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Jenny Feldon

The best writing advice Jenny Feldon ever got was “live life first, write about it second.” With that in mind, she’s been a cocktail waitress, a yoga teacher, a camp counselor, a surgical coordinator and a telemarketer. She’s travelled through 33 states and 12 countries. Life experience definitely helped the creative process, but it was a relief when she decided to focus on what she loved best: writing about it all.

After getting her MFA in fiction from the New School University in 2006, Jenny planned to work and write and live with her new husband in their beloved Manhattan high-rise. Then her husband accepted a two-year expatriate assignment in India. So she traded coffee, subways, and dairy products for chai, water buffaloes and year-round pomegranates. She laughed a lot, cried a lot, blogged a lot, and learned never to take electricity or sidewalks for granted.

Back in the US, Jenny and her husband settled in Los Angeles where they were blessed with a daughter, Eva. Now, Jenny is a coffee-addicted, yoga-obsessed freelance writer -- and a full-time mom to a stubborn, adorable two-year-old and a small white dog named Tucker. She writes for Momlogic and chronicles her everyday adventures on her personal blog, Karma, Continued. Jenny and her family are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby #2 sometime in December.


Thursday, July 22, 2010 - 10:24
Halfway There…And Suddenly Pregnant
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
After a fitful night of tossing, turning, waking up to pee, and nightmares about chasing a tiny boy through a maze of colored building blocks, I woke up this morning and realized this:

I’m pregnant.

At almost twenty weeks (halfway!) this should come as no surprise. After all, pregnancy doesn’t happen overnight. Well, OK, it does actually happen overnight, or at least within a 24 hour period, but you aren’t supposed to feel pregnant overnight. It’s supposed to be a gradual, graceful process. The baby inside you grows stronger and bigger, the expecting mama feels more pregnant with each passing week.

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Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - 08:48
Summer of Change
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
My ever-expanding waistline isn’t the only thing that’s changing. With J gone more than ever and my two closest friends also missing in action, our usual whirlwind schedule of playdates and field trips and group activities has come to a halt. The weather finally decided it was summer after all, and our long hot days are different than they’ve ever been.

As excited as I am to welcome #2 to the family, part of me worries how my relationship with E will change. I know my heart will expand to love a new baby as much as I love her, but my attention will forever be divided. And I only have two arms.

With some big changes behind us and even bigger ones ahead, I’m suddenly aware that these last few weeks and months—before E starts preschool, before we bring a new baby home—are unique and fleeting. It’s just her and I, and now that she’s a full-fledged person (though a very short one who still wears diapers) she’s less of a liability, more of a companion. We may never get time together like this again. Realizing this has made me shove my to-do list aside, stop planning and worrying and obsessing about the future, and sit back to enjoy the lazy days of summer with my number one girl.

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Friday, July 16, 2010 - 10:00
Two Words Pregnant Women Never Want to Hear: “Just Wait”
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
Being pregnant plunges you into a new state of existence when it comes to interacting with the outside world. Lots of advice. Zero privacy. Someone should do an anthropological study on the particular effect a pregnant woman has on other women that compels them to touch bellies, spout wisdom, and scare expecting mothers to death with war stories that may or may not be true.

When I’m out in the world, everyone wants to know how I’m feeling (with the exception of my husband, but that’s a different post.) There are two kinds of people that ask this question. There are the people who want to hear “I’m fine, thank you” and therefore be relieved of their duty to inquire about my health for the sake of good manners. And then there are the people who are genuinely curious, and not just for a vague answer, but for every cringe-worthy detail. These people can barely contain their excitement while they listen to my answer, the words “just wait” already forming on their all-knowing lips.

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - 09:59
Feeling the (E)Motions
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
People say you forget the pain of childbirth. That’s so when you’re trying to decide if you want more children, the labor/delivery experience won’t be a contributing factor. You’ll just remember cradling a tiny, fragile newborn in your arms and the blissful bonding that begins the moment you gaze into their eyes. All the exhausting/painful/messy/emotional roller coaster parts will be nothing more than background static in an otherwise tender reel of memories.

