Tag: support

On having a baby after a PMAD

by Kaela Koepke I’d like to dedicate this second pregnancy to Prozac. I’m 3.5 months pregnant with number two and already the difference in my mood between pregnancies is night and day; the contrast is astounding. At eight weeks into my first pregnancy three years ago, I was sobbing at my midwife appointment, petrified of a miscarriage, despite having no…

Good-bye “Hot Mess” Mama! How Affordable Childcare Changed My Life

Poop or chocolate? What day is it? Did I forget pajama day at school? OMG there’s a field trip and I forgot to pack a lunch!!!! Let me introduce myself, I’m the “Hot Mess” Mom. You might have seen me on that new BuzzFeed video going around Facebook. Actually… let me rephrase that. That WAS me up until a few…

Dear Brand New Mom: What I Mean

Dear Brand New Mom, It may be frustrating to hear experienced moms (or even grandmas) make comments about how things will be in the future – you’re just trying to figure out how to manage your new baby in the present. The comments may be the last thing you want to hear. I realize now that I say things like…

Parents Everywhere Need Support, and PEPS Travels Well

One day in August of 2012, my husband Matt came home with a shiny brochure in his hand. “What do you think?” he asked, and I immediately said “Yes. Definitely yes.” In the short conversation that followed we made a decision that changed our story: In less than a year we would be moving to Bonn, Germany. We had talked for years about…

“It’s not you”

I’ll never forget the quote of a dear friend who enlightened me on the experience of new fathers. He said, “I was prepared to be a father, but I was not prepared to be married to a mother”.

Lessons from leading a PEPS Group

As the layers of PEPS members’ lives are gently peeled back like an onion, a little more each week, we learn how much we don’t know about others, and what a privilege it is when they choose to share it with us. This is the magic of PEPS.