Infants

Dear Teen Mom, I See You I’ll never forget seeing those two pink lines. I was 16. I’d had a few different boyfriends since I turned 14, but this was my first serious relationship. He was thrilled. I was, understandably, terrified. After a very difficult pregnancy, we welcomed our first son two weeks before my 17th birthday. Of course, it was love at first sight. We had an awesome support system, and I know for a fact the days would have been a lot harder without the help and love we received from grandparents. I don’t take that for granted one bit; they were a saving grace on many nights when I wanted to give up from lack of sleep. In...

From One NICU Momma To Another :: You Are Not Alone My first pregnancy was completely normal … until it wasn’t. I could not wait to give birth to my first biological child. Having been in education for nearly a decade at that point, finishing the upbringing of a former student due to a tragic loss, and being blessed with a bonus daughter, I felt more than up for the challenge. I was fully invested in my prenatal care. I attended every doctor’s appointment, asked questions, and tried my best to be mindful of what I ate. Nothing about my pregnancy was out of the norm, and by all accounts I would go to term and deliver a perfectly healthy little...

I’m four months pregnant with my third baby and my one-year-old daughter WILL.NOT.SLEEP. I’ve tried it all: diffusing essential oils and lavender baths, dark room, sound machine, magic merlin suit, sleep sack. It seems like no matter what I do, she still wakes up every 30-90 minutes ready to play, all night long. Multiple days of sleepless nights can quite literally drive you insane. Combine the lack of sleep with the pregnancy exhaustion and I feel like a walking zombie. I sleep-trained my son just fine and he’s a great sleeper. But my daughter is a force to be reckoned with and has decided she doesn’t need beauty sleep because she’s already beautiful. I decided to enlist the help of...

I still cannot believe I had TWINS roughly two months ago, but here I am knee-deep in diapers (I should also mention that I have a 2.5-year-old still in diapers) and bottles. Literally, there are diapers everywhere! And I keep buying more bottles because I feel like I’m constantly washing them. There have been days that noon rolls around, and I have yet to wash my face or brush my teeth. There’s definitely been at least one day where my husband came home from work and I was still wearing my pajamas from the night before and never even managed to put on a bra. One day he came home and asked me if I watered the ferns, and...

“Babies are a blessing” is a phrase that always rings true, but I have to say, especially true during a pandemic. As we approach the anniversary of the pandemic, we also start to celebrate the lives of all the babies born during these “unprecedented times,” as they say. And although there were some things we grieved about giving birth during the pandemic, like not seeing most friends and families up close, drive-by baby showers, and challenging hospital regulations, many mamas agree that there have been beautiful and precious things about giving birth in the past year, besides the obvious beauty and wonder of having a baby in general. Time slowed down Our pandemic baby is our third. I feel like generally...