#Counseling for Anxious and Pregnant

[thatfragilecapricorn30]

dad

msr, post-deadalive canon divergence | 1.6k words | ao3  tagging @today-in-fic

When Mulder woke from the dead, the first thing he saw was Scully’s face, and the relief he felt seeing her was immense. Mulder was not only happy that she was alive and well but that she was by his side during this confusing and traumatic time. Since the beginning of their partnership, Scully had always been a calming and grounding presence, and Mulder needed that now more than ever, as he was having trouble coming to terms with what had happened to him. He didn’t have much memory beyond his abduction, but the images that did flash through his brain were not pleasant. He could only imagine what kind of counseling he was going to need to process everything, but for now, having Scully nearby was enough to get him through the short-term.

The second thing he saw was Scully’s belly. Initially, he didn’t know if he was dreaming or woozy from the drugs, but the more alert Mulder became, the more he realized that she was actually pregnant. Based on her size, at least seven to eight months had passed. If not more, because Mulder had no idea when Scully conceived or even how. Was it natural and if so, who was the father? Was it him? Or did she meet someone else while he was gone? Did she try IVF again, this time with an anonymous sperm donor? The questions made his brain – and his heart – hurt.

Luckily, they had always been good at reading each other's body language, and Scully immediately addressed the issue when she saw his eyes rove uneasily over her belly.

“It’s yours,” she said, smiling through tears that suddenly welled in her eyes. “I was pregnant when we were in Oregon. That’s why I felt sick.”

“Oh,” was all he could say. So he was the father, but what did that mean? Was he supposed to be a parent after all this? Would Scully even want him involved? He wasn’t sure if he would have been a good father before the abduction but now, he was even more fucked up. His mind whirred with more unanswered questions, and he started to feel anxious.

Scully must have noticed his overwhelm, because she leaned in close to say, “I know it’s a lot. But you don’t have to worry about anything else aside from getting better, okay?”

He nodded, his heart rate slowing when Scully carded her fingers through his hair. They would figure it all out later.

Over the next few days, Mulder slowly felt his strength return. Scully stayed by his side almost the entire time, observing the doctors and nurses, reviewing his charts, and talking about what had happened during the eight months he was missing and then dead. She stuck to work topics: her new partner at the FBI and the cases they investigated. He couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable she was sitting in a plastic chair all day, but she never gave a hint of discomfort. Mulder did force her to leave at night so she could sleep in a real bed and so that he could have some time to think, which was mostly about Scully carrying his baby and what that would mean for his life. The more he considered it, the more he realized that he wanted to be a dad and be a part of the baby's life. It wasn't like he had never contemplated this issue before. When he had agreed to donate sperm for Scully's IVF, he was ready to take on the responsibility of a child. Even though that seemed like lifetimes ago, Mulder would never abandon Scully and their baby. He was even looking forward to having a purpose in life that wasn't searching for his sister or extraterrestrial life. But he also wanted to make sure Scully was on the same page.

On the third day of recovery, he finally got the nerve to ask her.

“Scully? Can we talk about the baby?”

Scully looked up from the medical journal she was reading and then put it aside so she could move her chair closer to Mulder’s bed.

She immediately starting talking, “Mulder, before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’m fully aware an eight-month pregnancy is a lot to wake up to, especially in your condition. So, I understand if you need time to think or consider. With everything that’s going on, there’s no pressure from me at all. I’m just so happy you’re here.”

She seemed like she was going to keep going, so Mulder interrupted, “I want to.”

Scully looked surprised. “You want to?”

“I want to be involved. If you'll have me,” he added.

Scully’s pursed lips turned into a real smile. If he could still manage to make her happy, then everything really was going to be alright.

“Okay, great,” she whispered, looking like she was going to cry again.

“Do you have a picture or a, a –“ he couldn’t remember the word but Scully filled it in for him.

“An ultrasound? Yes, I do.” She pulled a folded photo from her purse and handed it to him.

It was a black and white scan and while he secretly thought it looked like a blob, that was his child. He stared at it for a while, tracing the baby with one finger. The ultrasound was well-worn, like it had been in Scully’s purse for a while.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” he asked.

“You can’t tell?” Scully asked mischievously.

“Scully, you’re the doctor. No offense but this really does look like a alien.”

“Well, then you’re just going to have to wait to find out,” she said with a laugh, plucking the ultrasound out of his hands to prove the point.

“Wait, can I keep that?” Mulder asked, sounding shy to himself.

Scully stopped folding the photo and smoothed it back out. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry." She handed it back to him. "You’ll have to come to the next appointment and hear the heartbeat.”

Mulder could think of nothing better.

After Mulder was released from the hospital, he became Scully’s worst nightmare. Well, she never said that or gave any indication that he was annoying her, but he must have been. Mulder spent most of his time at her apartment, reading every baby book he could get his hands on (luckily Scully had quite a few) and helping her with chores. In his defense, Scully was pregnant and shouldn’t be doing laundry or dishes or grocery shopping. She didn’t seem to mind having a shadow, which was strange because the old Scully would have kicked him out way more often so she could have some alone time. But pregnancy made Scully shockingly serene: she answered all of his questions, tolerated his fussing, and reminded him frequently how happy she was that he was back.

Mulder didn’t know what to make of it.

The only time he was really apart from her was when he went to counseling twice a week. He had to fudge some of the details of his disappearance and death to the counselor, but he felt like the therapy was helping.

Mulder went to one last ultrasound appointment and heard the baby’s heartbeat, which he thought was spectacular.

When Scully’s water broke, everything became real and the panic set in. He rushed around trying to make sure they had everything, wondering if they needed to call an ambulance. Scully stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Mulder, it’s fine. We have plenty of time to get to the hospital.”

She went to the closet to grab the hospital bag that she had clearly packed awhile ago. “You’re supposed to be the one calming me down,” she said, with a knowing look.

“Sorry,” Mulder apologized sheepishly. “You know that’s not my strong suit.”

Mulder drove them both to the hospital. He didn’t break any speeding laws or run any red lights, though it was tempting. Scully had a few contractions in the car, which was distressing, moreso to Mulder, and he wanted to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible.

He was there the whole time Scully labored and let her squeeze his hand during all of the contractions and pushing. He had forgotten how strong she was and wouldn't be surprised if he came out of his experience with sprained bones. Mulder had never witnessed a birth before and found the whole process incredible. His son or daughter was about to make their entrance into the world and he would be right there for it.

The doctor delivered the baby – a boy, which Mulder could now recognize – and immediately handed him to Scully to hold. Their son screamed and cried and Mulder was impressed how something so tiny could make so much noise. After a few minutes, a nurse whisked the baby away to be cleaned up and weighed.

“What do you think?” Scully asked, smiling up at him. She looked tired but so beautiful.

“It was amazing. You were amazing,” Mulder exclaimed.

The nurse brought the baby back, now swaddled in a blanket and wearing a little newborn cap. She handed him to Scully.

“Do you want to hold him, Dad?” Scully held the baby out to him, so trusting that he could handle this new role. Mulder didn’t know when the last time he held a baby was. Maybe it was when Samantha was born. But Scully – his little skeptic – believed in him. Believed he could be a good dad. Believed that they could be a family. He gently took their son into his arms and cradled him against his chest. The love he felt for this new person was overwhelming. The love he felt for Scully was overwhelming. He was so lucky to get another chance at life, and at a family. Before he knew it, there were tears running down his cheek.

“Oh, Mulder,” Scully sighed. She reached for him, so Mulder sat next to her on the bed and they admired the miracle that was their son.

[veryferaldistributions]

My Top 10 Favorite Episodes of “My Two Dads”

(Some spoilers ahead for a show from 1987.)

1. Joey’s Mother-in-Law

(Stefan’s Voice) This episode has EVERYTHING! It’s funny, it’s heartfelt, it tackles serious topics. And it’s the episode that cemented in my head that Joey and Michael are meant to be seen as a domestic couple. And this is not just with the title, but with the interactions and plot of this episode. Michael’s mother is a great character. She’s neurotic and initially dismissive of Joey and Michael “playing at being parents,” sure, but she doesn’t mean anything in malice as much as genuine concern. And she comes around by the end of the episode and even, 100% serious, calls Joey her “son-in-law.”

2. Pop, The Question

A sad but necessary episode where Joey and Michael are about to “divorce” and finally decide to take a blood test to find out which one of them is Nicole’s biological father. This decision is made against Nicole’s will, who firmly does not want to have to pick between Michael and Joey. Despite an initial fake-out, the episode actually ends with the audience/characters never knowing the truth, which I think was very big of the writers.

