Modern Motherhood Birth Co.

11/04/2020

Loving these words this morning from  
 
“Hey mama. If you’re like us you probably woke up this morning looking forward to some closure (good or bad). But sometimes change doesn’t work like that. Sometimes change takes the long way home. So as we all watch the results unfold, know that we’ve got your back and always will, regardless of how things shake out. In the meantime, take a deep breath. Stay strong. Draw yourself a bath, eat a good meal, read your kiddos a bedtime story, sing your babies a lullaby. Tomorrow’s another day.” xx HATCH 💘 pc:  
 
I’d also like to add I’m holding space for all of us✨ 
For you, your family, your babies in your bellies and the babies yet to be.  
I’m with you 🤍

11/03/2020

P O S T P A R T U M P O O P 
 
That first time using the restroom after having baby? File this under things you didn’t think you needed to learn about 😅 
 
Chalk it up to any number of the following reasons: added pressure on your pelvic floor during pregnancy and pushing, constipation from medicine administered during labor, fluctuations in hormones, nourishment habits, and changes in your digestion throughout your pregnancy.  
 
OOF. It’s no wonder that first bowel movement ends up being quite a feat! 
 
Let’s talk about easing your discomfort and focusing on nurturing your body postpartum. 
 
Prevention is key! 🔑  
 
Here’s how to have a less crappy time 😉 
 
🚽Keep hydrated! (But really, is there ever a time when this isn’t solid advice?) Ensuring your body is hydrated and loaded up with H2O is step 1 in keeping things moving along.  
 
🚽Load up on fiber rich food! Be sure to choose foods that are easy on your healing gut and on your digestion. Think warming + fiber = nourishing🤍 
 
🚽 Squatty Potty! What we *don’t* want is for you to be straining, and what we *do* know is that sometimes we opt to do that when things are moving slower or tougher than we’d like. Keeping your knees above your hips by using a squatty potty or short tool helps you to eliminate the way nature designed us to 😉 
 
🚽 Stool softener! Your provider will most likely provide you with one before going home. These help to keep your waste *soft* and movin’ right on through. This is *not* a laxative which acts as a stimulant.  
 
Happy 💩ing!

10/29/2020

Parents! Give me a 🙌 if this is true: Time is one of your most important assets. (Especially as the days grow closer to meeting your little one!) Once it’s gone, you can never get it back. So wasted time? Well, ain’t NOBODY got time for that.  
  
It’s why I am so proud that working with me can save you so much time!  
  
How?  
  
By hiring me as your doula or childbirth educator, you can put down your phone, pull yourself out of the google vortex, and turn to your one stop shop!  
  
Ready to take your time back and still achieve that “ready to walk into your labor, birth, and postpartum experience *empowered* and *prepared*  feeling?  😌 
  
Mmhmm! I’d love to chat with you. DM me!✨

10/26/2020

Man oh man, in those first three months of my baby’s life the thing we couldn’t live without was…

Well, sleep. HA! 🤪 But aside from *that* obvious answer, a fun response would be my apple AirPods!

We had just purchased these and I felt so fancy! Little did I know, these things would be my favorite lil’ middle of the night hack. I was beyond exhausted and waking to breastfeed my little one. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the life of me while feeding and so, thanks, to the help of my AirPods, I was able to work my way through some reality shows (World of Dance) and sitcoms (The Office for the millionth time) while feeding my little man and not waking up the family or dealing with cords around his tiny body.
🙌 A. Total. Win!

Truly speaking, I couldn’t live without the support of my friends and family either, but I thought I’d share this unexpected answer, too! ❤️

So what about you?!
What couldn’t you live without in those first three months? 🤔

10/22/2020

“The wisdom and compassion a woman can intuitively experience in childbirth can make her a source of healing and understanding for other women.” 
 
-Stephen Gaskin 
 
And may this be the hope and prayer for generations and generations and generations to come. ✨ 
 
photography .sorgini

10/21/2020

✨Tips for Relieving Morning Sickness✨ 
  
So I’ll be honest with you. I was sick throughout my entire pregnancy—even in the middle of labor, up until I was ready to push (ha!) 🤪 I remember looking at my husband and cracking some joke about “even in labor huh?, this dang throwing up just won’t end”. 😞 
 
Throughout my entire pregnancy, you could find me pulling the car over, ducking behind a tree, or spending my afternoons from bed, to bathroom, and back. OOF. It. was. rough. 😩It seemed my symptoms walked a fine line between traditional morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum (which is a whole other post for another day.)  
  
