2 years ago, that combined with the pandemic and losing his interest in dog parks, and him becoming crazy protective of my wife during her pregnancy and now the seizures and the meds he just isn’t doing as well as he used to be.
He absolutely loves and adores my daughter, and she loves and adores him, they literally do everything together but it’s completely worn him out. They play together all day every day. He rarely gets to nap anymore, he gets kept up by her at night (she’s teething again), and the less sleep he gets the worse he behaves and the worse his health gets. He used to sleep 12-16 hours a day like most dogs his age, and he maybe sleeps 8-12 hours a day now and it’s mostly interrupted and broken up.
In the past 3 days he’s lunged and nipped my daughter in the face scratching her twice now. They’re significant enough that it’s leaving marks taking days to heal. I’m at a loss because it’s complicated.
Now the first time, my wife was sitting on the couch eating a steak for dinner and our dog was fixed on that meat for seriously 30 minutes. He wouldn’t take his eyes off it. She was sitting between him and the meat on a tv tray - he was 2.5ft from the steak at eye level to him the entire time. I always tell my wife to put her food away if she’s done eating but she’s the slowest eater I’ve ever met, and her and my daughter graze for what feels like hours.
My wife was not paying attention to him at all, and was playing with my daughter and kept swinging her up on her legs onto her lap while sitting constantly putting my daughter’s face directly between the steak and our dog.
I told my wife, “That doesn’t look safe, and I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”
She immediately scolded me and said, “It’s fine, I do this all the time…” and before she could finish her sentence she flung my daughter into our dogs face putting her face inches from his directly between him and the steak he was staring down for the past 30 minutes and he lunged without warning and nipped her on the cheek. He honestly looked just as surprised as everyone else that he actually came in contact with her, and it did not seem that he had any intent to scratch her or even really make any contact with her.
I do not know why my wife was not aware of the situation unfolding, even as I tried to bring it to her attention she only had eyes for my daughter and just ignored the fact the dog was there and she was antagonizing him with our baby and the steak without realizing it.
He over reacted to the situation and had already endured 30 minutes of eyeing that steak and at least several minutes of having a 2 year old flung over and over again in his face when all he wanted was a bite of her food.
I watched the whole thing go down, and honestly I’d say it was at least 50% my wife’s fault, if not more. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want my dog nipping my kid ever. Especially not on the face. But my daughters face and my 14lbs dogs face shouldn’t be anywhere near each other in this situation. The responsibility to protect both of them was on my wife, and I but I was unable to convince my wife in time of her lack of awareness of what she was doing.
Now today, my wife was going to take a nap with my daughter and our dog - one of the few times he actually gets some sleep. None of us slept well last night. Everyone was grumpy all day including our dog. Anyhow the dog jumped on the bed in his usual spot, immediately started to fall asleep and my wife then lets my daughter climb onto bed right where the dog was and stick her face in his face while she’s climbing up onto the foot of the bed.
Once again, my wife allowed my daughter to quickly fling herself into our dogs space, disturbing him while he’s trying to finally sleep, and he nipped her on the face again. This time he scratched the same side of her face again right below her eye again.
I don’t know what my wife was thinking or why she let our daughter do this. There was absolutely no logical reason for why my daughter should be climbing onto the bed essentially in the dogs face or invading his space. The dog sleeps on my side of the bed at the foot of the bed.
I’ve already talked to her about this, and told her our dog is exhausted, old, his health is not well, and he already endures constant stress all day from our daughter and 99% of the time is amazing with her and tolerates it but he needs some alone time and space. Meanwhile our daughter should not be putting her face in his face, and she needs to teach her not to do this and actively prevent it from happening.
I realize my wife is also exhausted, and we just got over our 3rd round of Covid, but she’s now putting us in a horrible position because she isn’t managing our daughter and the dog well and is putting them both in stupid situations where my daughter is getting hurt and my dog is being stressed out to the point of hurting my daughter when I’m fairly certain it’s not his intention. He is just at his breaking point.
For me this is pretty much a 3 strikes and we have to take serious action situation. Two incidents in such a short time span is not acceptable behavior on my dogs part, even if my wife is responsible.
My daughter’s safety comes first, even if that means I have to protect her from my dog or even my wife’s sleep deprived decision making.
At this point I’m considering hiring a behavioral dog trainer and getting their opinion.
Also looking at getting him a new crate and just crating him at night so he sleeps and maybe make him nap in the crate during the day sometimes. He really has no space of his own anymore since the baby. He used to be create trained as a puppy.
If he hurts my daughter again he likely needs to be rehomed or put down. His med schedule, diet, and seizures are not easy to manage and he cannot be left home alone in the event he has a seizure and requires rescue medication. Factor in his increasing aggressive behavior and hair wire trigger with other dogs and dislike of most people finding someone else to deal with this going to be difficult.
The whole thing is truly heartbreaking because he’s been a loyal and loving companion for my wife and I, and he loves my daughter and I don’t think he wants to hurt her. I’ve exhausted a lot of resources to manage his epilepsy and buy him more time but with my wife losing control of both him and my daughter he is struggling to handle the stress anymore, and my wife is too exhausted. She’s been dealing with adrenal fatigue since she gave birth and her Dad is currently dying of cancer, and her Mom is possibly experiencing early dementia symptoms. I’m empathetic to everything she’s going through, and frankly losing our dog will probably just make things worse but I can’t keep seeing my daughter get hurt like this even if the injuries are minor they should not be happening.
I’m going to try the crate and trainer first, and hope nothing else happens. Also perhaps get a babysitter or someone to help my wife while I’m working.
Anyhow sorry for the wall of text. I’m at a loss here. I love my daughter, my wife, and my dog but my wife is struggling to manage him and he’s now hurt my daughter twice - they’re just scratches and he’s not really drawing blood but it’s still too close to crossing a line since he’s using his teeth to do this.

