Parenting seems to be one place where the Boy Scout motto doesn’t apply. Sure, you can “Be Prepared,” but I’ve found that there are turns in the trail that couldn’t have been foreseen.

My son, for example, was nothing I imagined.

First, I hoped for a girl. Not only did our baby turn out to be a boy, he’s huge: 10 months, 25+ pounds, more than 30 inches tall, and busting percentiles all over the place. I certainly didn’t predict that my biggest challenge at this stage would be wrestling a kid with the personality of an infant, and the body of a toddler, into a car seat.

As you rub your belly and dream in these blissful months when any kind of kid is still possible, you could be registering for a baby food maker and cookbooks and bookmarking recipes online for organic millet and pureed pear

Then you give birth to a baby so picky his daily menu consists of two food groups: the Cheerios group and the boob group. Fortunately, there’s always Craig’s List for selling that baby gear you never use (haven’t you seen those ads from parents who buy a gorgeous crib and end up co-sleeping?). Like a freak thunderstorm at a Jamboree, what you never imagined can momentarily dampen your excitement about being a new mom. But, just as with lightning and rain showers, you can find the beauty in that which you least expected. And plenty of things will turn out just as you planned, of course, which is why it’s great to have this issue to give you the confidence that you can tackle everything from finding a doctor to getting your body back. Think of it as your back-pocket guide to surviving the first year.

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Kendra Smith

Editor in Chief

1.  Take a deep breath in through your nose (make sure your mouth is closed), hold the breath for a moment, and then take 10 seconds (that’s the goal!) to exhale through your mouth.  Repeat this 5x’s.  You should feel the beginning of your exhalation (counts 1,2,3) up at the top of your torso, towards the middle of the exhalation (counts 4,5,6) traveling down your torso, and by the end of your exhalation (counts 8,9,10) you should feel your lower abdominal (transverse abdominal–which is the most difficult to activate!). 

2.  Breath work for the Pilates 100.  Inhale through your nose for 5 seconds–keeping your mouth closed, then, exhale through your mouth for 5 seconds.  The inhalation should sound like a sniff.  These are percussive breaths, forcing you to engage the abdominals. The exhalation should sound like “shh, shh, shh, shh, shh,”  Repeat 10x’s

3.  Repeat the breath work for the Hundred but instead of a percussive breath, switch to a smooth breath.  Inhale through the nose for 5 seconds, exhale through the mouth for 5 seconds.

4.  Now close your mouth.  Inhale through your nose for 5 seconds, and exhale through your nose for 5 seconds.  Remember to keep your mouth closed.  Repeat 10x’s

 5.  For our last exercise, move the breath from your nose to the back of your throat.  Your mouth stays closed, you might feel a tickle in the back of your throat, and your body will create a sound similar to an ocean wave.  Welcome to Ujjayi breathing!  Ujjayi breathing is a diaphragmatic breath, it helps with detox and will leave you feeling centered and at peace.

By this point you should be feeling relaxed…and maybe even forget about the traffic jam!

- Natalie Mirsky – founder, owner and instructor at Body Wellness, Los Angeles, California

1. For newborns, tear baby wipes in half vertically and save for big messes,
that’s all you really need for most changes, and the box will last twice as
long.
2. Instead of buying a new stroller, use covers such as those by Itzy Ritzy, to make an old stroller new. For around $100,
you can make an old hand me down or used stroller look fresh and unique.
3. There is no reason to buy expensive baby clothes, with daily discount sites like Gilt.com, Hautelook.com and Mamabaragains.com, you can get designer items
at up to 70% off.
4. Be smart when you register, Cord Blood Registry just launched a baby
registry program so friends and family can chip in to bank your baby’s cord
blood (fyi: siblings have an up to 75% chance of being a match so if you didn’t bank your first baby’s cord blood it is even more important to bank your second or third.)
5. When decorating your child’s room, frame art and drawings from siblings or cousins- this adds a personal and playful feel and is easy on your wallet!
6. Start a babysitting co-op with friends, find a currency, say
‘sticks’ -each couple gets 10 sticks, one stick represents one hour of babysitting time. If your friend watches your son so you can go to yoga or to a movie with your hubby, she gets 2 sticks if you are gone two hours, if you run out
of sticks the only way to get more sticks is to babysit for someone’s kids
in the group. This keeps it fair.
7. For busy moms, it is not always practical to get to the salon regularly,
treat yourself to a good haircut at a nice salon for style and shape, then
maintain at more affordable walk-in salons. When grey hair starts creeping
in, brush a little mascara to cover, this will stretch out your color a week
or so. Also if you are in between showers and your hair is feeling
greasy, put a little powder on your hands, then rub into your scalp to
absorb the grease.
8. Host a ‘Clean Out Your Closet Party’: Invite your most stylish friends.
Everyone exchanges clothes – it’s a fun excuse to get together, and everyone
winds up with something ‘new’. Then you can donate what’s left to a woman’s
shelter. This works for kids’ clothes as also.

