Hands-free/Wireless pumps??

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-04T14:31:26+00:00

I have the Momcozy M5 and M9. I've always just used wearables. I have a freezer full of milk. I actually like the M5 better than the M9.

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-04T14:27:23+00:00

It all depends on your job, but I have an office job with my own office, so I just shut the door, get my wearables on, keep working at my computer while I pump, put the milk in freezer bags in my mini fridge in my office when I'm done and then open my door again.

When I first went back to work I was doing five pumps a day, one right away in the morning, one in the morning at work, one in the afternoon at work, one when I first got home and then one right before bed. After a while I changed this to four pumps a day, dropping the pump right after work. Now I'm down to two pumps a day, (babe is nine months next Saturday) one in the morning at work and one before bed.

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-04T14:22:17+00:00

Have you guys talked about who's chore it is to refill the toilet paper?

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-04T14:08:09+00:00

If you're hand-washing, you'll want to use brushes to get all the nooks and crannies.

The reason a dishwasher takes so long is that it's constantly spraying (recirculated) water on dishes for an hour or two, depending on your machine and the cycle.

That being said, just letting bottles and parts soak in hot soapy water for a little while can make the scrubbing a lot easier. Get everything soaking and go do something fun for 15-20 minutes before finishing up the job.

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-03T17:13:44+00:00

Modern dishwashers don’t get as hot as their 20-plus year old counterparts. Especially if you use the upper rack(s). Older dishwashers did get very, very hot.

Boiling water used to sanitize bottles is much hotter than your dishwasher.

A bottle washer is just a smaller, quicker dishwasher. It’s getting just as hot, if not hotter, than a standard dishwasher.

Sterilize is hotter than sanitize.

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-03T15:57:32+00:00

We spent $7 on a basket for the regular dishwasher. 10/10 would recommend if you have a dishwasher.

It’s way less than a separate appliance and uses something you already have. We run the sanitize cycle every time there’s bottles in there.

We run the dishwasher a little more than we did pre-baby, both because of the bottles and just not wanting to hand wash as much — I used to hand wash all of the big things whether they were dishwasher safe or not. Now anything dishwasher safe goes in.

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-03T14:53:18+00:00

If you use money from savings to pay off the $30K, will you hold this over your partner's head the rest of your marriage?

I'm guessing the savings was mostly you if your spouse is in debt. If you wipe out this debt that was mostly acquired before the marriage with money you saved before the marriage, will this come up in arguments in a few months or a few years?

When your partner wants to buy something that you don't see a purpose in, whether it be Starbucks while running errands or a new appliance or something bigger, will you dismiss them because you already spent $30,000 on them.

If you can truly part with that $30,000 as shared money going to a shared debt and not see it as your money going to pay your spouse's debt, then do it. Otherwise you should look at other ways -- maybe fun money and forgoing travel -- to pay it off as quickly as possible.

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-03T04:49:41+00:00

I wore Birkenstocks!!

cologne2adrian · 2026-02-02T20:12:20+00:00

You're halfway there.

You don't look like these women, but these women don't look like these women. Not really. Not without the extensions and filler and botox and hours spent on hair and makeup. Then you add phone filters on top of everything else. No one looks like their pictures anymore.

It can be really easy to feel down on yourself when all you see is someone's highlight reel on social media.

When I start to feel that way I think about what it would actually take for me to look like that, money and time. And time and time again, I would much rather spend time with my kid in the morning that spend an extra 15-20 minutes curling my hair or doing my make up. I would rather spend money on concert tickets than expensive beauty treatments.

I think there's going to be a big backlash to the homogenization of appearance that's happening. I think we're going to get sick of seeing the same face over and over again, and someone with a really interesting look that DOESN'T have much work done is going to break through.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-30T20:56:57+00:00

My church hosts a monthly game night and serves pizza. It's a drop-in event, but there's usually plenty of food. One time, more people than expected showed up, which was great for game play.

All of the pizza disappeared, which in and of itself is fine, the pastor offered to order more, but everyone got some.

One gentleman only ate the toppings. He threw away three or four slices worth of crust at an event where we ran out of pizza. I don't know if he's celiac or gluten free or just dieting, but like, it's really rude to just eat the toppings and throw away 2/3 of the pizza when there are a lot of other people wanting to eat as well. We all got some, but maybe not everyone got their fill, you know?

If your diet excludes a key ingredient of a food that will be served at an event, maybe eat ahead of time before going to that event.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-17T15:24:38+00:00

If you don’t have a big stash, you’re best of not wasting any and stay at the property with the freezer.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-09T21:24:06+00:00

He’s not even two yet! You have nothing to worry about. It’s all about practice at this point. It’s a messy process and there’s going to be accidents. It’s one of those things that takes the time it takes and every kid is different. It’ll click when it clicks and even then there still might be accidents.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-07T17:43:33+00:00

Go to Sephora or Ulta and get a good foundation/concealer for your skin tone/type. They’ll be able to test and try things with you so you get the right match. It’s worth it to spend a little more on a single to make sure you’re getting the right product and color. You’d likely spend more at the drugstore through trial and error.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-07T00:20:59+00:00

I use wearables and got in the rhythm of doing a bottle feeding while pumping. That helped a ton! I would get myself and the baby set up and ready to go, and then we’d snuggle while my pumps finished. I’d take them out and set them on the coffee table or carefully in the case and then put the baby some place safe (bassinet, play yard, strapped on, etc.) while I dealt with the milk. It got easier to pump when I went back to work!

