Healthy Mum, Happy Baby

Ann Douglas! Squee!

Added on: Monday, September 12th, 2011

Ann Douglas was one of my parenting heroes before I’d ever thought of Healthy Mum or conceived yoyomama. In fact the first book I purchased after I really did conceive the first time was her Mother Of All Pregnancy Books (I’d already been given a dog-eared copy of What To Expect), the second edition of which has just been published.

But Ann Douglas became my über hero when I, an unpublished author she’d never heard of, asked if I could send her a draft of Healthy Mum to see if she’d be up for writing a blurb for the book cover. I could not imagine anything more exciting than having Ann endorse my book. And not only did she offer to read it but she wrote a lovely blurb for the cover and this great review on Amazon! I was honoured that she was so supportive of a beginning writer and so very star struck!

Fast forward a few years to the launch of yoyomama.ca and my first forays onto Twitter and there was Ann, a vibrant part of the community who I connected with again (and who remembered me!) and have been connected with online ever since. She’s always gracious and supportive and connected to the Canadian parenting community.

However, I’ve never met her in person despite feeling as if I know her. But all that will change next week when she hits Vancouver for the book tour for The Mother of All Pregnancy Books. She’s hosting a Tweetup at the Opus Hotel and I’ll also be sitting down with her one-on-one to ask her our readers’ burning questions. Squee!! In the meantime if you have a question you’d like me to ask Ann please submit it here and I’ll be sure to pose it to her next week!

I have some other exciting author news coming up that I’ll share when I have more details. I’ll be interviewing another great Canadian writer at an event here in town but this time it’s mysteries and not mummies.

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MealBaby

Added on: Sunday, February 15th, 2009

When I recently discovered MealBaby and wrote about it for the first edition of yoyobelly I was thrilled. Food really is one of the best things you can give a new mum. To whit, two friends recently had babies, Nher third, H her second.

MealBaby For N we used MailBaby. The meal registry really did make things easier. The registrants got an email asking them to sign up for a day and choose a meal. We could see what others were bringing – it really did up the competitive factor – plus it meant N didn’t get four spaghetti dinners. Her address, contact info and likes and dislikes were all laid out. N got an email each day saying who was bringing what, and we got reminder emails that we’d promised a meal too. It meant P, who arranged it all, just spent about 20 minutes organizing the info and hey presto, it was done.

For H her friend C arranged everything. Because I recently had to go without my computer for a few weeks while it was in the shop some of the emails went AWOL. I had to ask her twice to send their likes and dislikes, plus I didn’t have their address or phone # and the dates were all up in the air. I’m guessing organizing it has taken C a lot more time and backing and forthing with people.

The thing is, when you already have kids, it’s actually quite hard to make a meal for another family in the sense of finding time to make it, to take it by etc. So anything that makes that easier has got to be good.

MealBaby probably had added appeal to me because I suggest a “food shower” in Healthy Mum, Happy Baby, so I’m already on that train anyhow. Plus I’m all for anything that saves time.

Now if they could just combine MealBaby’s registry with SpringPad’s organizational and menu tools that would be something special!

Posted in Breastfeeding, Events, Media, Parenting, The Book, Uncategorized | No Comments »

all atwitter

Added on: Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

I’ve just starting twittering for Healthy Mum, Happy Baby – it’s a great way to tweet about recipes, books or tips and tricks I find that compliment the book. Do you twitter too? You’ll find me at: http://twitter.com/healthymum

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Exercising your right to…well, exercise

Added on: Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

In Healthy Mum, Happy Baby I only touch briefly on exercise. While it’s important, the early days of life with baby are so overwhelming that I didn’t want to add any more pressure to that time of your life.

But the time will come when you’re ready to get active again and there are lots of options from mum & baby pilates and yoga classes at the community centre to private classes like Fit 4 Two.

For me a time came when I really needed to get more active but I wasn’t sure what to do next. Bits of me were smaller than before I had the girls, and bits of me were bigger and blubbier. I was particularly not fond of my blubby mummy tummy which made a lot of my clothes off limits. And that’s when I crossed paths with trainer Hayley McGowan.