Jessica Denay is the founder of Hot Moms Club and Hollywood Hot Moms blog. She works with countless celebrity moms on their baby showers, nurseries, and events. The Hot Mom’s Handbook by Jessica Denay is the ultimate resource with insight into everything from avoiding MILP’s (Moms I’d Like to Punch)
to Making your Minivan Rock. She also has advice from celebrity moms.

1.    Getting the nursery ready –  There is more to getting ready for a new baby than picking paint colors and bedding, although that is so much fun!  Depending on the space or room, key things to having an organized space are do you have enough room for a crib, changing table, dresser, rocker? If space is limited you need may need to think about double duty furniture.  A crib with drawers underneath is wonderful for extra sheets. A dresser that can do double duty as a changing table can grow with the child.  A rocker than can easily move into another room and not look like a glider is great for when it is on longer needed in the nursery. Baskets and bins are wonderful for storage, they should be labeled for their contents.  Diapers, onesies, etc.

2.    Before and after the baby arrives organize all the clothing you receive as gifts.  Set up the closet and drawers by age. If you are hanging clothes, use color-coded hangers for the appropriate age.,  e.g. 0-6 months has white hangers, 6-12 months has pink.  If you want to keep the closet uniformed with all the same hangers, use tabs that can attach to the top of the hanger for the ages, which are available at www.containerstore.com.  For your drawers spring loaded drawer dividers are a great solution in large drawers.  They are available from www.bedbathandbeyond.com and come in white and wood colors.  Divide the drawers and label the insides e.g. shirts, dresses, etc. this way opens the drawer will know what is in each section.

3.    At the bottom of the closet have two clear bins or baskets set up.  One container should be labeled “pack away” and the other “donate”.  Your baby is going to be growing out of clothes very quickly so when they something doesn’t fit you want to be able to quickly put it away in the “pack away” bin or place it in the “donate” bin where the item can be given to a friend or charity.  Once the donate bin is full, remove the contents and get in the car as soon as you can so it isn’t starting to pile up causing unwanted clutter in the home.

4.    Have an area in the nursery or home for all returns, there may be gifts you get that are duplicates or the wrong size.  Once the baby comes along it will sometimes be hard to remember where you left those shoes that need to be returned.  A bin or canvas tote can hold all returns until you are ready to head to the store.  Make sure this bin or bag is labeled “returns”.

5.    It is important to have the car seat all set up, the bassinet ready to go and all linens and clothes washed in kid friendly detergent.  The more prepared you are with this stuff the more relaxed the first few days at home will be.

6.    The hospital bag should be all packed and ready to go.  Make sure the bag contains a family photo, reading material, your favorite music, hard candy and peppermint tea for afterwards. Bringing some comforts from home can really make the hospital stay much more enjoyable.

7.    Not only should you have everything ready for the baby but you should also make sure you have everything you need for when you get home from the hospital.  Do you have family members who can come by for a few hours and help you with laundry, make some meals, or just be there to support you through this transition.

8.    Have some nice clothes ready for those couple of months after the baby is born, you may not be back to your pre-baby weight but if you are wearing something that makes you feel good about yourself it will do wonders for your confidence.

9.     Having your vitamins and medication all in one spot is key also, keep them out on the counter or in a place that you won’t forget.  Yes, they are not the prettiest things to look at so get an attractive container or basket to hold everything.

Use phone and online tools to set reminders for all kinds of critical tasks because you’ll often comment that you think you’re losing your mind.  There are plenty of online services that will remind you to buy diapers, change your contact lens, or pay the cable bill, so use them. You’ll never feel as scattered as you do with a new baby in the house.  Check out acuminder.com as an example. They will send you text messages & emails sent to you to make sure you are changing and taking care of your contact lenses.   You are going to have a lot of distractions so you want to make sure you are taking care of yourself.

