Brenda Rodgers

Category: Raising Girls

  • Delivering a Slice of Humble Pie {Our Birth Story Part 3}

    This is Part 3 of our birth story! Be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2 here!

    My husband will emphatically tell you that we will NEVER, EVER do that again! He is all for the “let’s just plan for an epidural” route next time – if there is a next time.

    I half don’t blame him. After I received the epidural it was actually kind of fun. After we napped, with the lights off mind you, we just sat around and talked and even laughed between contractions.

    For the first time I understood why women don’t go the natural route. 

    My eyes were opened. 

    Our Birth Story Part 3 (more…)

  • Delivering a Slice of Humble Pie {Our Birth Story Part 2}

    This is Part 2 of our birth story. Please read Part 1 here! Tomorrow I will share Part 3 and tell you where I am now in my thoughts on natural childbirth!

    Even though I was going to have to be induced, I did not want Pitocin. I knew it would make a natural birth unbearable with pain, and my plan was still to have a natural, water birth. I received another medication to induce my labor, and so it began.

    I labored in the water. I labored in the bed. I labored on the birthing ball. And I labored some more.

    It was hard. The hardest thing I’ve ever done. And each contraction pushed out a little more of my pride. I was helpless.

    Our Birth Story Part 2 (more…)

  • Delivering a Slice of Humble Pie {Our Birth Story Part 1}

    This is part 1 of our birth story. Read part 2 here and part 3 here.

    No one can prepare you for some things in life no matter many books, magazine articles or blog posts your read, how many words of wisdom your grandmother, mother, or best friend gives you, or how many times you play and replay the sequence of upcoming events in your mind.

    A smile before it got ugly!

    (more…)

  • Being a Stay-at-Home-Mom in the Military :: {Part 1}

    Welcome to our series, Motherhood: More than Meets the Eye, where every Monday until December 18th eight bloggers explore what the world of motherhood truly looks like and how even though each unique, we’re all on a mission! Please join us!

    As a military wife I found myself by myself. A lot. I chose to leave the workforce to stay home with my children. When my husband was gone for 7-8 months at a time I felt it. To my core. It was lonely and a lot of work. I realize though, it isn’t only military wives who are in this situation. Does your husband travel? Are you left by yourself to be mommy, daddy, maid, chef, doctor, nurse and teacher? Maybe not for big chunks of time, but on any sort of regular basis?

    It is overwhelming and scary. Perhaps you are the other extreme, you feel relieved and relish in the moments all by your lonesome?

    Either way, the burden is heavy and you can’t do it alone. Well you aren’t alone. You aren’t the only one. There will be others that go through this too. But that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from some tips and encouragement to help you along.
    So join me, Nikki, today over at Intentional By Grace where I address “life” when your husband is gone…a lot.

    Want to read all of the posts in this series? Check them out by clicking here!

  • 5 Minute Friday :: Wonder

    Welcome to 5 Minute Friday where we write for five minutes – no editing, no fretting, no criticism – we just write about one word. Join us today with Lisa-Jo and dozens of others as we write about Wonder.

    About nine months ago it all started. I looked down to see two lines on a little plastic stick. And I began to wonder.

    The days ahead unknown. Who was this tiny soul now living inside of me? Was she a she or was he a he? How big would we get? Is it going to be that painful, really, pushing life from inside out into the world? What if I can’t do it?

    I knew that when I saw the leaves change the time would be near. Driving down the two-lane road towards our house colors of red and orange, gold and brown adorned the grassy sides. My sign that it was time.

    The wonder continued.

    I held her all blue and bloody close to me that November day. She shivered and I shhhh’d as I patted her leg and they dried her off. With the cut of the cord I wondered some more. No longer attached to me physically it was the first sign of her journey. The journey God had ordained hundreds of days before.

    I wonder where He will take her.

    Now it’s late at night. I look down and she slurps, gulps, and pauses – not in a hurry for anything. I hear the heat come on and off. Outside is dark. Inside is silent. I want to freeze time. I notice the wrinkle above her nose is almost gone. I knew that when I saw her wrinkle disappear I would know she was growing bigger.

    I lift up a prayer for this baby girl now in my arms growing with each slurp and gulp, and I wonder about her days ahead. Days already written, already planned, not a mystery for Him, just for us. And I wonder what her purpose will be in all of this. All of these days now set before her that will one day be a signature on eternity.

    Whatever her purpose. Whatever the reason she’s here. God already knows. It is one that only she could fulfill in these years she’s given.

    I continue to wonder.

    Five Minute Friday

     

    What is it today that you’re wondering about? 

  • Being a Stay-at-Home-Mom When You Don’t Have to Be

     Welcome to our series, Motherhood: More than Meets the Eye, where until December 18th eight bloggers explore what the world of motherhood truly looks like and how even though each unique, we’re all on a mission! Please join us!

     

    Let’s face it: not everyone can understand the choice women make to stay home with their children. Some can’t imagine life without heels and a briefcase. Others feel more complete when they’re behind a desk or negotiating multi-million-dollar deals.

    Then there are those of us who, in ways we can’t always understand ourselves, like the cozy comforts of home and gladly trade in blazers and button-downs for Corduroy…the book. It may not be an easy choice, but it’s ours to make, and with a quiver of children in tow all screaming for “mommy”, it seems to make sense.

    But what happens after the noses are wiped and kids go to school? Is staying home still a reasonable choice for women? Should mothers dig out the blazers and button-downs and resurrect their corporate identity? Does it go without saying that women should go back to work full-time when their children are no longer home? And if not…are we really okay with that?

    In today’s post, The Unofficial Homeschooler discusses some of the emotions that surround the choice mothers must make after the coop is flown, and explains why staying home is still the best choice for her family. Please join Jane Graham HERE to continue reading…

    Today’s post is written by Jane Graham of The Unofficial Homeschooler and Girl Meets Paper.

    Want to read all the posts in this series? Be sure to check them out by clicking here!