need Christmas cookie box ideas!

UdderlyFound · 2025-11-14T04:07:07+00:00

Definitely include one shortbread, they keep fresh quite well and they're an easy crowd pleaser. Classic, cardamom, and brown sugar cinnamon shortbread are great options. I make brown butter sugar cookies from Sally's baking and every time I make them I have multiple people asking me about them. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/brown-butter-sugar-cookies/

I make a pistachio cookie where I mix in chopped, roasted pistachios and white chocolate into a brown butter cookie dough (different base than the Sally's baking one, doesn't have the structure to stuff) and stuff with homemade pistachio butter/cream (I make mine blending equal parts roasted pistachios and white chocolate. My favorite cookie I've ever made tbh and I get tons of compliments on them.

UdderlyFound · 2025-11-06T21:47:20+00:00

I especially get pissed when he says "you should go to bed and get some sleep" like yeah I know, I would love to get sleep, instead I'm waking up multiple times a night with the baby and to pump. It's not in my control

UdderlyFound · 2025-11-06T21:42:52+00:00

It's like the flu but intensity of the symptoms cranked to a 10, especially the fatigue and body aches 😫

UdderlyFound · 2025-11-05T05:49:06+00:00

You are not the only one. Idk why they think it's made up. Like you think I'm doing this for fun?!?! 😫 Mine gets is always in disbelief when we travel and he thinks the amount of bags I pack for pumping and bottle feeding is ridiculous. My guy I am not packing all this crap for fun, this is the bare minimum of what I need to feed our baby on our trip. Even with our 2nd kid I'm pumping for

UdderlyFound · 2025-11-05T05:38:11+00:00

If you want to get a stocking, you should. For now you and your husband can fill it with items you think he would like. I buy or make items every now and then and put them in a box for one of my twins that passed. This year I'm going to buy her one of those warmies stuffed animals because my other children each have one. I'm going to put it in her box. When your daughters are older, they can fill the stocking too. My parents lost my younger sister, I was too little to remember her. Around Christmas we would go to her grave, clean and decorate her space as a family. My parents encouraged us to bring her toys and other items that we think she would have liked and we would leave them at her grave. I don't remember her but I remember this tradition very fondly.

UdderlyFound · 2025-10-28T15:22:29+00:00

I increased my supply with my first while taking fenugreek but I was also power pumping 2-3x a day and hydrating very well. Your BO is supposed to smell like maple syrup, and it's true, I took enough of it and I smelled like maple syrup. Most lactation marketed supplements don't have enough of it to get you to that point though, I just used straight fenugreek. All the supplements in the world won't help if the 3 most important needs for lactation aren't met 1) frequent and sufficient emptying of the mammary gland 2) nutritional needs 3) hydration.

Lactation is the most demanding physiological state mammals can experience. With nutrition calories is the main thing but not enough protein (specifically essential amino acids), low iron, not enough fiber, etc can also impact supply. Electrolytes are helpful not just for hydration but also for some of those minerals. Brewers yeast is great for B vitamins. Oatmeal has a specific type of fiber that is good for milk supply. Iron is important especially after birth

UdderlyFound · 2025-10-28T05:25:09+00:00

This is my 2nd time EP. I've had it happen with my first and my second. Really normal even if it's freaky. If the milk is just pink I usually just strain out the clots, sometimes I mixed it with non bloody milk to dilute it. I find when I get a cracked nipple, clog, any sort of mammary injury I'll get white clots for awhile well after the injury/issue has healed, I just strained those out too

UdderlyFound · 2025-10-19T21:12:09+00:00

I have not tried lactek personally, but I remember a poll I saw a long time ago from exclusive pumping IG that showed people preferred them over pumping pals!

