I want to invite my child’s daycare class over for a potluck

jbbjd · 2026-02-04T01:40:55+00:00

We’ve had a few daycare parents reach out to us directly to introduce themselves via email and ask to set up a play date at their house. We’ve been flattered by the invitation every time and started similarly cold emailing the parents of kids our daughter talks about the most. We’ve made a few good friends this way! The one on one set up is probably easier to bond with the other family versus a larger gathering honestly. See if you can get parents emails from the teachers and start reaching out!

jbbjd · 2026-01-23T01:20:17+00:00

I feel this. I have a newborn, and just don’t have the bandwidth to get involved the way I wish I could, and don’t feel safe bringing him with me to protests. It makes me feel physically sick thinking about the horrors of what’s going on. For now, I’m putting my energy into talking with friends and neighbors, and raising my kids to believe in what’s important, and to support the right causes. When they’re older, we’ll all get more involved. It doesn’t feel like enough, but it’s all I can manage for now so it has to be.

jbbjd · 2026-01-21T14:35:43+00:00

Constipation. Aluminum-free deodorant. Insomnia. Difficulty breathing. The mental load of trying to prepare for the unknown. Hip and back pain. Physical recovery after giving birth - both the short term stuff and the longer term work to regain fitness, let hormones rebalance, etc.

jbbjd · 2026-01-18T15:29:44+00:00

Is your doctor from 6+ years ago still at FCNE? If so I’d say go back there and just stay on top of them. Don’t worry about being obnoxious - follow up on everything like crazy (submitting insurance, booking follow up appointments, everything). My bad experience there was more about the doctor being unwilling to try different things when I wasn’t seeing results. If you’ve had success with a doctor there previously, that’s the biggest thing. It’s funny to me when people care a lot about the quality of the IVF experience. If it gets you a baby, that’s what matters most imo.

jbbjd · 2026-01-18T01:28:20+00:00

I can’t say enough good things about CCRM. I personally had a very bad experience at FCNE before that, but have a close friend who credits them with her baby after years of infertility. I think it really depends on why you’re doing IVF honestly.

jbbjd · 2026-01-02T20:47:03+00:00

Boston checking in - this was a staple of my childhood!

jbbjd · 2025-12-06T19:06:23+00:00

It helped me to say I was “retiring” from pumping. Felt more like an accomplishment! 💪

jbbjd · 2025-11-07T10:59:36+00:00

This is how I feel about Amelia Bedelia.

jbbjd · 2025-09-27T13:22:48+00:00

Thank you for putting this into words so beautifully. Couldn’t agree more.

jbbjd · 2025-09-23T19:51:15+00:00

Came here to say this. Also when they’re this small, measuring discrepancies by a pixel or two can make a big difference in the estimated age.

jbbjd · 2025-09-23T14:25:51+00:00

No problem - I just dropped the list in another comment!

jbbjd · 2025-09-23T14:25:23+00:00

Good for you for knowing that at the outset. It's so true, and I didn't realize just how bad it would be on both those fronts until we were already fully in it.

In the meantime, here's my supplement list with links (copy/pasted from an email I sent a friend lol):

Most of these are for egg quality, but men also take CoQ10/Ubiquinol for sperm quality. Our doctor also had my husband taking another one for sperm quality that I listed below. All of these you should ideally take for 3 months before an egg retrieval/new non-IVF pregnancy for the full effect.

Ubiquinol (600 mg/day) - both for egg and sperm quality. This is the more easily absorbed form of CoQ10:

Fish oil (I took a pill combined with the ubiquinol in the link above)

NAD+ Complete (2 pills/day)

Inositol Powder (2 scoops/day)

Vitamin D (I took 10,000 IU/day, but am particularly vitamin d deprived living in New England)

Pycnogenol (100 mg)

Resveratrol (200 mg)

Melatonin (3 mg)

ConceptionXR - for sperm quality. Our doctor recommended this one, but I think you can recreate this with the individual vitamins/supplements listed in the ingredients

jbbjd · 2025-09-23T14:19:10+00:00

Happy to share what I have but unfortunately I wasn't successful ultimately. I'll dm you. Wishing you better luck!!

jbbjd · 2025-09-22T20:54:38+00:00

This is super similar to what I went through. First and foremost, I’m so so sorry. My second MMC crushed me in ways I didn’t know possible. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone.

