#life post ectopic

[the-hufflepuff-bitch]

July 14, 2023

I have a grain of rice in my uterus!

I had the ultrasound this morning, 6 weeks due to prior ectopic. The technician let me watch the screen, so I got to see that this pregnancy is implanted in my uterus!

Waiting on the official confirmation from my doctor's office before we tell people. Plus I want to do a cute announcement for our families (since they all have big mouths and will tell their siblings before we post on social media).

[extasiswings]

Like…the post-Dobbs horror stories about women bleeding out in hospital parking lots because they couldn’t get miscarriage treatment or getting sepsis because their care was delayed for so long etc etc are happening on an even broader scale now because there are statewide abortion bans that apply to every healthcare facility in the state and medical professionals are struggling to figure out how to provide healthcare and comply with the law, but I want to be clear that these things have been happening at Catholic hospitals for decades (see also, refusing to treat ectopic pregnancies). The ACLU has sued various Catholic hospitals on multiple occasions for refusals to provide appropriate healthcare. The Attorney General of California just recently (September 2024) sued a Catholic hospital over the following:

A 36-year-old woman was pregnant with twins when “her water broke at 15 weeks—far too early for the fetuses to survive—leaving her in excruciating pain and at high risk of developing a severe infection if treatment was delayed. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the standard of care in such cases is to remove the fetuses in a procedure akin to an emergency abortion. One of the twins had already died. But medical staff at the Catholic hospital allegedly told [her] that because the other twin still had a detectable heartbeat, Catholic ethical rules prevented them from ending the pregnancy until [her] life was in danger.” (Link)

Sound familiar? This was California, a blue state with strong protections for reproductive rights, but happened nonetheless because it was a Catholic hospital. Thankfully, this woman was able to have her husband drive her to another hospital for care, but as the AG’s office has acknowledged, the Catholic hospital that would not treat her (or others like her that had been turned away previously) will soon be the only hospital with a labor & delivery department within hours of the area. This cannot be allowed to continue.

[heian-era-housewife]

Going North

This is not a fic. But it is a story. My story. Or at least, part of it.

When I started this blog I wanted to maintain as much anonymity as possible. Six months in and here I find myself publicly journaling my most guarded secrets. Funny how things change.

Warnings: ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Please proceed with caution. I have done my best to put the appropriate tw/cw tags in place, but be aware this post mentions nonconsensual sex, SA, suicide, mental health, mental illness, grief, and loss.

I'm writing to you from the depths of a very severe depressive episode and hoping that, in doing so, I may start to find my way out.

So...where do I begin?

For those who don't know I am, regrettably, American. This election has affected me more profoundly than I could ever have imagined.

I recently discovered that my entire family, including my parents- who have always been my best friends, voted for the man who represents everything I reject. Everything I despise.

This comes during a time I find myself exploring and redefining my gender identity. During a time where the healthcare system has repeatedly failed me in treatment and diagnosis of a reproductive condition. During a time when I am learning that ectopic pregnancy is a potentially fatal reality for me. While living in a state where abortion and life-saving reproductive care have been made illegal.

I was 13 the first time I was raped. With 8 months of continuous and repeated rape and sexual assault to follow. The only person I told was my family doctor. A Christian. Who told me sexual activity was an act against God. I never spoke of it again.

Not until I was 18 and had my first "real boyfriend". In explaining why I wanted to wait to be intimate, I told him my story, unaware he would weaponize it. Once again I found myself an unwilling participant in an act called "love". Only this time it was years, not months. The day I escaped I was punched in the face and thrown down the stairs. I still have a scar on my leg from fleeing my boyfriend assailant.

I ran to the safest person I knew. A friend from high school. A kind and gentle person. Someone who, in time, would show me that love and intimacy can exist in a non-toxic capacity. And though our eventual relationship would come to end in mutual respect as he came to explore his own sexuality and gender identity, I still credit him with playing a role in saving me.

Unfortunately, I was unable to return the favor when, just two months ago, he took his own life on the eve of his 30th birthday. I can't say for certain why he chose to end his journey, but I can only imagine that his race as a POC and sexuality were attributing factors as we stare down a future of continued systemic hate and bigotry.

In some ways, I still consider myself lucky. I never became pregnant. I never lost hope in finding love. I am married to a wonderful man who supports my every endeavor. His kindness is unrivaled, and his empathy knows no bounds. He meets me in my darkest places. He reminds me why I must continue to fight- to live. Even on the days I no longer want to...

And now, with the recent election, and the terrifying days ahead, I can't help but feel sometimes that it really is me and him against the world.

My family has chosen to stand behind a man who promised to lower the price of eggs, while creating a country wherein my life and those of countless other are at risk. Where it seems our validity as human beings is in question.

I am not even sure how I am supposed to continue a normal job, when every waking moment I am revisited by the traumas of my past with people shouting "Your body, my choice". Or fearing that another friend may take their life in the wake of the hatred that is blooming here.

I miss my parents. I used to call them every day. Now I am unsure how to even speak with them.

I am unsure of a lot of things.

In large part thanks to friends I have made here, I have begun the process of seeking further psychological support and evaluation.

Moving forward, I also plan to put more time and energy into my art. I am currently seeking ways to support myself financially in a work-from-home capacity as my deteriorating mental health is making working a regular job nearly impossible at the moment.

I'd like to remain active on this blog and continue building friendships over the love of JJK- something that, as silly as it is, brings me so much joy.

I hope that, if you've read this far, you'll continue this journey with me. And if you have read this far, thank you so much for being part of my life, sharing in my memories, my grief, my struggles. Thank you for listening to this story. Hopefully the next few I post will be more cheerful, and fictional, of course.

Thank you also to my international friends who have shown so much incredible love and support. You have no idea how much it means to be extended a friendly hand in a time where the world is justifiably furious with and untrusting of Americans.

I want to fight for a brighter future. I want to see what happens if we don't give up. I am determined to find peace and to one day look back on this post and be glad I chose to go North.

