I’ve never even heard of slack! Is it a social media platform or more forum style?
Most of my fb activity is in my mom groups, and I joined a couple crochet groups that I browse occasionally. I’m tired of fb in general but do love the two groups I’m in that started here!
@bblair24 my last BMB (March 19) went both ways - some to FB and some to a private BMB (some went to both). We were down to a smaller group in the private BMB and just switched to slack and it’s pretty easy to use and user friendly. You can have hashtags for the threads within the board, and you can post pretty similarly to in here within each thread.
I’m indifferent on when but I’ll be really sad if it goes to FB and I can’t participate anymore.
Omg I can't wait to migrate to Facebook! I use the desktop version and I've been finding it hard to make the time to hop on lately! Facebook would be much easier and I'm really looking forward to migrating away from this site
ETA: or some other easy to use app via my phone (not my intention to leave anyone out by using Facebook!! although Facebook would be my vote just based on its ease!)
Scheduled myself a prenatal massage for Friday and I am SO EXCITED for some self care. I have really put myself last during the pandemic and it's taking a toll. I also got on the schedule to get my hair done in early February and seriously can't wait to get back on the schedule for dermaplaning/brow mapping. Those services have been shut down in my area since Thanksgiving and my brows are in BAD shape.
We just ordered our new king bed (frame arrives mid/late Feb). There are lots of good deals and we spent a lot in Nov/Dec so I wanted to spread it out a bit but this mattress was 50% off and comes with a "free" adjustable base (aka $500 off and they have a very basic model for $500). I got upsold lol and upgraded to the next level up that adjusts feet in addition to head and I'm SO excited! This feels perfect for both pregnancy and MOTN breastfeeding. Plus we can use the adjustable base before our frame gets here with our bedroom set!
@kvh22 an adjustable bed sounds like a dream for nursing. Enjoy!!
I am excited about a Facebook move or wherever too. I do find myself struggling to remember to open new apps and whatnot, so not sure how well I would do with slack or the like. My aug 16 group moved after the babies but my nov 18 moved a little before. I’m open to either but just excited to make it easier. I pretty much only log on to Facebook for my mom and peloton groups.
Does anyone have any good freezer meal recipes? We don't really have any family around us so I have been on the lookout for good recipes to make ahead to have for the first two weeks after baby comes. If there is enough interest, maybe we could make a separate thread?
@bbrahmbhatt Yes! I stockpiled freezer meals like it was end of days before my first was born. I didn't do as much when my son was born but I've been thinking lately that I should get started on building up a stash again.
@juliebird6 enjoy your massage tomorrow! I got one last week and when I left, she was like you were REALLY tight in your mid back, so I worked it out a bit. Omg like 3 hours later and I was in SO much pain! My mom got me another 90 min prenatal massage for my birthday last week so when I go for this next one, I’m literally going to tell them, if I’m tight anywhere, it’s fine, don’t do anything that will leave me sore later haha. I like light pressure, apparently even more so during pregnancy. It was still so relaxing though. Enjoy - you deserve it!!
Way late here but I’m excited about a migration somewhere too!! FB is probably my #1 but I’ve gotten good at Slack this year so would totally be open to that too!! I have such a hard time with the bump app that I end up primarily using this on web on my phone, which helps me zero for notifications, etc. so sorry for being so MIA lately!!!
This is extremely random.. we are in the process of moving like 15 mins away, we have both houses until the end of the month so no major rush. Because of this we’ve been able to slowly move suv loads of stuff over and all that’s really left is the big furniture and our clothes and kitchen items. I’ve posted in every fb and neighborhood group I’m in asking for moving help (paid of course) for the big items— just throw them on the truck kind of thing and NO ONE has responded. Does no one have teenagers or college age kids or husbands anymore?? Lol I didn’t think I’d have a problem just finding a pair of hands for an hour or two but sheesh my pregnant but is gonna end up hauling a sofa down the stairs!!!
