u/nooneneededtoknow

I just gave birth, and we had planned to do some meal kits for the next few months. We were going to do Marley Spoon or Blue Apron and I have seen nothing but issues now for the last few weeks from people.

I really don't care about price, I just want quality food and we eat everything - no allergies, no special diets, etc. If they forget an ingredient there is usually a way for me to get around it with stuff I already have so an issue where there is one or two mistakes occasionally is not going to be a deal breaker.

Whats your suggestion....

Wanted to share my story in case it helps anyone.

I just had my second GD pregnancy, and gave birth a week ago. My first pregnancy I was very green, I didnt read the books, I just kind of winged it, so got a crash course in nursing immediately after the baby was born and was introduced to the word colostrum. Had zero clue the milk took days to come in so in the hospital I was squeezing tiny bits of colostrum onto a spoon to see how much I was actually expressing and giving it to baby and it sucked because he was obviously hungrier than what I was producing and it made me feel bad. Luckily I am over producer so it picked up quickly. Baby was great no issues.

This pregnancy I decided to start expelling colostrum early - 1 week before my induction date. I started with just 1ml and by day 4 I was making 5-6ml a session, and I ended up stopping after 5 days because we just had so much and I was like - why am I doing this, obviously I am producing enough for latching and the baby only really eats 1-3ml right away (thats what I read) because its stomach is the size of a marble. The only real benefit I saw having the colostrum available was my husband could do a couple of feedings in the night so I could sleep. We ended up bringing 20ml to the hospital just in case but I was thinking this is way too much.

Fast forward to birth, so I was pretty much diet controlled with the exception of being put on night insulin - a measly 4units to help with fasting that was consistently just over the threshold (95-102). I went off the insulin 3 days before induction because my fasting had dropped into the high 70s low 80s. Birth went really well - and babies sugars were great. Fast forward to 2 hours later and the sugars had dropped to 44 the cut off is 45. The nurse said we are going to use your colostrum and not bring baby to the nicu. She brought in 6ml to start on top of me nursing for like 30-40minutes. We did this and after 3 hours tested sugars again and he had dropped down to 48, not under the limit but the fact we had pumped so much colostrum and he still had a pretty low crash meant there was an issue BUT if we continued to feed as much as we did it should basically work itself out with no NICU and no gel/donor milk, etc. So we did this, I would nurse for 30-40minites and then use the extra colostrum (6-8ml) to top off his feedings- I had to express more colostrum inbetween feedings because the 20ml wasn't enough as the baby eats every 3 hours. Luckily because I had built up I could easily stay on top of the demand and after 24 hours of this he was regulating on his own and we were able to be discharged a day after giving birth with no NICU or added intervention.

I guess this is a pitch to consider expressing colostrum as a just in case scenario. I really didnt think we were going to have sugar issues because like I said I was really well diet controlled, and I honestly thought I was being a bit extra having so much...but it in the end it saved us from added intervention/added anxiety and worrying and likely a longer hosptial. And we had a supply at home too, so after every breast feeding sessions we would top him off with syringes which gave me piece of mind with his first ped apt and his weight being maintained.

No pressure at all if you don't want to do this, but I just wanted to make the pitch as I have never seen this talked about on this sub for controlling sugars after birth.

I need some suggestions on what ya'all are drinking - at this point I don't think I am going to find what I am looking for but thought I would at least try.

To preface, pre-pregnancy I didn't have a "go to" drink. I drink 2 cups of black coffee in the morning and a ton of water. But occasionally- maybe once a week I would have a power aide, or soda like a mountain dew, orange or cherry coke. And then I am a social ritualistic drinker. And what I mean by that is over memorial weekend we did a ton of yard work, dispersed 10 yards of mulch, planted flowers, and pulled weeds. Normally I would reward myself with a hard cider but I was like, ok you can't have that, so I ran to the store and got a gatorade zero which I had two sips of and ended up throwing it away because it was gross - i knew I wasnt a big fan already but I was so hot and thirsty I thought it would override my initial disdain and find it satisfying enough. It didn't, I find the artifical sweeteners gross. Other examples are - there is a local brewery pizza place and I would always have their brewed IPA with my pizza. Or when we boat, the majority of the time I have a Gatorade and gin and lemonade with my turkey/dorito sandwich. Like once a month hubby and I would make a pitcher of sangria and sit on the deck after LO falls asleep, scrolling our phones, talking about the news/current events, house projects, grocery lists, etc...I realized a lot of my "ritual" drinking happens in summertime and I can't find anything that remotely satisfies my cravings.

I don't like any diet sodas I have tried (diet mt dew & orange) - its just like the gatorades/powerades zeros - the artifical sweeteners are gross. Like I would rather drink nothing. I have tried liquid IV, I have tried seltzers - I don't like lacroix, poppies, bubblers, polar, spindrift. I don't like tea. 😐

Does anyone have any suggestions to get me through summer. Its such a petty thing but its starting to sincerely bum me out knowing how hot its supposed to be this year. I just want *something to look forward to as icewater with [insert hint of flavor, lemon, cucumber, mint, etc] isn't cutting it.

Currently debating between the first name Layton and Duncan. Give me your favorite middle names to go with them.

Currently debating between the names Layton or Duncan. Whats your favorite middle names to go with these two.

Currently debating between the names Layton or Duncan. Whats your favorite middle names?