With love and gratitude,

Yuri 🩷

[batboyblog]

A 25-year-old Texas woman was put in grave danger when doctors refused to treat her ectopic pregnancy, a harrowing example of the life-and-death stakes in the post-Roe world. Kelsi Norris-De La Cruz was excited to carry her first child, but learned that she likely had an ectopic pregnancy, meaning her pregnancy was inviable and she could be at risk of death if her fallopian tube ruptured. Norris-De La Cruz needed emergency surgery to terminate the ectopic pregnancy, which is protected under Texas’ near-total abortion ban, but she says multiple physicians at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital refused to treat her, telling her the pregnancy could be viable and sending her home to wait. One of them wouldn’t answer when the young woman’s mother directly asked him if this had to do with the state’s restrictive abortion law. Norris-De La Cruz was ultimately treated by another doctor—after the pregnancy had already started to rupture—who was shocked that she had been turned away the first time. A spokesperson for Texas Health said: “Treatment decisions are individualized based on a patient’s clinical condition and we believe the care provided to the patient in this case was appropriate.”

This is the future Republicans want for everyone in America, if they win in November they will enact a national abortion ban and scare the shit out of doctors all across the country leading to thousands of cases just like this every year. The Biden Administration has taken a number steps to try to protect access including issuing guidelines requiring hospitals to preform emergency abortions no regardless of state laws but if Trump is reelected those guidelines will go away day one and situations like this will get much more common as doctors will be stripped of federal legal protection in emergency situations and become more fearful of state laws.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Most of the time, I enjoy making political predictions. This one, however, makes my stomach turn: Conservatives want to do away with ‘exceptions’ for women’s lives. In fact, they’ve been laying the groundwork to eradicate the exception since Roe was overturned—though I didn’t fully piece together the move until recently, when I saw a leading anti-abortion activist refer to life-saving abortions as ‘elective.’

The short version is that they’ve been strategically redefining ‘abortion’ across law, culture and medicine, while pushing the false claim that abortion is never necessary to save a person’s life. The end game is legislation that bans abortion in all cases, mandating that doctors only end life-threatening pregnancies using c-sections or induced vaginal birth, no matter the risk to the pregnant person.  I’ll explain in detail, but please know that like most anti-abortion strategies, this one is being rolled out quietly and incrementally. In the same way that Republicans won’t pass an outright ban on contraception—instead chipping away at access until birth control is impossible to get—the plan is to methodically eradicate the exception right under our noses.  Because the idea of eliminating life-saving abortions is so radical—who would suggest such a thing?—there’s a real risk that Americans won’t notice until it’s too late. The unthinkable-ness of their extremism is protecting them. 

Redefining ‘abortion’

Abortion is a medical intervention to end a pregnancy, for any reason. But since Roe was overturned, conservatives have been trying to redefine abortion as an intention. For instance, they claim that treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies aren’t really abortions—even if the medication or procedure is identical—because these pregnancies are presumably wanted. In addition to dividing women into those who ‘deserve’ care and those who don’t, the goal is to divorce abortion from healthcare. Even though this definition has no basis in medicine or reality, Republicans have embedded it in state laws and policies anyway—often after being lobbied by anti-abortion groups.

Replacing ‘abortion’

Republicans aren’t just redefining abortion, they’re replacing it with the made-up medical term ‘maternal fetal separation.’ [...]

Claiming abortion is never medically necessary

The effort to redefine and replace “abortion” in legislation has always been about laying the groundwork for one central—and false—argument: that abortion is never medically necessary. After all, if abortion is just the intentional ending of a pregnancy, and if women with life-threatening pregnancies can just be treated with ‘maternal fetal separations,’ then all abortions can be labeled elective. That’s the goal.

Sometimes, they say this outright. This summer, for example, I reported on a paper published by anti-abortion activists Ingrid Skop and James Studnicki. They argued that “there is no disease, illness or condition for which an induced abortion has been determined to be a standard of care” and claimed there is “no justification” for health- or life-saving abortions. Instead, they suggested women can simply be given ‘separation’ procedures—in other words, c-sections. Just a few weeks ago, well-known anti-abortion activist Dr. John Bruchalski echoed that sentiment, calling life-saving abortions ‘elective.’ He said, “There are no advantages for a mother to end her pregnancy by an elective abortion, even in the most life-threatening circumstances.’” Again, the idea is that a standard abortion procedure isn’t necessary because women can be induced or forced into surgery.

This isn’t a fringe belief of random activists. Some of the country’s most prominent anti-abortion groups are on board. When the first post-Dobbs deaths were reported, for example, I noticed that major anti-abortion leaders responded by saying abortion bans allowed for life-saving care—but wouldn’t say the law allowed for life-saving abortions. Instead, they said bans allow doctors to “treat” patients or “intervene” to save lives, carefully sidestepping the word ‘abortion.’

That’s deliberate—and not just because they don’t believe abortion is medically necessary. The nation’s leading anti-abortion organizations will never say doctors can legally provide life-saving abortions because their ultimate goal is to eliminate that exception entirely. If you’re skeptical, consider this: It wasn’t so long ago that Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA-PLA) lobbied against an exception for women’s lives in Tennessee. When the state first passed its trigger ban, there was no exception for life-threatening pregnancies—just an affirmative defense mandate. That meant doctors had to break the law to provide a life-saving abortion and then defend it after the fact.

[...]

How they’ll do it

You won’t see states passing laws explicitly banning life-saving abortions anytime soon. Republicans are too strategic for that. Instead, they’ll use the same incremental approach they’ve employed elsewhere—chipping away bit by bit. Most egregiously, I feel certain they’ll exploit women’s suffering and deaths to do it. In fact, that tactic has already started: You might remember how anti-abortion legislators first started codifying their false definition of abortion after stories emerged of women being denied care. They claimed they were simply “clarifying” bans to address any confusion and ensure doctors knew they could treat women with ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, or life-threatening conditions. Republicans framed these legislative tweaks as protections for women.

