Kinda in love with what happens to my hair after wearing it in an aggressive super high messy bun all day https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8XP2WpK51yEkYZs7qoU8WvTBu3Egy-Rgjj4Q0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
I finally finished Baby H’s Star Wars alphabet quilt! A combo of cross stitch, knitting, and hand sewing (with Just a month till his first bday 😂). To be fair in the year since I first started this project I went through 5 pre natal hospital visits, one emergency c section (1.5 months early), one month in the NICU, post partum hypertension, PPD/anxiety, two polyamorous break ups, four months of therapy and medication, a new job, and our HVAC needing to be replaced. BUT IM DONE AND THE STITCH WITCH IS BACK. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChZ6zoFAdlKfGBebmIKKuhszdMZ2aOvgxKlSf00/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Feeling a little wistful looking at this pic taken exactly two years ago (yay iPhone moments I guess??) on one hand, the hair was way too much to maintain and honestly I was way more stressed out with work and I am overall way happier with my life (esp my new job and baby!!). But it was really nourishing to have at least a little bit of time where I finally realized all my childhood punk mermaid aesthetix goals. 13 yo Me would be so impressed with this selfie and use it as her MySpace profile pic 😂😂 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf7X0Arg0zThLPPn-o9FU7gVA2SLihZtICRaFs0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
So I’ve seen a few ppl mention the irony of overturning Roe v Wade during an unprecedented formula shortage, but I haven’t really seen anybody explain just how fucking awful things are and as both a non of an infant and a family law attorney, I’m just gonna drop a few facts for y’all:
Ok so first of all:
- This decision is absolute bullshit mainly because it’s not really grounded in any sort of legal scholarship. There’s this whole thing called “stare decísis” which basically means you gotta respect previous decisions except in very specific cases.
- Also the opinion neglects the fact that traditional common law ACTUALLY DOES distinguish between fetuses and people. Because traditionally if you beat up a pregnant person and cause a miscarriage, it wasn’t considered murder. BUT GUESS YALL WERENT PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR FIRST SEMESTER OF CRIM LAW.
- The fact is that this is clearly a conservative agenda thing. And it’s not about the babies, y’all. Because if that were true, there would be passages about making sure healthcare is affordable and accessible for everybody. And social services. And FOOD.
- Side note, there’s actually a landmark SCOTUS case that talks about how dss and the police don’t have a duty to protect children even when they’re being beaten by their parents SO TELL ME BOUT HOW THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO PROTECT UNBORN BABIES MORE THAN ACTUAL CHILDREN. (Deshaney v Winnebago County department of social services btw )
So let’s spit some facts about formula and why the Republican Party voting against providing formula relief is so BULLSHIT esp with the whole “the babies!” Bullshit!
- First of all, no, not everybody can breastfeed. Some ppl just can’t produce enough milk (it’s a physical limitation having to do with the amount of milk ducts in your breast tissue). The average baby requires 24-32 oz of milk a day. Many ppl just can’t make that.
- Also that doesn’t take until account some babies needing enhancements, like higher calorie formula because they’re preemies. And breast milk even for an average baby needs to be supplemented with iron and vitamin B.
- Breastfeeding generally means pumping, sometimes exclusively in order to produce enough milk. Pumping is the actual worse. Most ppl have to pump every 3-4 hours, AT LEAST, to produce enough milk. Not pumping that frequently will decrease or even stop your body from producing milk.
- Yea, I mean waking up several times in the night to pump and stopping whatever you’re doing to pump. Average pumping session is 20 minutes, YALL. When I was exclusively breast feeding, I was exclusively pumping (since my baby was a preemie and we had to closely monitor the exact amount he was getting every day. And fortify his milk with 22 cal formula). And I was pumping every 3-4 hours, for 30 minutes at a time. I was exhausted and hungry.
- Formula by the way, is ridiculously expensive even during a non crisis. And it goes incredibly quickly. And unlike breast milk, formula can’t be frozen once mixed. Once you mix it, it’s gotta be consumed within 24 hours if refrigerated. 2 hours at room temp. And regardless of temp, within an hour after baby touches the bottle.
- Some babies need special formula due ti allergies and reflux. Reflux is very common and it sucks. It is awful. My baby had a period of time where he needed baby heartburn meds and none of it was covered by insurance except for Pepcid…which can ironically cause more spit up.
