This month Bloomb took more steps into the world than any month before it. We launched our public website, applied for our first competition, and brought in partnerships that I believe will shape the care mothers receive for years to come.

We also joined TikTok, which felt both terrifying and right. That is where doulas and midwives and new mothers actually are, and Bloomb needs to be where mothers are.

And on my back porch, the NestyBird returned. A second clutch of eggs. I took it as a sign. The work continues, season after season, one hatching at a time.

NestyBird is back. A second set of eggs has appeared on my back porch, and the babies that followed made me laugh and feel grateful in equal measure. There is something about witnessing new life, repeatedly, that keeps this work in perspective.

I also met a laboring mother tortoise burying her eggs this month. I watched her for a long time. She was utterly focused.