Blog - Barbara Buckner Suárez

New Normal

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | 4th trimester, new normal

How long is this going to take??? Every one of us around the world has been asked to isolate ourselves in our homes for an unspecified amount of time and figure out what our new normal looks like. I’ve been writing about the 4th Trimester and the idea of a new normal...

Pandemic Parenting

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | parenting, vulnerability

UPDATE: Just a quick note to add that things have changed SO much since I posted this blog! My salsa-dancing 20 year-old was placed in curfew in Puerto Rico and we worried that she wasn’t going to get back to the states! Thankfully, she’s made it to...

Surprise!

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | partners

I was on a trip with my husband to Boston to attend my god-daughter’s baptism. I was HUGELY pregnant with my first. Hours before the big event, I remember holding her sleeping body against mine when the urge struck: I needed to pee, and I needed to pee NOW! Her...

No Big Deal?

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | 4th trimester, Second Baby

When you become a parent for the SECOND time an interesting thing happens. Everyone around you is like, “Yay! You’re going to have another baby! How exciting!” And then… crickets! There’s an assumption that because you’ve done this thing once before, there’s really no...

Growing Together Through Differences? Yes, Please.

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | Becoming Us

The Third Edition of Becoming Us is available NOW! And I’m so excited to be the first stop on Elly Taylor’s virtual Book Blog Tour! Once upon a time, my Mom and I were having a discussion about something that might have been a bit controversial. I can’t...

Connect-Disconnect-Reconnect

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | reality, relationship

By the time you’re reading this, I will have dropped my kids off to school, kissed them goodbye and headed into a weekend with my husband to celebrate 23 years of marriage… Twenty-three years?! That’s a LOT of time, my friends! We’ve reached the point where we’ve been...

Retelling & Reclaiming Birth

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | maternal mental health

This week we recognize Maternal Mental Health. I have worked in the Maternity Field for 20+ years, and I”m pleased that we’re so much farther ahead in recognizing the importance of maternal mental health and the implications it has for the birthing person, the...

A Legacy of Love

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | family, legacy, love

I’ve just returned from a 10-day trip to visit my parents. Technically, I was doing full-time “elder care.” It’s hard for me to consider my parents in that way… Elders, much less in need of full-time care. But at 81 & 88, my parents are absolutely the...

Birth=Improv? Yes, and… No

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | birth, vulnerability

Recently, I took part in an “Intro to Improv” class with about 25 other nervous-but-willing adults — none of whom had ever done improv before in their lives! Nevertheless, we all showed up, ready to fully engage with one another in this new experience. For those of...

Bringing the War Home: PTSD & Childbirth

by Barbara Buckner Suárez | PTSD, Veteran's Day

Today is the nationally recognized holiday in the United States known as “Veteran’s Day.” There are lots of American flags being flown, and parades in big cities and small towns, lots of “Never Forget!” and “Thank you for your service!” statements being...