Perhaps it’s because I’ve been pregnant or breastfeeding for the vast majority of the last six years, or maybe it’s because I haven’t had a single night of uninterrupted sleep in just as long, but with a third baby on the way, I am desperate for a little extra help. Those first several weeks with a new babe are beyond challenging. I’ve experienced the exhaustion of around-the-clock feeding, two rounds of...

In the locker room, I undressed my eyes quietly from the other woman and disturbed me. He was older than me. But still, I would have expected more in a bright, iridescent place full of mammography and paper clot hes. I just kept fighting the feeling that I didn't belong here. “We're just going to do some tests and we'll be sure, orum my doctor said, frowning slightly. I tried not to think. I tried to postpone this for...

Shortly after giving birth to my eldest child, I was ready for the nurses to whisk her away into the hospital nursery so that they could bathe her and perform all of the necessary tests. After all, it’s what I’d seen in the movies and even read in my pregnancy books. But much to my surprise, all tests were done in my room, with me close by. Our hospital promoted mother-baby bonding, which meant that my baby would stay...

“And are you giving your baby her Vitamin D drops every day?” The physician’s assistant would ask me this each time I dragged my lumpy postpartum self into the pediatrician’s office with my newborn. She’d pause on her checklist of medical dos and don’ts for new parents and look at me expectantly. “Oh yes, of course,” I’d respond, nodding and shifting the baby to my other arm when my bicep started to...

The other week, I was nursing my baby at 10 PM in our living room and watching TV as my husband lay on the couch, snoring. He was so loud I couldn’t hear what was happening on House Hunters. “HONEY! YOU’RE SNORING!” I announced, which did the trick. “Hey, you woke me up!” Dave responded. “Listen, I’ve been alone with the baby for the better part of the day and would appreciate some company,” I...

New motherhood is no joke. It will surprise you and thrill you and frustrate you in ways you didn’t even know were possible, and one thing is certain — it will not happen exactly as you had planned. It is better and worse than you could ever have envisioned. The good news is that parenthood is a fast-track learning course, where you learn what you need to know quickly out of necessity. No matter how ill-equipped you...

Full disclosure: I breastfed each of my three children for a year; and while we definitely shared some great moments in those years, boy did I love the feeling of freedom that came with not being tethered to my kids all the time once they were weaned. Not to mention the fact that suddenly, my husband could wake up with them and let me get in a few more precious moments of sleep. And then there’s this: There’s a...