by Astrid Warren (Norway) | Apr 11, 2012 | Motherhood, Norway, Pregnancy, Siblings, World Motherhood
Having just been for my 18-week scan, and seeing that all is well, I feel like I am finally starting to relax a bit. After two miscarriages last year, I have been careful not to get my hopes up too much, but now I feel like I can start to think about the future.
The morning sickness is starting to ease off slowly (after having it 24 hours a day, it is only in the morning now) and I am starting to feel like having my latte in the morning, so I think it is going the right way now. (It probably also helps that spring is finally here and that the days are longer and lighter).
We are so excited about having number two – but at the same time, it is slightly scary.
Maybe ‘scary’ isn’t the right word, but we know it will change our current life, and especially the life of our wee lad who has just turned two. How do we go about preparing him for this big change, and how do we best take care of him through all this? I am quite tired at the moment, and have a feeling it is going to get worse (I am not one of those mothers who ‘glow’ during pregnancy and get extra energy; I am quite the opposite! ) – and I can’t blame ‘the tummy’ for being tired all the time, as I don’t want him to ‘dislike’ the baby even before it is born! (more…)
Astrid is a Norwegian thirty something, married, working mum to a wee lad who is almost three and a baby born in 2012! She grew up in Norway, but moved to London, England after she met her husband. After living there during her twenties, she has since returned to Norway and settled down in her nation's capital of Oslo to raise her family.
She finds herself slowly turning into her own mother as her free time is spent reading, walking, knitting and meeting up with other mums for coffee. (Ok, she still secretly loves going to the pub, too!). However, there isn't much time for any of the above, as she now enjoys spending most of her time crawling around on the floor, while playing with her children! Check out her blog, Quintessentially Burrows. She's also on Twitter @MrsSWarren.
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by Ewa Samples | Mar 30, 2012 | Birthing, Cooking, Food, Health, Motherhood, Nutrition, Parenting, Poland, Polish Mom Photographer, Pregnancy, World Motherhood
I’m about 35 week pregnant and on Monday the 19th my pre-term labor started, also known as Braxton-Hicks. We weren’t sure if that was labor but after 24 hours of consistent and regular contractions my husband and I decided to go to the hospital.
It seemed we made the right decision. I was in labor but because my doctors wanted to keep that baby inside me for at least one more week they gave me a shot that stopped my contractions and advised me to stay in bed for the next few days.
Though, it’s really hard to stay in bed or sit on the sofa while there are still so many things to do and with the laundry basket is calling my name.
Since we came back from the hospital I’ve had a few minor contractions but nothing really big and painful. I try to do less. I try to be more lazy. I try to enjoy this time. (Even though I’m having contractions now and then while writing this post 🙂
The only thing that I haven’t changed in my schedule is making my morning spinach smoothie.
A month ago, my doctor prescribed iron supplements, and since then I’ve also increased iron in my diet a little. I tried to bring some of these changes into the family diet but my husband is too stubborn and spinach or beets are too much for his taste buds. (more…)
Ewa was born, and raised in Poland. She graduated University with a master's degree in Mass-Media Education. This daring mom hitchhiked from Berlin, Germany through Switzerland and France to Barcelona, Spain and back again!
She left Poland to become an Au Pair in California and looked after twins of gay parents for almost 2 years. There, she met her future husband through Couch Surfing, an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals.
Today she enjoys her life one picture at a time. She runs a photography business in sunny California and document her daughters life one picture at a time.
You can find this artistic mom on her blog, Ewa Samples Photography, on Twitter @EwaSamples or on Facebook!
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by Frelle (USA) | Mar 16, 2012 | Being Thankful, Communication, Family, Motherhood, Post Partum Depression, USA, World Motherhood
“Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone’s hand is the beginning of a journey. At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.” ~Vera Nazarian
One of the most misunderstood parts of motherhood is the emotional roller-coaster you’re on right after giving birth. Everyone expects you to be settling in blissfully while staring doe-eyed at your bundle of joy.
But having a baby is both amazingly fantastic and ridiculously exhausting.
Whether you’re a first time mom or not, the disruption while everyone adjusts to the new normal can be overwhelming. You may be fortunate enough to have a wonderful mom (or a well-meaning mother in law) to step in and help but relinquishing a degree of your control over the day-to-day can contribute to frustration too. And if you’re like many women, the combination of these factors may lead to a case of “baby blues”, or to full blown post partum depression [PPD].
