I think it's bad form to have guests over and offer them nothing. Even if they just came from a party where food was served, I would still at least ask if they were hungry or offer something. But that's just me.

I had this happen a couple of years ago. We went to visit my husband's cousin in CT (drove from NYC though). I was 5 months pregnant and we were going around lunch time. I asked if we would eat lunch with his cousin+family and he said yes. We got there and there was 0 food. We literally stayed in their house for 4 hours and the only things we were offered were these mini cupcakes (a tray of 6 for 5 people). I was starving by the time we left at 6pm and we went straight to a pizza place a few blocks away from their house. I would never ever treat guests like that. In my family, you always offer food/drinks or at least coffee/tea with snacks.

It took several years for us to conceive but it worked twice with IVF+FET. We started trying when I was 32, then when nothing happened for 1 year we went to get checked. Everything looked good on paper but for some reason wasn't happening so we were labeled "undetermined infertility" which happens to about 30% of infertile couples. Testing took several months. We did 4 rounds of IUI which were all unsuccessful. But then IVF+FET worked when I was 35. I'm pregnant again with FET now at 38.

The women who get pregnant quickly are so very lucky. But for those of us who aren't so lucky, there is lots of help out there!!!!!!

My only advice is don't wait too long to get checked and to get help if for some reason you get worried that it's taking too long.

I didn't read it here but yes, the breastfeeding part washing was a life saver. I pumped at work until my daughter was 1 year and at first washed the parts after each pumping session. Then once I was given the tip, I'd leave the parts in a zip lock in the fridge and only washed them every night. It saved a ton of time and helped my already chapped hands from chapping even more!!

Anonymous wrote:Where is a good place to take infant CPR? I haven't seen it advertised on the list of Sibley classes (that's where we'll deliver).

We took the Infant CPR class at the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. But that was a couple of years ago so check their website for information. We delivered in Sibley also.

We found the classes helpful. We were both first time parents and didn't have much exposure to infants in our lives so it was good to get the basics. We took the class a couple of months before my due date. Everyone in the class had big bellies at that point

Anonymous wrote:We used an Arms Reach co-sleeper. It's like a Pack & Play that 1) attaches to your bed, and 2) has an adjustable height for the mattress so it can be at the same level as your bed. Great for newborns. Our youngest slept in our room for a year and once he could roll over, we moved the mattress to the lower position.

We used an Arms Reach co-sleeper as well, except ours was stand alone next to our bed. We didn't put our daughter in her own crib until 6 months. So I would definitely wait.

I don't have any advice but good luck. Let us know what works and what doesn't. And yes, kids can be very manipulative. My daughter learned that if she says that she pooped then someone will come in to check her diaper. So every evening she will keep saying that she pooped, when in reality it's true maybe 10% of the time. I go in once in a while to check on her, say good night, and then leave. She eventually falls asleep.

People (including kids) are just wired differently. I am still a really poor sleeper, have always been one since I was born. It takes me forever to fall asleep and sometimes if I awake at night, it takes a long time to fall asleep. My Mom and daughter are the same way. My sister, husband and Dad are great sleepers. They are out as soon as their heads hit the pillow. My daughter unfortunately got the poor sleeper gene

That schedule sounds ROUGH. I've always said that I will not use the cry it out method but we ended up having to do that. It sucked really bad but it was the only way that my daughter learned how to sleep on her own. We have tried everything but nothing else worked.

I nursed her twice at night until she was 9 months. Stopped nursing completely at 12 months. It wasn't because she was hungry. She just wanted to be held and sleep on top of me. So when we decided to cut out the nursing session, she protested quite a bit. First couple of nights were really bad. But then each night got better. Probably took a week total but it was worth it. We broke down a few times later when she cried hard and it was really hard to retrain again.

She's 2 and many nights she still wakes up at night once or twice, mostly if she loses her pacifier. And at around 5am we bring her to our bed because otherwise she will stand and cry.

Sleep has been a constant struggle for us, since day 1. There were weeks and months that were great. But then it would completely change. Growth spurts, teething, separation anxiety, etc etc would always throw off her sleep schedule. So good luck!!!!!

I'm a Mom of a 2 year old with our 2nd on the way. DH and I both work full time so I'm nervous about how we will handle 2 kids. It was very helpful to read all of your advice.

I've survived with 1 kid so far with some help - house cleaners 2x/month, Instacart delivery, Amazon Prime, ordering clothes online for baby and myself. DH does daycare drop offs and I do pick ups, we switch when meetings get in the way so it's worked out well so far.

Adding a 2nd will certainly complicate everything. I stayed home for 3 months with my daughter and breastfed her for a year. Hopefully I can do the same for the 2nd one but it may be tough.

A nanny who cleans/cooks/does laundry and is also great with the baby would be a life saver but finding a quality nanny will be the challenge.