But let’s be clear: these people have no interest in protecting women. Their “clarifications” are a cover for the real end goal. In the coming months, I expect we’ll see even more language about ‘maternal-fetal separation’ and legislative changes framed as efforts to ‘clarify’ abortion bans—especially as more stories of women dying come to light. I suspect they might even use a specific woman’s death as justification for tweaking a state ban. At the same time, anti-abortion organizations will continue to normalize treating life-threatening pregnancies with c-sections and vaginal labor rather than traditional abortion procedures. Groups like the Charlotte Lozier Institute already explicitly recommend that emergency abortions “be done by labor induction or c-section,” falsely calling it “medically standard.” (It most certainly is not.)1

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in anti-abortion states will offer “guidance” to doctors about how to legally treat women with life-threatening pregnancies, stressing ‘separation’ procedures. All of these same groups and legislators will also spread propaganda claiming that abortion procedures like D&Cs or abortion medications are far more dangerous than c-sections or vaginal labor. Eventually, we’ll see a test case: a state where legislators pass a total abortion ban without exceptions. Because, they’ll say, abortion isn’t medically necessary anyway. As I noted earlier, when that case reaches the courts, conservative legal groups will point to years of legislation from multiple states as evidence that it’s “widely accepted” that abortion is simply an intention. And while it’s true that this strategy is a slow and quiet one, it’s important to know that it’s already unfolding. Reports show that doctors are increasingly performing c-sections on women—even when it’s too early for a fetus to survive—out of fear of breaking the law.

The conservative anti-abortion movement’s end goal is to eventually end abortion ban exceptions and deceitfully redefine the meaning of abortions.

[rapeculturerealities]

Texas hospital refused to treat woman’s life-threatening ectopic pregnancy - The Washington Post

https://archive.is/2024.02.23-173510/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/23/texas-woman-ectopic-pregnancy-abortion/

Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz tried not to cry as the doctor in the emergency room delivered one of the most frightening diagnoses a pregnant woman can receive.

The 25-year-old college senior was told she likely had an ectopic pregnancy, a highly dangerous condition where the embryo implants outside of the uterus. Without immediate treatment, the fallopian tube can rupture — and the patient can die.

The law that has prohibited abortions in Texas since Roe v. Wade was overturned now explicitly allows doctors to treat ectopic pregnancies. But when doctors at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital evaluated Norris-De La Cruz last week, they refused to terminate the pregnancy, saying there was some chance the pregnancy was still viable, Norris-De La Cruz recalled. Instead, they advised her and her mother to go home and wait, according to medical records reviewed by The Washington Post.

Norris-De La Cruz ultimately received emergency surgery about 24 hours later at a different hospital in the area, at which point her ectopic pregnancy had already started to rupture. The OB/GYN who performed the procedure said that, if Norris-De La Cruz had waited much longer, she would have been “in extreme danger of losing her life.”

[lupa-von-wolf]

I very rarely make serious posts on here, but this is a very serious one, and I need it to be shared as quickly as possible.

Friday, June 28th, the US Supreme Court overturned Chevron. What this means is that the Supreme Court will now have ANY and ALL power over any decision that has any generalizations that has come through congress. Previously this has been delegated to federal agencies that specialize in these generalizations, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Occupational Heath and Savety Administration (OSHA), the Federal Avian Administration (FAA), just to name a few.

Previously, the levels of harmful objects found in food, such as rat droppings or pesticides, were monitored and maintained by the FDA, going forward it will be up to the Supreme Court to decide what these levels will be.

And this is only exacerbated by the fact that the Supreme Court has also made it legal to bribe them into deciding in your favor (as long as the "tip" comes after the decision). They've made it legal to be bought by corporations so they can turn a blind eye to the safety hazards that they'll be allowing.

The vote for overturning Chevron AND the "tipping" decision were both 6-3, with all 6 conservative justices voting in tandem, 3 of which were appointed by Trump during his presidency.

This election is more important than just "I'm going to show how I feel about the state of things by not voting." Rights and safeties are deteriorating before our very eyes.

Trans people are going to be forcefully detransitioned, and in the state of Florida, the state officials can rip apart families if *anyone* in the house is trans. Being trans in the state of Florida, if there are children present, is considered a sex crime, which can be punishable by execution. Trump has already stated that he wants to eliminate term limits if he wins again, and make it so he can't be removed from office. He wants to force the country into a theocracy and is complete against abortions, no matter what, including loss of life, ectopic pregnancies, or impregnation by rape or incest.

Refusing to vote, or choosing to vote for Kennedy is choosing to vote for genocide. It's choosing to vote for Trump, because we all know each and every one of his cultists is showing up. It's choosing to vote for the death and annihilation of your friends, your family, and America.

Yes, Biden is fucking terrible. But he's not Trump.

[a-d-nox]

web of wyrd: the outer numbers and the types of death / near death experiences you may have that year

tw: drugs/alcohol, murder, suicide, war, and other incidents where death may occur.

the outer rim of the wyrd web foretells the themes of our year ahead. today i will be covering some types of deaths that may occur around you or to you! i know that's scary (feel free to scroll), but i was asked in my discord about death markers in the outer rim. 13 isn't what we are looking for when it comes to death; i can make an argument for every single number/card and what type of death may occur. i would like to also say that i believe death is possible any given day. to predict death and believe you know exactly when you will die is flawed thinking because nothing is certain - no one can 100% know when and where. this is hypothetical - that being said, these are basic premises; in no way does one number mean a single thing. each number can mean different things - multiple things. your lack of a number correlated with an experience below does not mean to minimize your experience with the topics; these are simply my observations (observations are not destined/fated to be true, they are simply possibilities / increased odds).

so let's get to it!

1: the magician

coercive activities / peer pressure

house fire

poison

2: the high priestess

coercive activities / peer pressure

3: the empress

childbirth

ectopic pregnancy

4: the emperor

battle/war

physical assault

5: the hierophant

a plot against you by your own people

ritual sacrifice

6: the lovers

surgery

7: the chariot

battle/war

car accident

8: strength

animal attack

illness

old age

9: the hermit

frostbite

illness

old age

suicide

10: wheel of fortune

freak accident

suicide

12: the hanged man

hanging

suicide

13: death

death row

execution

14: temperance

hypothermia

poisoning

15: devil

during a sex act

house fire

murder

old age

overdose / asphyxiation

surgery

16: the tower

a fall from a high heights

head trauma

in a storm

17: the star

hypothermia

illness

surgery

18: the moon

animal attack

suicide

20: judgment

being resuscitated

near death experience

suffocation

21: the world

watching someone close to you die / nearly die making you realize the fragility of life

22: the fool

dangerous recreational activities

a fall

on a trip/traveling

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a topic." button if you want to see a specific pac/pile next. if you'd like my input on how i read a specific card or what i like to ask my deck, feel free to use the ask button for that as well.

click here for the masterlist

click here for more web of wyrd related posts

want a personal reading? click here to check out my reading options and prices!