@goldpolkadot The migration talk has me excited for the same reason! I only just figured out today how to get to the “community” through the app in hopes it’s easier to stay more active than using the web has been🤦♀️🤞Facebook is my go to but I’d be open to anything other than this even if I have to learn to use another social media! Lol.
@Serenamarr We had a similar problem when we moved earlier last year. Probably because of the pandemic but it sucked! A new neighbor took pity on seeing my husband and I struggle and enlisted some church youth group teens to come help us. Lol. I couldn’t imagine trying that again while pregnant right now! Maybe reach out to a church and see if they know anyone there that could use the extra cash?
@Serenamarr, have you looked at Uhaul? They usually have links to loaders/unloaders. They'll load everything for you, then meet you at the other end and unload it. You do all the packing and provide the transportation. You cna also contact local movers. Most will offer the same.
@Serenamarr I had the same thought as @bluey101321! We have some high school guys in our youth group that have provided moving help for people before. If you have any connections to a church, or even just contacted one nearby, they’d probably be able to lend you some helpers. I’ve already made a list of our students that I’ll hit up for help if we move again anytime soon. 😂
ETA I had some other thoughts about this once I showered and woke up! I’d say 98% of teenagers will work for food, which is a plus. Also several of our students do clubs at school that require volunteer/service hours, so you may be able to help them out with that too. Before Covid I was our church’s nursery coordinator and I always knew when service hours were about to be due because they’d be asking me when they could help watch the babies! 😆
Question for everyone - an acquaintance of mine just recently had a baby, she’s one of my best friends other best friends (so I just know her through my friend), but she’s a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital where I’m delivering and has been great with answering questions over the past few months about the hospital, etc. She just gave birth herself last month to her third child, so currently her husband is back to work and she’s at home with a newborn, a 2 year old and a 4 year old. I want to drop off a meal or two, or do SOMETHING to ease her burden right now and I offered via text, but she probably thinks it’s just an empty offer to be nice. Since I doubt she’d actually come out and tell me something that’d help her, I plan on just dropping something off, but I’m a little unsure of what makes sense. I’ve always dropped off meals for my friends after they give birth, but they’re all on their first children, so it was really easy to plan a meal for two adults. I have no idea what kind of meal makes sense for mom + dad + kids! I also thought of just sending a Doordash gift card or something so she can pick whatever she wants, but then that almost seems like more work for her.
For all the moms out there with kids, what would you find most helpful in this situation? Would love any suggestions!
I'm not normal in this. I want to be left alone. I hate having to go see people. I hate having them come over. I just want to be home, comfortable, and recover. I don't want to have to be social or entertain. In those early days, I was lucky to get a shower before SO got home from work. So, from my warped perspective, I'd love someone to send us like Tiffs Treats or just drop something at the door, ring the bell, and run off.
The best thing you can do, is ask her if she has a craving and if she minds if you bring it to her. Orx maybe put together a pamper package for mome. Not diapers. Girly stuff. After baby, people forget about mom needing attention too
While I actually love being hourly, I hate companies that don't round. I just came back from lunch, and I have to work 2.83 hours for the rest ofthe day to avoid OT...
Working until 449 is 2.82. Working until 450 is 2.84. I think I'm just going to have to get 1 hundredth an hour of OT.
Haha yes that makes total sense @aisukurimsarang - maybe I should have specified, I don’t plan on visiting with her at all (she’s not really even my friend, after all, more of a friend of a friend that seems very overwhelmed and stressed at the moment) and I just wanted to bring her something and drop at the door with a text so she knows it’s there.
@theblondebump I don't think a door dash gift card or similar is cheesy or more work. But, if you want to take a meal, I wouldn't worry too much about her other kids. I also have a 4 and 2 year old and it wouldn't matter what "adult" food someone gave us - they would not eat it. I'd send something for mom + dad and maybe a plate of cookies for the kids to enjoy.
@theblondebump that’s such a nice thing to do! I wouldn’t think you could go too wrong either with making something for the freezer that she could reheat, a door dash gift card, or maybe even a snack box if she’s nursing since that always makes you starve! Like @juliebird6 said, I wouldn’t worry too much about the kids.
