Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul: Touching Stories about the Miracles of Motherhood

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen

Overview

Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul is a collection of stories from the hearts of mothers, old and new, about the most amazing and profound experience in a woman's life-the birth of her first child.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781453275429
Publisher:	Chicken Soup for the Soul
Publication date:	08/07/2012
Series:	Chicken Soup for the Soul Series
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	350
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jack Canfield is cocreator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Jack Canfield is co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.
 Mark Victor Hansen is a co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Hometown:

Santa Barbara, California

Date of Birth:

August 19, 1944

Place of Birth:

Fort Worth, Texas

Education:

B.A. in History, Harvard University, 1966; M.A.T. Program, University of Chicago, 1968; M.Ed., U. of Massachusetts, 1973

Website:

http://www.jackcanfield.com

Read an Excerpt

The Right Stuff

I just had to have a girl as my first child, because I had created her name when I was just a girl myself.
My parents named me Dahlynn, pronounced 'Da-Lin' with the accent on the second syllable. In my family, the girls are named after others in the family—male or female—never using the same name, but a combination of those names. The first part of my name comes from my grandmother DeEtta, and the second half from my uncle's mid­dle name, Lynn. The boys in our family had an easier time, as they were given common names and not expected to keep the tradition going, even if they had daughters.

Having this family tradition handed down to me was a big cross to bear. I started creating names for my future daughter in fourth grade, working on word and name combinations from past generations. Every time I created a new name, I added it to the growing stack of names hidden in my small jewelry box.
Finally I had the perfect name—Lahre, which rhymed with 'Marie.' The 'Lah' came from the 'Dah' in my name, and the 're' from the end of my mother's name, Scharre. I was only in seventh grade when I placed that name in my box.

Fortunately, I waited until I graduated from college and married before I became pregnant at the age of twenty-eight. In all that time I never thought of a name for a boy, only for a girl.

Needless to say, I was excited about the pregnancy, even with the constant nausea and everything that came with it. We decided to go the old-fashioned route—no, not a natural delivery—we decided to not find out the sex of the baby. We wanted to be surprised, and I was so sure it was a girl that there was no reason to find out.

Once I started to really show, it became obvious that I was carrying the baby to the front. 'That's a sign it's a boy,' is all I heard from friends and family, even strangers. No, it can't be a boy! I screamed in my head, while on the outside I smiled and quietly nodded when told I was having a boy.

The nine months went by slowly and they were mostly wonderful, after I got past the nausea. Each and every day I would talk to my little girl, sharing with her my dreams for her, even placing headphones on my stomach and playing all kinds of music. But again, since I was carrying the baby to the front, people tried to tell me I was having a boy. Slowly I started to believe them, and when the time came to go to the hospital, I was torn. We picked out a name for a boy—Christopher—after General H. Norman Schwarzkopf's son. My husband had heard Schwarzkopf's son mentioned in an interview; the year was 1992 and Schwarzkopf was leading our troops in Desert Storm.

The delivery was anything but ordinary. I was two weeks overdue, and after sixteen very hard hours of back labor, with my husband and my amazing seventy-year-old grandmother DeEtta (my namesake) by my side, the doctor decided to do a C-section.

Once prepped in the operating room and with a sheet placed in front of my face so I couldn't watch, the doctors began the procedure. My grandmother was extremely curious as to what the doctors were doing, asking about this and that. My husband was watching, too, and when they pulled my stomach out and set it on top of my chest, he about fainted. The nurse had him sit back down in the chair, which was placed next to my head. I looked up and saw he was white as a ghost.

Finally, the doctor said, 'Here's the baby!' The doctor placed the crying baby up over the sheet so we both could see it, and my husband said, 'Oh, look at the little guy.' A boy? We have a boy? I said to myself. But then the doctor said, 'It's not a boy . . . it's a girl!' My husband had mistaken the large umbilical cord for a 'manly attribute'!

Our amazing son, Shawn, would show up five years later, and again we didn't find out the sex until he was born. I didn't listen when I was told I was going to have a girl the second time; I knew I was having a boy because I grew lots of facial hair! But my daughter Lahre is my special joy, even as she is now facing her teenage years. And guess what? She keeps her stash of names for her future daughter in a little jewelry box.

