Ep 186: Life Updates with Your Hosts

 Join Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachel as they dive into a spontaneous and heartfelt check-in episode. They discuss the evolution of their podcast, personal growth, and the joys and challenges of balancing family life with professional commitments. From summer camp adventures to reflections on postpartum care, this episode is a blend of personal stories and professional insights.

Highlights:

Celebrating four years and 185 episodes of the Aligned Birth Podcast. The importance of intentional summer planning for families. Reflections on postpartum care and the need for more support for new moms. Insights into the world of doulas and childbirth education. The evolving dynamics of parenting as children grow older.

Transcript

Aligned Birth Podcast (00:01.362)
Hello, hello, you are listening to the Align Birth Podcast. If you've been here before, thanks. And if you're here again, thanks. If you haven't been here before, you've got two hosts on the show here. I'm Dr. Shannon, prenatal chiropractor, and you've got Dula Rachel here. She's got a lot of things that she does. And so, childbirth educator.

patient advocate, doula. And so we like to hop on here and chat about all things perinatal. So that includes preconception, conception, pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum, motherhood, life, matressence, all the wonderful parts of having babies and what that does to us as women and mothers. So thanks for joining us today. This is our, I don't know, check-in day.

We don't know what we're gonna talk about today. So join us as we figure that out on the fly. So welcome, Rachel. I'm excited to chat today.

Aligned Birth Podcast (00:57.057)
You

Aligned Birth Podcast (01:03.566)
Hello friend I'm excited to chat to you know, we do these check-ins every few months and Sometimes we prepare and like have some outlines and today we're winging it which I really like because you're gonna get probably a little bit more realness And that's okay, that's But we do like to check in we like to talk about

Aligned Birth Podcast (01:05.937)
Hahaha

Aligned Birth Podcast (01:22.534)
real life. Yeah. We're real people.

Aligned Birth Podcast (01:30.764)
what's going on in our own lives. You know, all of our episodes are always very information driven and sharing about providers and information and resources. And then we also like to just take time to share about ourselves and our families and our businesses and what we have going on. And so I always look forward to these chats because it's just, it's just what we always, what we do. We like to talk and we like to share and check in and.

Aligned Birth Podcast (01:58.569)
Well, this is how it started. I mean, this is how the podcast started was us going and checking in and so And then we were like, hey, we're talking about some really cool stuff. We should record it. So And here we are a hundred and eighty some episodes later. What is it three years? I don't know how many years now for I don't know I think it's for four years later. So

Aligned Birth Podcast (02:00.77)
Yeah,

Checking in.

Aligned Birth Podcast (02:18.67)
Whoop whoop.

I think it's four. It's four years and we're about to release episode 185. So that's, that reminds me, I don't know if I told you about, I did a conference back in, when was that? I don't know, it doesn't matter. It was a few months ago and everyone talking about sharing what they do and.

Aligned Birth Podcast (02:31.207)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (02:48.756)
I was like, yeah, I have a little podcast. And I went into it. And then a little while later, someone circled back to me and they're like, little? I just looked it up. You have 100-something episodes. That's not little. You've been going. And I was like, weird. That was my subconscious, trying to make myself small. you want to play it down because I worry if I make it too big or too...

Aligned Birth Podcast (02:59.147)
Hahaha!

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:03.74)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:07.858)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:16.744)
Mm-hmm. Exactly. Yeah, who does she think she is? You know, mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:17.176)
braggadocious that someone would judge or think differently. So they made me like re-restated and like speak about it in a more confident way because I'm not always good at that. So yeah. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:27.025)
Aligned Birth Podcast (03:31.932)
Yes. Oh, I like that. I know I'll still have moms come in. had someone recently and she was like, so I listened to your tummy time method and I was like, I was like, oh yeah, that does live out there, you know, forever. I sometimes forget. I think I forget the growth that it can how far reaching it can be, you know, and long standing.

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:55.822)
Yeah and when someone finds it that they go they they can always go back to all of the the older episodes with all kinds of topics. I mean it really at this point we've run the gamut. We've covered so many things um so there's lots there to go back and I guess binge if someone wanted to. So so yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (03:59.451)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (04:07.302)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (04:12.305)
Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. It's easy to do that. Yeah, I know. So yeah, so we like to do these little check-ins and because it is a mix of what we're doing business-wise and life-wise and you know, as we grow and as our businesses individually grow and as the podcast grows, it's all kind of, I don't know, it is all kind of connected.

