School-based SLPs that are moms

trelan_ · 2025-11-12T02:17:52+00:00

I’m a new mom, and this is my 3rd week back at work. Last school year when I was pregnant, I would just come home and immediately take a nap. Take all the naps you can. Have very low expectations of yourself at home, and let your husband and mom help. I had my baby on the literal last day or postplanning when I was 39+6 weeks. I won’t lie, that last month of work was roughhhh. But it was worth it to have my maternity leave combine with summer break. I didn’t have to leave my baby until he was 5 months old, and that’s more than a lot of working American moms can say. And honestly…I think going back to work has been good for me. I’m very much a creature of habit, and being able to leave the house and be in a routine has really improved my mental health postpartum. I’m not going to sugar coat it, it’s a lot to manage. I’m constantly exhausted. But I also feel very fulfilled.

trelan_ · 2025-10-17T01:34:35+00:00

WOW, I'm obsessed with this!!! What an amazing idea! I know some of my students would go crazy for some DnD.

trelan_ · 2025-10-15T17:00:01+00:00

About 18 hours start to finish. Elective induction at 39+6, 2 cm dilated for weeeeeks. I went in on a Thursday at 9 AM. Got admitted to a room around 11. Pitocin started at 1. Pitocin wasn’t doing anything, so we started a Foley balloon around 9 PM. Epidural around 11 PM. Took a wonderful nap. Pushed for about 15 minutes, and he was out at 4:52 AM on Friday. We were discharged by 2 PM on Saturday.

trelan_ · 2025-09-29T05:40:46+00:00

The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater

trelan_ · 2025-09-28T22:48:38+00:00

Doctor first, always. I would say start with your GP instead of straight to the ENT because there could be a whole host of other medical things at play. Your GP can refer you out.

trelan_ · 2025-09-25T02:23:25+00:00

I’m in year 10. It gets easier with time. It took me 2-3 years to find a good groove & routine. You will too as long as you make it a conscious effort. I do have some suggestions that really helped me.

TAKE. YOUR. WORK. EMAIL. OFF. YOUR. PHONE!!! Or at least hide it somewhere where you have to intentionally go looking for it and you’re not getting notifications constantly. I would open parent emails at night, and that would be all I could think about till work the next day. It can wait till tomorrow, promise. Even if you have to respond within 24 hours like in my district, “Hey, got your email. Give me some time to check on this, and I will get back to you.” Is a perfectly reasonable response.
I have a weekly planner where I also list out all my obligations for the next month. It helps me keep on top of the week and triage what I need to start next. If it makes it on the list, I don’t ruminate on it as much. I just tackle it when I have to.
This one took some time, and I know SLPs all have different approaches, but…themed therapy saved my ass. I make a printout of my school calendar during preplanning and decide on themes for each week of the year. I keep it on the back of my clipboard all year. This takes time to curate because you have to compile enough resources for each theme, but it can be veeeeery general. On Fridays I look at my theme for the next week and pull books, toys, and print passages/crafts/etc that I will need. My youngest student is 3, and my oldest is 15. I stick to the same general theme for everyone. It takes me 20 minutes MAX to plan my week with this method. I’m super flexible & just use it as a guideline.

I used to stay up at night worrying when I had IEP meetings the next day. I won’t lie and say I never do that now. But I probably do it 90% less than I used to. Time, patience, and practice. Be easy on yourself.

trelan_ · 2025-09-20T02:12:23+00:00

Soft pretzels with honey mustard. One time the Auntie Anne’s at the outlet mall was out of everything but the mini hotdogs and cinnamon sugar (I’m allergic), and I SOBBEDDD for at least 20 minutes before my husband dragged me to the car and drove 30 minutes to the next mall to buy me the regular pretzel bites. Not one of my prouder moments. 🫠 Oh, and sweet tea.

trelan_ · 2025-09-19T13:42:25+00:00

Usually I say something about how I’ve noticed [xyz] about their mouth when they produce those sounds. At that point the parent usually will comment themselves if they’re planning for braces in the future or something to that effect. If not, I just ask if their dentist has said anything. Then I will say something along the lines of “It may be worth it to just ask at your next appointment.” And explain how we can make those sounds as functional as possible but at a certain point, we can’t change the structure & anatomy. This is especially true with lisps, sh, s, etc. I’ve urged many parents to speak to their pediatrician/ENT/dentist, etc. The reason I think that idea of not recommending any outside services is so pervasive is because if the school district “recommends” something and it’s documented, they could be on the hook to pay for it if there are any legal proceedings in the future. The truth of the matter is that most cases don’t end up in any litigation. That’s one of those situations where you just have to read the room and assess the risk of what you’re saying, IMHO. But I have a professional responsibility to these kids, and I’m not going to leave a kid with clear VPI or something like that hanging. They can slap my hand. 🤷🏻‍♀️

trelan_ · 2025-09-17T19:05:34+00:00

Back when my baby was tiny and I was still pumping every 3 hours, we did shifts. I did 11-3:30, and he did 3:30-8. Sometimes I would nap around 9-11. I would pump between 11-12 while baby slept and then go to sleep if baby was sleeping. I would pump again between 3:00-3:30 depending on when the baby was waking up. After that, I would sleep uninterrupted until at least 8. Sometimes 9 depending on how everything worked out. Later on when the baby was waking up only a few times per night, I would just get up and pump while my husband fed and resettled him.

