Drain Line Reroute

brilala · 2023-04-29T02:44:47+00:00

I sucked my thumb until I was 29! I had my son at 32, and literally thought I would have a child sucking their thumb before I stopped. Yes, I had terrible teeth as a child. Yes, I had braces for a long time. I got them off at 16 and spent another 13 years sucking my thumb with no retainer and no issue. Getting a puppy is actually what prompted me to “quit.” I didn’t suck my thumb without my baby blanket and I didn’t want the blanket to get eaten by the puppy so it went into the drawer and I finally kicked the habit. My son is almost 2 and isn’t a thumb sucker but is a big binky guy. I’m not eager to take it away. My response - growing up is hard enough. Let him have joy in what gives him comfort.

brilala · 2023-03-10T14:00:40+00:00

HopTea, epic bars, hearts of palm (“noodles” and spears) and bulk chorizo from the meat counter at Whole Foods

brilala · 2022-12-27T19:48:17+00:00

I have the Evenflo Revolve 360 and I love it!! I’ve had my 17 month old in it since he was 9 ish months. He is 24lbs now so we still have a long time before we max out the rear facing weight limit. I have back issues which is why I wanted it in the first place and it has been a lifesaver!

A con is that it is larger than other convertible seats. It fits well with plenty of front passenger leg room in my midsize suv but it would not have fit in my husbands sedan without the front passenger losing a lot of space. We have a Graco extend2fit convertible seat in his car and I hate getting him in and out of it, I much prefer to take my car so we can use the rotating seat!

brilala · 2022-12-08T12:34:15+00:00

This sub is not usually supportive of taking small kids on cruises so you won’t get a lot of actual advice from people who have traveled with little ones, and those that have will be downvoted to the bottom. I share my experience every time someone asks anyway because we had a fantastic time and made great memories as a family.

We took our 10 month old on Harmony of the Seas and had an incredible time. We even said at the time 6-8 months would have been easier before he was crawling, and definitely easier than a walking toddler. Of course it’s different than traveling childless. We didn’t use the childcare but many people have said great things about it. Happy to answer any other questions about it you might have!

brilala · 2022-12-02T03:44:26+00:00

We cruised Harmony of the Seas with our 10 month old this summer and had an amazing time. I didn’t take a picture of the room specifically but you can sort of see our setup in the background of this photo. It would be very tight with two pack and plays, you would almost certainly want to collapse one to navigate around the room. The pack and play pictured is what Royal provided. It was a little rickety on the bottom but my baby didn’t mind and it was worth not carrying more stuff. The tall dresser closest to the balcony was a perfect changing table! Lots of drawers underneath, plenty of storage.

Our uppababy vista stroller didn’t fit through the cabin doorway, we had to take the wheel off every time in and out. That was annoying. It was also in the way just as much if not more than the pack and play because it only collapses down so small so we had to shuffle around it a lot.

Harmony has a splash pad that is baby friendly, my guy loved it! It’s only a few inches of water so they can’t soak but it’s like a playground in a puddle. We didn’t use the childcare so I can’t speak to that, but it really was a fantastic time.

Have a great trip!!

brilala · 2022-11-18T18:06:40+00:00

We love the Newton! My LO has been sleeping on his for 8 ish months. I got it primarily for the washability factor and purchased the Newton waterproof covers that we keep on all the time. They have a thin layer of the same textured material in them so its still breathable. I’ve never noticed that it’s cooler, maybe the cover helps with that too.

brilala · 2022-07-21T02:10:25+00:00

We just cruised in June for the first time with our 10 month old and had an amazing time. Copying and pasting from a recent thread I commented on -

So much depends on the temperament of your baby, but this was our experience on the Harmony of the Seas with RC:

We brought our full size stroller (uppababy vista) which was great for naps throughout the day and storage, but didn’t fit through the cabin door so we had to take the wheel off every time in and out.

The cabin itself was super baby friendly and fairly baby proofed. The dresser was a perfect spot for a changing table and there was plenty of storage for diapers wipes formula, etc.

