A good number of stories that I’ve gathered for my Loving the Pregnant You book have clearly pointed to the power of “tuning inward†or staying in the present moment throughout delivery. Women have found this helpful in minimizing pain and/or identifying what they want and need physically and emotionally throughout the birth process. There…
Colette was looking forward to gaining a new image during her pregnancy. She had been overweight for a number of years and being pregnant meant having what she called a “legitimate reason†to have a big belly. She would now be pregnant not fat. She looked forward to shaking her previous body image issues and…
When Laura was 34 and married for three years, she and her husband decided to go towards conception. Both of them were open to having a child, wanted to have a child, but were not in a place of desperation – oh we have to have a child – instead they were open to what…
What is in a name? Why do I get so attached? As I’ve talked with pregnant women lately about their name selection process, I’ve gotten present to how much I like McKenzie’s and Jake’s names. I think the names fit them so well. Really, I was puffing myself up about what a great job we…
Leslie tends to be fairly open, transparent, and asks a lot of people their opinions. She certainly did this when she was considering adding to her family as a 44 year-old, recently divorced, single Mom. She asked others: What are the implications to the kid? What about the family? What about the sibling, because Leslie…
Babycenter.com recently released an article about How to Raise a Happy Child. This article is centered on 2 to 4 year olds. My favorite “how tos†shared in the article include: let them struggle with problems, check in with your child, and be a role model. I think these not only relate to raising 2…
When you’re pregnant one of the things you get to do is pick a name for your child! This has always occurred as an exciting, creative process for me: throwing out options, narrowing it down with your partner. I think of it as fun, fun, fun! I was almost disappointed in both of our pregnancies…
Julie reflected over the events of the past couple of days. And boy were there some events to consider! She held in her arms a beautiful baby boy. Her baby was colicky, yet for the moment he was calm so she was going to consider and revel in what she had accomplished. She gave birth…
Lettie’s pregnancy – her third one – was a crazy ride. How so? In her words, “I had such a diversity of adversity.†Lettie was seeking out the care and doctor’s practice that would best fit her. She wanted a place that felt good and that would do a VBAC after 2 c-sections. She was…
At the end of her second pregnancy, Marianne gave birth to a healthy baby and to another beautiful baby she would soon bury. She had been pregnant with twins. The pregnancy went great. They felt so blessed to be adding 2 little babies to their family. They didn’t find out gender and Marianne was hoping…