Some back story, about 17 years ago I had a terrible OB on my face and mouth, absolutely horrible. I went to the doctor and honestly my memory is so bad about this but I believe he swabbed it without a result but instead told me HSV from blood test (I think, I honestly don't remember 100%).
Based on how it looked visually and what I had eaten that week (mangoes) I was certain it was an allergic reaction. Mangoes have the same properties in the skin as poison ivy. The OB looked exactly like mango allergy pictures versus cold sore pictures. I've never had a full blown dark red blister. It's usually a tingle, swelling, itching, oozing, crusting, and tiny tiny bumps. Over time it's been even less than this. I also noticed this happens after certain lip balms. So all in all I was convinced it's related to allergic reactions and not HSV. Certain fruit properties and such.
Granted I went through extreme trauma with the thought of cold sores, especially the first year. I became a bit OCD and devastated. I wouldn't even hold my niece when she was born. I felt and thought my life was over. After connecting it to allergic reaction I guess convinced myself this is what it was, I have control by avoiding these things etc and honestly it got better. I healed sort of and moved on. Not gone I guess but somewhat forgotten. I get reactions maybe 3 times a year and as mentioned never the true dark red blister you see in pictures.
Fast forward, I'm 34 weeks pregnant and all the sudden I'm connecting the dots and feeling panicked like this is likely OHSV-1. I talked to my husband about it and I mentioned it in the past but he also thought allergies based on visual of it. He's never had any symptoms oral or genital. I've never had genital that I'm aware of.
I'm feeling extremely devastated and scared for my husband and newborn. I'm going to see if I can get on antivirals at 36 weeks and after baby's birth even though I hate the idea I want him safe. They say antivirals are safe but there's no real studies to prove it during pregnancy and breastfeeding so that's scary.
My husband and I have been together for a long time but now I'm thinking how will we ever do oral stuff again even though we have in the past. I'm spiraling. I saw a bump appear on my hand and put a bandaid over it. Paranoid what if I get an OB on nipple etc I've read this can happen. How will I cope when my baby is born. I'm going to be a mess of paranoia and fear for him.
Finally, please if someone can explain if I can reliably get blood tested and what this could show if I've had it for 17 years or more. Thank you.

Hi! I'm a researcher and I am exploring different aspects of Bicol's tourism (especially in Legazpi city) What are your thoughts in the tourism in your area? Kahit anong insight would be really helpful! Positive man or negative or both...on local tourists/foreign tourists....during the daytime/nighttime...any insight under the sun!!! If you need to rant, this is a safe space hahaha
maraming salamat!!!
Edit: asking everybody who commented/comments this:
ano-ano yung mga sa tingin mong (1) gusto mo pa makita / (2) gusto mo maimprove / (3) may potential na magcontribute sa tourism ni Bicol?

I thought I had a basic cold.. it started with a sore throat so ive been sucking on halls and taking some tylenol.. but my ears are itchy, the post nasal drip is unreal, i keep choking at night, dry cough, mild headache.
I just spoke with a pharmacist and they told me Reactin and Benadryl is safe to use during pregnancy. Everyone else (family/friends) are telling me otherwise. I took 1 pill and i am panicking about it now, im going to call my OB in the morning.
I just wanted to know if anyone else has been told they can take anything?

Just wondering is the organic Jonny pops (popsicles) are safe during pregnancy. My daughter loves them and the freezer is always stacked. I can’t find anything on them, anyone ?

Hey everyone -
Thank you in advance for any help / suggestions you might be able to offer. I’ve been struggling with some annoying symptoms the past few months and I’m hoping that someone might be able to provide some insight / reassurance.
So, basics: 31 y/o white male, exercise 7-10 hours a week (cycling primarily), 145 lbs, 5’9, I eat a balanced diet, lots of fruits, vegetables, limited red meat, lean protein, etc. Mediterranean diet essentially. No drinking, no smoking. I am generally rather healthy - I typically get one, maybe two, colds a year. I’m a teacher, so I’m exposed to quite a bit of germs / viruses, but I generally take care of myself enough to avoid most of it. I sleep probably about 7 hours a night on average - could definitely bump that up, but never less than 6 hours and typically 7.5+. I got the Pfizer vaccine back in 2021, booster in early 2022. Admittedly, I haven’t had a booster since, nor do I usually get a flu shot. I plan on rectifying both of those this year.
This year, I have just gotten absolutely decimated with sicknesses and it is really starting to wear on my mental health. It has kept me from exercising as much as I’d like, which, in turn, has made me more and more depressed and frustrated.
Rough timeline: Mid-December 2023: Mild cold which lasted for about 5 days. Usual stuff, congestion, sore throat, general malaise and stuffiness. Cleared pretty quickly, took 4 days off from exercise, biked on the 5th day and felt fine. Energy bounced back within a few days.
Late January 2024: Similar cold symptoms come on, I take 2 days off from exercise, thought I felt better, exercised on the 3rd and 4th day, probably overdid it and ended up relapsing pretty hard. Had to take another 6 days completely off, was able to exercise again on the 7th day but felt pretty weak. Took it easy for 3 days before I started feeling strong again.
Late February 2024: Went to Peru for a friend’s wedding - at the airport on the way home I started feeling chills all over and my stomach was just absolutely killing me. The flight home was miserable, as you could imagine. Went to urgent care, they prescribed some stuff for the stomach pain, which seemed to work. I only took 1 day off from exercise, resumed exercise the following day and actually felt completely normal strength / energy wise. Only strange lingering thing was that after this bout of whatever, I would frequently get goosebumps every time I changed clothes, regardless of how cold it really was. Felt fine otherwise, no chills, just weird goosebumps which would go away within a minute or so of changing.
Early April 2024: Came down with symptoms again - same as usual: sore throat, head cold / congestion, general malaise, low energy. Symptoms came on a Sunday night, felt pretty terrible Monday morning. I had an important cycling race that following Saturday, so I tried to recover for that. Slept a bunch, drank a bunch of water, DayQuil during the day which seemed to help. I tried going for easy rides twice that week - once on Tuesday, once on Thursday. Both times, I felt ok with regards to my breathing / congestion, but my muscles felt really weak. Legs just had no power. I felt relatively ok on Friday driving down to the race, felt absolutely terrible during the race on Satuday and ended up dropping out. Took Sunday completely off, took a COVID test to be safe, came back negative, starting riding again that next Monday and felt surprisingly ok - figured I was out of the woods. Rode that whole week, felt good, not great. That Sunday, I start feeling off again, symptoms come back on Monday. I take 2 days completely off, try riding again and I just have no energy whatsoever. Muscles feel so weak and achey. I take 4 more days completely off, start riding again next week and take it really, really easy to work my way back into it. I contact my doctor and the PA that works for him thinks it is allergies - he says to take a double-dose of antihistamines daily and that he thinks that is what is causing the symptoms + the fatigue. I try this for a week with little improvement to my energy levels / muscle strength. Still feeling congested at this point. I go back to him a week later, he orders some blood tests - everything comes back in the normal range. Only thing outside the normal range is WBC count which is at 3.9 where the low level of normal is 4.0, so pretty close to normal. Symptoms persist, so I go back, now he thinks it might be a sinus infection - he does inspect my sinuses and says they look inflamed. He prescribes antibiotics (amox) which I have taken for a week now. Congestion / sore throat is improved, but I still have absolutely no energy and my muscles, especially my calf muscles, are just constantly achey / sore / weak. He said if I don’t see improvement in another week, he’ll order more tests, but I’m getting really frustrated and disheartened at this point. I’m able to ride, but I just feel so weak when I’m doing it and I don’t think I’m actually benefiting at all from the training, although I do enjoy just being outside.
I have never gotten this sick, this often. I feel like I cannot do the things that make me happy, which, in turn, makes my mental health worse, which probably is also wearing on my physical health. What else could this possibly be?

