Birth

I knew I was taking a risk when I got pregnant with my fifth child, who would be delivered via my fifth c-section. Because I’m a labor nurse, I really  knew what I was taking on when I got...

I am an organizer. A planner. OK, ok, a type-A control freak. We have spreadsheets that map out the next 15 years of our lives. So far, we’ve pretty much gotten everything we planned for out of life. The...

As “stretching” as pregnancy can be for me, I love labor. I crave the details of birth. Within days of holding my precious bundle, I was reliving her arrival, the hormones and sleep deprivation leaving me weeping over words of...

Remember that time that we were having a baby, selling our house, leaving our amazing jobs, leaving an amazing town, moving back "home" three hours away, finding new jobs, and buying a new house? I do. It's now. As in,...

Yesterday, we spent a whole day in the room where she’ll sleep. At one point, I actually managed to wrangle all three of my wriggly worms to some sort of order across my diminishing lap - and in this millisecond...

My husband is disappointed in my pregnancy. Okay, not really ... he is actually very supportive, but he did have some expectations about my pregnancy that didn't quite pan out. 1. Ice cream cravings. He was CERTAIN that after I got pregnant, I...

I’m two-thirds cooked these days.   Two-thirds round and waddling, two-thirds wheezing and pausing, two-thirds rotund and awkward. It really is a monumental occasion reaching this third trimester mark, one I have certainly not passed up celebrating. I may have treated...

I've officially popped this month. It's kind of an inaugural moment, really - the moment when the belly extends beyond the point of "perhaps she enjoyed some extra helpings at her holiday dinners" and into the region of bumping...

I rose to a beautiful bouquet of flowers nestled next to my bed, my husband presenting a tray of my favorite organic breakfast foods, my three children as the peaceful audience to this loving tribute. We shared a steamy...

I delivered our first son on Halloween, the day AFTER his due date. I had been dilated to a 3 for weeks and the doctor was sure that I would deliver a good two weeks early. (Side note: If...