Latest news with #firstborn
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
My husband and I moved in with my parents before I had our daughter. They helped us through the first 6 months of her life.
When I was 38 weeks pregnant, my husband and I had to move in with my parents. I wanted to nest, but I was in my childhood bedroom. It was a familiar space, but it wasn't ours. Their support was invaluable, even if there were a few stressful moments. When I stepped back into my childhood bedroom and slumped down on the bed at 38 weeks pregnant, I felt a rush of emotions. It was February 2021, and my husband and I were in the process of selling our first home. The whole process had dragged on so long that everyone was stressed. Although we'd tried our best to find another house to move into, a few deals had fallen through, and with the baby coming, we decided to cut our losses, sell our house, and move back in with my parents, who live an hour away from our house and the hospital. They were generous in offering up their space. We were lucky to be welcomed with open arms, but it still wasn't our home, and I couldn't nest properly, so I worked out my nesting urges by making sure we had everything possible we could for the baby. We invaded with baby supplies, and as parcel after parcel arrived at their home, I saw their eyes widen. When a new baby bath arrived, which I cooed over excitedly, my mother asked, "Why have you bought a bucket to bathe the baby in?" I was slightly hurt that while I was feeling excited over these purchases for our firstborn, it felt as though she saw them as unnecessary, but I soon got over it. I packed hospital bags, washed tiny clothes, and checked the car seat fitted into the car a million times. It was all I could do. And not once did my parents complain about us encroaching on their space. When my baby girl was born at the end of March, the support from my parents was invaluable. They were there to help us, new, clueless, and exhausted parents, every step of the way. During nights of particularly bad sleep, for example, they took the baby and put her in her bouncer while my husband and I grabbed an extra hour of rest. However, sometimes, their gentle guidance could become slightly too much. Sometimes, my mom, who clearly adored her grandchild but also couldn't stop being my mother, would insist on taking my daughter for a walk so I could rest, while all I wanted to do was lie with her on the bed. Another time, she referred to my daughter as her baby. It was a lighthearted remark and showed the depth of love she felt for her grandchild, but I struggled hearing it; it felt like I was being relegated to the role of child yet again, instead of being seen as a parent. Still, watching my parents spend hours with my tiny girl, bonding, loving and being enchanted by her, are moments that I will never forget, and they never complained when a planned six weeks turned into six months. After feverishly house hunting and several more disappointments, we finally found something, and when my daughter was six months old, we moved into our own home, two hours away. As we drove away from my parents' house, I felt a pang. I'd never expected to spend six months living with my parents at 30, and I'd also never have guessed they'd be such an instrumental part in the first stage of my daughter's life. We managed to navigate the time without really losing our tempers or ruining our relationship, and I will be forever grateful for the love they showed and continued to show us. I knew I would miss them after that chapter in our relationship ended — and I do. But when we moved into our own space and started to stretch our wings, it felt right. One day we might even move nearer them again. For now, we love our house, and our spare room is always open to them as the most cherished guests. Read the original article on Business Insider
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
The facial feature that means you're more likely to have a son
You might think that having a boy or a girl is completely up to chance. But expectant parents might be able to hazard a good guess – depending on what the father's facial features are like. Researchers wanted to find out whether certain traits in parents were linked to the sex of their firstborn. The team, from the University of Michigan, recruited 104 pairs of parents with at least one child. Both were asked to submit facial photographs which were rated for attractiveness, dominance and masculinity or femininity by university students. The results show that one certain characteristic was linked to an 83 per cent higher chance of having a son. And it could explain why the likes of Tom Hardy, Russell Crowe and Jason Statham all had sons as their first child. So, can you work out what it might be? Their analysis, published in the journal Adaptive Human Behaviour and Physiology, revealed that fathers whose faces were rated as more dominant were more likely to have a firstborn son. This result held no matter their level of attractiveness, masculinity or age. They found that each increase in perceived dominance was linked to an 83 per cent greater chance of having a son. However, there was no similar effect seen for mothers' facial dominance. 'In our sample of romantic couples, we found that fathers with more dominant-looking faces were more likely to have sons for a first-born child,' study author Benjamin Zubaly told PsyPost. The team said one theory is that when women have higher testosterone levels around the time of conception – a factor linked to having male children – they may prefer dominant-looking males. This preference, in turn, could influence the likelihood of having a son. 'These results suggest that fathers' facial dominance might influence the likelihood of a couple producing male offspring,' the team wrote. As part of the study, university students were asked to rate how 'masculine' the faces of participants were (stock image) 'We propose a plausible mechanism through which maternal personality, hormones, and mate preferences influence the sex of offspring. 'Relationships between facial cues of dominance and offspring sex warrant further investigation.' The findings could go some way towards explaining why particular celebrities – who arguably have more 'dominant' faces – have sons as their firstborn child. Tom Hardy's eldest child is his son Louis, Russell Crowe's eldest is his son Charles, and Jason Statham's eldest is his son Jack. Meanwhile perhaps less 'dominant-faced' celebrities, including Zayn Malik and Keith Urban, have firstborn daughters. 1 - Popularity Men appear more attractive if they're popular with other women, according to scientists. The theory is that women are especially attracted to men with partners because they are more likely to be kind and faithful - which makes them 'good mates'. 2 - Money Women are more likely to find men attractive if they think they have a bulging wallet, a new study has found - but for men it's still all about the looks. A recent study suggests that women are four times as sensitive to salary when considering a male partner as men are when choosing a female partner. 3 - Muscles When it comes to what women want, muscular, tall men still win out, a recent Austrlian study suggests. Scientists showed a group of 160 women photographs of shirtless, faceless men and asked to give them an attractiveness rating. The results show men who looked strong, with muscular arms and toned torsos, did far better than those who had worked a little less hard at the gym. 4 - Intelligence It seems that, for some, looks and personality really don't matter. Nearly one in ten people find intelligence to be the most attractive feature in a partner - a trait known as sapiosexuality, according to researchers at the University of Western Australia.
