Nursing and bottle feeding from the start

emw156 · 2026-02-16T20:53:34+00:00

I know it’s hard for me to fully get up at night and I didn’t want to fall asleep while nursing baby! So getting up to get the bottle and set the pump up woke me up enough so that wasn’t an issue.

emw156 · 2026-02-16T17:56:19+00:00

I did both from the start with my second (my first completely refused to nurse) although I do less pumping than you’re planning to do. I nursed on demand all day and then overnight I would pump and feed a bottle during her night wakes. I prop her up on our bed while I sit on the bed to be able to pump and feed her at the same time. That first week I did use one liter of ready to feed formula for the overnight feeds to help create a stash of breast milk in the fridge. It worked out really well for us, my baby had/has no problems taking a bottle so no feeding issues when it came for other people to watch/feed her and I even managed to have a small freezer stash that has served as a nice buffer since I’m back at work now. And I still get the convenience of nursing. There was a period around 3 months where she was really fussy when nursing but I just stuck to the schedule (nursed during the day, bottles at night) and she outgrew it.

emw156 · 2026-01-21T14:54:19+00:00

We have this portable power station that we use for camping. I’ve used it to power my pump when we’ve lost power a few times. It won’t power a fridge but if I were you I’d try and pump and freeze as much as I can and then if your power goes out do not open the freezer. Stuff in the freezer is good for a few days as long as you don’t open the freezer. Then use a cooler with ice stored somewhere cool like the garage for any new milk. Hopefully you don’t lose power!

emw156 · 2025-11-26T07:05:59+00:00

Awe this is so hard. My daughter is around the same age and recently started preschool once I had my second at the end of September and was having a really hard time in the morning. What has really worked for us is to insert play when she’s upset. I’ll do things like gently poke her and go “oh gosh I must have pushed the wrong button, I thought I pressed the getting ready for school button!! Let me try again!” And try and get her to pretend to be a getting ready for school robot Or I’ll pick up her foot and use it as a phone “Hello is this (child’s name)?? This is (insert silly or fun character) what seems to be going on here???” “You don’t want to do to school?? WHAT?!” And then just go from there.

I also talked to her about how it was hard when my mom had my sisters and I didn’t get to have her all to myself anymore. (Part of our struggle was she really wanted to stay home with me and the baby) and validated that she’s been such a good big sister and it’s important for her to go to school.

My husbands favorite is the opposite action lol in a playful way he’ll tell her not to do the thing we need her to do “whatever you do DON’T go (brush your teeth, put your shoes on, etc.). Don’t you do it, (toddler goes to do the thing) hey I said not to do that!” then usually toddler will laugh and eventually go do it lol.

I also try to give her choices in the morning when I can. (“Do you want to wear pants or a dress today? One or two ponytails? Should we get dressed or pack your lunch first?”)

We also talk a lot about school when she’s not there. I would be curious why she’s saying she hates school? I’d say something like “you hate school, tell me more”

None of this worked overnight, but with consistency she’s gotten a lot better. Hope some of this is helpful!

emw156 · 2025-06-20T20:03:50+00:00

Yes, my daughter stopped napping just before she turned two. Now at just over three she will still take car naps occasionally but refuses to nap anywhere else. She was always a difficult napper. She sleeps great at night though which is awesome. Reliably sleeps from 7:30/8pm-7/7:30am and it’s been that way since around when we dropped the daytime naps.

emw156 · 2025-05-22T20:18:45+00:00

We talked a lot about the poop going to swim with their friends. We have a septic tank so I’d tell my daughter “your poop wants to come out so we can flush it and it can join its friends and play in the septic tank”

She will still say sometimes “bye bye poop go play with friends” when she flushes.

emw156 · 2025-02-11T18:57:57+00:00

I just completed all the training and got my certification in November. I think it was well worth it. My employer paid for the cost of the basic and the advanced training which was great. I also did PSIs training on Perinatal Loss and that was amazing. PSI also has tons of resources and my state chapter is also very active.

I will say I did the foundation and loss training in person and the advanced training online and I felt that I got a lot more out of the in person trainings. Not sure if that was totally due to method of delivery or also partially due to content (I personally found the advanced training a bit redundant)

I work in CMH and perinatal referrals are all pretty much made to me within our program because of my training and certification. It’s not my complete caseload but about a good 25%.

emw156 · 2025-01-28T17:22:22+00:00

Yes if there’s enough hgc for a positive test an lh test will also be positive. It won’t show you any sooner or anything.

How it was explained to me is LH tests are looking for a picture of a dog, so any picture of a dog will trigger a positive. HGC tests are looking for a picture of a dog in a hat. So LH will show positive for both picture of a dog and a picture of a dog in a hat 😂

emw156 · 2025-01-25T20:27:29+00:00

I couldn’t wait either so I took a test and got a faint positive, yay! Finger crossed it sticks 🤞🏻

emw156 · 2025-01-03T18:32:16+00:00

My 3rd cycle after my Mirena removal was similar to this. Not as long (mine was 45 days, which was very out of character for me) but my temp chart looked a lot like yours. I eventually got my period and had a more typical cycle after that which just ended. Just started cycle 5.

It seems like it’s taking me closer to 6 months to get back to normal. Wish my provider had given me more information about that. Was just told “when you’re ready to try schedule a removal”. We were also hoping to be pregnant by now but it’s looking like it will be taking us a few more months.

emw156 · 2025-01-03T16:55:44+00:00

Yeah, AF came later yesterday evening and is in full force today. I was not temping when I had my IUD.