HA. I haven’t forgotten a thing. Lucky for #2, the joys of parenting outweigh the bad parts a thousandfold, or E would be an only child for sure. Even my mostly normal, healthy labor and delivery was not without its dose of high drama, and E’s infancy can only be described as harrowing. J and I used to sort-of-joke that babies like her were the reason people used birth control. Nope, the memories are right there, all mixed up with the great ones. No one’s pulling a fast one on me.Read Full Post
Friday, July 9, 2010 - 09:50
Pretty AND Pregnant -- Is There Such a Thing?
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
“Your daughter has a beautiful…mama.”

I was standing in line at the pharmacy, holding a squirming E and buying, among other things, diapers and infant pain reliever, when I heard this comment. I looked up and sure enough, the guy behind me in line--a youngish, not unattractive, not visibly insane guy--was raising an eyebrow and attempting to look soulfully into my eyes.

It took me a second to register, but yeah, it was true--he was hitting on me. Unshowered, toddler-bearing, pregnant, diaper-purchasing ME, clad in a white tank top I accidentally spilled coffee on this morning, flip flops, and the only pair of jeans I can still button.

OK, I blushed. Then I signed my credit card slip and got the heck of out there. Yikes. Talk about crazy.

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 09:20
Tangled Up in Blue
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
I carried my relaxed, zen attitude about #2’s gender all the way into my OB’s office and onto the ultrasound table. J managed to be in town for the appointment, thanks to some schedule finagling and lots of plain old luck, so we were both there watching the screen, eager to count fingers and toes—and certain we’d hear we were having another girl.

Nope. #2 is most definitely NOT a girl. Even J, who has no medical training whatsoever, could see the evidence on the ultrasound monitor (that is, when #2 uncrumpled himself from the tiny little ball he likes to hang out in.) And my peaceful, it-doesn’t-matter-what-we’re-having serenity went right out the window.

Of course we’re thrilled. Having one of each feels almost too good to be true; I still haven’t gotten my head around how lucky we are to be parents to a son and a daughter. But I’m also terrified. I feel like a first-time mom all over again, something I never thought could happen. I’m getting the boy I always wanted, and all I can think about are the scary parts—like hundreds of Matchbox cars all over the house, endless cuts and bruises, and (EEK!) getting peed on during diaper changes.

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Friday, July 2, 2010 - 09:40
Diapers No More -- When Should the Battle Begin?
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
E was standing naked in the family room yesterday—on the brand-new carpet—while I got her bath ready.

“Mommy, I need the potty,” she said.

“You want to pee on the potty?” I asked. I have to confirm, because most of the time, she’s just looking for a change of scenery or to get out of doing something she doesn’t want to do—in this case, cleaning up her toys.

“Yes, Mommy. I’m pooping.”

Puzzle pieces, a sippy cup, two stuffed animals and an entire basket of white laundry flew into the air as I instantly dropped everything I was carrying and grabbed her, sprinting at warp speed toward the bathroom. Of course, we didn’t make it. Bathroom floor-1, potty-0.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:18
Feeling the Pinch: Time to (Sigh) Start Exploring Maternity Clothes
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy

It's early in the second trimester, and things are calm. Actually, it feels like the lull before the storm -- the nausea and extreme fatigue are gone, but I'm not showing or feeling anything yet. I know I should be relaxing and enjoying the quiet, but I can't help feeling restless. Shouldn't something be happening? Of course I know plenty is going on in there, but from the outside it feels like a whole lot of nothing.

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Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:35
Pink or Blue? Finding Out!
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
J came home from work recently and found me sitting on the floor of the storage closet, sorting through baby stuff.

“You’d better hope we’re having a girl,” he said, eyeing pile after pile of girl clothing. “Because either way, the next one is wearing all this stuff.”

“Yeah, right,” I replied, fingering the embroidered trim on E’s pink-and-white homecoming outfit. “Like you’d put a boy in any of this.”

“Watch me.”

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 10:01
Breaking the Rules: Confessions of an Ex-Hall Monitor
by Jenny Feldon
Project Pregnancy
I like rules. I like following them. J, my husband, calls me "the hall monitor." I like to think it's an affectionate pet name, but deep down I know he's probably not kidding. Never mind that I never attended a school that had such a thing. Read Full Post

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