@theblondebump meals are hard imo unless you know them. What do they like, what time do they eat, what do the kids eat, all stresses me out. I would go for something flexible. Like something frozen they can pop in the oven (many moms I know are very specific about timing and their schedule), or a charcuterie board that can be munched on and picked around whenever, or a gift basket for mom. Wine would probably be really appreciated.
@theblondebump you’re sweet to want to do something!! Totally on the right track IMO! I think that maybe since it’s a friend of a friend then a doordash giftcard is perfect - gives her the flexibility to choose which night she wants to use it & also the option to make it a date night meal OR a feed the family night meal, you know? My hubs and I sometimes save those kind of giftcards for when we want to order something for just us after the kids are in bed! That said, if you had a general idea of a crowd-pleasing fav meal that you wanted to cook (like a chicken pot pie, or lasagna), then I’m sure she wouldn’t be upset if you went the dinner route! With something like that she can also stick it in the fridge for another night. I’ve got a 5, 3, & 1 year old and I will never, ever turn down an offer for someone to bring us food haha - even if we don’t eat it right at that meal it will for sure get eaten at some point!
@aisukurimsarang I’m with ya, I want people to drop and go haha!
Personally I always try to include a bottle of wine when I drop off meals. My go to for meal drop offs is: chicken pot pie, bagged salad mix, pint of ice cream & bottle of wine! Another idea is maybe a prepared meal from somewhere good? We have a grocery store called Central Market here and their prepared foods are SO yummy!
@theblondebump I think you're overthinking it! It's a sweet gesture and I'm sure she'll appreciate anything you bring over. One of my friends brought me a frozen pizza and I was thrilled! Bring whatever you feel like bringing and she will appreciate it immensely.
I asked my friend, since I needed to confirm her friends address anyway, and she gave a great suggestion - said her friend is obsessed with the soup/salad/breadstick combo from Olive Garden so I figure I’ll drop off the large family style sizes of those items one day next week, with a bottle of wine, and maybe some cute cookies or something for the kiddos. I was really stressing over including the kids, so thanks for all the advice there that I shouldn’t worry about them so much haha.
@theblondebump that Olive Garden idea sounds perfect!! Another option to consider in the future is breakfast food. That is the hardest meal of the day for me to make sure I eat with a newborn and with breastfeeding I'm usually ravenous!
@Serenamarr it may vary depending on where you live but in my area there are always a group of men outside Home Depot (not affiliated with the store) that are looking for odd jobs like moving, painting, etc. You could check there.
@theblondebump Food is a great idea or you could offer to do (or have delivery service) grocery shopping. Im in a really lovely moms group and there is one mom that does grocery store (or Target) runs for new moms and it’s really a life saver!
This app has been such a pain in the ass to use lately so I haven’t been very active lately!
Update on moving help. I’m convinced either A) teenagers just don’t exist where I live. Or, the ones in my area are too affluent/spoiled to need or want to do manual labor lol Leaning towards B because I see them driving their luxury cars through my neighborhood and not stopping at stop signs all the time. We found a guy on next door who came and moved our couches and a few heavy things for $350. The quote we had gotten from a mover we found on uhaul was $1500 -_-. I’m crying just thinking about how much it’s going to cost to have our piano, washer dryer, and fridge moved. I’ve definitely been lifting and moving things I shouldn’t but we literally cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars paying movers. We’re still in debt from our last move here a year ago. I’m just glad we have the time to do it all gradually.
@theblondebump you’re so sweet to think of helping out a mama in need! Someone once DoorDashed for me, a meal from a popular local place. They sent over a bunch of different sides and a couple meats (it was a bbq place, I’m in Texas) and that was nice because we got several meals out of it and there were things in there my kids ate too. Olive Garden sounds amazing too lol
@Serenamarr Sorry about the moving stress. Have you tried the app bungii? We recently used it to hire someone to help my husband pick up and move a dining set. It was the most affordable option we found.
