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: Names
If it's a boy, we are 80% sure it will be Aidan Frances, my maiden name, and then our last name. Frances would be after my FIL, that is his name.
Diagnosed with PCOS March '10 - Started 1000mg of Metformin
After 3 unsuccessful Clomid cycles, FSH+Ovidril+IUI+Progesterone=BFP!
Time to make Emilie a big sister!
May '16 2.0: Letrozole+FSH+Menopur+Ovidril+IUI+Progesterone=BFP! first beta-45.44, second beta-148
However, she is insistent that this baby must be a sister, so clearly is must be a Claire
We have the most generic last name ever. So while I love all the top 100 names, we avoid because of DHs experiences being 1 of 4 identical first name/last name combos in his grade all thru school.
DS is Micah Franklin. The only boy name I'm loving right now is Miles. Thoughts on have two Mi names in the house? Too tongue twisty/matchy-match?
Boys names are harder - dh wants to name a boy John after his dad who died when he was 17 & whilst i like the sentiment im not keen on the name itself (even tho it was my grandas name too) and feel like a bit of a bitch for not wanting to name a potential son after his dad cause it would mean a lot to him. I dont mind it so much as a middle name but so far i dont have any alternative suggestions for boys names so just kind of move on from the name conversations quickly.
Our son is Luke, if this little one is a girl she'll be Hannah. Violet is a favorite of mine, too, but I can't talk the husband into it, and I do love the name Hannah. We can't agree on a name for a second boy, but I'm going to push for Isaac.
BFP #1- March 4 (MC March 24)
BFP #2- May 26
Any boy Italian names that y'all love? It can't be too "Italian" or DH can't pronounce it. My idea for announcing the pregnancy to my sister is to ask her to send us baby name books from Italy (she lives there now).
Me: 33 & DH: 33
Married: 07/2006
TTC: 10/2015
BFP #1: 11/2015, MC 12/2015 (7 weeks)
BFP #2: 06/2016, EDD 2/15/2017
I would really like the name Rhoyce Nicholas, but my husband says his friend would get too big of an ego if we used the middle name Nicholas.
We are torn on girl names. I like different names and he like common names. Jenna is the only one we are agreeing on right now.
DH also doesn't really like to seriously talk about it since we don't know if baby is a girl or boy yet.
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
That why I can't get on board with H obsession with the name Jameson, especially in his Irish whiskey loving family @bdesterhouse
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Started TTC #1 November 2015
BFP 6/10/2016 - EDD 2/22/2017
My nonna and nonno came from Italy too. And my mom's maiden name is Pirruccio. So many of her cousins are named Dominic. And we have a lot of Gregory (Gregorio) too
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
I love Ace for a boy. I loved the Mia short for Amelia someone mentioned.
I don't have as many choices for girls but Elizabeth (Ellie), Leah, Rachel and Lydia are all names I like. I do love the names Tessa and Miranda (Mira) so it doesn't HAVE to be biblical if we can agree on something else.
Im thinking of waiting to start the discussion until we find out if it's a boy or girl. I will say my husband was the one who brought up my sons name so eventually we will find something.
Samuel Jacob
Due 2/16/17
@kswiger06 I love and suggested Lillian Mae, but DH wasn't a fan of Mae. I love Vivian, but we have a V last name and DH think it sounds like a stripper name. We both loved Leah, but too similar to Julia.
Girls names on the table: Charlotte (though it's so common it makes me rethink), Kylie (DH worries about association with Kardashian), Claire
Boys: My #1 is Tyler, DH loves Kyle. I would love some honest opinions about Kyle. Sometimes I like it, but then there's something that sort of rubs me the wrong way. David (after my dad), Cole, Nicholas (DH doesn't like nn Nick). Boy names stress me out!
Magdalena Lynne and Declan Lee. We have an Irish Mc- name so they will both be a bit syllable heavy but I don't caaare. Both middle names come from my side of the family.
My mom still thinks we're naming it "McSquishy" because I've had my heart set on these for years but can't handle unsolicited naming advice from family right now. I'm thinking it may be a "surprise" for family and friends once the kid is here and it's too late to change. Lol.
@laurenmichael725 Kyle can go either way. All the Kyles I've known are either sweet, shy types who tend to be quite sensitive, or macho muscle men who might have more going on upstairs than they let show--or not. Middle name potential is great though!
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Started TTC #1 November 2015
BFP 6/10/2016 - EDD 2/22/2017
Me: 33 & DH: 33
Married: 07/2006
TTC: 10/2015
BFP #1: 11/2015, MC 12/2015 (7 weeks)
BFP #2: 06/2016, EDD 2/15/2017
The problem I have is that I've worked in schools for over 10 years now and I feel like I associate every single name with students I've had. I also have a huge extended family that I'm close with and don't want to use the same name as one of my 40+ cousins.
At some point once we know what we're having, DH and I will have to sit down with our list of name ideas and veto/negotiate.
IDGAF.
Samuel Jacob
Due 2/16/17
Last time we were super set on Charlotte Elizabeth if it was a girl, but then the royal baby came along and it seems like Charlotte has skyrocketed in popularity.
We both randomly said we like Lucas for a boy this time around, but no MN yet and can't decide on girls' names yet.
Since we're having twins, this is going to be extra hard this time!
Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016.
Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
They will be forever missed.
Boy: Ridley Joseph
Girl: Mary Jean
we just have always liked the name Ridley and my husband's first name is Joseph and he's a 3rd. We (mostly me) didn't want to go to a 4th. Just a warning for people with Jr and III your credit will probably get messed up. When they ran DH's credit for his truck they had stuff from way before he was born on it.
Mary is DH's grandmas name and Jean is his mom's middle name. I kind of wanted the middle name to be Jane (mine and my mom's middle name) but we didn't like that it was a drug reference so when DH came up with Jean we were pretty excited.
Married: October, 19, 2015
EDD 2/22/17
EDD 3/8/20
EDD 11/24/23
(Formerly Marriedhamstermom Feb ‘17)