I empathize with you mamas who experience morning sickness (which we all know is the biggest misnomer since it can occur at any time)! As much as I couldn’t stop the sickness from occurring, I did my best to mitigate it using various strategies. Check out the list below!  
  
📌 Save these tips from a doula for how to alleviate morning sickness:  
  
1. Eat small meals. This can help stabilize your blood sugar and keep you from meal to meal without going hungry or feeling too full.  
 
2. Trust your food preferences! If you’re craving it, you’ll most likely be able to tolerate it.  
 
3. Citrus and peppermint. These smells and tastes can help soothe a nauseas stomach.   
 
4. Vitamin B6. Either in supplement form and on focusing on foods that are rich in Vitamin B6 can help alleviate nausea (whole grains, seeds, legumes, nuts, etc.)  
 
5. Ginger. Ginger ale, ginger hard candy, and ginger flavored items are known for helping to help with nausea and settle your stomach.  
 
6. Acupressure wrist bands. Some people find success by using these bands on the pressure points associated with reducing nausea.  
  
✨Did you find a strategy that worked for you? Share your favorite morning sickness buster below! 👇

10/20/2020

B I R T H S T O R Y   
   
Here’s an unconventional labor tip: Have someone right down your birth story. Even better yet, hire a doula who can do it for you, real time 😉  
   
✨I’ll be honest, if I were to redo the day I gave birth to my son, I would’ve made a point to take notes or have someone else take short notes about how that day went, hour by hour, capturing the small details and unique moments.    
   
✨Like most women, the day I gave birth is one I will never forget and hold so special to my heart. I remember certain moments with varying degrees of detail, but I mostly remember how I *felt*. I love that! But I do wish I had a detailed account of how the whole process went—as a moment, as a record, as something I can pass on to my children one day.    
   
📝 Writing down your birth story and reflecting on it can be so healing, regardless if the day went just as you expected or perhaps left you with levels of trauma. Your story is valid. Your experience is valid. Your story is valuable. And sharing your story with yourself first, and those you feel safe with, after, is meaningful.  🤍  
   
✨I’d love to know: Did you write down your birth story or were you like me and wish you had??

10/19/2020

O H H E Y T H E R E!  
 
I love seeing new faces around here (and if mine is unfamiliar, feel free to scroll down a few pictures to see me and the little one I birthed 1.5 years go 😉). For those of you who don’t know much about Modern Motherhood BIrth Co., let’s start with an introduction. 
 
Modern Motherhood BIrth Co. is here to provide empowering birth support for today’s modern mother. My company was born out of my desire and passion for helping today’s mother through each phase of early motherhood—fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and beyond.  
 
I love what I do, and I’m driven by a really strong why. My why is to help modern mothers walk into their birth and postpartum experience feeling empowered, confident, and prepared.  
 
Now that you know a bit about me, I’d love to know more about you. Share something about yourself below!✨

10/15/2020

HONEY DURING LABOR 🍯   
  
Labor is a marathon, not a sprint (usually!) And that means having stable energy throughout so you’re able to labor without unneeded exhaustion. Top priority is ensuring you’re staying hydrated and nourished throughout—please don’t skip this, friends!—, but what can you do when you’re not craving a meal but want an energy boost?   
  
✨Here’s a quick labor tip:  
  
Honey sticks!   
  
🍯Enjoy one of these sticks mid-labor when you need a quick burst of energy! They’re sweet, a better alternative to other fast sources of energy, and are easily tolerated by the stomach when you may not be craving food.  
  
🍯Bonus: They come in multipacks, are light to pack, and can provide your support partner with an instant energy boost when the hours are getting long and they need a quick jolt!   
  
What did you use in labor for a quick energy boost?? I’d love to know!

10/12/2020

M O T H E R I N G T H E M O T H E R  
  
Over on my stories, mamas are passing along wisdom, encouragement, and realness they received about their tender postpartum time. These gems they received from those who’ve gone before them. From those who have “mothered” them and acted as their village.   
  
One of the universal postpartum needs is presence of wise companionship, particularly feminine.   
  
*This* is how we mother the mother  
*This* is how we hold those who have just been born as mothers  
*This* is how we empower new moms to step into their confidence  
  
We mother them.   
We mother each other.  
We mother the mother.  
  
We teach them to offer themselves grace, be gentle with their healing, and to focus on the things that *actually* matter.   
  