© a-d-nox 2023 all rights reserved

[tommyboweinabowtie]

About Spencer's One Ball

okay first of all disclaimer: I know that for some people this post will seem too much and I'm aware, but to be clear, all I used was what Spencer talked about publicly in videos, mostly in the 2 truths 1 lie with Tommy, everything else is Medicine and Science and statistics. I did not have access to anything else like medical records or anything related.

Also important here: I am a certified doctor, I know I just be silly online but I studied medicine and I happen to be in pediatrics, one of the few specialties that would deal with said diagnosis, so since the first time I saw that video it got me wondering exactly what kind of "condition" it would be, I was curious, so I decided to research. And bring my research findings here.

Keep in mind english is not my first language, but I tried to be clear and simple.

"Having only one ball" medical term would be "monorchism", or "monorchidism". That means only one testicle in the scrotum. (Trivia no one asked for: everything related to testicles has "orchid" in its name, the plant is also called that because it has a scrotum-looking thing in its roots). Having only one ball later in life usually means surgery or injury, but as he said, not the case.

In the video he says he was born with only one testicle. So he didn't say he had any testis removed, or that it was somewhere else, just that he only had one. Okay keep that in mind. Let's understand first how normally a testicle develops. A healthy embrio is sexually indifferent at first, the Y chromosome has a gene that makes it develop testicles instead of ovaries. That happens inside the abdomen, below the kidneys, and when the testis cells are developed, they produce an hormone that will supress other "female" anatomy. This hormone is also responsible for the descend of the testis into the scrotum. This descend happens after the seventh month of gestation. So until then the testicles are inside the abdomen. About 3% of XY term babies are born without 1 or 2 testicles in their scrotum. That's calles cryptorchidism ("hidden testicle"). It is more common in premature babies and babies with conditions such as down syndrome. More than half is unilateral. So when a baby is born doctors examine it and see if the testicles are inside their ballsack, if not, usually (80%) within the first year it has a "delayed" descent. If it is not in the scrotum, maybe the doctor sees it somewhere else, close, right above it. Little image to show where it can be found:

So directly from the simplified words from wikipedia: A testis absent from the normal scrotal position may be:

Anywhere along the "path of descent" from high in the posterior abdomen to the inguinal ring

In the inguinal canal

Ectopic, having "wandered" from the path of descent, usually outside the inguinal canal and sometimes even under the skin of the thigh, the perineum, the opposite scrotum, or the femoral canal

Undeveloped (hypoplastic) or severely abnormal (dysgenetic)

Missing (also see anorchia).

So if we can't find the testicle in the first few months, we usually ask for an ultrasound, to see if it is inside the abdomen and to search if there's any intersex characteristics, or other conditions, associated. If it is found, usually there's a surgery, either to place the testicle where it is supposed to be, or to remove it. Why not just leave it inside, or forget about it? Well, undescended testicles have a higher chance of testicular cancer. So it either has to be in the scrotum to keep it in check with self-exam and ultrasounds, or completely removed.

Spencer never mentioned a surgery, and they talked about surgeries and procedures in that episode. He'd probably have talked about it. So I don't think he had ectopic or undescended testicle.

The abnormal testicle also rules out because he would have said it was deformed or something. Not that he was born without it.

So that leaves us with anorchia. Or in his case, monorchia. (He has one normal right testicle there, the left one is missing.)

If you look for this terms you will find mostly genetical disorders, or like intersex individuals with other health issues associated. I don't think that's his case.

So what I think it is, is a condition called "Vanishing testes syndrome" or "testicular regression syndrome". It results in anorchia or monorchia. It is kinda rare, less that 5% of those with cryptorchidism. To make it simple, the embrio develops the testicle, but something happend with it along the way before the baby is born, like a torsion, or ischemia, and it "dies" or stops developing, leading to a baby without the testicle. It is more common to happen to the left testicle. The individuals usually delevop a completelly tyical male phenotype, as seems to be Spencer's case as well. (Unless the regression is bilateral and happens too early in the pregnancy, leading to lack of testosterone, but thats less usual). Some doctors and scientists recommend a surgical approach to remove the small scar tissue and remnants (0-16% of studied cases have like a tiny amount of live testicular cells in the scar tissue wherever the testicle died) to avoid potential testicular cancer as well, but it was never documented, so it is not needed, it depends on the attending doctor.

Also some patients may want to have a prosthesis implanted, for cosmetic purposes, but also not needed.

Let's just trust that Spencer was cared for by good doctors that did whatever testing it was needed and got to the most likely diagnosis.

So that was my wild research You can officially read the paper about this condition here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3459158/

I have more commentary about smosh health conditions and stuff, this one just was more in my field and also spiked my curiosity, i just needed to. But like about Tommy CPR thing, Shayne drowning, probably more stuff i can't remember now. Let me know if any of you would like to see more lol.

[sidewalk-cracks]

Badger Cereal Fic Recs

I am heinously picky when it comes to fanfic, so for those of ya’ll hungry for badger cereal and in need of good fics: COME GET YA’LL’S FOOD. 

