• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

Author’s note: Our new baby was born at home in our bedroom this past Wednesday without a birth attendant present. This week’s posts are the story of how we came to choose an unassisted birth and about the birth itself. The first installment is here. The second installment is here. The third installment is here. The final installment, about the labor itself, will be posted on Friday. “So, who’s your midwife?” A friend asked. “Oh, someone from out of town,” I heard myself lying into the phone. “Have you chosen a midwife?” A mom from my... read more

• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

Author’s note: Our new baby was born at home in our bedroom this past Wednesday without a birth attendant present. No name (yet). No weight (we don’t own a scale). No midwives. This week’s posts are the story of how we came to choose an unassisted birth and about the birth itself. The first installment is here. The second installment is here. To read the rest of the story, please check back daily. The not-yet-certified midwife we chose for our second home birth, M., had dreadlocks down to her ankles. She didn’t have an office. Instead, she brought her... read more

• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

Author’s note: Our new baby was born at home in our bedroom this past Wednesday without a birth attendant present. No name (yet). No weight (we don’t own a scale). No midwives. This week’s posts are the story of how we came to choose an unassisted birth and about the birth itself. This is the second installment. The first installment is here. To read the whole story, please check back daily. When Athena was born I got an unnecessary tear “We both started at the same place,” James explained during another “conversation” about unassisted birth. He... read more

• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

Author’s note: Our new baby was born at home in our bedroom this past Wednesday without a birth attendant present. No name (yet). No weight (we don’t own a scale). No midwives. This week’s posts from Monday to Friday will be the story of how we came to choose an unassisted birth and about the birth itself. To read the whole story, please check back daily. “The thing is, I don’t know if I really want a midwife,” I said to James when I was nearly five months pregnant and still had not chosen anyone. “Oh God.” He furrowed his brow and looked... read more

• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

1. Your feet may get a half shoe size bigger, and stay that way. 2. If you travel on an airplane, your husband’s ankles may get swollen during the flight. That’s what happened to my friend Emily and her husband when they took a trip during her third trimester. 3. Your hair might fall out, like my friend Annette’s did. She thought she had a terminal disease but actually she was pregnant. 4. Or your hair might get thick and shiny and gorgeous. But it’s not yours. Once the baby comes you will start losing it in clumps. 5. You may not... read more

• Last updated 3/25/13 by Marcy Axness

Okay, I'll come out with it, finally, after all these years: I was desperately disappointed with The Vagina Monologues! I'm only now fessing up and lodging my opinion that the empress Eve Ensler has no new clothes on. In her supposedly ground-breaking play...two hours of dialogue and monologue dedicated (supposedly) to the sexual dimension of a woman's psycho-anatomical makeup...there is not one single mention of menstruation. No period, period.   Oh, there are plenty of other reasons to not embrace TVM (or as Camille Paglia calls it, "the perversion of... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

Many cultures use the leaves, berries, roots, bark, and flowers of various plants for medicinal purposes. Last Saturday, I joined a group of hikers in Colorado for an herb identification walk. It wasn’t fertility-specific, but we came across a number of plants that herbalists use to balance female hormones. Come hike with me… Above is wild raspberry. The berries had been picked over by bears, but there were a few small ones left. They burst with flavor in my mouth. The leaves of a raspberry plant can be used in tea to ease menstrual cramps. By... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

by Simone Snyder-Outreach & Resource Manager Mothering My degree is in anthropology. I spent a great deal of my college years conducting research and writing papers. In essence its kind of what I wanted to do with my life. Looking back on that experience I feel a bit confused-why can’t I seem to get it together for this project? This is way beyond anything I would categorize as writers block. I am afraid-afraid of what I am learning, worried that the more research I do, the more in depth I go-the later I will lay awake at night wondering how I could do... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

In addition to building my baby nephew’s library, I’m always on the lookout to build my own library. As I struggle to conceive, I have immersed myself in books about infertility, conception, and pregnancy. Medical and educational books can be full of useful information. I’m currently reading A Baby at Last! The Couple’s Complete Guide to Getting Pregnant—from Cutting-edge Treatments to Commonsense Wisdom by Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, Dr. Marc Goldstein, and Mark L. Fuerst. One of the things I appreciate about this medical fertility book is that the authors devote space to... read more

• Last updated 3/20/13 by mamazee

Ibu Robin Lim & The Documentary Film-Guerrilla Midwife My home smells of citronella essential oil – the smell is reminiscent of a local anti-mosquito oil I was given by Wayang, a friend whom I met while on vacation in Bali, Indonesia.  One inhale and I am sent back, one deep breath and my spirit is filled with the essence of all that is Bali.   It was explained to me that the land, the culture, and the people of Bali would always remain a part of me.  I never truly understood that sentiment until I left the island. While on our five-week family... read more