Download or read book Lost in Motherhood The Memoir of a Woman who Gained a Baby and Lost Her Sh t written by Grace Timothy and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previously published as Mum Face. Best described as The Wrong Knickers for mums, in this wry, resonant and darkly funny memoir, journalist Grace Timothy explores motherhood as an issue of identity.
Download or read book Mum Face written by Grace Timothy and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this wry, resonant and darkly funny memoir, journalist Grace Timothy explores a question most women will face at some point: if becoming a mother means the person you were before has gone; who exactly is left in its place? Best described as The Wrong Knickers for mums, in Mum Face Grace explores motherhood as an issue of identity. What begins as shock and then denial of how your life will change has to become acceptance when you're too big to walk/waddle/work; you're fully repurposed now; you're a mum, in everything you do, and everyone knows it. From the physical and emotional changes you encounter to the way your agenda and daily life is altered, your identity is constantly up for redefinition. As the friends and colleagues who shape and support your sense of self slip away, work dwindles as every hour becomes a moment you should be with your child, and your confidence is knocked by the constant feedback from everyone, you try and fit in everywhere - old life, new life - and don't fit anywhere. It's the identity crisis that no woman is immune to, belying the credo that being a mother is the most natural thing a girl could do. Grace has experienced mum rage, mom jeans, mum-tum, mum-hair and had to put on her mum face to cope with it all. These are the truths of motherhood too uncomfortable to flow forth at your NCT meet-ups. From bad sex, messed-up friendships and irretrievable labia to questioning everything and everyone around you. The hilarious book follows Grace's journey from a young married woman at the top of her editorial game in London, to a thirty-something mum, confused as to how she can love someone as much as her daughter and yet feel lost as a person. Compulsively readable, irresistibly written and incredibly well-observed, Grace Timothy's searingly-honest account of motherhood is essential reading for every mum trying to find their way after the mother of all identity crises.
Download or read book The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary written by Catherine Gray and published by Aster. This book was released on 2019-12-26 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **From the Sunday Times Bestselling Author** Life-affirming - THE TELEGRAPH Wonderful - INDEPENDENT She made it her mission to learn how to be default happy rather than default disgruntled - RADIO 4 - WOMAN'S HOUR Take a leaf out of Gray's book and be kinder to yourself by appreciating life just as it is - IRISH TIMES This book came to me in an hour of need - during lockdown when I had to focus on the positive, appreciate simple things, not lose my shit, and value each day. It was a pure joy for me and held my hand - SADIE FROST Interesting and joyful. Lights a path that could help us to build resilience against society's urging to compare life milestones with peers - LANCET PSYCHIATRY Underwhelmed by your ordinary existence? Disillusioned with your middlin' wage, average body, 'bijou' living situation and imperfect loved ones? Welcome to the club. There are billions of us. The 'default disenchanted'. But, it's not us being brats. Two deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenons conspire against our satisfaction. We have negatively-biased brains, which zoom like doom-drones in on what's wrong with our day, rather than what's right. (Back in the mists of time, this negative bias saved our skins, but now it just makes us anxious). Also, something called the 'hedonic treadmill' means we eternally quest for better, faster, more, like someone stuck on a dystopian, never-ending treadmill. Thankfully, there are scientifically-proven ways in which we can train our brains to be more positive-seeking. And to take a rest from this tireless pursuit. Whew. Catherine Gray knits together illuminating science and hilarious storytelling, unveiling captivating research showing that big bucks don't mean big happiness, extraordinary experiences have a 'comedown' and budget weddings predict a lower chance of divorce. She reminds us what an average body actually is, reveals that exercising for weight loss means we do less exercise, and explores the modern tendency to not just try to keep up with the Murphys, but keep up with the Mega-Murphies (see: the social media elite). Come on in to this soulful and life-affirming read, to discover why an ordinary life may well be the most satisfying one of all.
