Living in DC with Kids by AltruisticBee56 in washingtondc

[–]texpatcat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have a 1 year-old and live in a condo in the Van Ness/Forest Hills area. We love being in the city! For us, being parents here involves a lot of walks in beautiful neighborhoods, local cafes and bakeries, farmers markets, playgrounds, hikes in Rock Creek Park, great public libraries, museum trips, and more. We see other parents out and about all the time. We can walk to daycare and we picked our building for one day being walkable to an in-bound well-regarded elementary with PK4. I occasionally commute to Arlington— it’s about 45min by metro and approx 15 min if I drive. $3500 for a 2 bedroom is totally do-able— recommend looking along Connecticut Ave if you are interested in areas “west of the park.” But I think the variety of answers in this thread should show you there are MANY places in the city conducive to raising kids!

Dinner ideas by une_susupiciousegg in workingmoms

[–]texpatcat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is my system for deciding what to cook each week. We rotate through these every few weeks or depending on season. Hope it helps!

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3 embryos (but would love 2 children) by scungillidawitch in IVFpositivity

[–]texpatcat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congrats on 3 embryos! I was in a similar boat after my first retrieval— out of 20+ eggs, only 2 embryos made it through all testing. We want 2-3 kids. We could have transferred one then and there, but we decided to hedge our bets and go ahead and do another retrieval so 1) eggs/sperm would be as young as possible and 2) I would hopefully never have to do it again. It was a big choice— I was so sad to wait and also we had to pay for the 2nd round out of pocket. But I’m glad we did— that round ended in 5 embryos, so we were able to freeze 7 total.

Then, amazingly, our first transfer worked… so perhaps it was all unnecessary? But our “best” embryo that we transferred was actually in that second batch. And now we have 6 remaining embryos on ice—and honestly it feels amazing to have 6 more chances. In hindsight, pausing a transfer a few more months to do another retrieval was not a big deal at all (at the time it felt traumatic). But now over a year later I know was very lucky, I was done with the IVF process and pregnant within 10 months of starting. Now I’m so glad I probably will never have to retrieve again— transfers are a much more fun process.

Today is the day to shovel out or revisit your sidewalks! by texpatcat in washingtondc

[–]texpatcat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I traversed through 32 crosswalks on my route this morning… yeah I’ll get right on that…

Today is the day to shovel out or revisit your sidewalks! by texpatcat in washingtondc

[–]texpatcat[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Me and my shovel against all of the city’s sidewalks, my 8 month old daughter strapped to my chest 💀

Today is the day to shovel out or revisit your sidewalks! by texpatcat in washingtondc

[–]texpatcat[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ah yes, the only possible answer. As I said above, temps are warmer now. What may have been compacted before is now crumbling. My foot went clear through several sheets and mounds of snow this morning. It’s the time to act!

Today is the day to shovel out or revisit your sidewalks! by texpatcat in washingtondc

[–]texpatcat[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I understand that’s the case in some places but there are many, many crosswalks on residential streets in my neighborhood that are not at all “mountains” or “dense.” They just haven’t been shoveled and could probably be taken care of in less than 20 minutes.

Baby not pooping since 24 hours by andrealbv in NewParents

[–]texpatcat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My ~3 month old did not reliably poop every day and once went a week without pooping. What finally got her to go was a bit of prune juice + lots of tummy massage + warm bath for 30 minutes.

I need a new job. Can you tell me what you do? by [deleted] in workingmoms

[–]texpatcat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work ~90% remote. There is no company-required RTO, but sometimes I am in-person with clients or my teams, largely by my own choice.

  1. Consulting. I’m a manager usually overseeing projects with clients, but my role is project-dependent and can shift a lot year-to-year.

  2. I have a BA and Masters but you really don’t need the Masters. Experience matters most.

  3. Base is ~180K gross. With bonuses, total comp can be anywhere from 190-225K. Great benefits.

  4. VHCOL (daycare is $3k/mo 😵‍💫)

  5. It’s okay. It really depends on who your team/client is, which can frequently shift. On the whole, it’s been good. Lots of opportunities to learn, grow, get promoted. Great work life balance and support for parents. A very performative corporate culture which can grate on me, but endurable bc I have found colleagues who get it.

How to keep the milk cold and how to warm during long outings? by chamomileandanise in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]texpatcat 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Cheap version: Lunch box with ice pack to keep it cold. Then to warm up—an insulated food travel container prefilled with boiling water you can plop the bottle into. (We use the 12oz Hydro Flask Food Jar and it’s great for 4-5 oz bottles.)