1. (we are) the fault line by @iguessyouregonnamissthepantyraid . This is my number one favorite dp fic of all time, tho... it’s not technically badger cereal? Danny’s only in the fic for like, 2 seconds, but it’s still got parental/protective Vlad and found family, and it’s flawless so I’m including it anyway. A basic summary is: Sam, Tucker, Dani, and Valerie team up with Vlad to rescue Danny from the government. Road trip fic featuring angst, hurt/comfort, buckets of found family, and incredible humor. Word count: 46k

2. How to Mentor a Troubled Ghost Child by @ectopal (and its sequel oneshot). This is my second favorite dp fic of all time, and it’s an actual proper badger cereal fic lol. Quick summary: Vlad has a mini-crisis and starts to work on getting his life together, starting with how he treats Danny. Enemies to friends to mentor/mentee, hurt/comfort, EXTREMELY FLUFFY AND WHOLESOME. Word count: 23k

3. Humans and Ghosts by RedGhost1010. I think this was one of the first dp fics I ever read. Not centrally focused on badger cereal, but it comes into play in the last one or two chapters, and I at least was surprised and delighted by it. Quick summary: Danny’s life is basically just falling apart, largely because Jack and Maddie aren’t the best parents. Angst warning, Danny whump, lots of Good Sister Jazz, protective Vlad at the end. Word count: 26k

4. Overshadowed by @whereonceiwasfire . This fic’s a commitment but it was a super cool read; the fight scenes were awesome and I was vibing so hard with the badger cereal. Basic summary: College-age Danny is having a rough time and it just gets worse when a certain enemy- heck, you could even say his ultimate enemy- comes back for a rematch. Fic is 95% heavy angst, some crumbs of h/c, heavy focus on badger cereal, character death and it might not be who you expect, epic anime-style fights, not sure if you’d call it a satisfying ending but it’s an ending. Word count: 142k

5. Untethered by  @life-jim-but-not-as-we-know-it (”draculard” on AO3). This is a brand new badger cereal fic that was posted only a week or two ago, so only the first chapter is out, but that so far is excellent. the Official Summary for the fic: There was a dead boy on Vlad Masters’ doorstep. So far featuring angst, hurt/comfort, big Danny!whump and protective!Vlad. Current word count: 486 words

6. Conspiracy by @elowenp . Super cute oneshot! Vlad’s not actually in it, but it’s still about badger cereal. Quick summary: Jazz (and friends) are trying to convince Danny to stay with Vlad since his parents are constantly trying to kill his alter ego. Humor and fluff. Word count: 1.5K

7. Still Better Than Google Translate by Hollyflash. I legitimately laughed out loud reading this one. Basic summary: Danny reluctantly asks Vlad to teach him Russian. This isn’t an overly spectacular idea, and it almost immediately dives off the rails. Humor/comedy, Vlad’s suffering is hilarious. Word count: 2k

I probably have more in my ao3 bookmarks that I’ve forgotten, and I’ve got a bunch of potentially good fics I’ve saved for later that I haven’t read yet, so if I find any more good ones I can reblog this or make a second post with them! :)

[the-hufflepuff-bitch]

July 13, 2022

Well June was exciting. I hit my breaking point at work and decided the day I was going to put in my two weeks. Then I went on vacation for a week and half - anniversary trip. We were out for IUI that month due to my right ovary getting ready to release, since I don't have a right tube there is a note on my file saying left side only.

So I get back, put in my two weeks. Go about my days. I have a bit of abdominal soreness, but I didn't work out much on vacation and did weightlifting twice that first week back. I was expecting my period on the first, but it's always been a bit wonky (see infertility caused by anovulation). On the 6th, I figure it's probably another cyst or a polyp so I'll need to call my doctor. But decide to take a pregnancy test to rule it out.

Y'all, I'm pregnant.

So my first week without work (I left without a job lined up) I instead have appointments. Blood work on Monday and Wednesday looked good, hcg is on track for how far along I am. I go in for an ultrasound tomorrow. Hopefully the gestational sack will be in my uterus. 🤞

Like the amount of disbelief last week was so strong. We had our first round of IUI in May, and that resulted in a chemical pregnancy (egg and sperm joined, but quickly reached failure point). And then to realize that it was right side in June, we just figured we were out and it didn't matter what we did or didn't do. But it's sinking in now, especially since I'm starting to experience some nausea.

The random nausea is making my plan for this week difficult, and I'm still trying to figure out what my body wants. The default is to just grab some crackers but that doesn't always work. So today I made myself a strawberry and mango smoothie with coconut milk. It helped a bit when the nausea started to creep up while making lemon curd. I have another batch of orange curd to make later, so I'm hoping I can get it under control quickly.

But despite the nausea, as of this moment, I have not actually puked. So I'm considering that a win.

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

Disappearing Comfort

Summary - Part 14 in the Comfort series

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Reader, Reader x Sam (platonic), Reader x Bobby (father-figure)

Warnings - mentions of pregnancy and loss, 

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

A/N - G’day guys, I just wanna start by thanking you for all the likes, reblogs and follows since my last post, I really appreciate it. Secondly, I know this can be a tough topic for some people, I apologise if this brings up any memories for anyone – remember that you’re not alone and help is available.

You wake up in a bright white room that smells extremely sterile. A steady beeping leads you to a monitor beside your bed. You see a call button so you reach over and press it. A nurse comes rushing in. 

“Miss Y/L/N, you’re awake. How do you feel? Your vitals look okay.”

“I feel weak, tired. What happened? I was getting an ultrasound…and that’s the last I remember.”

“You had to be rushed in for emergency surgery, your fallopian tube was rupturing and you were bleeding out. I’ll page the doctor and she’ll check on everything and explain in more detail and you can ask her any questions you may have.” The nurse helps you sit up and then hands you a glass of water before leaving the room to page your doctor.

You rub your hands down your stomach and abdomen, just like you have been for comfort for the past month. But you stop when you feel a bandage. The doctor from earlier walks in, distracting you from fiddling with the soft material.

“Miss Y/L/N, it’s good to see you’re awake and your vitals are stable. I am really sorry to tell you this but I had to rush you into emergency surgery after the ultrasound. You were bleeding so heavily. Your fallopian tube was rupturing from the ectopic pregnancy.”

“Ectopic?”

“The embryo implanted in your tube instead of your uterus. It can be very serious but luckily you came in at just the right time and we were able to operate early enough to save your life and your tube. But unfortunately in this situation the pregnancy is not viable and in order to save you and repair your tube we had to remove the embryo.”

