Get nine minutes into the first episode and the focus turns to Papa Joe Kennedy, played by Tom Wilkinson.

Conduct a Wikipedia search for Joe Kennedy Sr. Start reading a list of all his kids, including Rose Kennedy, who I learn was subjected to a lobotomy at age 23.

Begin Wikipedia-ing Rose Kennedy and why in the hell she had to be lobotomized. The reasons are quite unclear, as different contemporaries of the Kennedy’s describe her somewhere between manic depressive or having severe mental disabilities.

BUT — somewhere in the assessment of Rose Kennedy I read that she could do arithmetic, specifically, multiply 436 by 12. And that requires at least an IQ of 90.

This leads me to question whether I still know how to multiply by hand.

I frantically grab a piece of paper and start trying to multiply 436 by 12. Succeeded.

Decided I was hungry after all my great multiplication achievement.

Never restarted the miniseries.

Me with my Mommy when I was one and a half.

This Mother’s Day I am feeling especially grateful for my mama, who’s been as amazing as usual as I confront becoming a mom myself. Granted, I’m probably TOO attached to my mom; we travel together a few times a year, talk every morning and I seek her out for everything from cooking lessons via Skype to answers to thorny life questions when I need wisdom/understanding. (When I told her about my ambivalence after learning I was preggo, her response was, “Well, if the baby comes out cute you could probably sell it on the black market for at least 40 grand.”)

This is all to say that I’ve never under-appreciated the connection between moms and their children. So in preparation for this fall’s arrival of Baby Hu-Stiles, I sought out advice and product recommendations from some of my favorite-girlfriends-who-are-also-moms. I’m overwhelmed that these brilliant, beautiful women — one who I’ve known since 5th grade — took the time to share these personal insights with me, and with you. Happy Mother’s Day.

CORRIE

Corrie and her baby girl, Carmen

“It surprised me how crazy my nesting instinct was when I was pregnant. At one point, when I was still quite far from my due date, I decided that some small shelves urgently needed to be hung (by husband Oliver) on the nursery wall at 11 p.m.

I wish someone had told me that uncontrollable shaking is common during labor. It happened to me at home, before I went to the hospital, and it freaked us both out.

When you find yourself worrying about childbirth, know that you have things like this to look forward to: Your baby’s belly laugh. After bath time, when we’re patting Carmen with the towel, she starts giggling and shrieking. It’s the sweetest thing in the world.”

Product Recommendations

1. I LOVE her high chair, which becomes a regular kid chair.

2. This is such a simple thing, but it makes a big difference: Waterproof changing pad liners. You put one on top of the changing pad cover, and when the liner gets dirty, you just toss it in the wash, so you don’t have to constantly wash the changing pad cover.

3. I love our stroller. We wanted one that was easy for travel (lightweight, simple to fold) but rugged enough to take to the trail, and this one has been great. Since last summer, it’s been to Portland, Oregon; Washington, DC; Chicago; New York and Miami. And all over Austin.

SKYLER

Skyler with her daughter Sydney and her son James

1. “First time mom nursing mistake: When my less-than-one-day-old daughter had a hard time latching on, I gave her have some formula. I thought she would be less frustrated and more patient after having a little snack. She ate, fell asleep, and woke up hungry again. She was still unable to latch, and even less willing to try, now that she knew there was an alternative. The bottle had already become her preferred source of food. Nursing her after that was even harder. If I had just held out, she and I would have both been better off.

2. I wish I had packed my hospital bag weeks early. My water broke one week before the due date, in the middle of the night. There was barely any fluid, so I was confused about what was happening. Half-awake, my husband and I went to the hospital to have a nurse look into it. We thought we were going to be sent home for a false alarm. Our daughter arrived hours later. My husband invited everyone we knew to the hospital right away. I was still wearing the shirt I had worn to bed the night before, when my water broke. No makeup. No brush. I recoil looking at the photos from that day.

3. At night, I sweat buckets once the milk came in. And my boobs leaked continuously at first. I didn’t expect to go thru so many pairs of nursing pajamas in a night. I would have registered for more nursing pajamas. And a waterproof mattress cover.”

