Winter Safety and Bucket List
Fellow Wisconsinites, the cold and snowy weather is upon us! Here you’ll find some tips on how to stay warm and how to stay busy this winter season!
Be Encouraged
Everyone has a different family, with varying resources and supports, different stressors and hardships, different kids and different parenting skills. Nobody has lived your life. You are going to make mistakes as a parent, but the key is to maintain hope that you can always do better.
Maternal Mental Health
Is it bad to say I haven’t been enjoying things as much when I have this cute baby in front of me? Do I want to admit that I’ve been truly overwhelmed with this change?
Your Pregnancy: Third Trimester
Whether you’ve just begun your third trimester, or are quickly preparing for the birth of your baby, it seems that your pregnancy continues to have surprises for you. Many women are relieved to get to the third trimester, knowing they only have a number of weeks before meeting their bundle of joy.
Your Pregnancy: Second Trimester
Congratulations! If you’re reading this, it likely means that you’ve made it past the first trimester of pregnancy. For many women this stage can feel like such a relief.
Your Pregnancy: First Trimester
So, you’ve taken a positive test. Even if this isn’t your first rodeo, every pregnancy can be very different. Understanding what is typically experienced can help you navigate these next 9 months with a little more ease (or at least ease of mind).
Hope After Loss
As varying as the joys of parenthood, grief is as unique. It takes effort to grieve well. Whether you are experiencing a loss, know someone who is grieving, or just aim to learn more about how resilient folks can be through hardship, this story can hold something for you.
Finding Fatherhood
While every journey to fatherhood looks different, here are some insights on fatherhood from our WCC dads:
Unplanned Pregnancy and Unexpected Growth
I met Reggie in Summer 2021. She came into Women’s Care Center a beautiful, intelligent, and smiling woman. Despite her nervousness, she sat, talked, and laughed with me through her intake session. I learned that she was from Haiti but recently moved from Florida where she was staying with family. She had visited her friend in Milwaukee and, somewhat on a whim, decided to move to Wisconsin. Reggie describes traveling as her sense of freedom. She fell in love with the liberty of packing up one day and going somewhere completely new to her. After losing her mother, Reggie found that her mental health was worse than ever. She found it hard to get out of bed most days. She knew that a new place was the remedy she needed and the feeling of having no responsibilities was a great comfort to her. So, Milwaukee became her new home.
A Place for Parents
The magical moment happens: A woman sees her baby during her ultrasound and makes the courageous choice for life. Now what? She is suddenly faced with the harder questions. “How do I find a doctor? Where will I find a crib? I’m in a demanding job now, how will I go about changing positions? What is labor like? How do I care for my baby?” Nothing can quite prepare her for life after labor and delivery. While these questions swirl in her head, a counselor gently directs her to our many parenting class programs. Flexible to her schedule, Women’s Care Center (WCC) classes provide for her many needs, which begin with material assistance, and encompass her need for knowledge, and more deeply, a community of support.
