I’ve been a devotee of Lands’ End swim suits for a while now — they come up to size DDD, in regular, tall, petite, and plus sizes; they’re made well, they don’t show too much, they’re slimming without being uncomfortable… and you can often find them on sick sales in the “On the Counter” section or with discounts. This deal is pretty solid considering it’s the height of swimsuit season: the suit was $119 and is now $49. Lands’ End Tunic One Piece Slender Suit
Anon says
My best friend has very kindly offered to throw our little family a baby shower. There is a guest who I would very, very much like to be there, but they are only possibly able to make it if I have the shower when I’m 25 weeks. Which option would you pick?
-Coed baby shower @ 25 weeks with 50/50 chance special guest can make it
-Ladies’ only baby shower @ 32-34 weeks but 0% chance special guest can make it
-Coed baby shower @ 32-34 weeks, no special guest
Maddie Ross says
Unless the “special guest” is you or possibly your mother, I would probably go for ladies’ only at 32-34 weeks. But that’s just me. I was barely showing and hadn’t registered at 25 weeks. By my shower at 35, I had things a little better under control and was excited for the shower (also needed the distraction and fun of it, as I was starting to get uncomfortable and nervous!).
Anon says
Or if the guest is your husband and you want him to be there.
NewMomAnon says
I had a baby shower when baby was 8 weeks old with some people who couldn’t do it while I pregnant, and it was tons of fun – just make sure you have someone to help with baby so you don’t have to disappear for diaper changes, naps, etc.
ANP says
I’m with Maddie Ross on this in terms of the special guest, but I also think 30-32 weeks is the sweet spot for a shower. 34 weeks is too late, IMHO — just in case baby arrives early, you get a little more time to buy any “necessities” you don’t receive at the shower.
EB0220 says
Yes, 34 weeks is probably a bit late. I had a shower with my first at 35 weeks and baby came 2 days later!
Transporting pumped milk says
Advice appreciated: If I’ll be on the road and in the air for about 12 hours, is it better to freeze the milk I pumped over the previous two days? Or should I keep it liquid? I usually don’t produce enough to bother with freezing so I’ve never done it. Also, I should buy a hard-sided cooler to transport, right? (This is my first trip away, can you tell?)
sfg says
For me I think the answer would depend on your access to ice over your travel day – if you can start your day with fresh ice and replenish at the airport and then midflight or when you land, I think that leaving it liquid would be fine so that you can retain the option to freeze it when you finally get home. If your LO is going to consume it over the following 2-3 days after your return, though, freezing and letting it defrost over your travel day would be OK, too.
I have a soft-sided cooler – I like it because it’s a lot lighter than the hard sided ones. I think if you make sure to transport your pumped bags of milk inside larger ziploc bags that soft sided is totally fine.
Spirograph says
Freeze! I brought a week’s worth of frozen milk home when I traveled a month or so ago. Soft or hard side cooler doesn’t matter, but it should be small enough that the milk takes up almost all the space. It will stay frozen for 12+ hours, no problem. Also frozen milk is not a liquid, which makes tsa screening easier (even though the ounce limit doesn’t apply to breast milk.)
Heather says
I just flew back & forth between home and DC four times in the past month, each time with a week’s worth of milk. I kept it refrigerated but not frozen and had no problems. I got fresh ice in the morning and topped it off at an airport bar. Screening was fine too – one time they pulled out one of my coolers to test but the other times they either didn’t notice or didn’t care that I had a few coolers’ worth of milk. I used the coolers that came with my medela pump plus another small soft cooler. I packed the coolers into my carry on, but something to keep in mind, the condensation from the milk/ice being so cold led to the coolers getting very damp by the end of the flight, so I put them inside a couple grocery store bags. Even so, I wouldn’t pack them in the same suitcase/carry on as anything that can’t get a little damp, just to be safe.
Transporting pumped milk says
Thank you for the tips! I’m mid-journey and the frozen milk is still frozen in a cooler bag just big enough to fit them, in a plastic bag to keep my other stuff dry. Finding places to pump along the way has been a PITA, though. Zomg, how do you regular travelers do it? I’ve so far pumped in an airplane bathroom, in my plane seat, in the lactation pod at LGA, in a windowless nursing room at SeaTac, and now in an unused Travelers Aid office at O’Hare.