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My phone rang tonight, and I pulled it out to see who it was, and it was a very close friend. She was calling at an odd time, so something about that made me answer (admittedly, I ignore phone calls too many times). Before I got a word out, she blurted out, “I’m on the way to the hospital. I am bleeding.” She is just over ten weeks pregnant. And, it brought back so many vivid memories of pregnancy… of which I somehow survived three of them. Trust me. I do see it from the perspective of someone who may be struggling with infertility. ThatRead More →

Erin Konheim Mandras: I Couldn't Think of a Worse Time to Relapse

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I believe there is no better time to share this personal experience of mine than during Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Almost six years ago, actually to be exact–on June 4, 2011–I departed Baltimore, MD to head to Atlanta, GA. I had signed myself up to attend, what I knew would be the most grueling and challenging nine days, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) “A” license course. I had managed to pass the previous four courses (E, D, C, and B), and felt prepared and ready to conquer the final, most prestigious coaching license in the U.S. I landed in Atlanta feeling grateful to haveRead More →

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When I accepted a job in Baltimore in 2007, my dad assured me that I was only a quick flight away if I needed to come home or felt the urge to visit. Southwest Airlines flew direct to Detroit for quite low fares at the time. So, even then, I returned home regularly. It was easy then. I’d bring my backpack filled with goodies to get me through the hour flight, and my carry-on luggage to make my travel time that much quicker.  Then, I had my first son. Though I couldn’t imagine my desire to fly to Detroit could magnify, it did. I wantedRead More →

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“I still haven’t lost my baby weight.” The famous words I’ve grown to hear so many women say. And I’m not talking about just women who delivered months prior, or even just a couple years. I’m talking about women who have grown children.  Even as a young girl, I believed that some women’s bodies are just not made to bounce back to form after having babies, and some are blessed to appear as if their stomachs never stretched out to Timbuktu, or some even smaller than pre-pregnancy. And, I always hoped and prayed that when it was my time, I wouldn’t be one walking aroundRead More →

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As we watched Bachelor in Paradise tonight on our DVR, I watched my stomach move like a roller coaster. The sensation is one thing, but to see it is another. So, of course, I paused the show and said to my husband, “Oh my goodness. Just watch this for a second. It’s wild.” And, then, I felt a limb bulge out on my side, and it created a distorted shape in my abdomen. My shirt crept up, and I revealed my bare stomach to him. One reason was to show him the crazy movements the baby was making, and the other was to just stareRead More →

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As I lie here at 34 weeks pregnant, I have several mixed emotions. Each day this far along into pregnancy, I think to myself how much I am ready to be done feeling this uncomfortable, and how anxious I am to meet this little person that has grown inside of me over the last several months. I wish time away. I can feel my irritability, impatience, and tension building up, and am about to burst. I have always struggled to wait for things. I struggle to cherish the current situation. And, mostly, I struggle to cope with something so out of my control. Pregnancy isRead More →

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An Open Letter to Mylan CEO, Heather Bresch On May 21, 2015, I had the scare of a lifetime. I watched as my almost 2-year-old son gasped for air as his airways narrowed from ingesting a tiny morsel of peanut butter. Thank god I carried an EpiPen on me at all times. But, the truth is I never anticipated having to use it. And, when the original prescription was called into our pharmacy last year and the pharmacist advised us that it would cost $500 a pack, my husband and I almost fainted. He had never had an anaphylactic reaction before, so why would heRead More →

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Originally Posted to Kveller   I grew up in a community where summer overnight camp was just standard, even beginning at the wee ages of 7. I watched as our local camp store would be jam-packed with families holding lists and preparing for and buying the necessary camp items to survive the summer away. I saw as my cousins counted down not only to the day the bus picked them up, but to the years they would be old enough to be eligible to go for four weeks, then six weeks, then the entire summer totaling eight weeks. There were several options for overnight campRead More →