3. Kind of a Drag

Not the best episode, but absolutely the funniest episode. All the humor is pooled into the last 15 minutes, and features Michael dressing in drag as Joey’s pregnant “wife” named Felicia. With whom he has 10 children. All in the attempt to scare a toxic woman away from dating Joey (“Fellas, is it gay if-“). And Nicole is accidentally privy to this moment of Michael crossdressing, and her reaction had me in stitches. I’m completely confident that when Joey is laughing at “Felicia’s” script and behavior, it’s Evigan breaking character.

4. The Artful Dodger

The ending made me cry. Nicole puts off an art class assignment for an unknown reason, only for her dads and the audience to realize at the very end that she doesn’t have any artistic talent, and sees that as proof that she is not Joey’s daughter. Seeing Nicole standing there in the apartment, crying and saying “Joey, I can’t draw!” broke me. Of course they end the episode with the message that certain talents are not genetic, and Nicole’s lack of talent is not proof of anything. And of course, that Joey loves her no matter what.

5. A Story in Development

Possibly the best Judge/Nicole episode. Nicole wants to be as “developed” in breast growth as a girl in her class, who seems to be getting all the attention from the boys. After several failed attempts from her dads trying to counsel her on this (and a HILARIOUS scene where she and Shelby stuff their bras with tissue and the dads are trying so hard not to laugh) Judge finally steps in and explains that being the first girl to get breasts isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

6. In Her Dreams

On the night of her 14th birthday, Nicole dreams what her life might have been like if her mom married either Michael or Joey. This was the only appearance of Marcy Bradford in the series (TBH, I didn’t love the actress they picked. She looks nothing like Nicole and it’s very distracting.) and this is generally a very sweet and cute episode, with a lot of dream logic jokes I enjoyed. It also sneaks in a hilarious but somewhat dirty joke about an implied threesome between Marcy, Michael, and Joey.

7. Nicole’s Big Adventure

This was my episode where I was really and truly like “they don’t just love Nicole, they ADORE her.” Nicole sets out on a weeklong field-trip with her class to go camping, leaving Michael and Joey anxious wrecks. Though they try to have a “guys night” (playing poker with the gayest group of “straight” men I’ve ever seen), they end up getting a call from the camp that Nicole has broken her foot, and they drop everything to bring her home.

8. Sweet Sixteen, See Appendix

This episode flashes back and forth between Nicole in the hospital with appendicitis, and a few days prior where she’s trying to plead her case to spend her 16th birthday skiing with her friends instead of with her dads. The story is, overall, focused on the dads learning to let go and let Nicole be more independent. But, unlike “Nicole’s Big Adventure,” the episode also emphasizes how much Nicole still needs them. On top of that, it’s a genuinely cute episode of Michael and Joey fretting over their kid.

9. Say Goodnight, Gracie

Joey offers to babysit his girlfriend’s infant daughter, an offer which Michael staunchly disagrees with. Gracie, the baby, ends up crying all night and Michael gets stuck as the sole babysitter after Joey gets sick. Purely a self-indulgent love for this episode. I imagine that Gracie is Baby Nicole. And Michael is just adorable for how he fawns over her. The episode also makes a great argument in support of single-parents and is one of the slightly more feminist episodes of the series.

10. The Pilot/Soho’s By You

The first two episodes of the series really feel like one big episode, as they set up the dynamic for this unusual family. In the first episode, Joey and Michael “inherit” Nicole during the will reading of Marcy Bradford, then argue over who will raise her, and in the second episode they attempt to live separately as co-parents before Nicole literally guilt-trips them into living together. It’s a great start to a wonderful show.

[ashleysjourney2healthy]

This is a trigger warning for SA so if that’s triggering for you, please scroll

Im feeling super anxious right now. My cousin just told me she’s pregnant. Now please know that I’m so excited for her. We’re quite close and she’s one of my baby cousins (not really a baby since she’ll be 31 this year but still). And while I’m super excited for her, I feel anxious. Side note, she already has 1 daughter. Now this is where it gets tricky … her dad SA’d me when I was a baby / really young. I suspect my aunt knows (she’s been divorced from him since I was like maybe 8? I’m guessing but I was pretty young). This story is kind of confusing but I had no memory of any of this happening. When I was in counselling like 7 years ago, I had my counsellor ask me if I was every sexually abused. I said no. He’s like are you sure? I was thinking yeah I think I would know. But he told me my memory could be repressed and that he had talked to the psychiatrist on their staff about me (nothing that gave away my identity but vague details). The psychiatrist said he agreed that it sounded like I had been SA’d based on info he had. Fast forward to my nephews 1st bday party where my aunt makes a casual comment about how my uncle used to always have his hand up my dress. I kind of froze because it hadn’t been that long since my counsellor talked to me about this. Fast forward more time where I start doing EMDR therapy (which is wild and if you want more info please google it). It brings back some very strong memories of it happening. It was quite traumatic finding this info out. It was very expensive though so I stopped going and I thought I had enough memories to solidify what I had suspected / was somewhat told happened. It’s hard because I don’t know if any of this happened to my cousin as well. When she had her first baby and it was a girl, I had so much anxiety. Thankfully she’s a very protective parent and I’m quite certain she’s never left alone with anybody. The only people who know are my brother and sister in law and then K. They all know only because I told them. I don’t even know if this makes sense but I had to get it all out. In case anybody is wondering, no I didn’t tell anybody about this in terms of authority or family besides my brother. My brother is a police officer and he’s trained extensively on sexual assault and sexual abuse. He told me he had always wondered if anything happened to me but never asked. I can’t even remember why I told him or how that came out. Sorry this was all over the place. If you made it to the end, thank you

[infertilityivftreatment]

Stress And Infertility: Exploring the Mind-Body Connection

Stress and infertility are two words that many couples hear together, especially when they face difficulty getting pregnant. Infertility can increase stress, and at the same time, constant stress may also affect how the body functions. So, is there a real link between the mind and fertility?

At RISAA IVF, Dr. Rita Bakshi, Senior IVF Specialist and Gynaecologist, has guided many couples who have experienced emotional stress and fertility issues. In this blog, we will explain how stress may impact fertility, practical tips to manage it better, and more.

What is the Link Between Stress and Infertility?

Stress doesn’t directly cause infertility but it can make it difficult to get pregnant. The body makes stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline when someone is under constant emotional stress. These can disturb the balance of hormones which are  needed for ovulation (egg release) in women and sperm production in men.

For women, high stress might delay or stop ovulation. This means that the eggs aren’t released regularly. For men, stress can lower sperm count, affect sperm quality, or lead to problems like difficulty in having sex.

Stress can also cause poor sleep, unhealthy eating, and more. Additionally, these can all affect fertility too. Couples who are going through fertility treatments feel more stress, which can make things even difficult.

So, stress may not be the main cause of infertility but it can still affect it. It’s important to manage stress with rest, support, counseling, or healthy habits to improve your mind and fertility.

Common Symptoms of Stress in Fertility Struggles

Stress can become a daily part of someone’s life when they are trying to have a baby and it’s not happening. It may not always be easy to notice but it affects the body and mind. Here are some common signs of mental health and fertility which include the following:

Trouble Sleeping

You may find it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep. You keep worrying about tests, treatments, or the future that keep your mind busy at night.

Too Much Worrying

Your mind keeps thinking about “what ifs” or whether you’ll ever become a parent.

Feeling Sad or Tired

You may feel low, lose interest in things you used to enjoy, or feel tired all the time. Even small things may make you upset and tired.

Mood Swings or Anger

You may feel angry, irritated, or emotional suddenly especially when others talk about babies or pregnancy.

Changes in Eating

Stress can affect your hunger. So, there are some people who may eat too much and there are some others who may also lose their appetite. 

Body Pain or Discomfort

Headaches, body aches, fast heartbeat, or stomach pain can happen because of stress even if you’re not sick.

Problems in Relationships

Couples may fight more or feel distant. It can be hard to talk or support each other.

Feeling Alone

You may feel like no one understands you. Some people stop going to social events or avoid baby-related conversations.

How Stress Affects Men and Women Differently?

Stress and infertility are closely related. Stress can affect everyone but it doesn’t affect men and women in the same way. Their bodies and minds react differently to stress because of hormones and the way they deal with emotions.

Hormone imbalance: Stress can affect the balance of hormones like FSH and LH. They play a very important role in ovulation and sperm production.

Irregular periods: High stress levels can delay or stop ovulation. This can lead to missed or irregular periods.

Reduced sperm quality: In men, stress can lower sperm count and affect movement and shape of the sperm.

