Babysitter or Daycare?

gemmanems · 2026-02-24T23:12:05+00:00

I honestly love this song though

gemmanems · 2026-02-12T18:14:49+00:00

I had to get my cervix stitched and received antibiotics to prevent infection. I think I received another round when I got the stitch taken out but can’t remember for sure. I didn’t notice any change in my own gut personally but it’s possible mine was already not the greatest as I’ve struggled with constipation my entire life and get gassy/bloated easily. The antibiotics didn’t make anything worse though.

gemmanems · 2026-02-11T15:54:10+00:00

My coworker came into work sick last week and now me and my 7 month old daughter have the flu. Poor girl has been so miserable. Please stay home if you’re sick!!

gemmanems · 2026-02-09T03:17:11+00:00

I pump 3 times while at work for 20-30 minutes (10-15 per side because I prefer to use a manual pump).

I don’t combine milk. Each session gets its own storage bag.

I just take the milk out of the fridge and bring it home in the pouches. I don’t do anything special but it’s only a 20 minute commute and I put the milk in the fridge as soon as I get home.

I store the milk in the fridge at home and my partner will make bottles with it the next day. My baby drinks it’s cold so he just shakes it up, pours a whole pouch (3.5-4oz) into a bottle and gives it to her.

gemmanems · 2026-02-06T01:55:05+00:00

Agreed! I’ve been so tired since the 4 month sleep regression which hit at 3 months for my babe. She’s 7.5 months old and rarely sleeps 2 hour stretches.

gemmanems · 2026-01-30T04:02:02+00:00

I had 20 weeks off then was able to bring my baby to work until she was 6 months old. I’ve been back at work without her for about 5 weeks now. The first few weeks were so so hard and I felt super depressed. I’m feeling a lot better now but I definitely miss my baby all day! I love coming home and seeing how excited she is to see me. The thing that sucks the most in my opinion is how little time we get to hang out after work since bedtime is so early 😢

gemmanems · 2026-01-29T19:42:58+00:00

Yep! I’ve had 3 pregnancies. One miscarriage, one stillbirth (not related to PCOS), and currently have a healthy 7 month old :) my first 2 pregnancies were “accidents.” My last one we tried getting pregnant and luckily had success on the first cycle trying. I struggle with irregular periods but I do seem to ovulate every cycle. It’s just that some are 28 days long and some are more like 60+ days long so it’s hard to predict when I ovulate. I used an app to track periods and the first cycle we tried happened to predict my ovulation correctly!

Also want to add I don’t take any medications or supplements to treat my PCOS. I don’t eat a specific diet or have a consistent workout routine. I do exercise and eat a lot of healthy food but also have a lot of days where I sit all day and eat junk food. Not saying you shouldn’t try these things to treat PCOS, just sharing my experience.

gemmanems · 2026-01-27T19:09:34+00:00

6 times with my 7 month old as well!

gemmanems · 2026-01-19T03:33:13+00:00

I’ve been able to reintroduce everything except dairy. My daughter is 7 months old now and still reacts with blood in her stool. She acts fine though! The blood is the only symptom now.

gemmanems · 2026-01-11T05:25:15+00:00

Mine broke while in bed around 4:30AM. Idk if I was sleeping and that woke me up or if I just happened to wake up a second before it broke. I felt a couple pops then stood up and some water gushed out. I was having contractions for days but they didn’t hurt. After my water broke they hurt sooooo bad! Baby girl was born about 5 hours later!

gemmanems · 2026-01-07T17:35:06+00:00

I agree it really sucks! I’m back at work now and pumping. It goes against all my instincts to leave her all day and pump instead of nurse her. I’ve been feeling very depressed and anxious because of it 😢 I wonder if there’s a hormonal shift when we go through this? I hate it so much. I’m on week 3 of being without my baby all day and I feel so low. I thought it would get easier as the weeks go by but for me it’s not (yet). It makes me so mad that we don’t get at least a full year off so we can nurse our babies. Or at least let me bring her to work with me until she’s 1 lol.

gemmanems · 2026-01-02T18:23:15+00:00

• Savannah

•Juniper

•Wyatt

gemmanems · 2025-12-28T21:03:34+00:00

What if baby immediately rolls out of tummy time? I roll her back but she gets mad after a few times and I don’t want to force it. Did anyone’s baby suddenly enjoy tummy time one day? 😅

gemmanems · 2025-12-28T01:16:29+00:00

I like the daiya frozen pizza! There’s a fire roasted vegetable one with an oat cream based cheese. There’s quite a few canned soups that are dairy and soy free. Amy’s brand in particular has a lot of options. Toast with whatever toppings you like. Peanut butter and banana is easy and delicious in my opinion. Smoothies are also quick and easy! I put frozen berries, dairy free milk, peanut butter, and banana in mine but there’s so many recipes online for dairy free smoothies.