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u/spacepaladin15 's universe.
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Junior Exterminator, ‘Little Yortu’ Colony Cleanup Division
Date [standardized human time]: July 27th, 2125
Everything hurt.
There was dirt and dust between each of my feathers and every single muscle ached and screamed in protest. I wanted to pluck every feather off of my skin and soak forever in warm water until I stopped feeling this way.
Sadly, I didn't have time for that since I, along with the 4 other junior Exterminators of my squad, stood to attention as our commander stared each of us down as he walked among us with his pristine feathers and dirt free uniform. A stark difference to the 5 of us who had actually done the work.
“Very good job squad. Sector UG-4 is now considered cleansed of all predatory taint. We have done a good job today!”
We? That was a very strong word to use, as Officer Parsim had done nothing but sit and ‘direct’ us instead of actually aiding us like he should have according to regulations. Of course, giving the idiot a flamer to use would probably end with him setting himself on fire, so perhaps it was for the best.
“Yes sir, although it would have gone faster had you completely filled the flamer canisters before we left, and-”
“Junior Exterminator Estala! As always, I did not ask for your opinion or commentary.”
I could see Parsim’s feathers bristling with anger as I spoke up. Neither of us liked the other, both for the same reason. Parsim was incompetent. The most incompetent person I had ever met. I could never understand how someone as incompetent and lazy as this Krakotl had managed to become even a standard officer, let alone in charge of a squad of Junior Exterminators. If there was a task required to be completed, the officer would fail to do so, and if they did do anything, they did it with a complete lack of preparation or adherence to even the simplest of regulations.
“Also sir, having only 5 people accomplishing the task instead of six, results in the lack of a rear guard. This is counter to the suggested den clearing process defined in appendix PTY-61, which-”
“I said I did not ask! Since you are always so knowledgeable about what should be done, you can use that experience as a Junior Exterminator and show ‘leadership’ by taking tonight’s guard duty.”
Parsim didn’t like me because I would continually point out his incompetence, not that I planned on stopping. Originally I had assumed the seasoned officer had his reasons for these mistakes, that experience would show some avenue for Extermination I didn’t foresee.
However, it had been six months. Six months of blatant incompetence. I couldn’t hold my beak for that long, every bird has her limit. Every rule he broke, every time he failed, it put people’s lives in danger. No matter how many admonishments or punishments he doled out, I at least had to try before something bad happened. Not that the officer looked like he was going to change, at least before my last few months here on the colony were up.
“Yes sir.”
I stated these words with as little annoyance as possible, deciding not to push the issue further. Fighting for this idiot to actually become competent was something for another day, for now I wanted rest. Rest of the predators and their piercing eyes, blood soaked claws and large rows of grinning teeth.
“Good. Dismissed, get cleaned up.”
The five of us filtered towards the temporary barracks, wings and bodies aching as the day's events took their toll on us. Crawling through dirt tunnels, tracking down dens, and eradicating them was a strenuous task, only slightly washed away with warm water and a new uniform. I eventually made my way back to my room and crawled onto my perch. I wanted to sleep, but the upcoming guard duty made that impossible, giving me half an hour to rest instead.
“I don’t get why you keep antagonizing him, Estala. He’s not going to change and you’re just going to get his ire.”
Talsim entered the rooms, a concerned look in his eyes as my bunkmate and fellow Junior Exterminator took his own perch next to mine. Somehow, after a whole day of crawling through predator infested tunnels, he still managed to look fabulous after a shower and basic preen.
“Because he’s going to get someone killed,” I responded. “Even today, I noticed he was constantly staying as far away from the predators as possible. If anything went wrong… I don’t understand how he’s even an Exterminator.”
“Dad says a lot of people join just for the prestige, then freak out whenever an actual predator appears.”
Talsim was the complete opposite to Parsim, smart, capable, with family ties to the Exterminators. A bright spot in the otherwise rather depressing past few months. The planet was infested with mammalian predators, larger than a Krakotl, teeth a doorway to their cruelty, eyes glowing yellow in the dark.
I had indeed gained more experience with predators than I could ever want on this planet, and seen the results of their evils inflicted upon my fellow Exterminators as we cleared out this new colony for the Krakotl people.
Frankly, I was looking forward to being back on Nishtal.
The two of us sat in silence as we both tried to get our energy back from the gruelling day’s tasks, as the minutes continued to tick by. Talsim continually fidgeted and glanced around, as if he had something on his mind as I sat there trying not to fall asleep.
“Estala…” He said, finally hitting the courage to break the silence. “I… I really don’t like clearing out the dens. The way they… I know they’re predators but…”
I knew exactly what Talsim was talking about. I didn’t like doing them either.’ Not because of the danger, but because of the aftermath. The smell of burning fur flesh, the sounds they made while fire consumed their predatory taint, the helplessness of the predator pups.
No, I knew exactly what Talsim meant. But it had to be done, for the safety of the herd.
“I think… I think everyone thinks that way, Talsim. That’s what makes us prey: our empathy. Even though we know it has to be done, we know it’s not noble work. But it is necessary. I just think that most Exterminators prefer to avoid talking about it, because we know how many lives we’re saving by removing the predators.”
“Not everyone. Quala seems to be very happy.”
I gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of the other Junior Exterminator. She always seemed to take full glee at the destruction of predator dens, eyes alight with joy as fire rained down upon her predatory enemies.
“There is something wrong with her. It might not be predator disease but… something.”
“I dunno, it just feels like everyone else knows what they’re doing. You with your rules, Quala taking down predator dens, and so on. I know my dad wanted me to get into the family business, but I’m not sure if I’m cut out for this.”
I couldn’t help but feel a level of despair at such words coming out of the beak of Talsim. The Krakotl had become my best friend over these last six months, funny, kind-hearted, and actually competent. The thought of him leaving the Exterminators, not thinking he was good enough…
“Nonsense! You are brave and do the right thing when you need to. There’s nobody else I’d rather have protecting my back against the predators. You’re already a better exterminator than Parsim.”
“A pile of rocks with a flamer draped on top would be a better Exterminator…”
We both laughed at that, the tension in the room evaporating as we both commiserated over the incompetence of the Exterminator Officer in charge of our squad.
“See, if he can make it, you definitely can. Remember: we’ll be full officers with colony expedition experience once we’re done here, not juniors any more! I’ll transfer to your department, we can work side by side, rise in the ranks, and keep Nishtal safe together.”
“Yeah, that does sound nice.”
“Estala and Talsim, Exterminating duo extreme! The Arxur won’t know what hit them!”
—----------------------
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Human Methods Advisor to the Exterminators.
Date [standardized human time]: March 6th, 2137
How did people do this? Seriously, what did normal people do in their free time? Joseph was out doing something predatory with his cats, leaving me alone in the apartment to chill out. I was sad, comfortable on my perch, a large fluffy blanket wrapped around my body as I cradled a cup of warm mango tea in my hands. I was supposed to be relaxing and letting my body heal…
So why couldn’t I relax?
Scrolling Bleat and the endless discussion about the war and predators didn’t keep me calm and there was only so much daytime TV one bird could watch. Going outside was out of the question as I’d inevitably see something that needed fixing, ending with me doing work again. So I tried to relax in silence, the curtains drawn across the window creating a nice darkness to calm down in as I tried to slow my breathing. It didn’t work, I wanted to be out there, doing good in the world, anything other than sitting here.
It wasn’t always like this, what did you do on your time off?
Well there was the Krakotl reality TV show “Wings of Love”, which was a guilty pleasure of mine. I was a fan of the Diva Scene in southern Nishtal. Occasionally I’d follow speed flying, especially since the local Skalga athletes generally did very well on the galactic level due to the increased gravity here.
Oh, I’m seeing the problem. None of those things exist any more, Nishtal is gone.
Work had been a perfect distraction from the whirlwind of painful changes over the last 6 months of my life. Nishtal was no more, every single algae bar or Diva stand I’d ever visited was destroyed, every single person I knew was probably dead. While I hadn’t been there for nearly three years, it was still… home. I wasn’t close with anyone on Nishtal any more, but there were still good people I knew…. had known there.
Even the Extermination Fleet had contained Exterminators I considered good people, lied to by the Federation and tricked into committing a horrible crime. Heck, if I was being honest with myself, I would have been just one more name on those ships if I hadn’t been stationed on Skalga when all this began.
It’s kinda ironic that Kalsim managed to kill far more Krakotl than humans with his actions… the bastard.
Then there were the other thoughts that constantly bombarded my mind. The omnivore reveal, the amount of murders I’d let happen under my watch, the revelations about the PD facilities, the ecological damage I’d caused on every planet I’d been stationed on…
Nope nope nope nope. Let’s stop thinking about this. Distract myself with anything, anything at all.
I opened my work email, using work once again as a distracting refuge, only to see an actually important email that required my response.
Re: Dawncreek Exterminators reform and restructure.

