Risa Kerslake
Romper
Minneapolis, MN, United States
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Past articles by Risa:
Early Pregnancy Can Feel Like Forever After Fertility Treatments
I have no problem admitting I’m a pee-on-a-stick addict. Going through infertility treatments makes you hyper aware of your own body and many of us realize that we are pregnant very early on. It’s not just people going through treatments either —… → Read More
My Postpartum Anxiety Was A Secret For Two Years
When I envisioned bringing my baby home from the hospital, I thought about all the hours I would spend in front of the TV, holding a sleeping newborn. I thought about how much joy my life would have, now that I finally had my miracle baby, six years… → Read More
Your Sex Life During IVF Might Be Non-Existent — Heads Up!
When you're a couple going through infertility, your sex life changes drastically, and a lot of the time, it’s not for the better. In fact, infertility is pretty stressful, and unsexy, and, well, there’s not even a lot of sex involved anyway. We… → Read More
What No One Tells You About Having a Miscarriage
“I was pregnant. I was feeling surges of nausea and had already bought a neutral blue onesie… And then quietly — almost like it never happened — my baby was gone.” → Read More
I Changed Parenting Styles With My Toddler & Never Looked Back
Before kids I had never given much thought to which parenting style I would adopt. Even when I was pregnant I was too focused on trying not to throw up, or pee myself, or crying into my Goldfish crackers to give parenting style choices much thought.… → Read More
Motherhood Forced Me To Address My Life-Long Anxiety
When I was in third grade I was diagnosed lactose intolerant because I was having almost daily stomach aches and constantly begged my mom to stay home from school. Looking back, those stomach aches had more to do with the anxiety I didn’t realize I… → Read More
Infertility Turns Your Body Into An Experiment
My husband and I wanted three children after we got married. Well, two for sure, and I was hoping I could slide in that third baby when he wasn’t looking. We started trying about a year after we got married, and fully expected to be pregnant in a… → Read More
MAYBE WE SHOULD WORRY MORE AS MOMS
To my fellow moms out there in the wilds of the internet: Are you doing enough worrying? I mean, there’s plenty to think about, right? Should we sleep with the baby? Should we push through breastfeeding because it’s the "best thing" we can do for… → Read More
View From The Birth Photographer: You See Everything
There is extraordinary strength that comes out of the pain of childbirth and no one captures those moments like a birth photographer. Erin McCain, birth photographer for erin and I photography, has a knack for capturing the most precious moment in… → Read More
View From The Anesthesiologist: The Scariest Moment For Mom
Sometimes, to get something really wonderful, you have to endure pain, and few understand that more than a laboring mother and her obstetric anesthesiologist. “The thing that’s so wonderful about labor and delivery is you get to be present in such a… → Read More
I Hate Taking Photos of My Toddler, but I Do It Anyway
I get jealous of other people's kids on social media — smiling, behaving — while my camera roll is filled with nothing but blurry babies. → Read More
After Infertility, I Was Scared of a Breast Cancer Diagnosis — Here's Why
Having a family history of breast cancer weighed heavily on my decision to undergo fertility treatments. → Read More
When You're A Surrogate, The Postpartum Recovery Looks A Little Different
When a gestational surrogate delivers a baby after ten months or so of carrying another person’s child, their job, so to speak, is done. With the baby safely in the hands of its parents, the story seems to be over, but for surrogate moms, that… → Read More
Sometimes I Don't Think Of Myself As A Mom, & That's OK
Once a mom, you’re always a mom, right? Well, of course. I was a mom when I lost my first baby to a miscarriage. I was a mom while in the throes of pregnancy and I will be a mom for the remainder of my life, whether my daughter outlives me or not.… → Read More
This Is What Happens When You Show Real Motherhood On Instagram
Elena Ridley’s Instagram account is filled with photos of her smiling 17-month-old daughter. She started keeping a blog right after she got married, planning to document her eventual pregnancy. What actually happened was Ridley turned into an… → Read More
What You Need To Know About Back-To-School Anxiety
Anxious about the back-to-school season? There are the endless school supplies lists, the daily lunch-making, the teary bus rides, the calamitous Changes To Routine to dread. And that's just for parents. Heading back to school can give many children… → Read More
The Daycare Decision Is Where The Walls Cave In
You want to send your child to daycare (or have no choice), but where do you send them? Are you after a Spanish immersion program? A classroom that is sufficiently "diverse"? An in-home daycare or franchised daycare center; in an apartment or with a… → Read More
I'm Jealous Of My Friend Who Got The Birth She Wanted
Several months back, my friend and I were catching up over coffee outside on a patio at a nearby coffee shop. It was the first time we had gotten together after the birth of her son, and we were having the inevitable birth story discussion. Don’t… → Read More
Here's What OB-GYNs Learn About Lactation
Kasey Jolly doesn’t think she would have breastfed for as long as she did if it wasn’t for the combined support of her OB-GYN and doula. “The only time I was ever nervous to discuss with my doctor, I was pregnant with my youngest… → Read More
We Unknowingly Make Women Who Have Dealt With Infertility Feel Excluded
Several years ago, as infertility dragged on for me, I struggled more and more with how I was going to get through the day. I stopped attending my Sunday church service after I watched numbly from my seat one Mother's Day as the pastor had all the mo… → Read More