you get the idea 😅

then I wrote a little about her - she loves a costume change & believes in fairies. she loves to be fancy but also has the skills to collect food from the forest & tucks her teddies into bed with a goodnight kiss every night. she is soft, she is tough, she cries when she’s sad & loves to read.

i’ve moved from little cards to just adding a little note to her at the end of my journal entries now. I also created a little album in my phone of specifically the younger me I’m thinking of - not the perfect little girl I had to be, but the goofy, messy, loves to pose for a pic which mom hates one

aw I’m glad you like it!! I’m excited to hear how it goes for you. it’s definitely hard. I also write her a note like I used to do for the kids I work with. stuff like “you did SO good at writing your presentation for tomorrow. I know you will do an awesome job when you share it. I am proud of you!”

i’m working on this too! I set my lock screen with pictures of younger me to help remind me.

the jeans in question

I love my old navy barrel jeans & I also look a little silly in them 🤭

I thought I mis-heard that lyric omg

if you have any other questions or want to tell me to fuck off - please feel free to message me, even if you just need validation & support. sending you so much love & care as you navigate this chapter of your life & I hope with all my heart that you have everything you need to manage & care for it.

electrolytes, etc.) on her own, but a beta blocker definitely helped her. but again, that’s a very personal choice & I am not a doctor, nor can I give medical advice but I’ve been sick with POTS for almost 4 years & I’ve seen/done/experienced/researched A LOT of things so this is just my 2 cents.

people with POTS who have a very mild experience. if you have a good relationship with your PCP you could ask for a beta-blocker to help manage some of the symptoms you’re experiencing. my best friend has mild POTS & is a nurse so she’s already doing a lot of things for it (compression socks,

whispers will keep it from having to scream to get you to listen. like Tay said - unless you’re looking for accommodations or access to care, a formal diagnosis might not be something you need or want & I want to honor that because you are valid with or without a diagnosis & there definitely are

so you can supplement where needed.

I hear you when you say you don’t want to deal with the hassle of it all, it’s very daunting & lonely, that’s a very valid feeling & I’m glad that you are paying enough attention to your body to notice the symptoms you’re having. listening when your body

increase your salt intake (or electrolyte drinks), prioritize movement to avoid deconditioning, do everything in your power to avoid letting your heart rate increase because the move often & longer your heart rate is high, the worse you’ll feel over time.
- get some bloodwork done with your PCP

the following:
- track your symptoms. it might seem silly given that your experience is mild, but having records will make any future stuff easier. the hope is that you never need it, but it’s a safety net. there are apps that make this easy (my personal favorite is Guava).
- treat it like POTS.

so…. not to be a downer here, but POTS is likely to get worse over time, especially because POTS is always a secondary condition with a separate underlying cause. depends on where you’re located & what you have access too. if you don’t want to look into diagnosis, I would at the very least recommend

the first thing my partner did was laugh when I showed her