My dearest Estala. I have read your proposal for the reopening of the extermination offices of this district and the reimplementation of their funding. I will admit that your restructuring proposals were fairly radical for someone who is still an advocate of the exterminators.
However, after careful consideration of the impact of the organization, I fear that I must decline the proposal. I have come to the conclusion that, for the well-being of the citizenry, you and all others wishing for its reimplementation should commence a regime of self fornication as my district shall be better as strangers to the institution of extermination.
I thank you for your time,
High Magister Rolem of Dawn Creek

By Inatala’s talons… Magistrate Rolem was an interesting case. While most Exterminator CO’s and Magistrates were resistant to the changes I was trying to implement due to a fear or hatred of the ‘predatory’ humans they represented, Rolem was the complete opposite: He was so pro-human that the Venlil was trying to eradicate the Exterminators of Dawncreek, instead merging their duties with the police force.
Unprofessional insults aside, I didn’t blame him too much considering what had happened at Dawn Creek. I wasn’t completely against the idea of copying the humans in that regard, if it wasn’t for the simple issue: It wasn’t working. While in the short term the district was better off without the shambolic incompetent idiots who used to ‘protect’ the area, the long term solution wasn’t trusting their safety with police officers who could hardly look a human in the eyes without fainting.

Dear idiot face.
Can you spehing actually read the email I sent. It’s not working. I’m getting the surrounding districts to cover for you before someone notices and tries to recall your seat, but I can only do that for so long you feather chewing idiotic-

I paused, taking a deep sigh before deleting that text and rewriting the email to something I could actually send.

