Image by Ingrid Franz Moriarty What is the role of Dad in pregnancy, birth, postpartum? A few years ago, Anna and I began to ask that question during our annual Pregnancy Awareness Month LA Event; we had our 1st Dad’s Panel at our 5 year anniversary, and thus began our 411 for Dad’s Twitter…
I had a conversation about this with a fellow mom this weekend, and our basic question and statement to ourselves was, “Aren’t you a good enough parent?” And my walk away was basically that no parent is perfect, so why are we holding ourselves to that performance measure? This inquiry and blog post is not…
It’s amazing how life comes full circle. I became an environmentalist at an early age, growing up in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee—an exquisitely y beautiful area that, like many natural areas, exists in the shadows of nuclear waste dumps. After my family moved on to Nevada, then Georgia and Maryland,…
Learn the skills to stop fighting, build trust, intimacy & love at http://poweroftwomarriage.com. Marriage, like having a baby, doesn’t come with an instruction manual. We aren’t born knowing how to best approach sensitive topics, how to deal with jealousy, or negotiate who takes the garbage out. Marriage is wonderful but tough, especially around times of…
There’s no denying that breast milk is one of the most nutritious gifts youcan give your baby. It’s packed with antibodies and vitamins, strengthening your baby’s ability to fight off viruses and bacteria. But while breastfeeding is an undoubtedly beautiful and mutually beneficial experience, getting started isn’t always easy. Read on for 5 easy ways…
Alisa & Roma at her 1st birthday party – Image by Ron Hamad all rights reserved When I was pregnant, one of the most fond memories I have is the community of other pregnant women, many of them first timers like I was, that connected and gathered weekly for our prenatal yoga class at…
In celebration of World Breastfeeding Week, we’ve kicked off an exciting, month-long focus on breastfeeding! Of course, we’re huge proponents of breastfeeding and have written many posts on its benefits for mom and baby, but we also recognize that many moms struggle with breastfeeding. So, this month, we’ll be both celebrating breastfeeding and supporting nursing…
We are rounding the last lap of the National Month celebrating Breastfeeding. We have shared stories and been inspired by women all month in our twitter parties and FB chats on their experiences nursing. We have supported a day of public nursing in in LA County, #Boobolution. And we have provided vital information and linked…
A little over a year ago I was on a business trip, a conference at the Sheratan hotel in Carlsbad. It just so happens to be less than a block walk to the Legoland Park California. I wasn’t there with my family, this was business, and actually had nothing to do with Pregnancy Awareness Month. During…
A friend of mine created this beautiful one-of-a-kind quilted binder cover many years ago, and it was so pretty I didn’t know what to do with it! She knew I loved warm, bright colors and designed it just for my personality. It sat in my closet waiting for a special occasion. The time finally came…
I am very excited to be on the 2013 Advisory Board for Pregnancy Awareness Month and I look forward to helping to enable dad’s to be more integral, intimate, and involved with their wife during all stages of pregnancy. My wife is due with our third child within the next two weeks, this will be…
Every Wednesday is BUMP Day at Pregnancy Awareness Month. We ask for bump updates on our @PregAwareness Twitter and Facebook pages on hump day. Our most common response is from soon-to-be moms who aren’t sure what a bump update is …. or how to take a photo of themselves for an update. Even if you…
Do you have a baby care question or two…or even ten? Haha! Well, then you’re going to want to join us, The Pump Station & Nurtury and Kids in the House on Thursday, 7/30, at 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST for the Baby Care 101 Livestream and Twitter online event in celebration of…
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the best way to protect your child when you are traveling is to put them in the right seat, at the right time, and use it the right way. But what does that mean exactly? The safety experts at Britax put together some tips on the basics…
Image by Ingrid Franz Moriarty OK so you are pregnant for the first time, or you are in the throes of postpartum bliss and sleep deprivation. Perhaps you are parenting three kids under the age of 5. Mom’s, that’s what you are. Whether the bun is still in the oven or not! The transition…
We continue to drive the message of baby safety this month. Many thanks to Dr. Nina Shapiro, Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology at UCLA for partnering with us in some blogs this month as well as in our upcoming Twitter Party on Monday September 15th – #SafeBaby. As any of us with children know, babies and…
Sometimes we just get angry and mad. Am I alone here people? I think not. Perhaps you are EXHAUSTED because you are pregnant and not sleeping that well. Or you are postpartum and the baby is waking every 2-3 hours….or perhaps you and your partner just can’t get in sync. Or you got in an…
Ask many parents if they seek a connection or an attachment to their child and most would agree that they would. And attachment to our children begins literally in the womb, but once the cord is cut, the process of attachment takes on a different form. Humans are dependent on their caregivers in those first…
If you’re reading this, you’re at least a small part of the disconnect we, as mothers and fathers, have with nature. Many of us are first-generation digital natives, having been brought up with technology as part of our daily lives. We have begun to lose touch with ourselves, as Dr. Carl Gustav Jung implicated many years…
I want to share some principles for happy parents and effective parenting. But before I do, I want you to know that I am a firm believer that your ability to care for others, be it a partner or a child, stems from nurturing yourself. If you are completely depleted than you have nothing to…
Frances Moore Lappe said, “The act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the earth.” What we eat is not only a direct result of Mother Nature’s bounty, what we choose to eat also has a direct impact upon her. And while things like driving…