Less interest in intimacy: Feeling anxious or mentally tired can reduce sexual desire and lead to fewer chances to get pregnant.

Poor lifestyle choices: Stress may lead to smoking, drinking, or poor diet, which can affect fertility in both men and women.

Does Stress Affect Fertility?

Yes, stress does affect fertility in men and women. When you’re under constant stress, your body produces higher levels of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones can affect the normal balance of reproductive hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These are essential for ovulation, sperm production, and overall fertility health.

In women, high levels of stress may cause irregular periods or even missed ovulation, which makes it difficult to conceive. In men, stress can lower sperm count, reduce sperm quality, and even affect sexual performance. Sometimes, couples who are healthy and have no clear medical issues still struggle with infertility and stress could be a hidden factor.

It’s important to know that stress alone may not directly cause infertility but it can make it difficult to get pregnant. Feeling pressure from family, society, or the stress of trying again and again can create a cycle that’s difficult to deal with. So yes, stress and infertility are connected. It’s important to keep your mind calm to help your body work better, including your fertility.

Diagnosing Stress-Related Fertility Issues

Stress can affect your ability to conceive but it’s not always easy to find out if stress is the main reason. Doctors usually check for the emotional and physical health signs. So, it’s important to understand how stress impacts your hormones, periods, and lifestyle to plan the right treatment.

Here’s how doctors may diagnose stress-related fertility issues:

Medical History: They will ask about your stress levels, sleep, mood, and lifestyle.

Menstrual Cycle Check: Irregular or missed periods can be linked to stress.

Hormone Tests: This will help to see if stress is affecting your reproductive hormones.

Fertility Tests: Tests like ovulation tracking or semen analysis helps to find out other causes.

Mental Health Screening: Some simple tools or questionnaires to assess anxiety or depression.

Effective Treatments

It’s important to take care of the body and mind when it comes to stress and infertility. There are medical treatments that can help with fertility problems but it’s also important to manage stress to improve the chances of success.

Here are some effective infertility treatment and ways to manage stress-related infertility:

Counseling or Therapy: Talking to a therapist or fertility counselor can help to reduce emotional pressure.

Relaxation Techniques: Yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises can help to calm the mind.

Healthy Lifestyle: It’s important to eat balanced meals, sleep well, and stay active to support fertility.

Support Groups: Share your experience with others to reduce the feeling of loneliness.

Stress Management Programs: Some clinics offer special programs for fertility-related stress.

Fertility Treatments: IVF or IUI may be recommended along with emotional care.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to understand stress and infertility for couples who are trying to get pregnant. In this blog, we’ve explained how stress can affect fertility, what symptoms to look out for, how men and women experience it differently, and the treatments that can help. It’s important to know how your mental and emotional health connects with your fertility. This information can make your journey smoother and more hopeful.

At RISAA IVF, Dr. Rita Bakshi (Senior Infertility Specialist and Gynaecologist) has helped many couples to deal with the emotional challenges of infertility. If you’re feeling confused or need support to manage stress while trying to conceive, we’re here to help. Call us at 95555 44421/22/23 or email at doctor@risaaivf.com for expert guidance and care.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Can stress cause you to be infertile?

Stress alone may not cause infertility, but it can affect hormones and make it harder to conceive. Managing stress can support fertility health.

Why am I not conceiving?

There can be many reasons—irregular ovulation, poor sperm quality, age, stress, or medical conditions. A fertility checkup can help find the cause.

Why is it hard to get pregnant second time?

This is called secondary infertility. It can happen due to age, lifestyle changes, stress, or new health issues. It’s best to consult a fertility expert.

How to overcome fertility issues?

Start with a healthy lifestyle, get medical advice, treat any underlying problems, and consider options like IUI or IVF if needed.

Can stress stop periods?

Yes, high stress can disturb hormone balance and may delay or even stop your periods temporarily.

Source: https://risaaivf.com/

[arviclinic]

Can Women with PCOS Get Pregnant? Myths vs. Facts from the Best PCOS Doctor in Hyderabad

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common hormonal conditions affecting women of reproductive age. It can cause irregular periods, excess facial hair, acne, weight gain, and most importantly—difficulty with ovulation. Because ovulation is key to getting pregnant, many women with PCOS worry about their ability to conceive.

PCOS is often misunderstood, especially when it comes to fertility. Many women feel anxious or confused when they’re told they have PCOS—wondering what it means for their future, especially if they hope to become a mother one day.

At Arvi Clinic, we believe awareness is the first step toward empowerment. Understanding how PCOS affects your body—and knowing the facts—can help you take the right steps toward a healthy and successful pregnancy.

Let’s clear up some of the most common myths and shed light on the truth.

Myth 1: Women with PCOS Can Never Get Pregnant

Fact: This is one of the biggest misconceptions. While PCOS can make it harder to ovulate regularly, it does not mean you can’t get pregnant. Many women with PCOS conceive naturally or with the help of simple treatments.

Ovulation tracking, healthy lifestyle changes, and sometimes medication can help restore regular cycles and improve the chances of pregnancy.

Myth 2: All PCOS Patients Need IVF

If you're looking for personalized fertility care, consult the Best PCOS doctor in Hyderabad to explore all available options tailored to your needs.

Myth 3: Losing Weight Isn’t That Important

Fact: For women with PCOS who are overweight, even a modest weight loss of 5-10% can significantly improve fertility. Weight loss can help regulate menstrual cycles, reduce insulin resistance, and improve the body’s hormonal balance.

Diet, regular exercise, and lifestyle changes can make a big difference—and don’t worry, you don’t need to do it alone. At Arvi Clinic, we support women through every step of their PCOS journey.

Myth 4: Irregular Periods Mean You’re Not Ovulating at All

Fact: Women with PCOS often have irregular ovulation, but that doesn't mean it's completely absent. Ovulation may still happen occasionally, which means there’s still a chance of natural pregnancy.

Using ovulation predictor kits, tracking basal body temperature, and ultrasound monitoring can help identify your fertile window.

How to Improve Fertility with PCOS

Here are some proven ways to boost fertility when dealing with PCOS:

1. Healthy Lifestyle

Maintain a balanced diet rich in fiber, lean proteins, and healthy fats

Stay physically active—aim for at least 30 minutes of movement daily

Manage stress through yoga, mindfulness, or counseling

2. Medications

Metformin can help manage insulin resistance

Ovulation inducers like Clomiphene or Letrozole stimulate the ovaries

Hormonal birth control may be used temporarily to regulate cycles before trying to conceive

3. Fertility Treatments

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), if needed after trying other methods

If you live near Hastinapuram, a Top Gynecologist in Hastinapuram Hyderabad can help guide you through these options with care and expertise.

Stay Positive – Pregnancy is Possible with PCOS

Dealing with PCOS can be overwhelming, especially when you're trying to conceive. But the reality is that many women with PCOS go on to have healthy pregnancies with the right treatment and support.

If you’re facing difficulties or feeling unsure, don’t hesitate to reach out to a specialist. A qualified Urogynecologist in Hastinapuram Hyderabad can help address both your reproductive and hormonal health.

Remember, at Arvi Clinic, we believe every woman deserves compassionate, expert care—and that includes helping you achieve your dream of becoming a mother.

[athmacare]

Can pregnancy cause postpartum depression?

Yes, pregnancy can indeed cause postpartum depression (PPD)—a serious mental illness that impacts numerous women following giving birth. Although pregnancy itself is a time of emotional and hormonal shift, these shifts can sometimes induce depressive symptoms, particularly in women who've had past mental illness or have minimal emotional support.

How Pregnancy Contributes to Postpartum Depression

Pregnant women undergo severe hormonal changes during pregnancy that influence mood and brain chemistry. Some mothers-to-be feel exhilarated and happy, while others feel anxious, overwhelmed, or depressed. These mood swings can persist into the postpartum period and even worsen in some cases. Labor exhaustion, physical recovery after giving birth, sleep deprivation, and stress of caring for a newborn are factors that contribute to the onset of postpartum depression.

Aside from physical changes, emotional stressors like unwanted pregnancies, social isolation, relationship problems, or financial concerns can increase the risk. It should be noted that PPD is never a sign of weakness or failure but a true medical condition that needs proper care and attention.

Identifying the Symptoms

Postpartum depression may present symptoms like:

Persistent sadness or emptiness

No interest in the baby

Hopelessness or feelings of worthlessness

Irritability or anger

Appetite or sleep changes

Ideas of self-harm or hurting the baby

If you or someone you know is having these symptoms, it's important to get help right away.