Drink lots of water, take your vitamins and taking care of tired eyes is key.

10.  Join a playgroup or start one of your own. This is more important for you than your baby, it is a great way to meet new moms and to talk about the new experiences you are going through.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help from friends and family – they are only too glad to help and don’t forget to take care of yourself. A happy Mommy means a happy household. 

Pregnancy comes with an onslaught of challenges and questions for women with even the most humdrum of health histories. But for someone who’s had cancer, add a new list of worries to the ordinary ones you’d share with any other woman. Can you get pregnant? Should you? What are your options? Do you need to be watched like a hawk by a team of high-risk specialists?

Although both cancer itself and, more commonly, cancer treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery can wreak havoc on your fertility, the good news is this: many women who’ve gone through cancer treatment have gone on to get pregnant-either spontaneously, or with the help of fertility preservation and assisted reproduction-and have normal, healthy pregnancies and happy families.

I’m one of them. After we adopted our beautiful daughter less than a year and a half after I finished treatment, I was able to get pregnant when she was a toddler and gave birth to our son shortly before celebrating my 41^st birthday. Two years later, we became a family of five when I gave birth at the reproductively decrepit age of 43. As I worked on a book about having children after cancer, I interviewed dozens of cancer survivors who had equally happy stories to tell.

But not every cancer survivor gets the information they need about family planning after treatment. Cancer treatment has long been a specialty that’s mostly focused on the older people who most commonly develop the disease, and long-term survival issues for younger people with cancer-like fertility and pregnancy–have only recently made it onto the radar screen. A 2009 survey found that less than 25% of oncologists give their younger patients educational materials on how they can preserve their fertility during treatment, or refer them to fertility specialists.

So what do you need to know about pregnancy after cancer? Here are the top five questions to ask yourself and your doctor.

1. How can I preserve my fertility during treatment? If you haven’t undergone cancer treatment yet, there are a growing number of techniques you can use to help preserve your fertility from the harmful effects of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Most common for women are egg and embryo freezing. Embryo freezing is currently considered more reliable, but the science behind egg freezing is advancing rapidly and experts believe that soon, women attempting to become pregnant using frozen eggs will have about the same success rate as those using frozen embryos (about 19-30%). If you’re going to have radiation directed at your pelvic area, there are also options like having your ovaries surgically moved away from the direct “line of fire.”

2. Can I become pregnant after cancer treatment? If you already went through cancer treatment and did not freeze eggs or embryos, you may wonder if it’s too late to save your fertility. But for many women, fertility returns to normal after cancer treatment. Age has a lot to do with it (doesn’t it always?). Generally, the younger you were when you received treatment, the more likely it is that your fertility will return to normal. The closer you were to 40, the more likely it is that your fertility has been permanently impaired.

It’s also important to understand that even if your fertility does return, you probably have a shorter window in which to become pregnant than the average woman. Women who have undergone chemotherapy usually go through regular menopause a few years earlier than they otherwise would have. Doctors generally advise most men and women to seek advice from a fertility specialist if they’ve been unable to become pregnant after trying for a full year. But for a cancer survivor, since you know there may well be fertility issues, most experts advise seeing a specialist if you haven’t been able to become pregnant within six months after you’ve begun trying.

3. Is it safe to become pregnant after cancer treatment?

For most cancers, the answer is an unequivocal “yes.” There is no biological reason to think that getting pregnant could lead to a recurrence of ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, thyroid cancer or lymphoma, for example.

But there has been some reason to worry about breast cancer. After all, many breast cancers are fueled by the hormone estrogen, which goes into overdrive during pregnancy. It stands to reason that pregnancy after breast cancer could spark a return of the disease.

So far, however, all of the studies done on the subject have reached the same conclusion: women who get pregnant don’t have any higher risk of having their cancer return than women who don’t get pregnant after breast cancer. The studies to date have all been relatively small, and experts are awaiting word from two much larger prospective studies on the subject, but based on what we know so far, breast cancer survivors can become pregnant without fearing a return of their cancer.