Download or read book Jessica Lost written by Bunny Crumpacker and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mother and her child, lost and then found again after four decades: this extraordinary story of love, loss, and reunion is told in alternating voices by the two women, each relating her own powerful experience. For the mother, its the tale of an unhappy marriage followed by betrayal, a pregnancy of uncertain paternity, and the heartrending decision to give up her newborn. The daughters search begins 40 years later, as she slowly, painstakingly, stitches together her story. These intertwined tales give us two unforgettable points of view of a remarkable journey-and of the multiple meanings of motherhood.
Download or read book Ain t That A Mother written by Adiba Nelson and published by Blackstone Publishing. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From pasties to postpartum and everything in between No one said motherhood would be easy. For Adiba Nelson, the journey to parenthood started with a big bang and continues with a breakdown (or two) and several “why?” questions for God. Witty and bold, Afro-Latina Adiba grew up in survival mode. Her sometimes complicated relationship with her strong-willed, vibrant, religious mother marked her views of mothering and love. When a chance encounter with a tall-ish, brown-skinned brotha at Ruby Tuesday’s right before closing time collided with a Jill Scott song and the right time of the month, Adiba found herself unexpectedly pregnant. She also found herself unexpectedly falling into the same relationship patterns of the matriarchs before her—the ones she swore she’d never end up in. Mom to a new baby with high medical needs and with a slew of hardships that just won’t quit, she set out on a reckoning that was just as generational as it was personal. Along the way, Adiba never loses her heart or her humor. This is a true love story, but the kind about a woman loving herself enough to change the course of her life for herself, her child, and the women after her as well as before. From pasties to postpartum depression, Ain’t That A Mother is not your average motherhood memoir—and Adiba is not your average mother. The in-between moments and the self-revelations are where this bold and brilliant story of love, family secrets, and lots of “what the...?” really shines. Just like parenting, the story is messy, but the reward is incredibly satisfying.
Download or read book Choiceless written by Ruby Lee Cornelius and published by LifeRich Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-19 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This memoir details the events and emotional struggles surrounding the authors teen pregnancy in the 1970s Midwest. Shunned first because of her interracial relationship and second for her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, Ruby Cornelius ends up against her will in the homea place created to temporarily house and hide the shame of these girls condition. Spanning more than four decades, the author poignantly shares a journey of motherhood lost and gained.
Download or read book Baby Love written by Rebecca Walker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-03-04 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the international bestselling author of Black, White, and Jewish comes a "wonderfully insightful" (Associated Press) book that's destined to become a motherhood classic. Now in trade. Like many women her age, thirty-four-year-old Rebecca Walker was brought up to be skeptical of motherhood. As an adult she longed for a baby but feared losing her independence. In this very smart memoir, Walker explores some of the larger sociological trends of her generation while delivering her own story about the emotional and intellectual transformation that led her to motherhood.
Download or read book Life Without Baby written by Lisa Manterfield and published by Steel Rose Press. This book was released on 2017-02 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “What if I never get to be a mother?” When this doubt first takes hold, it can knock you completely off your feet. You feel cheated, frustrated, and no longer sure of your place in society, your family, or your circle of friends. Now…imagine you could spend time with someone who really understands how you feel, who lets you express all the things that once seemed whiny, self-indulgent, or just plain crazy, and who confides that she once felt that way too. Life Without Baby founder, Lisa Manterfield, once stood where you are and not only survived, but thrived. Now she shares what she learned from her own experiences and from the women of the community she created. She’ll help you: – Know when it’s time to cut your losses and let go of your dream – Give yourself permission to grieve the loss that few others can truly understand – Learn some emotional aikido moves to handle social challenges, such as baby showers, Mother’s Day, and the dreaded “Do you have kids?” question – Rediscover your passion and find joy again, without enduring a complete life makeover – Get pragmatic about aging without children and building a new kind of family Based on her small-group workshops and popular ebook series, this book offers a combination of hard-won lessons, gentle queries, and real-world suggestions. Manterfield is a comforting and supportive companion who will guide you gently down your own path to making peace with being childfree-not-by-choice and thriving in a new happily ever after.
