The Journal
Reading for the whole becoming, from before your baby arrives to the years after.
Each series follows one season of becoming a mother, written by a former nurse and certified clinical aromatherapist. Read one from the top or dip in wherever you need. Begin with the one that sounds most like where you are right now.
Before your baby arrives · 6 chapters
The Threshold
Preparing yourself for birth and the first weeks, one chapter at a time.
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01Start here
Before Your Baby Arrives
How to prepare for motherhood emotionally, before your baby arrives: knowing yourself, and keeping a thread back to yourself, while you still have ...
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02
Connecting With Her Before Birth
What your baby can already sense before birth, and a real touch practice, haptonomy, to begin tonight. Chapter 2 of The Threshold.
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03
What Every Tradition Already Knew
How cultures on nearly every continent have already marked pregnancy and new motherhood as sacred, long before anyone called it that. Chapter 3 of ...
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04
The Mother Blessing
A room full of women who love you, gathered to honor the mother you're becoming. What a Mother Blessing is, where the name comes from, and rituals ...
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05
The Sanctuary Plan
At 32 weeks, the nursery gets a plan. Here is how to plan the weeks after birth too: four questions, the couple bubble, and who takes care of you.
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06
Writing Your Way Toward Her
Writing is the one way to express yourself that's always there, before the birth and after. Start with a letter to your baby, in a warm rose bath.
The first three months · 4 articles
The Fourth Trimester
What is happening to you and your newborn after birth. Read them in any order.
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What "Fragrance" Means on a Skincare Label (and Why "Unscented" Can Fool You)
On a label, "fragrance" can hide dozens of ingredients, and "unscented" is not the same as "fragrance-free." What the words really mean, and why it...
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The Myth of Perfect Baby Skin (and the Story Advertising Sold Us)
"Soft as a baby's skin" is a 140-year-old advertising trick, not a fact about newborns. Where the myth began, and what real newborn skin is actuall...
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How Your Baby Knows You by Scent
How your newborn finds you by smell, why your own scent changes after birth, and why that is normal and expected.
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Two Bodies, One Transition
Two bodies changing at the same time. Why your skin and your newborn's both need extra care right now, and what to do about it.
Gentle rituals for the first year · 7 chapters
Touch More™
Calm, grace, breath, warmth, rest and more. One chapter after another.
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01Start here
Touch More Calm
You can't relax even when your baby sleeps, and your brain is being rebuilt for this. Gentle rituals for the first days at home.
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02
Touch More Early Motherhood
Before ritual, before rhythm, there is this: the raw terrain of early motherhood. This piece meets you where most guides don’t, inside the disorien...
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03
Touch More Grace
Grace is not a fix, it’s a way home. This postpartum guide invites you to honor rage, grief, and exhaustion as sacred, not shameful. Learn how sens...
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04
Touch More Breath
In early motherhood your body stays on high alert for your baby, and your own breath often goes quiet. This chapter offers simple breathing rituals...
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05
Touch More Warmth
Hot one minute, cold the next? Why postpartum night sweats happen and the warm rituals that help in the first weeks: a warm cup, a basin wash, a ba...
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06
Touch More Rest
Exhausted but wide awake? Why the postpartum body struggles to switch off, and small rituals that bring rest even when sleep won't come.
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07
Touch More Safety
Frightening thoughts about your baby, constant checking and 2am Googling are common. What is happening in the postpartum nervous system, gentle rit...
Becoming a mother · 1 article
Matrescence
The years-long passage of becoming a mother, and what helps.
View the seriesLe Magazine

Is Menthol or Eucalyptus Safe for Babies? Why Pediatricians Warn Against VapoRub
Menthol and eucalyptus may soothe adults, but they can irritate a baby’s delicate airways and nervous system. Learn why product...

From Eczema to Asthma: What Every Mama Should Know About the Atopic March
If your baby has eczema, you're not alone—and you're not without options. In this post, I share my daughter's journey through e...

Springtime Sniffles: Natural Allergy Season Support for Moms, Babies, Toddlers and Kids
Spring allergies can leave little ones sniffly, restless, and overwhelmed. Learn how to support your baby, toddler, and yoursel...
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The First Year of Motherhood™ is a guided year of care for you and your baby, from a former nurse and certified clinical aromatherapist. Places open to a small number of mothers at a time. Join the Early Access Waitlist to hear first when they do.
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