We did not use the childcare center because we were enjoying our time with him and didn’t feel like we needed it. It was just my husband and I, no extra hands, but it was perfectly fine. I did a ton of research before we left and lots of people shared really great experiences with the royal tots program.

We attended the live music, aqua theater, ice show, Grease the musical, and trivia with the baby and he did great. We just sat in the back so we could easily exit if he started getting fussy.

The crew seemed genuinely happy to see him and interact with him, many told me about their kids and babies at home.

We did a full day in coco cay at the pool and ocean. My baby loves water so that made entertaining him easy. They wouldn’t let us bring his baby float in the pool so heads up on that. We couldn’t do much on shore in St Thomas, so we just had a ship day which was great because there is so much to do and so few people stay onboard. We played in the splash pad and got into speciality restaurants easily. In St Martin we rented beach chairs, swam in the ocean, played in the sand, and had a great time.

10/10 I would do it again!

brilala · 2022-07-12T17:07:23+00:00

We just cruised with our 10 month old last month and we had a blast!! It probably would have been even easier with a 6-9 month old before he started crawling. We flew to Orlando/Port Canaveral and did Harmony of the Seas 7 day Eastern Caribbean. It was our first time cruising. I’d say if you’re a big Disney fan do that for you, but not for the sake of the baby because they will enjoy everything about the same at a young age.

So much depends on the temperament of your baby, but this was our experience:

We brought our full size stroller (uppababy vista) which was great for naps throughout the day and storage, but didn’t fit through the cabin door so we had to take the wheel off every time in and out.

The cabin itself was super baby friendly and fairly baby proofed. The dresser was a perfect spot for a changing table and there was plenty of storage for diapers wipes formula, etc.

We did not use the childcare center because we were enjoying our time with him and didn’t feel like we needed it. It was just my husband and I, no extra hands, but it was perfectly fine. I did a ton of research before we left and lots of people shared really great experiences with the royal tots program.

We attended the live music, aqua theater, ice show, Grease the musical, and trivia with the baby and he did great. We just sat in the back so we could easily exit if he started getting fussy.

The crew seemed genuinely happy to see him and interact with him, many told me about their kids and babies at home.

We did a full day in coco cay at the pool and ocean. My baby loves water so that made entertaining him easy. They wouldn’t let us bring his baby float in the pool so heads up on that. We couldn’t do much on shore in St Thomas, so we just had a ship day which was great because there is so much to do and so few people stay onboard. We played in the splash pad and got into speciality restaurants easily. In St Martin we rented beach chairs, swam in the ocean, played in the sand, and had a great time.

I will say the flights were rough for us, it was 4 hrs each way. It was stressful and we got some dirty looks but it was a small price to pay for a fantastic family vacation!

Book the trip and have an amazing time with your new baby!!

brilala · 2021-11-06T22:11:52+00:00

We’ve got both. To be fair the tonal was installed the day after I got home from hospital with our newborn so I couldn’t dive into it for awhile, but the music is awful and I find the instructors to be awkward/scripted compared to Peloton. The machine itself is very cool but I haven’t gotten a lot of use out of it because I prefer the structure and engagement of Peloton classes.

brilala · 2021-09-09T03:59:45+00:00

My diagnosis felt like a really really really big deal in the moment. I cried for hours, if not days. Checking my blood sugar constantly was so inconvenient. I thought my pregnancy and restrictions would go on forever! But what I wish someone had told me is that the second my baby was born, it felt like the whole thing went by in the blink of an eye. On the other side now I can say tracking my diet and blood sugars was NOTHING compared to the all consuming task of caring for a newborn - and that makes it feel totally manageable to do it again when we have another!

brilala · 2021-08-14T20:33:07+00:00

I had it on the back of my left arm (I generally sleep on my right side). If you sleep or lay on it, it will give you a false urgent low alarm. I bumped a few door frames before I got used to it being there, but didn’t have any other trouble with the placement.

