Nursing gave me a supposedly-perfect body (but I wanted my A-cups back)
I was astonished by this transformation into my ideal body. I felt lighter on my feet and more comfortable in my skin. In one year, I had gained 50 pounds, and then lost 65. I had gone from a size 6 to a maternity Large, then back down to a size 4. I went from a bra size A to B and then C. I felt like a real woman, feminine in a way that finally matched how I had always felt on the inside.
Here’s the place for tons of practical, body-positive maternity clothes advice
No one article of clothing is going to fit the same way all through your pregnancy. You’ll need different clothes at different times, and you’re not going to get the same level of fit you would when your body’s not changing shape. At least not for long.
Being super human for our children
To my girls, right now, I am super human. Flawed, undoubtedly, but they overlook, forgive, and maybe even ignore them. What they see is that superhero my 14-year-old self wished to be. In my girls’ minds, I can accomplish anything. I am defender, righter of wrongs, protector of justice.
How my three-year-old niece and I bonded over Medusa
The first time Maggie saw it when she was around two and a half, she asked me, “who’s that?” “That’s Medusa, Maggie. She has snakes for hair,” I explained. She laughed, thinking it was hilarious. This became a constant back and forth nearly every time she saw me — asking about Medusa, laughing at the snake-hair. I quipped one day that it must be really hard for her to brush her hair. Maggie also thought this was hilarious and incorporated it into the routine — “So funny!” she’d say, hands over her mouth as she giggled.
On delivering my daughter at home, in my bed — and learning that the birth was really all about her
Olivia’s home birth was absolutely something I wanted to do in my life — part of my bucket list, if you will. I never imagined I’d deliver in my bed, but now I realize that this was Olivia’s birth — in the end I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it.
If you’re struggling to conceive, talking to friends in the same boat may help you cope
I wrote about our struggle on my blog, and the reception was incredible. People shared that they’d been trying, personal struggles of their own, that they’d be thinking of me. No one gave me well-meaning but awful advice. Some people who now have tiny children shared that it took them years of trying to get to that point and they sympathised with my struggle. All up, it has been a positive experience and I’m glad I put myself out there.
“Do you want him to be gay?” Musings on gender roles, assumptions, and raising self-aware kids
We spend a lot of time talking about empowering girls to break gender barriers. Which is important — we should. And there is plenty more work to do in that arena. But now I have a boy to raise. And if he wants to play dress-up instead of hockey, or wear his hair long or short, or become a fashion designer or watch HGTV instead of judge shows (fingers crossed), or if he likes girls or boys or nobody at all, I want him to know that it’s OK.
I have a chance to travel for 3 weeks — how do I deal with leaving my child?
Here is my problem: my initial reaction hasn’t been “Oh, what if I miss him? What if he gets hurt? Will he forget me? Will he be ok without me?” — it’s been much closer to “HELL YES!! Send me NOW!!” and I feel sickly guilty for wanting this. So my questions are to other parents who have spent extended periods away from their children: How did you feel?