Samantha K Schmidt

When our first child was born, I was so excited to share the story of how he made his way into this world. His birth went so smoothly and the process was full of so much joy. However, I’ve held off sharing the full details of our daughter’s birth for several reasons. Firstly, because parts of it are hard to relive. Secondly, because I never want anyone to think that I’m sharing the story in need of sympathy. Despite her birth being incredibly difficult, perhaps even traumatic, we are so incredibly grateful that we were able to bring our baby girl home. We know that this is not the story for everyone, and so I feel almost shameful even telling her story. However, I know that so often mothers come home with their babies greeted with fanfare and excitement, but what they feel deep down is sometimes completely void of joy. I feel for these mothers who are expected to revel in gratitude when they have just overcome both physical and emotional trauma. To those mothers, you are not alone...

No, this is not a biographical story about the late, great western actor. It's the story of how our son came into this world. At my 38 week appointment my doctor reluctantly told me that statistically speaking I would probably go past my due date. I knew that first babies often come late, but I kept hoping that my physical health prior to pregnancy (and the excessive amount of squats I'd been doing) would lend themselves to an early birth. As the week went on my husband and I were on a roller coaster of selfish desire. He had been gone several weeks and weekends over the past 2 months, and we were approaching the only uneventful week all summer. Not to mention I was counting the weeks left until school started knowing that taking time off would be an act of congress. On Sunday, July 16th, Eddie and I lay in bed discussing just how much we'd like our little man to make his debut. Not only would the timing work out nicely, but we felt ready. (Whatever that means.) We he...

Life has been crazy! As you can probably imagine. My husband has been in and out traveling and spending overnights with students. Our in-laws came down briefly for our 2nd baby shower which was a lot of work! Over 80 people came to celebrate our little man and my mom, in-laws, husband, and my mom's best friend worked their butts off. I helped where I could, but tried not to overexert myself. My emotions have been on a roller-coaster ride. I wake up some mornings incredibly motivated and joyful, but can switch to melancholy by the end of the day. These emotions are not all that new to me, but the rapid switching back and forth is a more recent challenge. Friday, I spent the day with a previous student and her mom at Disney. It was an awesome day, but my feet were throbbing by the end. I topped it off with a day of last-minute shopping and organizing for the nursery on Saturday. The nursery is 99% complete. Meanwhile, the busy weekend taught me that my body is running out of fu...

This week begins my third trimester of pregnancy. For me, it's all seemed to go by so fast. My belly seems barely big enough for a tiny human to live, and it's crazy to think our little man will be here in 3 months. Ahhh! Panic! I'm actually really excited for him to get here, but there's just so much left to be done. Meanwhile, my body is still experiencing all the unusual things associated with pregnancy. If you missed my First Trimester update on my YouTube channel you can check it out for an introduction into my many pregnancy symptoms, but today I'll walk you through the good, the bad, and the ugly of my 2nd trimester. SECOND TRIMESTER SYMPTOMS Acne : Although switching to oil cleansing has helped my skin a lot, I'm still experiencing breakouts. Part of this is due to the less than healthy foods I've been eating. The other part is just one of the many lovely side effects of extra hormones. Leg Cramps : This new symptom has been the most bruta...

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to announce to the people we love that we were expecting our first child. Those people just happened to be nearly 100 high school students. My husband works full-time with students and I've volunteered as a mentor since we began dating 2 years ago. Although we have a few close friends, those kids make up the majority of our lives. It was amazing to see their faces light up when we made that announcement. It brought me so much joy knowing that they were so joyful for us.