Seek Help: You're Not Alone

Early treatment with the best online counselling Kerala provides can be a major turning point. Whether you are experiencing emotional issues related to pregnancy or postpartum depression, expert intervention is necessary. Consulting the best psychologist in Kerala can enable you to get back in emotional equilibrium and enhance your mental health process.

At Athma My Mind My Care, we're committed to walking with you through each step of motherhood. Call on us today for professional guidance, loving care, and integrated mental health. You're worthy of healing, and we can help.

[monalisasingh]

Best Pregnancy Care Tips from Top Gynecologists in Patna

Pregnancy offers women both happiness and new duties. The mother and baby need healthcare from experts to stay healthy during pregnancy. The best gynecologists in Patna teach women about what to eat during pregnancy plus explain why routine medical examination and active living plus life-style changes help expectant mothers. So, today we will explain the best pregnancy care tips to help you understand what you need to follow during this journey and how you can better take care of yourself.

1. Regular Prenatal Checkups

Women need complete pregnancy care especially by regularly visiting their doctor for family health. The doctor checks the mother to monitor the baby's growth and spot problems early while checking the mother is healthy for pregnancy. The top Gynaecologists recommend:

· The doctor should see patient as early as possible after detecting pregnancy.

· They need to have scheduled ultrasound tests and medical exams to measure the baby's growth progress.

· The healthcare team uses tests to monitor blood pressure, sugar levels and haemoglobin to stop problems from developing such as gestational diabetes or low blood count.

2. Maintain a Balanced Diet

Good nutrition helps the baby grow correctly during pregnancy. Leading female reproductive system doctors from Patna advocate including these nutrients.

· Eating spinach lentils and oranges helps women avoid birth defects in the nervous system.

·  Eating dairy items together with nuts and green leafy vegetables gives your bones better protection against anemia and makes them stronger.

· Eggs fish and pulses give the baby needed proteins for their growing tissues.

· Water and natural juice form an essential part of hydrating your body.

3. Exercise and Physical Activity

Pregnant women need physical activity to stay fit while getting ready for childbirth. Medical exercises as suggested by gynecologists include focus on participant-specific options.

·  Prenatal yoga for relaxation and flexibility.

·  Walking exercises elevate blood flow throughout your body and strengthens your stamina.

· Easy stretching will help reduce lower back pain and tight muscles.

·  The best course is to speak with your gynecologist before beginning any workout to protect your body from injury and damage.

4. Proper Weight Management

An overweight pregnant woman faces greater risks of developing gestational diabetes and blood pressure problems. The gynecologist tracks weight gain during pregnancy and gives customized eating guidance to manage weight in a healthy way.

5. Mental and Emotional Well-being

During pregnancy hormonal changes often make a woman emotional and anxious. To maintain mental well-being:

· Practice meditation methods and breathing practices.

· Maintaining regular contact with your family helps you deal with emotional pregnancy challenges better.

· Schedule counseling immediately if mental stress is causing you excessive worry.

6. Avoid Harmful Substances

Doctors who care for female reproductive systems warn pregnant women to stay away from alcohol smoking and excessive caffeine because these substances damage the developing baby. Reducing babies' environmental poisoning helps lower risks to their health.

7. Adequate Rest and Sleep

A mother must take enough rest to stay healthy during pregnancy. Experts recommend:

· Sleeping on your left side helps the baby receive better blood flow.

·  Lay on your left side with pillows under your belly and back to support you properly.

· Establishing nightly routines helps produce better sleep for the mother.

8. Preparing for Delivery

The gynecologist can help manage delivery-related stress when you attend prenatal classes before your due date. Adults benefit from learning which signs show labor is starting plus basic breathing methods to handle pain.

Common Gynecological Issues and Their Treatments

Health problems in women involve many conditions that affect their reproductive organs. Learning about standard gynecological health problems along with their medical solutions helps you stay healthy.

1. Menstrual Disorders

Menstrual problems affect daily life strongly and consist of these types:

Heavy or Prolonged Bleeding (Menorrhagia): Excessive menstrual bleeding lasting more than seven days.

Severe menstrual cramps during periods create uncontrollable pain that stops people from doing their regular tasks.

Your menstrual pattern shows up as either frequent variations or missing periods according to experts.

Treatments:

Painful conditions and menstrual irregularities justify taking NSAIDs to reduce pain and using hormone-based birth control pills to synchronize women's cycles.

Patient surgery becomes an option if medical treatments fail to control the condition.

2. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

The condition results in enlarged ovaries with tiny growths because of hormonal imbalance. When the ovaries enlarge due to PCOS women may experience such problems as unpredictable menstrual cycles as well as facial acne and unwanted body hair.

Treatments:

Weight loss through appropriate diet and exercise helps ease these symptoms.

Hormonal birth controls help period control while metformin manages insulin resistance.

3. Endometriosis

When uterine tissue grows in locations outside the uterus such as pelvic areas it creates endometriosis which produces pelvic pain and stops fertility.

Treatments:

Hormonal treatments help the body stop menstruation while pain drugs provide relief.

Using a surgical approach doctors perform laparoscopic endometrial tissue removal to treat the patient.

4. Uterine Fibroids

Uterine fibroids grow inside the uterus without turning cancerous and produce severe menstrual flow plus pelvic discomfort.

Treatments:

GnRH agonists help reduce uterine fibroid size through medicine treatment.

Doctors cut off blood supply to fibroids through uterine artery embolization as a minimal invasive treatment.

Doctors perform Myomectomy to remove fibroids while Hysterectomy becomes necessary for extreme cases.

5. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

PID affects organs in a woman's womb region through sexually transmitted diseases.

Treatments:

Antibiotics: To eliminate the infection.

Patients who need treatment at the hospital receive antibiotics through an IV line.

6. Urinary Incontinence

Female patient loses control over her bladder leading to unintended urine leaks according to Best OBGYN specialists.

Treatments:

Regular pelvic floor exercises using Kegel technique targets muscle strength.

Medications: To calm overactive bladders.

Doctors perform operations to hold up bladder or urethra structures.

7. Vaginal Infections

Vaginal infections like yeast or bacterial vaginosis make the skin sensitive and produce unusual smell.

Treatments:

Antibiotics or Antifungals: Depending on the type of infection.

Antibiotics help renew good bacteria in the vagina.

8. Cervical Dysplasia

Cells on the cervix grow in abnormal patterns and may transform into cancer.

Treatments:

Regular Pap tests help doctors observe how the condition evolves.

The doctor may use freezing techniques or LEEP to take away the unhealthy cells.

Conclusion

The guidance given by the best gynecologists in Patna helps pregnant women achieve healthier pregnancies. The mother and baby’s health depends on ongoing medical care along with balanced daily activities and feeling well as a person. So, you must see a qualified gynecologist in Patna during your pregnancy to receive professional medical attention from beginning to end.

[late-night-musings1]

NEVER SHOW THAT YOU'RE IMPRESSED BY ANYONE.

New York Magazine 30 Jan 2023 - freddie deboer

You might assume I'm saying you should hold yourself in such high regard that no one else would ever impress you. That is not what I mean. I'm counseling you never to be impressed based on my conviction that being impressed by people you meet is an implicit endorsement of the status competition that dogs so much of our social lives. We're impressed by degrees and professional accomplishments and physical beauty and fame, none of which is the basis of lasting human connection. Developing affection for someone makes you more human; being impressed by someone makes you less.

The problem with being impressed by people is that it subordinates you and dehumanizes them. I don't know if you've ever seen someone who isn't famous interact with a celebrity, but it's excruciatingly awkward. The regular person tends to be obsequious and anxious, while the celebrity seems distracted and uncomfortable. I don't blame either side of this equation given the power of fame in our culture, but when someone approaches a celebrity and asks to take a selfie, even tentatively, it's not really a human interaction at all. The kind of intimate exchange that marks real social engagement is impossible if one party is deeply impressed with another, as that person will inevitably seek the other's approval and behave in a way that's untrue to themselves. Meanwhile, the impressive person, even if they're paying equal attention, isn't really there; what the other person is reacting to is the feeling of being impressed, of being overwhelmed by someone else's esteem. No room left for them.

Years ago, I had opportunities to hang out in a larger social setting with the child of a politi- cian who was very prominent and powerful at the time. They seemed in most respects to be friendly and grounded, but these encounters were always pregnant with that person's prox- imity to power, and the weight of other people being impressed choked the room. No thanks. I'd prefer to keep both sides of a social exchange human and then maybe with time we'll develop a genuine, warm regard for each other.

