A new mother tries, and tries again, to breastfeed

By Eileen Gilligan

I  have always believed I have a high tolerance for pain. My husband came to agree after watching me give birth to our son. It was a great labor and delivery, with no pain medications, and then a 9-pound, 12-ounce MacIntyre appeared.

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A mother and child balance nutrition and personal ethics

By Mikaela and Annemarie Neary as told to Tammy DiDomenico

For many families, the approaching holiday season conjures visions of hearty feasts, tables full of culinary delights enjoyed while surrounded by friends and family. But for increasing numbers of American families, dietary concerns and preferences have changed the holiday dinner table and the everyday one, too.

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Getting involved in my child’s classroom placement

By Tammy DiDomenico

Last summer, I did something I once thought I would never do during my children’s journeys through the local public school system: I requested a specific teacher.

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My quest for a physiological birth after cesarean

By Reid Sullivan
I was in my 37th week of pregnancy with my second child, and my obstetrician was examining my bulging abdomen.

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We started noticing something about him

By Jean Leiker as told to Tammy DiDomenico

Bradley was our second child. Right around that 18- to 24-month-old period, we started noticing something about him. Looking back, I think my mother’s intuition told me that something was off.

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An interfaith family navigates the winter holidays

By Tammy DiDomenico

The DeMari family attends weekly services at Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas in DeWitt. But the strong faith they share as a family has actually grown from a union of Jewish and Roman Catholic cultures. At no time of the year is this more apparent than during the winter holiday season.

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When your baby grows up

By Judy DeLorenzo as told to Tammy DiDomenico

When my youngest daughter, Kristen, was preparing to start kindergarten last year, I thought a lot about what was going to happen with her, her personality and adjustment. But I also thought a lot about me. I quit my job to stay home when my oldest, Lauren, 12, was first born. I was home for 11 years. So, last summer I thought, “How is this going to change my life? Here I was with my children every single day, and this changes a lot of things.”

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A Clay mother talks about her out-of-hospital experience

By Danielle Decker
as told to Tammy DiDomenico

The decision to try a home birth actually started with my oldest son, Hunter, who is now 5. He was born in the hospital, I was fully medicated, had pitocin, an epidural—the whole kit and caboodle. After that I said, “I’m not having any more drugs. I’m not going through that again.”

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