Joni Edelman

photo credit: Lindy West (instagram), by

With the help of the midwife—and immense effort on my part—Ella finally slid out into the water. But she was limp, pale. It was scary.

If you decide pit or leg hair isn't a big deal, then bam! It's not a big deal.

Our relationship has been a little complicated. I've loved you a lot, and I've loathed you at least that much, but mostly you've just gone unnoticed. Except for those 5 to 7 days every four weeks when you made your presence quite evident, what with the river of life blood and the random excruciating, and from what I can tell, unnecessary, contractions.

New research suggests that brain inflammation occurring independent of a disease may be linked to depression. Could a "cure" be on the horizon?

“I don’t even know what to say, Joni. Your baby isn’t alive.”

Help. Me. Please. And by help me, I mean, bring me my jumbo size jar of

Suffering is America’s favorite thing to do. We starve ourselves to lose weight, and we’re a success story. We don’t sleep, and we’re just getting SO MUCH DONE. We do a thousand things a day and involve our kids in a thousand activities, because somehow, in some perverted way, that makes us successful.

They will 

Compassion for myself is not a thing I do. It is not a thing I have ever done. It is not a thing I feel comfortable doing. It's time I stop for compassion.