Don't be aloof. Don't be cold. Good God, don't be self-impressed. Just meet someone, note who they are, feel your indifference to their accomplishments, and get busy with the work of getting to know them and, hopefully, of becoming their friend. Before too long, you'll forget

why you were ever impressed by anyone in the first place.

[toomuchpurple]

Pregnancy stuff

So my ultrasound came back with 2 anomalies. One heart and one spine. So that's. Not great.

But both of those things do have the potential to resolve themselves in utero, so it might all be totally fine and I just spent a couple days weeping and depressed for no big deal. I have appointments scheduled to check up on those things so we can monitor their progression/abatement.

The way I personally am affected is that these things mean I have to give birth in a hospital just in case baby needs immediate intervention. I am rather unsettled by this bc I am bad with hospitals, bad with doctors, and am easy to manipulate when under duress. These things compound each other.

For the record I can deal with hospitals and doctors when I am not the patient and I can deal w manipulation when not under duress. But the thing about giving birth is that i will be all of these things...

A hospital also means different things for how we're going to have to pay for treatment. Mostly bad things. It is really hard trying to save up for baby when just getting baby is so expensive. I am eternally envious of all the couples who can just knock each other up. It would be so much easier to have a family if I could just have sex and then have babies bc of that. But we gotta get the medical everything involved.

I am also anxious bc we need to do more testing of the fetus' genetics. The lesser evil is getting my blood drawn to examine it for chromosomal anomalies, etc. The greatest evil is that there are tests they can only do by extracting amniotic fluid which is done by sticking a needle into my stomach and into my womb to draw it out. This I am attempting to avoid at all costs. Alongside it having its risks to the fetus, I cannot abide a bigass needle in me in my anywhere. To do that shit they would need to put me under. And they famously do not like to do that to pregnant people.

When getting tested for fertility, there's a test where they use a catheter in your cervix to inject colored water into your uterus to expand it and make sure it's the right shapes for conception. Or something like that. They had to put me under for that shit. I have extremely high sensitivity to internal stimuli. Apparently it's not normal to be able to feel your organs? Anyway, during menstruation I can feel my cervix spasm and my hip bones shift. So I can feel Too Many Things.

I have also been convinced to do genetic counseling. I have been adverse to it because I am concerned about ableism from the medical community and being pressured into/against things, because again, I am very easy to manipulate under stress. But we need to find out if baby's anomalies are simple abnormalities or if they're caused by genetic defect, which could subsequently cause other problems outside of the two presently identified.

But AGAIN, both of these problems might sort themselves out. Spine might grow some more and end up normal. Heart might grow some more and the defect shrink. Baby could be born as healthy as could be, could be born with something nonthreatening like a heart murmur. But baby could be born with a hole in its heart and congenital scoliosis. We just don't know. It is the not knowing which is most frightening. If I knew to be braced for the worst I could do that. It's possible that baby is born healthy as a horse and the doctor says Haha Aren't You Glad You Didn't Worry?

And then my spouse and I would start to smash shit with clawheaded hammers.

[thegooseberrypatch]

Age is Just a Number (Mostly)

As long as we are not talking about some people's definition of "relationships," I feel like age is mostly just a number. Life is rarely so simple as to allow for certain things to stop just because one is 20, 40, or 70. I'm here with several examples for those who have copious amounts, or maybe just a little bit, of trauma. Trauma hurts regardless.

I'm 40. I was raped when I was 12 by a 13 year old boy. I was a ministers daughter, he was the son of a cop and a football star. I didn't tell anyone. I buried the memory. I am one of the few cases of legitimate repressed memories. I didn't remember my rape until I was 20. I was at college, engaged in my first back door experience, and the pain triggered the entire rape scene and the months after the assault. My shrink had never met anyone that had true repressed memories (I'd been seeing him for well over a year.) 20 years after recovering the memories, I am still healing from the experience. I am rarely triggered by certain pains, scenes in movie and tv don't bother me anymore, flashbacks are rare/non-existent. My husband taught me dirty self-defense and made sure I KNEW I could protect myself; so even if I froze and survived another assault, I would know that I was capable and strong. There is everything to be said for SURVIVING. Surviving is not consent. I survived my rape by dissociating. There is nothing wrong with that.

I'm 40 and I have extreme medical trauma and White Coat Syndrome. November 2023, my doctor, whom had earned my trust and respect, laughed at me during an appointment. I was in the middle of an explanation and while I was drawing breath to finish, he burst out laughing and blamed it on impulse control issues. My husband was there, thankfully, as a witness to this. Before that, I had GBS and had no medical care from either my PCP or the Neurologist assigned. He said there was "Nothing wrong with me" after 3-4 weeks of being partially paralyzed from the waist down and unable to walk, hold my urine or bowels. He didn't say "I don't know," or "We'll figure it out," or anything else that wasn't ego driven. HE didn't know what was wrong with me and so I was the one making it up. He lied in his official report in my file and basically said I was anxious and blah, blah. My husband was also witness to this. I've had 20+ years of bad health care, ego driven and incompetent doctors, and conditions no ones bothered with. I need medication to see doctors, I avoid them like the plague, my husband has to attend appointments with me, I start having anxiety attacks 3-4 days before scheduled appointments. The only doctor I trust is my dentist; she is amazing. Snapping out of it, isn't an option because I have ongoing medical issues.

I'm 40 and I suffer from Agoraphobia. I no longer fight it. If I need to go out, somehow I will. But I mostly don't leave my property without my family and I am okay with that now. I used to fight it to the detriment of my mental and physical health.

I'm 40 and I still cut. It's a tool in my toolbox that I rarely use but when I need it, I use it and without guilt. My husband is aware and is supportive of responsible use of this tool.

I'm 40 and I am in the middle of my first eating disorder relapse since I recovered in my early 20's. I got pregnant and weighted 110lbs at 5'2. I was required to gain 10lbs as quickly as possible for her sake. I was also a very high risk pregnancy. The last 2 years, since I had GBS in the summer of 2022, have been extraordinarily difficult, culminating in the near ending of my 18 year marriage. I've been in counseling for years, because I like it, he's been in counseling for well over a year, we're going to do couples to work on communication because that's our main issue: he's autistic and I have ADHD. Our communication is apples and trucks. He's also got other issues, that I won't discuss, that he is committed to working on. We had 7 days where we didn't speak, see each other, nothing. I didn't leave my room, he stayed at work. It was hell. We both came out of it different and ready to fight like hell to keep everything we've built. But that week for me, it was something else. Something scary. I *believed* it was over. I wept for days, had chest pains, anger, rage. I went through the cycle of grief, alone. When we came out of our mutual places, we realized that it was the end of a shit marriage and the beginning of a new one. But now I am in the throws of ED relapse with no tools. I haven't dealt with it in therapy in many years, haven't needed to. I've had a few blips but never a full relapse. I'm trying not to feel stupid, etc. I didn't decide to relapse and my husband is very supportive of me getting it worked out. Before November of 2023 I would have called my doctor and told him what was happening; he's not a therapist but I trusted him, with every fiber of my being. At that time, I knew he would have bent over backwards to help me until I found a new shrink, etc. Now, he doesn't even know and the one person I could have counted on medically, isn't safe anymore. I miss him. I still grieve that *MEDICAL* relationship.

Your trauma isn't you. It's part of you and it doesn't have to rule you. But sometimes, it pops up and makes lots of noise and feeling it and letting it go is probably the best way to deal with it. You aren't alone. One day you'll be as okay as possible.

[cogitoergofun]

The physicians’ group behind Ohio’s newly passed reproductive rights amendment is urging a prosecutor to drop criminal charges against a woman who miscarried in the restroom at her home.

Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, a nonpartisan coalition of 4,000 doctors and others, argues in a letter to Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins that the abuse-of-corpse charge against Brittany Watts, 33, conflicts “with the spirit and letter” of Issue 1.

The measure, which was approved in November with 57% of the vote, guarantees an individual’s “right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.” It made Ohio the seventh-straight state to vote to protect reproductive rights since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that long legalized abortion nationally.

Watts’ case has touched off a national firestorm over the treatment of pregnant women, particularly those like Watts who are Black, in post-Roe America. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump elevated Watts’ plight in a post to X, formerly Twitter, and supporters have donated more than $135,000 through GoFundMe for her legal defense, medical bills and trauma counseling.

Watts miscarried at home Sept. 22, days after a doctor told her that her fetus had a heartbeat but was nonviable. She twice visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital in Warren and twice left before receiving care. Her attorney said she was left waiting for lengthy periods and felt anxious and judged.

[...]

