From the featured blog, The Snyder 5

It’s tough being a mom. Period. Rewarding? Of course. But let’s not sugar coat it, it’s tough.

And this isn’t about a working versus staying at home debate. Honestly, I think it’s pretty ridiculous that there is a debate.

Here’s my story. I have three kids, all boys, ages 8, 6 and almost 2.

When our first son was born, my husband was in school full time and I was supporting us. So, even if I wanted to, there was absolutely no way we could financially afford for me to stay home. Not to mention I had a job and career I loved. Continue Reading »

From the featured blog, One+One=4

Before Ryder was born, RJ and I knew we would be tired, but we had no idea what that actually meant. Within just a few hours of bringing him home from the hospital, we begin to understand…babies can be downright draining and are not always sweet and cuddly joys. I barely remember the first week or so. Between pain meds, sleepless nights, and a baby who wanted only to sleep on mommy…I was beat.

It wasn’t unusual to find one of us asleep in very odd places. Think, dining room table or while throwing in a load of wash. I once found my RJ curled up on Ryder’s bedroom floor. He was, evidently, too sleepy to walk to our bedroom after putting the baby to bed. I’ve passed out while nursing Ryder so many times that I had to start seeing a chiropractor! I would literally rock him for hours, with my poor head hanging down unnaturally. Ouch!

Welcome to your new life! You’ll only lose more sleep from here. Continue Reading »

From the featured blog, A Mom Amok

Every night sometime between 1 and 4am, my toddler wakes and though my husband used to be the designated soother, our daughter has started to reject him lately which means one of two things.

First option is that David picks her up and brings her to me in our bed, so she sleeps with us all night kicking David so violently that he moves into her empty bed. bed (I, for one, possess supersonic hearing but have trained my body to feel nothing in sleep so, as long as they were silent, a bunch of giants could play volleyball with me in my sleep and I’d never wake up. Its a Darwinian thing, like my ability to eat a meal in under 5 minutes.)

The second option is that I get up and try to sooth Seconda back to sleep, usually falling asleep in bed with her

I’ve always thought that if you had to sleep with your kid for whatever reason, it was a better bet to sleep in their bed rather than vice versa, because you can always get up and leave their bed but just try kicking them out of yours. And that is why our firstborn, Primo, hasn’t been in our bed since he was a toddler.

But since we’ve put the two kids in the same room, I’ve realized there is a big problem with me sleeping in bed with one of them. Once I’m in that room, it is as if they can sense my proximity and rouse themselves from sleep to start a tug of war with me. “Mommy!” calls Primo in the top bunk. And as soon as I’ve gotten him back to sleep I hear, “MAMA!” from the bottom bunk, and as soon as I’ve drifted back off its “AHHHHHH!” from the top bunk again, and on and on until morning has mercy and ends my servitude.

But last night something different happened: Continue Reading »

From the featured blog, Another Day, Another Moment

To say my child was a difficult newborn might be an understatement. He was the type of child that woke every 2 hours to eat and had to be held 24/7. And when I say 24/7, I mean exactly that. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When we brought him home, I learned my first real lesson as a mother: flexibility. I was adamant against Ethan sleeping with us. I was terrified of SIDS and bought into the whole idea that the safest place for the baby was in a bassinet or crib, but never ever in your bed. Ethan slept with us in one way or another for 6 or 7 months. He started sleeping in his crib at night without coming to bed with us around 5 months. Naps took a little longer.

I had heard tales of the baby who slept in his or her bassinet with ease. I had heard tales of the baby who started “sleeping through the night” at 2 or 3 weeks, understanding that sleeping through the night meant 4 to 6 hours at a stretch. I had even heard of babies who had to be awakened to be fed because they slept so much. I wondered if that baby actually existed. There came a point, however, when it became a matter of safety and necessity that Ethan learned how to sleep on his own and for longer than an hour at a time.

I’ll start at the beginning of our efforts to change Ethan’s sleep habits. As any sleep-deprived new mother can tell you, figuring out how to get more sleep becomes an all-consuming goal. We struggle on so little energy to care for these needy little creatures that bring us so much joy and so much pain. In the early hours of the morning before the sun even begins to brighten the skies, we cry and scream and beg for just a little more sleep. I can’t think of a single mother that would say they weren’t ecstatic when their little ones hit that monumental milestone.

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From the featured blog, Throne of Thornes

Before I even got pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. It was cheaper than formula feeding, all those billboards I saw around town told me it would make my baby smarter, and, of course, it was “natural,” and, therefore, the easiest thing to do.

