Momming with anxiety… …is dropping your crying child off at daycare or school with a promise that you will be there to pick them up. Only to drive away fearing that you will crash your car/a tree will fall on you/you will suffer a brain aneurysm/an asteroid will land on you…and your child will never trust anyone again because you were not there to pick them up at the end of the day. …is watching your children play…laughing and twirling and jumping and squealing... But you can

“Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream…” 🎶 The clock will be there for later. But the waiting game is hard. Waters are broken, contractions are there but faint. Hurry up and wait. It seems impossible when you are waiting for your baby to let go and let it be… You might feel anxious…want to speed things up…feel like you are not in control. Here is the secret…you can always have a certain level of control. As in other aspects of life, you cannot direct how other

All the build- up, all the waiting. Baby clothes washed and folded, crib assembled, diapers stocked, excitement brewing. Well…excitement coupled with anxiety, nervousness, with a mix of confidence lingering on self-doubt. Labor hits, and it’s go time. The very immediate postpartum in the hospital is run on adrenaline and reliance on the extra hands at the hospital as you start your recovery from pregnancy and birth. All of the planning of choosing a provider, place to birth,

Let’s play a game. I say apple you say (pie, sauce, juice) I say swing you say (set) I say peanut you say (butter) I say postpartum you say (…depression?) Hold up. It’s true…the word postpartum is most often associated with depression. There is a rough statistic out there that claims that about 15% of new mothers experience some form of postpartum depression. There is also postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, and postpartum psychosis. But, postpartum does not = depression. The

We don’t ever know what we are doing. Parenting is all about winging it, doing what feels right, and hoping we don’t screw it all up. Because that is the biggest fear, right? That the thing we just did or said is going to be THE THING that messes up our kids. When we have our first babies, everything is new. There are SOOOO many decisions to make. Epidural, or no pain meds? Delay cord clamping or not? Give baby a bath right away or wait? Pampers or huggies? Or cloth? Pacifie

Waiting. You are past your EDD (estimated due date). Nursery is decorated, car seat installed, tiniest baby clothes washed and folded. You are sick and tired of not being able to bend at the waist. There are no comfortable positions to sit, stand, lay down in. The amount of pillows you require to get any sleep is starting to take over the whole house. You entertain the thought that maybe this is it. This is how life will be forever. You will always be pregnant. You will never

Dr. Gary Chapman came up with a theory that there are five "love languages" that most people resonate with. Each person typically has one main language and then a secondary language. For example, if your main love language is receiving gifts, then you might feel most loved when given a small but thoughtful gift. However if your main love language is words of affirmation, you will feel most loved when told that the meal you cooked was amazing. If you haven't yet taken The F