And so, how are things in your world? yeah, when we're recording this, so this is in the middle of that heat wave right at the beginning of summer. So we do try to record these close to when they're gonna come out, so it's kind of relevant. it's not gonna come out at Christmas time and it makes no sense. So we do try to be conscientious of that. So yes, so we're in the midst of summer, like official summer. So we've already been out of school for a hot minute.

Aligned Birth Podcast (04:57.962)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:09.134)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:13.192)
And so we're kind of like right smack dab in the middle of summer. So how does that feel? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It feels hot.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:14.774)
right in the middle. But this is the first week of true heat. Like we're actually it's we've been I think given or served a pretty mild summer thus far. And then this week it's like we summer solstice happened and they're like okay now we need to turn the heat up. We've had a lot of rain it's been more mild like

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:28.496)
Yeah, but now that it's officially summer.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:37.768)
Mother Earth was like, oh yeah, I know what to

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:44.642)
Temperature wise and then this past week is whoo. It's hot when you wake up So so yeah, our kids are out of school We are full-on in summer my dog is barking not sure if you can hear him He's sweet So, okay, I have a 12 year old and now nine year old we turned nine last week

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:46.165)
yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:50.436)
Mm-hmm. No, it has been.

Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:58.973)
Mm-hmm. Your dog is barking. Yeah. he's fine.

Aligned Birth Podcast (06:09.832)
Aligned Birth Podcast (06:13.196)
So a brand new nine-year-old in the house. He's not double-digit yet, so I'm okay. My heart's okay. But so 12 and nine, so summer this year, the intention I set coming into it was less, doing less, because we go really busy, really hard during the school year with sports and school and work and all the things. And last summer, we did a lot of camps, really highly structured.

Aligned Birth Podcast (06:13.225)
gosh.

Mm-hmm.

Huh?

Aligned Birth Podcast (06:40.04)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (06:42.158)
And that had some benefits, but when I reflected on it, I was like, that was too much. We did all the driving I was doing, getting to and from camps. They were all day camps. Um, and it just felt like with such a short summer that I didn't get to really soak in my kids. And so, you know, I have a flexible work schedule and so I wanted to have time to go a little bit slower, less structure, less alarm clocks, less.

Aligned Birth Podcast (06:48.028)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:00.487)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:11.426)
stress and so that's what we're aiming for and so far so good we do have we had one week of camp last week day camp and then this week was kind of a big deal they are at overnight camp for the first time.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:26.12)
Are they at the same place? Okay. Wow.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:27.618)
They are. are. For this first one, since it was like first for both of them, I was able to get my younger one a little bit more on board. Everett's ready. He was ready to go. He's like, yes, let's go send me away. He was up for a two week camp. Like he's like all in. And my younger son was a little bit more hesitant. And so to get him excited about it, we decided to send them to the same camp.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:39.036)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:47.133)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:55.648)
Obviously they're like in different bunks and doing different things, but they are there together, which helped my younger son be able to go more confidently, which is what you want when they're going to overnight camp. And so that's been, it's just a week. very, I feel like it's going to go.

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:57.907)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:02.376)
huh.

Yes.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:11.952)
What do they do? Is it like outdoorsy stuff? Like they're in like a little bunkhouse, like cabin thing? Okay. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:16.032)
Yeah, it's very rustic. It's up in near cloudland state parks that northwest corner of Georgia. So it's just really, really pretty. But it's very rustic. They all have like, you know, cabins that are like four walls, no bathrooms that are there. They're shared bathrooms and they've got bunk beds, you know, eight, eight kids in a bunk. You know, there's a lodge where they do a lot of their activities and but it's mostly outdoor activities. There's a lake and a

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:22.404)
it.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:34.13)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:45.102)
pool and they've got a whole bunch of different activities they get to do each day. So it's really just kind of it's traditional camp and the way that it is you know kind of in the middle of nowhere mostly outdoors pretty rustic and then group setting with with kids of similar ages. yeah so that's been an adjustment.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:47.004)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:05.714)
fun. So that's the main one, like the big camp for this summer. Yeah. I like that you reflected because I think I mean, I've gone through summers too where it was really structured. I think there was one summer where we did three different vacation Bible schools because they're free. Like I found one in the morning and one in the evening and another one and I was like, I just I needed that. So I think I know and I was like,

