From the moment you start trying to conceive (and, actually for some months before that) you should focus on taking excellent care of your body. You want your tiny tenant to thrive, so you should do everything in your power to get their home to be in the best possible shape for the nine or ten months that they're in there.

Aside from the usual need for hydration, there are a couple of factors that make it even more important during pregnancy. 

Oxytocin is kind of awesome.

I gotta warn you, I'm about to get kind of nerdy in this blog post. I find this stuff fascinating, and I love getting into the nitty-gritty of it all.

If you're not into that, that's alright. I realize this article won't be everyone's cup of tea…

When I decided to switch from a “traditional” hospital birth to a home birth with a midwife, I really didn’t know what I was doing. I was eight months pregnant and had about a month to get myself, my husband and my house ready to welcome our first baby in the comfort of our own living room.

My goal was to breastfeed at least a year, but beyond that, I didn't really have much of a plan.

Breastfeeding is supremely convenient. I used the magic of the boob for everything. Baby's hungry? Boob. Baby's teething or uncomfortable? Boob. Baby needs to go to sleep? Boob. Baby wakes up in the middle of the night? Boob

Morning sickness is something that affects something like 70% of pregnant women. For me, it started within days of finding out I was pregnant. For most mamas, symptoms start in the first month of pregnancy and typically taper off once you hit the second trimester (week 14) although some mamas have it longer.

Once you've had a baby you enter two stages, simultaneously. The first is the newborn stage. It's beautiful, magical and a bit surreal. The second is postpartum. For me, this was uncomfortable, kinda gross and all too real.

The following is a list of questions I would recommend asking your midwife in your initial interview/consultation. Every mama is going to have different priorities and philosophies, so there’s no specific right or wrong answer to these questions. It all depends on what you are looking for.

For fifteen years, I committed myself to my career. I usually worked seventy to eighty hours a week. Typically, I was commuting ten or more hours a week.

I am not a crunchy mom.

I mean, after all, I use disposable diapers! Sure, they're made from plant based materials and are fragrance free… but I'm not using cloth diapers!