Postpartum
Postpartum Care for Mom
Life changes profoundly during postpartum after the new baby arrives! The entire family dynamic is reshuffled. If it is the first child, the husband and wife become parents. A single child becomes a big brother or sister. The current baby becomes an older sibling. Schedules change; sleep patterns are disrupted; visitors come and go. The…
Read MoreMath + Poetry During New Motherhood
You probably already know that postpartum is hard. I won’t tell you more about how it takes time to heal from birth and learn the rhymes of a new fertility. Instead, I want to share about the numbers I’ve been dealing with as a new mother, and the freedom I’ve found in the midst of…
Read MoreStress and Success in Postpartum
Written by Anne Marie Williams. Originally published in Family Foundations The postpartum period is uniquely full of the emotional highs of welcoming new life into the world as well as certain stresses like sleeplessness, round-the-clock caregiving, and adjustment of expectations between husband and wife. Couples practicing natural family planning and seeking to avoid pregnancy encounter…
Read MoreOvercoming Postpartum Challenges
The postpartum season is one of joys and challenges. The joy of holding that precious baby makes all the hard work worth it, but there are also challenges including charting the return to normal menstrual cycles. Coupled with a renewed respect for the strength of a woman’s body to nurture and deliver a baby into…
Read MoreThree Generations of Postpartum Perspective
Written by Mike Manhart. Originally published in Family Foundations in 2022. Our home currently shelters three generations and is providing an interesting “grandparent” perspective on postpartum. Our youngest daughter had her first child in September and her husband was deployed 10 days later. Since then, she’s been staying with us, and it has provided a…
Read MoreThe Hardest Job You’ll Ever Love
Written by Katie Zulanas. Originally published in Family Foundations in 2022. Oh, how true that is! Whether it refers to parenthood, or marriage, or another vocation, our life’s work, sincerely pursued, inevitably runs into suffering and sacrifice. Your true vocation will be the hardest job you’ll ever love—and despite that–it is worth it! Postpartum is…
Read MorePreparing for Postpartum
Written by Monica Mattuissi. Originally published in Family Foundations in 2022. Recently, when praying the Rosary, I was meditating on the second joyful mystery of the Visitation, when Mary makes a journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth. I was struck by Mary’s eagerness to visit her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, as any woman who has been…
Read MoreCCL in Postpartum?
It is quiet in the garden these days outside our office window at the Holy Spirit Center. Seemingly little happening there; however, just like at CCL, the “groundwork” for growth is being established. It is, in fact, a very busy time for us! I had our team laughing when I remarked that CCL was in…
Read MoreRising Above the Baby Blues
I have been failing so often to choose joy during this fourth trimester because I was relying on my vocation to fulfill me. How very foolish. I know rationally that my vocation is not my end-all — my life with Christ is.
Read MoreTry These Shops for Cute Nursing Clothes
A recent cultural movement to embrace public breastfeeding — with or without a cover — has been gaining momentum. While we welcome a more accepting attitude toward public breastfeeding, we certainly don’t want anyone baring their chests in front of strangers. Nursing moms, keep your shirts on. We scoured the internet for nursing clothes that…
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