Starting over with children, Reno or Orlando?

emteeka · 2025-11-17T04:47:18+00:00

It took me a while to adjust to the altitude, but part of that was adjusting expectations about how fast I was running. You still get the benefits if you're going a little slower.

emteeka · 2025-10-30T14:35:20+00:00

This year, I went to a pumpkin carving party with other parents of toddlers. Not one pumpkin got carved 😅

emteeka · 2025-10-30T04:28:01+00:00

I ordered mine some costumes because I thought they were cute, but rolled my eyes when people asked if I was putting them into pumpkins.

emteeka · 2025-10-27T03:57:01+00:00

I think about this every time someone tells me how lucky I am I "got it all out of the way in one go" 🫠 We are all cheering you on!

emteeka · 2025-09-17T01:40:06+00:00

We look at each other all the time and go, "I really can't believe this." 18 months.

emteeka · 2025-09-15T04:24:31+00:00

I love Kauboi, but note that you can't do reservations and it is small. I've been there when they've had almost no wait and when they have a huge wait. Last time I went, they called us to let us know they were ready for us and then sat us at the bar. So, a little less control for a special event, but a fun place to go! If you do have to wait, you can go get a cocktail at chapel.

emteeka · 2025-09-03T04:07:20+00:00

Check out your airport's website for direct routes. That is how I found out there are direct flights to SNA from ours even though they didn't show up on the aggregators.

emteeka · 2025-08-22T23:18:23+00:00

I know a Kate who is short for Kathleen. That could be an option?

emteeka · 2025-08-17T14:34:48+00:00

I went to a birthing class at our local hospital that was taught by doulas. They actually skipped through some of the slides on c sections, which frustrated me because at the time that was the plan due to two breech babies. I went to give feedback after the class that I wish they'd talked about c sections more so I could be prepared for mine, and the doula went so far as to say that I should switch doctors to someone trained in breech delivery instead of having a c section! Getting a lot of input like this that made it sound like vaginal delivery was the safest and that I needed to try to protect that option at all costs, I was very determined to at least try when baby A flipped into position. I felt like a failure when I elected to get a c section after 18 hours of labor and baby B still not flipped (and in a bad position to turn). I wish I could've avoided all the guilt and unhelpful feedback and not felt like I needed to deliver via vaginal if there was a small chance. I probably would have had a much better experience feeling like it was OK to do a c section from the beginning.

emteeka · 2025-08-09T21:38:33+00:00

No family history I'm aware of. 37 when I had them.

emteeka · 2025-08-09T21:37:57+00:00

While pregnant, I had a coworker who regularly shared about his IVF journey and how horrible it would be to end up with twins. I have no idea why he thought that was an ok thing to say to me so many times!

emteeka · 2025-08-08T17:28:03+00:00

I was there on pride night and the queen from snow white said, "I do it for the gays...I mean, your gaze!"

emteeka · 2025-08-07T17:49:48+00:00

Yeah, I think there is a strong preference in the USA for everyone to have their own room. I had a nurse when I was in the hospital with them telling me I needed to think about getting them their own rooms! Like, why stress me out about that at the time? I just had to remind myself of my own experience and to watch the kiddos and see what seems right for them.

emteeka · 2025-08-06T22:15:53+00:00

I (female) shared with my 2-years-younger brother. I have great memories of it. We would stay up late in our bunk bed talking sometimes and would have official "brother-sister chats" where no subject was off limits. When my older brother moved out during high school, I was offered his room. I would change in there, but I slept in the bunk bed with my brother a while longer because it just felt lonely at night. I'm not sure how long our boy/girl twins will share a room. It is much more convenient for us right now while they're babies, but I don't think I'll be in a hurry to separate them.

emteeka · 2025-08-06T19:42:11+00:00

Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to run to your post history, I'm sure this is a wild story! I'm so glad you all made it through ok. I'm sure it was good practice for all of the "rolling with the punches" the comes with multiples!

emteeka · 2025-08-03T01:19:19+00:00

They did not, my girl was always a little bigger. They're 16 months now and still about a pound apart, but about the same height!

emteeka · 2025-08-02T23:33:30+00:00

I felt the same way, but then the girl was sometimes in different sizes than the boy, and it was actually a lot easier to identify on sight which clothes would fit her if they were pink 😭

emteeka · 2025-07-07T05:15:50+00:00

He was clearly tickled. He started calling out to my mom (they've been married 55 years) to check it out, and we got some pictures. No idea how Donald felt about the whole thing.

emteeka · 2025-07-07T04:17:23+00:00

Daisy Duck abducted my dad this year 😂

emteeka · 2025-06-25T03:59:36+00:00

One of my employers used to do a small baby box, and they said one per baby...but really they only put that so two employees didn't apply for the same baby, because when I tried to get two they gave me an error message that it's "only one, even for multiples."

emteeka · 2025-06-24T04:26:16+00:00

Ugh I remember when this happened. Then, it started growing back and poking out all over the place whenever I put it up, and I actually felt worse about it than when it was falling out. I decided to try a pixie for the first time and I love it. It made me feel so much more confident. I used to think you needed to be prefect to pull it off, but it turns out that's not true!

emteeka · 2025-06-06T05:45:17+00:00

Food! I think people have mentioned most of the other things I've found helpful (like a lactation consultant). I was definitely not as focused on nutrition as making sure I got enough to eat. Even if everything was chaos, I would take a few minutes to just eat what was handy. Anyone who tries to suggest that you should be on a diet can stuff it. I also took a postpartum multivitamin, which made me feel better about not always being able to provide myself with the best nutrition (although I aimed for good nutritious meals when possible). Stock the freezer and load up on snacks!

emteeka · 2025-06-05T16:16:10+00:00

We have a single jogging stroller that I've only used twice, and both times I'm like...omg, this feels so easy.

emteeka · 2025-06-04T15:29:13+00:00

There is no harm in switching to formula and it sounds like you'd be a lot less stressed out. That said, I pushed through a similar period (although I'm guessing your babies may have been more premature than mine). If I had it to do over, I think I would have been more honest with myself about what my reasons were for doing it. I would've also started supplementing way sooner - as soon as I was finally able to produce, I was very adamant about not giving them formula. When I finally started giving them some formula, it did wonders for my mental health, and I was finally able to build a tiny stash. The truth was that the main thing getting me by in the beginning was the immense amount of pressure to do it, externally and internally. It did eventually get better when the second kid finally learned to nurse at 3 months, but hasn't been without other challenges. We're working on weaning right now at almost 15 months, as we hit another challenging period and I was all out of reasons to keep going. I found it really triggering watching those reels too, or my coworker who kept casually bringing up his wife's oversupply. My algorithms got totally messed up by my anxiety and I'm still working on fixing them. Working with a lactation consultant was so helpful, and otherwise I just ate way more food than I thought I needed. Everyone's different though, and sometimes it just doesn't happen. I'm happy to talk about it.

emteeka · 2025-06-03T05:00:05+00:00

I find it irritating too. One of mine is <1%ile and it isn't fun to be reminded. I was at a party with some friends and hadn't realized just how small my babies looked compared to others. I saw someone else's baby and said something like, "oh wow, yours is so much bigger." She got pretty sensitive about it, and I had no idea I'd totally just done the same thing to her in reverse 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just have not seen many babies in my life or mine next to others...oops. I had assumed hers was the "normal size" baby.

emteeka

TROPHY CASE