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Why blogs written by mothers can save your life--and your sanity.
You might think I am being over dramatic, but it's true: blogs written by other mothers saved my life.
When
I was pregnant with my twin boys, I knew there was something wrong. My
weight was going up too quickly, and my legs were just too full of
fluid. I was getting acupunture to help my horrific morning sickness,
and the spots where needles were placed in my legs would leak fluid
after for HOURS (I literally taped pieces of paper towels to my legs to
stop it from running into my shoes). I would ask my midwives about it,
and they blew me off or dismissed it as being "normal" because I was
pregnant with twins.
Luckily, one of the blogs I read regularly (alittlepregnant.com)
was written by a woman that developed HELLP syndrome in her pregnancy
(OK, it wasn't lucky that she got HELLP. That part sucked.). So when I
was eventually diagnosed with preeclampsia (which is similar to HELPP
in some ways), I knew what that meant, and when the doctors told me I
had to terminate my pregnancy to survive, I didn't argue. I knew it was
true.
Life saved, just like that, by reading the struggles of another mommy blogger.
Writing
about my experience with preeclampsia on my own blog has allowed me to
educate other mothers about this horrible disease. I've had at least
three separate women email me to tell me that they were better informed
about preeclampsia because of my blog, and when they started exhibiting
symptoms they were able to advocate for themselves with their doctors,
and thus save their lives as well.
Way to pay it forward, no?
Now
that I have my daughter, blogs written by women who are mothers are
saving my sanity. Reading the crazy exploits of other moms of toddlers
helps me, on a daily basis, to be more patient with myself--and my
daughter. Most of my friends that have kids either did it years ago, or
drifted away during my infertility struggle (it's hard to maintain
friendships with folks with kids when you are struggling to have your
own). So when I had my daughter, I was basically left with just my best
friend whose daughter is now 12 (so whenever I ask her a question, she
often says, "I don't remember").
But blogs have stepped
in and filled the gap. Blogs taught me about breastfeeding (thanks to
blogs, I knew to ask my doctor for domperidone--a medication to
increase my milk production--allowing my daughter to nurse until she
was 20 months old). Blogs taught me that it's really not too horrible
to let my daughter watch Dora if it means I can get some work done.
Each time I am confused about a parenting issue, I have a place to turn.
In other words, blogs by mothers make me feel like I am NOT DOING THIS ALONE. And for that? I could not be more grateful.
Tags: mommy bloggers benefits of mommy blogs |
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