Curled up cozy in my bed, I’m lying awake staring at the ceiling and thinking about the stark contrast between tonight and this night one year ago. At exactly this moment one year ago, after an uneventful three weeks of “hospital observation,” I begrudgingly waddled over to Labor and Delivery for what I thought would […]

image credit: Nicole Elizabeth Photo Mamas, do you ever look at your sweet, wild, energetic son(s) and think, whoo boy. How am I to raise this little warrior? What am I going to teach him about his masculinity?  How can I foster his sense of discipline and self-mastery? How can I help him develop both […]

At 2:30 am, on a Friday night in June, I woke up from my sleep. My stomach was tight, and uncomfortable, and I felt nauseous. I was 21 years old, in an unplanned college pregnancy, and completely unsure of what to expect in childbirth. It was also still three weeks before my due date, so […]

My birth plan was simply to have a baby. I had been seeing a doctor at a local small town hospital whose philosophy of birthing was along the same lines as mine—that is, that women have been doing this for a long time. I could get an epidural if needed, and a C-section if needed, […]

TOUGH PREGNANCY I need to set the stage for Mimi’s labor and delivery.  This pregnancy was so tough for so many reasons!  Phil was deployed to Afghanistan for half the pregnancy and that left me caring for a 3 and 1 year old while experiencing my worst morning sickness in a pregnancy yet.  Those early […]

I know they call it labor for a reason. That was BY FAR the hardest thing my mind and body have ever been through. I had the smoothest pregnancy. I was 34 years young, had zero morning sickness, no food aversions, nothing. I worked out almost every day. I felt amazing! Check ups were smooth, […]

On the evening of February 28th, 2018, I began experiencing contractions with my fourth baby. I wasn’t due for ten days, and my previous baby had come on his due date after twenty-one hours of labor, so I didn’t think much of it. The contractions were inconsistent, but strong. They were so strong, in fact, […]

It was election day. Part of our country was in mourning, part of our country rejoicing, and still another part just a little bewildered, as votes for Donald Trump flooded in. I was sipping my afternoon thermos of coffee, driving home from work a little early after a meeting downtown. I planned to wrap up […]

I finished my Masters in Occupational Therapy degree on a Friday. We ran errands all weekend, and the following Monday was going to be my first complete, no strings attached day off in six and a half years. My husband wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early. So to celebrate my day off, I […]

When we were expecting our first baby, my husband and I prayed often for a healthy and strong baby. Everything went smoothly during pregnancy. I put on a lot of weight, but I was not diagnosed with gestational diabetes. When you start at 105 lbs, it turns out no one cares if you gain 55 […]