“My baby? It’s gone?”

“I am so sorry. It would not have survived, and frankly left any longer and you might not have survived either. But I am very sorry. Do you have any questions?” she asks.

You shake your head, but then you say, “Will this affect my ability to have children forever?”

“While having an ectopic pregnancy can heighten your chances for having another in the future, it is a rare occurrence so there is every likelihood that your next pregnancy will go smoothly.”

“That’s…That’s good to know. Thank you.” 

“If you think of any other questions you can always ask the nurse to page me. I’ll come back and check on your stitches in the morning.”

As the doctor leaves the nurse pokes her head back in, “There’s a man in the waiting room claiming to be your uncle, do you want me to let him up to see you for a bit before visiting hours end?”

“Yeah, please.”

You lay there holding your stomach and feeling numb as you wait for Bobby to come in. After a few minutes, you hear him walk in. He doesn’t say anything, he just pulls a chair next to your bed and sits down. You sit there in silence for a while before you decide to share what the doctor told you. As you try to explain it, it starts to feel more real and you can’t stop the tears. Bobby gives you his hand to hold while he listens and does his best to comfort you.

“I’m really sorry about that, kiddo. You don’t deserve this. But you’re gonna get through it. You’re strong and have people around you who love you. Speaking of, Dean’s on his way. He’ll be here as soon as he can. Do you want me to call him so you can talk to him?”

“He worries enough as is it. I just need him to drive safely, there’s nothing he can do. I’ll tell him when he gets here…When he finds out it’s gonna break his heart. He really wanted this baby.”

“So did you. Look, this isn’t gonna be easy for either of you. But you have each other and me and Sam. We’re all here for you. You’re gonna get through this, one day at a time.” You sit there in silence for a while before the nurse returns with a wheelie tray full of food. 

“Miss Y/L/N, I have some dinner for you,” she says as she places a serving of bland-looking meat and greens on your tray with a plastic cup and jug of water. “I’ll come back and help you get ready for bed soon.”

“Thanks.”

“You enjoy your…dinner,” Bobby says, “I’ve got your bag in the truck, I’ll bring it up so you can have some of your own stuff.” You nod as you move the beans around the plate. You have an empty pit in your stomach but you know food isn’t going to fill it.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

It’s still dark when loud voices from the hall wake you up.

“I don’t care if it’s not visiting hours! I drove all night to get here and I want to see my fiance!”

“Please calm down, sir. You’ll wake the patients. If you just go out to the waiting room I’ll let you know when visiting hours start. We have a policy.”

You instantly recognise the voice. You grab your phone from the bench beside the bed and text Dean.

From Y/N: Hey baby, the nurse is right, you’re waking up all the patients. I’m right here and I’m safe. I’ll see you in the morning.

From Dean: And the baby?

From Y/N: We'll talk in the morning

From Dean: It's gone isn't it

From Y/N: Please can we talk about this in the morning? I love you, Dean. I promise we'll talk in the morning when you can visit

Now, wide awake and hyperaware of your surroundings and situation again the tears start to slide down your cheeks again. The voice in your head starts to ramble again. What will Dean say when he finds out? He’s gonna be so angry. He’s gonna blame me. It’s all my fault. What if he decides to leave me? 

You take a deep breath to control your anxiety and start whispering to yourself, “No, he loves me. He won’t leave. He loves me. He won’t leave.”

You start to get a hold of yourself when you feel a hand cradling the side of your face and another holding your hand. You open your eyes only to be met with your favourite pair of emerald ones. 

“Hey, sweetheart, I’m right here and you’re right, I do love you and I’m not going anywhere. No matter what.”

“How? Did the nurse?”

“I’ve snuck into plenty of hospital rooms for less, sweetheart, no nurse is gonna stop me from being by your side.”

“Too bad you didn’t have to dress up…”

“Come on now. I know you’re just trying to distract both of us but-”

“I know, sorry. I just…” He brings his face down to meet yours in a light comforting kiss, “It’s gone, Dean…They couldn’t save it…There’s nothing…”

“Scooch over.” Dean crawls into the bed pulls you close to his chest and rubs his hands down your back soothingly. “I’m right here. It’s gonna be alright. It’s not your fault.”

You let the tears fall onto Dean’s chest as he holds you tight. “It…the pregnancy was never viable…I almost bled out…They had to…”

Dean doesn’t say anything, he just holds you and lets you explain everything at your own pace. When you’re done you can feel his tears soaking into your hair from where he’s resting his head on yours. You stay like this until the sunrises and you start to hear nurses checking on the patients in the rooms next door.

“Dean, you have to go back to the waiting room. The nurse is coming.”

“You know, hospital food sucks, I’ll go pick us up something actually edible and be right back.”

He untangles himself from you and stands up before leaning back down and kissing you softly. You watch as he sneaks out just moments before a nurse comes in to check your vitals and serve you breakfast which consists of sloppy porridge and orange juice. You push the slop around the bowl pretending to eat it so the nurse will leave.

“I brought you some new pads and a gown, but I see your uncle brought you some things too, so just change into whatever you’re most comfortable with. Just be mindful of anything tight on your abdomen. And just try to monitor the heaviness of your bleeding and be aware of any clots, if you notice anything that feels wrong or abnormal, let me know and I’ll page the doctor.” She places the clean gown and pads on the chair and turns to walk out after you nod. “A man came by last night claiming he’s your fiance, if he’s still in the waiting room do you want me to let him in?” she asks from the doorway.

“Yeah, he i-was the father, he deserves to know.”

“Of course.”

You change into Dean’s flannel that Bobby had tossed back in the bag, and then sit in bed playing with your food until Dean returns pulling a paper bag out of his jacket and handing you a coffee cup. “Don’t tell the nurse. She’s pretty uptight.”

“I know what happened but-”

“It’s hot chocolate, caffeine free, this one on the other hand,” he says holding up his own cup, “is black coffee, I need it.” He opens up the paper bag and pulls out two croissants and hands one to you. You stare at it and place it on the table. You start to tear up again.

Dean takes a bite of his croissant and then realises, “I’m so stupid! I’ll get something else. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking, we’ve just been getting them ever since…I’m so stupid!”