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:09.388)
Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:30.978)
Sometimes that's what you need.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:34.077)
I think it's important to note like, okay, that was good for then and you thrived in it or whatnot, but it's like, okay, what do I feel now and what season am I in now and what does that feel like? So I think that's a fun reflection because we've definitely had summers of busier camps. And I think sometimes too with when they're little, littler, it's easier to have a camp.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:37.784)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:43.798)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:57.612)
Yeah, I think that's part of it too.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:04.008)
because my kids are a bit older so we don't have as much. Well, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:07.31)
I think that was also part of it too, is my kids can now stay at home by themselves for periods of time. So when I have appointments that are out of the house, I can leave them versus needing quote unquote child care or a camp. So that's been part of it too, is getting to that stage. When they were younger, having some stimulation, having some activity, having someone help if you got work to do, it's more essential.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:20.38)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:25.298)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:37.024)
than now. So that's that is part of the decision too as older kids.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:40.454)
Yeah, yeah. And I know for my family dynamic in that I, I base my office schedule on my husband's schedule. And so he works 24 hours and he's off 48. So like someone's always home in our house too. So it's a different, you know, full time working structure.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:55.394)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:00.248)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:00.648)
And so I always like to see the differences in like, you know, moms that work at home or have these schedules or it was one parent out of the house and how those ebbs and flows. So it's not like we had to have something all the time. Because again, someone was home, although it is nice to have. It is nice to have a little bit of a break. fun.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:11.402)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Always there.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:19.222)
Yeah, yeah, that's what this week is is it's it's I'm like, okay next year I might really consider the two week camp because there's so many benefits to doing two weeks because they they get in the groove before having to leave and then it's taking it's taking me a minute to get into a groove to to really try and enjoy what it's like to not have you know kids you're taking care of all the time. So it's an adjustment for sure but it's nice I miss them I like my kids I enjoy being around my kids so like I

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:26.002)
Yeah.

Yes.

huh.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:36.294)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:40.882)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:47.418)
Yeah!

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:49.356)
I miss them and not to be like mushy or annoying but like I really do. But I was very happy to have them go. I want them to build skills and confidence and learn new experiences and slowly you know increase that over time. So like next year doing maybe something a little bit more you know longer or further away or something like that. So yeah it's growth for all of us. But like no communication.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:50.641)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (11:57.799)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:08.264)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:12.84)
Exactly. Exactly. Growth in that parent head space. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:19.038)
Zero. I get to send them emails and they can like they can send me a snail mail letter if they want. I'm not expecting one, but like I don't really know how it's going. I'm like, what did they eat for dinner? Was it fun? Did they make a new friend? Like I want to know. So have your kids done away camp? I know that your mom does something and that they go there, but

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:25.768)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:31.952)
Yeah.

Yeah, you want to check in on all the things. Yeah, that's fun.

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:47.132)
Yeah, Not necessarily they've always just it's always been at my mom's because my mom they my mom and stepdad managed like a wildlife property ish thing in close to Athens and so They've done that But they're staying, you know with family and it's just a day camp But in order to do it they have to stay, you know in Athens because we're not driving there back and forth or anything. So

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:01.752)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:14.408)
I'm trying to think if they've done anything. No, not like with someone else and overnight. And I think that's part of the, probably should have, but also just with our schedules, it never was like a, we need to do that type of thing. So I think they would have thrived with it. They've done a good job when I've sent them to my mom's though. So that's always fun. I know we just got back from that. Cause then it went, I started helping with my mom.

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:34.872)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:43.625)
Because my mom and stepdad are older and so they run this camp. And I know it's a lot. And so I was like to go and try to help out when I can. And they didn't do it for several years because my mom was like, no, I don't want to do this anymore. You know, like it's like the person that does all the behind the scenes and then the other person that's just like shows up and you know, and so my mom was like, you don't understand all the work that goes into this to my stepdad. And he's like, hey, let's do this. And so.

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:46.434)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:56.27)
You

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:11.088)
She gave in this year and then she's like, I don't want to do it again. I'm like, mom, it was fun. But the boys were counselors this year. So that was kind of fun. got to, they helped more than like participating. And it's just an outdoor thing that we would do fishing, archery, BB guns, know, built bluebird boxes, stuff like that. And yeah, it was a lot of fun, but.

