Pregnancy

I got pregnant out of wedlock. I was 20 years old, in college, and screwing my own life up in ways you couldn’t imagine. My parents knew I wouldn’t amount to much. They had given up on me, threw in the towel, and claimed I was lost. And I was, indeed. I was raised by religious parents and good ones, at that. But for whatever reason, in that phase of my life, I lived recklessly and carelessly. Parties, drugs, the wrong crowd, you name it, I was doing it. Until I discovered I was pregnant. The anger I experienced the moment I found out was real. I didn’t want a child. I wanted to live my life how I...

Disclosure :: Our third annual Bloom for new and expecting moms was sponsored by our wonderful community partner, Baton Rouge General Medical Center. From the food to the venue, guests felt welcomed. We are so appreciative of the time and effort that was allocated from each sponsor below to make sure this event was super lovely and fun!  Thank You to Our Presenting Title Sponsor Our Bloom event simply wouldn’t have been possible without these partners. We are grateful to Baton Rouge General for their assistance in planning every detail of the event. From the lovely brunch spread that their in-house chef prepared to the the layout, makeup bags…it was over the top! Thank You to the Table Sponsors We give a huge thanks...

"Happy birthday to my better half," is often a post I see while skimming through Facebook.  "Tomorrow I marry my better half," is a stream of consciousness post I saw when my friends and I were in the bright-eyed engagement stage. We've all heard the sentiment, but recently I've made an earth-shaking discovery brought upon by a second pregnancy, an unexpected hospital skin, and a very ugly sofa--I don't have a "better half." To borrow from Jane Austen, I'm cursed with a conceited sort of independence. I woke up from a coughing spelling the middle of the night on Valentine's Day. After a glass of water, I placed my hands on my belly and waited for the soft jabs of our 37-week...

We found out I was pregnant exactly two weeks after our youngest turned one. I knew that had to be the only excuse for all my excessive crying at work and rationale that my students were out to get me. A Friday afternoon, while laying face down across our bed I told my husband "I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant." We promptly got a test and it confirmed what I already knew. After the initial shock, which lasted about the rest of the weekend, we were excited! Excited enough to let the cat out the bag pretty quickly. No waiting until the second trimester over here! But this time around (this is baby number three) it was ... weird. There were lots...

My older son will be 4 years old in a week and, like so many parents, each year I find myself looking back at pictures and reflecting on his birthday. What does his birthday mean to us? How has this day impacted us? How have we spent every birthday before this one? In June of 2014 we got the exciting news that we were expecting our first child. We went through the first half of our pregnancy thinking everything was perfect. At my 20 week anatomy scan, we were told that our son had a two vessel umbilical cord. Most babies have three blood vessels: one vein, which brings nutrients from the placenta to the baby, and two arteries that...