I am completely and totally in love with this sweet little face.  Our first night together I let his completely exhausted daddy sleep while I road the waves of adrenaline and hormones running through my system.  I snuggled and cuddled my new little man doing skin to skin to keep his temps up.  It was perfect.  I knew when the sun came up that I’d have a whole lot of people to share him with.  And don’t you know, my usual after noon riser, Ty, was first in line, walking through my bedroom door at 8 am calling dibs.  I was confused and thought for sure my clock must be wrong to see him up so early!  He was followed […]

Jonah Reid Stradtner was born at home in the water on a Saturday evening.  Just a few days shy of 42 weeks pregnant, he arrived in his own time and in his own way.  It was intense, he was born with his hand next to his face, and insanely fast, yet beautiful.  He weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long.  He has the cutest squishy face, he still loves his hand up next to his head, even on the outside, and he has has the best quivering lip I’ve ever seen.

My husband is amazing.  He never once waivered in his confidence in my ability to do this at home, unmedicated, for the first time.  He believed […]

My dear friend Sara of Alexander and The Kid Photography was kind enough to take a few maternity photos for us.  I really regretted not getting photos taken when I was pregnant with Jude.  I have one.  And as hard as it is for me to get in front of the camera and on the other side of the lens, especially with a growing and changing body, I’m so glad we did this.  Thank you, Sara, for the beautiful memories.

ps – Ty isn’t mysteriously missing from these photos.  This was an early morning session and I’m sure you can imagine early mornings and 15 year old boys don’t mix […]

I decided to sort through and search for some photos of my kids at their births today.  Man, each feels like yesterday but it simply couldn’t have been.

I have limited photos of Ty thanks to hurricane katrina, but this has always been my favorite.  Forgive the weird frame and text, this is the only digital version I have on my computer.  His birth was amazing and SO much fun.

And Taryn, oh Ms. Taryn.  She told us a lot about herself on the day she was born.  Slow to warm and spunky….23.5 hours of labor.  I remember Ty being so excited.  He had waited 8 years for a sibling and it was […]

I’m not a fan of “due dates”. I haven’t been since long before this pregnancy. Working in the birth industry, I feel they do more harm than good. I wish they passed out “due months” instead. Doesn’t that sound so much better?  It’s really all just an estimate anyway. And picking one date, it seems silly to me. And it puts a lot of pressure on the mom.  The medical community uses it as an end all way to often and it frustrates me. All moms and babies are different.

I’ve been apprehensive to share my due date publicly and cringe every time someone asks online or in person. I realize it’s a harmless question each and every time it is […]