Dear Rolem.
I understand your hesitance to rebuild the Dawn Creek Exterminators, and while I’m not against the idea of your plan in theory, the issue is the current police force joined their roles without expecting such ‘predatory’ work to be within their job description.
As you can see in the data I sent (Please see previous email), a significant number of calls to the police force are being refused and not dealt with, especially surrounding the categories of violent crime (Or what was previously classified as Predator Disease), interacting with humans, and predator sightings.
The Exterminators who joined this job did so because they wanted to protect the herd from such problems, unlike the police who originally joined to aid us all in different ways. I’m currently instructing the four surrounding districts to aid in these excess calls during this transition period, but this is not a long term solution.
If you would like to discuss this proposal further, please do not hesitate to email or call me.
Prestige Exterminator Estala, Human Methods Advisor, Dayside City Head Office.

With the more professional email sent, I once again found myself in the dark with nothing to do. I browsed my emails idly for a few moments, scrolling Bleat through the normal barrage of hate mail I got from both pro and anti-human Venlil, before finding myself back at a familiar website, one that had changed so much of my outlook.
FederationColdCases.human.fed.vp
A human created site, dedicated to parsing through “Predator Attacks” and working out which ones were actually murders, which ones I had failed my duties on. There were a lot of murders originally classified as predator attacks. That realisation had broken me. Prey murdered prey as if they were predators, meaning there were no prey or predators in the galaxy, only people.
They also tended to dump every password they could find on Venlil systems, Exterminators included. There had been a back and forth between me and the predators on this site, one that I was frankly losing, especially based on the new post added to the site.

New Thread: Estala’s new password.
“BzB&G_6?wC{k4oqq,je%.uO;T`uznif6;<(8~B”
Hi Estala! I know you’re reading this as you keep resetting your password.
So Estala’s password creation skills have increased since we started doing this. For a quick refresher on all the things that have changed.
Stopped using Inatala as a base.
Stopped using Protector, Exterminator, Predator, Prey, Mango, or any dictionary word as a base.
Stop using passwords containing simple numbers (1234, 1254, her birthday, etc etc)
Stopped using passwords of length lower than 15
Stopped using the same password for her email as her Exterminator account.
Stopped falling for Phishing attacks claiming to provide “Free mangos for Exterminator logins”.
Turned off autologin.
Turned off fast checkin mode.
Now, I ‘could’ just login using the head exterminator for Skalga’s login (Password is STILL “Protector134”), and use that to reset Estala’s password and gain access, but that feels like cheating.
Instead I found a remote code execution exploit using a faulty heartbeat command, allowing for the password to be returned. It should be noted yet again that the section of the Exterminators database containing Exterminator personal information is not susceptible to this attack, showing that the UN did a bunch of hardening there (As well as Venlil banking systems, etc etc)
The attack works by finding the central node to the district you’re attempting to attack, this can be done by using….

I felt my brain start to leak out of my ears as the technical jargon on the screen in front of me caused my vision to swim. The humans took it as a game to continually break into my secure system, taking joy every time I failed to stop them. I had evidently hit the limit of my expertise…
Memo to self: Hire a human to harden the Exterminators systems. And change my password. Again.
I gave a sigh as I continued to browse the site, looking for anything to distract myself with, until I found something I hadn’t seen in a while.
The Heartbreak killer. The first case I’d been shown proving that prey killed prey, a series of predator attacks that had turned out to be something the humans called “a serial killer”. Right at the bottom of the thread filled with theories and evidence gathering, including one annoying comment suggesting that I was the killer, was a single message left a few hours ago.
“What happened to this case, did we get any news?”
We hadn’t. The killer had killed three people, then hadn’t struck again; no leads, no more evidence, no new possible information. A thought started to creep into my mind: I had some spare time, I had the resources and newfound knowledge about human investigative skills, and there was nothing stopping me from giving this case a solid deep dive to see what I could uncover. Technically, it wouldn’t even be official Exterminator work, meaning it was fine, and I wasn’t breaking my promise to my best friend!
Joseph had told me to find a human hobby. Technically, human hobbies included solving cold cases…
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My wife and I have been together for 14 years and married for 9. We have 2 kids (3yo + 5yo), and not surprisingly, there were a lot of new challenges since having kids. Ever since our first kid was born, my wife has slowly been "checking out". There were a lot of struggles in her relationship with my parents, and my parents definitely made some unwelcome/unhelpful remarks about what we should/shouldn't be doing. Over the years, I've slowly taken on more and more responsibilities and now I've reached a point where I'm doing far more than I can handle. Mid last year, it feels like my wife entirely checked out. She usually can't spend more than a few minutes watching the kids without becoming unregulated and needing me to step in, and every evening she just smokes weed and lays in bed on her phone. She's been going to therapy and recently was diagnosed with autism, which definitely explains a lot of the struggles we've faced.
I work full time and am the primary earner for our household. I also do most of the cleaning at home, meal prep for kids, and general child My wife works part time, and the kids are in day care/pre-school 5 days a week from 8am - 5pm, so my wife has 2 days off per week. I used to have some expectations that she'd clean and do some household management on her days off, but with her personal health issues it became too much for her so I stopped having expectations. I'm definitely holding onto quite a bit of resentment. I don't feel like I can safely ask for the time and space I need to take care of myself, so I can be present with her and the kids, and it's taking a toll. I'm constantly overwhelmed, and in a perpetual state of anxiety. It's very frustrating to have to be "on" all day every day, including weekends, and see her get 2 days a week of no accountability to anyone, and still not be able to be present. Whenever I do try to ask for things I need it seems to be too much for her and she gets overwhelmed and shuts down.
We've been in marriage counseling for a bit, and I was feeling like it was helping me understand more about her and her autism diagnosis, as well as some of the childhood trauma she's been working through, which is why she's been so unavailable. We also have been working towards solving the problem of finding ways to get me some support so I don't completely burnout and shut down too.
Yesterday was a rough day, she had to go to a doctor for a sinus infection, and she has a history of issues w/ doctors not listening to her and invalidating her issues, and the doctor she saw told her they don't think she has a sinus infection, which was a major trigger for her. While this was happening, I had a very stressful work day, and I had to fill in to pickup the kids from day care (which took away time I usually take to tidy up the house before evening chaos starts), and this entire week i've been picking up a lot more slack than usual, so my stress baseline is very high. We got into an argument last night because she was still upset from her appointment, but I was at a threshold where I knew I was going to blow up at the kids if I didn't take space to decompress, so I just decided to go outside for 15 min to cool off. During that time she texted me and told me that I shouldn't have left her home with the kids since she was dealing with trauma from her appointment, and that she's freaking out. This triggered me because once again, I can't even get 15 minutes to cool off so I can be in a good spot to take care of the kids for the evening. When I came back inside we started arguing, and I said something along the lines of "you're always the victim", because I was feeling like my issues were being ignored again and she wanted to just focus on what happened with her at her appointment. I concede that this probably wasn't the right thing to say, and I did apologize, but she said this is the last straw and she wants a divorce. She opened up more and said that she doesn't trust me, but when I tried to ask why she doesn't trust me and if it's something we can try to work through, she just said no. I'll admit that I've said some things in the past when we were in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't have (e.g., called her a bitch, told her I feel like she's just with me since I pay the bills and support her and that I feel like she's a gold digger), but this was a long time ago, and it's certainly not a pattern.
I'm feeling very conflicted. I've been worried that our relationship is doomed for a while, but I didn't think me saying that would be the last straw and trigger her so much. I'm also very angry at her because I've been carrying so much for so long, and now she wants to leave because of what felt like a minor argument. I can't control her, and don't want to, I'm just so frustrated that things turned out this way. I desperately want to figure out these issues and get her back in a position where she can be present with me and the kids, and the thought of tearing the family apart is terrifying to me. Part of me wonders if maybe this really is for the best, but I hate the thought of not getting to see my kids every day. I guess ultimately I just don't know what to do, and I don't have a great support system, so I thought maybe reaching out here and seeing if anyone who's gone through something similar has any insight to share.
tl;dr Wife wants divorce after what felt like a minor argument for some vague reasons related to her not trusting me. I've been carrying a lot of weight for both of us lately and am very frustrated at this situation and have no clue how to navigate it