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:14.062)
It's a lot of work. can't, I can't imagine.

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:26.21)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:35.726)
Cool.

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:39.088)
My youngest, so I have a 15 year old and a 12 year old and my youngest, goes, there was all these little tiny frogs out at the pond. I always loved that. That always reminds me of my childhood, like playing outside. Those like little teeny tiny frogs. And they, the kids, well, mainly the boys, but the girls, they were also doing this too, but the boys were mainly picking them up and then putting them in each other's shirts. And Dylan was like,

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:52.782)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (15:08.784)
He came to me and he was like, they're picking up frogs and they're just putting them in each other's shirts. And I was like, these are feral children and you were also just like that. And he was so like, and he was, he even commented just like you can't control them. And he goes, I do not want to be a teacher. He was like, this is, and the kids in camp range, age range was like six to 11. So you had some young ones and you had some older ones, but it was just really funny for him to, yes.

Aligned Birth Podcast (15:35.906)
be in that role.

Aligned Birth Podcast (15:38.205)
to see that side. mean, he was, he's so on the cusp of that anyways that like, it's not like I needed him to, you know, control groups or whatever, but it was pretty funny. So that we just, yeah, we just got back. Yeah, we just got back from that. So that was good. I know, yeah. The rest has been good. Trying to think.

Aligned Birth Podcast (15:48.834)
That's awesome.

Aligned Birth Podcast (15:55.294)
Wonderful. Fun. How's the rest of y'all summer been?

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:05.512)
It's just been, it hasn't been real busy. The office has been, May, May was really tough. And it wasn't that I was busy with end of school things, because we didn't have any really big things going on. But running an office that caters to primarily young growing families and the amount of

last minute schedule changes.

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:39.101)
Hehehehehe

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:40.658)
I thought I was gonna lose my mind. And I totally, I try to be very, very understanding, because I know that, but y'all, the amount of that, yeah, I even said, I was like, this is gonna be the death meat. Like, it's just like, it's the last bit. So I knew everybody else kind of felt bit, so it made me feel like that collective energy, even though I wasn't like, you know, in it. So May had a little bit of like,

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:45.888)
Yeah, you empathize. You get it.

Aligned Birth Podcast (17:09.992)
And then, yeah, summer's been good. We don't have... My other, my youngest is in another camp this week, band camp, which I thought would be really fun since he plays a saxophone. And that's it. My 15-year-old, was interesting is when summer hit, he, at the beginning, would, and he might do it now, occasionally, there was one morning where he slept in until 2 p.m.

like to into the afternoon. That's not me. I don't I don't know that. And so he even made the comment at camp. It was like noon and we were eating lunch. So we'd already done a program. We'd already done all the first half of the day stuff. And he was like, yeah, some days I'm just not getting up. And I was like, I know. He's like, I've wasted half the day. And I was like, I know. So I needed him to see that. But I also wanted to

Aligned Birth Podcast (17:42.561)
Wow.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:08.898)
Let them. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:08.954)
I don't want to push him so much. I know I was like, he's growing. He's not taller than me. He's taller than my husband. Like he needs this time. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And so I'm experiencing, I'm experiencing that. So, but also, yeah, I'm like, well, don't go to bed so late. Cause now I'm at the point too, where I'm going to bed before him. Like I, this is, we're in that dynamic now where I'm no longer like,

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:15.106)
You know they go back to newborn sleep needs during puberty. Yeah, it's not a lazy thing. is. is. is. mean, maybe there's some of that in there.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:33.272)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:38.14)
which is interesting to think of. was like, when was the last time I put him to bed? Like there's those things that you don't necessarily realize like, this might be the last time. I mean, I always go in and say good night and stuff like that, but for him to actually go to sleep.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:42.507)
Aww. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:49.454)
We've had a funny shift with my oldest and he's staying up a little bit later, but not crazy, but it's about 30 minutes to an hour after I, cause I want to get into bed and like read and unwind like before I actually fall asleep. And now he's coming in to say good night to me before he goes to bed. And I'm thankful we still have that routine. It's not just me going to bed and then him going to bed whenever like, so whenever he's done.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:57.832)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:04.807)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:08.745)
huh. Yep.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:15.854)
and ready for bed, he comes in and says goodnight to us. And so that's still the 12 year old. I'm sure when it's 15, it'll be different, but it's a funny shift.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:15.922)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:21.532)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:25.224)
Mm-hmm. So it's, I don't know, it's an interesting little shift there.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:29.548)
Yeah, I won't be doing well when they start sleeping in and I know it's a part of it and we will get through it, but, my mom used to, when we would sleep in, run, start running the vacuum like around 10 and my mom's like an early bird and she's like, I will be quiet for you guys to a point, but then

