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: UO
So you believe in abortion by lack of medical intervention.
And you knew you would offend people, you wrote about willingly letting a baby die on a message board full of PARENTS, so don't apologize when we all know you don't mean it.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
At this rate June scares me! It just keeps getting worse each month!!
Well aren't you a peach. So thanks for completely disregarding the fact that we carried children for nine months, and also the fact that maybe our kids wouldn't have made it without a c/s, you self righteous twatwaffle.
Also, don't worry about people asking how you're feeling every day. People have to like you for that to happen.
Andplusalso, this:
@redrosepinkdaisy : this is not only horribly ignorant it's also offensive. Medical emergencies are beyond a mother's control. They most certainly delivered/birthed their child. They just needed help. Holy shit. I've had 2 vaginal births & I don't have my head up my ass about it.
You also NEVER know what your birth will be like. Right now you are like 2 seconds pregnant. Have you even gone through labor? A birth plan means shit if there are complications. Would you rather your baby die or stick to your arbitrary piece of paper? That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. Your birth could end in Csection even if you don't want it. They might rush you there to save you or your baby's life. Oh wait, shit, you appear to be a religious whack job. You would actually let your baby die???!!! Holy fucking shit!
@jmejme : bravo!! I heart you!
Oh hai Parenting Board! I love seeing y'all here. Common sense FTW!
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
Edit typos
TTC #1 since February 2011
C/P 5W3D
Betas 8/30 (108) and 9/3 (565)
Me: 29 (3/5/13- high NK cells) DH: 28 (5/8/12- MFI low morph and motility)
Cycle #21 (IUI#1), Cycle #22 (HSG 9/21/12) and Cycle #23 (IUI#2)=
Cycle #24- December Snow Bunny IVF #1
ER 12/6/12 (14R, 11M, 9F), ET 12/9/12 transferred 2 day 3 embies
Bleeding and low betas=very cautious
Cycle #26 March Lucky Duck- FET #1
scheduled 3/20/13- CANCELLED- lining issues
Cycle #27 May Emerald- FET #1.2
delayed- Starting Trental for 3 months + natural cycles Cycle #28-30=
Cycle #31 August Shooting Star- FET #1.3
transferred 1 hatching blast 8/21/13=
U/S 9/19/13- HR is 128! U/S #2 10/4/13- HR is 174!
It's a BOY!
@redrosepinkdaisy:
@redrosepinkdaisy's labor suite
Yeah, you have never lost a baby.
I never say anything on these. I just read and keep my negative comments to myself.
You seem to of got off Scott free due to the moron who would rather let her baby die then have a c-section. But for me this hits way to close. So let me just say this, I don't smoke. I have no "risk" factors and have had two consecutive losses. What did I do to cause those?
Congratulations. You didn't get first place for stupidity. However, you did get second which is quite an achievement.
Getting the popcorn cart out. This one is gonna keep going.
BFP #1 - DS 2007
BFP #2 - 8/25/13 - mmc 10/10/13
BFP #3 - 1/14/14 - EDD 9/30/14
See, ladies, UO threads aren't pointless. They help us weed out the crazies for if we ever do make a FB group.
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
Also @redrosepinkdaisy if you aren't Christian then what is this Higher Power thing you are talking about? In the words of Law & Order's Jack McCoy: "you opened the door. Don't be upset when we walk through it."
Explain why you feel the way you do.
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
Story:
Please do not read if you are particularly sensitive about medical complications. Our perfect handsome son Isaac Emmanuel was born by c section yesterday morning after more than 24 hours of active labor, 4 hours of hard pushing. Things started out okay. I made it to 9cm all on my own without any pain meds. It was empowering. Then they broke my waters because they thought I progressing. That's when life got difficult.Not getting into all the gory details but I ended up with an emergency c section and then my uterus wouldn't contact and stop bleeding. So I had an emergency hysterectomy too. I am still reeling from all of this and trying to process it all. It feels like it must be a bad dream and that I'll wake up from it eventually. I can't even cry because it hurts too much, physically. I haven't gotten to attend a lot of time with my son yet either. So all of my wonderful plans of skin to skin contact, breastfeeding immediately, and more have gone down the drain. My incision hurts too much to hold him. Especially because I'm bedridden. I should be able to get up today sometime they tell me. I ended up b needing a blood transfusion night. I am still pretty numb physically and emotionally. You can send this to whoever, but if you are on my Facebook please don't put anything about this out there. I still have some family and friends to notify. Isaac was 9lb 8 oz at birth and a whopping 23 inches.
@cinemagoddess
BFP #1 - DS 2007
BFP #2 - 8/25/13 - mmc 10/10/13
BFP #3 - 1/14/14 - EDD 9/30/14
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
Nora - 10.26.12
Henry - 5.9.14
(Popping in from 0-3 and July 13) I'll come right out and say it...you are a disgusting, fuckng asshole. How DARE you tell me I didn't birth my children because I had c sections. I supposed I should have demanded they let me attempt a vaginal delivery of my daughter at 30 weeks while nearly hemorrhaging to death so I could be a "real" mother. I suppose I should just kill myself now because I was unable to VBAC my son since I never went into labor and never dilated...I should have let him stay in a few more weeks and risk him being stillborn just so I could live up to your pathetic ideal, huh? I stressed for weeks leading up to my due date and cried for weeks after because I wasn't able to try for a VBAC, and it's assholes like you that make that feeling even worse. You know what, bitch? I hope your perfect birth plan goes out the window and you end up with a c section...I also hope you feel the first cut before your meds kick in, you need a dose of reality.
Y'all. Higher Power = Tom Cruise.
Duh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65OdI4KF89k
ETA: It pisses me off that I couldn't find a freaking gif of this.
Married 11/24/07
Camille Rae 8/21/10
Thea Grace's EDD 5/22/14