Download or read book Motherhood Reimagined written by Sarah Kowalski and published by She Writes Press. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the age of thirty-nine, Sarah Kowalski heard her biological clock ticking, loudly. A single woman harboring a deep ambivalence about motherhood, Kowalski needed to decide once and for all: Did she want a baby or not? More importantly, with no partner on the horizon, did she want to have a baby alone? Once she revised her idea of motherhood—from an experience she would share with a partner to a journey she would embark upon alone—the answer came up a resounding Yes. After exploring her options, Kowalski chose to conceive using a sperm donor, but her plan stopped short when a doctor declared her infertile. How far would she go to make motherhood a reality? Kowalski catapulted herself into a diligent regimen of herbs, Qigong, meditation, acupuncture, and more, in a quest to improve her chances of conception. Along the way, she delved deep into spiritual healing practices, facing down demons of self-doubt and self-hatred, ultimately discovering an unconventional path to parenthood. In the end, to become a mother, Kowalski did everything she said she would never do. And she wouldn't change a thing. A story of personal triumph and unconditional love, Motherhood Reimagined reveals what happens when we release what's expected and embrace what's possible.
Download or read book Motherhood written by Ann Campanella and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motherhood: Lost and Found takes the reader on a journey where Alzheimer's disease and infertility intersect. At age 33, award-winning author and poet Ann Campanella returns to her home state of North Carolina ready to build a horse farm and start a family. Ann's foundation is shaken when she experiences multiple miscarriages at the same time her mother spirals into Alzheimer's. The author's devotion to her family and her horse Crimson sustain her as her mother's illness progresses and her own window of potential motherhood begins to close. The voice in Ann's memoir has been called constant and abiding, her imagery indelible. Her graceful, exacting language rises above the grief of infertility and the struggle to care for aging parents, connecting the reader ultimately to the heartbeat and resilience of the human experience. This memoir was a finalist in the Next Generation Independent Book Awards, the world's largest not-for-profit independent book awards.Praise for Motherhood: Lost and Found include:"Ann Campanella's Motherhood: Lost and Found is a chronicle of family tragedy and triumph told in some of the most truly lyrical writing you'll ever encounter. She writes of grief and loss with heart wrenching honesty but without sentimentality then adds humor in such unexpected places I found myself laughing and crying all on the same page. This is the best memoir I've read in years...."- Judith Minthorn Stacy, author of Maggie Sweet, winner of the Carolina Novel Award"The book is about ... the love of a family ... and how that love sustained them during a long and painful crisis, and how Ann's relationship with her husband Joel was deepened and enriched by that crisis, and how three generations are better than two. Motherhood: Lost and Found has much to teach us all as human beings."- Anthony (Tony) Abbott, Professor Emeritus at Davidson College, author of Leaving Maggie Hope, winner of the Novello Festival Press Book Award"A sensitive, in-depth study of one woman's slow descent into Alzheimer's as detailed by her daughter, Motherhood: Lost and Found involves us in the dynamic of a multi-generational family as well as the author's own story: horses, poetry, three terrible miscarriages, and in her 41st year, a final miracle." - Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize winning poet"Ann Campanella's Motherhood: Lost and Found records the ordinary and extraordinary courage of those who must endure debilitating, even crushing illness and those who must suffer with them while they do so. Here is bravery, patience, reconciliation, and -- at long last -- hope. I found this story valuable in an intensely personal way. I think others readers will find it so too."- Fred Chappell, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina"It is the gift of a lifetime. Nothing I have ever read has affected me more deeply or made me more thankful that I am alive. You have made your place ... into your place on earth. And you have welcomed us - all of us - into it.... Through your book, you have made it ours. The voice in the book is constant. Faithful, I should say...You have delved into the scarcest moments and found the Abiding. Something as fundamental as fire - and earth and water and air. As death and love, as death and love and death and love again."- Mike Martin, writer and artist"I was so deeply touched by this memoir. Anyone with children or aging parents will be moved by this searingly honest story. Ann struggled with infertility at the same time she was trying to care for her mother with Alzheimer's. In a clear-eyed way, she explores how her family navigated the suffering caused by her mother's illness, and her own heartbreak of multiple miscarriages. Every sentence is beautifully crafted, with a poet's attention...
