My Favorite Mom Links

I want to share my three favorite "mommy links" with you:
http://www.babiesandmomsradio.com/
http://www.mom4life.com/
http://blog.mom4life.com/

Around the time Allie was seven or eight months old, and I was at my lowest point; I discovered Babies and Moms Radio. I don't remember where I discovered them, but when I did I signed up for their podcasts. It took me a while to "get around" to listening to them. When I did, I suddenly felt like I wasn't alone in this whole "mom thing." These moms talked about real issues and activities they faced or did with their own children: teething woes and sign language with babies are the two topics that come to mind.

One of the topics stood out to me above the others, but I kept finding reasons not to listen to it. The title was "Postpartum Depression." Whenever I would glance over it I would have thoughts like: "I'm not depressed." "That's not a real thing." "Depression is a sign of weakness, and I'm not weak." "If I admit I'm depressed, I'll have to do something about it." "If I tell anyone I'm depressed, I'll have to go to a doctor; and he'll want me to get on some kind of drugs."

Well, I finally listened to it. I can't tell you what they said. I don't remember a single word. All I remember was thinking, "I'm not the only woman who struggles with these feelings?!?!?!?" A couple of the moms who host the show spoke of their own postpartum issues. That put a personal, real-life spin on it for me.

Listening to that podcast was the beginning of better times for me. Believe me, I still struggle--every day (sometimes, every minute); but at least I know now that I'm not alone.

I think the biggest frustration for me was looking around me at all these other moms who seemed to have no problem with everything. They seemed to have it all together. Not one of the many new mothers around me (I live in the "fertile" Triangle of North Carolina) talked about struggling with depression or hating being cooped up in a house all day with an often-screaming baby or resenting the physical torture you go through with delivery and breastfeeding, not to mention the extreme exhaustion from sleepless nights. NO ONE TALKED ABOUT IT; so I thought I must be the only one, and something must be wrong with me. I was obviously a terrible, unfit mother.

Anyway, the Babies and Moms Radio site led me to Mom4Life. A few brief moments of browsing at the online store had me hooked! They sell products by moms, for moms. Plus, they have free shipping AND 10 percent of every sale's proceeds goes to a pregnancy care center--now that's shopping I can get on board with (and not feel guilty)!

Soon after I discovered Mom4Life, I found Heather Ledeboer's blog. Heather is the site's owner, and one of the most remarkable, godly women I've had the privilege of "meeting" in cyberspace. Her third child, Sawyer, was born on May 10 of this year. Though his birth was beautiful and remarkable, Sawyer wasn't able to greet his family with the cry they had longed to hear. They learned a few days before he was born that his heart was no longer beating, just three weeks shy of his due date.

I have kept up with her blog posts as she has been candid and open for the whole world to see. She has shone with the love and peace of God with a faith that could only come from an almighty, sovereign Creator. Though she has cried and questioned the whys of this tragic loss; she has also rejoiced in people who have found hope through her words or comfort in their own times of loss or--and here's the best part--have come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior! Sawyer may have never drawn a breath outside the womb on this earth, but his life was not in vain.

Anyway, I wanted to share these awesome sites with you. If you plan on going back and reading Heather's blog from the beginning of the end of Sawyer's earthly life (and I hope you do), I would encourage you to grab a huge box of tissues! I've shed many a tear at my computer over her words through the past five months, but I wouldn't take any of them back.

I want to say a special thanks to Heather Ledeboer for taking the time to read this blog before I posted it and for allowing me to share a little bit of her story. You're such an inspiration, Heather!!