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When Arms Are Empty: A Pregnancy Loss Primer

Every pregnancy ends.

Ideally, a pregnancy ends with an ice-chip-fueled marathon of contracting, pushing, or with the flash of a scalpel in an operating room. A bundled baby with goopy eyes and a little hat is placed into welcoming arms, at last. Cameras capture, footprints are rocked onto scrapbook paper, a name is given. When you want to have a baby, this is the dream come true.

Unfortunately, 25% of pregnancies do not have a happy outcome. They end too early, in miscarriage or stillbirth.

I have had four miscarriages. My most recent pregnancy loss was this past March, so it is still fresh and the wound slightly raw. I’ve found that many people don’t know what to say. Why should they? While a lot of women have found themselves in this club, most have not.

Mother’s Day Brunch Aboard the Rio Grande Giveaway Tickets!

[photopress:RGSRR_Interior_1.jpg,full,pp_image]To my beloved husband,

Screw the flowers for Mother’s Day. This mama wants to get thrown on the train. See below.

XO
Amber

This year, families looking to forgo the traditional Mother’s Day gifts can treat mom to a moving feast, combined with unbelievable mountain scenery, on-board the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad.

The special “Throw Momma on the Train” excursion offers a new way to roll on Mother’s Day and get a sneak peek of the train’s five newly remodeled 1950s-era dome cars, offering panoramic views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, almost two weeks before the regular season begins.

Along with breathtaking views of the San Luis Valley, the outing includes a brunch buffet featuring Rio Grande Dark Roast coffee, fresh fruit, crepes, muffins, hash browns and champagne.

Biggest Loser Boot Camp – Week Four (and Counting!)

Editor’s Note: Are you joining us for the ultimate Girl’s Weekend Out at the Colorado Women’s Expo this weekend? Mile High Mamas will be there with loads of giveaways. Scroll down to see some of the fun!

[photopress:biggestloser_1_2_3.gif,thumb,pp_image]One of the things I love most about Front Range Adventure Boot Camp is the cohesive community of women – a kind of bonding that can only be achieved through mutual suffering success.

The same could be said about The Boot Camp Biggest Loser Club, though it is more about sharing. And disdain for The Scale. Prior to attending my first meeting, I pictured a giant-sized one with everyone standing around gawking. Fortunately, weigh-ins are much more discreet but for the first time this week, The Scale was not Foe but Friend.

After we finished weighing in, Life Coach Robyn called out, “There is a problem with the accuracy of the weight on the scale today.”

Silence.

Finally, a brave person queried, “Errr…is the weight more or less?”

“It is adding three pounds to everyone’s weight.”

C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N TIME.

So without further ado, my weekly weigh loss is

Mile High Mamas Giveaways at the Colorado Women’s Expo!

Mile High Mamas will have a booth at the Colorado Women’s Expo this weekend! We have partnered with many fantastic companies (including Universal Pictures and Sony Films) and will announce our Mother’s Day Giveaway Extravaganza. Swing by, say “hi” and brown nose me for the chance to win:

Grand prize: A weekend stay at family-friendly Summit Cove condos in Keystone!

Other prizes include:

*Tickets to The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ The Last 5 Years

*Movie tickets to Patrick Dempsey’s new movie Made of Honor

*Darling T-shirts for Made of Honor and Tina Fey’s Baby Mama

*Leatherheads movie calendars

*Family four-pack of tickets to Heritage Square’s Spring Thing

*Alvin and the Chipmunks DVDs and soundtrack

*The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears

The Adventures of Mom by J. Kaspar Barnes

There will also be chocolate and Made of Honor bubbles for the kids. Don’t miss the chance to win many great prizes!

Oh, and did I mention treats?…..

The kid has a future at Jamba Juice

[photopress:jamba_juice_1.gif,thumb,pp_image]Declan: “Daddy! Mama and I just made smoothies!”

Bryan: “Really?! What is in ’em?”

Declan: “Oranges, Grape, Strawberries, Yogurt, Ice and Milk.”

Bryan: “Cool! What do you call it? You should come up with some fun, funky name.”

Declan: “Orange Grape Strawberry Yogurt Milk Ice Smoothie”

Bryan: {Pause} “Well. That is descriptive. And looong.”

Sanford & Son (& Daughter) Do White Trash!

[photopress:sanford.jpg,thumb,pp_image]Every neighborhood has ’em.

You know: the one white-trash family that just oozes with socially unacceptable behavior such as loud music, big engines, cold beer and jacked-up trucks.

