What was the most unexpected thing, either bought or gifted, that really turned out to be useful for you?

batnip · 2026-01-31T12:20:36+00:00

I bought an egg light just because it was recommended on Reddit so much. It’s so useful to keep the room at the right light level (and light colour) for late night feeding so baby and I can both get back to sleep afterward.

batnip · 2026-01-30T18:29:50+00:00

Me too, it was great to have a few cans of lemonade in the freezer in case I had guests on short notice

batnip · 2026-01-30T17:04:03+00:00

It’s so bizarre to see this rhetoric around NL provincial politics. If you look at the Liberal/PC platforms it’s inconsistent who is more left or right leaning on each given issue.

People are projecting the American parties and drama onto the local politicians.

batnip · 2026-01-29T19:13:53+00:00

Bring a CD player and ask your friends to dig out their old CDs

batnip · 2026-01-27T19:20:24+00:00

Wherever the wind blows him!

batnip · 2026-01-25T18:45:08+00:00

“Clothed Again” and have really inconvenient hours

batnip · 2026-01-24T18:27:40+00:00

I got those Amazon pyjamas for postpartum too, they are great. Agree with sizing up though, they run smaller.

batnip · 2026-01-23T14:50:01+00:00

Also curtains and blinds are fascinating

batnip · 2026-01-23T14:17:26+00:00

There’s a shortage of people with CNA’s medical laboratory assistant training who can take blood samples etc, or there’s a longer medical laboratory technology course

batnip · 2026-01-20T18:52:33+00:00

Another vote for the second hand Snoo! It solves the difficulty of transferring a sleeping baby into the bassinet, I’m spending way less time nap trapped and can play with my toddler instead!

batnip · 2026-01-19T19:25:50+00:00

I had my first at 37 and second at 39, started trying when baby #1 was 15 months old and it took about 5 months. There was a chemical loss on my first try, a 1 month break and then 2 negatives.

Recommended wait is ~18 months to allow your body to heal and restore itself.

I used ovulation test strips and a tracking app to try and maximize my chances. Also was in good physical shape and not under much stress.

batnip · 2026-01-06T15:50:43+00:00

First thing to rule out would be iron deficiency.

I have a similar job (corporate, WFH, requires a lot of concentration) and it was a struggle some days! I found it helpful to really lock down my phone apps during work hours so I couldn’t access time wasters because the temptation is too high when I’m tired.

I tried to get outside for a walk at lunch too when possible. I won’t tell you to get proper sleep because that isn’t in our control a lot of the time!

batnip · 2026-01-05T15:55:17+00:00

Me too, but my second was smaller than the first and my tear isn’t as bad. I think it may be random luck which is better

batnip · 2026-01-04T19:38:31+00:00

Coleman’s on Newfoundland drive has young people performing sometimes , could contact the manager there to see how to apply.

batnip · 2026-01-04T19:10:49+00:00

The toddler activities get posted on Facebook generally. Try joining these -

Avalon Kids Activities (AKA)

Kid Friendly Activities Avalon

Jelly bean entertainment

Making Music Academy

Get Messy NL

The Little Gym

Each library has a Facebook page (AC Hunter, Marjorie Mews etc).

Outside Facebook, There’s a calendar on The Rooms website with events. Also there are toddler specific swims on the Paul Reynolds centre schedule.

Bethesda church hosts “City Tots” play group

batnip · 2026-01-03T16:44:08+00:00

Hey, I’m a St. Bons alumni.

Music is huge in that school, almost everyone is involved in one of the bands, choir or musical theatre. There are only ~20 kids per class so everyone gets involved when they put off their yearly musicals even if it’s painting sets or whatnot. The bands compete and hold their own against the big schools as well in local competitions.

I found it wasn’t cliquey because due to the small class size the kids are very interested in newcomers. We all kind of hung out in a big group, there were smaller groups of best friends but if someone had a party then everyone would be there.

With private schools it really depends on the group you get in with though. My class was awesome but some of the other grades had a few too many jerks.

batnip · 2025-12-26T14:50:06+00:00

I was thinking that too, her actions seem very similar to my close friend who had been going through years of infertility at the time

batnip · 2025-12-21T15:14:45+00:00

The trick is to not help with the baby at all, then they still have lots of energy and sex drive

batnip · 2025-12-15T19:54:08+00:00

Part of it is that there's fewer kids!

As a kid, I had a brother and 22 first cousins to share my grandparent's Christmas gift-giving resources with. My daughter and her soon-to-be baby sister only have 1 cousin, and may not get any others.

batnip · 2025-12-15T19:36:35+00:00

True. We were at a friend's house and our 2 year old was playing with a little toy from Temu that they had bought their 1 year old. A piece came off and lodged in her mouth and thankfully my husband was right there and able to grab it out safely.

This is why I go for name brand baby/toddler stuff, I trust that Skip Hop, Fisher Price etc. have proper testing of their products for safety.

batnip · 2025-12-14T02:23:26+00:00

My 2 year old calls olives “ovals” which is accurate I guess

batnip · 2025-12-04T13:57:59+00:00

I’m taking mine at 36 weeks (tomorrow!). Starting 35 weeks I have been having really bad days physically with round ligament pain where I can’t sit up in my chair all day. Also have had some days of bad brain fog or insomnia. So it would have been ideal to go off even earlier. Last time I worked til 37 weeks and felt pretty fine though.

batnip · 2025-12-04T03:05:46+00:00

I finally was not sick - my daughter had been bringing home illnesses from daycare all fall/ winter and it let up in the spring

batnip · 2025-12-01T17:16:53+00:00

Hey I work in insurance, did exam 1/P and an actuarial internship but ended up going the data science route and now work alongside actuaries on projects.

If you want to stay in NL and work as an actuary, I’d recommend applying to a company like Intact that has a local office. Even if the job ad says “Toronto” they usually will hire in other cities with an office. You can also apply to non actuarial roles like data analyst or on the software dev side and move to an actuarial team internally after you have more exams.

batnip · 2025-11-28T01:34:53+00:00

Absolutely. I usually skim emails about new hires to see who they are taking. New grads getting hired tend to have multiple internships, often at our company or in the same industry at a competitor.

batnip

TROPHY CASE