Unfolding Dreams

Question: Would you teach your children to date within their own race? My short answer is NO! My long response is...I think there are challenges to marrying outside of your race, speaking from the experience as someone in an interracial marriage that maybe someone in the same race marriage may not experience. However, marriage is hard work regardless of race. Even if you marry within your own race there are still going to be challenges that occur whether you marry in or out of your race. For example, you may not get along with your in-laws. That's not limited to marrying outside of your race or in your race. Couples may have different parenting styles, regardless if they are the same race or not. I agree with those who believe teaching your child to marry within a race is bias. Just because a person is the same race or different race doesn't mean they are going to treat your child with the respect they deserve. It's about teaching them to find someone who ...

Two Due Dates... I had two estimated due dates. My obstetrician had one based on my last menstrual cycle and my midwife team had one based on my dating ultrasound. For my OB, I was due 2/28 and for my midwives 3/3. I passed both estimated due dates. I never expected to remain pregnant long enough to get to the later due date. However, I think the dating ultrasound was more accurate in terms of when I ovulated. 40 Weeks & Counting.... Once I got passed 40 weeks for both my health care providers, my obstetrician and my midwives, I started to get impatient for something to happen. My mom had come for three weeks and two weeks had gone by and I was still pregnant. I was worried that my mom was going to go back to her state and I would still be pregnant. Family and friends were regularly calling early in the morning, texting, or posting on Facebook if I had gone into labor yet. I myself started trying every natural induction I could think of to help move things along, such...

Why it has taken me so long to write this... I am finally ready to sit down and get my birth story down. It's taken me a bit of time to get it out for a number of reasons, such as life is busy with being a college student and staying at home full time to take care of 3 kids in 3 different stages.   When my third child was born, I had 3 kids in the stages of preschooler, toddler, and baby. More recently, I have had a kindergartener and two toddlers.  In a few months, the stages are about to change to first grader, preschooler, and toddler.  Where has the time gone? Life feels like it's going by fast these days with 3 kids 6 and under (6,3, and 1), so I better hurry and write down the memories while I can still remember them clearly. If I am being honest, I also think it took some time to also get over the disappointment of not having my coveted home birth that I've wanted and dreamed about since before the conception of my first child.  Those of you may not...

Baby How I Told My Husband 1 Screamed for him to come in the bathroom and look at the pregnancy test. 2 Took a pregnancy test and got a faint result. I told him I was going to have others vote to see if they thought it looked positive or not on my Countdown. When he came home from work, I had him play a game of hot and cold. Hung the pregnancy test, baby boots, and EDD written with ribbon to the fan in our room and covered it like a big gift and gave him a new father’s gift - a card, Spiderman comic book and superhero baby onesie. 3 I actually thought I was out because fertility friend on the fertility awareness setting said no ovulation, but on the advance, setting said I was 13 days past ovulation. My Clearblue fertility monitor was blinking indicating it was time for the next period to come and my period was not there, so I decided to test. When I saw that it was positive, I dressed my children in the Big Brother & Big Sister shirt I had purchased from E...

What products do you consider to be a staple for trying to conceive? Some things I consider staple products are trying to conceive lubricants before intimacy and Instead soft cups for after. Will using a trying to conceive lubricant help me get pregnant? To be clear, I am not saying trying to conceive lubricants will help you become pregnant, just that they aren’t supposed to kill the sperm. Why can’t I use a regular lubricant? The regular lubricants I have read can decrease the mobility of sperm, as well as kill them and may decrease your chances of becoming pregnant. What are the benefits of using a trying to conceive lubricant? Trying to conceive lubricants are great for women who are normally dry or for those who feel they do not make enough fertile cervical mucus on their own. It may even help those who have hostile cervical mucus. Is it awkward using a trying to conceive lubricant? I think if you add it to your routine using a lubric...

According to Healthline.com’s article, Should You Be Worried If Your Period Is Light? “A light period does not always mean something is wrong. Several things can affect your period, such as age, body weight, and body fat percentage, over exercising, and stress” (Silver). Sometimes lighter periods might be cause for concern. In the article, 8 Reasons Your Period is Lighter Than Usual, it lists pregnancy as the first cause, “Although some women stop getting their periods when they conceive, some continue to experience bleeding. Unusual light bleeding or spotting could as indicate an ectopic pregnancy.  The second reason listed could be from gaining or losing a lot of weight. The third reason, you’re stressed to the max. Fourth, you’re using hormonal birth control. Fifth, you’re getting older. Sixth, you have cervical stenosis. Seven, you have scar tissue in your uterus. And the final and eighth reason is you lost a lot of blood during or after childbirth” (McGuire). Sources ...