What about damage to the growing baby from the lingering effects of chemotherapy or radiation? Studies have shown that there appears to be no such effects. Generally, doctors will advise women who have been treated for cancer to wait at least a year, and preferably two, before becoming pregnant, but this is primarily because that two-year window after treatment is the time during which there’s the greatest risk of the cancer returning. If you’re pregnant at that time, there would be some difficult choices to make.

4. I’m pregnant and I’m a cancer survivor. Do I need high-risk obstetric care?

Probably not. If you are healthy enough to become pregnant after having had cancer, you are also probably healthy enough to receive regular obstetric care. I saw a midwife for my pregnancies, and one top oncologist told me that this can be a great model of care for cancer survivors because of the close personal attention midwives give. What you don’t want, she said, is a big, impersonal practice where you see a different obstetrician with every visit. You want someone who will get to know you well and notice very quickly if something seems a little off.

It’s always a good idea, though, to consult with your oncologist to make sure that there aren’t any lingering issues from your treatment that might make a pregnancy high-risk and require more specialized care. For example, if you have impaired heart function as a result of chemotherapy, the added strain of pregnancy on your heart may need to be watched closely by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist or cardiologist.

Women who get pregnant after cancer are often also of “advanced maternal age”-an awful-sounding term that just means you’re over 35. While many “AMA” women have pregnancies that are just as healthy and easy as their 25-year-old counterparts, it’s true that there are some increased risks, including a higher rate of miscarriage, placenta previa, and chromosomal abnormalities. These should be watched for, but that’s usually something an ordinary obstetrician or midwife can do. Unless the complications you’re at higher risk for actually develop, your pregnancy-related medical visits are likely to be wonderfully “normal” compared with what you went through during cancer treatment!

5. I’ve been unable to get pregnant after cancer. Is my dream of having a family (or having more kids) over?

No way. There are many other options for having children if you are unable to get pregnant after cancer. We adopted our wonderful daughter in domestic infant open adoption, and many U.S. adoption agencies welcome cancer survivors. (You’ll just need a letter from your physician stating that you have been successfully treated for your cancer and that he or she sees no reason why you wouldn’t be able to parent a child.)

There’s also foster parenting, surrogacy, egg donation, and embryo adoption, all of which are possibilities for cancer survivors.

There is one essential message for every cancer survivor: If you have love to give a child, there’s a way for you to become a parent. It might not be as easy as you thought it would be when you were younger. It might be more expensive, more difficult and more frustrating, especially when it seems so easy for so many of your friends. But it can be done. And when you hold your child in your arms, it’s all worth it.

Gina Shaw is the author of Having Children After Cancer: How to Make Informed Choices Before and After Treatment and Build the Family of Your Dreams.

BE SPONTANEOUS:
Catch a matinee movie. Take a road trip. Do something on a whim. The second trimester is the time of your pregnancy when you can still embrace your independence, (ahem, you don’t need your partner to tie your shoes… yet). So when your co-worker asks if you want to go out for happy hour – say yes! And order a mocktail.

TAKE A BABYMOON:
Now is the perfect time to travel and connect with your spouse when you aren’t talking nursery themes or baby names. Traveling gets more difficult in the unpredictable third trimester. Book a trip for some R & R. Even if it’s just a quick weekend jaunt, you’ll be glad you took the time to get away.

GET IN GIRL TIME:
Girl’s nights may become less frequent in the future. And let’s face it – we need our girlfriends like we need water. Call up your girls and make plans for dinner or to meet up for a walk. It’ll pay dividends later.

TREAT YOURSELF:
New clothes. A pedicure. A pregnancy massage. A little pampering is just what you need to maintain your beautiful pregnancy glow.

GET MOVING:
Whether it’s that prenatal yoga class you’ve been dying to check out or your standing Saturday morning jog, now’s the time to exercise. You may not be feeling up to it once the swollen feet and back pain arrive.

FLY SOLO:
Before you know it you’ll have your baby attached to your hip – or other parts of your body as the case may be. Relish in some quality time alone – doing something you love. It could be something as simple as curling up with a good book or taking a bubble bath.

SAY CHEESE:
Schedule a photo shoot and capture your growing belly now. Not only is your baby bump adorable during the second trimester, but you may be too exhausted (or simply forget!) in the third trimester.

