@AnnaS930 Time is rushing by for me this pregnancy, too. It's bittersweet, though. It sucked how slow time seemed to go by during my first pregnancy and I'm glad this one is flying by, but knowing this is my last pregnancy I also want to enjoy it as long as possible.
Preggo coworker is firmly in the camp of "Blame the parents for the unnecessary death of the gorilla" ... of course she is. I'm not trying to stir up a huge debate but here's the thing - everyone is a perfect parent before they've had a child. I don't know how long the kid was unsupervised/how long it took him to get into the enclosure but he never should have been able to. Toddlers/young kids get away SO FAST! It's tragic that the gorilla had to be killed.. but the innocent child lived!! The child/parent/zoo made a mistake, they don't deserve to die for that and the stance she's taking makes it sound like the child should have been sacrificed. Ugh.
Don't get me started on the judgment that's being flung every which way. Unless you were there and saw exactly what happened, people need to STFU. Parenting isn't easy. Parenting a 3-4 year old is really not easy. No matter how vigilante you are, they're fast and you can lose them in a split second. There are no perfect parents.
Oh!! I don't know if I told but fiance felt the baby!! He almost cried. I did cry, and yesterday my little brother felt him too! Brother had his hand on my stomach and baby was really moving so it went something like this "Did you feel that?" "No" "Did you feel that?" "No" "Did you feel that?" "No" "Did you feel that?" "Holy Sh*T Yes!"
When I woke up this morning fiance told me that he had his hand on my belly around 3 am while I was sleeping. Right when he put his hand on my belly our little baby kicked his hand. I slept through it so it sounded to me like a personal bonding time for them. So sweet!
Dog Random: We found a tick (ewww!) on our dog last night. Thankfully it was small (AKA we found one on him last year, and the tick was huge). My DH removed it and it looks like a clean removal, nothing left behind. Should we take him to the vet, or simply watch him and then take him if we notice any lethargy or anything wrong with him? Last time he was a puppy and it was my first tick experience so we took him directly to the vet to remove it, but I got the feeling it might've been an over reaction. Just wondering what other dog parents would do.
@LakeR2014 We had major tick issues last year due to one day of our dogs playing in a field. I would wait until you notice any lethargy especially since the tick was small.
@LakeR2014- Living in Maine, ticks are really common and if we pull it off and it's intact (head attached) and especially if not engorged.. I wouldn't think anything more of it. I don't even know if a vet would accept an appointment for that.. otherwise everyone would have their pets in on a weekly basis!
But.. they are so disgusting. Luckily my dog is white, we keep her hair short in the summer and we don't go into the woods often... so we really don't see more than 1 or 2 per season but when we do - BLECHHHHH!
Preggo coworker is firmly in the camp of "Blame the parents for the unnecessary death of the gorilla" ... of course she is. I'm not trying to stir up a huge debate but here's the thing - everyone is a perfect parent before they've had a child. I don't know how long the kid was unsupervised/how long it took him to get into the enclosure but he never should have been able to. Toddlers/young kids get away SO FAST! It's tragic that the gorilla had to be killed.. but the innocent child lived!! The child/parent/zoo made a mistake, they don't deserve to die for that and the stance she's taking makes it sound like the child should have been sacrificed. Ugh.
This is something that has been bothering me all weekend. It was just tragic and it seems like unfortunate issues arose all around. Even the people screaming when he fell in (which I understand was typical human nature) added to the stress of the situation. No one person was to blame, but I still feel like it was preventable, and that is what is keeping it in my mind. I don't think the child should have been sacrificed by any means, but it should never have gotten to the point that he ended up in the exhibit.
@LakeR2014 Sorry to hear about your dog!!!! Ticks are terrible. I would watch your pup closely for anything unusual. The thing about lyme is that it can be insidious and symptoms aren't always noticeable (even for a few weeks!) If you're very concerned the tick diseases test at the vet is super easy (we just had it done to rule it out when my dog was ill) so that can give you piece of mind. I read that the deer ticks are the one's most likely to carry Lyme. Was it a deer tick?
@LakeR2014 definitely not something to worry about! My Grandma has a dog that I bring a flea/tick collar for when j come visit, because by the time I come, she's always covered in ticks. She's fine. I think getting anything from a tick is really rare, just like for humans.
