Pregnancy

My journey to (biological) motherhood was anything but text book easy. It took about eight months to get pregnant. Once pregnant, I carried eight pounds of EXTRA amniotic fluid. I had back labor. The epidural didn't touch my labor pains. And after hours of pushing, I was rushed off for an urgent C-section. I spent the night in the ICU because I wasn't breathing properly. My firstborn came out blue, and spent his first night in the NICU, and I had to wait until I was released from ICU to truly meet him for a proper introduction a day later. I had to leave the hospital and leave my baby behind. Welcome to motherhood, it's not easy. My son spent 28...

After the birth of my first child, my husband and I knew we wanted to wait a while before trying to get pregnant again. At my six-week post-natal checkup, I was ready to have the birth control discussion with my doctor. As a nursing mom, I didn't realize my choice for birth control would be so limited. I discussed all the options with my doctor and settled on having an IUD (intrauterine device) placed. An IUD is a small (about the size of a large paperclip) T-shaped device that is implanted in the uterus and releases a low dose of hormones AND causes disruption of fertilization to prevent pregnancy.  For the device and placement, my insurance would cover all but...

Unusual but not weird. This was my standard for determining whether a potential baby name made the cut (aka: the iPhone note created years before I met my husband).  If it was on the Social Security Administration top 1000 list in the last 10 years, it was out. If it was on the Social Security Administration top 1000 list in the 1920's, it was probably in. Before you question my methods, you must understand my madness. My maiden name was Ashley Anderson. As you can probably guess, I was born in the 80's. More than once, I was one of four Ashley's in my class. And heaven forbid, the teacher used the word 'actually' lest we all turn around at once. While...

As inappropriate as it would be for me to ask you how much you weighed at your last doctor’s appointment, it is equally inappropriate for you to ask me intimate details of my pregnancy. Please keep your opinions and questions to yourself. Here are the top questions you should never ask a pregnant lady. What’s the plan for future children? First, this is none of your business. Second, I don’t want to think about future children while I am currently growing one, and finally, you have no idea how long I have tried and prayed for this baby. Was this an accident? It doesn’t matter how old my other children are, what age I am or whether you think I should have another...

I became a mom before most of my friends were in their first serious relationship. My life went on a quick, fast forward motion through high school and college while raising a tiny human and maintaining a relationship with my boyfriend. There were a lot of people who offered their opinions on how and what we should do, but there were only a select few who offered their true love and support. For that, we are forever grateful. Here are three things I want you to know so the next time you run into a teenage mother, you will hopefully think before you open your mouth. First, I want you to hear firsthand that it hurts when people stare at you...