Washable Workwear Wednesday: T-Shirt Dress

Something that seemed like common sense after someone told me, but that I didn’t think of: If you have a Medela, or a pump that does the “fast pump” for two minutes to help with let down, push the button mid-way through your pumping session once the initial flow has stopped. This mimics the baby sucking faster once the milk stops and will typically get a second (or third) round of milk flow. It works well for me.

two year old bday – halp! My son turns 2 in a few weeks. I really (really) don’t want to do something expensive, but still want to celebrate him. I know from experience that this is the last year before they know to ask about birthday parties, and I want to keep this very (very) inexpensive. Ordinarily, I would just have my “mom” friends and their kids, but nearly everyone is on their second or third kid, and even if I just have the three closest friends over, I’m looking at 17 people in my teeny house, and we would serve this group wine, so that adds to cost. We don’t have local family (hence the somewhat larger than ordinary friend group – my husband and I went to college and law school locally).

Sooo, what does that leave? 2 in late fall/winter is a hard age, as sit down meals aren’t fun for him or anyone else, but I’d still like to make it special for him AND us. He has a four year old brother, if that helps?

Weird pregnancy question. 18 weeks pregnant and I’ve suddenly (past 1-2 days) gotten redness on both my breasts. Red spots are warm but not painful or itchy. Otherwise I feel fine. I’m thinking my bras were just too small and my breasts are growing rapidly, but should I call the doctor? I know pregnancy mastitis can happen (but is rare).

How did you stop/prevent foot and leg cramps while pregnant? I’m drinking a TON of water, so that box is checked. My first pregnancy I drank coconut water and that eliminated the cramps…but I really hate the taste of it and am trying to avoid that. Any other methods?

Has anyone put their child in a language immersion program or school? Please throw your pros and cons at me!

We have the opportunity to put our 3 year old child in a private school that would be taught entirely in another language until 3rd grade, which is when English would start to appear in some classes (for grammar and writing). The school runs through 8th grade. The teachers are all native speakers of the foreign language. Class sizes would be pretty small (like, 2nd and 3rd grade are taught in the same room small). Neither I nor husband speak the foreign language. At the school, about a third of the kids are in our boat with no prior exposure to the foreign language, a third have a native speaker of the foreign language at home, and a third have exposure to a different foreign language, not the one taught at the school, at home .

It seems like a wonderful opportunity. We loved the school when we visited. But also, this is such a big commitment that I am just trying to run through all the questions in my mind. There is a lot to think about. The language aspects. The small school size. Choosing a private school over public. The adjustment when our child leaves this school and goes to another school, which would happen at 8th grade if she didn’t drop out sooner for other reasons.

Would love input from this board on this topic.

TTC for #2 and my per!od came 7 days early. !!?? The last few cycles have been super long – 45-50 days. I stopped nursing about 4 months ago, so I thought things would have become regular again by now. Is it time to go to the doc to get things checked out? Should I go to my PCP or GYN? Ugh.