“No, it only seems right. We started this tradition when we found out, we should see it through.”

“We don’t have to. I’ll go down to the cafe and grab something else.”

“I’m not really hungry anyway, it’s alright. You eat.”

“Sweetheart, you need to eat something. Bobby said you didn’t touch your dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Dean pulls his chair closer to your bed and reaches out for your hand with his free one. “Did you find out the gender before?”

“I lost it, what’s the point? I could’ve died, Dean. If I didn’t get here when I did…”

“Is that what the doctor said?”

“Yeah…”

“Then we just be glad you’re okay. We’ll talk to the doctor maybe we can try again.”

“I’m not sure I want to…”

“Ever?”

“I was never really sure about this one. And then…I could feel it slipping away, Dean. The blood. The pain. I could feel it.”

“I wish there was something I could do.”

“You can’t, this is all on me. And I’m actually pretty tired…” you say rolling over away from him.

“Don’t shut me out. We don’t have to talk about the future or anything right now, but please don’t shut me out.” Dean watches your shaking figure as he finishes off his coffee and croissant. As soon as he’s done he joins you in bed again, “There is one thing I can do…I can hold you”. You roll over and curl up in his arms as you cry yourself back to sleep.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Tag list: (Leave a like or comment on this post or let me know below if you want to be added to the tag list for this series)

@bitchwitch1981, @muhahaha303, @justrealizedimmascifygurl, @mcdowell-123, @leigh70, @marvelsmarauder, @losa12308, @tapedeck-hearts, @luvjaida, @peachtxa, @ambearsstuff, @shadow-of-a-cloud, @slut-for-buck,

[prolifeproliberty]

Hello! I think I remember that you had a really good post (or at least resources) on the difference between abortion and removal of stillborn/miscarried children but I can’t seem to find it. Would you be able to link it? Thanks! <3 :)

I am always terrible at finding my old posts unless people rediscover and reblog them again lol

Maybe someone else will be able to find it and link it, but in the meantime I can try to recreate some of it!

The most important thing here is the legal definition of abortion. Some medical language will use abortion to refer to any stopping of pregnancy - whether intentional or unintentional. This definition is absolutely useless for a discussion of the ethics of induced abortion, and is used by abortion supporters to cloud the issue.

That’s why literally every piece of abortion-restricting legislation is very careful to define what it is that is being restricted or banned - the intentional, direct killing of a preborn human child.

Since so many states have passed either outright bans or significant restrictions, it’s important to look at specific laws in specific states for examples.

For example, here is the legal definition of abortion in Texas (emphasis mine):

"Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing an instrument, a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant. The term does not include birth control devices or oral contraceptives. An act is not an abortion if the act is done with the intent to:

(A) save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child;

(B) remove a dead, unborn child whose death was caused by spontaneous abortion; or

(C) remove an ectopic pregnancy.

Note that the law specifically states that removing a child who has died and removing an ectopic pregnancy are not abortions, and therefore are not impacted by any abortion ban or restriction.

Also note (A) - delivering a child early to save the child’s life is not an abortion, even though the pregnancy could be said to be “aborted,” or stopped prematurely - the important point is whether the abortionist is trying to kill the child.

TL;DR: Any doctor who says they can’t remove an ectopic pregnancy (a child who cannot survive with current medical technology and poses a danger to the mother) or a child who has died in the womb because of an abortion ban is either ignorant or willfully deceiving their patients - and in either case should not be trusted to provide medical care.

[spheresr4cubes]

An Open Letter, Post-Election

My dearest family,

The polls are in, the votes received and counted.

You wanted him back. Now here he is -- the man who, under his administration, insulted you, openly showed his disdain for your daughters' lives and for your family's proud history. This is the person who disrespected dead children and disabled veterans after playing nice for the television and kept top secret documents stored in a public restroom. This is the rich man who claimed an illness that killed millions was a fantasy while golfing at his resort. This is the bastard who overthrew revered legislation that allowed my sister and I to be born, for my mother to be alive and well. This is the felon who deceived and stole money from his own followers, people who hold him up as the second coming of Christ. This is the elderly white man who called Nazis "very fine people."

In choosing this man (if he can be called such), you show more than you think. You value "the economy" over the well-being of your children, who may face legal scrutiny if they miss a period yet never give birth. You value "the economy" over the deep love between people, who bound themselves to each other and may soon be severed in the eyes of the law. Do you value "the economy" over me -- your mentally ill, queer, Latina girl?

And it's not just about him. Putting him back in office emboldens the people who would hate you for your color, who wield the image of god as a shield against any wrongdoing, and who would sooner assault you than let you use the "wrong" bathroom. These are people who would look at my mother's broad, strong shoulders and her angular jaw and her wide, calloused, hardworking hands and say she's a biological man. These are the people who would look at my loving father, his good-humored smile, his military and career achievements and say he has no place in this country. You've heard it before -- I know you have.

I know you think I'm overreacting, but so many terrible things in our history have been met with indifference. I will not be able to sleep at night if I do the same.

I know you think I don't know any better, that I'm not aware of the horrid things past presidents have done, but I promise you, I know. (You've called me naive in the past, and the echo of your voice haunts my every decision).

I suspect you think this has nothing to do with you -- you, who are Mexican by blood, children of immigrants. You, who dealt with the military and know full well the danger of an incompetent leader. You, who are a woman and would have died if you hadn't been allowed to have that ectopic surgery. You, who looked at this man's policies and said, "It'll be fine. We survived last time." There were many who didn't. What makes you think you'll be spared this time?

I have so many questions for you, but it feels useless to ask them. I will love you regardless, so what is the point? I won't survive without you, so what is the point? But I need to know -- do you love me? Deep down, do you care about me? Do you care about people like me? What do you see in this man who points his finger at my people and says we don't deserve to live? What do you see in any of his allies who sneer at our tenuous grasp on middle class status and say we just need to work harder? Don't you feel any kinship with our cousins at the border, our brothers on the street, our sisters in bondage? Self-deprecating as we are, don't you feel we -- you, me, all of us -- deserve better?

