It started already. I walked into my in-laws home and my MIL said hello! to the baby in my belly. Beautiful baby remembered, me, forgotten. I smiled and said, "so it begins." But what I should have said was, "hey! what about me! Remember me, the one who is bringing this baby into the world?!" 👇🏻 So, what about you, momma? Yes, babies and beautiful and snuggly and everyone wants to hold them. But what about the mom? The mom that carried that baby for over half a year and sac

What’s your biggest fear with labor and delivery? Pooing while pushing? Tearing? The pain? Emergency c-section? Well, unfortunately there’s not much you can do about the first one (but, thankfully, the nurse will whisk that stinker right away), but there are a lot of steps to take to prevent tearing and emergency c-section and to reduce pain. I’m going to break it down into a few blog posts. But for today... Perineal Tearing Many women who have vaginal births experience perin

Did you bounce back easily after your pregnancies? Or did your belly seem to just “bounce” instead? Many new and not-so-new moms find themselves tucking the soft mound that used to be their baby into their high waisted yoga pants and still get asked at the grocery store if they’re pregnant. Many feel like their bellies are “unstable” or like “jello” and try countless ab exercises to try to feel more “pulled in” or get back their pre-pregnancy bodies, egged on by the various

“Let’s talk about sex baby. Let’s talk about you and me. Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be.” -Salt-N-Pepa All the bad things that may be. I don’t know exactly what Salt-N-Pepa meant by this line, but I know what I think of when I hear it— painful sex. Painful sex is common. But it doesn’t feel that way when you are the one suffering from it. You may be thinking— “Will I ever be able to enjoy sex (again)” “Will I be able to have a baby?” “Is m

In the summer of ’99, my mom packed us two kids in the back of our forest green Chrysler minivan, shortly after hollering, “make sure you use the bathroom before we leave!” up the stairs of our split-level red brick home. 30 minutes into our drive to visit my NaNa, my sister (who was 5 at the time) began wiggling side to side in her seat, arms and legs crossed over her crotch. “I have to peeeeee” she groaned. This was the norm that summer. My sister peed on the side of the ro

After you give birth, your babies get check-ups 3 to 5 days after birth, and then at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24 months. After you give birth, you have a check up immediately after giving birth and then at 6 weeks. It’s obvious that baby is taken care of, but who is taking care of you? In Europe, women are automatically referred to a Pelvic Physical Therapist to re-train their abdominal muscles and pelvic floor that are put through the ringer during pregnancy and childbi

It takes a village...to prepare and recover from child birth! Pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the initial postpartum period can be the most challenging and vulnerable times of a woman's life. Women need to have the knowledge to make informed decisions, have resources to stay healthy and pain free, and feel empowered in their journey. Often, women know they need support, but do not know what they need. Or they know what they need, but don’t know who to turn to.... Enter thi

Women are notorious for giving everything of themselves—to their kids, their partners, their jobs, their homes, their businesses…we give our time, our energy, our mental power, until we’re bone dry. For a while, you can get by like this. You can push through on a few hours of sleep, nodding off as you wipe the last bit of spaghetti off your husband’s dinner plate. You can groan, straining to bend over your pregnant belly to pick up your groceries bags while balancing your tod

Every month it happens. Aunt Flow comes to visit. It’s THAT time of the month. You’re on the rag. It’s Shark Week. It’s the red wedding. The euphemisms are endless. No matter what you call it, you can’t run from it. Every month, unless you’re pregnant, you get your period. Your period is the beginning of your menstrual cycle.  This cycle is ongoing and is driven by your hormones—the body’s “chemical messengers.” Understanding your menstrual cycle and how it affects your mood,

Pain during pregnancy and after pregnancy is common…but it’s not normal. Anywhere from 20% to 50% of women experience pain in the low back and hips during pregnancy. Prevalence reports vary because women tend to under report pain. If you have carried and delivered a baby, you know that this progress, albeit rewarding, is very painful and difficult. Most women just expect that pain is just part of the process and brush it off. Even those who do report it, typically do not rece