Memories and keepsake items are very important to any mother. They are especially important to birthmothers because for some of us they could be the only tangible things we have relating to our child and the short time we may have spent together.

In a recent post, I talked about your right to have any and all of the keepsake items for your baby from the hospital. But, if you are a first time mom, you might not be aware of what all you can have or what all you should... more

Recently a very new birthmom asked me if she was allowed to have some of keepsake items from the hospital stay with her son. Apparently, those had been given to the adoptive parents (I’m not sure by whom) and she didn’t have ay of them and didn’t know she was able to have them.

By keepsake items, I am referring to all the items from the hospital, like the little birth certificates with your baby’s footprints on it, hospital bracelet, the little hat, the hospital blanket, crib card, etc.

I’m sure older birthmothers from the closed adoption... more

If you are pregnant, your due date is getting closer each day. You should begin thinking about your upcoming labor and delivery and hospital stay. If you are making an adoption plan, you still call the shots in how you want things to play out in the hospital.

1. Begin to think about who you’d like in the labor room with you and ask them. Discuss plans and your wishes for the experience. Also discuss how you will be able to find your support person should your labor start in the... more

Do you notice that life feels very different now that you’re pregnant?

For me, pregnancy was a surreal time (and not just because of my illness and hospitalization, which I’ve blogged about here). Everything changed: colors looked brighter; my senses sharpened; and I craved things like pistachio ice cream and extra-salty burritos. It is hard to fully remember those months, but I think I temporarily became a different person.

I recall also feeling a definite lack of control.... more

I’ve written about entrustment ceremonies in the blogs before, but just to refresh your mind, I’ll re-define them.

An entrustment ceremony is an adoption ritual that acts as a symbolic gesture of the transferring of the parental role from the birthmother to the adoptive parents.

Entrustment Ceremonies are becoming more common in the adoption community as more people find out about them. Recently entrustment ceremonies have been in the news and are getting a... more

Women in past generations who made adoption plans were typically not given the option of whether or not they could see or spend time with their baby. There was no questioning it; that’s just the way it was and in some cases, mothers are still unsure to if they gave birth to a boy or a girl.

In that aspect, times have changed. Expectant mothers making adoption plans are often encouraged to spend time with their baby in the hospital. However, there are still those with the old school beliefs that spending time with her baby would just make the... more

Ask anyone who has given birth before and I am sure that they will tell you that labor is not fun or easy! As much as you may not want to admit it, you need and depend on the support of others during labor. Of course, you will have doctors and nurses around, but you need people who know and love you there with you as well. As you begin to think about your upcoming labor and delivery, have you thought about who you’d like there with you? Who would make a good support person?

Of course, you have doctors and nurses available when needed while in the hospital,... more

I have been busy packing and preparing to go on vacation during my son’s spring break. We are heading to Atlanta, Georgia but I will do my best to post a little bit while away as long as the hotel has high speed internet!

Packing my suitcase reminded me of something everyone who is preparing to go to the hospital and give birth in the near future should think about: Packing your suitcase!

Somewhere in the third trimester (earlier if you are at high risk for early labor) of your pregnancy you probably should go ahead and think about packing a... more

Every 10 minutes in Texas a teenager becomes pregnant. A new proposed bill would attempt to help reduce the epidemic of teenage pregnancies, educate women on sexually transmitted diseases, creating an outreach program to let women know what is available to them in the state, and changing how funds are spent.

This bill would provide the school systems with more funding to alter their sex education classes. The sex education classes would focus more on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and the use of contraception. The bill would also launch... more

I’m starting a new series today that I am calling “The Journey.” The journey starts when you first find out you are pregnant and in this series will continue until the birth of your baby. I will discuss both the option of parenting and the option of placing. Some of these topics that will come up during the series may have been touched on in the past, but to be thorough I will include them in this series as well.

The first step that comes along in this journey is finding out you are pregnant. Perhaps your period is late, you are feeling nauseous, or... more