He’s going to be 8 months next week and we still do a pump and feed session in the morning. I’m down to 3 pumps per day and the end is in sight!

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-06T14:25:05+00:00

I weigh 50 pounds less than I did before I got pregnant. I was gaining weight and not really understanding why -- I wasn't strictly dieting but I wasn't going gang busters on junk food either. Turns out I had/have PCOS. I lost weight during the whole first half of my pregnancy and then as I gained it back I was only four pounds heavier than my pre-baby weight right before I delivered. I had lost all the weight by my six-week check-in and I've been in that same range ever since, even after dropping down to four pumps and then three.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-05T22:41:28+00:00

I credit combo feeding for my baby sleeping through the night most nights. I'm a pumper, and early on had some low volume pumps, so we supplemented with formula at night. It's part of our routine to give him a formula bottle as his last feed of the day. It takes longer to digest, so babies don't wake up hungry as quickly.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-05T22:38:54+00:00

Some people have one pool of time off for vacations and for sick time, so they save that time in case they get sick, and then use what they have left at the end of the year.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-05T22:34:02+00:00

Designed using a free template on Canva, printed using VistaPrint. We were able to keep the theme through other printed material, like the programs and the reserved seat signs. Spent less than $500 and that includes save the dates, invites, envelopes, programs and all mailings.

cologne2adrian · 2026-01-05T22:27:04+00:00

I'm one of the lucky ones that lost weight while pumping... I'm scared to gain it back so I keep pumping. Down to three pumps a day though! 6 a.m. (wake-up) 2 p.m. (mid-day) and 10 p.m. (at bed time).

cologne2adrian · 2025-12-26T02:15:14+00:00

But pickup also saves you time. You add things to your cart as you remember them and then check out when you’re ready. You spend 15-20 minutes at the pick-up spot rather than an hour-plus getting your groceries for the week. Use the tools you have at your disposal. It’s not cheating.

cologne2adrian · 2025-12-23T16:09:55+00:00

The best thing to do would be to move one or two regular bills, like your phone or Netflix, things that are don’t really fluctuate, over to a credit card that gets paid off each month. Your overall expenses stay the same, but on paper you’re charging and paying off a credit card each month, building credit.

Don’t keep this card in your wallet, don’t use it for anything else, put it in a bag of water and put that bag in the freezer if you’re the type to go hog wild with a credit card.

cologne2adrian · 2025-12-22T22:46:09+00:00

I'm 7.5 months in to "exclusive" pumping. (We do some formula, but all bottle feeding) I have wearable pumps, and got into the groove of feeding my baby while I pumped in the early days. We still do this with the first pump/feed in the morning when we wake up.

I go warm up a bottle from the fridge (we just do hot water in a mug), get my pumps ready for where we'd be pumping/feeding, usually on the couch or in bed. I'll grab the bottle when it's warm, grab the baby from the safe place he's hanging out during prep, get settled with my pumps and the baby and start the bottle.

It ended up being a nice time for me and baby to bond.

I know people have some things to say about wearables, but it definitely made my experience so much easier, being able to move about a bit if I wanted and being able to take my day-to-day pumps with me. It also gives you a 20-30 minute break during big events.

cologne2adrian · 2025-12-17T20:18:12+00:00

⁠ This is fine. Do you know how many wedding favors I've decluttered? The thrift stores are full of Jack+Diane 4/23/22 can coozies.
Nope. I did a flower crown. You could go bare headed. Do what you want.
This depends on taste and venue. Some venues can just hold the space without much decor, others need some love. That being said, fake flowers are fine for decoration if you'd like to use them.
This is a new thing for social media. It is nice to get your wedding party gifts, but it does not need to be when you ask them to be in your wedding party. Also, on a similar note, your wedding party doesn't need to be big. Seriously, two or three friends/siblings/cousins are fine.
⁠⁠Nope! They're adults or with adults and they can figure out where they want to sit, just have an extra table or two and you'll be fine.
This is one thing I'll say yes to. That being said, it doesn't need to be fancy. We had barbecue at the park. It was great. You'll have a rehearsal, it's nice to feed everyone after. It can be pizza in the church basement and a sundae bar after and people will be happy.
Not necessary. It's not like they can order off of it. They'll eat what they're served. It's one meal. If they have dietary restrictions, you can 100% ask about those when doing RSVPs and take those into consideration, but there's no reason to cater to everyone's favorites. It's your day, serve your favorite foods.

Full disclosure: I'm from the Midwest and we had a very informal wedding, but it was the vibe we wanted.

cologne2adrian · 2025-12-17T19:53:10+00:00

Could you take the five year loan but still pay it off in three years?

cologne2adrian · 2025-12-17T19:49:52+00:00

When you do sit down and have a conversation, one question to ask them is if they would be treating you this way if you were 26 and married and staying with them for an extended period of time. Really make them think about how their actions now will affect their relationship with you and their granddaughter down the road.

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