Dr. Lauren Beene, executive director of the physicians’ group, wrote Watkins: “It was wrong for the nurse who was caring for Ms. Watts and hospital administrators to call the police, wrong for the police to invade Ms. Watts’ home while she was fighting for her life in the hospital, wrong for Warren assistant prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri to move that she be bound over to the Trumbull County grand jury, and wrong for Judge (Terry) Ivanchak to grant his motion. Prosecutor Watkins has the opportunity to be the first law enforcement official to do the right thing since this incident began.”

She called it “an opportunity he should seize immediately.”

Beene said Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights fears the case will deter other women from seeking miscarriage care. The organization also shared its letter, dated Dec. 15, with the Warren mayor, law director and city council members, in hopes of building support for dropping charges against Watts.

[moremindful-blog1]

You have just found out that you are becoming a mother. You may have dreamt of this moment your whole life and there is nothing you have wanted more. Everyone is happy and yet you feel anxious, your mind is racing, and you start to panic.

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Ironies of Life (Part 2) - Rooster

Pairing: Rooster/ Fem!OC (Naomi)

Word Count: 3.0k

Warnings: (Unplanned) Pregnancy; Exes; Emotional Angst; Named Female OC (Naomi), but No Physical Descriptions

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

Naomi is referenced as being a woman and she was previously an officer in the Navy. But otherwise there is no description of her physical features or her surname, so fill in as you wish.

Summary: Naomi and Rooster sit down together. Maverick and Penny offer some guidance.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Master List

Naomi stared at Rooster for a moment, waiting for him to actually react.

He managed to stumble over to the seat across from her, but now he seemed to be back to his staring blankly phase. His eyes were wide and occasionally flicked down to her bump. But otherwise, there was barely any indication that he was even breathing.

“Rooster?” Naomi called softly, trying to bring him back into the present. A few beats of silence passed before she added, “Bradley?”

But Rooster just kept staring at her and not saying anything, so Naomi wasn’t sure what to do. Letting out a breath to calm herself down, Naomi scooted forward a little bit more and rested her hands on the table to steady herself.

“I just want to tell you that I’m not expecting for you to commit to anything during this conversation,” she started off softly, managing her tone.

Naomi studied Rooster’s expression for a moment, but he remained frozen in place. She was half-tempted to snap her fingers in front of his eyes, but maybe it was better this way. She could say her part and all of the words that she practiced over and over again without interruption.

“I don’t expect you to want to get back together or to want to be involved in this baby’s life,” Naomi continued quietly. “You made it very clear that a kid doesn’t fit into your life plans and that’s fine. I don’t want to force you to be a parent. I’m not going to force you to be a parent.”

Naomi was starting to get just a little more anxious as Bradley continued to just stare at her.

“I just thought that after all of the time that we spent together . . . after everything that we went through . . . I thought that I owed you an explanation. Face-to-face. And that’s my only goal of this conversation: to just tell you about the baby.”

Naomi folded her arms protectively over her bump and took another deep breath to steady herself.

“If you want to talk about your role—whatever it is that you feel that you’re comfortable with, if it’s anything—I’m here to talk. We can seek mediation or go to counseling too if you feel that it’s necessary. Or if you want to just get up and leave and not look back . . .” Naomi let out another breath. “. . . that’s your choice and I won’t stop you.”

She flicked her eyes up to meet Rooster’s gaze once more and straightened up in her seat. He seemed to be coming around some more but there was still that blank look in his eyes. Reaching for her water, Naomi took a long sip before turning back to Rooster.

“Bradley? Can you hear me?”

“You’re pregnant?” Rooster croaked out a few moments later, his voice hoarse and strained.

“Yes, I’m pregnant,” Naomi confirmed, nodding slowly. “About six months along now.”

“You’re pregnant,” Rooster repeated dumbly.

“Yeah,” Naomi held out, starting to wonder if Rooster was having a stroke or something. “I’m pregnant.”

“How?” Rooster breathed out, earning a sudden sharp look from Naomi. “No, I know how, but how?”

“Do you remember when we went to my friend’s wedding? The one that we started to have that fight on the dance floor?” Rooster nodded slowly in confirmation so Naomi continued on with her story. “Well, remember how we took it outside because we didn’t want to cause a scene? And that fight that we had in the vineyard?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, remember what we did after that fight?”

“You’re on birth control,” Rooster stated, like it was the answer to all of his problems. As if Naomi wasn’t visibly pregnant right there in front of him. “I saw your pills. You took them every day. Every day. And you always told me if you missed one.”

“Yeah, but I had to switch them, remember? Because of the side effects. And the new pills weren’t as effective as the old ones.” Naomi fiddled with her fingers nervously and looked down. “I think that it slipped our minds in the moment. We weren’t exactly focused on anything else than . . .”

“But . . . but . . . but . . .”

Rooster held his head in his hands and seemed to be somewhere along the lines of a breakdown based on the way that he was rocking back and forth in his seat. Naomi sucked in a breath when her baby leaned just a little too heavily against her bladder. Trying to cross her legs, Naomi turned back to Rooster, who seemed to be in the middle of his own personal crisis.

“Do you want me to call someone for you?” Naomi asked softly, genuinely concerned for him.

“No, I—Jesus fucking Christ, Naomi,” Rooster cursed, holding his head in his hands again. “What the—when did you find out?”

“About a month after we broke up.”

“You mean after you broke up with me?” Rooster muttered, though he didn’t dare meet her gaze.

“Yes,” Naomi replied calmly, expecting the response.

“Fucking hell,” Rooster cursed again, rubbing his face aggressively.

“I’ll give you a moment,” Naomi offered, reaching for her purse as she stood up.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Rooster interjected, standing up quickly and nearly knocking over the table in the process. “You’re just going to leave after dropping that bomb on me?”

“No, I . . .” Naomi glanced around the patio before leaning in a little closer and dropping her voice, “. . . I just need to use the bathroom. The baby is sitting on my bladder.”

“Oh,” Rooster breathed out, glancing down at her bump.

“Here,” Naomi replied after a moment, holding out her keys. “I’m not leaving. Just going to the bathroom. I’m coming back. Okay?”

“Okay,” Rooster breathed out, staring at her keys.

Naomi shot him a small smile before heading inside the café. Rooster sunk back into his seat and placed Naomi’s keys on the table in front of him. Staring down at them and thinking over the mess that he called his life, Rooster whipped out his phone. Calling Phoenix, Rooster pinched the bridge of his nose as he waited for the call to connect.

“How’s it going?” Phoenix asked as she picked up the call.

“What the fuck, Nat?” Rooster demanded, unable to hide his aggravation.

“Look, you two needed to talk. And no one else needed to get involved. Are you finished up already?”

“We barely started,” Rooster insisted, glancing inside the café for any sign of Naomi. “How in the . . . what the fuck, Nat?”

“I know.”

“She’s pregnant.”

“I know.”

“With my baby.”

“I know,” Phoenix agreed softly. “I noticed.”

“What the fuck am I going to do?” Rooster groaned, dropping his face into his hand. “What the . . . I . . . this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“I would suggest talking to someone with a little parental experience,” Phoenix stated honestly, not wanting to give her opinion on the subject.

Hell, Phoenix did not want to wade into this debacle. Rooster was her best friend and she got along well with Naomi when Rooster and Naomi were dating. No one did anything wrong and they both had their reasons for their stances in the situation. But that didn’t make a solution easy to find. Especially not on the timeline that they were working with.

“Try Maverick. Or Penny. Or maybe a therapist.”

“Fuck,” Rooster cursed, picking his head up. “Is Mav at the beach?”

“Yeah.”

“Does he know?”

“Yeah, Blabber Mouth One and Two sort of spilled the beans,” Phoenix explained, sounding annoyed on Rooster’s behalf.

“What was his reaction?”

“He just stood there for a bit,” Phoenix answered honestly.

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Rooster returned before he spotted Naomi walking towards him again. “I have to go.”

“Good luck.”

Rooster hung up the phone and set it back down as Naomi stepped outside. She shot Rooster a small, nervous smile before retaking her seat. Placing her purse on the back of her chair, Naomi turned back to Rooster and straightened up a bit.

“So . . . how are you feeling about . . . everything?” Naomi asked quietly, resting her hands on her bump.

“I’m . . .” Rooster began, but he didn’t finish his sentence.

“I understand,” Naomi replied, nervously rubbing her bump with her fingers. “Take the time that you need. I’m in San Diego for a couple more days, so if you reach your decision or just want to talk about options, just call me and we can meet up to talk.”

