Content warning: eating disorders I have been wanting to read this book since I first heard about it over a year ago. Last Tuesday I found myself at the library and managed to pick it up. I was completely drawn in from the very first chapter, almost too much so. Her writing is so visceral…
Thoughts on becoming a mother, written when our son was six days old. I think we as Australians might be a little bit negative. As soon as people know you are pregnant, people are eager to tell you how your life is about to change forever. And not in a good way. I was at…
When I was pregnant, our doula said the most lovely thing anyone has ever said to me about my Asperger’s. She said, “I think you having Asperger’s is going to be an advantage for you in this area.” I was touched, and I don’t think I will ever forget her words. Too often, discussions about…
Note: This post is about the role of fathers in a heterosexual context, and is therefore inherently excluding of same-sex couples, and single mothers. I feel very nervous about posting this blog post. This International Women’s Day, I am celebrating my husband, known here as The Pilot, who is not a woman. Since I got…
My contemplation of the universe inside me started with the kicking. As my baby moved around inside me, not regarding my personal comfort, I realised that she* doesn’t know who I am. I know that there is a baby inside me, but the baby doesn’t know that I am a person encasing her. The womb…
Yesterday I made the mistake of shopping at Coles for the first time in about two months. There were just a few things I wanted to buy there. I ended up utterly depleted of energy and by the time I made it home, collapsed in a pile. Coles is not friendly to my Asperger’s Syndrome…
Search “Hospital bag” in YouTube and you will find dozens of videos of pregnant women showing you what they are taking to the hospital for when they give birth. Google it and you will find lots of advice on what to put in your hospital bag. There are even online shops selling you hospital bags…
In my previous blog post on liminality I wrote about a phase of labour called transition. It is when the body goes from the opening up stage to the pushing stage. As I wrote in that blog post, many women experience this as the most intense part of labour. Chemically, it is marked by a…
Writing Skill Tip #1: Let yourself write, don’t make yourself write I once listened to a podcast in which Elizabeth Gilbert interviewed Brene Brown. Brene Brown dropped some wisdom which has stayed with me: “What is going to keep you going on day 2 is not discipline, but self-compassion”. She went on to explain this.…
To start with, a mini-lecture on anthropology. “Liminality” is a concept used in ceremonial contexts*. It refers to an inbetweenness. For example, in a graduation ceremony, the “graduands” are in liminal space. They are no longer students and they are not yet graduates. Liminality is often considered dangerous or polluting, as well as vulnerable, so…
Content warning: Not recommended for women who are struggling with infertility. Pregnant women are smug. Pregnant women are obsessed with pregnancy and it’s all they can talk about. Pregnant women are self-absorbed. All of these things are true and yet now I am seeing it from the inside everything makes so much more sense. I…
Soon after I found out I was pregnant, I got frustrated at how far away the due date was. So far it seemed impossible that I had to wait that long. In her book Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy, Chitra Ramaswamy writes about how pregnancy is a process so long that you actually can’t…
