hey, no worries!! I am SUPER not ruffled about this. Just wanted to respond because this is all so weird and hard to figure out and ACTUAL DOCTORS don't often tell you about things that don't require a prescription, even when there are lots of those things out there that could maybe be helpful, but not from necessarily reputable sources, so. . . yipes! Also, totally hear you re: Pinterest / medical advice (EEEEEK). Although snake oil might be a nice addition to a padsicle? =P But yes, all the scented stuff sounds like it might be more irritating than soothing on open-and-wounded lady parts. OUCH.

Also, let's be honest. If we can't be flippant on The Toast, then what is the world coming to????

so. I think this is actually a thing? My pregnancy ended kind of abruptly and rather early (we're all fine! The baby is great!! She is 7 months and won't sleep at night and only wants to hang out on the boob in the bed with me, but yea for otherwise healthy!!), so I'm not all up on the postpartum whatevs. BUT, I think "padsicles" are legit and not woo woo fake medicine? Rather, it's like I am feeling chafed / destroyed, and this cool compress may take the edge off.

In general, pregnancy / postpartum self care is soooooo weird, because on the one hand, you don't want to fall victim to the medical industrial complex for no reason, but you DO want to, you know, follow sound medical advice, and you KNOW that there's some kind of "wisdom of the ages" stuff out there that must do some good because humans made it this far without all the drugs (albeit, fewer humans than would have made it WITH the drugs, of course) but some shit sounds super weird and wrong and how do you know?????

The biggest issue is that these things are usually written at SUCH a low register that it all sounds very very untrustworthy, even though there may be a kernel of usefulness in there?

Anyway. Yes. All of the above are 100% accurate.

sending both of you hugs. Pregnancy is such a liminal time, fuck EVERYBODY who wants to put parameters on it and then police those parameters, as though the women who go through these things are bad actors. Seriously. <3 to y'all.

I'm late to this party, but I was soooooo upset by the article that I had to come read the comments. I also read that birth story, and I'm sorry that I missed the birth stories in the open thread last week, because I loooove birth stories! I won't go into my own story in long detail here, but the bottom line is that I really wanted a "natural hospital birth." Then shit got a little crazy and I ended up on a month of bedrest that ended with an induction. Although there is of course the fear of "cascading interventions," the reality is that most of these interventions tend to work, not to proceed to the next one. Turns out my body couldn't care less about your nonsense cervical ripening agents, and nonetheless, my induction was shockingly "successful," at least in terms of what I wanted, which was vaginal birth / healthy baby / no needles in the back if avoidable. Most doctors who go into OB have a very nuanced understanding of the politics, and they want you and the baby to be healthy and you to get what you want. If you get the sense that you're not in such a practice, move right the hell along. There are amazing docs and nurses out there!

Meanwhile, the secret seems to be a soubise. Whatever you're doing, see if you can shove a soubise in there. See also: bread sauce and melting down the candy to make some sort of sweet vinegar sauce, whatever the name for that is.

If an ingredient seems to have a fibrous-y membrane (eel skin, sweet breads, liver, etc.) TAKE THAT THING THE HELL OFF.

What.

Almost 6 months out from a rather medicated birth that went absolutely as well as could possibly have been expected under difficult and scary circumstances, I still have a panic attack every once in a while when I look at my small-but-healthy-and-most-importantly-still-alive baby girl and play out alternative scenarios in my head. And regardless of anybody's beliefs or intuitions about premature births, lung development, etc., this NICU vet DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR IT.

Saddle up and take the betamethasone, friends. For serious. Gah.

Yes, there is much acceptable yoga on the Tubes.

FWIW, I really like the Power Yoga with Dave Farmar podcasts, which I think are/were free on iTunes.

Also, my phone seems to have been smarter than I am above. I meant to say "enjoy the last *days* of summer", although if you want to do that other thing, go on with your bad self. ;)

Reasonable minds may differ re: whether to be the hand / gun / etc. Either way, I was the kind of law student that *really* needed to do all the reading, make my own outlines, etc. As a haptic learner, commercial outlines were gonna do jack sh*t for me.

I liked to be several days ahead in all my classes, mostly because my 1L profs were very old school and unpredictable, so they might get way out ahead of the syllabus, and if you got cold called and were unprepared, it was bad and felt even worse.

I really loved having a study group, esp. that first year. There were a total of six of us, and we didn't really do much till the last 3rd of the semester. Then we shared outlines, discussed material, and (most important!) reviewed practice tests together. Practicing issue-spotting and applying the material you've learned is a really key part of exam prep, and only your classmates really know the scope of your class.

Also yes, sadly, 1L grades matter a loooooot. It's probably worth a year of misery to get yourself off on the right foot. At least that proved true for me. And if you think you might want to clerk, grades + law review matter in later years too. And if you're not sure what kind of law you want to practice, keep your options open w/ practical classes (e.g. I didn't take bankruptcy, b/c who cares, and now 3 years later it turns out that a bankruptcy clerkship would be a really great way for me to spend a year, for a ton of reasons, and whoops. . . )

Try to keep sane and preserve resources!! The first year is the worst, but giving it your all will be worth it later.

Just coming down to recommend Bernadette--such a fun read that I missed it when it was over for about four times as long as it took to read the book!!

Two things I love:

1) making myself get a little sunshine, even if it's a totally lowkey walk and doesn't really count as "exercise."

2) yoga podcasts. All the exercise you want, none of the judgment.

Congrats on taking some control here, and enjoy the last boys of summer while you can!!!!!