Second Baby, Smarter Tools: Mothering with a Second Brain

There’s a photo I took one night — I’m pumping, coding, the glow of the screen lighting my tired face. Some of you might not know this, but when I’m not working on my projects or taking care of a baby, I code for a living.

I looked at it later and thought, This is it. This is what building in the cracks of motherhood looks like.

Not glamorous. But quietly brave.

This is my second baby. He’s 8 months old now, and while the days (and nights) still blur together, I’ve found new rhythms this time around. I’m still deep in the trenches — nursing, pacing, whisper-swaying through nap transitions — but I’m not doing it alone.

This time, I brought a second brain.

During this maternity leave, I’ve been using AI in ways I never expected — not just to help me work, but to help me mother. Most notably: I’ve been using AI to predict and guide my baby’s ideal nap times. I’ll input when he last ate, slept, or stirred, and it offers a soft suggestion for when to try the next nap window.

And honestly? It works. Not perfectly — he’s still a baby, not a machine — but it’s made a noticeable difference. Longer naps. Less fussing. Fewer chaotic “why won’t he sleep?!” spirals.

And when he does nap? That’s when I code.

I get maybe one to two hours a day to work — if I’m lucky. It’s during these windows that I shift into builder mode. I’m slowly (like, really slowly) working on a web app — something I want to share with others when it’s ready.

The idea is to make it free and sustainable, supported by display ads, but more than anything, I want it to be useful. For other parents, other dreamers. Other people trying to make something while balancing everything.

To get started, I tried using tools like Lovable.dev and Replit. Lovable got me a surprisingly fast prototype (yay!) but when I tried adding real features, it struggled. Replit unfortunately never quite worked — it kept freezing even on basic prompts.

So now I’m using Cursor AI. It’s like pair programming with someone who doesn’t care that you’re running on four hours of sleep and still in your pajamas. It helps me debug, build, and keep things moving — even if it’s just inch by inch.

This little app is growing up beside my son. We’re both learning as we go — him, how to crawl and clap and discover the world; me, how to keep creating inside the chaos.

If you’re curious about what I’m building — or if you want to help me shape it — I’d love to have you be part of the early feedback. Whether you're a parent, a techie, or just intrigued, your insights would mean so much.

🌱 Join the waitlist or help me build it by answering a few quick questions [here]!

Motherhood has always required ingenuity. But now? I get to mother and build — even in the fog. Especially in the fog.

Here’s a preview of my app in progress so far:

It’s been a long time since my last post, so if you’re wondering why you might be subscribed to my newsletter let me introduce myself again:

Hi again — it’s Anne. You probably signed up for my project updates (ie. airplane nap mat), photography stories, self-published children’s books, entrepreneurial ventures, or musings on motherhood and creativity. I’m still sharing all of that — just a little less often, now with a new baby on my hip and a laptop nearby. 🙂 Thanks for being here.