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: June Randoms Thread
My TMI is that while yes, I have struggled with constipation during pregnancy, I more often feel like the baby helps me poop way more than I have have before! For example, I used to NEVER go in a public restroom. I would endure horrible belly aches and cramps at work and wait until the end of the day to go home and relieve myself. However since becoming pregnant, I find I get diarrhea more often than not or I can no longer endure the belly aches and I have to go wherever I am at. I am actually quite grateful as it has helped me conquer my fear of pooping in public and now I get to feel way more comfortable most days since I just give in and go wherever I am at. I suspect I have irritable bowel syndrome that this pregnancy has intensified but either way, I go almost twice a day now when it used to be once a day if lucky or more like 3-4 times a week only.
First time mom to a human but have been a puppy mamma for over 12 years
Friday, the day before our giant annual BBQ, I cleaned out our fridge to make room for the party food/drinks/etc. I had the doors open for a bit so a while later, when the fridge alarm sounded due to high internal temperature, we didn't think much of it... Fast forward to 9pm and it still hadn't reached an appropriate temperature, we realized we had a problem.
The service place associated with where we bought the fridge (only 14 months ago, I might add!) wasn't able to schedule service for us until today but had noooo problem wasting an hour of my time Friday night trying to sell me extended appliance warranties and sign-ups for estimates on other services like siding, windows, countertops, etc. Seriously? Forget all of that - can we just get our fridge fixed?
So, the morning of the party, we bought a mini fridge and an extra cooler and LOTS of ice and made it through the party the best we could. (The BBQ turned out great, I might add, so a win there!)
The technician is at our house now, with DH. I can't wait to see what this costs us...for a 14-month old fridge. (I know I already mentioned that...just so annoyed that it's still basically "new" but of course not new enough to fall under the 12-month warranty.) Gah!
So a bit of mixed reasonings but the basic answer is - My husband preferred Emmett. I can't picture my son as anything but Emmett now, but I still absolutely adore both names.
Edited to add: we kept the name a secret and when I mentioned considering Everett as well my dad said it was his grandfather's middle name.. I NEVER KNEW!! Missed opportunity right there...
@JennM205 Sorry to hear about your 14 month old refrigerator crapping out (you're right... that's too soon! I'd be pissed, too). But glad to hear your BBQ went well!
@JennM205 Ugh! Sorry about the fridge! Glad you made it through the BBQ!
Anyway. Saturday was my birthday - yay! Except it turned out to be a roller coaster of mood swings and feelings and just ugh.
We went up north to Duluth, MN, which is a cool little lakeside city, with about 10 really good friends, but for some reason I was riding the pregnancy hormone roller-coaster and couldn't 100% enjoy the trip. The weather was all over the place - from perfect sunshine and temps, to a little cloudy, to full on severe storming, and my friends were also all over the place. The whole day revolved around drinking and sampling from various local breweries, which obviously I can't participate in. Normally, it doesn't bother me to tag along to brewery crawls, or be around people in total party mode when I can't drink, but like I said, I was riding a mood swing roller coaster so for one second I was totally cool with everything and then one second later I'd be all grumpy or angry or sad. I tried to reign in the crazy, and I think I did for the most part, but overall, I left the weekend feeling grumpy and not satisfied about anything.
My moods are usually so even keeled and I'm just not accustomed to mood swings at all so when they happen I just feel like I can't deal! I would seriously be laughing my heart out with joy one second and ready to bawl because I was feeling lonely or isolated the next.... I felt a bit like this in the first tri too, but I also slept through most of the first trimester. Is anyone else feeling especially moody lately? Any tips on how to make it better?! I'm not sure how I'll be able to do 12 more weeks of crazy drop of the hat mood swings!
Side note: Your company sounds lovely and very brag-worthy with that raise and lack of eval structure...I'm officially jealous!
Happy belated birthday @PoodleDoodleOoo!
I'm headed to my PCP this afternoon. The chest cold has now moved to my ears and I want to get a jump on any potential ear infections. I have felt like crap since Wednesday and the Robitussin DM that my OB approved isn't doing much...