Download or read book Since I Lost My Baby written by Selimah Nemoy and published by . This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When what you believe turns out to be a lie, how far will you go for the truth? Selimah Nemoy, a 1960s teenage devotee of Motown, became pregnant in 1966 and was sent by her parents into hiding at the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers in Los Angeles, a last-century relic of social shame and punishment for wayward girls. Immediately after giving birth, her baby was taken away, and Selimah was given the impossible command to "just go home and pretend it never happened." Not likely. By the time of Selimah's release from the maternity home in 1967, it was the Summer of Love. Backlash to the archaic values that had made her a prisoner of love was exploding; so were urban uprisings, college protests, black power, and the anti-war movement. For Selimah and her generation, there was no longer any way to pretend. After seeing Otis Redding perform live at the Monterey Pop Festival, Selimah transited out of her parents' orbit to join the social-sexual revolution. From Los Angeles to Barcelona, San Francisco, Oakland, the Napa Valley, and Hawaii, she searched for love and the Big Truth; crossing paths with cultural icons; navigating happiness, heartbreak, and death to a soul music soundtrack; and leaving a paper trail for the baby girl who'd been taken from her at birth. When her daughter turned twenty-one years old in 1988, Selimah began actively searching for her. Three years later, with the help of support groups, a hacker, and a bounty hunter, Selimah found her daughter. Their spectacular reunion was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show.The story of Selimah's loss, and her courageous journey to find love, truth, and both her daughter and herself, bookends this poignant, insightful coming-of-age memoir about the temptations, rebellion, and counterculture of the 1960s/70s, and the power of soul music that brought the author through it.
Download or read book Lost and Found written by Felicia Tan and published by Candid Creation Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-04 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undeterred by the loss of her first baby and with the support of her husband and family, the author gathered her courage and underwent a repeated round of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and found herself pregnant once again, this time, with twins. Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived. Faced with the imminent threat of Cervical Incompetence (CI), she opted to undergo a Cervical Cerclage to increase her odds of carrying her babies to term. Tragedy soon struck and she found herself stricken with grief once more. Lost And Found is the personal story of one woman’s arduous journey to parenthood, her anguish at the heart-wrenching loss of her babies, and how she eventually found faith, peace and hope. The book includes experts’ contributions in the areas of chiropractic in pregnancy, coping with grief, and pre/post-pregnancy exercises, as well as real-life tales of other mothers who had been in a similar predicament. Lost And Found is a comforting companion for women who are trying for a baby and mothers whose dream has been shattered and wondering how to find hope again… www.feliciatan22.com
Download or read book Make Me a Mother A Memoir written by Susanne Antonetta and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-02-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A woman unexpectedly finds her best self through a sleepy bundle handed over at the airport in this heartfelt and surprising memoir. In Make Me a Mother, acclaimed memoirist Susanne Antonetta adopts an infant from Seoul, South Korea. After meeting their six-month-old son, Jin, at the airport—an incident made memorable when Susanne, so eager to meet her son, is chased down by security—Susanne and her husband learn lessons common to all parents, such as the lack of sleep and the worry and joy of loving a child. They also learn lessons particular to their own family: not just how another being can take over your life but how to let an entire culture in, how to discuss birth parents who gave up a child, and the tricky steps required to navigate race in America. In the end, her relationship with her son teaches Susanne to understand her own troubled childhood and to forgive and care for her own aging parents. Susanne comes to realize how, time and time again, all families have to learn to adopt one another.