Product Recommendations

1. Contoured changing pad. At first, babies can’t just go anywhere you go. They need to be placed on something soft and cushioned, at least until they can hold up their own heads. Having a special baby chair or portable crib in every room in the house gets cumbersome. I ended up bringing the changing pad with me everywhere. It’s light, soft and portable. Young babies don’t roll off the pad because the sides are contoured. It fits in the backseat of any car. It was especially great when my daughter fell asleep on it – I could drag/carry her and the pad with me if I had to move to another room.

2. Swaddling blankets. These blankets are the difference between no sleep and plenty of sleep. Need I say more?

3. A steamer. Pretty much any baby food can be made by steaming, then mashing. No need to buy the bottled stuff. No need to buy an expensive baby food making machine.

CRYSTAL

Crystal with her husband and girls — Victoria, left, and Caroline, right

“I had always heard that kids get sick a lot, especially when they start daycare. But one of the biggest surprises of motherhood for me, was how much more often I would be sick as a result. As mothers, we see ourselves as the caregivers, not the one needing help but sometimes we do and we should ask for it.

What new moms need most is sleep. Nothing prepares you for how little you get those first few months. You think you are superwoman at first with the adrenaline (and hormones) and all that love pulsing through your veins. But after a few weeks, it’s hell. I remember briefly falling asleep a few times during the day, while I was still standing up! God, I was so exhausted. I remember the fatigue much more clearly than even the labor pains. So, listen to friends and family and for everyone’s sake, sleep when that baby sleeps!”

Product Recommendations

1) Triple Paste (it’s the best butt paste I’ve ever used on my kids and I’ve tried them all. This stuff is expensive but it’s magic in a tube and cures diaper rash over night)

2) My Breast Friend (this is much better than the “Boppy” breast-feeding pad because it fits better and really does make breast feeding easier, just be sure to buy a cover for it so you can take it off and wash it easily. Poop, spit-up, food and breast milk stains are inevitable).

3) Medela Automatic Breast Pump (Invest in the most powerful pump out there. It will save you time and energy, two things that will be in short supply for the next 18 years!)

NISHA

Nisha and her girls, Aria (left) and Ellie (right), in 2010.

“My first baby just turned 4! The rate of change after the “birthing day” is exponential, and I’m having a very hard time remembering what I didn’t know 4 years ago. The first things that come to mind are things that surprised me but aren’t necessarily things that could be learned.

First, I was surprised by how great it felt to finally have my baby in my arms (as opposed to on my bladder). Obviously, the gods (mother nature, the creator, whatever you want to call him or her) have it figured out. By the end of that 40th week, you are fully equipped to handle whatever your baby decides to dish out. Your body and mind are preparing for being a mom in more ways than just trying to figure out how to get one more week out of a pair of pants. You are adapting to the way your body changes and reacts; you are functioning on small amounts of sleep with strange aches and pains; and, you are modifying your food intake to an unpredictable set of needs and cravings.

The second thing that was a bit of an eye opener was the “mommy effect”. Ellie was a pretty agitated baby, and I had the tools to care for her. There were times when all I had to do was pick her up, hold her close, and do a magical bounce to calm her down. I could literally go on and on and on and on and on and on and on, but I won’t. I’ll leave it with this: Becoming a mother has fundamentally changed me, for the better, in every aspect of my life. I sort of understand my grandmother’s craziness in always wanting us to have kids; she just wanted us to know the joy of motherhood.”

Product Recommendations

1) Halo Sleep Sacks w/ velcro swaddle attachment
2) Gerber sippy cups
3) Robeez Infant Socks

My goddaughter, Marion Cass, kissing her new baby sister, Kate, who I was born Feb 17 this year.

VIRGINIA

In the early days I was surprised by how much adrenaline I was running on to take care of Marion Cass and keep everything in my house in order.  I’m also surprised by how much I learn from my children every day – especially now that MC is 2 and talking and showing me more of her personality and her likes, dislikes, etc.  There are moments were I just become overwhelmed by how much I love them and my eyes fill up with tears.  Everytime that happens I’m surprised (pleasantly).