These negative emotions can be confusing for both the mom and those around her as well. Many women think there must me something wrong with them, assuming they “should” feel happy. More often than (more…)
Jenna grew up in the midwestern US, active in music and her church community from a young age. She developed a love of all things literary thanks to her mom, and a love of all things science fiction thanks to her dad. She left the midwest in her early twenties and has lived in the south ever since.
On her blog, she tries to write words that make a difference to people. Long before she attended college to major in Special Ed and Psychology, she became an advocate for special needs and invisible disabilities. She's always been perceptive of and encouraging to those who struggle to fit in. Having been through several dark seasons in her own life, she's found empowerment in being transparent and vulnerable about her emotions, making deep and lasting friendships, and finding courage to write from her heart. Her biggest wish is to raise her kids to be compassionate people who love well.
She's been online since 1993, with a total of 19 years of social media exposure. Having friends she doesn't know in real life has been normal for her since her junior year in college, and she's grateful every day for the ways technology helps her stay in touch with friends from all over the world.
Jenna lives in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, and is a freelance writer and a stay at home single mom to 3 girls and a boy. She blogs at MadeMoreBeautiful.comMadeMoreBeautiful.com.
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by World Moms Blog | Mar 13, 2012 | Guest Post, Maternal Health, Motherhood, Social Good, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood, World Voice
Sarah and her precious baby.
When I had my daughter Hayley Jane at full term via c-section on October 25th, we were on cloud nine! Our little princess had arrived and even my son Derek, at just 26 months old, was thrilled for our family. I was released from the hospital and spent two days in that post baby honeymoon phase. Then I woke up on October 31st, and I knew something was off.
I told my husband, Rob, that I couldn’t fully catch my breath and that I had a dull headache and thought my vision seemed blurry. I thought I was being paranoid, as I was recovering from a c-section and had a new baby that was nursing every 2 hours. But Rob told me to call the doctor.
I was surprised at the stern immediacy in the doctor’s voice when she said to “grab my pump and get back over the bridge.” My in-laws rushed over, and I kissed my babies good-bye through flooding tears because I didn’t want to leave. Derek was going to be a fireman for Halloween that day, plus my brand new Hayley Jane, I needed to be home and dress Hayley in pink and cuddle her…would she forget me, would we never bond?? I didn’t realize then that it would be 3 hellish days until I saw them again. (more…)
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by Diana | Mar 2, 2012 | Body Image, Pregnancy, Twins, USA
I recently found out I’m pregnant…with twins. What was going to be our second child turned into #2 and #3. This is exciting, overwhelming, and terrifying, and yet part of it is me just being a tad self-centered.
How will I look after?
I’ve struggled with my body image as long as I can remember.
But honest to goodness, I remember looking in the mirror at 7 months with my daughter Bella, huge as I was, and feeling so confident about it all. The stretch marks (I got like 4 but don’t hate me – the hyperemesis I had made up for lack of them), the huge belly, the cave of a belly button (mine never popped. It just kinda stretched into a large hole…).
And this time around, it’s the same, but more. I’m having twins. So at 10 weeks I already have a noticeable (more…)
Diana blogs on raising a toddler daughter, the loss of her twin boys, and their families' adoption in progress on the aptly named Hormonal Imbalances, as well as Babble, Oreck, World Moms Blog, and Attachment Parenting International. She's been syndicated on BlogHer and The Huffington Post. Smaller glimpses into her day are on Twitter and Facebook, and on <a href="http://pinterest.com/lifeasasahm"
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by Carol (Canada) | Feb 24, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Canada, Education, Health, Motherhood, Nutrition, Parenting, Post Partum Depression, World Motherhood
I love research.
I think it comes as part of the “I-have-an-anxiety-disorder” package that I research things obsessively. Getting a dog? Buy ALL the dog books. Having a baby? Spend hundreds of hours trawling through research study abstracts.
So when I saw a notice at the Reproductive Mental Health Centre looking for participants in a study on infant feeding in mothers with depression and anxiety, I volunteered. Why not give back?
Infant feeding and maternal mental health are slightly controversial topic. Research has shown that mothers with post partum depression are more likely to be formula feeders than breast feeders.
What no one really knows is which causes the other.
Does breastfeeding make you happier? Does formula feeding make you miserable? Or does post partum depression just wreck your chances of breastfeeding success? (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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Having just been for my 18-week scan, and seeing that all is well, I feel like I am finally starting to relax a bit. After two miscarriages last year, I have been careful not to get my hopes up too much, but now I feel like I can start to think about the future.
