When my pregnancy test turned positive, I had a moment of absolute excitement and joy quickly followed by the realization that I was going to have to birth a baby. I wasn’t even that worried about how to actually parent (which I should have been) but rather was much more consumed with the daunting process of getting this little person
Read more
I knew my life would change when I walked into the hospital to give birth to my daughter. I expected that my world would never be the same and my daily schedule would look completely different. But I don’t think I fully grasped that I would walk out a changed person. As I took on the role of “mom” I
Read more
My toddler’s cup skipped across the floor spraying juice everywhere. I then looked over to find poop oozing out of my baby’s onesie. It was 11:00 am and I still hadn’t found time to eat breakfast or have coffee. My toddler started screaming out “Mommy! Mommy!” while my baby shrieked. I felt frustrated and angry so I ran to the
Read more
We live in a tiny two-room house, so when we got pregnant with our second child I knew that one day I would have to move the baby in with our toddler. I dreaded it. I had no idea how to do it and I doubted it would even work. I imagined that the baby would cry and wake up
Read more
“Give me the baby” my aunt demanded as I handed her my four-month-old daughter. My aunt was meeting my daughter for the first time at a small family gathering. My baby immediately began to cry, and I reached out to take her back. My aunt stepped back telling me forcefully “she is fine.” I awkwardly laughed and responded with “she
Read more
For some reason when I was a new mom, I equated not giving my child my full attention with bad parenting. I felt a twinge of guilt whenever I was doing something else and my baby was playing by herself on the floor. While fun most of the time, it also felt like an obligatory duty. Before I had kids,
Read more
In those first few weeks with my newborn, I could hardly stand the thought of putting her down. I felt an urge to be close to her all the time and didn’t want to part with her, even for naps. I found myself pulling out my sling or carrier all day long. It made me happy, she hardly cried, and
Read more
Six weeks postpartum was that magical milestone when I expected to be back to feeling like myself. I had my final appointment with my midwife scheduled and was told I would likely be cleared to resume normal activity. I took that to mean that I would be able to do hard workouts and run again. I would be ready to
Read more
I spent the months before my baby was born immersed in books about breastfeeding. It was a completely foreign concept to me. Sure, I had seen people breastfeed, but that was the extent of my knowledge. As I started to read about the incredible benefits, I also found myself wide-eyed as I learned about everything that could go wrong. Breastfeeding
Read more
As I sat down to enjoy lunch with my toddler after finally getting her 2-week-old sister to sleep, the baby promptly woke up screaming with a painful bout of gas and then had a huge diaper blowout. As I rushed off to clean her, I looked over and saw my toddler quietly eating alone, looking down at her plate. She
Read more