Babies and Tots

When a pregnant woman asks for advice about what to do when the baby arrives, she’s usually greeted with hundreds of different responses from different women (and men!). However, somehow she still won’t have a fair idea of what’s to come. The first couple of months after a baby’s born are often referred to as the “fourth trimester,” because life outside the womb takes a while to get used to. Here are a few things to expect during your own fourth trimester: 1. You won’t sleep—much. There’s a lot of sleeping for the baby during the fourth trimester, but not a lot of sleep for Mom, or probably Dad either. Newborns often have their days and nights mixed up, or else no concept of them

Being a mother may seem like the most basic thing a woman can do. Because women’s bodies are designed to be able to carry a human life, it may seem like nourishing them would be easy and natural. The assumption is that breastfeeding is easy, and that it’s possible for everyone. Well, that’s just not true. Some women can’t get pregnant, or can’t carry a child. Some women have very difficult pregnancies. And the same is true for breastfeeding. It’s not always for every mother and child. Now, the generally understood medical opinion is that “breast is best” and hippie mamas everywhere will shout it from the mountaintops. However, there are many factors that I urge you to think through before you feel pushed—and dare I say it,

My husband and I are incredibly thrilled to be pregnant with our third baby. We recently had one of those trendy “gender reveal” parties and found out it’s a little girl. But then something happened that I didn’t expect. I felt sad. It’s not that I’m disappointed—I’m very excited to have another girl—but she might be our last baby. As soon as I realized it was a girl, the phrase popped into my head, “and they had three daughters,” past tense, and rather final. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the future, but a piece of me doesn’t want this childbearing phase of life to end. I think whoever invented the idea of cherubs must have felt this same way, because babies

I’ve had a few friends who are expecting their first baby ask for a little advice on how to prepare for the bundle of joy. So here are a few things that I figured out or know because a wise woman told me so. 1. Nursery Placement and Planning. When placing your nursery furniture, it’s important to make it look nice. It’s also important to make it convenient for you to use each of the pieces in the room. For instance, when you wake up to the cry of your newborn at 3:00am, walk in the nursery, and immediately smell something … terrible … you know that you’re gonna need to change a diaper, and probably clothes, blankets, and maybe sheets. You