Birth Class

We can’t recommend this enough! Specifically Lauren’s class. She typically does these in person but because of COVID she revamped everything to make it online so even though she’s based out of Northern VA, we were able to do this with her which was amazing. The course is broken up into four, three-ish hour sessions and we did it with two other couples!

Stephen has said multiple times he would highly recommend this course as well, especially to new, soon-to-be fathers (it was great for me too but it was really an eye opening experience for him!).

Our friends also just completed the course after we had recommended it to them and agreed, it’s worth every single penny.

You can find Lauren’s website HERE and/or you can message Lauren any questions on Instagram at @fairfaxbirthcare.

Books

There are a lot of book recommendations out there when it comes to babies and birth! These are the ones that I would recommend.

Supernatural Childbirth – we read this front to back I think four times before we even found out that I was pregnant. It’ll always be a book that we go back to. It’s just chock-full of truth and life-giving words to speak over your pregnancy and delivery. I also talked about it HERE.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth – This book can get pretty “crunchy” but I think it was really helpful and insightful.

Expecting Better – I really appreciated this book because the author has no agenda other than to share data and facts. It debunks a lot of the common things you hear/read about pregnancy and what to do/not to do using factual data. “You should only drink two cups of coffee a day.” But why? “Alcohol during pregnancy is an absolute no.” But is it REALLY?

The Happiest Baby on the Block – This book was most helpful to read to prepare us for the fourth trimester. Stephen listened to the entire thing too and we both think it’ll be super helpful to have stored in our noggin for later on.

I didn’t get a chance to read/listen to these yet but friends recommended them to me if you want to look into them. I still plan on reading them all!

Holy Labor, Natural Hospital Birth, Real Food for Gestational Diabetes

Lauren’s Recommendations:

Sweet Sleep, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, The Birth Partner (for fathers/partners), Real Food for Pregnancy, Cribsheet

If trying to conceive – It Starts with the Egg and Taking Charge of Your Fertility

Instagram Accounts

@expectingandempowered

@Nancyandersonfit

@moveyourbump

@mommy.labornurse

@fairfaxbirthcare

@pregnant.postpartum.athlete

Pelvic Floor Therapy

I knew well before I was pregnant that I wanted to go to a physical therapist for pelvic floor therapy. I’d recommend doing this even before pregnancy if you’re able to! Peeing while running, jumping, sneezing, etc. is NOT the way it’s supposed to be! Unfortunately, it happens so often with most women that it has become normal. The reason for this is that most women either have weak pelvic floor muscles or the opposite – they have trouble relaxing them. Pregnancy and the weight of the fetus just heightens this issue. The way to strengthen these muscles is by doing exercises such as kegels, which you’ve probably heard of. However, it can be quite difficult to determine how to activate the pelvic floor (a lot of women tend to do this incorrectly) and therefore train them properly with kegels. This is where the PT comes in! They walk you through how to find these muscles and walk you through exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor (and beyond!).

For Tricare members: I was able to receive a referral from my primary care physician to see a PT in the area once I explained to them what a pelvic floor was (not kidding here) and why pelvic floor therapy especially while pregnant is important.

For Columbia locals: I went to Drayer Physical Therapy but a friend of mine who also has Tricare went to Carolina Women’s Physical Therapy and Wellness. I originally tried to go to the latter but Tricare told me they didn’t cover that office… Which ended up not being true for my friend that has the same insurance… Oh well. Either way, I had a great experience with Drayer! Ask for Taryn! She’s amazing.

I hope this is helpful!! If I forgot something along the way, I’ll make sure to come on here and update the post. Let me know if you have any questions! Stay well, friends.

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