Using Essential Oils Throughout your Pregnancy
Plenty of changes take place during pregnancy, both physically and emotionally. The use of essential oils can help a mama-to-be have an easier and more enjoyable motherhood transition. You may be new to the use of essential oils so I want you to know what essential oils are, how oils …
Top Five Tips on Preparing Your Older Child for Birth
When I was pregnant for the second time and not wanting the same experience as the first, I began searching for more information and alternative options regarding birth. We brought midwife, Terri Payne, CNM, on as our doula and she asked where I would like to birth and if our …
Tips to Thrive: Breastfeeding in the Early Postpartum Days
Within BIRTHFIT, we often talk about the first two weeks being a period of co-regulation in the Motherhood Transition. The first two weeks can be huge transitional period physically and emotionally, especially with learning to breastfeed. As natural and primitive breastfeeding is, sometimes it doesn’t come easy. Here are some …
What Your Period Blood Says About You
When you think about your period, what feelings come up? Annoyed? Irritated? Excited? If you feel like rolling your eyes or groaning at the thought, I urge you to think differently about your monthly flow. Your menstrual cycle is truly a window into your body and overall health. In fact, …
Navigating Important Relationships with a New Baby
When a child is born, so is a mother. Getting to know yourself as a mother can be challenging, and on top of that add in the complexity of how this transition impacts your other relationships with a new baby. Let’s examine some of the ways that your relationships may …
How to Navigate Research
The motherhood transition comes with a need to make a continuous stream of choices. This decision making can be guided by both intuition and knowledge. They complement each other as they ebb and flow on different topics and at different times in motherhood. Acknowledging the value and importance of both …
Preparing For A Vaginal Birth After Tearing Or Episiotomy
In an ideal world, no birthing person would suffer vaginal or perineal trauma during birth, either spontaneous or by episiotomy. The reality is, these things do occur and can be quite traumatizing. If you are among those that has had to recover from a vaginal/perineal tear or episiotomy, the thought …
Where to Birth?
Pros and Cons in Choosing a Birthing Location: Hospital, Birth Center (hospital or free standing), Home Birth, or Unassisted Congratulations! You’re pregnant, have a million things on your checklist, and you’re whittling away at them while you can. But should birthing location be a question of consideration? When our …
Must Reads for Birth Partners
Is your birth partner wishing they could learn more to support you during your motherhood transition? Check out this list of “must reads!” The Birth Partner – This birth classic written by Penny Simkin talks about preparation for labor, when to know labor has started, epidurals and other medications …
About that Lupus Thing
I’ve had several questions about how I reversed Lupus. I also was diagnosed with a second autoimmune condition called Sjogren’s Syndrome, but since no one knows what that is, I rarely talked about it. But that’s also no longer present. I was diagnosed with these autoimmune conditions in January 2017 …