Product Recommendations

1) I think the BOB stroller is this best thing in the world.  It’s expensive, but worth every penny.  It’s light, you can take it anywhere, it’s durable, and you can basically go off-roading with it.  Love the BOB.

2) I just got a Summer Infant video monitor. It’s not so important when the baby is a newborn, but Marion Cass just started climbing out of her crib and I had to switch her to a big bed.  The video monitor allowed me to do that because I can watch what she is doing, and there is a way that I can talk to her through the camera.  So when she started climbing out of her big bed I told her to get back in it and she did. It was amazing.  And now she’s sleeping in a big bed.

3) Both my girls have loved being swaddled and really asked for it.  I like the Swaddle Designs blankets in flannel.  Not to brag, but i’m a very good swaddler, but once Kate and Marion Cass started sucking their thumbs or fingers, they would fight and fight to get there hands out of the swaddle and are often successful.  But they are rarely successful if they are swaddled in the flannel blankets.

4) The nap nanny.  It’s the perfect incline for the baby – especially when their tummies are really full and they are uncomfortable from eating too much.  And you can transport it anywhere in your house because it’s so light.  It’s awesome.

JES

Jes and Amelia at the hospital, six weeks ago.

“I’m going out on a limb when I make this confession — I am still breastfeeding, and I plan on doing it for the first year, but I don’t like it.  There, I said it!  I feel terrible!  But I think it’s something new moms may want to hear.  Because it is okay to not enjoy it; I am doing it because it is what is best for my little girl.

Our problems started early when, after four days of successful feeding after birth, my milk came in.  And baby decided she did not want anything to do with my breasts.

After she hadn’t eaten anything for almost 12 hours full panic set in, I contemplated formula, but I really didn’t want to go that route and destroy my chances at continuing breastfeeding.  I called my pediatrician who recommended pumping and giving a bottle which I did, at the risk of turning her into a bottle girl instead of a breast girl.  We came back from that, but then my nipples continued to decay into an unrecognizable state that required frequent ibuprofen and biting on a pillow every time she latched on.  The night she started spitting up blood – my blood – was the night I almost caved again and went to formula.

If you’re breastfeeding, you are the only source of food.  You cannot leave baby’s side for more than three hours (if that!) for a long, long time after she’s born.  And that can be tough for a mom who is used to her independence and wants to get more than three hours of sleep for one night!  Every pediatrician visit (and there’s been lots of them) was a stressful event because she wasn’t gaining weight quickly enough — was it my fault?  Was she not getting enough milk?  That’s a lot of pressure for a new mom!

This all sounds so negative, but I’m speaking out about it because I am a good mom.  A damn good mom.  And I hate breastfeeding.  And that’s okay to say, even though I’ve never heard anyone else say it (although I secretly think there’s millions of moms out there like me).  I would highly recommend that moms set up an appointment with a lactation consultant after they leave the hospital, even if things are going well, to give them some pointers and reassurance — even though the LC I saw was kind of a hippie and most of the tips she gave me were not super helpful.  The one thing she did tell me that I listened to was “keep up the good work.”  It is good work to keep that little babe on the boob as long as you can, even if it hurts, even if you hate it!  It’s okay to go to formula, and to hate that too!  We all love our little babies, and that’s what is important.

Product Recommendations

1.  We have “The First Years BabyPro Sterilizer” that we LOVE!  People told me don’t register for these stand alone sterilizers because everything can be sterilized in a dishwasher.  But sometimes (most of the time for me) when I need something sterlized I need it done NOW!  And my dishwasher takes almost an hour to run.  This little baby sits on our counter and takes 11 minutes start to finish.  Great for quick bottles, binkies, anything!

2.  Aden & Anais swaddle blankets.  Most receiving blankets are not big enough to swaddle.  These are huge, and they are made out of a lightweight fabric that breathes easily so baby isn’t too hot or cold.

3.  Lansinoh Gel Pads.  These are much better than the Medela brand, and they are great for sore nipples.  They are 10 bucks a pop, but they are SO worth it!

4.  Sleepers nightgowns that don’t have buttons or zippers — just a little gown with elastic on the bottom.  Carters makes a great one.  When you are changing a diaper at 3 am you are not going to want to mess around with buttons that take ten minutes to snap!