“You don’t want to talk about it right now?” Rooster asked, frowning slightly.

“I wanted to give you some time and space to think it over,” Naomi corrected him quietly. “But if you want to talk about it, we can talk about it.”

Rooster nodded slowly, staring down at his hands for a moment.

When he woke up this morning, he did not think that he would get this bomb dropped on him. When he got all of those calls and messages from Naomi, he assumed that she just wanted to get back together or something stupid. Not something like a baby.

A baby. His baby. Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell was he going to do?

~~~~~

Rooster put Naomi’s rental car into park and took a moment to compose himself. After a relatively short conversation, Rooster invited Naomi to come down to the beach with him. Even though their relationship was rocky at the moment, he didn’t hate Naomi anywhere near enough to send her alone back to a hotel room for a few days.

“If anyone says anything . . .” he told her, but Naomi sent him a small smile in return.

“I’m a big girl,” Naomi assured Rooster, grabbing her purse. “I can handle it.”

They slowly got out of the car and headed down to the beach together. Rooster tried to simply focus on the step that was right in front of him. And even though he reflexively reached for Naomi when she started to walk down the stairs to the beach, he ironed his arm to his side when he spotted the Daggers staring them down.

If Naomi was nervous about meeting the Daggers, she didn’t show it as she walked slowly and steadily along the warm sand of Coronado Beach. When they reached the edge of the Daggers, Rooster carefully avoided Maverick’s gaze, which could probably be translated to something along the lines of ‘we will be talking about this later, young man,’ and gestured to Naomi.

“Everyone, this is Naomi. Naomi, this is everyone,” Rooster introduced lamely.

“Hello everyone,” Naomi stated kindly, giving them a small wave.

“Now wait. There’s something different about you, Naomi,” Hangman drawled, rubbing his chin in fake thought. “Did you change your hair?”

“No, I just got fat,” Naomi replied, nodding along sarcastically. “But you haven’t changed a bit, Seresin. Still compensating for . . . everything?”

The round of chuckles that went around the Dagger Squad seemed to lighten the mood just a bit and suck some of the tension out of the air. Rooster still seemed out of it, but Naomi quickly adapted to the situation. After all, she had months of practice with ignoring the curious stares and questions about her bump. Rooster, on the other hand, was still processing everything.

Eventually, the Daggers ran off to play another round of football and Naomi found herself sitting down with Penny up at the Hard Deck. Naomi rested her hands on her bump as her baby continued to shift around and simply watched the game.

“How far along are you?” Penny asked, causing Naomi to turn to her.

“About six months,” Naomi replied, offering Penny a small smile.

“Yeah, that’s when it all really starts to set in,” Penny stated, recalling her own experience.

“You have kids?” Naomi questioned curiously.

“A daughter. She’s fourteen. Amelia.”

“Like Amelia Earhart?” Naomi inquired, looking a little amused.

“Sort of,” Penny stated, causing Naomi to chuckle. Penny glanced down at Naomi’s bump before leaning back in her own seat. “Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?” 

“No,” Naomi spoke softly. “I wanted to wait.”

“For him?” Penny guessed knowingly, gesturing towards Rooster with her head.

“Mostly, yeah,” Naomi agreed, nodding along. She rubbed her bump again, taking a deep breath. “I sort of had this . . . fantasy in my head about . . .”

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Penny assured Naomi, leaning forward a bit. “I was the same way with my daughter’s father.” Penny took a sip of her drink before turning back to Naomi. “It’s hard to give up on it. The fantasy.”

“It is,” Naomi stated quietly, biting her bottom lip. “Really hard.” She turned back to the dogfight football game and let out a breath. “But I’m not going to force someone to be a parent who doesn’t want to be a parent. I think that would be worse for everyone in the long run. And I made my choice. So, Bradley should get his choice too.”

“He didn’t want to settle down?” Penny asked, honestly sounding shocked.

“No. He didn’t want to get married. He didn’t want to have kids,” Naomi listed off, her voice growing smaller with each word. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. But . . . I wanted something different. For me . . . for us.” Naomi turned back to Penny with a curious look. “Why? Did he say something about it? Or about our relationship?”

“Not to me,” Penny replied honestly. “But Maverick always seemed to think that Rooster was going to settle down one day.” Penny glanced down at the beach and folded her arms underneath her. “He was always worried that he would miss something. A wedding. A baby. Moments like that. The ones that you can never get back.”

“I guess people change,” Naomi responded quietly, wrapping her arms protectively around her bump.

~~~~~

As the dogfight football game started to wind down, Maverick glanced over at the Hard Deck. Naomi and Penny were still sitting out on the back porch, chatting and seemingly at ease with each other. He knew that Penny, out of everyone else on the beach, probably understood Naomi’s current headspace the best.

And now, he needed to figure out where Bradley was headed with this situation.

Maverick could have just pictured Goose and Carole’s reaction to it all. Carole would have absolutely dragged Rooster by the ear, berating him for ignoring Naomi, and warning him that he had to make it right or else she would kick his ass on Naomi’s behalf. Goose would have taken a softer approach than his wife, but Maverick knew that Goose wouldn’t just let Rooster walk away.

Goose didn’t run away when he accidentally knocked up Carole. He married her, bought her a house, and stepped up for both Carole and Bradley. And he would have expected for his son to do the same in this situation. Or, at the very least, to not run away from it.

So, when everyone else started shuffling up the sand towards the Hard Deck to grab some drinks and food, Maverick gently grabbed Rooster on his shoulder. Bradley turned to face him and Maverick silently nodded down the beach. And without a protest, and a bit of a blank puppy dog look, Rooster headed down the beach.

Maverick led the way, giving Bradley some space, and making sure that no one else was within earshot. Bradley kept staring down at the sand, letting the warm waves lick at his toes as he barely blinked. It was like his brain completely short-circuited and he wasn’t able to do much else other than walk. With one last glance back at the Hard Deck, Maverick turned to Rooster.

“Are you okay?” Maverick started off softly, genuinely concerned for Bradley.

“I don’t know,” Rooster replied honestly. “I . . . I feel like I haven’t had an actual cohesive thought since I found out, Mav.”

“It’s a lot to take in all at once,” Maverick agreed, nodding along. “What did she tell you?”

“She’s six months along. She doesn’t know the gender. The baby is healthy and so is she. And she told me that I can be as involved as I want and that she wanted me to think about it before making any kind of big decision about it.”

“Well, I agree with that last part.” Maverick slowly stopped walking and turned to Rooster, who paused in his step as well. “Whatever decision you make with this situation, Bradley, you need to be confident with it. You need to be comfortable with it. Because it’s not easy to go back on whatever decision you choose once you’ve made it.”

“I know,” Rooster responded quietly, glancing over at the Hard Deck. “And that terrifies me.”

Maverick nodded along, studying Rooster’s expression carefully. He turned back to the Hard Deck, watching as Naomi talked with Phoenix and Bob at one of the tables. Maverick returned his gaze to Rooster, who was still staring over at Naomi. Quietly sighing to himself, Maverick glanced up at the sky for a moment, asking for some guidance from Carole and Goose.

“Which way are you leaning with it?” Maverick asked softly.

Rooster continued to stare blankly over at Naomi and for a moment Maverick thought that Bradley was simply tuning him out. But when Rooster turned to face him, Maverick could see the answer written all over Rooster’s face. But there were still those seeds of doubt, of fear, there as well.

He was lost. Rooster was completely lost.

But he didn’t have time to be lost. Not as much as he probably would have ever liked or needed.

That little baby was going to be born in a few months regardless of any choice that Rooster made.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Tag List:

@gxlden-honey @caidi-paris @xoxabs88xox @badasspizzalover

[jeanbie]

Can you do headcannons for Levi x reader where he finds out his s/o is pregnant and how he is finding out, and during the pregnancy and birth? Thank you!