DS1 -- 9/30/2016
I turned 30 when I was pregnant for my first. I was planning on a big party, figuring I'd be happy even if I was the only one not drinking. Luckily, we did a 4th of July party at our house beforehand, and I realized that kind of party was actually not what I wanted. I think your moods (in this particular situation) were normal and warranted. I don't have much advice on how to handle them when they arise, though. My pregnancy moodiness is akin to my PMS moodiness, and I just ride it out until it's over and pray my husband doesn't get sick of me.
be promoted...but that's a story I'll be saving for you kids to read on TW Tuesday
@UnwritteN12 did you have any symptoms when you were diagnosed with pneumonia? I am so short of breath at night when I get up to pee, and first thing in the morning. I can only breathe in so far before my chest tickles to the point that I'm coughing. It's kind of like breathing in super, super cold air. And then as te morning goes on, I can breathe in more and more and more until it's almost normal. But still, all day it's like I can't breathe in as deeply as normal. Is that normal?? lol Dr. UnwritteN12.
We have mid and end of year reviews based on goals we have to make for ourselves. One has to be student based, one teacher based. Both are equally annoying and time consuming which takes time away from the things that are more important, like lesson planning and teaching!? But I digress...
In regards to public pooping, a runner once taught me a trick. Layer the water with tp before you poo, if possible, and no sounds will be had! It works like a charm.
I'm off to take a nap. DS1 fell asleep in the ride home from being out and about thankfully and I'm so tired. I miss being able to starfish though
Im tired of the girls in my group having a poop standoff. When two people are both trying to poop and waiting for the other to leave before they will actually poop? Just freaking fart, girls. We all poop. Everybody poops.
@Sporty1216 I'm in the same boat with clothes...my options are seriously dwindling and I just cannot justify buying more stuff this late in the game! I did, however, find a really cute sundress at Old Navy last week. It was $40 which was more than I was hoping to spend but I wanted something for our BBQ and - bonus! - am also planning on wearing it to two (informal) weddings this month! One win among several clothing "losses"...but I'll take it!
I'm a mess at work today. I have a serious case of the Mondays! This new, huge project is stressing me out and nothing seems to be going to plan today. On top of it, I asked a few different people across the organization for what I thought were very simple requests - but keep getting emails back on each request saying they don't know what I'm talking about or can't provide what I'm asking for. Am I speaking a foreign language? (Seriously. For a second, I had to re-read my requests to make sure I was making sense and that pregnancy brain hadn't jumbled something up.) Trying to laugh it all off and try to get something accomplished.
Thank goodness it's Bachelorette night. #theonlygoodthingaboutmondays
Oh my! 60 posts since I was up reading the thread at 3 am PST. Thanks, insomnia!
@JennM205 I may need to steal that and try it with DH. I’m finding I’m getting more emotional and having a little less patience each day
@Sporty1216 what about yoga pants/capris? I bought several pairs of stretchy black capris and they had better make it through a possible RCS. If not, well then its pj pants. My “don’t give a damn” is creeping up
@AmMcc12 I’m sorry you’re still dealing with that. Hope they give you something more powerful and that you feel better soon!
@PoodleDoodleOoo happy belated birthday!
Baby Boy had me so worried these past few days. There was considerably less movement Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, even with the elective ultrasound we had done on Saturday. I managed to get myself worked up yesterday when he was quiet even after meals and especially after my middle-of-the-night snacking at 3 am. He usually gets wild with food but I was getting maybe 3 or 4 light kicks…truthfully, I wasn’t convinced they were from him and not gas. I decided I was going to call my doctor’s office when they opened this morning. He, however, had other plans. He kicked me at least 5 times on the way to work and he’s been doing karate chops since I’ve been sitting at my desk. That’s not nice to scare mommy like this, little boy!
DD 10/4/02
DS due 9/28/16
Also.. this baby feels like he's trying to expand my ribs. I don't feel like he's particularly high or low, but the huge movements are all up high and my ribs are so achy lately
My random, I went to the dentist for fillings this morning, and 4+ hours later my mouth is still numb. I've never had it last this long before and it's driving me bonkers.
July: Patriotic Fails