Child should absolutely not have been sacrificed. That's crazy. However, the child did tell his mom that he was going to crawl into the exhibit a couple of times and she said "No, you're not." I know that none of us know what truly went on, but I would hope that I would know to hold my child's hand after that or walk away from the exhibit if he said that a couple of times.
@camichael84- I agree that there are so many little things that could have prevented such an event to occur, I'm just trying to keep in mind that it was an accident. Many things should be learned from it - better inspection of zoo enclosures, a huge reminder to be more diligent with children in busy places (you only start considering leashing a toddler once you've had one that runs often - lol). But I don't think pointing a finger of blame helps in these situations, it's an accident.
@LakeR2014 Sorry to hear about your dog!!!! Ticks are terrible. I would watch your pup closely for anything unusual. The thing about lyme is that it can be insidious and symptoms aren't always noticeable (even for a few weeks!) If you're very concerned the tick diseases test at the vet is super easy (we just had it done to rule it out when my dog was ill) so that can give you piece of mind. I read that the deer ticks are the one's most likely to carry Lyme. Was it a deer tick?
@mom2adoodle It was brown and not engorged at all. That's all I was willing to notice before I called in DH to do something about it, lol.
RE the gorilla incident, the parents were being irresponsible for the toddler to be able to get into that enclosure. It's a reality that we lose track of our kids regularly, but that doesn't make it OK. Bad stuff can absolutely happen in that fraction of a second you lose your kid. I'm grateful to have never been in a bad situation when losing track of mine, but hopefully this can be good reminder for all moms of tods.
@AnnaS930 We were actually just at that zoo the weekend prior to the accident. We didn't make it to the gorillas that day, but saw the bonobos that have a similar exhibit structure. I remember wondering how safe it was (something I never did before I had a toddler that likes to climb). Thoughts like that are what is keeping me dwelling on it. Again, I don't think the zoo is to blame either, but it's one of those things that I can't stop thinking "what if" about. (Even though I know that's not productive and is just driving myself crazy.)
I would advise anyone making judgments of the mother needs to keep in mind that everything you're basing your judgments on seems to be entirely from social media accounts, and we all know how reliable that is. Eyewitness accounts following tragic accidents are notoriously faulty/wrong. Just keep that in mind.
I've seen nothing regarding verified facts about how the child ended up in the enclosure. And yet, everyone wants to judge and blame someone. There are no winners here.
Again, there is no such things as a perfect parent. Not even close.
In 38 years they've never had an issue with the exhibit, so I don't know if I can get on board with it being the zoos issue. I mean that covers years when parents helicoptered a lot less than these days.
In 38 years they've never had an issue with the exhibit, so I don't know if I can get on board with it being the zoos issue. I mean that covers years when parents helicoptered a lot less than these days.
That part is baffling to me. It's meant to keep a 400 pound gorilla in but it couldn't keep a four year old child out?
In 38 years they've never had an issue with the exhibit, so I don't know if I can get on board with it being the zoos issue. I mean that covers years when parents helicoptered a lot less than these days.
That part is baffling to me. It's meant to keep a 400 pound gorilla in but it couldn't keep a four year old child out?
Ah! My post got ate twice now! 12 ft wall keeps gorillas in. Barrier to keep humans from going over. I can see how it happened, but don't think the zoo wasn't taking proper precautions.
I was also thinking about how many people (other than mom) were standing around and didn't notice the little guy get through either. I have to think someone would have stepped in to help if he'd been seen sidling towards danger. We were at a beach state park this weekend, and parents helping other parents was the rule of the day (water + toddlers = diligence on everyone's part, even with lifeguards aplenty). It's so scary to hear about little ones getting into an accident. Those headlines hurt because it just reminds me how lucky we are that our accidents have primarily been bumps and bruises from falling. This seemed like a sad story, rather than one to get angry at anyone (mom, the zoo, etc) about.
@Jabreen I'm not BTDN, but we have a wedding for DH's best friend in November in AZ (we live in PA), and plan to fly with the baby. We're planning on flying Southwest, so if I'm unable to get on the plane or we decide that baby is just too colicky, etc, I'll stay home and SWA will refund us the cost to take another flight at another date. Not sure if that helps with decision, but flight insurance or something might help put your mind at ease.
