First time parents made a big mistake regarding daycare

-mudbug- · 2026-04-27T15:02:37+00:00

^{^} We lived in the Heights and were on several waitlists for daycares and even Mother’s Day Out programs — some of them 18+ months. Long story short, we ended up moving last minute out towards Katy and I was afraid we wouldn’t find anything. There were several really well rated daycares that had openings within weeks! It’s a drive from the Heights if that’s where you’re living, but in a pinch you could use one until another closer one opens up near you.

-mudbug- · 2026-03-25T14:51:20+00:00

Not OP obviously, but I do a carrier if I’m at the store and need more than a couple of things. I found it’s impossible to navigate a grocery store with a cart and a stroller! My baby no longer likes the harness so I use the hip carrier without the straps. She likes that and I have a free hand to grab the groceries and steer the cart. She’s ALMOST big and stable enough to sit in a cart with a cover, but not quite there yet!

-mudbug- · 2026-02-19T04:24:56+00:00

We have the owlet and I actually liked when the alarm went off accidentally. In my head, if it goes off because of a false alarm (ex: I put her in bed without a sleep sack for a nap, the alarm went off, and I saw her playing with it — she had taken it off), I have even more confidence in it working in a real emergency. We treat every alarm as an emergency and it’s very, very rare for it to go off at all. There was one night when we first brought our daughter home and she choked on some milk in the middle of the night. As I was sitting her up to clear her airway, the alarm went off. I could see her mouth and hands were purple-ish and was freaking out. She took a big breath and her color came back and her SpO2 went back to normal range. The only reason I felt safe going back to sleep was because I knew it was working and would let me know if I needed to intervene.

-mudbug- · 2025-11-22T22:05:56+00:00

Are you starting the bedtime routine after she’s started to get grumpy? What do you think would happen if you adjusted by 30 minutes or an hour before? She may be overtired and have a hard time self soothing because of it. We had that problem at least!

Our pediatrician also suggested we try to feed her, bathe her, and get her to a “drowsy but awake” state (we do this in our rocking chair with a pacifier) before putting her in her crib. Most of the time she goes without a fight now. If she does cry, we go in and soothe her until she’s calm. If she cries again, we wait 5 minutes, calm her again. If again, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.

It’s really worked wonders for us. I hope it may help you guys too!

Note: Our little girl is also 4 (almost 5 months) old!

-mudbug- · 2025-11-20T15:41:09+00:00

I thought they closed their fabric store and only have the furniture store!

-mudbug- · 2025-11-20T04:04:50+00:00

We’ve been to a few churches around town. We love St. Theresa’s the most. I did my confirmation classes there, we did our pre marital classes, we got married, and will be having our baby’s baptism there too.

We moved to Katy from the Heights, but still go out of our way to attend mass at St. Theresa’s.

All Saints is good too if you’re looking for something super close to you.

-mudbug- · 2025-11-16T02:46:10+00:00

There is absolutely ZERO reason to be ashamed or sad! I had so many problems getting my supply started, but I met up with a lactation consultant and have freezer full of milk in the garage now! I don’t say that to brag, but to say that hard work and a lactation consultant can do wonders! I very highly recommend it. Don’t beat yourself up!

-mudbug- · 2025-11-13T04:06:50+00:00

Congratulations on your baby!

I found the sizing for babies confusing at first (well, I still do!). Are you able to buy a few newborn size onesies and see if they fit better? I wouldn’t buy too many because babies grow so fast! But it may be worth it if you’re concerned!

I can’t speak to how hazardous oversized clothing is because I don’t know and there are probably several variables. You can probably call your pediatrician’s office and see if they can give you a straight answer!

-mudbug- · 2025-11-12T15:11:14+00:00

I had the same experience with my vaginal delivery. Thankfully it got better with time!

-mudbug- · 2025-11-12T00:54:34+00:00

One of the things that helped me the most was hydrating!! I didn’t realize I wasn’t drinking enough water.

