From the Family Foundations archives **** The Braxton-Hicks contractions began three or four months into the pregnancy, compounding Lydia Bardua's exhaustion, dizziness and nausea. Her doctor couldn't find anything wrong, so he told her to relax and hydrate, relax and hydrate. Lydia heard . . . [Continue Reading]
Archive by Category | pregnancy
A novena for pregnancy
Young St. Philomena has been such a powerful intercessor, she's actually the only saint who was canonized on the grounds of intercession alone. While miracles have been reported regarding a whole span of requests, she's known as the patroness of babies, infants, and youth. It's unsurprising, then, . . . [Continue Reading]
An infertility book for Catholics
From the Family Foundations archives. **** When Angelique and Richard López first began experiencing infertility, Angelique went looking for a Catholic book on the topic but came up short. A few years later, her best friend, Carmen Santamaría, started down the same road. These Miami CCL . . . [Continue Reading]
Infertility 101: The basic information all couples should know
From the Family Foundations archives. An excerpt from The Infertility Companion for Catholics: Spiritual and Practical Support for Couples, by Carmen Santamaria and Angelique Ruhi-Lopez, reprinted with permission from Ave Maria Press. **** What causes infertility? About a third of the . . . [Continue Reading]
Infertility in Advent
Infertility is one of the worst pains that can befall a couple. And for those couples struggling to conceive, Advent — an entire season dedicated to the hopeful anticipation of a long-awaited birth — only highlights the aching they live every day. To all those couples reading this: we see . . . [Continue Reading]
St. Andrew Novena begins tomorrow
St. Andrew's novena is traditionally prayed by couples hoping to conceive. St. Andrew was the first apostle to follow Jesus (along with his better-known brother, Simon Peter) and the first Sunday of Advent always falls on the Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s feast day of November, 30. The novena . . . [Continue Reading]
Pregnancy and preeclampsia
An excerpt from Marilyn M. Shannon’s book, Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition. **** You may have wondered why prenatal care includes blood pressure monitoring and urine checking more and more frequently as you approach your due date. These are done in order to detect early signs of a . . . [Continue Reading]
Mom’s hilariously relatable pregnancy posts go viral
Pregnancy is an exciting time! But in the throes of morning sickness, insatiable hunger and feeling like a beluga whale, all of those “Yay! Pregnancy is so great!” posts on social media can be more than a little annoying. Meet Maya Vorderstrasse, Instagram celebrity, Brazilian mom of Irish twins . . . [Continue Reading]
Ten pieces of advice to prepare for labor & delivery
Editor's note: This article was originally published on Hillary Frost Photography's blog, to extend advice to a new mom and friend of the authors. 1. Pick a good nail paint color. Hillary told me when I went to get my nails done before having Lo, “You better pick a good color, you’re going to be . . . [Continue Reading]
NFP Uncensored: Surprise!
NFP Uncensored is a series of candid accounts of the way NFP informs every aspect of life. You can follow the posts by searching for “NFP Uncensored” here in the Living the Love blog (use the search bar on the righthand side of this page), or by searching #NFPUncensored on social media. Natural . . . [Continue Reading]