Have you had someone in your life who mothered you while you became a mother?   
  
❤️Tag them below to show your appreciation for the way they cared for you. ❤️  
  
Did you receive a gem you still hang onto till this day?   
✨Share below to encourage another mama! ✨

10/09/2020

But I don’t just mean metaphorically. 
 
✨Magic is that life you’re sustaining inside you. As your baby grows, so does your uterus and body. Your baby is nourished from your placenta for the better part of a year, receiving oxygen, blood flow, and nutrition via your umbilical cord and placenta.  
 
✨Magic is that ability to keep going when nausea, pregnancy symptoms, and discomfort take over your body or may have you bedridden.  
 
✨Magic is your strength to seek out resources as you approach your labor. It’s asking for help and seeking support and being vulnerable, knowing that your body was built to birth and is so capable. It’s facing each fear and speaking truth over every one.  
 
✨Magic is that phone call you make to your provider, that honest conversation you have with your partner, that grace you give yourself as a new mother. 
 
Wherever you find yourself today, may you be reminded that yes, oh yes, the magic is in you ✨ 
 
image

10/07/2020

✨Raising a business and a baby ✨   
   
   
And let me tell you, doing either is no easy feat. There’s days when it feels like it’s hard to do either well, but like my mom used to say, “ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it.” 👊 And it’s to the credit of my village that I’m able to do both 🤍 Working that “asking for help” muscle took some getting used to, and even at 17 months postpartum can still be hard, but it’s the way in which our foremothers and those before them have not only survived motherhood but thrived.    
   
Just casually preachin’ to myself over here 😅🙌   
   
Here’s a realization I’ve learned this past year:   
The birth world and the toddler world have so many things in common!   
   
Using intuition (mom) ✨   
Making preferences known 🤪 (toddler)   
Learning, growing, and remaining flexible to how things unfold 🤍 (both)   
   
   
To you mamas who are doing both, I see you.   
To you mamas waiting for this journey to begin, I’m holding space for you.   
To you mamas on the threshold of holding your babies in your arms, I’m here for you.   
To you mamas keeping your head above water and reaching out, I’m proud of you.    
   
🤍

09/22/2020

"You would never expect someone to clean their house a few days after having surgery, or to run errands when they are getting over the flu—so why do we expect ourselves to snap out of giving birth? Pregnancy and birth are not ailments, but they are the real deal. Be gentle on yourself, and allow your body to heal."

It takes time to heal from something this big.

09/22/2020

Okay, okay. Maybe you’re not googling this exact thing. 😉


✨(You’ve got this. I promise.)✨


But are you wondering the ins and outs of navigating your labor?
Do you want to fill your birth toolbox with some *tangible* and *practical* techniques and comfort measures?
Does feeling empowering & prepared for your birth align with your desires?
Do you value feeling educated about what to expect *before* you’re in the actual moments of labor?


I’ve got you covered! 🤍

✨In my Comfort Measures class, I give you tools to pack into your birth toolbox as we cover different comfort strategies for the different phases of labor, how mindset plays a role in labor, and all the types of pain management options you can utilized as you mindfully breathe, change positions and movements, and navigate your way through labor!


Sound good to you?🤍


✨Click the link in my bio, or visit www.modernmotherhoodbirth.com to schedule your personalized Comfort Measures Class and walk into your birth feeling prepared and empowered!✨

09/19/2020

B R E A T H E R E L A X R E L E A S E  
 
Did you know the expectation of pain increases pain? 
 
Yup!  
 
❌ And this is one of the reasons getting into the Fear-Tension-Pain cycle can be harmful to the birthing process.  
 
✨Instead, focusing on this alternative birth cycle can aid in doing the opposite—helping our bodies open, relax, and birth our babies. 
 
Here’s the breakdown: 
 
〰️Breathe: Breathing is magic during labor. Focusing on breathing, intentionally or rhythmically, not only refocuses attention away from contractions and thus away from pain but it also helps calm the body and mind. Breathing allows oxygen to enter the uterus (a muscle!) and ease discomfort. It helps to keep the tension in the body from taking over and allows you to move from contraction to contraction with something you can control—your breath! 
 
〰️Relax: This mindful breath work helps the body to relax during contractions, eases discomfort, and thus creates a softer pelvic floor and abdomen during a time when tension is automatic. Relaxing also builds trust in your body to do what it was designed to do—birth your baby! 
 