I just started chatting with daycare about our plans for baby 3 and the reality of 3 in daycare is just setting in... this is going to be so, so painful. We don’t even live in a very expensive area (small suburb in the Midwest, not anywhere near any large cities really) but oof. The daycare payment will probably be higher than our mortgage. 😩
@juliebird6, ugh. An infant and a toddler is another mortgage payment. My only relief is it's only 4 years. So is a combat vet so we qualify for Public Pre K.
@juliebird6 girl I FEEL ya!! We had 3 in daycare and it was almost double our mortgage! We only had that setup for about 6 months before I started staying at home but dang it was painful. A single income & SAHM is painful in a different way, haha! I can only offer sympathy & suggest to take advantage of daycare as much as you can haha - pickup 30 mins later and let yourself walk around Target after work, or prep dinner at home solo, or whatever! But use them since you're paying for 'em!!
Right now I freelance and I just took on a few additional hours so we're enrolling the baby (1.5) in the same MDO program as the two bigs and I'm like UGH at 3x kids there haha. But it's temporary - our oldest goes to kinder in the fall so that will help. That all said, we will have at least 1 kid in preschool until 2025!!!
@goldpolkadot I think we'll be paying for about a year DD misses the cutoff for kindergarten because of a January birthday. When #3 starts daycare in late July/early August, DD will only be 4.5, so we'll have almost a full year of 3 kiddos there. There are a few other options that we could consider for DD at that point but then we'd be doing multiple drop offs/picks ups and the cost difference is really not very significant. Covid has also made me realize that being a SAHM is absolutely a million percent out of the question for me LOL. I'm not cut out for that!! So goodbye to any extra $$$ for anything fun for a while. Sigh.
@juliebird6 ugh daycare costs are RIDICULOUS! For just having an infant in daycare we will be paying as much as our mortgage. And we didn't even choose the most bougie daycare either! It is so painful. I can't imagine three in daycare.
Re: Random Thread
Most of my fb activity is in my mom groups, and I joined a couple crochet groups that I browse occasionally. I’m tired of fb in general but do love the two groups I’m in that started here!
I am excited about a Facebook move or wherever too. I do find myself struggling to remember to open new apps and whatnot, so not sure how well I would do with slack or the like. My aug 16 group moved after the babies but my nov 18 moved a little before. I’m open to either but just excited to make it easier. I pretty much only log on to Facebook for my mom and peloton groups.
ETA I had some other thoughts about this once I showered and woke up! I’d say 98% of teenagers will work for food, which is a plus. Also several of our students do clubs at school that require volunteer/service hours, so you may be able to help them out with that too. Before Covid I was our church’s nursery coordinator and I always knew when service hours were about to be due because they’d be asking me when they could help watch the babies! 😆
The best thing you can do, is ask her if she has a craving and if she minds if you bring it to her. Orx maybe put together a pamper package for mome. Not diapers. Girly stuff. After baby, people forget about mom needing attention too
Working until 449 is 2.82. Working until 450 is 2.84. I think I'm just going to have to get 1 hundredth an hour of OT.
I asked my friend, since I needed to confirm her friends address anyway, and she gave a great suggestion - said her friend is obsessed with the soup/salad/breadstick combo from Olive Garden so I figure I’ll drop off the large family style sizes of those items one day next week, with a bottle of wine, and maybe some cute cookies or something for the kiddos. I was really stressing over including the kids, so thanks for all the advice there that I shouldn’t worry about them so much haha.
Another option to consider in the future is breakfast food. That is the hardest meal of the day for me to make sure I eat with a newborn and with breastfeeding I'm usually ravenous!
Right now I freelance and I just took on a few additional hours so we're enrolling the baby (1.5) in the same MDO program as the two bigs and I'm like UGH at 3x kids there haha. But it's temporary - our oldest goes to kinder in the fall so that will help. That all said, we will have at least 1 kid in preschool until 2025!!!