5.  Moby wrap — this little gem is great for gassy babies.  It requires a couple of views of the youtube instruction video to figure out how to put it on, but it works like a charm.

—

Thank you again to my gal pals, who, in between being crazy career women and involved mothers, took time to write me these delightful messages for this blog post. And here’s to all the mom’s out there … You are amazing every single day.

Friends and colleagues celebrated the release of Robert Draper’s new book about the inner workings of the 112th Congress, Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives, on Tuesday … Draper, a freelance writer, spent a year following the veterans of the House and the newly elected Tea Party members, to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life inside the Capitol.

The place is gorgeous-gorgeous, with an expansive courtyard and a roofdeck, and dozens of Draper’s pals showed to toast his new book. More photos, by our NPR intern Julia Ro:

The book — Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives — came out this Tuesday, and Draper actually remembered my request. He invited me to join his brother John, girlfriend Laura and longtime pal Colin in attending the live taping at the small Daily Show studio (CAMERAS VERBOTEN!) on the Upper West side. (I tried to hear any distinctive laughter from our little group, but it’s all pretty muddled.)

So I went up around lunch and came home after the show. But because it’s Nueva York, there was plenty of randomness to observe and experience.

1. While visiting pal Marc at The New York Times, we met the head of Reddit in the elevator. I told him how much I loved the “Today I Learned” sub-Reddit. (It is awesome y’all.)

2. A lot of tourists were ACTUALLY WEARING “I Heart NY” sweatshirts. In New York.

3. On the plane I met the State Department’s undersecretary over Haiti policy. Really nice guy. He’d just spent two weeks down there, said the cholera situation was a concern again because it’s the rainy season.

Me. Drew. Amsterdam 2010.

4. Reunited for a quick lunch with old pal Drew, who is a writer at Sports Illustrated. His office was across from all the draft madness so I got to check out all the red carpet/lighting set up for the footballers.

5. Before the taping, the show producers make the audience sit there in the studio for a good hour or so as they prepare. That gave me, John, Lara and Colin lots of time to chat. We started talking about Robert Caro and the new LBJ book, that somehow jumped into JFK assassination territory, and one of the guys mentioned that some believe Nixon was behind the killing.

Armed with all this conspiracy talk, when Daily Show host Jon Stewart came out to take a few questions from the audience and warm up the crowd, he called on me and I asked: “What’s one conspiracy theory I can believe in?” Stewart ended up riffing on this for a while, to our great amusement. He said he didn’t really believe in conspiracies because he doesn’t believe in competence, and so he doesn’t think people are competent enough to actually plan something intricate and execute it. Then he asked me, “What’s one you believe in?” And I told him about how lately I’ve been thinking Nixon is gay. This was great fuel for the comedian, as he launched into a series of jokes about how Nixon being gay “is not a conspiracy, it’s just random bull shit you’re calling a conspiracy…”

6. My diabetic cabbie (we checked his blood sugar together) asked me why I didn’t just move to New York.

I love Austin because I actually stayed long enough to get to know Austin. I eventually came to feel OF Austin, even though the truth is, I grew up in Dallas. I am ambivalent about whether it was better as a gritty hippie town or as the more yuppied-out place it is now. I mainly love Austin because of the friends who became like family there.

Hannah is one of those friends. She’s the most-together person I know, talented in countless ways, and whenever I’m with Hannah, whether it’s for dinner or for a trip to remote West Texas, I know I never have to worry about a thing because she has a plan and a backup plan and a second-backup plan for everything. So I knew that when she married her beloved Jed, everything would be fantastic. And it was.

We were so happy to be back home for the weekend, and I loved getting to spend time with the Austin girls with whom I’ve shared so many meals — and many more adult beverages — over the years.

This is Toddy and me, together. Kind of.