〰️Release: A softer pelvic floor and body allow for the opening of the body as baby rotates and makes their way down and out. This mindset of trust in your body and relaxation is wonderful for increasing your oxytocin and helping with your progression of labor. Releasing tension in the body helps to mitigate pain, and keep you relaxed, allowing you to focus on your breathing, thus starting the cycle all over again. 
 
✨I’d love to hear—what type of “cycle” were you able to get into during birth? Of course nothing goes as formal or as perfectly as this, but sharing a strategy that worked for you can be helpful for others! 🙌

09/16/2020

S L O W I N G D O W N 
 
Maybe you’ve felt it with the state of 2020. Maybe you’ve felt it during quarantine. Perhaps it came with the changing season as summer gave way to fall. Maybe it was the second those two little lines turned pink or you caught yourself out of breath for the third time that day. Or maybe it was in those quiet, dark, sleepy hours feeding your baby long before the sun would rise. 
 
〰️Whatever the reason, there’s certainly a sense of slowing down that all of us are feeling or have felt at one point or another, and during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond.  
 
✨Can I give you a little encouragement to stay in that space? ✨
 
Just for a moment before you tackle the next thing motherhood is asking of you. 
✨
Be it for 5 minutes or 55.  
Take it.  
Slow down. 
Breathe a little deeper. 
Rest. 
 ✨
With baby registries, doctor appointments, sleeping schedules, tummy kicks, bottle washing, childbirth books, emails and phone calls, pumping and working, friendships and families, the world calls and beckons us to go go go. And go we will. 
 
〰️But let’s take a second to pause, realign our breathing + body + mind. To activate our parasympathetic nervous system. 
 
A few seconds of pause is always better than none.  
Check in with your growing body or your growing baby.  
Check in with what you need at that moment and truly listen.  
 
Our babies will be better for it. 
Our partners & communities will be better for it. 
Our entire person & motherhood will be better for it.
🤍

09/14/2020

F E A R T E N S I O N P A I N    
    
❔Have you heard about the fear-tension-pain cycle in birth?    
    
Essentially, the cycle goes like this:👇   
    
➰Fear: As we anticipate birth (perhaps only hearing frightening stories/terrible scenes in movies & tv, lacking knowledge, having distrust of our bodies), and enter into labor, we may begin to feel fearful and experience fear realtime as contractions begin and get stronger. Our hormone, adrenaline, kicks into gear, activating the flight or fight response in our bodies.    
    
➰Tension: Fear leads to tension in our body. This tension causes the muscles in our whole body to tighten up, including the largest muscle at work—our uterus, thus making the labor contractions more painful and exhausting our muscles and bodies. Blood also flows away from the uterus and into the limbs because of the perceived need to run away and find safety.    
    
➰Pain: The tension in our bodies, the increased pain from contractions due to the tension, the lack of oxygen flow to our uterus, coupled with exhaustion and fear, leads to pain. The pain that we’re experiencing scares us, causing us to become fearful—starting the whooooole cycle all over again.    
   
*PHEW*     
    
We can all agree this cycle is less than ideal for a birth, but I promise you there is good news ahead.    
    
✨Stay tuned this week to learn about an *alternative cycle* we can put ourselves in during birth instead!✨  
  
❔Did you find yourself in this cycle during birth?

09/10/2020

Can I tell you one of my favorite parts of being a parent?   
   
✨I get to decide what works for my child and my family✨   
   
If we want to change our parenting style from one month to the next—great, it’s our call.   
   
If we’d like to incorporate a certain play philosophy with our kid—fantastic, let’s give it a shot.   
   
If we want to educate based on the needs we see at hand—wonderful, let’s do it.   
   
Is it always perfect? Nope. But we get to pivot, change, and decide.   
   
You want to know something else?   
   
This applies to your pregnancy and birth too!    
   
✨You get to decide what works for your birth and your baby✨   
   
You get to call the shots!    
   
Want to change providers? Go for it!   
Decide you want to use pain medication? Awesome, do it!   
Think you’d like to labor in water? Request it!   
Know you want to avoid some routine procedures? Say it!   
Need more support than you expect? Speak it!   
   
There are many things out of our control in birthing and parenting—and with those we ebb and flow. There are also many things we can choose and be empowered in.    
   
Even when things don’t go the way we planned.    
Even when things change.    
Even when things are tough.   
   
We can pivot. We can decide.    
   
Lean into those choices.    
   
Don’t forget whose voice it is making those decisions, mama 🤍  
  
📷 .sorgini