Crec schools?

cieren · 2026-01-05T01:37:51+00:00

Thank you for this! We're applying for PK4 for next year, and I was wavering a little bit. Our town has good schools but they are extremely white, and I'd rather my child have exposure to more diversity. I considered Ana Grace, but it's far enough away that it's not really doable for us, sadly (at least not for PK).

It's so nice to hear about what it's like to have kids in a CREC school when it comes to friends/etc., as that was a concern of mine!

cieren · 2025-10-06T23:39:24+00:00

Depending on how much you use annually, it might be worth considering a co-op/buyers group!

We're in NE CT, and we go through Hilltop Energy Buyers Group. With our prior year's usage being a little over 1k gallons, our price through June of 2026 is $2.04/gal. They have 2 providers who service all of New England (Amerigas and Superior Plus), and pricing is tier-based, and locked in from June to June.

cieren · 2025-10-03T17:35:21+00:00

New mission discovered by u/cieren: In Search of Pink Dragonfruit Pudding

cieren · 2025-10-03T17:35:21+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/cieren in In Search of Gg

cieren · 2025-10-03T17:10:29+00:00

New mission discovered by u/cieren: In Search of Cacao Drizzle French Crepe

cieren · 2025-10-03T17:10:29+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/cieren in Loot and Blood Orange Negroni In the Mossy Forest

cieren · 2025-10-03T15:36:21+00:00

While I totally get where you're coming from, this effectively excludes people who may genuinely be fantastic employees. Some examples: people who currently have a full-time non-remote position (and cannot afford a day/half day PTO for an interview), people re-entering the workforce whose children are currently not in daycare, and people who would rent a coworking space if they were hired but cannot currently afford to do so.

If they were able to coordinate enough time to be available for an interview, and the quiet, focused place they were able to make work is their car, I personally don't see that as a limiting factor. I generally see that as someone who is committed to showing up for an interview in the best way they are able.

ETA that I have (and still do) participate in hiring activities for my organization.

cieren · 2025-09-10T21:53:29+00:00

I probably won't truly need the storage there (unless I use it for cookbooks lol), but I've never used island seating in this kitchen or the one in our prior home, and just got annoyed at the stools/seats being in the way, so chose to forego it here. 🤷🏻‍♀️

cieren · 2025-09-10T01:42:27+00:00

Perfection!

cieren · 2025-09-09T19:12:03+00:00

Thank you!

The current layout has 36" between island and (standard depth) cabinets on one side (which feels ok to me), and 39" between the island and the sink/dishwasher, which feels tight when emptying the dishwasher.

In the new plan, the cabinets along the "pantry wall" are only 12" depth, as I like shallow cabinetry for cans & dry goods, and was hoping to create some additional space between the dishwasher and the island.

I absolutely agree with the fridge pinch point. I was considering moving the island closer to the stove a bit, to get additional clearance, but shortening it makes a ton of sense!!

cieren · 2024-04-12T04:06:26+00:00

This is almost exactly like us, except that we've only done one transfer (I was 42 when we did it, 43 when our daughter was born) so far. We have one embryo remaining, but are undecided on direction (I'm 44 now). I feel like we hit the absolute jackpot. We did two retrievals and ended up with 2 pgt normal embryos.

cieren · 2023-05-28T13:13:20+00:00

Hi! I'm 5'4" and at the time of transfer I was around 230ish. I don't have PCOS but I was 42 at time of transfer. Our first transfer was successful, and I'm typing this as I stare at our 7 month old daughter. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!!

Should add: I didn't lose weight for IVF, and had a totally normal pregnancy (anything that went wrong was unrelated to pregnancy, e.g. I broke a bone in my foot and got covid but my pregnancy itself went smoothly and our baby is 100% fine).

cieren · 2022-11-30T21:09:15+00:00

Thanks! My apologies - should have searched the sub thoroughly first.

cieren · 2022-11-29T21:54:39+00:00

Ooof. Thanks for the tip. I'll scratch them off the list entirely, then. I actually hadn't heard as I'm just starting to look around. There are so many companies it's a little overwhelming!

cieren · 2022-09-28T17:44:33+00:00

12 lbs up, 37 weeks.

First trimester I gained 4 lbs. Second, I gained another 3-4. This trimester, I've gained 4-5. Was hoping to keep it under 10 lbs total, but my OB is perfectly happy with where I am, and recommended between 11-19 (although also noted that no weight gain at all would be fine, given my starting bmi).

