Mothered Nature

03/02/2026

02/21/2026

Her water broke. The baby would not survive. But Texas law meant doctors had to wait—wait until she was sick enough to qualify for care.
Austin, Texas. A hospital room.
Amanda Zurawski was 18 weeks pregnant—four months into a pregnancy she and her husband had tried for years to achieve. Then her water broke. Far too early. Catastrophically early.
Her doctors examined her and delivered the news with painful certainty: the pregnancy could not continue. At 18 weeks, with preterm premature rupture of membranes, there was no medical chance the fetus would survive.
In most circumstances, the standard of care would have been clear. Doctors would perform a termination to prevent infection and protect her health. She would have grieved. She would have healed. She could have tried again.
But this was Texas in June 2022, just after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, when the state’s trigger ban took effect.
The fetus still had cardiac activity.
Under Texas law, that meant her doctors believed they could not intervene—unless her life was in immediate danger.
“I had to wait,” Amanda later said, “until the baby died inside me or for me to be on death’s door before I could get care.”
Her physicians understood the risk. With ruptured membranes, infection is not a possibility—it is a probability. They monitored her closely. But legally, they felt their hands were tied until her condition clearly met the emergency exception.
So she waited.
She went home knowing the outcome of the pregnancy was certain—and knowing infection was likely coming.
And then it came.
Sepsis.
The infection spread through her bloodstream. She was rushed back to the hospital and admitted to intensive care. She spent days fighting for her life.
She survived. But the infection caused permanent damage to her reproductive system, making future pregnancies far more difficult and uncertain.
Amanda Zurawski had wanted to be a mother. After years of trying, she had finally conceived. Instead of receiving immediate medical care, she endured a medical crisis that changed her body forever.
She could have stayed quiet. She could have tried to grieve privately.
Instead, she chose to speak.
Amanda became the lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. Texas, a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights seeking clarity about when doctors could legally intervene in complicated pregnancies under Texas’s abortion ban.
She shared medical records. She described septic shock in open court. She relived trauma so lawmakers and judges would have to confront what the law meant in real life.
In May 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the law could remain in place, saying physicians could use their judgment under existing medical exceptions.
For Amanda, the ruling felt devastating. “It felt like a slap in the face,” she said. “It felt like they were trying to erase us.”
She had made her most painful experience public. And still, the law stood.
Many people would have stepped back at that point.
Amanda did not.
Throughout 2024, she traveled across the country speaking about her experience. She campaigned for candidates who supported restoring abortion rights. She stood on stages and told audiences what it felt like to be told to wait—wait until she was sick enough, until the line between life and death was unmistakable.
She never wanted to be an activist. She wanted a baby.
But when policy shaped her medical care, she decided silence was not an option.
Her story is not abstract. It is specific. It is medical. It is legal. It is personal.
A wanted pregnancy.
A rupture at 18 weeks.
Doctors predicting infection.
A law limiting intervention.
Sepsis.
Permanent damage.
That is the human side of policy.
Amanda continues to say the same thing: “It can get worse, and it will, if we don’t continue to fight.”
Whether one agrees or disagrees with abortion laws, her experience highlights a reality doctors across the country have described since 2022: complex pregnancies do not follow political timelines. Medical crises unfold in hours and days, not in legal arguments.
Amanda Zurawski never set out to be the face of anything.
But when she found herself waiting in a hospital bed for permission to receive care, she made a choice. If her story could prevent someone else from going through the same ordeal, she would tell it.
Again and again.
Because for her, this debate is not theoretical.
It is about what happened in one hospital room in Austin.
About a pregnancy that could not be saved.
About a life that almost wasn’t.
And about a woman who decided that if she had to endure it, she would at least make sure the country heard it.

02/12/2026

I didn’t wake up after giving birth thinking, “I want to remove part of my baby’s body.”
I woke up exhausted, sore, bleeding, emotional, and trusting the people around me to guide me.

Everyone talked about circumcision like it was a checkbox.
The nurse asked casually, like she was asking if I wanted ice chips.
My partner said, “Well, that’s what everyone does.”
My mom said, “You don’t want him to be different.”
The pediatrician said, “It’s easier to do it now.”

No one said, you don’t have to.

I remember signing the consent form with shaky hands while my baby slept in the bassinet beside me. I hadn’t slept in over 30 hours. My milk hadn’t even come in yet. I was still learning how to hold him without feeling like I might break him.

They took him out of the room.
I told myself not to think about it.

When they brought him back, he was different.
Not broken, but… changed.
He cried in a way I hadn’t heard before. Sharp. Panicked.
I remember apologizing to him while holding him against my chest, telling myself this was “normal” and “fine” and “for his own good.”

That’s what I was told, right?

Weeks later, during a diaper change at 2 a.m., I googled something.
Just one thing.
That one thing turned into hours.

I learned that circumcision isn’t medically necessary for most boys.
That intact care is simple.
That many countries don’t do this at all.
That the “benefits” I was told were often exaggerated or conditional.
That pain relief is inconsistent.
That consent is impossible.

And no one had told me that not circumcising was even an option.

The rage didn’t come all at once. It crept in.
Every time someone joked about it.
Every time I read “routine procedure.”
Every time I realized I made a permanent decision for another human while I was vulnerable and uninformed.

I don’t sit in regret because I hate myself.
I sit in it because I trusted a system that didn’t give me full information.

If I could go back, I would have slowed everything down.
I would have asked harder questions.
I would have pushed back against the “everyone does it” pressure.
I would have reminded myself that different isn’t dangerous.

