I have been reluctant to write anything about how Amyas was born into the world, even for my own records, let alone for a public blog. As most mothers can attest, there is something so intensely personal and private about the birth experience -- not even private in the sense that we’re not willing to share it (most moms I know are eager to share the details of their labor and delivery), but private in the sense that it is so specific to the little soul we are birthing, that there’s no way to give a really good description of it, and so little of the experience is applicable to anyone else, even another child within the same family, that it serves as a dubious point of reference for other moms-to-be. Still, there is something universally relate-able, some piece that touches me in every birth story I have ever heard, along with the details that make it deeply unique.

Baby Amyas is now 15 weeks old...so when my assistant Maddie asked me if I'd like to profile our natural nursery for a blog post, it was a safe -- and completely inaccurate -- assumption that our nursery was set up and ready to go. I call myself a marsupial mama, in the sense that I co-sleep with my little one, and carry him around everywhere I can. Translation: our master bedroom is the functioning nursery of the house for now.

Introducing Mommy's ER very own, Amyas Richard Crain, born at home November 1st, now 15 weeks old!

If your child is not a Harry Potter fan, you can stop reading right now. If, like my son, your child has become an aspirant to Hogwarts, complete with cape, chopstick wand and ring (not sure if rings are in the movie or just his own fashion-centric touch), then read on and let me know what you think, because I think I’ve hit the parenting mother lode…