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Calling all moms and moms-to-be!
Share your thoughts on topics like:
This is an invitation to share the experience(s) you had as you tried to conceive and during pregnancy. Bringing a new life into the world can be such a joy and there are so many things that a woman goes through to get there. I would love to hear anything you can share that may help me when I get there. Sometimes the best advice and support we get is from those who have already walked that path. On Wednesday, May 20th I will randomly select one name from those who commented and send you a special gift! This is open to all no matter where you live!
Share your thoughts on topics like:
- working out
- foods and cravings
- the relationship changes between you and your husband/partner
- things that worried or scared you
- the first movements you felt
- preparing for your new arrival
- your journey to conceive
- ...and more!
Thanks for sharing and I look forward to hearing from you!
5 comments:
Hannah, I love your website and since I'm family I don't qualify for a gift but I wanted to share something on your blog for mothers to be. I had my first child, Claire, in February 2008. My pregnancy was great and I had a natural child birth that only lasted about 4 hours. I thought the whole thing was a breeze, and then the breastfeeding started. For me, it was like trying to run a marathon without any training. I took classes and felt prepared for the breastfeeding but it turned out to be nothing like I expected. My daughter was one of those babies who always fell asleep while feeding and only wanted to snack every 45 minutes or so. Not to mention how painful it was for me each time she latched on. I also have to add that she had colic from 3 to 6 weeks old and that stressed me out tremendously. I got the most expensive pump on the market but could only get a few drops each time. I tried every strategy the lactation specialists suggested but nothing worked for me and it got so frustrating that I finally stopped breastfeeding her around 8 weeks and switched to all formula. I beat myself up over that decision for months until I realized Claire was thriving no matter what she ate. She is 15 months now and has an appetite like you wouldn't believe and eats just about any food you put in front of her. She is so healthy and I don't think switching to formula was necessarily a bad thing for us. I am pregnant again and expecting in Nov 2009 and I will certainly try to breastfeed for as long as I can with this child. I have learned a lot from my first experience with breastfeeding and hopefully will be able to relax and go with the flow (so to speak) next time. In talking to my friends, many of them also thought breastfeeding was stressful and painful, but we are all glad we tried and learned a lot from our experience the first time around. Breast milk is best but if it doesn't work for you and your baby, don't stress yourself out about it. Babies need healthy, and sane, mommys to take care of them.
Hi Hannah,
I just wanted to share a little bit about the effects of fear on my plans for a normal birth. My first child (Aug. '06) was a planned hospital birth, induction, pitocin, epidural... the works. I wasn't even the least bit disappointed in that. I was much more educated about natural birth by the time I got pregnant with my second (Mar. '09) I planned an as-natural-as-possible hospital birth for him. What I didn't know, until after his unexpected homebirth, was that fear was the reason I never even really considered an out-of-hospital birth. Just the other day, I came across a list I had made only 36 hours before my son's birth. It was a list of fears.
"What if the pain is more than I can take?"
"What if I make one weak choice and start the cascade of interventions?"
"What if I let down my husband and my team?"
"What if my body really can't do this?"
"What if I'm not really a strong as others think I am?"
Shortly after his birth, as I was laying comfortably in my own bed resting and prayingt, I realized that all those fears were not from God. The fears were planted there by my enemy to rob me of the blessing of my beautiful birth. I was affirmed that my body was, in fact, wonderfully created to bring forth this child into the world. I am so thankful that God intervened (by giving me a 3 hour labor and no time to rush to the hospital!) so that I could enjoy the beauty of His perfect plan. Now, more than ever, I have a passion for moms-to-be to realize what I've learned so they, too, can rejoice in the birth of their babies in such an incredible way!
As much of a natural-birther/i love pregnancy/birth is amazing/enjoy the journey/etc. mom that I am, I honestly wish someone had just told me that the second time around, if your husband isn't as touchy feely about your pregnancy as he was with the first, it isn't because he doesn't love you, doesn't want to have another baby with you, thinks that you're hideous, or anything else...
In my husband's words:
"Of course I am excited about the baby! Pregnancy is just tough for a guy to experience because, well, it is happening to you. Right now it is just even more fun to focus on the little girl we already have here, that I can touch and hug and love on. I will do the exact same with our next baby when she arrives."
Knowing that ahead of time would have saved me so so so many tears during my 2nd pregnancy. :)
Oh, and I have a few thoughts about getting pregnant that I might email you because I'm too embarassed to say them on here. ;)
My thoughts are on how... EACH PREGNANCY IS DIFFERENT, both between different women and each on for one woman.
My two pregnancies were EXTREMELEY different... so much so that I was CONVINCED I was having a girl the second go round (we didn't find out with either and both are boys... I reccomend this, it is SO fun :)... there are few surprise in the world so enjoy this one... it drives people nuts :)).
While the first pregnancy/Labor/delivery were EASY the postpartum was HORRIABLE! I was scared to have another child. Where with the second child the pregnancy/labor/delivery were rough but postpartum was so easy. I was crying all the time during the pain/emotions/issues after the first child. And with the second I was crying out of joy at how different it was!
One last thing, if breasfeeding is AWFUL the with the first child, don't assume it will be the same with the next! It can be SOOOO much better!
I just want to say that walking everyday - sometimes twice a day- helped me in a lot of ways while pregnant with both my children. I'm a busy person, so it gave me something to do and keep me in shape while pregnant. Then after the baby was born, I was able to get my pre-pregnancy body back really quickly because of being in good shape. Also, I had my second baby natural, so I think it helped to have strong leg, stomach and back muscles. If you want to go natural, you need to make up your mind and be absolutely sure before the big day! Don't waver from it no matter what your friends or family might say. It's not as hard as you might think. I didn't really feel that much pain during labor, but maybe it was because I was prepared for the worst. I could go on and on, but I'll stop now! Love your blog!
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