- No, you can’t just produce milk if you’ve stopped breast feeding or never did. The process of stopping takes a hella lot to start again and there’s no guarantee it’ll work. Most ppl I know who did it had to take special meds and pump 30 min at a time every 2 hours.
- Breast pumps are expensive and you can only get one covered by insurance. So if the first one you get doesn’t work for you, you’ll end up paying out of pocket for another. I needed multiple pumps btw—because I needed a portable one and an at home one. The portable one just wasn’t strong enough for regular use. I also had to buy special attachments because of my breast size and some other issues.
- SO IF LAW MAKERS CARED ABOUT BABIES, why haven’t they actually made breast pumps available for free everywhere?
- Or idk, made formula (esp WIC !) available automatically to everybody?
- Or even made medical expenses for pregnancy and pediatric care free?
- Or made social services liable for beaten children?
- Is it actually because this is more about criminalizing non cis male sexual autonomy? SHOCKER.
Before I essentially deleted my TikTok, I made this video about my personal pregnancy story and why “abortion saves lives” is a very literal truth. Not just metaphorically. Literally, pregnancy can kill you. I almost died several times.
I am so so tired of ppl who know nothing about pregnancy making decisions about pregnant bodies.
I will try to post the transcript later too because the captions didn’t show.
So apparently there really is no easy way to save captions in a video on TikTok, but I have transcribed it below for people:
[begin transcript below]
So I need people to understand that when I talk about “keeping abortion legal,” I’m not just talking about “preventing birth.” Or “making sure that people aren’t parents until they are ready and willing to be parents.”
I am talking about the fact that PREVENTING PREGNANCY SAVES LIVES.
I am not just talking about that in a mental health sort of way, or a potential metaphorical sort of way. Or even in the case of ectopic pregnancies. (Although I believe those things are equally important and valid).
I am talking about the literal fact that pregnancy is incredibly dangerous. And preventing PREGNANCY saves lives.
And I say that as somebody who almost died during the course of her pregnancy.
Now…my baby was 100% planned. My husband and I wanted him. And he’s the light of my life.
And We did absolutely everything right! I was an adult. I had a career. I had a full time job with insurance and benefits, and so did my husband. I had absolutely NO PRIOR HEALTH CONCERNS that would have given us any indicator that this could have been so life threatening to me.
I had to be hospitalized 4-5 times, starting in week 25 and ending about two months before my due date, when I had to have an emergency c-section.
I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia.
At week 25, they realized that there was no way I would be able to carry my baby to full term without dying.
And he was also diagnosed IUGR—he was undersized, and they were concerned about the fact that I had calcium deposits in the lining of my placenta.
Towards the end of my pregnancy, I had to have fetal heart monitoring appointments twice a week, where I had to be hooked up to a fetal heart monitor for 30 minutes to an hour…while they monitored my blood pressure and heart rate. (Because that was really high too).
When I ended up rushed to the hospital for the emergency c-section (again, 2 months early), I ended up having a severe allergic reaction to some of the medication that was in my epidural. My throat and face swelled up. I also had post partum hypertension—and had to stay in the hospital for one whole week after giving birth.
And later, after all that? The doctors told me that my blood pressure was so high that I probably should have had a stroke.
My son had to stay in the NICU for one whole month. And he had to have surgery after he got out. We are still getting those medical bills…and he is 7 months old.
And I requested to have my tubes tied, during my emergency c-section. And I STILL got pushback from the doctors!
Because they kept saying “this is just your first pregnancy”
And again they kept saying, “but there’s no way to really predict if you can almost die or not during pregnancy! It might not be so bad next time!”
Which…as an attorney, I cannot think of another situation where we tell somebody, “hey, I know this thing almost caused you to DIE, but we’re not sure if that’ll happen again…so maybe you DON’T want to prevent it?”
My story is not unique, by the way. I’ve told a bunch of people about this, and every single time I tell them about this, they either have their own story, or they have a close family member or friend who went through the exact same thing.
Birth is just the END of pregnancy.
Pregnancy is a LIFE THREATENING, NINE MONTH long process.
And as an attorney, there is just no other area of the law where we force somebody to RISK THEIR LIVES, and KILL THEMSELVES for another person.
