Motherhood & Words
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forever acknowledging
A few days ago, I took Stella in for her 4-year-old check up. She was all shy smiles, and passed the little developmental tests—drawing circles and triangles, hopping on one foot, balancing with her arms out, identifying the colors on the nurse’s smock—with flying colors. She proudly held out her arm for her blood pressure…
kudos and a contest
I’ve just started my fall Loft class, and it’s so nice to be back “in it” again. I love the elated feeling, the “this is exactly what I want to do, what I love doing” feeling I have after a good class. But before I get too caught up in this term, I want to…
mourning Deilis
I just found out that one of my god-daughters has died. She got very sick and was gone in three days, from meningitis, I think, though this may have gotten lost in translation. I have only seen Deilis and her twin, Dailis, a few times since they were born, almost ten years ago. I flew…
poetry and concentration
I haven’t been able to focus on much of anything during the last week. I had a good report from my doctor: baby is okay, take it easy, no exercise, nap every day. The good part, of course, is that the baby is fine. The difficult parts, for me, are taking it easy and not…
a gorgeous placenta
I never thought I would be so excited and relieved to hear that I have a gorgeous placenta. TFG. Baby is alive with a healthy heartbeat, and the clot has diminished to a few very small clots. Apparently, “I bled in the right direction.” (Who knew this was even possible?) The big fear was that…
september, pregnancy and me
They just don’t mix. It was this very week four years ago, while I was pregnant with Stella, that my body began to shut down. The level of protein in my urine indicated kidney malfunction. I had gained over ten pounds in two weeks, all fluid. Soon I was lying in the hospital, vomiting and…
the great minnesota get together
On Sunday afternoon, D., Stella, my dad, and I hopped on the bus and headed for the State Fair. The Sunday of Labor Day weekend is not the best day to go to the fair if you hate crowds and heat and are pregnant, but it was the only time that worked for our hectic…
it's alive!
We had our twelve-week check-up on Friday and heard the little bugger’s heartbeat. Such a relief. Of course, I have a slew of other worries about the pregnancy, but after an early miscarriage in January, it was a relief to hear that minuscule heart pumping away. And did I mention that I love my doctor?…
how hard must you look?
On Sunday afternoon I went to see The Mother Project at the Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis. It was a six woman production, directed by Augsburg College theater professor Darcey Engen, in which the women’s stories about motherhood, relationships, identity, grief, their careers, and how they balance art and work and motherhood were woven…
restfulness and reflective awards
We were up north at my mom’s cabin all week last week and I DIDN’T WORK AT ALL. I didn’t check voice mail or e-mail or even post (obviously). I read two trashy-ish novels (I will not reveal their titles, not even if you bribe me with chocolate) and made bead necklaces with Stella and…
writers revealed
Last night I participated in writers revealed debut virtual book club, which was so much fun. There were about eight of us, and we all read Meredith Hall’s wonderful memoir, Without a Map, and then we called into the show for a Q&A with the author. Hall became pregnant at sixteen, was completely shunned by…