I am a freelance writer living with my husband in Christchurch, where we work with the organization Youth With A Mission. I enjoy running, exploring new places with my camera, searching for creative inspiration in the blogosphere and volunteering around town. I am so looking forward to meeting our first child (and finding out the gender!) who's due at the end of May.
I have been stuck in the hospital for eight days. This is definitely not the entry into the world we envisioned for our first child, but such things you can’t really plan. After four days of gentle induction my body didn’t respond and we opted for a c-section. It was the last thing we wanted …
Just a really brief update for you! As some of you know we were planning a home birth for the birth of our baby, who is due May 21. We ended up finding out on Tuesday this week that I have a condition called obstetric cholestasis and therefore were advised to go in to hospital …
Noah “practicing” at our antenatal class a few weeks ago. Me at 36 weeks, last week. Baby room is pretty much ready! so tired! every night i’ve been awake and having trouble falling back to sleep from around 3-6am! The lovely bassinet that our friends are lending us!
After several middle of the night trips to the bathroom, I wake to the sound of my husband’s alarm going off. Noah works from home and often works late into the night so we have been on a late-rising schedule the last couple of years. Yes, this will change soon! I lie in bed for …
It’s great to hear a celebrity embracing the changes that pregnancy brings to a woman’s body. In this article, Natalie Portman speaks out about loving the experience of being pregnant and being at peace with the changes. She also adds that it’s important to still feel beautiful post-pregnancy. The article states, “While she admits being …
It seems anything sets off my stress levels the last couple of weeks. I find the smallest things cloud my brain, seem overwhelming and send my stress hormones sky rocketing. I don’t like feeling not myself and feeling that out of control. But I know it’s all stems from being pregnant so I’m trying to …
As Noah and I prepare for parenthood, we’ve had many conversations over the years about child rearing, discipline, approaches to life and various philosophies on child development. Two things have stood out lately to us that I wanted to share with you. Both are wisdom from French ways. A few months ago a Kiwi friend was …
I sat in the front seat, blindfolded, as my husband Noah and my sister Beth drove me to my “surprise” baby shower yesterday afternoon. I had accidentally found out about it last week, through a friend who didn’t realize it was a surprise, but everyone continued to keep the location a secret so there was …
I was thankful to find a parking spot last night—I was warned parking would be limited. It was bitterly cold and raining as I pulled into the Plunket car park where my antenatal class would be held. Other mums and I waddled out from our cars carrying our Swiss exercise balls and made our way …
My 25-year-old sister is visiting us in New Zealand for the first time. She was unavailable to come out for the birth at the end of May so she bought flights for now, in early April just before baby arrives. It’s probably better this way so we can have quality time together; I can’t see …
Have you seen this video? I saw it online a few months ago before I was blogging here, but our grandparents just emailed it to Noah and myself so I thought it would be good to share here. It’s quite fascinating to see the perspective of fetal development and birth through the eyes of Alexander …
I am 33 weeks along tomorrow. Hooray, hooray! Only seven left to go, and I cannot wait to hold our little one in my arms. I look forward to seeing my husband fall in love with this child. I know he will be an amazing father. He’s so fascinated by kid’s development and is excited …
It’s been interesting being pregnant while away from close family and friends in America. I kinda dreaded the idea of it and felt quite homesick for everyone at the start. Being far away during such a life change and important season seemed torturous. I grew up imagining going through pregnancy alongside friends, and having family …
We are heading out to Wanaka and Queenstown for a few days because we have a friend in town from overseas. In the meantime I will leave you with this video that I just saw this morning. Hilarious. Cheesy. But any pregnant woman will appreciate!