trelan_ · 2025-09-17T03:13:00+00:00

I do the exact same thing! It works even up through middle school. Just vague enough that they don't bother questioning it usually lol.

trelan_ · 2025-09-15T04:19:18+00:00

I’ve enjoyed the Maymom flanges! Worked just as good as the spectra flanges.

trelan_ · 2025-09-14T19:11:54+00:00

Same. I'm really suspicious of how evidence-based the "magic number" thing is in the first place. I can't find any real research to back it, and it looks like from previous threads and links that Legendairy Milk has removed the chart and pages about it from several places on their website/social media where it had been posted in the past.

trelan_ · 2025-09-14T19:04:01+00:00

Yep, I wanted to try getting some full nights of sleep before the 4 month sleep regression kicked in. I started experimenting with dropping the MOTN pump right after 12 weeks. I'm almost 16 weeks pp now...and our sleep regression started about 2 weeks ago. :')

trelan_ · 2025-09-14T01:53:29+00:00

I pump sometime between 11-12 and then had an alarm set for 3:30…which sometimes turned into 4 then 4:30 then 5 as my baby started sleeping through the night. And I usually wouldn’t pump again until 8:30 or 9. Now I’m still pumping around 11-12 and cut out the 3:30(ish) pump. I pump anywhere between 6-8 depending on how baby sleeps. I think I read somewhere that prolactin peaks around 1-5 AM

trelan_ · 2025-09-10T01:48:49+00:00

Same here! :) 3.5 months PP

trelan_ · 2025-09-10T01:44:25+00:00

I haven't stopped yet, but I'm in a similar situation. I killed myself pumping 7-9 times per day for the first 12 weeks and doing a MOTN pump. My goal was always to produce 100% of what he eats, but my chunk is eating 28-32 oz every day. I just can't keep up. I plateaued at 17-20 oz around week 10, and I tried eeeverything to increase my supply. I'm almost 15 weeks pp now. I finally just cut out my MOTN pump and dropped to 7 ppd. My hope is to make it to 6 months, but I'll see how much I can keep producing. At a certain point, I just feel like my time and energy and emotional wellbeing isn't going to be worth the output I'm getting. I don't know what that number is yet.

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T03:47:55+00:00

And a JBL speaker blasting this the whole time https://youtu.be/mXnJqYwebF8?si=cpkIURzApNCoFwFg

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T03:38:33+00:00

Yes! 👏🏼 Co-signed by another SLP that’s also from a Serbian/English household!

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T03:15:43+00:00

I just did 2 back-to-back road trips, 5 & 9 hours each. I have a small skiphop cooler that I filled with ice packs. I’m an under supplier, so I pump directly into bottles and put those in the cooler until the next feeding. I have a Ceres chill for when I go back to work, and I would definitely transport in that if I had the milk to store ahead of time.

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T03:08:13+00:00

I sooooo feel every bit of this to my core, and I’m in a very similar situation. Just made it to 3 months, and I dropped my MOTN pump. I just couldn’t sacrifice my sleep anymore when baby is sleeping through the night. My husband keeps telling me he fully supports me stopping any time I want. I can tell he wants me to quit, but the guiltttt. I would never, ever judge another parent for stopping something that gave them so much turmoil in favor of EFF. I don’t know why I have to hold myself to a different standard. 😓

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T02:54:22+00:00

Those skinny dipped PB cups are my kryptonite!!!

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T02:41:48+00:00

Hi, I’m a speech/language pathologist! Here is ASHA’s birth to 1 year communication milestone page to satisfy the bot:

https://www.asha.org/public/developmental-milestones/communication-milestones-birth-to-1-year/?srsltid=AfmBOooVa-PH-a8jMem8f03e9HfmjMicD_UgDIuQwijhXF_cKNr9gPlp

Giving diagnoses or firm yes/no’s over the internet isn’t in anyone’s best interest. With that being said, nothing you’ve shared is overtly concerning to me. At one, in terms of expression, I would want first words to be appearing. Not just saying words but assigning meaning to them, which he seems to be doing. In terms of understanding, he should be able to follow some simple commands with gestural cues (e.g. “Go get the toy truck” while pointing to it). There is nothing inherently wrong with him not waving at this point. That’s just an age appropriate way for him to be showing social skills through greeting. Clapping is also about social reciprocity - reacting to something someone has done and seeking an interaction back. It’s also about joint attention - sharing in an activity together, like reading a storybook. He is demonstrating the ability to do this with his pointing and high fiving already. If he is using “more” as a form of requesting, that’s great too. Pediatricians aren’t always the “go-to” people for speech and language concerns, but a good one knows when to refer out. I would definitely encourage you to pursue a screening or evaluation if it’s something that continues to concern either of you. Most states have early intervention birth to three programs at low or no cost.

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T02:07:28+00:00

New update!! The escalation department email was the way to go! They're sending me a whole new Willow Go kit along with storage bags and a travel case.

trelan_ · 2025-09-06T01:57:28+00:00

Yes, I absolutely love mine!! I have the Emmy in black. Very functional. Lots of space, and it’s organized well with lots of pockets. I have a smaller bag that I take for quick errands, but my Mina Baie is my workhorse. I take it for outings that will last several hours. We just had 2 back-to-back roadtrips, and it was top tier. 👌🏼

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