42 Weeks Pregnant? Now What?
Congratulations on making it to the 42-week mark of your pregnancy. By this time, you’re probably experiencing a mix of excitement, anticipation, and perhaps a touch of impatience. It’s completely normal to feel this way! Let’s look at what to expect… Your 42-Week Pregnancy Appointment: At 42 weeks, your doctor or midwife will closely monitor you and your baby’s well-being. During this appointment, they will conduct various assessments to ensure everything is progressing smoothly. These assessments typically include: Non-Stress Test …
10 Questions to Ask Your Provider about Pregnancy, Birth, & Postpartum from BBS Senior Doula Kerry Reynolds
Kerry Reynolds is a Balanced Birth Support Senior Doula serving Metro DC & Greater Maryland. She has been a birth doula for over a decade with tons of experience supporting all kinds of births including home birth, medicated and non–medicated hospital, cesarean birth, twin deliveries, LGBTQ families and VBAC deliveries. Learn more about Kerry by visiting her Balanced Birth Support profile. Getting to know your doctor or midwife is an important part of preparing for birth & postpartum. It’s essential …
Staying Cool In The Summer Months While Pregnant
Pregnant during the summertime? If you’re anything like I was, you may be feeling extra.. ✨glowy.✨ With sweat. It’s hot. The hormonal rushes that surge throughout the pregnancy experience are enough to have you going to sit in dressing rooms in target to strip naked and cool down (surely that couldn’t have just been me?) but then you add SUMMER HEAT?! Glowing, alright. 😉 Here’s some ways to stay cool & comfortable in the summer; whether you’re in the first …
Three Prideful Children’s Stories I’m Sharing With My Children This Pride Month
Happy Pride Month friends! This June has been extra special in getting to share Pride festivities with my kiddo; who’s now 5 and can participate and engage in new, exciting ways. My son, Maddox, and I had a ton of fun attending his first pride parade & learning about what the expression of freedom meant for individual people we encountered. As the month comes to a close, we’ve kept the pride celebrations and talk going in our household all …
How to Feel Your Best Postpartum
Postpartum is among the most challenging times in a familys life. Your body is healing, hormones are running wild, you’re more exhausted than you knew was possible, and in the midst of it all, you’re learning how to be a caregiver to the amazing little human you created. Even if you have not physically given birth, the early days of a new baby can be exhausting and scary, and finding time to care for yourself isn’t easy. Basically — it’s …
So What Exactly Does a Postpartum Doula Do?
What exactly a postpartum doula does is such a hard question to answer, because it is so uniquely tailored to our clients. All I can say is so many people enter a new parents’ home, and the focus is all on the baby. Even all the doctors and lactation consultant visits in the initial months focus almost solely on the baby. The birthing person gets ONE visit at 6 weeks. The Partner doesn’t get a check in. The main thread through everything …
3 Elements Every Parent Should Include in Their Nursery
Being an expectant parent comes with a pretty extensive to-do list. For one, you need to find the right support for the birth of your child, and Balanced Birth Support can provide this. You also need to make sure your home is a safe, warm, and welcoming space for that little one. It all starts with creating a comfortable and soothing nursery. Here’s what you will want to provide for both your baby and you in your nursery: Warmth Keeping …
Ways Birthing from Within Helps Parents
In our Birthing from Within childbirth education class you will… Explore the internal landscape for labor The internal landscape for labor relates to the emotional and mental journey – the internal experience. Regardless of how birth unfolds medically, the inner journey tends to have some common milestones. In addition to learning about anatomy, physical stages of labor, hormones and physiology, we go deep into the internal experience and also help parents prepare for and recognize some of those emotional guide posts …
Benefits of Yoni Steams
This blog post was adapted from the original post by Jasmine Mason of the J. Mason Foundation. What is a Yoni Steam? Vaginal steaming, sometimes shortened to V-steaming, and also known as yoni steaming, is an alternative health treatment whereby a woman squats or sits over steaming water containing herbs such as mugwort, rosemary, wormwood, and basil. Sexual intercourse, mensuration, along with childbirth, can take a toll of the vagina and a Yoni Steam can assist with getting the …