03Dec 2023 by Sarah Glenn
How to Build a Parenting Blog

How to Build a Parenting Blog

All, Life, Parenting, Pregnancy, Work
How to build a parenting blog starts with a bud of hope. Hope that my parenting wins and fails will entertain you. Hope that my expertise in pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and newborns will be enough to guide you on your unique journey. Most of all, hope that you will NOT feel judged but instead protected to find your inner voice. Emotions Used to Build a Blog It amazes me how much time, reflection, and planning I’ve put into this blogging venture. Many questions were swirling in my head about the goals and direction I’d like this platform to take for months before putting pen to paper (yes, I started with a pen). Not to mention the always nagging speculation on my self-confidence: could I, should I, what makes mine different…
Read More
02Dec 2023 by Sarah Glenn
What you Need to Know About the Second Trimester

What you Need to Know About the Second Trimester

All, Infants, Pregnancy
What you need to know about the second trimester will give you the confidence to enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and prepare you for the arrival of your progeny. This period gives you an eagerness to learn about your changing body and find a way to embrace it. It's the time you'll relish the comfortability you feel in comparison to the rest of the pregnancy. By this time, you've accepted the pregnancy and put some semblance of order back into your life. You have more energy, feel hungrier, more clear-headed than you've been, and may even have a lighter mood. At some point between 16-21 weeks, you will no longer be "guessing" if you felt a kick and will likely cherish these odd sensations. Maybe you've even announced your pregnancy or…
Read More
01Dec 2023 by Sarah Glenn

It’s Ok to Grieve the Pandemic

All
It's ok to grieve the pandemic and any other life altering challenge! Existing during a pandemic is hard - to put it mildly. I'm quite sure we who have lived long enough to understand the crisis' of our history, never thought we'd live through a pandemic such as this one. With modern medicine, intelligent minds, and progressive technology, the thought of a microscopic bug taking over the world sounds ludicrous. However, here we are, smack dab in the middle of an unexpected catastrophe. In January, three months ago, before we knew the impact COVID19 would have on our lives, I fell down the stairs in my home. It is a boring story to tell as all I did was slip on a carpeted step with socks on. This small succession…
Read More
30Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn

The most memorable gift I ever received wasn’t something I could hold in my hands

All, Life, Parenting, Relationships
The most memorable gift I ever received wasn't something I could hold in my hands, it was the gift of togetherness. The time someone puts into the gift and the love that is sent with the message. Memories are remembered when gifting and it doesn't have to be at certain times of the year either. As parents, we are always trying to make memories with our young, whether on purpose or by coincidence.  These memories can be in the form of places we take our offspring, books we read to them or routines we've instilled in them, daily. The most remembered memories are usually the spontaneous ones. Remember when you found your family belly laughing over something? Or the time everyone got along on a trip to the beach and…
Read More
27Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn
7 Steps to Navigate the Holidays with a Baby

7 Steps to Navigate the Holidays with a Baby

All, Infants, Kids, Life, Parenting, Relationships
Seven steps to navigate the holidays with a baby can be your life preserver during such a stressful time. Share these tips with your partner and get a head start on your planning. Birth is one of those times that an instruction manual would come in handy. Each human spirit is so individual that the need for a unique set of guidelines at any birth could prove advantageous, for the rest of their life. No two beings are the same, and parenting them as such could improve the outcome for both mom & baby. Since our mothering instincts guide us and a lot of trial and error, I thought you might appreciate a few tips on a subject rarely intuitive or discussed. Special Occasion Tips How to navigate holidays, parties,…
Read More
24Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn

The Rules of Grief

All
The rules of grief don't get enough consideration before we are thrown into this bewilderment. Who is aware of the five stages (or is it 7) and the importance of refraining from making any significant decisions in the first year, if you've never done this before? Many experienced people will try to tell you these guidelines during the chaos. Still, you can barely see through your torment nevermind absorb the words of wisdom. Whether you experience grief suddenly or you expect it, there is always paralyzing pain. Even if you somehow had the advanced notice of the proper rules of grief, it can be disorienting. How you work through it is another story altogether. Most of my 40's were about finding the new, orphaned me. Who am I without a mother? How…
Read More
24Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn

New Parenthood Isolation

All, Life, Parenting, Relationships
  Obviously, you aren’t sitting around twiddling your thumbs with a baby under one, but how much of your time is spent doing something fun with your munchkin? Truth be told, you spend more time on tasks in those first months then any other time in their life.  Let’s face it, kids are a lot of work: feeding, changing, rocking, consoling, bathing, playing, putting to sleep; repeat!! During these tasks you are naturally doing some of the less mundane: smiling, talking, singing, tickling, cuddling, playing etc. but every mom gets bored (and lonely) sometimes!  Most mothers do find it somewhat exciting to engage the kiddos in baby games but sometimes we need a different type of diversion.  Here is a list of possibilities to explore when you are going stir…
Read More
24Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn

New Parenthood Isolation

All, Life, Parenting, Relationships
  Obviously, you aren’t sitting around twiddling your thumbs with a baby under one, but how much of your time is spent doing something fun with your munchkin? Truth be told, you spend more time on tasks in those first months then any other time in their life.  Let’s face it, kids are a lot of work: feeding, changing, rocking, consoling, bathing, playing, putting to sleep; repeat!! During these tasks you are naturally doing some of the less mundane: smiling, talking, singing, tickling, cuddling, playing etc. but every mom gets bored (and lonely) sometimes!  Most mothers do find it somewhat exciting to engage the kiddos in baby games but sometimes we need a different type of diversion.  Here is a list of possibilities to explore when you are going stir…
Read More
21Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn
4 Ways to Include Your Partner When Breastfeeding

4 Ways to Include Your Partner When Breastfeeding

All
Definition of human bonding: “the process in the development of a close, interpersonal relationship between two or more people.  Any two people spending time together can form a bond.” There was a time when partners were involved in only a small part of child rearing.  Mothers raised the children, kept the home & prepared the meals while partners foraged for the food – e.g. went to work – sometimes leaving for weeks or months at a time. Today more families have dual incomes, making it necessary to “share” the child rearing responsibilities.  Families spend more time bonding on days off.  Newborn feeding is still primarily the mother’s role.  Hence the reason mammary glands are formed and filled with milk. Many mothers choose not to breastfeed just to keep the partner…
Read More
17Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn

One Baby, Please, Hold the Sugar: A Birth Story

All, Birth Stories, Breastfeeding, Health, Infants, Life, New Parenthood, Post Partum, Pregnancy, Relationships
One baby, please, hold the sugar is my daughter's birth story told from her perspective. These words are her own and don't necessarily express my personal views or opinions. I welcome all women to share their birth stories! Please contact me if you'd like to publish your birth story on The Incomplete Guide to Parenting. If you are interested in my doula or lactation services, please visit my website Disclaimer: No artificial sweeteners here I've gone back and forth about putting my story out into the world. I never wanted to scare anyone, and so when asked, I would come up with a glossed over, toned down version of my story, the "polite" version. But I recently read a birth story that was such a blatant bunch of sugar-coated bull****…
Read More