Since my mother has been living with us this summer to help out with Liam, we thought of researching some fun, natural things we could do around Westchester County. We hiked around the Irvington reservoir with the dogs, walked the Old Croton Trail (from Dobbs Ferry to Yonkers), and ate by the water in Ardsley […]
Read MoreAlthough we did stock up on a lot more things for Liam’s nursery, these are our favorites out of everything we’ve tried so far (the list will most likely be updated as Liam grows and we try out more products). We try to aim for as many natural/organic products as possible and do a lot of research to […]
Read MoreAs a French citizen who grew up in the French Caribbean, circumcision was never a “thing” I was familiar with. Almost no boys I knew were circumcised (except those that were for religious reasons), including the men in my family. It was only when I came to New York that I realized how prevalent it really was […]
Read More1. You will get very little (or no) sleep the first month. Not much of a nap person? Believe me, that’s going to change. During the first few weeks, you will be sleeping 2-5 hours per night, and that’s if you’re lucky. As your newborn adjusts to the world outside, he’ll sometimes need to eat every […]
Read MoreTo celebrate, here are three of Liam’s favorite things so far (besides the boob, of course!) It’s been so much fun getting to know our little guy this week. He’s definitely a mellow little dude… as long as he gets his milk every 2-3 hours! Although we were a little hesitant at first to introduce Liam to pacifiers/soothies while breastfeeding, we were […]
Read MoreLiam, 5 days old Even before I got pregnant, I knew I would one day exclusively breastfeed my baby. As I researched the advantages of breast milk over formula during my pregnancy, I hoped that my son Liam would have no trouble latching on and that my milk would come in smoothly a few days after […]
Read MoreI can’t believe Liam is already five days old! For my first post as a new mother, I thought I’d share my postpartum favorites. Although I was lucky enough to have a quick and healthy recovery (I was up walking less than an hour after delivering Liam), there are some things that have made my first […]
Read MoreYou will be here tomorrow, or three weeks from now. The toughest waiting game. I stop at the slightest jab in my abdomen, waiting, hoping. Could it be? I hold my breath as you sleep, waiting for your next move to know that you are okay, that you are breathing, that you are still there, […]
Read MoreI’ve written about Ina May Gaskin (the author of Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth), my feelings about midwives, and my yearning to have a natural, vaginal birth. This film, directed by Abby Epstein and produced by Ricki Lake, covers it all, including the many myths surrounding hospital births (is all the additional technology really always for the […]
Read MoreAs my pregnancy comes to an end (38 weeks and waiting not so patiently…), here are a few things I wish I’d known before I got pregnant. Oh well, they’ll come in handy for baby #2! 1. That an OB/GYN might be great for yearly pap smears, but not for my ideal birth. I am a prime example […]
Read MoreWhen my husband and I decided to stop birth control, we never expected to get pregnant within two weeks. I’d been on birth control for many years and assumed that it would take my body some time to start ovulating again. Three months at least… Wrong. For those two weeks we “tried” to get pregnant […]
Read MoreIt’s funny that I didn’t consider a water birth during most of my pregnancy, despite water being my element… I grew up on an island and basically swam as early as I could walk (okay, not exactly, but pretty close…) Despite the fact that for my first baby I do not feel 100% ready for a […]
Read MoreAlthough I am already well into my third trimester (time flies!) I realized that some of the things I had during my first trimester were true life savers. I mean it. Worth the investment, believe me — most of these also apply to your second and third trimesters too! 1. Gin-Gins Hard Candy – Although […]
Read MoreI can already hear you thinking, “yeah right…” but believe it or not, I am really not afraid of giving birth to our baby boy. Why? Here are four reasons why you shouldn’t either: 1. Giving in to fear (and the stress associated with it) is the most negative thing you can do to your baby. According to Web MD, […]
Read MoreIn honor of our beautiful baby shower, here are five of our favorite gifts. I will of course write more in depth reviews when we actually try them out with Baby Riehm (every baby is different and we may return some of these), but in the meantime, here are a few of our favorites: 1. Ergobaby Four Position 360 […]
Read MoreAll pregnant women are familiar with the “infamous” hospital bag. Early on, our childbirth instructors remind us we need to pack one, our smartphone app sends us alerts every week, and our friends constantly ask us if we’re all zipped up and ready to go yet. But wait — don’t I still have a solid two months to […]
Read MoreMedical induction of labor has been steadily increasing since the 1980’s. In the U.S., 25% of women are induced and 19.2% have their labors “accelerated” artificially (http://www.pregnancy.com.au/birth-choices/birth-information/birth-articles/inducing-labour-naturally.shtml). How do we know, as expecting mothers, whether an induction is truly an emergency or not? What other options do we have? Here are a few ways that […]
Read MoreFirst, what is a birth plan exactly? It is a way for you to communicate your wishes to your doctor or widwives (how you would ideally want labor to go, the “environment” you want to be in (door closed, dim lights, music…), what you want to avoid during labor (epidurals and drugs, cesarean, episiotomy…) and afterwards (testing and […]
Read MoreThere is nothing more inspiring that hearing of natural birth stories, especially when they are life changing. Thank you ladies for sharing your beautiful births! * Christine Glaser – St. Louis, Missouri (September 16th, 2015) Michael and I first learned about hypnobirthing in general after watching thedocumentary series, More Business of Being Born. We knew […]
Read MoreAccording to WebMD, a midwife is “a trained health professional who helps healthy women during labor, delivery, and after the birth of their babies.” They can assist your birth at home or in the hospital, if you prefer it. Women who choose midwives usually do so because they want a low intervention birth. This means that unlike […]
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The Real Johanna Riehm 