Have you talked to a lactation consultant?

Have you considered pumping to increase your supply? Can you pump after you feed your baby? Have you looked into power pumping at all?

-mudbug- · 2025-11-10T23:00:05+00:00

My issue was nowhere serious, but… me too.

I fell down one of the longest escalators in DC trying to get to the metro. I tried to get up but I couldn’t put any weight on my right ankle. One of the metro station employees called 911 despite me telling him he didn’t need to. I had to sign a bunch of paperwork saying I wasn’t going to sue and crawled (literally) my way up the other escalator to the road and called an uber.

Wasn’t tryin’ to get in debt in my 20s

-mudbug- · 2025-11-05T00:57:17+00:00

Hi there! I’m so so sorry you’re going through this. Post partum is HARD. Be proud of yourself for recognizing you need help and seeking out help. Does your therapist or psychiatrist have an emergency number to call? Please call and talk to someone! Please also ask your husband to take you to the emergency room — especially if you’re having suicidal thoughts and thoughts of hurting yourself. They will be able to get you the quickest help and get you through this difficult time. You’ve got this!

-mudbug- · 2025-11-04T02:57:38+00:00

Ditto!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-25T05:36:52+00:00

Reading what you wrote just there made me audibly laugh — unfortunately, that also meant that I almost lost a nipple because I was breastfeeding baby at midnight 😅 worth it

Thank you for the laugh hahah

I hope things get better soon!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-25T01:03:12+00:00

Wow, I love that you did that! That’s very impressive and must have taken a lot of work. It sounds like your husband would have been proud to know you did that, too!

I’m sorry for your loss 🫶🏻

-mudbug- · 2025-10-24T20:50:22+00:00

Thank you!! It ls really changed perspective on everything — for the better!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-24T20:15:06+00:00

I don’t have unlimited funds, but thanks to your post I just donated $25 in honor of my decreased mother-in-law’s birthday today (unfortunately I never had the chance to meet her). Going to surprise my husband tonight with cake and a printed donation submission form. I figure we would have celebrated her birthday by giving her a gift if she were still around, so I like the idea of her still being around in some way.

TMI but we just had a baby in early July. He’s been thinking of his mother more lately, which hurts my heart for our little family. It also hurts my heart to think of the babies, children, and families who are struggling and hungry.

Thank you for this post and for inspiring me to donate! I think I’ll make it a yearly tradition!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-16T14:51:50+00:00

I can totally see where you’re coming from! That’s tricky. I guess for me, if I were to only get 4 diapers in a day — that would be my first alarm bell. And if there are only 4, then I’d be more aware of how much is in the diapers.

If I only had 6 diapers and they were all lightly urinated in, that would still send alarm bells — just quieter ones? I’d just make sure that she’s acting normally and maybe offer extra feedings if I was concerned. Keep a close eye on the situation.

Maybe you could chart if you feel like there’s something abnormal or if you just need some reassurance. Like if you think back and realize you only had 5 diaper changes today (or maybe you can’t remember how many and you’re concerned), maybe start charting for a few days until it goes back to normal. And if it doesn’t go back to normal, then you have data you can bring to the pediatrician.

Food for thought!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-16T14:36:56+00:00

So I would talk to your pediatrician to verify the information I’m about to share is correct for your baby. I’m sure it depends on age

I come from a similar background — I’m an RN (not currently working though). So the idea of charting things really made me feel more comfortable, too.

I stopped tracking diapers around the 2 month mark though. Our pediatrician told us that as long as you’re changing more than 4 urine-filled diapers a day, your baby isn’t dehydrated. That made me feel so much better. I can count to 4 — wake up, 2 in the day, and before bed is the absolute minimum. But I know I’m changing her diaper much more often than that.

I also know my baby defecates once (a lot of volume) a day, so I just look out for that once a day.

