It seems we’re having another boy?
So, according to my former neighbor – a no-nonsense, motherly Lao woman who spends half her year in Australia – I am destined to have my second son. I dropped in to see her with Dominic the other day. She hadn’t seen him since he was about six months old, and was suitably delighted with all the new skills he’s gained since then. Like, walking. And helping himself to an enormous fistful of crackers from the box she offered him. And, uh, then putting some of those crackers back into the box after having gummed them to a soggy mess and tossing others into the pristine swimming...
Read MoreI’m pregnant, take two
I wasn’t planning on announcing my second pregnancy quite yet. Perhaps I should have thought of that before I mentioned it to the reporter from CNN who was interviewing me about things I’d learned and experienced during pregnancy. Oh well. These things happen. So, surprise!! And in case you’re remembering my declaration in our Christmas letter that we wouldn’t be announcing a new baby anytime soon … I was already pregnant when I penned that, but didn’t know it. I knew it shortly thereafter though, and have been enjoying frequent reminders in the form of nausea, fatigue, and...
Read MoreShowers, champagne, and flame trees: Celebrating and commemorating birth
It is 7:45 on Monday morning. I have been up for two hours already. Dominic’s “secondhand milk” score this morning is my hair, two of my tee shirts, two of his outfits, his play mat, and our bedspread. When he’s not fussing at the moment, he is lying around looking like a tiny, grumpy, Dr. Evil (Austin Powers, for those of you not familiar with that reference). Given what I wrote last week about how actions determine attitude, this seems like the perfect morning for me to write about celebrating Dominic’s birth. So, celebrations. The first thing I did to celebrate Dominic’s...
Read More30 great gifts for pregnant women and new parents
I get more referrals to my blog at present on the topic of gifts for pregnant women than anything else. So in the spirit of giving readers what they want, I thought I’d do a comprehensive post on presents for pregnant women and new parents. (Sidenote: This “giving readers what they want” will not extend to addressing certain other mystifying search terms that have recently led people to my blog, including “humans breastfeeding monkeys” and “koalas drinking beer”.) So without further ado, here are 30 great gifts for pregnant women or new parents. I’ll start with...
Read MoreBreastfeeding lessons from cows, take two
This post is an addendum to one of my favorite posts from the last year, Life lessons in pregnancy and breastfeeding from cows. 5AM this morning: Me: “Dominic!!” Mike: “What’s he doing?” Me: “He’s latching on repeatedly, sucking nicely once or twice, then tossing his head from side to side before yanking backwards – still holding on, mind you – until my nipple finally pops out of his mouth. Then he opens his eyes wide in panic and lunges forward like a small, desperate, vacuum cleaner until he finds it again.” Mike: “Do you want me to tell you what the cows on the farm...
Read MoreLessons learned during labour and delivery
I don’t really know where to start when writing about labour and delivery. For starters, it was such an intense experience that even now, almost two weeks later, I’m struggling to find the right words (any words) to tell the story well. And secondly, while I was pregnant I was incredibly curious about other women’s experiences of the whole process. Yet I’m not sure that hearing all those stories actually served me well. Almost no one I talked to spoke positively about labour and delivery, and it seemed that for every woman who had experienced a relatively trouble-free birth there were...
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