Especially a person who isn’t even born.
Before I essentially deleted my TikTok, I made this video about my personal pregnancy story and why “abortion saves lives” is a very literal truth. Not just metaphorically. Literally, pregnancy can kill you. I almost died several times.
I am so so tired of ppl who know nothing about pregnancy making decisions about pregnant bodies.
I will try to post the transcript later too because the captions didn’t show.
Starting to embroider again. Feels really good to make something… https://www.instagram.com/p/Ceyz9PyrufK5nFf3FMR-e7uh8Fgl9AHLcZtlMk0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Mocho donuts, poke and spam misubi ❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cewc2copIJLZFPFVPmIUsm2r7nPwJKdFiWAAL00/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Just realized it’s been ages since I posted a selfie on the ‘gram…and realized that’s probably because I rarely take a selfie without baby H, nowadays. Ben and I decided to not post photos of him except on Facebook because all my other profiles are associated with my semi-internet-infamous handle, lightspeedsound. We didn’t want to make his life visible to strangers before he could truly consent to being posted publicly. Being a mother has been the hardest and most rewarding experience ever, and it’s definitely the defining feature of my life right now. It’s a very singular experience to have your entire life centered around the wellbeing of another human being (even a very tiny one). And everybody keeps saying “don’t lose yourself in motherhood!” But I don’t think I am. I think I’m recreating myself. Which is just a self indulgent, long winded, introspective way to say “I wanted to take a damn selfie tonight.” Document your self indulgence, YALL 😂😂 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cde8kVxNZkweaySNmyaZtYLMq29TTkoUE_v8yQ0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
I told ben I wanted 1 thing for Mother’s Day and he delivered!! ❤️❤️🦀 https://www.instagram.com/p/CdT8ddYps5sEeTeF7L9QDBU_OOPV5uxQYYCXfg0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
#ubemacapuno #icedcoffee y’all. https://www.instagram.com/p/CciRMOFu5wZQLPVlI4YWvip4NpbOl_KUaULCVE0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
My hubby brings home the best treats from work #happywifehappylife #yum #mylovelanguageisfood https://www.instagram.com/p/CcEWOE4p5cM2A3i-rdcdxLx9W-o1KfSO8EI2Nc0/?utm_medium=tumblr
I need to start a blog of book screenshots and call it “was this written by a #lawyer?” #ilonaandrews #katedaniels https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb-TgUoAFP4npiPa1nnayHnED0pDqcTEZHYVQI0/?utm_medium=tumblr
Garlic chili lime beef, sautéed snow peas tips and black rice noodles. Wifey meals are back 😊😊😊 #chinese #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb6A96NpntpZLMrurUCdT4mZInewc8xuuCPYBM0/?utm_medium=tumblr
How is it that a fantasy novel about lycanthropes, vampires, and post apocalyptic Atlanta has the most accurate depiction of being a lawyer I’ve ever read? #katedaniels #ilonaandrews #lawyer https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbq7HDttja0VNQzgTB194343QdZytgZ2wRVw7Y0/?utm_medium=tumblr
Cheesy garlic grits topped with chipotle lime smoked salmon, cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella! We grow our own #scallions by stealing the cheap ones at Safeway and plunking them in water and planting once they root lol #grits #salmon #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbpkm5OASoAe7aBLY4mzfM0PN98BwXVMY-mfms0/?utm_medium=tumblr
Cannot express how disinterested I am in seeing traumatized characters "reconcile" with their canonically shitty parental figures.
on a related note, anybody else pissed by the total rebranding of Starlord’s relationship to Yondu in guardians of the galaxy 2? Because homebody went from “I was literally a slave, you traded things to possess me” to “guess you were my real daddy all along”
Lol I am currently mainlining caffeine, writing an appellate brief, and posting on tiktok about warrantless searches of your fingerprints and DNA. So, hi? I guess? Follow me on tiktok @thereallightspeedsound ?
(edit: idk how the video is actually showing up for anybody or not but click if you can’t see anything:
What the ever-loving fuck is going on with Wesley Snipes's suit? He's got some kind of sporran apron thing, shorts, and leggings, all going on at the same time?
….why does this look like something they’d make the waiters at medieval times wear?