Dear little love, There are only weeks left now. Until your identity shifts. Until the biggest change of your little life. You'll go from Little Brother to Middle Brother. And I know you're excited. I see how you nurture your teddy bear and baby dolls, I love how you speak your sweet ...
Expecting
Natural Birth: at the Hospital or at the Birthing Center?
I've experienced three drastically births now: an emergency C-section, a natural VBAC at the hospital and finally a water birth at a birthing center. The purpose of this post is to give you a side by side comparison of what unmedicated labor and delivery was like for me at a hospital and at a ...
Solutions for Pregnancy Insomnia
I can't sleep. That's why I'm up writing this right now. When there is a human growing inside of me and I'm the most exhausted I've ever been, that is precisely when my body says, hey cool, let's keep her awake! Pregnancy insomnia has been getting the best of me for three pregnancies now. I ...
Baby Registry Essentials (annnd the things you can do without)
Congratulations! You're expecting! And you are here because you have people around you who are excited for the new life you're bringing forth, and you need to make a baby registry to guide their generosity. Yes? So I'm here as a slightly experienced mom (who, I'll add, is a wannabe minimalist) ...
An open letter to either my first daughter or third son
Well, my little darling, here we are: just hours away from finding out whether you are our first daughter or our third son. I adore this part because with names we love already sealed in our hearts, it really feels like we're finding out who you are. Who has been in growing inside of me for these ...
The Birth Control Alternative that will Keep your Conscience Clear
There are many topics dear to my heart, but this is one that is particularly important to me. A few years ago, I would have loathed even the idea of sharing anything related to that little three letter word--sex, in case you didn’t guess--but I realize now that everyone has a message about sex: ...
Three Reasons I Decided Against The Pill
Hi there! My good friend and NLS contributor Cassie Krueger is tackling a topic that we are both passionate about today, and I stand behind her words. We've both gone on this journey separately and arrived at the same place. It is not our intention to condemn anyone, but rather to encourage those ...
How Nicodemus Helped Me Endure a Natural Birth
Giving birth hurts like the dickens. It doesn't have to--I know--because we have these wonderful drugs known as epidurals, but for me and my second baby, I wanted to do it naturally. I've told you before how my first birth went south. It wasn't just one thing that caused it to end in an emergency ...
The sadness that sets in before you add a new member to your family
I've felt it every time. The week before my wedding as I packed up my room at my parents' house. The night before I was induced with my first baby. The morning we left for the hospital, in labor with our second. Every time a new member was about to be added to my family, I've spiraled into ...
Here are your Labor Pains, Adoptive Mom
The pain wasn't what I expected. I thought if I could take a hard punch, I could endure a contraction. But the pain ran achey deep. The labor pain--it makes you feel sick, weak, powerless; there is nothing you can really do to relieve it. So instead, you have to learn to endure it, cope ...