What gifts can we send our pregnant friend for herself, not the baby?
My best friend is pregnant. Lately the preggo hormones have been making her very depressed and I was thinking about making up a care package for her — one that’s all about her and not so much focused on baby stuff. I know there are a lot of products that pregnant women can’t use or even come in contact with, so I was wondering if any of you could suggest some things that would be safe and useful for a mama to be.
Holy moly, I’m pregnant with twins
“…and here we have another baby,” said the ultra-sound technician in a way-too-calm voice.
“No.” I said.
“Yep — twins,” she said, and continued, measuring length and heart beats, while pure panic enveloped my brain and I searched the room for some sign that I was dreaming. You know like if the ultra-sound tech suddenly handed me a math test that I hadn’t studied for. That would’ve been awesome.
Why we chose to become parents when it doesn’t make financial sense
Many people who surround us are strong supporters of the “wait until…” theology of having children. Wait until you have a steady job. Wait until you own a house. Wait until you feel like you are older. While these are responsible ideals, our desire to “wait until” basically died when my dad landed in hospital.
How do you choose a birthing technique?
I am currently five months pregnant, and people keep asking me which birthing technique I’ll be using. One friend used mindfulness, another swears by Hypnobirthing, another by Bradley, and then there’s the classic Lamaze. I’m sure there are even more, but I already feel overwhelmed by these few. How are you supposed to know which one will work for you when you’ve never been through labor or birth before? How did you choose which technique you would use?
Adventures of a pregnant belly (and the woman carrying it)
I am sort of in love with this belly series from Flickr user out_loud. She dropped a few photos into our Flickr pool, and when I discovered her original set has 101 shots of her belly and its adventures I knew I needed to share.
How did you choose an anonymous sperm donor to conceive your child?
My partner and I are just getting started with trying to get pregnant using donor sperm. Though we are a straight couple, due to his medical history we need some outside assistance. However, trying to think about all the options is a little overwhelming.
8 tips for coming to terms with “bad” genetic testing results
At 16 weeks pregnant, I had a (fairly) routine blood test done. Two days later, my midwife called and said that based on the results, the baby I was carrying had an elevated risk of having Down’s syndrome. We scheduled a sonogram with fetal and maternal health specialists and a genetic counselor for two days later. Nothing was found, but they asked us to come back a month later because they were having difficulty getting good images of the baby’s heart. We leave happy that our risk has been downgraded, and come back a month later.
I’m 17 weeks into my pregnancy and I am already a bad mother
I am 17 weeks along, or just a little over four months. Well, mostly. Here’s the thing about pregnancy weeks. Some people, like my mean doctor, like to count you as far along as you are — as in I am 16 weeks because 16 weeks have already past. Some people, like my lovely pregnancy tracker, count the week you are in — as in I am in my 17th week as 16 weeks have already past. Then there are the people who count thing like the exact days, as in I am 16w1d or 16 weeks and 1 day. Until I am overdue, we are gonna ignore that shit.