• Birth,  Cancer,  death,  Grief,  Homebirth,  hope,  Life,  Pregnancy

    Ice Packs

    We took Bradley classes during my first pregnancy (highly recommend, they’re great) because regardless of whether or not your pregnancy is bliss or burden you are aware of something truly horrible: this baby is coming out.  I imagine for most women there is an initial euphoria with which a deep and primal dread sidles up beside and waits. Through bump photos and Target registries and baby showers and baby kicks, mild terror makes herself quite comfortable. The basic idea behind Bradley is that labor is natural, pain is part of the process to be embraced, and you are capable. In other words, “It’s gonna hurt like hell, kid, you can…

  • Birth,  Homebirth,  Life,  Pregnancy

    Northwest Woman's Bun in the Oven Overcooked

    November 14, 2037 SPOKANE, WA – An unusual story out of the Inland Northwest has surfaced this week after a 50-year-old woman was discovered pregnant during a visit to urgent care for a sprained ankle. While her age makes the pregnancy peculiar, the truly remarkable part of her gestation is its length. The woman, Krysann Sedberry, has been expecting for the last 20 years. In 2017, Sedberry and her husband were excited to find that they would welcome their fourth child in November of that year. November came and went, however, and as each month followed, the couple questioned whether or not they were pregnant at all. “By Christmas, we…

  • Baby Berry,  Family,  Grief,  Life,  Motherhood,  Pregnancy

    It's a Boy! (dammit)

    So. I’m pregnant. And full disclosure: I really wanted another girl. I wanted our eldest to have a sister to relate to, I loved the idea of my two boys being bookmarked with a little less testosterone, but mostly? I wanted another little girl to share in the thing my mom and I had. She used to buy this terribly amazing ice cream that had actual Butterfinger swirled into it. It was like our emergency fire extinguisher: we broke the glass for mean girls and stupid boys and post-fight-make-ups and really bad period cramps. Two spoons, one tub, no shame. We’d sit in her bed with our comfort food and…