I wanted to make sure I was fully educated, so I went to a breastfeeding class at the hospital I was going to deliver at. The lactation consultant who taught the class believed formula companies were evil and said that breastfeeding would come easily for both mom and baby since women had been doing it since the beginning of time. I was worried about the possibility of a supply issue because I knew other women who had that problem. When a question about that was brought up in the class, the lactation consultant said there was no such thing as a supply problem. If you aren’t producing enough, breastfeed more and the problem will solve itself. Presto. She said that it created such a strong bond between mother and baby that a study about abuse that compared breastfed with formula fed kids found those who had been breastfed were never abused by their parents. I left the class steadfast in my decision to breastfeed and determined to make sure my baby was given back to me within twenty minutes after birth – when they have the strongest suck reflex I was told.

On message boards on the internet, I read women saying breastfeeding was hard, not so natural, and it didn’t always work. I thought they must be mistaken or selfish or didn’t try to make it work. I mean, this is how women always fed their babies before formula. How in the world could it NOT work?
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From the featured blog, Click Clack Mom

 
Dealing with a low milk supply with our first child was an emotional rollercoaster that dominated the first two and a half months of his life.  After multiple lactation consultations; meeting with my doula, midwife and doctor; taking supplements; buying a pump; renting a hospital grade pump; having several “baby moons”; and reading all I could get my hands on—a substantial milk supply never arrived. 

What else could make a new mother feel more inadequate as not being able to feed her newborn? With 4 weeks left in this pregnancy, I am devouring materials to help my milk supply get a head start.  As I am doing research on breastfeeding, I can recall several key mistakes that I made in the first few days and I am determined not to make them again.

My manual for this endeavor is a book recommended by the La Leche League International, “The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk” by Diana West, IBCLC, and Lisa Marasco, M.A., IBCLC.  If you have experienced low milk supply issues or would like tips for breastfeeding your first baby, here are some strategies that will help. Continue Reading »

From the featured blog, A Dollop of My Life

When it came time for me to feed Brayden solids, I was a bit torn. The ease of store bought foods was appealing to me, but I had heard so many stories about how the babies didn’t like “real” food after eating the store bought stuff for so long, not to mention it’s not as fresh as making your own. But making my own food scared me. I was already so overwhelmed with everything I had to do in one day with a baby, how could I add one more thing to my list? Thankfully my husband was super supportive and agreed that he would give me time on Sundays to work in the kitchen to make Brayden’s food.
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From the featured blog, Just By Living

Before I was a mother I was many things.

A collector of vintage garments. A connoisseur of expensive footwear. An organizer of junk drawers. A library book smeller and a yard saler. A coupon cutter and a daily bubble bath taker. A fashionista and a cosmo drinker. A friend and a foe. A daughter, an aunt, a wife.
In our lives we expand until we could practically explode from the many shapes and forms we take. Changing and growing and always rolling along, adding to our list of undertakings and belongings and hobbies and personalities. Some we are more proud of than others. Some lead us to next. Some teach us and prepare us for our future, for taking on yet another hat to wear or burden to bear. They shape our subconscious that later guides us to make life decisions.

While they may have led me to the right path, none of these things could truly prepare me for the insane journey that is parenthood.
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From the featured blog, I’d Rather Be Changing Diapers

Did you know that most books and articles say that 10% to 15% of new mothers will suffer from postpartum mood disorders? These disorders can include postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety/OCD and postpartum psychosis. This is a very real and scary thing. I should know since I have dealt with it personally on 2 occasions. After both my sons’ births, I went into the very dark and deep hole of depression and anxiety.

My son, Connor, was born March 8, 2008 on his exact due date. The pregnancy was perfect. All my doctor visits were routine, and I knew since 18 weeks that I was having a healthy bouncing baby boy. It was an exciting time for my husband and I.

I went into labor on Friday March 7; it was the start of a 2 day long process. 48 hours of 0 sleep and an epidural later, my son was born at 8 pm on Saturday. It should have been such a joyous and happy moment but it wasn’t. Continue Reading »

From the featured blog, p.s. love.love.

The euphoria is gone. I’m not sure every mom goes through this after they become a parent – but I did. I probably knew it would happen, but wasn’t aware that it would be only 3months after my little girl was born. All of a sudden, the cute cries of a newborn are more like ear piercing screams that are in no way cute or precious. When most other babies were still sleeping at 3 months, my daughter decided to stop napping during the day. Seriously. She got up at 5:30 am and went to bed at 10:30 pm. No matter how hard I tried naps – she never slept during the day. She just screamed. Not a ‘colicky’ scream. More like a ‘I’m mad at the whole world’ scream.

This darling little girl was the reason my husband and I made a pact to never purposely produce offspring again. We couldn’t chance getting another child like her. Don’t get me wrong – I love that girl beyond words. As I always tell her, ‘You know I love you more than my luggage!’ It doesn’t change the fact that she challenged me big time! I was a mom for the first time- and I got her. Talk about a boot camp in learning how to deal with a strong willed child.
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