You know that feeling you get in the wee hours of Christmas Eve? You’ve spent weeks shopping, decorated every square inch of your home, made gingerbread houses with the kids, spent a few melancholy moments remembering lost loved ones, wrapping, cooking, baking, sending cards and calling old friends. Now, the moon is high and the Christmas tree is providing the only light in the room. The kids were tucked in hours ago and you and your husband finally pulled out all the Santa gifts. Now, you snuggle on the couch, crack old jokes that nobody else would understand, and feel a huge sense of simultaneous relief and excitement for the joy to come the very next day. That feeling is so rare. That moment – after tremendous work, some tough emotions, silly whims, and then cozy love and comfort – only...
Guest blogger Janalee Card Chmel is co-owner of MA! motherhood with attitude and is a Denver-based freelance writer. She was shocked at the age of 40 to find out she was pregnant. Follow her journey each month. I am just finishing Week 28 of my surprise pregnancy, which means I have about 11 weeks to go before I meet this wee one. We’ve opted not to find out the gender, yet again, because despite the tactless, graceless, tantrum-throwing way I behaved when I discovered I was pregnant, I do love surprises! I truly love that moment when the doctor says, “It’s a girl!” (so far that’s all we’ve heard) and my heart instantly says, “Yes, of course it is. I think I knew her all along…” Looking back on the last 28 weeks, I recognize that one of the most rewarding aspects of this journey began when...