Some homemade hummus I made a while ago

I joked with Matt, my marathon-running husband, that the only marathon I’ll ever run is giving birth to our children.

As I prepare for The Big Day (or The Big Two Days or The Big Three Days!), I’m trying to figure out what kind of food I’ll want to consume during labor to keep my energy up. My midwife has recommended that I eat at least every four hours and consume at least 8 ounces of water or red raspberry tea every hour.

I’ve heard that my appetite will start to disappear as I get deeper and deeper into labor, so

Dear Sara,

You are about to undertake the most difficult and simultaneously profound task of your life. You are giving birth to your little boy and to yourself as a mother. The task of birth is a metaphor for the task of motherhood. You will be called upon to bring forth your resolve and your determination and your perseverance and your patience and your trust in yourself and your community of support.

You have gathered together an awe-inspiring team of people to guide your way along the journey. You have done everything in your power to build a solid foundation for the gentlest and healthiest birth experience possible for your

When I was first thinking through the challenges of being a new parent, I had the idea that I would create a calendar of very specific tasks and ask my friends to sign up for them. I even found a free internet calendar designed to coordinate exactly that kind of support.

Now that we’re getting closer and closer to the birth, I’m realizing that I just don’t know what we’re going to need and when we’re going to need it. So instead of creating a rigid schedule in advance, I decided to send out a general call for help. As you can see from the message below (which I