So does anybody know if it would be weird for me to wear my maternity belt outside my clothes when I workout in public? The material is pretty itchy when I sweat. I feel kind of weird putting it outside my clothes but maybe it's somewhat normal??? What do you ladies think?
@jennlynn777- I'm not really sure what it looks like.. but I'd wear it outside of your clothes if it helps but is uncomfortable. You're pregnant and working out.. you do you, wouldn't be concerned with what people think of what you're wearing!
@Jabreen We flew to visit my parents with DD at 8 weeks and the flight (even changing planes) was the easiest part of the journey. I was super careful to touch as few surfaces as possible and used hand sanitizer pretty religiously. The harder part of the trip was the 2.5 hr drive to my parents house (they live in the boonies), DD cried for an hour straight and wouldnt drink BM from a bottle yet. Flying with her was cake until she started walking.
The gorilla incident is very upsetting. I fee terrible that the gorilla, who did nothing wrong, had to be killed, but the zoo could not stand by and watch the child be killed. A close friend of mine is a very experienced animal behaivorist at a zoo, and although she isn't an expert in primates, I still wanted her opinion on the incident. A few notes from her: - the gorillas behiavor was mostly protective. The dragging is a natural gorilla behavior if they become nervous. This only happened when everyone started screaming and shouting above the exhibit. -gorillas can be violent but usually are not, especially in captivity. If the gorilla was going to hurt the boy he probably would have done it by then -primates are known to pull out tranquilizer darts, so if they tried to tranquilize, they would have likely had to shoot him over and over, which would agitate him greatly and put the boy at risk -this gorilla did not respond to the handlers cues to bring him out of the exhibit, the other gorillas did obey. -zoo exhibit ms have strict standards around how they need to be set up. Getting in would not be a feat that would only take a child a few seconds. It would have taken minutes. Nobody saw this happening?
overall, a very sad situation, where a beautiful animal paid the ultimate price for the stupidity of zoo-goers
The carpet people are here doing the basement and I SO badly want to nap but I can't. They're also talking very very loud and it's so irritating. And it's not English so I can't even eavesdrop. but positive note is when it's done, the office can move downstairs and then the office can be turned into the nursery!
Car seat question: The safest place to put a car seat is in the middle seat to avoid passenger-side air bags. However, from what I have experienced, most parents put their children in a side seat. The side seat seems so much easier for getting kids in and out of the car as opposed to the middle. Does anyone here use the middle seat?
@Sbrown721 We used the middle until about two months ago (when DD was 18 months). She'd still be in the middle now, but we moved her behind the driver to fit my nephew's carseat in one day. At that time, it became apparent to me how much easier it was to get her in from the side while being pregnant. Considering she's going to have to go the the side when LO2 gets here, we left it as is. However, I wouldn't have done it while she was my only child/I wasn't pregnant.
Re the gorilla thing: "Accident" is exactly the word. We can point blame and say who did what wrong all day but it won't change what happened. It is such a detrimental thing in our culture to judge (other) parents without knowing the details. That mom is human and she deserves to be forgiven.
@sbrown721 we did behind the passenger seat with DS1 b/c it was a lot more difficult to get him in/out of the middle. When we had DS2, he moved behind the driver seat and DS2 behind the passenger. Visibility is pretty compromised with RFing in our car too.
@Sbrown721I have always had my LO in the middle seat and will be keeping him there when the new LO comes because that is what the person who did our car seat safety check said was safest but it is definitely harder getting them in and out. It's better to have the infant rear facing on the side and a forward facing child in the center to even out the safety or something I think.
@Sbrown721 - The owner's manual to my car actually recommended car seat installation on the side versus center.
In regards to the gorilla incident, I think people who want to blame the parent's simply assume that they weren't paying attention because all too often do they see children running around wildly while the parents do nothing. It's pretty obvious that the adults in this situation weren't monitoring the child as well as they needed to be. However, the authorities have said that they are not planning to bring any sort of neglect charges to the mother so they have obviously concluded that this isn't a case of criminal neglect.
Complete random - I realized the song that I have recently been enjoying on the radio is sung by none other than Justin Bieber. I'm very disappointed in myself and feel that I've just signed a small part of my soul over to the devil.
