Welcome to the first issue of Bloombing News. This newsletter exists because the village that every mother deserves does not always show up. Bloomb is being built to change that. This newsletter is how we stay connected while we build.

Each issue will carry news from inside Bloomb, a personal story, updates on the work, and whatever is growing around us. This month that includes a birth story I have never fully told, some news from our postpartum and perinatal world, and two new arrivals on my back porch that have no idea how perfectly timed they are.

I am glad you are here. You are the village.

I woke up in the night, drenched in sweat from a nightmare. My heart raced. I relived my traumatic birth, seeing it over and over. I felt hands on me, ignoring my consent. My body had been injured, and the simplest things triggered panic. I felt violated. I felt ashamed to speak of it.

Everyone told me that a healthy baby was all that mattered.

Then mastitis struck. I did not ask for help. I thought I knew breastfeeding after two children. My breast turned red with streaks running through it, and I stayed silent. I thought I could manage it alone.

Later, I learned that birth trauma often leads to postpartum psychosis. I heard voices whispering my name. I felt disconnected from reality. I was afraid to admit this to anyone. A trusted doctor helped me find my way back. I was exhausted beyond what I could describe, unable to rest, with everything needing me at once.

This is one story from my postpartum experience. I share it because only one of my five births had a positive aftermath. That reality is what drives me to build Bloomb. For every mother carrying something she has not yet found words for.

A few weeks ago I noticed a nest tucked into a beam on the back porch. I watched it every day. Then one morning I came outside and there were two of them, impossibly small, blinking in the light.

They did not choose a convenient location. They did not wait for the right moment. They just arrived, and the world made room.

I have been thinking about them a lot while building Bloomb. New things have a way of finding the time and place they need. You do not always see them coming. You just look up one day and there they are.