Since becoming pregnant I’ve been lent so many books from friends. I have a stack next to my bed and a stack on a book shelf. I can get overwhelmed looking at them all staring at me, waiting to be read. I recently finished On Becoming Babywise and Spiritual Childbirth—both wonderfully insightful. I’ve had to be selective …
It’s been fantastic going through this season alongside other pregnant friends. Though they are mostly all in the States (one in Tanzania), it’s been wonderful to keep up-to-date on Facebook and Twitter with everyone and read the daily updates, comment back and forth about pregnancy ups and downs, share baby bump photos, etc. I have …
I am 30.5 weeks along now and starting to feel the third trimester woes. I am lightheaded the first half of the day, my regular walks are getting harder on both my back, stomach and feet, sleep is so-so depending on the night, and my congestion is more bearable but still nagging me. It’s strange not to …
I’m lounging by the fire. The sun is bright yet the day is cold. Autumn is here on the south island. I just can’t get warm! Those hot flushes haven’t hit with full force just yet, so for now, I still enjoy my toasty fire and layers of clothing. I am nearing my 30th week …
It’s always nice to get recommendations first hand. Here are a few items/tips I’ve found helpful so far. —For Nausea: Keep crackers and water by your bed at all times when nausea is plaguing you! I did this for the first 4 months. Eat the crackers and sip the water before getting up. If I skipped that, …
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa Bevin, an acupuncturist here in Christchurch and mother of two. I was looking forward to my first appointment ever since my midwife recommended her for my sinusitis that I picked up six weeks ago. I’ve never had acupuncture and had no idea what to expect, but I’ve only …
Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will be blogging about my first acupuncture treatment, ever. If you’ve been following, you’ll know that I’ve been struggling with a sinus infection that just won’t leave. It’s been over six weeks now and you can imagine it’s driving me bonkers. I’ve tried everything I am able to take being pregnant, …
I don’t think there is much room left in me. Yet I know I have so much more to grow! I’m rarely hungry and eating isn’t even fun anymore because I already feel full before I start eating. Oh pregnancy, you can be unenjoyable…
My husband came across this startling news article today about the high use of drugs and alcohol by pregnant Kiwi women. Worth a read. If you struggle in this area, please have a think about how your decisions are affecting your fragile, growing baby. Everything you consume works toward creating this child and can have …
For nine months our bodies go through quite a series of changes. Our lifestyles also change as we make better decisions for both ourselves and our babies. And then there’s just the little things we can’t do anymore, like lay on our stomachs. I really miss laying on my stomach. That’s my most comfortable sleeping …
According to the World Health Organization, 80% of women should have a normal birth with no intervention, which to me says that 80% of women can safely opt to birth at home. But they aren’t. Why? The United States has one of the highest caesarean section rates in the world. In the US, those 80% of healthy women (mentioned …
So I’ve had this strange respiratory problem for a month now, and it’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. I have to blame pregnancy for it being so strange. Before pregnancy when a cold set in, I would get a sore throat and immediately knock out sickness within a few days by taking garlic and …
Our baby room is coming together. We painted the walls dark grey, over the less than desirable bright green they were originally from past tenants. A white paper lantern now surrounds the hanging ceiling light, and the cot that we found on Trademe is now sanded, painted and in its new spot. I shook the cot to test it …
Growing up I never heard about home births and rarely knew of anyone having a natural birth. I naively thought going to hospital and having drugs or a caesar were automatic. But when I hit my mid-20s and friends started having babies, I happened to be surrounded by friends who were having home births or natural births …
I want to blog about the leg cramp I had this morning. It.was.that.bad. Haha. I bolted out from a dream, writhing in pain because it wouldn’t go away. The hot sting held its grip while I maniacally tossed around. My poor husband groggily woke, after realizing I wasn’t going to shut up, and came to my rescue, helping to …
Noah and I met in 2005 and were married in 2008. Within a month of being newlyweds my mommy instinct kicked in and the “Let’s have kids” conversation started popping up often—mostly from me. But the timing never felt right. It wasn’t until the end of 2010 that we started seriously talking about it. Then …
A few nights ago I mentioned to my husband that I was thinking about starting to read to our unborn baby… because I am fascnitated with how it learns and picks things up before birth. You know, like if I read the same kids book or interesting passage from one of my books every night… …
One of the first exciting things about discovering you’re pregnant is deciding how to tell family and close friends. My husband and I dreamt up heaps of ways before we ever became pregnant. When we first saw that pink line and realized we were truly pregnant, we immediately started narrowing down those ideas. It took us awhile …
I want five kids. Five brilliant and compassionate kids who love each other, create their own fun without technology, run around barefoot on our *hopefully someday* spacious property out in the country where there’s a creek, willow trees and a big old red barn. I want the beautiful mess of big family holiday gatherings. My …
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