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Received an offer as Engagement Director from Salesforce (CSG, pre sales, L9). Great benefits package, 40% increase in total comp and better WLB.
I do love the people in my practice and current client, but career trajectory has stalled after taking parental leave earlier this year and (yet another) change in leadership.
Realistically, making to Director is 2-3 years away and will require sacrificing time with my family that I am not prepared to give up.
Should I stay or should I go?
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Any star alliance status match delta platinum?
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I quit today :)
BBW got my number.
Best New Years trip for two
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What's everyone's plans for the holidays?
Need referral at CGI. I have the job id with me
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Absolutely obsessed with a baby brezza bottle washer. Having a bottle washer was the biggest game changer for me. If I had to wash bottles every day multiple times per day, I think I would have lost my marbles. https://a.co/d/1gSKziK
Pro
We bought enough bottles that we only had to wash them once per day. Only buy the big bottles - they grow out of the smaller bottles in just a few weeks!
Best: Keekaroo changing pad, Bob jogging stroller, Snoo (rented), good baby carrier (I have both Artipoppe and Sakura Bloom)
Not needed: swaddle blankets (velcro is much easier), outfits other than zip up pj's, expensive bath products
Pro
I got the Wildbird as a gift and I thought it was expensive 😂
I love it though! I think it’s supposed to be very similar to the artipoppe
Obsessed with keekaroo peanut changer - for both my son & daughter… I can’t imagine how often we’d be washing a standard changing mat
The bumbo pad is the exact same and wayyy cheaper but this is the only type of changing table to get! Agree on that!
I never used a nursing pillow…anything for the outdoors I felt like was a waste of money unless you are someone that is super outdoorsy.
Facebook market place is where to look for a lot of the swings, sitmeups, etc… not worth it to buy brand new for those items.
Anything overly fashionable or “stylish” before they are a year old. They just need comfy onesies. Also…shoes before a year are pointless.
I had the breast friend….just felt like more of a hassle than anything.
Kids are all so different, this is often a bit of a pointless exercise. There are things people swore by that didn’t work at all for us. There are things we swore by for our first that didn’t work at all for our second.
This is what I always tell people who ask
We loved our Snoo. Wish we hadn't bought Lovery boxes. Think there are ones that are a lot cheaper and just as good.
Obsessed with: Snoo (really does increase sleep for baby & parents; game changer, buy on marketplace. We will likely profit bc resale value is so incredible), good baby wrap/carrier to be hands free at home or on the go, soft muslin blanket (for everything- nursing, covering bassinet or car seat in the sun, covering baby when cold outside or in car, etc), electric nose Frida (had manual one for baby 1; electric is game changer), cup holder for stroller (mom & dad need a drink too!), cloth diapers - buy a million, use them as soft clothes for burping, wiping spit up, etc/ leave all over the house, boppy pillow- someplace to put baby down easily for a min or two or more, extra diaper caddy - to put on diff floor of house that changing table is not on
Unnecessary items (mostly that people bought us): wipe warmer (never used), too many newborn clothes (this baby outgrew nb size in 1 week; some babies never fit them 8 lbs and under), dehumidifier (stupid, useless; have 3, never did anything)
Hit or miss: swing (baby 1 loved, baby 2 wakes up after a minute of swinging), rocking chair (used a ton in small apt, use never in house)
Coming from a mom with a 5 week old and almost 4 year old. Learned a lot since the first time..!
SNOO didn’t work for us but sold it for about $50 less than we bought it! So resale value is worth seeing if it works for you!
Umbrella strollers for when baby can sit up - put them in every car. There will always be that time when you think you’re doing x and then you’re doing y and suddenly carrying what seems like a very small person is suddenly miserable. Same with stuffing a reusable (and washable) bag with diaper stuff and a change of clothes for the inevitable blowout right before something important. Put that bag in every car, at the office, grandma’s house. Put a goodnite pad in there too and voila instant changing pad/car seat cover if needed.
Pajamas that zip instead of button. Need it.
Obsessed with: diapers, wipes, and good jammies (for me that's Little Sleepies, 2 way bamboo jammies that grow with baby). Also pretty content with dumping money on a bougie car seat and baby carrier (Solly wrap when little, Sakura Bloom when older). Also a big fan of Gerber cloth diapers as spit up rags, changing mat covers, and just generally for wiping baby messes.
I could skip: all the crap that fills up the house. Swing, baby bouncer, sit me up, playpen, snoo, infant bassinet, special furniture.
Travel car seats are nice if it isn’t your first baby because you are on the road a lot more toting older child around and it’s great to be able take sleeping baby out of car in the car seat and place on stroller without waking them up.
Rising Star
Loved:
Owlivia footed zipped onesies (soft and reasonably priced)
Carters Kimono cardigans (for the newest weeks my baby lived in these + diaper. Great for skin-to-skin)
Snoo
Artipoppe baby carrier
Doona (city baby)
Baby buddha hands free pump
Keekaroo and puppy-pee-pads on top (to make it warmer/ softer on baby’s skin
Haaka “pump” - to catch let down when feeding on other side
Cakye nursing bras
Medala disposable nursing pads
Momcozy hands free pump bras
Tonnes and tonnes of nipple cream
Red rooster white noise machine - $10 and survived daily 12-hr+ usage and being battered in flight luggage. Those things are indestructible!!