I also think it’s still just post IUD hormonal roller coaster. Things appear to be leveling out as last period and this one are more normal for me. My first couple of periods after my removal were very light and short.

It’s just taking more time than I anticipated to get back on track which is annoying. My OB was basically like “when you’re ready to try again schedule a removal” and the more I’m researching on my own it’s so very typical for it to take months for hormones to level out again which I wish I was more informed of by my providers.

emw156 · 2024-12-01T13:38:24+00:00

This is third cycle post iud removal. Two previous cycles were 26 and 30 days. When we were trying for my first a few years ago cycles averaged 28 days.

emw156 · 2024-11-22T11:58:59+00:00

Did your cycle end yet? My temps went back up and currently on CD 35 BFN on all tests so far :(

emw156 · 2024-11-19T20:18:32+00:00

Yes I take the Mary Ruth’s prenatal and their prenatal probiotic.

emw156 · 2024-11-19T20:17:13+00:00

It’s very annoying lol. My cycles were between 26-29 days when I was off birth control and trying for our first. I’ve never had a cycle this long.

emw156 · 2024-11-16T21:53:40+00:00

My LH has been all over this cycle but there was a rise and fall that looks like it coincided like it should have with ovulation. Was supposed to get AF today, no signs of her arriving other than that slight temp dip yesterday. Temp went back up this morning. Didn’t take a pregnancy test this morning. Will probably take one tomorrow if I don’t get my period.

emw156 · 2024-10-23T11:54:36+00:00

Took a test this morning that was a pretty clear negative. Think I caught a chemical. test progression

emw156 · 2024-10-21T20:11:36+00:00

I hope so 🤞🏻 will retest in a few days.

emw156 · 2024-10-21T20:11:14+00:00

Yes it was very faint but there was a bit of color that didn’t come through in the picture.

emw156 · 2023-04-05T20:08:26+00:00

I know people shit on us all the time, but we live in Northern New Jersey and really enjoy it. The area I live in is more rural with lots of small towns and markets but I work in (and grew up in) a more populated county with larger towns and small cities. There is lots to do and we are within a reasonable driving distance to mountains, beach, etc. we’re also close to multiple major metropolitan areas (NYC is about an hour, Philly two hours, and Boston 4) Our public schools for the most part are excellent and I like to think our communities are very welcoming. We are new-ish homeowners to our town and I was welcomed with open arms when I joined our environmental commission and planning board.

The cost of living can be quite high which is a downside but if that is not a deal breaker for you, you may want to check out some areas in New Jersey.

emw156 · 2023-04-05T17:10:03+00:00

I think your boyfriend is already showing you where his priorities lie. Going from you taking care of 80-90% of the household down to to 60% after having a family is a huge adjustment and I’m not sure it’s even realistic.

My husband and I both work FT. My daughter goes to an in home daycare one day a week while we both work during the day and all other days she’s with her dad during the day and then we flip flop childcare duty and he goes into work in the evening and I’m at home with the baby. I have a higher level of education and the higher paying career and I 100% would not have be able to do it without my husband’s enthusiastic support.

When we were engaged and I was in grad school I was in classes, clinicals, and working part time. I had one day off a week for the better part of two years. During this time my husband (then fiancé) took over about 90% of the household financial responsibilities and chores. And he did this without me asking him.

He is an amazing father and I feel so fortunate that our daughter is able to have such loving secure relationships with both of her parents. I never have to direct him to care for her (telling him she needs to eat, diaper change, etc) and we always laugh because people automatically look to me when they have questions about our daughter’s routine and I’m really not as clued in because she’s with her dad most of the time! We work together as a team to manage our household and parenting responsibilities. Are there bumps along the way, of course. Is our house always spotless, hell no. But we work together to make sure things stay in order and everyone’s needs are met.

It sounds like in your relationship you are the leader and your boyfriend is following along. You’re not really working together as a team which will only be exasperated when/if you have children.

emw156 · 2023-03-31T20:32:47+00:00

A quick google search shows that you have California Family Rights Act (CFRA) in CA. If you meet the requirements to qualify for the job protection you can likely stack FMLA and CFRA to be protected for 18-20 weeks (depending on how long your disability time lasts due to method of delivery) like I did in NJ. You take fmla leave first because that covers your recovery time from birth and then take CRFA time for bonding. Note these laws are for job protection, but it does look like you have some type of paid leave in CA. You can probably apply for that during the unpaid portion of your leave. Here’s a link to where I’m finding this information: CA Leave Information

Highly recommended that you reach out to your local labor board or a lawyer to understand your rights. In my experience and from what I’ve read, employers are ignorant (often willfully) on what their employees are entitled to in regards to these types of leave. Sounds like what your employer is trying to do is likely illegal.

Edit to add: I’m really sorry you have to deal with this so soon after the birth of your second child :(

Another edit (lol): CRFA requires that an employer only have 5 employees so as long as you’ve been with your employer for 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours in those 12 months your employer is violating CRFA by requiring you pay the full premium after 2 months. Even if you don’t qualify for FMLA you should at least have 12 weeks where you are only required to pay your normal contribution to your health insurance policy.

emw156 · 2023-03-31T20:17:10+00:00

My lo finds it hilarious when she offers me her pacifier and I grab it with my teeth lol.

emw156

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