• Created on 1/9/11 by Momsteader

Ernest Hemingway was having lunch with several writers when he bet them he could write an entire novel in just six words. He friends scoffed. Hemingway asked each of them to put $10 in the pot. If he was right, he’d win the money. If he was wrong, he would match the pot. On a napkin, he scrawled the tale: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. The debate rages on about whether Hemingway actually wrote this story or if it’s the stuff of legend, but when Hemingway gave his readers advice in his memoir A Moveable Feast, he said, “All you have to do is write... read more

• Created on 10/17/10 by mamazee

When it finally dawned on me that I was having trouble conceiving, I knew one thing: I wanted to restore the hormone imbalances in my body naturally. I searched…and searched…and searched for a holistic fertility center in the Washington, D.C. area (where I live). All I could find were a few random acupuncturists or naturopathic doctors that treated women’s health issues as part of a broader practice. I ended up traveling far away from the area – out of the country far – to immerse myself in Ayurveda. By the time I returned home, Pulling Down the Moon, a... read more

• Created on 9/12/10 by mamazee

“I think I’m pregnant,” I told Ron a few months ago. “My breasts are sore. I’m tired. I haven’t started bleeding.” It was too early to take a pregnancy test, but I had an extra stick in our bathroom leftover from previous attempts. It would give me an answer in a few days. Ron was excited, but cautious. “Let’s keep this one on the down low.” Part of me understood where he was coming from. He didn’t want to have to explain another miscarriage. With our first pregnancy, we had shared the news right away. I blogged about my morning sickness; about... read more

• Created on 8/29/10 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

• Created on 7/28/10 by mamazee

When my husband and I first stopped using birth control, I figured I’d be pregnant within a month, maybe two. I didn’t bother tracking my cycle or making an effort to have sex on critical days. But after a full year passed, I finally buckled down and bought an ovulation kit. It worked–a little Rough was on his or her way. When I miscarried, I still didn’t think anything was amiss. I was devastated, but I read that one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage. I chalked up my loss to being uninformed, not unable to carry a baby. Even when I underwent... read more