I remember being a new mother, holding my baby, tears springing from my eyes. My cousin told me I had the baby blues. The overwhelming feeling passed quickly, and I was able to return to mothering my newborn without (my) crying. (The baby cried plenty). Still, that feeling of being trapped and overcome with the enormity of motherhood lingered during those first three months of my son’s life. At my six-week post partum check-up, my doctor questioned me in a way that I could tell was a screening for postpartum depression (PPD). My answers were honest, but they didn’t qualify me as someone experiencing PPD. And yet, reading the essays in "Mothering Through the Darkness," I encountered stories that resonated with me and brought me back to those difficult days as a new mother. Looking back, I think my doctor was correct to not diagnose me with PPD. My “baby blues” were short lived. But I do wish I had a book like "Mothering Through the Darkness" at my disposal to help me better … [Read more...]
Up on Kveller: How My Daughter’s Birth Brought Me Back to Halloween
Toward the end of my second pregnancy, my doctor offered to make things easy on me and schedule an induction. “Wait. Make it easy? I thought inductions were a prescription for a C-section. I was able to push my son out in 40 minutes the first time. Why would I want to set myself up for failure the second time?” I asked, with my legs in the stirrups as he examined me. I’m always amazed by how easily I chit chat during these moments. To read what happened next with my Halloween birth head over to Kveller. … [Read more...]
Happy Mother’s Day 2015
On a recent organizing binge, I spent days sifting through long ago papers that were taking up precious real estate in my desk drawers. Most of what I found went straight to recycling, but every so often I came upon a gem that I didn't even realize was missing. Among those treasures was a questionnaire I filled out at the end of 2011, the year I gave birth to my fourth child. I remember answering the questions while listening to a motivational speaker at a board meeting for a non-profit organization. At the time, those meetings were about the only "non-mom" activity in my life. Inspiration The questionnaire was two pages. The first was titled: Completing and Remembering 2011, and the other was called: Creating 2012. Among the questions on the 2011 form was this: What compliment would you like to have received but didn’t? Answer: That I’m organized. (Never heard it in 2012,13, or 14. Maybe 2015 will be the year?) When I skimmed the 2012 form I saw this: What is one as … [Read more...]
