Category Archive

pregnancy

Should I stay close to home the last few weeks of my pregnancy?

There’s a gig that me and my husband want to go to about a week before my due date next year. The show is in a city that’s about an hour away from us where we live and two hours away from the hospital I’m supposed to be attending to give birth.

How can I get comfortable with the idea of being pregnant?

I’m TERRIFIED of getting pregnant. Like, it is literally the worst fear I have of everything I could encounter in the world. There’s going to be this parasitic THING inside my body, screwing everything up: squishing my organs, messing with my hormones, and causing me pain, sickness, and constant discomfort.

What are the best homemade freezer-friendly meals for new families?

Does anyone have suggestions for dishes that are freezer-friendly, can be made all at once, and won’t break the bank?

I’m pregnant again after the death of my first baby

Even before trying to conceive my husband and I had discussions about how we might handle another pregnancy emotionally. We expected to be ravaged with anxiety and dread most days. We expected to live in anguish for nine months, fearing the worst. I’m happy to report that isn’t the case, for either of us.

Here’s a list of all the stuff pregnancy books won’t tell you

Recently several newly pregnant friends have asked me if I had any advice for them, which has given me occasion to think over all the things that have kept my partner and me going throughout my pregnancy and our first nine months of parenting. While pregnant, I read as many pregnancy and parenting books as I could get my hands on, and learned a lot, both about what I wanted to do and what I didn’t want to do.

Struggling with telling infertile friends that you’re pregnant… again

I recently found out I’m expecting my FOURTH baby. We’re getting ready to tell our family and friends, and there are two people I’ve been avoiding telling so far: my brother and my very good friend.

My brother is gay, and he and his partner keep hitting roadblocks on their journey to having a baby. My friend is struggling to conceive and has been for some time…

I’m pregnant and feeling lost — Am I just a “vessel” now?

Whilst I understand that this curiousity is normal, and that the doctors are doing their best to look after Geekling, I’ve started to feel very… well… not “me.” You know, the girl who likes to bake far too many cakes, who loves to geek out on the sofa with a few episodes of Doctor Who, the teacher who loves to get down on the floor with kids and go on school trips, the geocacher, the London girl living in the German countryside who suffers from wanderlust… where did she go? Is she gone for good? Am I just a “vessel” now?

I was fat-shamed at an Afro-Centric Pregnancy Fair

The other day, I got fat-shamed. When you get fat-shamed often, like every time you turn on a television, it takes a lot to make an impact. My husband, Chris, and I went to our city’s second annual Afro-Centric Pregnancy Fair in Portland, Oregon. I had high hopes of being in a supportive environment of people who care about the unique challenges facing black women as they enter pregnancy, childbirth, and childbearing. I fantasized about talking with midwives, doulas, and new mothers about their amazing experiences and horror stories of hospitals, birth centers, and their living rooms. Instead, I got a major dressing down by a black doctor manning an information table for a clinic.