So I know I’ve been derailing a bit recently from the usual update-type posts but I hope you’ll stick with me since I’ve been wanting to do this one for a while. These three blogs I’ve been following for a long time and I thought they would be worth spreading the word about.
3.
So first up is the blog I’ve been following the longest. I’ve had this page bookmarked for at least 2 years. Everything about this blog is awesome: great writing, and a great subject. It’s written by Bongi, who lives and works in South Africa as a general surgeon. The way I stumbled on this blog was completely random, I think it was during a Google image search- and the images are the least interesting thing about this blog. The writing is outstanding. Bongi is funny, and real; his stories are unbelievable. Though there is not a single capital letter to be seen anywhere, these are real human stories which make you feel like you were there with him. He’s been writing since 2006 and unfortunately has slowed down a lot recently. However, I fully recommend starting at the beginning and reading the whole thing. It’s worth it.
I present: other things amanzi (See? No capitals.)
Wonder how many of these he’s tied?
2.
Since there are thousands of people who read this blog, you may have already heard of the Purl Bee. But I love it so much I had to include it anyway. It’s a craft blog, and they have soooo many amazing projects. I’ve spent hours browsing here, imagining what I could be making. (Instead of making it! Geez!) (To be fair, with a newborn, having one hand to scroll through pages with is often all I can handle.) I want to make pretty much everything on this blog. For example, I think Frida will be getting a pair of these pretty soon:
so cute.
Anyways, you’ll get the drift when you go over there. Go… go now. Make all the things I can’t make because I don’t have 12 arms.
1.
If you’re a mom, a mom/parent to be, or at least just interested in childbirth and the general amazingness of what women and their bodies can do I hope you’ve read this far because this next one is for you. This is Birth Without Fear, and it is awe-inspiring. I was tipped off to this one by my midwife, and I’m so glad she told me about it. It is partly what convinced me that I could for sure, barring emergencies of course, have an amazing natural childbirth. (And I did.)
birth
By the time I got to my own birth I’d read so many stories and watched so many women giving birth I felt like I’d done it before, which was a huge advantage in terms of subsiding fear of the process. The blog chronicles birth stories from scores of diverse women. The thing I especially love about this blog is that there is no one particular way of birthing that is touted as superior to another way. There is no shame here in having had c-sections, or epidurals etc. In fact there are some really beautiful c-section stories which I feel is unusual to hear about in the natural birth community. There is also no shame in water birthing or even free birthing. Each story is as unique as the woman who is telling it. I highly recommend this blog.
An honorable mention:
Though I don’t keep up with this blog nearly as much as the others, I thought I’d include it just because I feel like I can’t let this post slip by without at least mentioning it. It’s called Milk Junkies, and is about (in his words) “A transgender dad in a gay relationship breastfeed[ing] his baby boy. A celebration of queer families, breast milk, and attachment parenting!” Woohoo! Trevor, the author, stirred up a minor media storm when he applied to be a La Leche League leader and was rejected for being male. Oprah and all the rest descended and begged him for interviews etc which he declined. He did do one interview on CBC though, which coincidentally my mother in law heard and has been referencing ever since, though I think she missed the part where he is trans (though maybe that doesn’t matter anyways). She’s said to Jonathan several times, especially in the beginning when I was having trouble getting breastfeeding underway, “Well, did you know that men can breast feed? I heard it on CBC!” Which I think is awesome. And kind of funny.
So go! Read! Enjoy!
xo
Islanders 