Hayley, who I suspect revels in her rep as a mean trainer (but in the very best way) took me in hand. We did some serious goal setting (I’m going to hike the grouse grind without stopping, eat more fruits and veggies & buy a bathing suit for the first time since I’ve had kids) and took measurements and went from there. Once a week we meet up for a workout and it’s amazing. She focuses on what I need (help with my posture – sound familiar mums?) and it’s been two months and I’m already seeing the results. I’m going to track my progress and share my results – so far they include making time for exercise on a regular basis, eating more fruits & veggies, and just feeling better in general. As for the bathing suit, I’m not quite there yet but I’ll keep you posted!

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Want to win a copy of Healthy Mum, Happy Baby?

Added on: Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

I recently did an interview with Canadian site Mommyagogo about being an entrepreneurial mum. As I usually interview entrepreneurial mamas for yoyomama, it was interesting being on the other side of the page. In addition to the interview, Mommyagogo also has three copies of Healthy Mum to give away and two recipes from the book on the site (in case you want to try before you buy!)

Mommyagogo is for mums in Guelph, Kitchener and Waterloo, but it’s worth checking out, for the recipes and book reviews alone…but seriously, they do have lots of great info.

Posted in Media, The Book | No Comments »

Survival Tips for New Moms

Added on: Sunday, July 8th, 2007

From the July 8th issue of the Vancouver Province:

It was three in the morning.

New mom Annemarie Tempelman-Kluit found herself wandering around the house, ravenously hungry, wondering if she could stand to eat another container of yogurt or another healthy cookie or bowl of cereal. Again.

“It’s awful!” she says. “People tell you a lot of stuff about having a baby, but nobody tells you what to do after you have the baby. Nobody told me I’d be that hungry, or that thirsty. You don’t realize how little time you’re going to have. I thought there had to be a better way.”

>> Read Full Story

Posted in Breastfeeding, Media, The Book | No Comments »

Hands up anyone who’s breastfeeding

Added on: Thursday, July 5th, 2007

From the July 5th issue of the Georgia Straight:

Hands up anyone who’s breast-feeding. Something of a challenge when one arm is around the little one and the other is propping open your eyelids. Local author Annemarie Tempelman-Kluit has been there and done that, which is why she penned the enormously practical Healthy Mum, Happy Baby: How to Feed Yourself When You’re Breastfeeding Your Baby (Random House Canada, $25) for the realâ€“rather than the mythicalâ€“yummy mummy. Mother of two youngsters, Tempelman-Kluit brings honesty and humour to a neglected topic: how to keep you and your family well – fed when you’re starving and sleep deprived. Breakfast smoothies to almost-instant pizzasâ€“it’s all here, along with reassurance from other moms and even light-reading lists. Skip the hand-embroidered diaper bag and give this to new parents, along with the URL of Tempelman-Kluit’s hip new, locally focused and reality-based newsletter and Web site, Yoyomama.ca, aimed at those who don’t plan to put their two-year-old in a designer bikini.

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tyranny of the child gurus

Added on: Thursday, May 24th, 2007

A friend sent a link to an great article from Britain’s The Independent newspaper from May 22nd called Tyranny of the child gurus: You don’t have to be a paranoid parent which is well worth reading, it starts:

There was a time when parents were told that to guarantee family happiness, children should be seen and not heard. Today it seems, to some, that a role reversal has taken place. In the 21st century, it is the parents themselves who are being told to shut up and learn from their betters.

The once private world between parent and child has been annexed by an army of policymakers, so-called childcare gurus and supernannies proffering a bewildering array of daunting, if well-meant, advice.

And there’s great stuff on how mothering has been taken away from mothers and handed over to “the experts”, plus the whole hollywood mother image of losing all your baby weight post-haste etc. Plus there are low downs on the theories and practices of Jo Frost (aka Super Nanny), Sheila Kitzinger and Dr. Spock among others.

I was interested to read it because it crystalized some of the things I wrote about in the book like weight loss and knowing your own child and trusting your own instincts, so it really echoed with me.

Full article >>Â

note: if you visit the site and the article isn’t available please email me and I can send you the copy.

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Try before you buy with Today’s Parent

Added on: Thursday, May 17th, 2007

June 2007 Today's Parent Want a sneak peek at Healthy Mum, Happy Baby? Check out the June issue of Today’s Parent on newsstands or online now.

There’s an excerpt from Healthy Mum, Happy Baby with the lowdown on what nutrients you need, which vices you can indulge in – at least a little bit – how to order the healthiest take out, and more.

Enjoy!

Posted in Breastfeeding, Nutrition, The Book | No Comments »