@Sbrown721- we always have had my son behind the driver's seat. Although middle may be considered the safest it was not feasible for us. In my old car, my husband couldn't drive comfortably with the carseat behind his seat (allowing for an inch between his seat and carseat), so he was always the passenger if we used my car. If we had the carseat in the middle my husband could not have ridden in either of the front seats for any distance. It is also significantly easier to lift the infant seat in and out of the passenger side of the vehicle. For us - the level of safety we felt from the rear-facing carseat used properly on the driver's side was enough.. for others it might not be. With 2 soon we'd have a hard time fitting them side by side if one was in the middle, so we will move my older son to the passenger rear side and put baby on the driver's side.
@marajay6 that's what mine said too but then the car seat check people did no so I changed it but I don't really know if that's what j should have done.
@Sbrown721- we always have had my son behind the driver's seat. Although middle may be considered the safest it was not feasible for us. In my old car, my husband couldn't drive comfortably with the carseat behind his seat (allowing for an inch between his seat and carseat), so he was always the passenger if we used my car. If we had the carseat in the middle my husband could not have ridden in either of the front seats for any distance. It is also significantly easier to lift the infant seat in and out of the passenger side of the vehicle. For us - the level of safety we felt from the rear-facing carseat used properly on the driver's side was enough.. for others it might not be. With 2 soon we'd have a hard time fitting them side by side if one was in the middle, so we will move my older son to the passenger rear side and put baby on the driver's side.
I'm glad you brought up your husband not being able to fit. Fiance is 6'4" and he definitely will not be able move his seat into a comfortable position with the car seat in the way.
Re: May Randoms Thread
Don't get me started on the judgment that's being flung every which way. Unless you were there and saw exactly what happened, people need to STFU. Parenting isn't easy. Parenting a 3-4 year old is really not easy. No matter how vigilante you are, they're fast and you can lose them in a split second. There are no perfect parents.
Oh!! I don't know if I told but fiance felt the baby!! He almost cried. I did cry,
and yesterday my little brother felt him too! Brother had his hand on my stomach and baby was really moving so it went something like this
"Did you feel that?"
"No"
"Did you feel that?"
"No"
"Did you feel that?"
"No"
"Did you feel that?"
"Holy Sh*T Yes!"
But.. they are so disgusting. Luckily my dog is white, we keep her hair short in the summer and we don't go into the woods often... so we really don't see more than 1 or 2 per season but when we do - BLECHHHHH!
I would advise anyone making judgments of the mother needs to keep in mind that everything you're basing your judgments on seems to be entirely from social media accounts, and we all know how reliable that is. Eyewitness accounts following tragic accidents are notoriously faulty/wrong. Just keep that in mind.
I've seen nothing regarding verified facts about how the child ended up in the enclosure. And yet, everyone wants to judge and blame someone. There are no winners here.
Again, there is no such things as a perfect parent. Not even close.
That part is baffling to me. It's meant to keep a 400 pound gorilla in but it couldn't keep a four year old child out?
- the gorillas behiavor was mostly protective. The dragging is a natural gorilla behavior if they become nervous. This only happened when everyone started screaming and shouting above the exhibit.
-gorillas can be violent but usually are not, especially in captivity. If the gorilla was going to hurt the boy he probably would have done it by then
-primates are known to pull out tranquilizer darts, so if they tried to tranquilize, they would have likely had to shoot him over and over, which would agitate him greatly and put the boy at risk
-this gorilla did not respond to the handlers cues to bring him out of the exhibit, the other gorillas did obey.
-zoo exhibit ms have strict standards around how they need to be set up. Getting in would not be a feat that would only take a child a few seconds. It would have taken minutes. Nobody saw this happening?
overall, a very sad situation, where a beautiful animal paid the ultimate price for the stupidity of zoo-goers
Eta: That by no means makes him a primate specialist, but he has more inside understanding of this kind of situation than I do.
In regards to the gorilla incident, I think people who want to blame the parent's simply assume that they weren't paying attention because all too often do they see children running around wildly while the parents do nothing. It's pretty obvious that the adults in this situation weren't monitoring the child as well as they needed to be. However, the authorities have said that they are not planning to bring any sort of neglect charges to the mother so they have obviously concluded that this isn't a case of criminal neglect.