Meredith Mortensen

Pregnancy is supposed to be the happiest time of a woman’s life. But what if something dramatic happens that shatters that happiness, such as the loss of a close family member or a beloved pet? Will the negative emotions you feel harm your baby? How can you process the loss while also feeling excitement about your growing baby?

The elevated hormone levels and physical changes in your body that come with pregnancy can make it so much harder to deal with significant life events. Even the smallest upsets can seem gargantuan. And the conflicting emotions can cause overwhelming guilt.

However, there are ways to get through a loss and ensure that the rest of your pregnancy is happy and healthy.

Allow Yourself to Grieve

It is important to let yourself feel your loss, even when others are pressuring you to focus on your baby rather than your loss. “I thought bottling up my grief was probably the best,” said Sue Schuster, president and founder of Stage 2 Marketing, whose mother died when she was four months pregnant. “I remember going into the bath room to cry because others would respond in a way that I was harming my child.”

“Negative emotions are most harmful to the unborn baby if they are neglected,” says psychologist Ann Dunnewold, co-author of Life Will Never be the Same: The Real Mom’s Post-Partum Survival Guide. She suggests allowing structured grieving time, an hour a day, perhaps, to express your emotions without interfering with the exciting aspects of your pregnancy.

Schuster found a way to honor her loss that moved beyond crying in the bathroom. “My mother was an avid bird watcher,” she said. “I emailed all of my friends across the country to help feed the birds in memory of my mother. The pictures and emails that poured in … helped me grieve in a way that made me feel closer to my mother.”

Practice Good Self-Care

Imagine that the loss hasn’t happened to you, but to a close friend. What would you tell her if she didn’t feel right experiencing the joys of pregnancy when she was also in the midst of grieving? Through this exercise suggested by Dunnewold, you learn “this is one of those powerful situations where we can be kind to ourselves, reminding ourselves that, as human beings, we are capable of negative and positive emotions at the same time.”

Nonprofit fundraiser Rachel Vermillion Betta lost her father during her pregnancy. “I still took care of myself, and my daughter is healthy and happy at almost two years old,” said Betta. “I did worry about the effects of my grief. She was born five weeks early, but had no complications.”

Find Strength in Others

Betta’s loss was especially hard because, she said, “my father was a minister and would have baptized my daughter.” He was also the person she sought for counsel when she was confronted with negative life events. Betta looked to both her mother and her husband to help her instead.

If you don’t have an adequate support structure in your family or close friends, Dunnewold suggests connecting with others outside your immediate group. “Structured grief groups at religious institutions, mental health facilities, hospitals are very helpful.”

Connect Your Child to Your Lost Loved One

Psychotherapist Roberta Temes, author of Solace: Finding Your Way Through Grief and Learning to Live Again, finds that many of her grieving clients enjoy creating a connection between their lost loved one and their new baby, “naming the baby after the person, using something from the deceased’s home for the baby or writing a story about the deceased in a children’s format to be read to the child one day.”

Betta looks for the connection in physical resemblance, which she could see in her daughter immediately. “Her facial expressions, particularly her grumpy faces, were pure Pete.”

Experience the Happiness

Romance writer Ari Thatcher lost her father during her first pregnancy and her dog during her second, and she found that focusing on her baby brought the most healing to her and her family. My daughter’s “first Christmas made it possible to get through the first without dad.”

Betta’s husband again helped her experience the joys of her pregnancy, even in her sorrow. “The night my father died was the first time I truly felt my daughter kicking,” she said. “My husband told me grandpa was tickling her feet.”

Personal loss is never easy, but there is comfort in seeing birth and death as part of a circle of life.  If you use some of these suggestions while focusing on positive memories to cope with loss, you and your baby will make it through more easily.

Author Dunnewold says, “The grieving process needs to be balanced.” If your grief continues for more than a few weeks or shows signs of interfering with your normal routine, contact a grief counselor or therapist.

Jennifer Roland is a writer and editor living in the Portland, Oregon,area. She writes on lifestyle topics, personal finance and educational technology. Her book, The Best of Learning & Leading with Technology, was
released in 2009.

• Be knowledgeable.  Educate yourself so that you will feel confident when making decisions about labor and delivery. Every medical intervention impacts your expected outcome, so make sure that you have enough information to make an informed decision before agreeing to anything.