Needless:
Breastfeeding pillow - never used, always held baby in the nook of my arm
Big stroller - used doona exclusively
Any clothes that were “outfits”. Babies just need comfort. They’re not dolls or photo ops.
Second the puppy pee pads - also good for on the go when you need to change on a weird surface or for tummy time on an airport floor or other less than ideal surface when killing time.
Pro
Pointless: new toys. Join Facebook groups in your area and you can get tons of stuff so cheap and in good condition. We wasted soooo much money buying new toys (my husband tended to buy a new toy every time he had my kids for the grocery run), and some of my kid’s favorite toys are the random used things I saw on FB that looked fun. Save your money to buy new toys when they’re older and notice.
Pro
Obsessed with: 2 way zip pajamas and a million burp clothes (used for everything)
Unecessary purchase: dock a tot accessories, like an outdoor cover and sunshade. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Hands down best: Doona, Brezza Formula Pro, Keekaroo, and baby carrier (any brand), Automatic reclining glider (Babyletto Kiwi was ours), Kyte baby sleepsacks, Hatch sound machine
Skip: Any swing, pricey pack n play (rent off BabyQuip), expensive bouncers like Bjorn (just get one off Amazon, the Lalo high chair- get the stokke or something with a smaller footprint.
Second the Doona. After the first few weeks I found it much easier to pick up and put in the car. It is not our every day item at home but we use it for travel (one item to gate check vs separate stroller and car seat or having to rent a car seat from rental car companies) and events/crowded areas as it’s more compact - for example navigating Oktoberfest event between tight tables and then was able to fold wheels down and stash it under the table when baby was in the carrier for a while. We travel by plane every 4-6 weeks, so it is worth it to us.
Pro
I LOVED Hanna Andersson’s sleep sacks, especially the fleece lined ones for colder months. They are expensive but very high quality and wash/last well. Also worth investing in is a quality hands free pumping bra if you end up pumping - major game changer. For you, I loved my robe with big pockets. Spent a lot of time in the robe in the first months.
Skip the swing. One of ours loved it but the other two didn’t - they’re huge and expensive and easy to get on mom groups for free/very cheap if you want to try.
We were amazed at how much we used our portable noise machine. We also love our Revolve 360 car seats. Wife loves Elvie Stride breast pump.
We've somehow ended up with like 4 strollers, which feels ludicrous. City Mini is the one we gravitate to the most.
Glad to hear we're not alone in the madness.
We sometimes avoid our original workhorse, Chico Bravo, as being too heavy. I think City mini is lighter and collapses smaller, so starting with that might've been better in hindsight.
Depends on your living situation. Apartment/city living is very different from suburban living with tons of storage space. Also depends on your weather/time of year baby is born and whether/how much you’re nursing.
Wish I didn’t purchase:
- baby bathtub, bath toys, baby towels, baby toiletries. We used the normal tub, normal towels, cetaphil and aquaphor
- any clothes outside zipper/magnetic PJs and special occasion clothes. No need for outfits
- bottle warmer, bottle sterilizer, baby brezza formula maker. We used a mug of warm water, dishwasher, and did it manually when needed as we mostly breastfed
Obsessed with:
- Nanit
- Hatch sound machine
- Ubbi diaper pail
- Stokke tripp trapp high chair
- Bumkins longsleeve bibs
Bottle warmer and bottle sterilizer were great when I went back to work. I sterilized bottles and pump parts. The bottle warmer had a setting for frozen milk or refrigerated so it was great.
Obsessed with the keekaroo peanut changer, uppababy vista stroller, nanit and ollie. Wish we would have had a sterilizer that also dried.
2nd time mom- top used product is the infant attachment for the stoke high chair to keep baby out of danger from the big kids!
Obsessed with:
Halo Bassinest (I had a c-section and this made getting my baby out to feed in the middle of the night so much easier)
Bobby nursing pillow (helpful for c section/tummy time/working on sitting. My kid still uses it as a toddler)
Haakaa ladybugs (I found that they were better than the regular haakaa’s for catching letdown)
Artipoppe baby carrier
Spectra S2 pump
Earth Mama nipple cream/diaper cream
Mori sleep sack (still wearing it and he’s almost 2)
KUB portable changing table
2 way zip PJs
Frida baby windi
Uppa baby (I would probably get a different one but my husband refuses to hear any Uppa baby slander - it’s his most loved item)
Convertible car seat (we use Evenflo)
Glider
Could’ve lived without:
Baby bjorn seat
Infant car seat
Doona (controversial! It’s heavy, my kid hated being leaned back after 5 months and wheels only work in a city/well paved sidewalks)
Too many newborn/0-3 clothes
MamaRoo (my mom had it and it was used like twice)
Rising Star
This is such a great example of every family is different. My 1st born lived in her Doona until 14 months. My 2nd born lived in it until 18++. It was by far the best value (lowest cost per use) baby item we bought. And now we have donated it to a friend so it is serving yet another “generation”!
Obsessed with: soft structured carrier
Skip: crib (floor bed)
Loved small cheap wash cloths (think target multipacks). Wash cloths. Small waxy to carry burp cloths/spit rags/blankie to keep baby warm during diaper changes. Blankie to keep pee from squirting across the room for boys.
Hardest working 4 dollar item ever .