After the ninth day without my voice, I got quite desperate. So I reached out to my ultimate favorite hipster hypochondriac, Toddy Wiseman. He is the type of person who does not drink tap water because it has fluoride in it. (He’s convinced it causes epilepsy.) He also warns of the dangers of aspartame (found in artificial sweeteners) and regularly avoids sending his pH balance out of whack by eating lots of alkaline foods.*

Because the cough drops and teas and vocal rest weren’t working, I asked Toddy for a suggestion. He found one on a Yahoo! forum an EarthClinic.com forum, posted by a woman who uses Yahoo!. It involved drinking or gargling apple cider vinegar with cayenne pepper in it. I went to Whole Foods to get the unpasteurized kind (because Toddy told me to), got a hot dog outside on the sidewalk (because it was a hot dog and it was only $2), and headed home to spike my vinegar with some cayenne pepper.

I wasn’t strong enough to swallow this combo so I just gargled it and nearly puked afterward. Half an hour later I tried it again. The next morning, I awoke with the ability to make some sounds for the first time in more than a week. I sounded like Kathleen Turner with bronchitis. But at least sounds were sort of coming out.

So. While I can’t say for sure, I gargled some of the vinegar concoction at the advice of my friend. And the next day, some of my voice returned. This has not been rigorously tested with the scientific method, but anecdotally, I took some vinegar and the next day I was sort of better. Thanks, Toddy?

*Other Todd wellness practices: Regular cold showers. Consuming spoonfuls of straight coconut oil. A stretch routine every night before bed. Neti-potting every morning.

The saying is "bun in the oven," but SkyMall offers this great hot dog bun TOASTER!

Yep. I’m slowly wrapping my brain around this situation.

The Chinese think it is highly auspicious to have a “dragon baby” — a child born in the Year of the Dragon. (Women in China are rushing to get fertility treatments because a dragon baby is apparently too lucky to be left to chance. Crazy, right?) The Wall Street Journal reports:

Being aligned with cosmic forces is important in Chinese culture. The year of the dragon is supposed to be particularly fortunate for babies, marriages and businesses. Those born as dragons are “the strongest, smartest and the luckiest—supposedly,” says Yibing Huang, a professor of Chinese literature and culture at Connecticut College.

[...]

Chinese often schedule important life events to take advantage of the luckiest times. A recent lunar year that spanned two springs spurred a spike in weddings. And even though births are trickier to plan, in 2000, the most recent year of the dragon, 202,000 more babies were born in Taiwan than a year earlier, according to the Taipei Times citing government statistics.

I was personally way less interested in a dragon baby due to my own zodiac sign: the dog. It is the sign that’s least compatible with the dragon, and I already have one dragon to contend with — my husband. Now, barring unforeseen events, I’ll have two dragons to go up against. Grrrrreat.

Observation: My going vodka-free has created cascading problems. But the fetus has been awesome to me. Wouldn’t have been able to enjoy Costa Rica, assorted work travel and/or all the SXSW magic — Jay Z, Radiohead, etc — while sick. Fetus is always game to party. “Of course it is,” Fiscus said. “It is YOUR baby. Even if it looks like Matty.”

Fave Reactions:

ME: My eggo is preggo.
REEVE: Holy shit.

ME: I’m pregnant.
JAVAUN: [Incredulous] HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!?!?

ME: I’m knocked up dude.
JAY: Dude, you are going to be so huge.

ME: Yeah, so I’m pregnant.
MCKENNEY: That baby is going to come out with a vodka tonic in one hand and a hot dog in the other.

I am not noticing any signs of becoming like Roger Ebert, whose forced silence has turned him into a modern day Lao Tzu. I’m mainly just frustrated. I silently attended a two-night wedding in Chicago, full of family I hadn’t seen in years, completely unable to speak with loved ones. Chicago is less fun as a mute, I tell ya.

Ways I’ve worked around this: Using Skype to webcam myself into group meetings or interviews (so at least I can respond with facial expressions) and typing my questions in while someone else reads them aloud. Conducting a lot of conversations with gchat. Whispering as loudly as possible.

Yesterday, after hearing me whisper all day at work, Friend Danny said that the whispering could actually be making my problem worse and slowing my recovery. So he taught me how to use the the Say command in my MacBook terminal to get the computer to speak for me. Turns out, you can change the program’s voices, so today I attended meetings as “Victoria.”

Friend Dan recommended using this method:

Perhaps I'll learn these in time for them to be useful.