I cannot forgive him for insulting you, and I don't know how you can. You have said not to take it personally, but how can I not? This is our life, these are supposed to be our leaders -- if they cannot respect us, how can we trust them to improve our lives?

How simple were the days when we could set a man's house on fire if he tarnished our honor! I would burn the White House a thousand times if so many said you were not a human being worthy of life, love, and happiness -- would you not do the same for me?

With all the love in this tiny, infinite world,

Your girl, Sam

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joyce Vance at Civil Discourse Substack:

Since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, voters in six states have had the opportunity to vote on constitutional amendments regarding abortion. Every time the issue has been on the ballot, voters have turned out to support abortion rights. In California, Michigan, Ohio, and Vermont, voters approved measures that amended the state constitution to protect reproductive rights. In Kentucky and Kansas, voters rejected measures designed to strictly limit access to abortion. In the years since Roe was reversed, Americans have come to understand that abortion is health care. And that American women suffer when it is denied to them. In January of this year, we learned about Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman who was denied an abortion and charged with abuse of a corpse, a felony, after she miscarried alone and at home.

Nicole Miller, an Idaho woman, had to fly to Utah earlier this year as a failing pregnancy caused her to bleed profusely. But, not enough for doctors in Boise to terminate the pregnancy that was endangering her life. A doctor refused to perform the emergency surgery, telling her that he wasn’t willing to risk his medical career for her. She was able to get a lifesaving abortion out of state, but as more bans go into place, the Guttmacher Institute reports more women are having to travel—and travel further—to obtain needed care. The expense and logistics of arranging travel become a barrier, and more women are exposed to needless suffering and trauma in the name of “pro-life” policies. Yesterday in Texas, two women filed administrative complaints against hospitals, alleging they were denied emergency care for ectopic pregnancies, which put their lives at risk in violation of federal law.

Kyleigh Thurman, a Texas woman, alleges she was initially discharged from the hospital and subsequently denied care days later for an ectopic pregnancy. She was finally treated after her ob-gyn pleaded with the hospital staff, but the delay caused her fallopian tube to rupture, she said. According to the complaint, the hospital treated her only after her ob-gyn “pleaded” with staff to provide the necessary care.“For weeks, I was in and out of emergency rooms trying to get the abortion that I needed to save my future fertility and life,” she said.

Kelsie Norris-De La Cruz alleges she was discharged from a Texas hospital without treatment for an ectopic pregnancy. Just hours later she had to be rushed into emergency surgery at a different facility. Medical experts have opined the Texas abortion ban played a role in her denial of care.

The law in question is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). It prohibits hospitals from “patient dumping,” and the Biden Administration argued that meant hospital emergency rooms were obligated to provide lifesaving care, including abortion, to save a patient’s life. The Supreme Court ended up ducking the issue, deciding that certiorari in the case, Moyle v. United States, had been “improvidently granted,” meaning it shouldn’t have agreed to hear the case, and sending the case back to the Court of Appeals. That leaves doctors in limbo, not knowing if action would be taken against them in the future for providing patients with care now, while the lower courts consider the matter further.

As a result of the post-Roe climate, more women have suffered as a result of abortion bans causing denial of emergency care for ectopic pregnancy.

[rapeculturerealities]

Two pregnant women with PPROM were denied care after Florida banned abortion - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/10/pprom-florida-abortion-ban/

When abortion was legal across the country, doctors in all states would typically offer to induce or perform a surgical procedure to end the pregnancy when faced with a pre-viability PPROM case — which is the standard of care, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and an option that many women choose. Especially before the 20-week mark, a fetus is extremely unlikely to survive without any amniotic fluid.

But in the 18 states where abortion is now banned before fetal viability, many hospitals have been turning away pre-viability PPROM patients as doctors and administrators fear the legal risk that could come with terminating even a pregnancy that could jeopardize the mother’s well-being, according to 12 physicians practicing in antiabortion states.

The medical exceptions to protect the life of the mother that are included in abortion bans are often described in vague language that does not appear to cover pre-viability PPROM, doctors said. That’s because the risks of the condition are often less clear-cut than other medical emergencies, such as an ectopic pregnancy, in which a fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus, dooming the fetus and posing an immediate danger to the mother’s life.

A 2022 study on the impact of Texas’s six-week abortion ban found that 57 percent of pre-viability PPROM patients in Texas who were not given the option to end their pregnancies experienced “a serious maternal morbidity,” such as infection or hemorrhage, compared with 33 percent of PPROM patients who chose to terminate in states without abortion bans. According to 2018 ACOG guidance, “isolated maternal deaths due to infection” have been reported in early PPROM cases.

Florida’s abortion law, enacted last year, bans the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy except when an abortion would either “save the pregnant woman’s life” or “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” The law includes another exception for a “fatal fetal anomaly,” which generally would not apply in a pre-viability PPROM case, according to several doctors, because there is no fetal anomaly but a lack of amniotic fluid, which limits the fetus’s chances of survival.

The state’s Republican-led legislature is swiftly moving toward passing a far stricter law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The new measure — which passed the Florida Senate last week and is awaiting final passage in the House — adds exceptions for rape and incest but does not address PPROM.

One of the sponsors of Florida’s 15-week abortion ban defended the current law as written, saying the existing exception should be sufficient to cover cases with serious health risks. An explicit exception for PPROM is not necessary, she added.

“The bottom line is we value life, and we would like to protect life,” said former Florida state senator Kelli Stargel (R). “We don’t want to give a gaping exception that anyone can claim.”

Of all the pregnancy complications affected by abortion bans, pre-viability PPROM is one of the most widespread, according to doctors interviewed for this story. The condition is common enough that one day after Cook was turned away from the hospital, the same thing happened to one of her closest friends. Shanae Smith-Cunningham, 32, was 19 weeks into her pregnancy when her water broke.

This story of what happened to the two friends is based on over 200 pages of medical records provided by the patients and on internal hospital documents, as well as text messages, videos and social media posts. In addition to Cook and Smith-Cunningham, The Washington Post interviewed friends and family members who witnessed the events, and several of the doctors involved in the women’s care.