• Write a birth plan that won’t be ignored. Don’t just copy and paste something off the Internet – that will turn your healthcare providers off and make them unlikely to read it.  Instead, do your research and write down simple notes about your ideal goals for the birth, any medical interventions you would like to avoid, laboring positions you’d like to try and preferences for pain medication.  Your healthcare providers will respect your birth plan as long as you have personally invested the time in researching and developing it and you understand the need to be flexible: no matter what you do, not everything will go exactly as planned.
  

  Image via Wikipedia

• Know the signs of labor. Although labor patterns can vary from woman to woman, labor pains are generally described as feeling like a belt is wrapped around the midsection of your stomach, and the belt is being tightened from front to back. The pain becomes worse on a consistent basis as labor progresses. If you change your position or move around, the intensity and frequency of your contractions should not change. If you understand the signs described here, you can better describe your symptoms and help your caregivers give you solid advice about when to come to the hospital.

• Know your post-delivery options.  This is important for baby and for you. Would you like to have immediate skin to skin contact with your baby? Would you like to try nursing right away? Will your baby be circumcised? Think beyond the birth itself and plan out what you would like to do after the birth. Then check with your hospital to find out if they can accommodate your wishes and remember that sometimes plans simply have to change.

These tips can help put the power back into your hands, so that you can take an active role in your childbirth experience.

Cindy Fahey, MSN, RN, PHN – Executive Director, PAC/LAC

Cindy has more than thirty years of maternal child health experience. Her clinical experience is diverse, having worked in almost every area of maternal child health including Labor and Delivery, Pediatrics, Perinatal Education, Ambulatory Care and Public Health. Over the years she has also been certified as a childbirth educator, infant massage instructor and lactation educator. She holds both a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Nursing and has been involved with many community-based organizations over the years.

The right pj’s can be an expectant mom’s best friend. Here are a few worthy of wearing all day.

Photography by Mark Madeo
Styling by Kasey Blue
Hair & Makeup by Renee Rael

Here’s how to step back and let the bonding—and his share of the work—begin

By Nanny Stella of Nanny 911

So you think you want to get dad more involved with the overall care of the baby? I say think because you really aren’t sure—part of you believes it’s your job to be the main caregiver, and another part of you is ready for him to get off his butt and participate!

Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he’s scared and nervous. Resistance to handling a baby can be all about fear of the unknown, especially if he hasn’t had much experience. Show him the safe way to hold the baby, and little tricks of the trade like getting all your supplies ready before a diaper change or bath.

Whatever you do, don’t boss him around, make fun of him, or question his capabilities. The idea is to support him, not criticize him. Let him observe for a while and when he feels confident to have a go on his own, stay close but don’t hover, and praise what he does master.

Don’t give too many instructions when he has the reins, tell him that if he has any questions you are there to answer but you trust him and know that he can do it. Keep your cues to a minimum; giving too much direction might be seen as interference, not guidance. After all, you were a novice yourself not too long ago.

Years ago a friend of mine was asked by another friend, “Is daddy at home babysitting?” My friend replied with much disdain, “No, actually, he is at home looking after his daughter.” Your husband isn’t a babysitter. Although you gave birth to the baby, that doesn’t make you the boss or the #1 parent. The idea is to be a team, which means equal parenting. There is no hierarchy.

Plan some one-on-one time with dad and baby, that way you aren’t hovering or commenting when you see something not being done the way you like it. Having this time alone allows them to bond and also helps dad truly discover what his skills are. Maybe he really enjoys bath time with baby, giving you the end-of-day breather that you’re desperate for. He may be reluctant to do the night feedings, but he may really enjoy the first feed of the morning before he goes to work; this can make way for you to have a little lie in.

As soon as possible, talk about what your roles are going to be and ask yourselves, What kind of parent do I want to be? Work out how you can support each other in those goals. If one of you does something with the baby that the other doesn’t like, what would be the best way to handle it? Keep the communication open.

I really believe that dad’s participation can be measured by mom’s encouragement. If you keep complaining instead of praising, you may not see the results that you want. Remember positive reinforcement works much better than negative.

Nanny Stella, celebrity family consultant, author, and star of Nanny 911, is known for her no-nonsense approach in helping families. Her passion is children—all ages, sizes, genders, and ethnic backgrounds.