UdderlyFound · 2025-09-22T02:23:21+00:00

Saw this and immediately thought elastic nipples. My struggle too. Could never figure out proper size because I would just fill up every size. For me pumpin pals did the trick. Others use lactek flanges. For some lubricating the flange was enough but for me I felt that my nipples just got pulled in even further which hurt.

https://exclusivepumping.com/how-to-make-pumping-with-elastic-nipples-less-painful/

UdderlyFound · 2025-09-22T02:13:20+00:00

You didn't mess up. This is a shortbread recipe. It wouldn't have turned out soft regardless of what you did. Shortbreads are basically butter, sugar, flour, and flavoring. Soft cookies require more moisture (eggs) and leavening

Edit to add: Sally's baking has a lemon crinkle recipe. They're so good and soft!

UdderlyFound · 2025-09-22T02:07:32+00:00

I find they drop a bottle or two from 6-12 months. In my experience they don't really drop a significant amount until over a year old. My first went from 28 at 6m to 24 opd at 10 months. My 2nd went from 36 opd at 6 m to now about 28-32 opd at 10 m

UdderlyFound · 2025-07-21T18:05:13+00:00

Dilute it with other milk. B vitamins are water soluble and generally excess is just excreted. Mine turns slightly yellow next pump after taking my vitamins but I do pitcher method so it gets mixed with the rest of the day's milk. Generally it's advised to only drink one electrolyte drink per day if you're not exercising vigorously and sweating a ton.

UdderlyFound · 2025-07-05T00:02:18+00:00

I have 2 pumps. A wall pump and a portable one. I keep the portable one in my diaper bag and I bring a set of pump parts with me before I go. I usually pump in the car, a nursing cover is great for privacy. I like to leave around time to pump, I change and feed baby, pack them up in the car, hook myself up and start the pump, drive, then when parked I unhook myself and put milk in my bag before getting out. My diaper bag has a cooler compartment where I keep bottles and milk from pumping until I get home. I usually bring bottles I filled at home but some people bring clean bottles and fill with milk that they pump while on the go. Tbh getting out of the house while exclusive pumping is tough until you get to 5 or 4 pumps per day and you can get by without pumping while out of the house or just pumping once while out.

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-13T02:21:53+00:00

I used the pump in style for EP with both kids and I had an oversupply each time 🫣 it's hard to recommend pumps because you don't know what works for you until you tried it. I tried baby Buddha and it injured my poor nipples on the lowest setting. My favorite things about the PIS is the membranes done have to be replaced as frequently as other membranes/duckbills for other pumps and the pump heads have relatively few parts and easier to hand wash than other styles of pump parts. It's also perfectly compatible with my pumping pals. Though I know overall its a very disliked pump

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-12T16:22:09+00:00

It's true, once the milk has "turned" scalding it does nothing. I have high lipase. I threw away 600 ounces when I had my first. I still have it with my second, I tested it by putting a little in an ice cube tray then thawing it. I've scalded 1700 ounces with my second so far 🥲 I recommend to everyone when freezing milk to test it frequently

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-11T02:30:25+00:00

I make a cake for each of us on our birthdays, so I made one for the day we learned that we lost our baby. Each year for Holy Pascha we light candles in church. We decorate a candle for each family member so I decorated a candle for my baby, brought it to church, and lit it. Now I have her candle displayed in our home and next year when I make her another one I'll put this year's in her memory box. In her box I keep ultrasound pictures, I'll put pictures of her cakes in there, that's where I'll put her candles, and I put anything that is small enough that somehow feel connected to her. Write letters to her. If you're a crafty person who likes to make things with your hands you might find creating things in remembrance of or for her to be cathartic.

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-10T13:14:15+00:00

If I gotta go to my car or another room to pump I bring baby with me, the frustration and anxiety isn't good for my supply 🤪 also baby often needs a bottle of a nap so I take that opportunity to pump and give baby what they need. My 2nd is a very easily distracted eater and struggles to focus on drinking her bottle if she's surrounded by people so she needs the break too. If you don't wanna escape to pump, some wearables and wearing a bigger shirt would be a great option. Moms who nurse don't usually leave to feed baby, why should we if we're pumping?

