“I wouldn’t worry about this,” the doctor told me as we stood in front of a screen projecting the image of our 13-week old child in utero. I bit my lips so aggressively, I thought they might fall off—an unsuccessful attempt at holding in my tears. Feeling silly responding to the doctor’s kind reassurance by crying, I finally broke my silence: “I hear what you’re saying but I think I just need to cry for a little bit.” She handed me some tissues while my husband took my hand, and I wept. The . . .
Guest Post: Drawing a Blank
Friends, The countdown to baby is winding down rather quickly over here! We've reached 10 days until the due date! My husband and I are so excited (and ALL of the other feelings, too!) about the weeks ahead. I'll be sure to keep you posted, as you've all journeyed with me to this point! This month at Red Tent Living, the theme is: "What Does This Mean?" I'm honored to share my piece with you, entitled, "Drawing a Blank." You can read a portion of it here, but it is published in its . . .
Guest Post: Shifting Seasons
Hi friends! I'm excited to share with you my latest piece for Red Tent Living. This month, their theme is, "Is This Life?" What a big question. Here's where it took me . . . Shifting Seasons I’m finding myself in a strange sort of liminal space as I await the birth of my daughter. She’s with us, but not quite here. We’re standing at the threshold of what will be, counting down the days until we can fully step into this new season of life. Sure, there are things we need to complete as we . . .
Practice Makes Refinement
Have you noticed? The days? They’re getting longer! I’m so happy. No offense to February, but I’m always happy to bid it farewell. March just sounds like spring. Sure, where I live we’ll still probably have a number of snowy days, but March feels like we’ve really turned a corner on our journey out of winter. The days are literally getting longer, and I’m fairly convinced I can notice every extra second of daylight. Oh, also, I’m sleeping for approximately six minutes per night, so that could . . .
A Cold, An Unfinished Blog, and Two Guest Posts
Happy Friday, good people! I hope this finds you at the tail end of a good week. I, for one, am finishing up the second week of a monster cold. Currently, my biggest pregnancy craving is a barrel of Nyquil with a straw but apparently that's a no-no. Not fair, right? In the midst of my coughs and sniffles, I did manage to begin a new post but I did not manage to finish said post and so, this week, I want to share with you some work I've been doing over at iBelieve. I really enjoy writing for . . .
Realizing the Actual Dream: Inviting Others In
My best friend is due with her first child (a girl!) just six weeks before my first child (a girl!) is due. I remember calling her shortly after finding out I am pregnant to tell her the news. “Oh, Mal,” she exclaimed, “This is the dream!” And it was. We’d been talking for months about potentially entering motherhood. We were both very aware that after all the conversations we’d had with our spouse and emotional energy we exerted to make a decision as huge as this one, there was still the . . .