Pregnancy

“My body failed me during my first pregnancy. Why again?” “I take care of myself … why me?” I struggled during my pregnancy with my twins who were born at 30.1 weeks, but before that I also struggled with the birth of my first-born son. I asked tons of questions, not just those two. My first son was born on time, head down and I did not have to be wheeled back for an emergency c-section like my twins (two years later). The only problem? My epidural did not work, and I felt everything. I felt the contractions, the sharp pain, the “ring of fire” and my episiotomy because my son would not come out. I felt everything. When my doctor...

Disclosure :: This post is sponsored by Ochsner Baton Rouge.  Accepting Your Postpartum Body In today’s social media world, we are bombarded with what others are doing: what diet and exercise routines they are following, how they raise their kids, what jobs they have. This can cause many people to second guess themselves, especially moms, wondering if they should be on the same path as others. There is also a lot of pressure on moms to quickly get back to the way they looked before they had kids. Whether you gave birth yesterday or 15 years ago, your body helped bring life into this world, and that is something to be proud of and celebrated. Here are five tips to embrace your postpartum...

The journey to parenthood looks different for everyone. For some it is an unexpected surprise for others it is the culmination of years of struggle.  No matter which side of the spectrum you’re on there are a lot of unexpected emotions. For those dealing with infertility, it’s up and down, positive and negative. Infertility steals joy, sparks fear, and stokes feelings of failure and resentment. It crushes self-esteem and makes you question yourself, it pushes you down. It also teaches you to fight, and compassion and empathy, and gratitude. You feel so isolated. You feel like you’re the only one when really you’re 1 in 8. This is how I felt. Hope to Hopeless If you look at birth control statistics...

Initially, it was part of the plan, we would wait a while before having children. We wanted to experience life as a couple before we experienced it as a  family of more than two. We waited. We worked on being married, our careers, on feeling stable and settled. We decided we were ready. It was all part of the plan until it didn’t go as planned.  Ready...or Not I was one of those people who went to my OB/GYN and had a preconception appointment; I wanted to do it right. I joined one of those online communities for pregnancy and trying to conceive. Have fun, they say, don’t stress about it, it will happen, but it didn’t happen. At first, it...

“Mommy, I want a new baby too.” These words were spoken by my youngest child after I told her that her cousin would be getting a new baby brother or sister this summer. This wasn’t the first time she or her two siblings had asked about a new baby. Of course, none of them could possibly know the pain and sadness that their questions were causing for me. Our party of 5 just felt incomplete Despite the fact that I was beyond fortunate to have three heathy, beautiful children, our family just didn’t feel complete. My husband and I felt like our home and our hearts had room for one more. Yet, for whatever reason, it just wasn’t happening. We had a relatively...