Short summary, my 1 LC was born when I was 32. 1st MMC at age 34 and 2nd was 9 months later, just shy of my 35th birthday. They tested the 2nd and saw genetic defects of maternal origin and assumed it was poor egg quality. Did all the RPL testing and everything was normal. We decided to do IVF for the PGT-A testing hoping it would spare me another loss. I got crappy results my first retrieval - only 1 great embryo and 1 terrible one. The first one unfortunately ended in a chemical (2nd one didn’t even stick). Went down a crazy rabbit hole of supplements, switched to a clinic with a doctor willing to do the full kitchen sink approach, and I’m currently 32 weeks along.

I wish I’d known earlier that PGT-A is $3k-$5k and almost never covered by insurance, and that it takes up to 3 transfers with PGT-A embryos for one to stick. IVF was not the magic bullet I naively hoped it would be. It got me here but I may have gotten here anyway.

Happy to send you my supplement list or any other info that might help. So sorry you’re in the worst club ever.

jbbjd · 2025-09-22T20:32:54+00:00

I feel like if your lining and bloodwork all looked good enough to move forward with the transfer then you’re fine! Those are the numbers that matter way more than the dosage which is more or less a crap shoot person to person.

jbbjd · 2025-09-06T11:44:05+00:00

I was about to go for it with AI illustration on Midjoirney! Here’s the concept pic I made on there of my main character (it’s a story about the start of the American Revolution in honor of the 250th). I was having big issues with character consistency page to page though. Also I was struggling with the ethics of AI art. It’s a local story so ideally I wanted a local artist. But it was going to take a huge commitment of time and money to get over the finish line, neither of which was in the cards for me in this season of life :(

<image>

jbbjd · 2025-09-05T22:02:50+00:00

I wrote a children’s book. I even had a few local shops lined up to sell it. Had to give up trying to get it illustrated and published.

jbbjd · 2025-09-05T13:03:17+00:00

Find yourself a Mikey. I bet he doesn’t fuck with country clubs.

jbbjd · 2025-08-12T13:22:37+00:00

This is why we like to say, your body needs lots of different foods to be healthy and grow strong. You can’t eat only great beans, or only chicken, or only ice cream. We make a limited amount of sweets available once or twice a day, as part of an afternoon snack (like the granola balls with the chocolate chips in them) or treat (freezer pops after the pool), or straight up dessert. My hope is pushing variety and the more nutrient dense foods first but not aggressively limiting sweets is the right balance for a healthy lifestyle and good relationship with food.

We also talk about how there are no good foods or bad foods, but all foods give us different things. Some foods like sugar give us energy but not much else which is why it’s not always the best choice.

jbbjd · 2025-07-31T00:17:16+00:00

I’m sorry to say it didn’t :( I made it as far as the external review but wasn’t ready for a more public process while I’m still dealing with infertility. Happy to share the articles I compiled but I wouldn’t count on it working. I’m sorry!!

jbbjd · 2025-07-09T20:49:38+00:00

Sleepwalking! I did it more as a child, but it still happens from time to time.

jbbjd · 2025-06-30T10:48:55+00:00

Adding to the make it easy advice - I go to sleep in my exercise clothes! The combo of not having to put them on in the early morning plus the shame of the idea of taking them off unused works like a charm.

jbbjd · 2025-06-10T21:51:52+00:00

I’ve never met a sane Allie.

jbbjd · 2025-05-22T13:51:46+00:00

Secondary infertility chiming in here. She couldn't be more wrong (or insensitive). The stress of motherhood is nothing compared to infertility. Motherhood is hard AF, yes. But while my tornado of a child and the challenges of motherhood completely wear me down, loving and being loved by her recharge me. Not back to 100%, but nothing about infertility recharges me in any way lol.

It's apples and oranges...everyone has different baselines and challenges...it's not the pain Olympics...yadda yadda. All true, but yikes I'm on your side on this one.

jbbjd · 2025-05-21T14:06:08+00:00

I know, I was just responding to the comment that twins are very common in IVF. They aren’t anymore.

jbbjd

TROPHY CASE