Sorry for the onslaught coming, I just want to get my story out there. Any advice is welcome. In college, I started taking a combination estrogen progestin birth control. It was perfect. No side effects, totally predictable short periods. However, after two years on the combo pill I found out I have a genetic blood clotting disorder (I was diagnosed after my mom had serious event with blood clots). As a result, I was no longer allowed to take estrogen. The decision was made to make the switch to Nexplanon. Two weeks after insertion I had my first 30 day long period. The pattern became two months of no period, followed by a month of bleeding. After about 6 months it got better, where it was only 2 weeks of bleeding every month and a half or so. Entirely unpredictable. During this time a previous partner made me feel terrible about my cycle. He would tell me I was lying about when I was bleeding to avoid being intimate. It introduced a lot of shame in myself and my body. After one year I left the relationship and had the Nexplanon removed a few months after. I then got to have a year of hormone free cycles. It was great! Entirely on schedule. 3-5 days of moderate/ light bleeding. I got in a relationship again and my overwhelming anxiety about an unplanned pregnancy led me to birth control again. Based on my not ideal results with Nexplanon, I opted for the mini pill. (Little did I know the Nexplanon ended up being the best progestin only option for me). The first two months of the mini pill I had no periods. It was very nice. I had no side effects. However when the periods came back, they were longer and sporadic. On the 6th month in I had another month-long period like I did from Nexplanon. My doctor recommend I gave Slynd a try, so I switched. I was desperately wanting Slynd to work. I had essentially ran out of progestin only options at that point, and the thought of an IUD terrified me. I started Slynd and tried everything to get it to work. The bleeding was the worst I’ve ever experienced. 15-25 days of bleeding followed by a week off, then right back into another 15-25 days. For a brief time it got better where I was bleeding for 5 days every 2 weeks, but it got continuously worse after. It also came with other side effects. Terrible acne, no libido, and an overall feeling of self loathing. My previous relationship created so much shame around my period, that even now that I have a wonderful partner, I couldn’t help feeling like a burden. Like it was justified to leave me because my of my cycle. I just desperately wanted a normal solution. I’ve tried taking the placebo pills, not taking them. I’ve never missed a pill. My window of taking is within 15 minutes every day. By month 8 of taking Slynd, my doctor had me try taking NSAIDS to reduce the bleeding. I was taking 2,400mg of ibuprofen a day. It didn’t do much help. Which leads me to today. I’ve been on my period for about 75% of the days this year. As much as I wanted pills to work, I think it’s just time to give up. I plan on going hormone free utilizing condoms until my cycle returns to normal. It’s a scary concept because in my mind I just still feel like that option is just not safe enough. I don’t know what I’ll do after that. My doctor recommends the copper IUD. I know statistically it’ll probably be fine, but I so very much don’t want to do that. I’ve even started to consider natural family planning. But I know that I’ll be even more anxious relying on that method. Overall I’m officially defeated. I’ve been angry that there doesn’t seem to be anything to work for me. I’ve been depressed at the complete desolation of my self image and any confidence I used to have. If anyone else has had similar experiences please weigh in. I’m still just hoping to find something that works.