EXPECTING FATHER! LEVI ★ masterlist.

warnings: season 4 spoilers, read at your own risk

⏤ help i'm weak.....need dad levi pls.....

i think levi’s reactions to pregnancy would be super different depending on which timeframe we’re in

if it’s pre season 4, i can imagine levi being really anxious about the pregnancy due to the nature of his work (and if his partner is also a soldier, then everything becomes more complicated and scary) ((this au is pre season 4, because i feel like post season 4, he'll just be like any other relieved expecting father))

levi tries his best at work but there’s never a guarantee that he will make it back alive

and pregnancy is scary too, he’s worried that things might go wrong during the birth, and he’s not exactly in the best position to raise a child alone

he doesn’t want his future kids to have an upbringing the same way he did, without parents who can put in 100%

he misses his mom a lot and wished that he had a dad, so it’s important to him that his kid has a good childhood and grows up knowing that they’re loved

because levi would never even be unsafe during sex with someone he didn’t love truly, he’s comfortable going forward with the pregnancy with his partner and just doing his best with extreme caution and preparation

his reaction is pretty neutral, although inside there’s a lot going on, but voicing any of it wouldn’t be helpful for his partner, who is probably just as freaked out, as i can’t imagine either levi or the partner being toooo happy about the pregnancy since the timing is awful

but still, they will try because it happened, and they love each other

(also i doubt that abortion is safe in this period of time, and even if it was common and unsafe, i can’t see either of them wanting to take the risk of death?)

if his partner is a soldier, then it doesn’t matter who they were or what rank they had, they would absolutely be withdrawn from their duties beyond the wall

he might somehow get it cleared that they’re allowed to do in-wall duties like office work or overseeing recruits, doing the admin or counselling work, just keeping it down to earth with the recruits and lower ranks, but doing field work is pretty much forbidden for his partner

levi will pour himself into his office work for a while as a distraction, and he realises he can’t be too reckless beyond the wall, no matter how good he knows he can be

i’ve never thought that levi, outside of the field, is an unkind person, and actually he’s very gentle just with difficulties voicing his feelings due to never being told it was an ok thing to do as a child

that being said, he’s very attentive to his partner and will do anything if it means enabling them a smooth pregnancy experience

there’s no doctors that can do like scans or anything, so he always feels nervous that something might be wrong that they don’t know about

and now that dr yeager is gone and the military doctors aren’t exactly prepared or well versed on childbirth, everything just feels scary

i can see him going to experienced soldiers who have families and asking for advice, and for once is very appreciative of hange’s intrusiveness as they are always a second helping hand should his partner need anything that he can’t easily give

the scouts are a family and they all understand the fragileness of this pregnancy, so they know to be careful and kind and thoughtful, and generally they are

but i can see levi bringing his emotions home sometimes and that can be bad for the pregnancy, so he’s not a perfect partner 100% of the time

he can close off when his partner needs him because he’s so stressed and overwhelmed, but doesn’t want to negatively impact his relationship (but in closing off, he does this to himself)

but in general, i can’t see levi being unloving or unkind, and actually even the other soldiers have said that this pregnancy has made levi a tad bit kinder to the other soldiers

not that he’s ever mean, because he’s just direct which can sometimes be read as mean, but now he’s a lot more careful with what he says and he’s always inquisitive where it can get him help and info

when his partner goes into labour, he’s lucky that it’s early hours of a random week and not a week where they’re beyond the wall doing field work

he had thought a lot about labour and for a while didn’t know if he wanted to be in the room

what if his son or daughter comes out and doesn’t make it? what if his partner doesn’t make it? what if they BOTH don’t make it?

erwin told him to think about what if they both made it and he missed everything, and eventually he decided to be present in the room

he also asked for erwin to be there, which is partner didn’t seem to mind, because if things did go sour, he’d need that brother figure or else he’d die too

as expected though, everything goes fine

he’s very surprised by the amount of blood and fluids and just how intense everything is

he already respected his partner but watching them give birth just kind of transcends his respect for them

i can see him being the father who doesn’t want to leave the room ever

he always wants to be near his partner and baby, wants to hold them, wants to watch them sleep and eat and wriggle around

he definitely won’t feel comfortable with his partner returning to field work after delivery, so if they were a soldier, then they’re unfortunately being retired exclusively to the HQ to do admin work

when all of this is over, he wants to retire and live in a little cottage with trees and flowers 

(unfortunately there will be bumps in the road to get there, but even in his wheelchair and aged bones, he can still have his cottage with his child, partner and adopted murder warriors)

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

may 28, 2021 2:00 p.m. newcrest counseling center

(tw for suicide mention)

[grant] do you mind if i rant? because, um, my fiancee cheated on me. i'm definitely going to rant.

[margot] go ahead!

[grant] she cheated and then i broke up with her. i had to. i could barely find the strength to do it but i had to. i can’t stay with someone i don’t trust.

[grant] and i–um, it’s really messing with me. i don’t know if i have ever been so angry in my entire life. like i do not get angry. i don’t. it takes a lot for me to feel that way. the last time i was this mad, it was...no, i'm not going there. but i am furious right now. also really depressed and anxious and afraid of her but that’s kind of fading by now and all i feel is that rage just, like, simmering inside.

[grant] and that’s not even it! i don’t know why she did it. she didn’t explain it to me. maybe it’s not necessary, like i guess she doesn’t owe me that, but why? why cheat on me? it’d be nice to have an explanation! i thought…

[grant] i really thought things were okay with us. she seemed happy. at least i thought she was. she told me she was. i was definitely happy. i mean, we bought a house together, we had all these plans for the future with the house and our wedding, and...it’s just...it’s over.

[grant] i mean it. i thought things were okay, nothing gave me mixed signals...but then she comes to me two weeks ago and tells me she cheated on me with her best friend–who, by the way, i met for the first time in march. her friends came to visit from finland and she was telling me how excited she was for me to meet them and that they wanted to meet this guy she was so in love with. and then she FUCKED one of them behind my back and apparently got pregnant. i had dinner with this guy and we were nice to each other! how are you going to sit at a table with me and then fuck my fiancee? and then she waited months to tell me about this, like waited until she couldn’t hide it anymore. i feel for her, i do, but i don’t know, honesty would be nice!

[grant] and there’s more. there’s all the stupid conversations we’ve had since then. there’s all the thoughts i have. i can’t stop thinking about this, like it’s infesting me. i've totally temporarily ruined my life over it. i relapsed, was binge drinking and stealing benadryl from her to either sleep or overdose and i was, i think, feeling suicidal again. i've had regular PTSD flashbacks to my childhood. i've isolated myself and mostly stopped talking to my family and friends since i saw them last week. and then the stress has made my chronic illness so much worse. even though i stopped a lot of this, i still feel like reset all the progress i've ever made with myself over this one thing.

[grant] but how could i not, like, self-destruct over this? the person i wanted to marry…

[grant] i love her with every fiber of my being and trusted her with my entire heart and i wanted to be her husband more than anything...

[grant] but she betrayed me, hated me when i got upset with her, and basically gaslit me. though she’s never been like that. sometimes she’s a little mean but she’s never...no, she’s never treated me that way. not really.

[grant] and i don’t know what i did. i must have done something for her to betray me. i keep trying to figure it out. either last year was too much or i was doing something wrong or not a good enough partner...or...

[grant] i don’t understand. i don’t know what i did wrong.

[xherecomesthesun]

two years.

I have always wanted to be loved like this, but perhaps never quite believed I would. To be loved gently, patiently, graciously, unconditionally; to be consciously chosen every day of my life; to know that I have a safe space to be human, to be imperfect, and to figure myself out through every change. To have laughter in most of the days (I always say 9 out of 10). And to be anchored in Christ, as our cornerstone in everything - in every conflict, in every purpose of our household, in every surrendering of our fears, in every celebration.

Thank you Jesus.

the second year had been quieter than the first. where the first had been seeing how we can be used for others, the second had been mostly introspective - settling down into status quo while making space for new things. as I write this in the same room I was prepared to be a bride, I am simultaneously being prepared to be a mother. I have in my womb a bubbling child that had been amusing us so - we had imagined many scenarios in our heads of what he might be doing inside, while also sharing with him every thing we hope he will join us in doing.

we had served in church together for the first time, seeing how differently God had discipled us for the same mission, and seeing how these two ways complement each other well. we are excited to see how this will carry forward into our third year after being approached to guide someone very special - we had been individually blessed with wise counsel from many godly adults in our lives, so to be entrusted to carry this responsibility forward in our generation is both precious and an honour. it is also exciting to think how God continues to carry us through His mission for us; Zhong Hao had said as he proposed "and thus this is why we shall say - God is our rock in this relationship; our house, we shall serve the Lord." Yes, this house will continue to serve the Lord in any way He calls, amen.

and then there are the normal days in between. I have a husband who delights in caring for me, who cooks or buys most of the delicious meals I eat, who would patiently rub away my pains (pregnant or not), who would graciously take in my tantrums or anxious outbursts before cuddling me and assuring me that everything will turn out okay. all these things are big things in the small moments that make up the every day; that teaches me what consistency looks like, what relentless love looks like, what safe space looks like. these normal days are my favourite days and sets me up with courage and confidence for whatever the future might hold.

Lim Zhong Hao, you remain to be the miracle I can never understand. I love you immensely.