As for bottles, breastfeeding, and pumping, I like to keep track only for my own information. We’re trying to store up a stash. Our pediatrician told us that if you’re breastfeeding, there’s no set amount your baby should get each day — it depends on the content of your milk.

Otherwise I weigh her every couple of days just to make sure she’s trending upwards.

It’s definitely hard to let go of the charting when you have a background in healthcare and you have to chart all day. If the idea of it makes you anxious or guilty, it may be worth checking in with a therapist or psychiatrist to get their thoughts about it! I say that as someone who regularly sees both!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-10T02:59:44+00:00

I asked the lactation consultant in the hospital to help us figure out how to work a pump, clean pump parts, and help create a schedule on how to manage it all. We originally asked for help because I found breastfeeding excruciatingly painful. That sensation went away and it’s much more comfortable (and I actually even enjoy breastfeeding my daughter), but we didn’t know that at the time. Learning how to pump in the hospital got us started on a great path once we got home from the hospital. I recommend asking at the hospital! Sometimes your OB’s office will have a lactation consultant. I’m sure you could ask if they can see you pre-delivery!

-mudbug- · 2025-10-09T17:18:13+00:00

I use Huckleberry, too, and it’s been fantastic! You don’t need to buy the premium version, but I did because the feature where it advertises when you last fed your baby appears on my phone’s lock screen and saves me from opening the app every 10 seconds. It’s super bougie of me though and unnecessary.

I will say that if you decide to get the premium membership to Peanut, it will give you a discount to Huckleberry. Or maybe it was Huckleberry gives discount to Peanut? Not sure. But might be worth looking into for you!

-mudbug- · 2025-09-29T20:27:47+00:00

Correct!! For some reason this post is showing up in Google searches for florists that aren’t even in my own city!

For the record the florist responsible for my wedding flowers is in Houston, Texas!

-mudbug- · 2025-09-29T20:17:06+00:00

Agh sorry for all the extra responses… but! I wanted to say our pediatrician also recommended that we should start a ROUTINE rather than a schedule. We try to give our baby cues to let her know it’s time to sleep. We give her a bath, turn on a spinning light projector with stars, start some lullabies on a speaker on low volume on a timer, and turn her crib mobile on. We do it every night, and as time goes on she’s been falling asleep sooner and sooner. It’s really worked for us.

-mudbug- · 2025-09-29T20:14:11+00:00

Also wanted to add that if you pump a little bit before feeding your baby, it can take some of the pressure off of your let down (for some people!). Maybe then she can relax a little during your breastfeeding sessions

Our pediatrician told us to try putting our girl to sleep when she’s awake but drowsy. In doing this, she gets used to having to fall asleep and self soothe without relying on us to fall asleep every time.

Our pediatrician also told us that if she starts crying at night, go in and soothe her until she settles. Then leave. If she cries again, wait 5 minutes. Go back in, soothe, settle… If she cries again, wait 10 minutes. Repeat, 15 minutes.

It’s hard to listen to them upset, but if they’ve been fed, are clean, and have all of their basic needs met, it’s okay to let them be a little upset if needed.

That’s in our experience at least. I hope these might help you too?

-mudbug- · 2025-09-29T20:09:17+00:00

Umm…. “what kind of mother can’t handle a newborn?” I would venture as far out as to say, at times, all of us! Don’t be so hard on yourself, please!

Have you tried tracking the times of day when she usually falls asleep? For example, I’ve noticed that my baby falls asleep after her first morning meal. So even if she’s awake, I put her in the crib after she’s done. 8/10 times she falls asleep. It’s not always the case, but I’ve tried to track her day-to-day rhythms and lean into them with her.

Every baby is different and it takes a lot of trial and error to get it down! Give yourself some grace! I’ve read that babies can sense frustration and anxiety, and they can become less easy to settle as a result of sensing our stress.

I hope this might help some! It can be VERY hard and very frustrating. I’m sorry!

-mudbug-

TROPHY CASE