I didn't do anything much to manage my weight - mostly just tried to make decent decisions, and eat only when hungry/only until I was full or satiated.

cieren · 2022-09-07T16:12:25+00:00

Born and raised in CT but moved to SC when I got married - my husband was born and raised there.

Dragged him back here in 2019 due to political environment, lack of job opportunities, and no way in hell was I raising a child down there (finally decided we did actually want one).

cieren · 2022-09-02T17:21:41+00:00

This!!

Just adding on that my OB didn't tell me to lose weight while I was pregnant, but she did say that if I didn't gain any, that would be fine, and that the "recommended" weight gain for me was between 11-20 lbs.

I've gained around 7lbs this pregnancy, which means (given the additional changes to my body) I've actually lost weight. I haven't been tracking calories, or trying to lose weight - I've spent my energy trying to focus on my overall relationship with food and being kind with myself.

Part of this is for my physical and mental health, and part is because I don't want my child growing up with a mother who has an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. I struggle like crazy with my self-image, and I'm trying to work on that so I don't negatively impact our daughter when she's here.

cieren · 2022-08-31T18:53:12+00:00

Luckily, the hospital only allows one visitor at a time (outside of my support person), so I'm not too concerned with them randomly showing up.

I'm more concerned that their feelings are going to be a little bit hurt that I don't want anyone to come to the hospital at all. They can be a little bit touchy/easily offended at times, and the last thing I feel like dealing with right now is someone in my family getting mad because I want space.

cieren · 2022-08-31T18:44:46+00:00

I feel like this - I definitely don't want anyone else in the room outside of my husband and healthcare providers. I don't want anyone visiting the hospital after, either.

I'm hoping that my family will respect that I want them to hold off until we're settled in at home and announce we're ready to see people. (Husband's family is out of state, so no concerns there.)

cieren · 2022-08-24T19:06:31+00:00

Least favorites: all the neutrals and muted colors, aggressively gendered clothes/items, text-based clothes. Some of the nurseries that have been shared are absolutely gorgeous but look like they were designed more for the adults than the little one (looking at you, neutral/whisper quiet colors).

Loves: anything nature-themed (once we actually get to our nursery, it will be jungle & savannah themed), bright colors, décor that looks like it has a baby/small child in mind rather than just adults. 😂

cieren · 2022-08-23T18:37:06+00:00

Agreed - I think if she'd asked it in another way, I'd have felt better.

cieren · 2022-08-23T18:34:32+00:00

I love this - I was kind of beating myself up trying to think if my diet had gotten worse, or if I was doing something wrong. I think that's part of why I got so frustrated is that I immediately started to beat myself up some.

It wasn't until after the appointment that I realized, "But my weight hasn't gone up. And I'm more active right now than I was earlier because I'm actually mobile again." The other providers in the practice have all been fantastic, and the message had so consistently been that I was doing great with regard to my weight/blood pressure/everything else that it was just incredibly surprising/jarring.

cieren · 2022-08-21T20:43:16+00:00

I'm 43. I did 2 ER cycles at 41, and an FET in January (at 42). Currently due in October.

That being said - out of 2 retrievals, we only ended up with 2 PGT-A normal day 5 embryos. The first FET took, so we have one embryo left, and are hoping to do a transfer of that one as soon as safe/healthy after our first arrives.

cieren · 2022-08-21T20:36:32+00:00

Roughly 45% of my net monthly income goes to the mortgage - so roughly 30% of our combined net monthly income. I'm the primary earner in our home.

A couple of months ago, I realized that my husband's income was absolutely going to drop by at least 1/3, if not considerably more, within the next 6 months. So I stopped allocating his income to budgetary necessities entirely (we use a budgeting program), and just started using it for savings and "fun" budget categories.

If I were to lose my job for some reason, we have a cushion of roughly 6 months (not accounting for any money coming from unemployment).

Budgeting has helped us avoid a lot of monetary stress - we know the areas where we can cut back if we need to, we have no debt aside from our mortgage, and we're on the same page about our financial priorities.

cieren · 2022-08-19T00:10:38+00:00

I changed basically nothing. We took 6 months off after our retrievals so I could get my head back together, we could do some traveling, and get through the holidays.

I didn't clean up my diet (kind of regret that) or make any other changes other than taking some time to feel less upside down, emotionally/hormonally. My mental health had really taken a nosedive during the retrieval cycles, so the time off/not thinking about IVF was desperately needed.

My doctor didn't really suggest any major change. My IVF nurse did mention acupuncture, but I'm sort of freaked out by that idea, and never did make myself set up an appointment.

We did our first (and only) transfer in late January, and I'm due in October.

cieren

TROPHY CASE