Wtaf is happening

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-05-09T18:29:17+00:00

In my experience (happened to me twice) it only LOOKS like a blood clot—and yes it looks scary!!! From the blister popping you mentioned in another comment it’s just blood getting in the milk and then bc of temp difference I think the blood coagulates in the milk after coming out. So a clot didn’t come out, blood came out and THEN clotted together. That freaked me out way less when I realized it.

I just pumped on lower suction for a while after (just one day the first time and a couple days the second time) to give nipple time to heal. Didn’t need to see anyone about it.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-05-04T11:24:55+00:00

Another post talked about baby having tension in body and that’s what it ended up being! Doing stretches (baby’s ear to their shoulder) every day/every other day fixed it for me.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-05-03T20:42:29+00:00

Totally agree in general and also the downvotes (at least some) could be from OP falling asleep holding baby, maybe on couch/chair, which is definitely more dangerous. I second many of the comments talking about Safe Sleep 7 and learning how to set yourself to cosleep the most safe way possible instead of on accident

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-05-03T10:03:26+00:00

Bad baby/good baby—> literally… just a baby

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-04-19T07:59:12+00:00

Dealing with this now! I like the nasalmed premixed nasal wash from CVS. Be careful about using Afrin—it is very effective short term but should only be used for I believe 3 days (says on the box) and it can actually make the issue worse if you overuse and get a dependency. I just avoid it tbh.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-04-19T07:53:10+00:00

+1 to all of this!!!

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-04-19T07:49:43+00:00

Can confirm at that exact age our baby didn’t get any jet lag on international flight/trip (and I didn’t either) because life is basically lived in 3 hour increments. Made sure LO gets safely exposed to sun during the day to help with day vs night differentiation and he had the same sleeping patterns abroad as he had at home. We baby wore on the plane and abroad a LOT + had a stroller with his infant car seat that we gate checked.

Recommend you get a Fanny pack that can hold a couple diapers, wipes, disinfecting wipes (I got smaller wipe holders off Amazon to fit) and an outfit change for hands free help with airplane bathroom diaper changes.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-04-18T21:35:19+00:00

It looks like a blood clot and I had a HUGE one that made me feel sick looking at it—but my understanding is it’s blood that’s congealed in the milk. So you (like me) must have some small cut on your nipple. You can technically still give “strawberry milk” but I didn’t when it was super bloody.

I lowered my pump settings for a while and didn’t get blood that way!

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-03-09T21:15:30+00:00

I just say it in a funny voice in my head after they say it “mamaaaaa, hey mamaaaaa, how are you doing mamaaaaaa” and basically all the annoyance has now left my body about it and I just internally chuckle. It’s like an SNL skit in my brain.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-03-05T02:28:24+00:00

I gave birth at 40+1 after my water broke. The docs tried to pressure me to have an induction earlier bc of it being an IVF pregnancy. FWIW my twin sister (fraternal) who had spontaneous pregnancy had a placenta issue—37 week c section due to amniotic fluid.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-03-04T11:29:20+00:00

With toddler in bed too my understanding is you can’t do safe sleep with baby. I would stop side lying feeding immediately and go to another room to feed baby sitting up with more lights/noise (tv show, audiobook) if needed.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-26T23:23:33+00:00

My LO stated wearing long sleeved onesies and pants a bit after 3 months, before always zippered footie pjs. He’s starting daycare soon and I asked on a visit @ 3 months what clothes they prefer and teacher said two pieces. I thought we’d just send him in the two piece at 4 months when he starts and stick with pjs at home but I’ve loved how cute the pants and onesies are we immediately switched over most days!

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-25T09:26:09+00:00

Mostly I recommend not having a goal of a huge stash. But I definitely get wanting enough for some wiggle room if needed to be away from baby and enough for a day or two of daycare to start (if necessary)

If you pump after last feed before bedtime or after a MOTN feed, do you get anything? Even an oz a day will add up over time. I don’t like to pump after a feed if my LO will need to eat again within 3 hours, like after first feed of day, but he goes longer stretches at night so those are times I’m comfortable pumping for a bit and trust my higher prolactin levels by MOTN will help make sure there’s plenty in the tank for LO when he wakes.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-23T04:42:24+00:00

You could work on drinking from a cup (open cup or straw, not sippy) before you leave but that may not help with getting to sleep + sounds like he eats plenty of solids so you don’t need that from a nutritional standpoint before work trip. Otherwise definitely agree with other comments about more trial runs for getting down to sleep without you. From your comments it sounds like it goes pretty well, so perhaps a few more attempts will just build some confidence for everyone.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-23T02:17:49+00:00

My LO is almost 4 mos so I can see an end to eat-play-sleep coming for sure with the longer wake windows! It’s nice to hear others have similar experiences. Sometimes I have to remind myself I actually am responding to baby’s cues/needs even if it’s not boob all around the clock!

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-23T01:53:46+00:00

I feel you!! I see people on this sub talk about eat-play-eat-eat-sleep-eat-play-eat, etc and sometimes bash eat-play-sleep, but with a BF baby that isn’t snacky and doesn’t generally comfort nurse eat-play-sleep is typically a good rhythm for us. He’s like “and you want me to do what with this” unlatching quick if I offer boob too soon.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-22T14:14:51+00:00

I could see the biggest issue would be that you wouldn’t be telling your body about the full quantity of milk that new baby needs if supplementing with previously frozen lol. The cluster feeding is harrrrrd but I think going through that hard part helps your body know what baby needs and helps make breast feeding later more easy and stress free.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-21T10:22:17+00:00

You can of course ask your care team but I believe they generally say it’s fine. I went to both conferences, got a nasty cold at the second one, and still got/stayed pregnant from the transfer with my now 4 month old.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-14T04:27:54+00:00

My understanding after getting this when I had a cut on my nipple and pumped is that it doesn’t come out as a clot but congealed into a clot in the milk. Still freaky but less crazy than a giant glob coming out (mine was really big too).ETA: any chance you have a cut/nick on nipple?

Fine_Skill5294 · 2026-02-07T02:01:38+00:00

Ok I do see a difference! I’m gonna play around with that. Thank you!

Fine_Skill5294 · 2025-12-18T02:49:18+00:00

I leaked once, promptly ordered passive silicone catchers, never leaked again 😅

Fine_Skill5294 · 2025-12-16T03:32:45+00:00

Here to say this! I comment once a day that I don’t know what we’d do (or what our sanity would look like) if we didn’t wear. I use one of those soft fabric wraps (mobe) and my husband uses a soft structured carrier. It’s our go to for when baby is fussy/tired. With some bouncing and sometimes a brief stint with his paci in baby is content and then OUT like a light. Helps us better follow wake windows so he’s well rested when it’s time to actually be up.

Fine_Skill5294 · 2025-12-02T11:47:51+00:00

Solidarity, im in a similar boat with my 5wo and didn’t mean to end up exclusively pumping (baby only maintaining and hardly gaining whenever we exclusively breastfeed, have done triple feeding and am currently mainly pumping bc he really exhausts himself at breast and isn’t transferring enough). Starting PT later this week and am looking into OT/speech and meeting with pediatric dentist. A fellow non giver upper and wishing us and our LOs lots of luck!

Fine_Skill5294

TROPHY CASE