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: ~ * May 2017 Birth Announcement Thread * ~
6lbs 1oz 19inches and a full head of dark hair!
Sweet Baby H 12.21.11
Sassy Baby P 03.26.14
Little Brother Due 05.22.17
Contractions started at 4 am, arrived at the hospital at 8:30, was at 6 cm at that point. Labored till 1:30 or so but not very effectively so the doctor broke the bag of waters. Then did an hour of pushing with the IV drugs, not successfully and in a lot of pain. Got the epidural - should've just got that from the start, my anesthesiologist was awesome. Pushed some more (thought either my face would explode or would faint lol) and then the baby got out screaming. He's super cute, with long lashes, dark hair, dark grey eyes, and a chin dimple just like his daddy's. Proud father cut the cord. I needed some stitches so they wheeled me off to the OR and I missed the shots and stuff. Anesthesia was blissful there too, didn't feel a thing for a while. We went home yesterday and are getting used to all the new things we do.
at 3. She was super excited to come out!! Everyone is doing well!!
we now have confirmation why my belly was so big...he weighs 9lb 2 oz and is 21" long!
Hes been a pretty sweet guy and is latching well.
We're obviously over the moon in love.
1st Baby 5/12/17, Henry
ETA picture
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
I wasn't planning an epidural but I changed my mind at around midnight when things weren't really progressing and I wanted to be able to get some sleep. I'm glad I did because I spent 5 hours pushing this morning..he wasn't breech but his head was in a weird position. To the ladies with non medicated births, I don't know how you did it, but I give you major props. I have a pretty high pain threshold but I felt like I was dying. Anyway after pushing for 5 hours, my doctor started pushing for a c section but the baby was not distressed and neither was I. I really didn't want a c so I asked if I could push a little while longer. We ended up needing a vacuum but I'm so happy I was able to deliver vaginally. So, it was an eventful birth but in the end we got our beautiful healthy boy. I'll post a pic later.
tldr: Baby got sick of being in the womb and broke her own water to get things going. Was born about 10 hours later.
With my first two I went through early labor then had the water break during labor or at the end. From first contraction to baby it was always about 8 hours.
This time was totally different. First off, I went so far overdue! Overnight at 3am, I went to pee and then while I was trying to fall back asleep Cassandra was moving around. I felt a little pop at 3:30am. DH was up because DS had needed help getting motn water. I said to DH, "I felt a pop. I'm going to slowly sit up and see if this is my water having broken." It was. To my surprise, contractions did not start up right away. When they did start around 4:15, they were far apart. They came in and out all morning and frankly I was concerned as someone who is GBS+. I was also surprised because labor was taking so much longer than it did with the other two. Like around 11am I was complaining that even though this was a normal timeline for other people it was moving slowly for me. Well...then things picked up very, very rapidly. I went from probably 5cm (a guess) to baby in about 90 min. I asked for an epidural probably around 6cm but it was too late. As it turned out this labor wasn't even much longer than the others due to the very rapid progression at the end.
The weirdest part of the delivery was that the placenta took a LONG time to detach and was actually really hard to get out! Honestly it felt like delivering a twin. I really had to push and it felt like another freaking head coming out. They said that can be common if your delivery is quite fast at the end. And because I had no epidural I had massive afterbirth pains until the pill drugs kicked in (percoset and ibuprofen).
I was supposed to be induced, the plan was, arrive at hospital at 6am, have a foetal CCG done, break waters, hook up pitocin and wait.
well, arrived at 6am had the CCG done, which showed strong but irregular contractions, so waters were broken at 7:45am, contractions got stronger so they decided to wait and see what happened over the next 1-2hrs, at 9am I asked for an Epidural, at 9:08am he was here.
He is 9lb 15oz (4.52kg) and 53cm long. The absolute spitting image of his older brother except with dark hair
DS - January 2014
TTCAL | April 2016
CP | June 2016
CP | July 2016
Mason Julius was born 5/15/17 at 6:26 pm weighing 7lbs 10 oz and 19.5 inches long.
I went in on May 14th to start my induction since i was a week overdue. They started the first drug to "ripen my cervix" around 10 pm. Around 1 am the baby was showing slight signs of distress due to the contractions. They decided to switch to to pitocin at that point. At 8 am my doctor came in and checked me and I was till 80% effaced and 1 cm dilated (which I had been since my 39 week appointment). At 10 a.m. they broke my water, when I was checked around 1pm still no progress. At 3 pm nurses came in and put me on oxygen because baby stats were not looking too good. Doctor came in at 5 pm to check me and I was still at 1 cm. Doctor suggested to "throw in the towel" especially since baby had showed minor distress signs throughout the labor. They got me prepped and gave me spinal anesthesia and performed the c-section.
Total Random: During my C Doctor discovered that I had no left ovary. Apparently it never developed so I had NO idea! My poor husband started getting worried because it was taking so long to get me back into recovery but the the doctor was looking around to make sure all was OK after the missing ovary situation
It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s that I don’t know you. Stranger Danger.
Eta: can't spell
Me:31 DH:32 Married 11/06/10
DD: Born 8/23/13 (clomid+ovidrel+IUI)
BFP 9/9/16 EDD 5/19/17
Rainbow Surprise Baby due 05/26/2017
What another May17 whirlwind! Induction set for Thurs. but woke up to a contraction tues at 2am (not unusual) and tried to time them and wait it out which has just been ending in a whole lotta nothing. But this time they had more intensity and were anywhere from 3-7mins apart. So I told DH and got in the bath at 4. Called the on-call Dr. at 5 and said we'd be in within the hour. I got to the point where I couldn't move or talk through contractions so DH tried to help me throw the rest of my bag together and get DD up and in the car. We dropped her off at in-laws and got up to L&D by 6:30. Got changed and in the bed hooked up to monitors and checked and I was 8cm! Water broke (erm exploded) at 6:50 and against all the nurses saying "just breathe don't push!" She came sliding out at 6:55! No Dr. anywhere near. Already had a visit from big sister and she loves her so much! We are thrilled and hope to get a little rest!
8 LB 7 Oz, 20.5 inch
It was a stressful week prior to delivery. My doctor went against his policy of induction at 41 weeks and I was very adamant about a spontaneous labor and natural delivery.
Nonetheless, our little boy was born 12 days late and I was able to have the delivery I hoped for.
I had prelabor for 3 days prior. Woke up at 430 am with contractions 10 minutes apart. I labored at home until 1 p.m. when I couldn't focus or stand through contractions. Whwn we arrived at the hospital I was an 8 and 90% so they took me to my delivery room. I was so happy i was close to delivery i was giggling and laughing! My waters broke as i started gently pushing on my own. I quickly got to 10 after and the Dr came in. They had me lay down and pur my feet up for the rest which did not feel natural and it became hard for me to feel how to push. The baby became stuck and on distress.I was able to focus again and feel how to effectively push in the position and the baby was born quickly after. I pushed for about 15 minutes with the doctor present. Our little boy was able to breathe shortly after stimulation and suctioning of the lungs.
Barrett was born at 3:30 p.m.
It was so empowering to go without medication or interventions.
Recovery has been so much easier compared to my first, too.
We are home now and doing well!