Hello, let me introduce myself first..
For the first 30 years of my life, everything was smooth and worry-free. I was my parents’ most beloved child, found my true love in college, and happily married him after graduation.
At work, I was my boss’s most valued employee. Whenever I was in charge of a project, colleagues would inevitably say, “Oh, then I’m totally at ease.” I was constantly named “Employee of the Year,” with generous bonuses every year.
Later, I started my own business. Within just three months, I had broken into the market and started making money. By the fifth month, I was earning twice my previous salary. Growth was steady month after month. Right when the business needed more hands, I serendipitously met an amazing partner, and the company reached a whole new level.
Really, it seemed like at every step, whatever I needed, a pair of hands would always place it right in front of me, just in time.
My Two Girls: Ellie & Mia
Meet Ellie, My Firstborn
In 2020, my husband and I decided to have a child. After trying for over a year, we finally got the news in 2021 that a little one was on the way. In 2022, we welcomed our first child, Ellie. She made me a mother.
She is utterly adorable—big eyes, rosy skin, chubby little hands. Every time I look at her, I can’t help but give her a kiss. She is pure joy, and I love her more each day.
But as a first-time mom, I faced unprecedented difficulties. The postpartum tearing wouldn’t heal, and the pain was excruciating. Clogged milk ducts made my breasts hard as rocks. The severe sleep deprivation… And what was even more crushing was that, with zero parenting experience, I was clueless when faced with her unexplained wailing, night terrors, refusal to nurse, constipation, diarrhea, fevers… I desperately searched online, longing for one accurate, truly useful answer!
It was during this time that I thought, once I make it through this “dark” path, I must leave a light on for other new moms.
And Then Came Mia
Ellie had just turned one when I got pregnant again. In 2024, we welcomed our second daughter, Mia.
Completely different from Ellie, Mia is a great eater and sleeper. Although she had her fussy moments in the first two months, starting almost from month three, she became super easygoing. She feeds on schedule, gradually sleeps through the night, loves her solid foods, and adapted quickly when I had to stop breastfeeding due to mastitis.
This made me realize just how vastly different babies can be! It made me even more determined to write about my experiences.
Why I Had to Start This Blog
The Catalyst: A Life Pivoted
After Mia was born, my business also began to decline sharply. I had no choice but to close it and become a full-time mom. My work no longer involves Excel and Word, but instead revolves around changing diapers, washing bottles, making baby food, and managing household chores…
This has been a monumental challenge for me. All my past achievements seem irrelevant now. Managing two young children has brought me a sense of frustration I’ve never known before.
The Daily Reality
They are always fighting over things. When one is in my arms, the other immediately demands to be held too. When I try to cook, Ellie wants me to read her a book. When I attempt to load the washing machine, Mia has a diaper blowout, and I must drop everything to change her…
By the time I finish all that, I see the cup of hot coffee on the table has gone cold again. And it’s not until evening that I remember, “Oh my goodness, the clothes are still in the hamper, unwashed!”
Of course, being a mom is filled with happiness, but that doesn’t negate how hard it is.
My Promise to You
Because I’ve walked this path myself, I won’t just tell you how joyful motherhood is, like many websites do. I want to share my real, unfiltered experiences so every new mom can find a “companion” here.
I want to tell you: you are not alone. What you’re going through, I’ve been there too. Your breakdowns, your helplessness, your moments of losing control—I’ve had them all. You don’t need to feel guilty. This is just a small, necessary stretch of the journey for every mom.
My Hope for This Space
I really want to share my parenting experiences—not just the warm, glowing moments, but to honestly document the pitfalls I’ve stumbled into, the tears I’ve shed, and the “survival wisdom” I’ve scraped together in utter exhaustion.
The Goal: A Mom’s Toolkit
I hope this blog becomes a “mom’s toolkit,” filled not with vague theories, but with:
- Practical Tips: Like how to quickly figure out why a baby is crying, tried-and-true methods for dealing with clogged ducts, or how to efficiently manage the daily grind with twins (or two under two) solo.
- Pitfall Avoidance Guides: Sharing the baby products I regret buying the most, and those “game-changer” parenting hacks. Letting you know which parenting anxieties you can let go of, and which principles are worth holding onto.
- A Community for Moms: I hope my stories connect me with more moms like you. We can cheer each other on in the comments, share our own tricks, turning the storms we face alone into a journey we walk together.
The Bigger Vision
My previous career taught me to analyze data, solve problems, and optimize processes. Now, I’m applying all those skills to this new “position” of Mom. I want to prove that a mom’s value is absolutely not confined to the home. The mindset, resilience, and creativity we built in our careers can shine just as brightly—perhaps even brighter—in this more complex, long-term “project” of raising humans, and can even be transformed into a force that helps others.
My hope is simple: that every mom who opens this blog can let out a sigh of relief and say, “So it’s not just me.” Then, she can find a bit of practical info, a dose of comforting solidarity, and return to her sweet, chaotic mom-life with a little more confidence and a little less weight on her shoulders.
This road? Let’s walk it together.
Re: 18 weeks today
Everyone says i'm having a girl too, but I hope it's a boy! Morning sickness for me was very bad all the way up to now! Thank goodness its slowed down to the point I only get nausea when i wake up really early like 7am! I've been having weird dreams and my boyfriend says I moan really loud in my sleep! I find it funny because he thinks im having sex dreams, and i'm not as far as I can remember.
I'm super lucky. I have not had morning sickness. Maybe that's because I get up @ 430am and my body thinks its really night. I get a little nauseated if I wait too long to eat. Also I get heartburn if I eat spicy or too much (which is so easy to do!) I'm sore when I wake up from sleeping on my side...all these are a small price to pay! I'm so excited I can't wait to meet my little one. Its so funny how everyone just knows what I'm having. Everyone thinks I'm having a boy but I had a dream I'm having a girl. I don't care I just want baby to be healthy! Hope you feel better soon. Good luck ladies!!!