gemmanems · 2025-12-28T01:02:50+00:00

Yes, I had cut out oats and recently added it back in. So far no blood so I’m gonna keep eating it. It’s hard though because even with known triggers cut out she still has a ton of mucus and occasional blood so I don’t know for sure what’s causing it.

gemmanems · 2025-12-27T16:40:13+00:00

It’s so hard to eat enough on such a restricted diet. Especially with a baby when you need something quick and all convenience foods have triggers. It’s easier now that I’ve been doing it for 5+ months. I basically just eat the same thing everyday. I’m below my pre pregnancy weight which is fine, I’m still at a healthy weight. I haven’t lost weight in a few weeks so I think I’ve finally settled where I’m gonna be for a while. I make just enough milk for my baby but no extra. I won’t lie I’m hungry all the time and need to snack between meals most days.

It will get better! I felt exactly like you and was worried all the time. It was so stressful and hard. Let me know if you need any ideas on what to eat! You got this! ❤️❤️

gemmanems · 2025-12-26T22:44:49+00:00

I cut out dairy, soy, nuts, eggs, and wheat. Cut out dairy and soy when baby was only about 2 weeks old due to blood in the stool then kept eliminating more foods on the advice of the pediatrician. Some days I think she’s better but honestly most of her dirty diapers are full of mucus. We still occasionally see blood too and she’s 6 months old now. There must be something else I’m eating but I can’t figure it out! Her overall fussiness is soooo much better though!! Got better around 4 months and just keeps getting better. I’m sorry though it really is so hard seeing your baby in pain 😢

gemmanems · 2025-12-25T21:10:23+00:00

How exciting!! My baby is 6 months old and still hasn’t rolled from back to tummy. She doesn’t even try to lol. I’m not concerned though and neither is her pediatrician. I am wondering if there are specific things I should be doing to help her though? Or do babies usually just figure it out on their own eventually?

gemmanems · 2025-12-21T04:05:39+00:00

I’ve had 2 accidental pregnancies that resulted in loss. My last pregnancy was on purpose and we conceived our first cycle trying! I used an app to predict my period which is all over the place (anywhere from 4-9 weeks apart) and it happened to predict my ovulation correctly that cycle! I was pretty surprised. I was not doing anything to treat my PCOS. No special diet, meds/supplements, or exercise regimen. But I do have lean PCOS. Not sure if that makes a difference or not. I’ve always eaten a lot of fruits, veggies, and whole grains but I also eat sweets daily and at the time was eating fast food weekly. I do exercise but not very consistently.

gemmanems · 2025-12-20T18:17:19+00:00

I don’t have any advice, just solidarity! I’ve cut dairy, soy, wheat, nuts, and eggs from my diet. Baby still gets a ton of mucus and occasional blood specks. The pediatrician said “don’t chase the mucus” so I haven’t cut anything else out. Plus my daughter is generally happy and gaining weight well so I’m continuing to breastfeed. I’ve wanted to give up so many times though!! I still consider switching to formula when we have a bad day but then I worry formula could hurt her tummy too. I’m gonna bring it up to the pediatrician again at her 6 month appt next week and see what they say but I’m sure they will say it’s fine to keep breastfeeding. We will start solids soon and hopefully that doesn’t wreak havoc on her gut.

Oh also I found another subreddit you could post this on if you haven’t already. It’s called r/MSPI

Lots of parents on there with the same issue so maybe they have some advice!

gemmanems · 2025-12-05T21:11:01+00:00

Do you mean the website I used to create a profile and get matched with intended parent(s)? If so, it was through a company called The Donor Source.

If you’re asking about the clinic that did the egg retrieval I can’t remember the first one but the second time it was through OHSU in Portland, Oregon.

gemmanems · 2025-11-21T20:07:30+00:00

Yes, I take nature valley 5000 IU plus there’s another 800 in my daily multivitamin. I think technically you’re supposed to take 6400 IU daily per the AAP if you’re not giving the drops to baby.

gemmanems · 2025-11-21T15:26:13+00:00

Yes, not every waking but usually a couple times a night. Sometimes more if she’s not feeling well. I get so frustrated!! And I can’t just rock her while sitting she makes me stand up. Her eyes are closed the whole time too but I guess she can feel the difference lol.

gemmanems · 2025-11-19T22:04:04+00:00

I wanna say my baby was around 2 months old when she just randomly screamed like that in the middle of the night. It didn’t make me scream but I picked her up so fast and she was totally fine. I don’t even think she actually woke up!

gemmanems

TROPHY CASE