Dahlynn McKowen

©2008. Dahlynn McKowen. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street , Deerfield Beach , FL 33442.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 We Are? You're Sure?

The Footprint Paula F. Blevins 2

A Little Pregnant? Stephanie Wolff Mirmina 5

I'm Not Telling Carol Sjostrom Miller 9

Expectant-ness Barbara Warner 12

Beautiful Mess Heather Best 16

Unplanned Blessings Catherine Madera 19

I Want My Mom! Linda O'Connell 24

Completely Us Kaye Robertson 29

A Joyous Journey Becky Povich 33

Twice Blessed Kathryn Lay 37

Passing the Baton Elva Stoelers 40

2 The Big Day

The Right Stuff Dahlynn McKowen 44

Better than Expected Cristy Trandahl 48

First Night Home Mary Knight 52

What Does Hope Mean to You? Lori Fehlinger Heather Black 54

Because He Loved Me Ginger LeBlanc 58

There's No Place Like Home Ruth Rotkowitz 63

Second Fiddle Mary Vallo 68

3 A Shoulder to Lean On

It's Not a Piece of Cake SG Birch 72

Needing More than Groceries Mimi Greenwood Knight 75

The Good Doctor Peggy Frezon 79

The Second Greatest Gift Kathleen Partak 83

What Every New Mom Really Needs Susanna Hickman Bartee 86

The Perfect Recording Jacinda Townsend 89

The Bliss of Motherhood Lava Mueller 92

A Friend in Need Is Family Indeed Susan A. Karas 97

Mom Friends: Why You Need Them Mimi Greenwood Knight 101

Angel Hugs Kevin Butler 105

4 A Mother's Love

Birth of Understanding Maggie Lamond Simone 112

Baby Shoes Lisa Duffy-Korpics 116

Wishes Lois Greene Stone 120

Mother Knows Best Karen Crafts Driscoll 123

My Daughter's Hands Shannon Lowe 125

Promises Sallie A. Rodman 127

In the Beginning June Williams 130

The Naked Truth Stephanie Welcher Thompson 133

5 Daddy Dear

If You Need Help-Ask! Tom Krause 140

Love Has No Borders Stephanie Ray Brown 142

A Constant Presence Kathleen Partak 145

My Father's Tears Robin Clifton 148

Birth of a Father Michael Floyd Thompson 150

You Made Me a Daddy Douglas M. Brown 155

Reason to Live Eva Juliuson 157

Better than a Sermon April Smith Carpenter 161

Along for the Ride Joe Rector 165

Customer Appreciation Jeanne Zornes 169

6 Lessons From Baby

Learning Curve Laura Smith 174

Taking the Time Stephanie McCarthy 176

The Hug Martine Ehrenclou 179

The Defining Moment N. Engler 183

Not Just Another Pretty Face Stephanie Welcher Thompson 186

Motherhood: How It Feels to Feel Everything Sally Friedman 189

7 Motherhood 1A

A Legacy of Love Stefanie Wass 194

In All Seriousness Gloria Wooldridge 197

The Good Enough Mother Stephanie Welcher Thompson 201

I'm a Mess Cindy Hval 207

The Only Mother on Campus Julie Bloss Kelsey 209

Other Duties as Required Lynn Dean 213

Under New Management Elizabeth Kann 216

Last But Not Least Sue Diaz 219

Tough Competitions Tanya Lentz 222

I Wanted You More Barbara Nicks 224

8 Joys of Motherhood

There Are Days Emily Weaver 228

Ode to a Quiet Bathroom Mimi Greenwood Knight 230

Advice to Julie Mimi Greenwood Knight 234

My Two New Mothers Dorothy Firman 237

My New Job Karen C. Driscoll 239

No Regrets Maggie Wolff Peterson 242

Be Careful What You Wish For Mimi Greenwood Knight 245

True Confession Trina Lambert 249

Occupation: Mom Karen Koczwara 253

Who Is Jack Canfield? 258

Who Is Mark Victor Hansen? 259

Who Is Patty Aubery? 260

Contributors 261

Permissions 267