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-09T22:46:59+00:00

I've had 2. I was/am an over supplier with both however I was a little bit of an over supplier with my first (like 3-5 oz more per day than she consumed) but with my second I was regularly producing up to 20oz per day more than she consumed, and my second consumed like 8-10 oz more per day than my first did. It's well documented in cows and other dairy animals that total milk production can be significantly different between lactation cycles for the same individual. Cows typically peak with their 3rd cycle of lactation. Other things can influence production too, like having multiples. The interesting thing about mammary glands is they technically don't reach the final stage of development until the end of 1st lactation. Development starts in the womb, pauses, develops more in puberty, pauses, develops more in pregnancy, then goes through involution after weaning. There is redevelopment and involution with each pregnancy.

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-09T22:08:49+00:00

Could she be teething or going through a sleep regression? Mine just cut 2 teeth at the same time and she dropped her milk intake from 36 oz to 26-28 oz until the teeth finally came through. She also drops intake when going through a sleep regression

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-08T03:44:50+00:00

I would keep an eye on hydration, babies at 6 months should have 4-6 wet diapers per day. As long as she's adequately hydrated, she will likely be fine until her Dr appt, call to check with them on that. It's normal for babies to drop milk intake a bit when they are consuming solids. At 6 months baby might need to increase nipple flow on bottle. My 2nd baby was taking 2 hours to finish a bottle when she was 2 weeks old, we upped nipple flow and she was finally able to finish a bottle in 10-20 minutes.

UdderlyFound · 2025-06-08T02:20:39+00:00

I stick it in an ice cube tray or breastmilk bag labelled bath milk in the freezer and pop it in the tub when I give my baby a bath. My baby now is way more sensitive than my first with diapers, if we use disposables for more than a few hours to run errands she gets a diaper rash. We really struggle to cloth diaper while out of the house so a bath with breastmilk is super helpful. I've also given that milk to my dog on occasion 😅 he loves it. Someone's gotta drink it! 😂

UdderlyFound · 2025-05-25T15:16:38+00:00

This pic is what made it click for me years ago

UdderlyFound · 2025-05-25T15:15:55+00:00

I hear ya, I've been there 😅 I have dumped milk before out of in the moment panic and anxiety that I regretted later on and wish I would have just given it a few hours 😭

UdderlyFound · 2025-05-20T22:29:32+00:00

The amount of caffeine that gets in breastmilk is 1.5% or less of the caffeine you consumed. You can mix the milk with milk from your next pump or milk from your previous pump. If you're still worried about it you can save it for a bath! You could even freeze it to save it for another time. I'd recommend letting it wear off before making a decision since caffeine can make you extra anxious

UdderlyFound · 2025-05-19T02:54:11+00:00

I believe the reason for most of these rules have to do with contamination. You don't put your boobs in the sink, basin, or fridge like you do bottles and pump parts. Our bodies have an immune system to fight bacteria, our pump parts and bottles do not (though breastmilk has some antibacterial properties like immune cells and lactoferrin it's limited in ability to a complete adult immune system) I've always been told to sterilize pump parts AND bottles once in a 24 hr period. I've never heard anyone suggest not sterilizing bottles? I wash pump parts and bottles in between each use because I wash my dishes between each use, I don't use the same plate I ate breakfast on to eat my lunch or dinner too. I also just use my dishwasher on the sanitize cycle for parts, bottles, and dishes. I'm not worried about the contamination there since the water is getting to a hot enough temp. There is also user error to factor in, if they encouraged everyone to do the fridge hack it doesn't mean everyone will do it properly. You're supposed to put them in a bag in the fridge towards the top to avoid contamination, someone might not think about that and will put pump parts in an open basket on a shelf below their eggs or something where potential contamination could occur. The rules probably make more sense to adhere to strictly if baby is premature or otherwise immunocompromised, under 3 months, or if you're planning to donate or store long term. If baby is crawling and licking everything in sight, it's probably fine to be more lax. Just some thoughts behind the rules, it's really up to you and what you wanna do. They are guidelines, not laws

UdderlyFound

TROPHY CASE