Romper

Crystal Henry

Crystal Henry, author of Naked Salsa and A Turtle's Tale, is a freelance writer glad to be back in her native Texas land. She is a University of Florida alumna who stays true to her Florida writing roots through her work with Our Town Magazine and her award-winning column, Naked Salsa. She is a boobs out breastfeeding advocate and semi-crunchy mom whose work has been featured on sites such as eHow, LIVESTRONG and ModernMom. Her world-domination-smart husband and two hilariously inappropriate little girls constantly provide fodder for her #preschoolproblems blog. But having two newborns of her own broke the baby fever that once burned deep within her. Instead she is renting out her oven to another woman's bun and documenting her surrogacy journey with humor and honesty through her blog, Her Eggs My Basket.
'Tidying Up' & Throwing Away Is For Privileged Moms
My drawers were purged, reorganized and refolded within an hour of watching the first episode of Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, despite my reputation as a pack rat. And as I dug through and pitched t-shirt after t-shirt into my donation pile, I knew…
By Crystal Henry
Yes, I Give Myself As Much Care As My Baby
People tell you that having a baby will change you, but until that baby drops, you have no idea what they mean. During my first pregnancy I followed all the rules — no caffeine, no lunch meat, and a daily throat-fisting of prenatal vitamins. Taking…
By Crystal Henry
This Popular Piece Of Advice For New Parents Needs To Die In A Fire
My husband and I went to counseling to basically have a third party create a chore wheel for us. But while we were there, the therapist unearthed some deeply rooted problems we hadn't even discussed — one of which was our sex life. The advice to me…
By Crystal Henry
Why Kim Kardashian's Surrogacy Experience Was Anything But "Easy"
It's a girl! Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced the birth of Baby Girl West in the wee morning hours by surrogate, and as a former surrogate myself I know what a milestone this is for the entire team — no matter your feelings on the Kardashians…
By Crystal Henry
I Bed-Shared As A Kid For A Tragic Reason, & I Turned Out Fine
One of the biggest struggles I had as a new mom was the guilt that washed over me when my child slept in my bed. I didn’t bed share because I thought it would strengthen our bond and I avoided it for a time because I was paranoid about SIDS, but I…
By Crystal Henry
I Healed My Post-Baby "Belly Gap" With This Exercise, & I'm Telling Everyone
There is nothing sexy about my postpartum belly. No matter how many times my husband tells me he loves my new tummy because of "what it created" I will never accept this stretched, scarred and flabby aftermath of childbirth as "beautiful." What I…
By Crystal Henry
We Do *Our* Version Of Elf On The Shelf, But Not For The Reason You Think
Ever since I realized that my breastfeeding "success" was as much luck as my sleep-training "failure," I refuse to get in a pissing match with other parents. Each winter when social media is flooded with Elf on the Shelf dread and elaborately staged…
By Crystal Henry
Becoming A Surrogate Meant Having "The Talk" With My 5-Year-Old... & It Was Kind Of Awesome
The evolution of my body from itty-bitty-titty-committee president to full-blown menstrual mayhem was about a four-year process. I sprouted A cups in the fourth grade, but I chugged through puberty awkwardly for a few more glorious years until I got…
By Crystal Henry
Why I'll Never Make My Daughter Wear A Dress
My childhood photos feature a perfectly posed child in a frilly dress, a bow in my carefully coiffed blonde hair. I still cringe when I think about the one with me in coiled spring curls, holding a parasol alongside my brother. The worst one,…
By Crystal Henry
The Bikini That Saved Me Postpartum
Let’s be very, very honest about this — pregnancy and childbirth change your body. Regardless of what tabloid headlines about celebrities’ post-baby bodies and Instagram #fitspo posts might tell you, the reality is that your body’s going to look and…
By Crystal Henry