My sister has what we think is onset schizophrenia, or some mental disorder. She started having delusions and hallucinations since 2019 since her relationship with her extremely abusive boyfriend. It seemed to click a light switch in her. Some of the current delusions have to do with my family and how we are evil pedophiles and evil demonic people. Her delusions and coherency got better during her pregnancies but a year after her last pregnancy she ran away from our house last year with my niece and nephew.
She lived with us with her babies for two years where we helped raise them because she was struggling. I have a lot of sympathy for my sister because I know a good amount of what she went through with the guy but feel a lot of anger at this point. I am angry she never decided to go into treatment and let it get this bad, I am angry the courts think it’s safe for her kids to stay with her even though it constantly feels like she’s having some sort of break and on the edge of doing something stupid, I am angry my relationship with my niece and nephew are severed and being replaced with a fake memory of what is actually was.
But most of all it hurts me how it feels like I will never get my little sister back and the relationship we had. She was bright, witty, smart, and one of my favorite people. I love my sister. I always envisioned us accomplishing our big dreams and growing old together and causing mischief. She would have been the bridesmaid at my wedding and I wanted all of those stupid experiences with her.
It seems, up to now, she truly believes everything she deludes and it just becomes part of her fake memories. So I just have to live with the fact that my niece and nephew will grow up thinking that I am a evil pedophile and that our family is evil when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
It hurts because I truly feel confident in saying that I tried my best to be the best sister and auntie to those kids and those experiences seem like they disappeared into the abyss and feel like just a dream to me. I want to just shake my sister and tell her to wake up and come back. I’m angry at mental illness, I’m angry that she continued doing weed because it made everything worse for her, I’m angry at myself that I stopped living my life the past years to help her in any way, I’m angry at the kids father for hurting her that bad that she felt she needed to numb herself to that extent.
At this point my entire family has to move on and continue living their lives. How do you move on knowing your sibling is still alive and they believe you are evil? Also with the fear that anything could happen and she could kill herself or her kids and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it?
My fiancé thinks it’s extreme in a way but my brain has started to think of them as deceased at this point. I want to grieve this in a healthy way and I don’t know how. It’s such a wild, complicated situation. I just need to put this aside, being as we’ve been told there is nothing we can do, and start living my life for myself again.
I also wanted to know if there was anyone out there who dealt with anything similar with the mental health of a family member and what your journey was with processing all of it. I’ll talk to my therapist tomorrow about all of this but just wanted to vent and maybe talk to people in a similar situation in the meantime. Life is freaking hard and I can’t stop crying.

I'm 14.5 weeks, finally in second trimester! Only to be hit with my second sickness during pregnancy. I had a pretty strong cold between weeks 4 & 5 and went the absolutely no meds route as it was still so early on and I had not gotten advice from my doctors yet on how to proceed. That was like 2 weeks of torture. Well I'm sick again, with what seems like a more mild cold, just crazy congestion and mild cough. I have tried to stay really positive during pregnancy through the nauseous bouts, and other pregnancy symptoms but this sickness thing is beating me up. I feel defeated. I just wanna breathe and sleep. Pregnancy is hard enough, why do I have to be sick with almost no good "safe" medicines to take? If I'm already sick a second time at 14 weeks how many more times will this happen?

Introduction
When blood sugar levels cannot be controlled with oral medications alone, human insulin is used to treat type 1 diabetes, a condition in which the body does not produce insulin and cannot control blood sugar levels, or type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the body does not produce or use insulin normally, resulting in excessive blood sugar levels. Human insulin belongs to a group of drugs known as hormones. The insulin that the body naturally produces is replaced with human insulin. It functions by assisting the body's other tissues in transferring blood sugar, which is used there for energy. It also prevents the liver from generating additional sugar. This is how all of the available forms of insulin function. The only differences between the insulin kinds are in how soon they start to act and how long they stay effective at regulating blood sugar.
What is Gestational diabetes ?
For women without a history of diabetes, gestational diabetes is a form of the diabetes that can develop during pregnancy. After the baby is born, gestational diabetes typically disappears. If your doctor advises differently, it's crucial to get a follow-up glucose tolerance test six to twelve months after the baby is born or before attempting a second pregnancy to ensure you are no longer diabetic.You can increase the likelihood of a successful pregnancy and healthy baby by controlling your gestational diabetes.
Who is susceptible to gestational diabetes?
The prevalence of gestational diabetes in pregnant women ranges from 3% to 8%. In most cases, it is discovered between 24 and 28 weeks, though it might appear earlier. Receiving a gestational diabetes diagnosis might be distressing and unanticipated. It's critical to receive support and assistance in controlling it by reaching out.
Gestational diabetes is more likely to affect some women. Among the women in this category are these:

• are overweight or obese
• have a family history of type 2 diabetes
• are older than 40 years of age
• use some steroids or antipsychotic drugs.
• having experienced gestational diabetes in the past
• previously given birth to a child weighing more than 4,500 grams.
• having experienced a difficult pregnancy in the past
• have PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome.

There are some pregnant women without established risk factors for gestational diabetes.
Education about the use of insulin
It is critical that you receive guidance and support on the administration, storage, and operation of insulin from your physician or diabetes educator.
It is crucial that you understand the warning signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia, how to manage it, and the safe blood glucose levels for driving. Insulin can occasionally cause blood glucose levels to drop too low.
What happens after the birth of a baby?
After your baby is born, you normally stop injecting insulin to help manage gestational diabetes. This is due to the fact that after giving delivery, women's blood glucose levels typically recover to the ideal range rather quickly.
It's crucial to check your baby's blood glucose levels after birth to make sure it hasn't dropped too low. If so, you can cure it by giving your child formula or breast milk. It is advised that you breastfeed your child because it is best for both of you.
After your baby is delivered, your blood glucose levels will be monitored for a few days to make sure they are within the appropriate range. It is customary to check blood sugar two hours after eating and before breakfast. Six to twelve weeks after the baby is born, an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is performed to see if your diabetes has resolved.
If you live in a high-risk location or are unable to socially distance yourself from the pathology center, it is advised that you postpone the OGTT testing for a period of six months during COVID-19. If you intend to become pregnant again or before your child turns 12 months old, it is advised to have an OGTT. Follow your physician's advice.
Although a child whose mother had gestational diabetes won't have diabetes at birth, they might have a higher chance of type 2 diabetes in the future.
What side effects can insulin cause?
There may be adverse effects from human insulin. Inform your physician in the event that any of these symptoms worsen or persist:

• Skin thickening (fat build-up)
• Skin redness
• Swelling
• Itching at the injection site
• A small depression in the skin (fat breakdown)
• Constipation
• Weight gain

Certain adverse effects may be dangerous. Give your doctor a call right away if you encounter any of the following symptoms:

• Rash and/or itching throughout the entire body
• Dyspnea
• Wheezing
• Lightheadedness
• Hazy vision
• Rapid heart rate
• Perspiration Weakness in breathing or swallowing
• Muscles Cramps
• Irregular pulse
• Significant weight gain
• Edema of arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs

Conclusion
Insulin therapy is still the recommended course of treatment for uncontrolled gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The insulins with the greatest human pregnancy data are NPH, insulin lispro, insulin aspart, and regular insulin. Clinicians' ability to accurately weigh the advantages and disadvantages of modifying insulin therapy will become increasingly important. It's also crucial to share the data with the patient so she can help choose the optimal insulin dosage. For the greatest fetal results, strict glycemic control must be maintained throughout pregnancy, regardless of the regimen selected.