I love my son fiercely.
That never changed.

But I wish someone had looked me in the eye and said,
“You can say no. You can wait. You can choose differently.”

Because that choice deserved more than exhaustion, tradition, and silence.

02/08/2026

02/07/2026

Be careful with ChatGPT

Before you judge anyone for using AI, we need to be judging Musk. Palantir. Karp. Theil, Altman. Not the people who use the ROTTEN products they were provide...

02/03/2026

Ariadna Izcara Gual and Tamara Hoveling, researchers from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands, developed a new, more comfortable, and sustainable vaginal speculum called "Lilium".

Designed to reduce patient pain and anxiety, this modern, petal-shaped, and softer, material based device aims to update the 150-year-old traditional design.

What should be redesigned next?

03/08/2025

My babe loves this

03/07/2025

If you’ve been told to just lose weight to manage PCOS—without real guidance on how to nourish your body—you’re not alone. PCOS is a complex hormonal and metabolic condition, not just a weight issue. At its root, PCOS involves insulin resistance, inflammation, and appetite dysregulation, which can lead to cravings, binge eating, and difficulty maintaining a healthy weight—not because of willpower, but because of underlying hormone imbalances.

The good news? Food is one of the most powerful tools for healing PCOS. Research shows that a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory, blood sugar-balancing diet can be just as effective—if not more—than medications like metformin in improving symptoms, regulating cycles, and restoring fertility. By focusing on whole, unprocessed, and metabolically supportive foods, you can improve insulin sensitivity, lower testosterone levels, and reduce inflammation.

🌿 Prioritize protein – Poultry, eggs, legumes, and omega-3-rich fish stabilize blood sugar, curb cravings, and lower androgens.

🌿 Add healthy fats – Olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds support hormone balance and reduce inflammation.

🌿 Choose slow-burning carbs – Healthful grains like brown rice, millet, oats, quinoa, wild rice, red, pink, or black rice are all great choices. Buckwheat, technically a seed not a grain, may be especially helpful in improving blood sugar balance and reducing insulin resistance. Starchy veggies such as parsnips, potatoes, squash, winter squashes, and sweet potatoes also promote steady energy and insulin regulation.

🌿 Eat more leafy greens – Crucial for gut health, detoxification, and lowering inflammation. Try bok choy, broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussel sprouts, cabbage (all varieties), or cauliflower.

PCOS isn’t one-size-fits-all, which is why understanding the root causes—beyond just diet—matters. You can take charge of your symptoms, energy, and well-being with the right strategies.

PCOS is complex. Healing is possible. The best approach is one that addresses all of the underlying root causes. Learn more in my book, Hormone Intelligence—link in bio. 💛

03/04/2025

So often, women come into my practice asking, “What’s wrong with me?” And on a bad day, hey—I’ve asked myself that question too. We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or emotionally dysregulated, it must mean something is broken in us. That we need to fix it.

So we search.

Another supplement. A new meditation practice. Tweaking our diet. A different morning routine. Because we’ve been taught that the solution is always us doing more, trying harder.

And sure, those things can help. But sometimes, what we really need is to be seen, heard, and held. To have someone regulated and steady sit with us, remind us we’re not alone, and offer safety—not solutions. To have space held for us in a way that allows our nervous system to settle.

The tricky part? If the people we turn to aren’t regulated themselves, we may feel like we can’t get what we need. And this can reinforce trauma. Or we convince ourselves that we don’t deserve to be held in the first place. We push through, hold it all together, tell ourselves we should be able to handle it. But we can’t handle it all alone. We’re not meant to. Which is why I’m expanding into group medical/healing offerings this year!

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation. Nervous systems heal in connection.

It can be really hard to re-regulate when the people around us aren’t regulated. And if we’ve spent a lifetime being the “strong” one, the caretaker, the problem solver—it can feel foreign to let someone else hold space for us.

But we don’t have to do this alone. We’re not meant to.

So here’s your reminder: You don’t have to earn support. You don’t have to justify needing it. You are allowed to lean on the people who feel steady, even if you’re not used to doing so.

And if you don’t have that person right now, know that your nervous system can heal by holding space for Through self-compassion. Through deep exhales, movement, and moments that remind you that you are already whole. Even when parts feel broken at times.

Who or what helps you feel truly seen, heard, and held? 💕

04/26/2024

As your baby acclimates to being it's own human (The Fourth Trimester) the whole family benefits from the process of having things be soft, to be more effortless on their part. That means support of a community. These new beings have steadily ripened into our arms and into the world. That deserves the reverance of love that is shared to lend them strength in this journey of Parenthood 💗

02/09/2024

Watching babies grow is watching consciousness from spirit realm fading into our Existence. They tune in more and more as the weeks progress. Watching that level of awareness unfolding each day is so exciting and bittersweet..

And off the cuff (not really if you know me): The Physical Realm is the matrix if you think about it. Our energy is used to power our and all else’s experience. This Existence is where we plug our spirits into avatars.

01/07/2024

I'd love to take on some meal prep clients. Infused oils and vinagers, fermented foods, herbs, broths, hearty soups, pureed soups, prepped salads, easy breakfasts, etc. This can be to stocking a pregnant women's freezer for the postpartum phase, weekly/bi-weekly meal prep for busy folks, those wanting to eat healthier with more ease, I'm open to your needs.

I can dig up referrals if needed. Feel free to reach out with questions 💓