About Advice

One of the first pieces of advice I received when I became pregnant (and the one I probably continue to get most consistently) is: don't listen to other people's advice. This is usually followed by a statement like, "I mean, if you want my advice..." or "You know, pregnancy for me was..." or some other prelude to giving me the advice they had just finished telling me not to take. I stand and listen politely, nodding and agreeing when appropriate, laughing to myself as I walk away.

It's like women can't help themselves. Having a child is such a huge moment in our lives, such a life-altering experience, it seems like many are just bursting to talk about it - and the presence of a newly pregnant mom-to-be is the perfect excuse.

You can be certain that throughout the course of your pregenancy, you will recieve TONS of unsolicited advice from family, friends, co-workers, and even total strangers. Some of it you may find helpful. Some, not so much. Some of it will probably even be a little strange. The main thing to remember is that every person, every pregnancy, every birth, every child, and every experience is different. What was true for your mother may not be true for you. What's true for the other pregnant women you know right now may not be true for you either. No two pregnancies are identical, and any advice you receive from other moms is given in the context of their personal experience, not yours. Only you (and in some cases, your doctor) can decide what is right and true for you.

Likewise, any advice or opinions in this blog are given largely in the context of my own experience with this pregnancy. In some cases, I will be passing on information I have recieved from others that I have found to be helpful as well, but that doesn't mean that everyone will find it equally as useful.

Furthermore, I am not a psychological or medical doctor of any kind, so any discussions regarding mental health or medical issues are based solely on my own situations and cicrumstances or those of people around me. These things should always be discussed with your own physician/obstetrician/gynceologist/therapist, etc.

And finally, I am always searching out unique, useful, innovative, dynamic products for both mothers and their children, and will often reference or even link to items I find particularly interesting or appealing. Sometimes they will be products I have used personally; sometimes they will not. I hope that you will use your own discretion as to the quality, safety and suitability of any products or services I may feature here.

My hope is that, if someone should one day stumble upon my little piece of cyberspace, this blog will be a tool that they can use to gain the beneift of different perspectives and experiences, to gather information and knowledge, and to get an overall peace of mind that there are others out there who have gone through this crazy, frightening, amazing process and lived to tell the tale.

~*~