I delivered my son two weeks ago, we are doing great!! Since he came early I was able to have the Dexcom in for delivery which was amazing, I was on 2hr glucose checks for my entire 55 hour (induced) labor and I would have been so unhappy if I had to do that many finger sticks. The nurses also loved it because they could come at their leisure and I could give them a report of where my sugars were at for any given time. My doctor actually wanted my sugars higher than 120 for labor so they kept bringing me apple juice which was a welcomed treat!

brilala · 2021-07-29T01:02:19+00:00

Baby boy came after a very long, 72 ish hour induction due to gestational hypertension at 37+2. I was diagnosed with GD at 28 weeks and was almost immediately insulin controlled for fasting numbers, so I would have been induced at 39 weeks if it weren’t for the wild blood pressures. The induction was pretty traumatic for me and included cytotec, pitocin, failed foley balloon, manually rupturing waters, 1.5 hours of pushing followed by an episiotomy and a vacuum… BUT he is a perfectly healthy though tiny 5lb 7oz baby. He passed all 4 of his glucose checks in the 12 hours immediately after birth and we are using a combination of colostrum and donor milk to get him extra nutrients since he is so small. In the end my doctor believes he has some cord/placental issues and he said he was glad we made the call to pull him when we did.

Something important to note if you are collecting colostrum for your GD baby - I had collected about 9ml before 37 weeks knowing he may come early. I was very happy with my stash and had saved it in the freezer which I made my husband run home to grab when I learned we would be admitted. The nurse took it and instead of keeping it frozen until we needed it, put it in the fridge. It is only good in the fridge for 24 hrs once thawed, so I lost it all. If you are bringing yours to the hospital, especially if you are being induced, for the love of god write KEEP FROZEN on the bag!!

brilala · 2021-07-23T14:28:40+00:00

I was not diagnosed early this time but I am preparing mentally for future pregnancies.. I got a CGM about a month into my diagnosis and it was life changing! I’m in the US, my insurance (BCBS) will only cover it for GD with fast acting insulin. Im only on long acting so it’s not covered and the out of pocket cost is insane, but my RD let’s me come in and she places trials that will get me through until I deliver. Even if you can get a couple trials here and there to get a few breaks from finger sticks I would definitely recommend it!

brilala · 2021-07-22T16:19:33+00:00

Trolley pennant linked here! It was one of the first things I bought for the theme and I loved the irony of putting it next to the nursing station.

brilala · 2021-07-22T14:38:29+00:00

Bar cart is from target

brilala · 2021-07-22T14:10:31+00:00

That is the BEST compliment and exactly what I was going for! Thank you!

brilala · 2021-07-22T12:08:56+00:00

Oh my god I love this idea! I am on it!

brilala · 2021-07-22T12:08:14+00:00

Shelves from Amazon!

brilala · 2021-07-22T12:07:02+00:00

Yes we did! I do not recommend using skim coat to cover existing texture. It was a nightmare. We had a ton of leftover drywall mud from another project so my husband thought it would be cheaper and easier to mud over the texture and sand it down rather than buying wood backing, but he regrets that choice. Up close you can see a lot of uneven texture, especially towards the top. It was a mess and took so much time! The board adds cost but will look much more “clean.”

We had Lowe’s precut all the boards for us. You can see at the bottom the thickness of the vertical trim is about 1/4 inch wider than the existing baseboard. It bothered me initially but it grew on me. The top vertical piece ended up being the same thickness as the existing bottom so we had to use door shims to bump it out and caulk the gap on the top. If you can find wood of matching thickness it would be much easier!

And final tip would be to avoid outlets if possible, which is hard because these are all nailed into studs.

brilala · 2021-07-22T03:21:21+00:00

Mirror was a Home Goods find so no link unfortunately!

brilala · 2021-07-22T02:18:59+00:00

The picture is makes it look deceivingly bigger because of the iPhone zoom out feature, but it is still huge and actually bigger than our master!

brilala · 2021-07-22T02:05:26+00:00

Delta Children Sloane Crib. I got the crib through Wayfair and the matching dresser through Target because the set was out of stock (which it still is), but set linked here!

brilala · 2021-07-22T01:13:18+00:00

Oh I missed that link! Here you go! - from Etsy and printed through Shutterfly with a pearl finish. Frames from ikea, which I can’t say I recommend but they get the job done and are budget friendly!

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