I had really bad nausea all through my first trimester and its died down, but isn't gone entirely. It used to be ALL DAY LONG (no vomiting), to the point where I was forcing little nibbles of food in and drinking lots of fluids, but lost about 10lbs. I have good days and bad days now. I definitely notice a difference when I wait too long to wait.
Since I'm having twins my doc says its probably the additional hormones that causes it, but.. what can I do. Im hoping these pregnancy pops I just bought will help.
Any one having achy, non rhythmic pains? Im not sure if my uterus is moving up or what, but.. its not nice.
18 weeks and 6 days today - and yep...STILL sick!
I haven't found anything that really helps - except slurpees!
Really cold things ease everything WHILE I am drinking it. But I am always ill feeling.
I get the out of breath thing too. It's weird...I am by no means super fit at all...AT ALL...but just little treks to and from the bathroom (which is still pretty far in my office) can wear me down a bit. But it's not a panting out of breath - just can't quite catch it.
I found out I am likely having a boy (a DNA test to test his blood type), but go in for my ultrasound next week...the day AFTER my baby shower! (I am moving, so my friends are throwing me one early before I go...
)
I hope everyone (including me!) starts feeling great soon!
The panting for breath sounds like me! Just going upstairs in our home, makes me wish we had purchased single level home. My husband suggested I talk the neighborhood, so we started walking about 1 week ago, but still, when I get home, I just wanna layout on the couch and get an oxygen tank. I know its good to exercise, but this shortness of breath was a bit scary at first.
My entire family and friends are completely split over a girl or boy. My husband has names for both. I can't wait to find out either. My momma wants a girl, as a matter of fact, she is always saying how's my granddaughter when I talk to her. We have 2 weeks left before the doc will tell us the sex and I can't wait!
Well I am not sure if I am even posting to the right thing but I am just having a hard time today, we went for our 18 week check up yesterday and the doctor said I gained 9 pounds in one month . I about died, I feel awful today. I decided to wear prepregnancy pants to work with the belly band to make me feel like I still look good. I've been really sick with a bad cold but today I am going to get back to my workout routine at the gym and get active again.
Is anyone else feeling like this?
So far week 18 is my favorite! My belly popped out, I started to feel baby move around, and I feel like I have more energy to clean up the house and get some projects done. We still have a lot of work to do converting our home office to the nursery but accomplishing those little projects, like clearing out a bookcase, just feels so rewarding.
Monita5133, did your doctor say the weight gain was bad? Depending on where you're at overall you might still be on track. I find my weight fluctuates a bit from day to day, maybe they caught you on a bad day. I've been pretty down about my weight gain too, but I just try to sub in healthier snacks when I splurge on a huge fast food lunch and I feel a little bit better about my diet.
I am 18 weeks tomorrow and my nausea had stopped for a few weeks and is now rearing it's ugly head again. The past 2 nights I've woken up at 3am feeling nauseous, but I don' thave the energy to get out of bed and go downstairs to get something to eat. I should try keeping some kind of snack beside my bed I guess. My husband is great and brings me a glass of milk (soothes my stomach for some reason) when I'm getting ready for work. He keeps asking me if I'm fighting someone in my dreams since I apparently mumble angrily and move around - I had to apologize for hitting him in the middle of the night even though I totally don't remember doing it!
I've been feeling more fat than pregnant but I think that's because I'm in that in-between stage where I'm sort of showing but not enough for maternity clothes to look good and my regular clothes are too tight. I cried the other night over not being able to find anything to wear to a birthday party - my poor husband has to deal witht hese random crying fits. I just bought a Zumba set because I knew I'd want it post-pregnancy and my doctor says the cardio is fine as long as I watch my heart rate and don't do any of the jumping moves (for fear of falling I guess?) and I also have a prenatal yoga dvd to start doing. Hopefully these make me a little more comfortable in my changing body.
Is anyone else HATING sleeping on their side??? I toss and turn so much because I'm only comfortable on one side for an hour or two then I need to flip - I feel like a rotisserie chicken! And it wakes my husband every time, the poor guy sometimes gets up and goes to the guest room if he has to get up early and needs his sleep. At least he doesn't ask me to leave the big bed . . . .
Hello everyone,
The protien shakes do work, but ive noticed a difference in my appetite if I drink a protien shake in the mornings to help with the nausea, i dont seem to want to eat till late afternoon. It was making me worry, so i asked my doctor if my loss of appetite was affecting the growth of my super active baby girl. My doctor told me that since she is ahead in growth, she is 8oz at 18 weeks, that the protien could be adding to her growth as well and i should cut down on the protien shakes and just have a fruit smoothy. I think the smoothies are working better for the nausea. My mother had morning sickness the whole 9 months she was pregnant with me and mine is turning out to be the same way. Im sick even during the night I find myself waking up with pressure in my stomach and intence nausea.
I found out last week that im having a baby girl, we are super excited. My husband was a little stand offish at first, but he is now talking about all the things he would enjoy doing with her when she gets older; fishing... ect.
I hope you all are doing well during your 2nd trimester!
I'm still having a lot of nausea too! It got better for a while, then came back. I don't know if my body is getting used to the anti-nausea meds or what...but I'm sick of throwing up and not feeling like eating much!
I think I've got it even worse because my husband and I moved to Ecuador and RIGHT AFTER found out I was pregnant. So, not only am I having to adjust to being pregnant and not feeling well....I have no comforts of "home". I just want to be a good mom and have a healthy baby and when I throw everything up...I feel like the worst mom ever!