Download or read book Strange Situation written by Bethany Saltman and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A full-scale investigation of the controversial and often misunderstood science of attachment theory, inspired by the author’s own experience as a parent and daughter. “A profound and beautiful work . . . searingly honest, brazenly fresh, and startlingly rich.”—Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon When professional researcher and writer Bethany Saltman gave birth to her daughter, Azalea, she loved her deeply but felt as if something was missing. Looking back at her lonely childhood, dangerous teenage years, and love-addicted early adulthood, Saltman thought maybe she was broken. Then she discovered the science of attachment, the field of psychology that explores the question of why—from an evolutionary point of view—love exists between parents and children. Saltman went on a ten-year journey visiting labs, archives, and training sessions, while learning the meaning of “delight” from Mary Ainsworth, one of psychology’s most important but unsung researchers, who died in 1999. Saltman went deep into the history and findings from Ainsworth’s famous laboratory procedure, the Strange Situation, which, like an X-ray, is still used today by scientists around the world to catch a glimpse of the internal workings of attachment. In this simple twenty-minute procedure, a baby and a caregiver enter an ordinary room with two chairs and some toys. During a series of comings and goings, a trained observer studies the minutiae of the pair’s back-and-forth with each other. Through the science of attachment, what Saltman discovered was a radical departure from everything she thought she knew—about love and about her own family, her story, and herself. She was far from broken—she saw that love is too powerful to ever break. Strange Situation is a scientific, lyrical, life-affirming exploration of love. Not only will readers be taken on an emotional ride through one mother’s reckoning with her own past and her family’s future, but they will also be given the tools with which to better understand their own life histories and their relationships today. Praise for Strange Situation “A fascinating deep dive into attachment theory . . . Carefully researched and with copious endnotes, this is an excellent resource for anyone interested in child development.”—Publishers Weekly “Honest and complex . . . A thoughtful engagement with a topic that affects all parents.”—Kirkus Reviews
Download or read book Still written by Emma Hansen and published by Greystone Books Ltd. This book was released on 2020-04-04 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Still is one of those rare books that catches you up and does not let you go. With grace, courage, and honesty, Emma Hansen adds an important voice to this tragic and too-often silenced subject. I loved this book.” —Beth Powning, author of Shadow Child: An Apprenticeship in Love and Loss A moving, candid account of one woman’s experience with stillbirth. Emma Hansen is 39 weeks and 6 days pregnant when she feels her baby go quiet inside of her. At the hospital, her worst fears are confirmed: doctors explain that her baby has died, and she will need to deliver him, still. Hansen gives birth to her son, Reid, amidst an avalanche of grief. Nine days later, she publishes a candid essay on her website sharing photos from the delivery room. Much to her surprise, her essay goes viral, sparking positive reactions around the world. Still shares what comes next: a struggle with grief and confusion alongside a desire to better understand stillbirth, which is experienced by more than two million women annually, but rarely talked about in public. At once honest, brave, and uplifting, Still is about one woman’s search for her own definition of motherhood, even as she faces one of life’s greatest challenges: learning to live after loss.
Download or read book Becoming Mother written by Sharon Tjaden-Glass and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Becoming Mother" tells the story of a woman becoming a mother. It is a reflective memoir that spans from pregnancy through the end of the first year postpartum. It follows the author as she resists, denies, copes with, and ultimately embraces her identity as a mother. This isn't a guide or a parenting book. Its goal isn't to convert you to one brand of motherhood or another. Instead, its goal is to show you what becoming a mother can be like. Without sarcasm. Without boasting or martyrdom. Just the plain, messy truth of what it's like for one to become two.
Download or read book I m Just Happy to Be Here written by Janelle Hanchett and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A refreshingly raw, contrasting perspective on the foolproof idea of motherhood." -- POPSUGAR "By turns painful and funny... A searingly candid memoir." -- Kirkus "Far from your cookie-cutter story of addiction . . . [I'm Just Happy to Be Here] describes Hanchett's journey to recovery and sobriety in imperfect and unconventional ways." -- Bustle In this unflinching and wickedly funny memoir, Janelle Hanchett tells the story of finding her way home. And then, actually staying there. Drawing us into the wild, heartbreaking mind of the addict, Hanchett carries us from motherhood at 21 with a man she'd known three months to cubicles and whiskey-laden domesticity, from judging meth addicts in rehab to therapists who "seem to pull diagnoses out of large, expensive hats." With warmth, wit, and searing B.S. detectors turned mostly toward herself, Hanchett invites us to laugh when we probably shouldn't and to rejoice at the unconventional redemption she finds in desperation and in a misfit mentor who forces her to see the truth of herself. A story of ego and forced humility, of fierce honesty and jagged love, of the kind of failure that forces us to re-create our lives, Hanchett writes with rare candor, scorching the "sanctity of motherhood," and leaving beauty in the ashes.
