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This is part 11 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, and part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here. This story picks up where my sister left off last week, wherein her daughter was born, but not breathing. I…
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Last week was particularly difficult. My beloved godmother and close friend passed away at a young age (only early 60’s!) from cancer. In lesser and hardly comparable news, I’m not sleeping hardly at all; J has erupted into regular night wakings again; and the in-laws were in town this past weekend. Needless to say, I think stress propelled me into “false” labor on Friday night. I put the term false in quotation marks because “false” labor does not mean you are not really having contractions at regular intervals, it means they don’t progress toward the end goal of effacement and dilation. It also means you’d better have your hospital bag packed and a car seat ready because when you’re almost 37 weeks pregnant and your…
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This is part 10 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, and part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here. My sister, Molly W, chose to plan for an unmedicated birth in a metropolitan area where everything about birth was very medicated. She, her husband, and her doula…
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So some children never use a pacifier, and some parents are vehemently opposed to its use, but some of us have a middle ground approach to it. SuperBoy has used one off and on since he was probably 2 months old. At this stage, 21 months, he only is allowed to use it for naps. There was a day when he forgot about and I rejoiced! But then he remembered it the next day when he saw one on the counter. Why didn’t I have the good sense to have eliminated all of them? When is too old to use one (subjective question, probably) and if you want to cease its use, how do you go about doing that? 1) Age limit for pacifiers? My…
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This is part 9 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, and part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here. This first-time mama went through more medical interventions than she had planned, but she stuck with her desire to use as little medical aid as possible and endured terrific and tough pushing to meet her baby girl! Talk…
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Who hasn’t forgotten the essentials when you’ve left the house with your child & diaper bag? It’s normal. You’re not alone! Here’s my quick mental checklist for packing a diaper bag for errands and outings. I’ve written on packing for travel (requires much more, duh!), travel with a toddler, and travel with an infant. Do I always bring all these things? Nope. Do I wish I had oftentimes? Yup. Diapers Cover Wipes Changing pad Hand sanitizer Wet bag or whatever you use for your disposables New pants (must must must) New shirt (you never know) New socks (ditto) Small toy that can be lost and forgotten (usually a matchbox car for us) (for a younger baby, a teether or rattle) Happy snack (usually a teething…
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