Katherine DeGroot
Katie has always felt like a mama. First to the children of her friends, a lifestyle family photographer, and then as a nanny. Motherhood took her by surprise one December afternoon while sitting in a doctor’s office. As a way to curb the anxieties and fears, she took to documenting her growing belly with the basic letter board. Stories and words have always been her first and favorite medium of expression. She describes herself as a little bit radical and a lotta traditional. Katie and her husband Seth welcomed their daughter Priscilla Anne in August 2018 forty-five minutes after arriving at their birth center. The midwife told Katie to come in a little sooner next time or choose a home birth. Since, life hasn’t been the same in the very best kind of way. The craziest thing she ever did was agree to go camping with Seth six weeks postpartum, with a newborn, in the Black Hills. Katie always dreamed of being a stay-at-home-mom and in many ways despite the messes, nap protests, or general motherhood exhaustion, it’s a calling that fits like a glove. You can follow along with her daily snaps on her personal instagram, her professional photos here, and find her ramblings on her mama blog
You Can Have It All, Just Not At The Same Time
An entire world opened up for me when I admitted I couldn’t and didn’t need to do it all. When I had the courage to come off my pride and ask for help, I...
Friendship After Motherhood
In the first year or so after my daughter was born, I’d have a recurring dream. I was back on campus, and my sorority sisters and I were moving in with each other again....
A Love Letter to Minneapolis in the Summer
My own childhood summers feel like a string of events, peppered by a sort of sparkling magic that only Minnesota can provide. For me, and like other kids, my world felt bookended by two...
“Do you even live here?”
Being a black woman in Minnesota is a strange and peculiar thing. At times I don’t feel qualified to share my experiences: I’m biracial, I have a white mother and husband, I'm educated, and...
Preparing for My Home Birth
When I imagined having a second baby one day, I definitely thought we might go the home birth route, but could have never predicted that a global pandemic would push home birth into the...
In Praise of Leaning Out and Opting Out
I don’t have a motherhood or parenting style or philosophy, really. I spent the days leading up to my daughter’s birth reading about pregnancy, natural childbirth, and doing my Hypnobabies homework. I didn’t realize...
Peculiar Blessings During this Time
I’m on the lookout for peculiar blessings during this time. I choose to be this way; I have to be this way. Our world feels dystopian, the news stories come in too quickly to...
Nursing in the Shadow of My Grandmothers
The pictures that come to mind when I am caring for my daughter Cilla during the still, unhurried moments of our day are the images of my own mother, my grandmothers, and my aunts....
Six Months Home
I spent the better half of a decade always drifting off to sleep the same way: imagining how I would decorate a future home. Sometimes it was a made-up floor plan I’d imagine room...
Thanksgiving Series: What I want to teach my daughter about Thanksgiving
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, we asked several of our writers to tell us about their favorite Thanksgiving traditions and stories. Whether a quiet affair at home, or a boisterous congregation of friends and extended...
Grace and Grit
I knew I’d get some funny comments when I was pregnant. I had heard my mom friends lament about them, the jokes about expecting twins, and how ridiculous it is that pregnancy often means...
Saying Yes to Being an Adventure Mom
What is an ‘adventure mom?’ I am truly not certain, but to me it means pushing myself out of my comfort zone and just going for it. The comfort zone of motherhood is especially...
A Letter to My Fiancé on Father’s Day
This past Sunday we had a rainstorm with chilly temperatures more fall-like than spring. You’d been eyeing a nearby bunch spot, perusing the artfully snapped photos on their Instagram account. We made plans to...
My Out of Hospital Birth Center Experience
Priscilla Anne, my beautiful daughter, was born this past August at Roots Community Birth Center in North Minneapolis. My birth story actually starts a few years before my daughter was born. The seeds of...