I just didn’t know “they” were “us.”

It all started out innocently when I took the kids for an early-morning run at this time last year. Since the temperatures were still brisk, I opted against getting them dressed and kept them bundled up in their fleece PJs.

Now, something you should know about me is that even though I’m lucky if I get a brush through my hair, I am pretty anal about ensuring my kids are properly groomed. But I figured this was a worthy exception to get an early start to the day. You know. To beat those sweltering 60-degree temperatures that would soon descend upon us.

Something else you should also know is that it was garbage day, certainly not the best of times to be running due to the surrounding stench. I was the last 1/4-mile into my run up the big stinky hill to our house when I spotted It: that which led my great downfall to white trashdom (and coincidentally, it was white…and trash). Someone had left a wicker chest out by their garbage.

Rockin’ Tellerpalooza Concert Tickets Giveaway!

Congratulations to Cheryl H. and Jamie E., winners of our Colorado Women’s Expo tickets!

Are you ready to rock out?

It is fundraiser season and kudos goes to Teller Elementary for putting the Fun back in Fundraiser for the fifth straight year. And this year Morey Middle School is teaming up with Teller to make this concert event bigger than ever. Tellerpalooza/Moreypalooza is set for Saturday, May 10 at The Mercury Café, 2199 California St. in Denver.

Festivities will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a performance by both Teller’s and Morey’s own student bands, followed by the Denver School of the Arts Jazz Combo.

Other featured local Denver bands will include (in alphabetical order):

Angie Stevens & The Beautiful Wreck – Westword’s Best Singer/Songwriter of Denver in 2006. http://www.myspace.com/angiestevens
The Autumn Film – Arty, cool and interesting, The Denver Post says that Autumn Film often invites comparisons to the music of Fiona Apple. http://theautumnfilm.com

Biggest Loser Boot Camp – Week Three (and counting!)

[photopress:biggestloser_1_2.gif,thumb,pp_image]One of the most invaluable lessons I have learned through the Biggest Loser Boot Camp is that visualization with a specific goal in mind is imperative when losing weight.

For some, they are training for a triathlon.

For others, they want to summit a 14er.

For many, it is fitting back into their skinny jeans.

For me, it is losing my baby weight so I can get pregnant and gain it all back again.

(Please excuse me while I bang my head against the wall.)

But without further ado, my weekly weight loss total is:

If You Read This Post, I’ll Shave My Head*

School is sucking my son’s love of reading down a greasy, hair-lined drain and I’m afraid it won’t come back.

My handwringing may seem dramatic and over-the-top, but you didn’t just spend three hours trying to a second-grader to read a book for his homework. This is a boy who taught himself how to read at age four, who read everything from soup labels to his big sister’s chapter books as a Kindergartner. We beamed at his ability and greed to read. With literally hundreds of books on our playroom shelves, he had plenty to keep him busy for years to come.

But it hasn’t worked out that way. Reading is drudgery to him. Parents are told if children see them reading, they are more likely to raise a reader. We are bombarded by book fairs and fliers sent home in backpacks encouraging us to spend more and more money on books. Our shelves burst. My husband and I have bachelor’s degrees in English Literature, so reading isn’t just a passing fad around here. We write a check to a company in Iowa every month, paying for the privilege of having those diplomas in a box in our closets.

I want to make it clear my gripe isn’t with my children’s teachers. I genuinely like them and have no worries while my kids are in their care. I realize they must follow curriculum guidelines. My main concern is how schools today handle reading homework. It is actively eroding their love of reading – I can see it, and I hate it.

What is it they used to say when we were kids? Reading is FUNdamental! I submit the FUN has been carefully carved out in the name of state-mandated testing and fear of failure. Reading, as an act, has been reduced to something to compare and measure. It is just damental.

Recipe Contest Winners to be Featured in The Denver Post for Mother’s Day!

[photopress:cook.jpg,thumb,pp_image]NEWSFLASH: Those hours you spend slaving in the kitchen making dinner for your family may actually pay off!

We are calling on all cooking mamas to post your family’s favorite dinner recipe at Mile High Mamas under Recipes (Family Favorites Contest). The recipes do not have to be originals but if not, please include full attribution (even if it is Grandma Mabel’s best friend’s niece Sally’s recipe because doesn’t she deserve her moment to shine?)

And the prize? We will choose the top three recipes – along with a picture of your family – to publish in the May 7th Food section of the newspaper the week before Mother’s Day! Each winner will also receive a delectable cookbook. Contest deadline is April 30th so come one, cook all!