Introduction
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. It is commonly used during pregnancy to manage diabetes, particularly pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes. Pregnant women generally need diabetes treatment. Insulin can be administered through an insulin pen or syringe. Insulin is considered safe and effective during pregnancy. It can manage the blood sugar levels caused by pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes.
Insulin
Insulin plays an important role in the regulation of blood glucose levels. The pancreas releases the insulin hormone into the bloodstream when blood sugar levels rise after a meal. People with type 1 and type 2 diabetes require insulin to control their blood sugar levels. Insulin formulation is available in short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting, and rapid-acting forms, to fulfil the specific requirement of diabetics. Although insulin is available in oral or inhaled form, it is not frequently used.
Insulin during pregnancy
Blood glucose levels go from high to low when pregnant women take insulin. Research demonstrates that the intake of insulin may increase the size of the placenta more than normal and be heavier during pregnancy. It is essential to control the blood glucose level for a healthy pregnancy and baby. Insulin is generally safe and effective, but there are some side effects and considerations:

1. Weight gain: During pregnancy, some women may experience weight due to the amount of insulin taken. Insulin enhances the glucose storage and other nutrients that lead to the fat deposition.
2. Reaction on injection site: At the injection site, sometimes insulin injections may cause redness, pain, or swelling. Changing the injection site and appropriate injection technique can minimise these reactions.
3. Allergic Reaction: Some women may experience an allergic reaction due to insulin such as breathing problems, rashes, or itching. It is important to take medical help if any signs of allergic reactions occur.
4. Hypoglycemia (Lower blood pressure): If the insulin dose is too high or missed meals, it can lower the blood glucose level leading to hypoglycemia. The signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia include confusion, sweating, dizziness, and shakiness.
5. Hypolakemia: Insulin intake can decrease the potassium level leading to symptoms such as irregular heart rhythm, weakness, or fatigue.

During pregnancy, insulin requirements may change due to hormonal fluctuations, increased insulin resistance, and changes in diet plan. Pregnant women with diabetes need to go for regular checkups to reduce the risk of complications for themselves and their babies.
Treatment

1. During pregnancy, insulin is not the only single accepted treatment for diabetes. Exercise and diet are important treatments for anyone who deals with diabetes. Pregnant women with gestational diabetes require this treatment to control blood glucose levels.
2. Pregnant women should develop healthy food choices including fruits, vegetables, proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats.
3. Daily exercise also helps to manage the blood glucose level by using extra blood sugar for energy.

Conclusion
During pregnancy, insulin is essential to treat diabetes type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes and outweighs the risk associated with side effects. Pregnant women need to work closely with healthcare professionals to manage their conditions effectively and ensure the best outcome for them and their babies.

We have a 14w (nearly 15w) old puppy, he is a Golden Retriever and Redbone Coonhound mix. We've had him since was 8w old without any issues up until recently. He was doing FANTASTIC with his training, we were having an issue with potty training in the beginning because he would never ask to go, he still doesn't sometimes we just recognize his body language and take him outside. He has done amazing with all of his other training and responds well to praise and treats and still does to this day outside of our potty issue. He was basically potty trained by 12w old but when we took him to his vet appt. for his follow up puppy shots - he's been a different dog. He will poop in his crate every single day and night now and has had on/off diarrhea since those vaccines. His food and treats have not changed, nothing new has been added to his diet, he is walked every hour and thirty minutes (sometimes sooner than that if we can tell he has to go) He is on a water and feeding schedule as well. He was in a full size kennel that we had available because our bigger dog doesn't use it and before this 12w appt. he was doing fantastic with his crate training, would occasionally pee in it if we were out for too long but thats stopped, he no longer pees in our house at all, only poops. Once he started defacating in his kennel multiple times in one night we did move down to a crate his size where he can only just lay down in, he basically has no room in his crate but will still poop in it without asking to go outside. He has also started laying in his poop! He doesn't care if poop is where he lays and eats... We now use the bigger kennel as the area he is fed in and where he can play safely when I need to do things around the house and can't watch him, it's now a play pen. During his dinner tonight he stopped eating, pooped right next to his food bowl, and went right back to eating! Never asked to go outside or anything, I was right there the entire time. I was flabbergasted... When he's not in the kennel he's leashed to me with a hands-free leash for training purposes and he will just squat and poop right next to me without asking, even if we were just outside. Keep in mind, he didn't do ANY of this before this 12w. vet appt and now he will literally poop and lay in it! He'll poop multiple times in his kennel over one night and I have to bathe him and scrub the crate first thing every day. I am 30w pregnant and I physically cannot keep this up anymore.... I physically cannot get down to bathe this pup daily, I cannot lift and scrub his crate without overexerting myself. I physically cannot handle this. Something needs to change or we may have to rehome him and we don't want that but we cannot have this issue persist for much longer with a newborn on the way. He is walked regularly, I have lost sleep for days now getting up to walk him every 1-2 hours overnight. This puppy is literally making my pregnancy a living hell for my body, my husband believes I'm going to hospitalize myself from over exertion. I walk him before feeding him, after feeding him, after naps, playtime, and after any time he gets really excited. He's on a food and water schedule. Nothing about his diet has changed. Besides grass he hasn't eaten anything he shouldn't have to upset his GI track. I've tried disinfecting with bleach, that's before I learned that's bad for him though, I've tried vinegar, pet urine & feces cleaner, puppy pads (but he'll just chew on them and try to eat them, so that's a no go) We do reward him and give him high praise when he he does poop outside. We're at a loss....... My partner and I have done literally everything I can think of and every suggestion I have found online. I've even talked to local dog trainers about my situation and they all confirm and basically tell me to do what I'm doing and to be patient but it has been nearly 3 weeks now. I cannot even be in my house anymore because of the smell (pregnancy, it makes me puke) Any advice or training tips, or does my puppy have "Dirty Dog Syndrome" and do I just need to accept it and move on?