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:35.942)
Mm-hmm. Uh-huh.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:52.428)
it's on. So it's like no more quiet cleaning or quiet existing. It's like vacuum clean. am I just right outside your door? I'm so sorry. but you're up. Okay, let's go. I'm like, that's gonna be me.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:53.16)
It's...

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:00.233)
So sorry. huh. Uh huh. Yeah. Yep. That's why camp was so good last week. Cause I mean, they had to get up early because we were, you know, going movie night. I was like, Oh, this is awesome. So, but yeah, no. Um, so summer is good. I have a few little things that I would, I want us to do. We have one more trip coming up. We do an annual beach trip. We've been doing that for probably 16 years now. Um,

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:11.182)
Mmm. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:26.285)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:29.576)
And so we have that coming up and that'll be, that'll be it. Yeah. So that'll be, yeah. And then pretty chill. don't have much structure planned, which I did kind of want it to be like that, you know? Yeah. And even last year was kind of the same thing. So unstructured structure. I would like you to not get sleep in until two. That's my.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:33.464)
July, do go in July? Okay, that's what I thought.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:44.782)
That's nice.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:48.61)
That's nice. Yeah. That's great.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:58.754)
Yeah, that's what we're aiming for this summer as well. Yeah. So how are things? You mentioned a busy kind of May or kind of a wonky May. is everything else in your chiropractic office?

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:59.496)
That's it.

Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:09.041)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:12.72)
Everything's good, everything's good. Yeah, busy, lots of moms, lots of babies do, lots of babies do. They kind of come in waves too as far as like collectively all around one time, at least I see. And then I have a few outliers and then some moms come in a little bit later in the game.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:22.892)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:33.614)
Are you seeing any trends or learning any new information?

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:39.081)
let's see. I've had several say they I think it's in it might because I have a couple of second time moms. So some of them have they started under care later in their first pregnancy and then stayed in postpartum and now we're pregnant again.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:59.768)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm on number two.

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:05.368)
with them, they have often said they wish they had started under care earlier like first time around. So I hear that a lot.

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:16.47)
That was me. That was my exact experience. I started late in the first, continued through, did it all for my second, and always, always wished I had started sooner, but better late than never.

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:22.066)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:26.53)
Mm-hmm so that you know them voicing it me not saying like well if you'd started saying, know Like none of that, but it's them kind of seeing it and feeling it. I think that tends That's a trend That I've seen in those those second time moms. Honestly, it's That postpartum timeframe

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:30.515)
Mm. Yeah, they had they acknowledge it. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:55.28)
I feel like I've seen a shift into, I don't think we're just honoring it as much. don't know how to put it and I don't know how to like say it delicately as well because I don't like to should on, you know, people and moms, but I guess I'm looking at it from a different lens as far as like I'm out of that immediate time period and now moving into this, you know, like other.

Aligned Birth Podcast (23:20.929)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (23:24.04)
part of postpartum. I just think it's really tough when you have two working parents, whatever that looks like, and whether they're in the home or one is out of the home and then trying to juggle all the things with healing themselves because we get so focused on baby. I'm feeling a shift of we're really focusing on baby and postpartum and we're

Aligned Birth Podcast (23:48.824)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (23:53.373)
Forgetting mom. I see it a lot in my mom's that work outside of the home or or work in that like I have a job outside of Stay at home mom. There's a difference with stay at home mom as well, too, but I Don't I just I'm seeing a trend there In that were I feel like we're struggling a bit

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:14.476)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:19.654)
And don't know if it's like society collectively in feeling that like, I just feel like we're getting right back into like the striving and let's just keep pushing and keep going. And it's just like in that little like rat race thing. And so I don't know, I just see that. So it feels a little bit heavy.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:32.609)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:37.676)
Yeah, I think that's been something that has existed in a second uphill battle to get because we work a lot with people during pregnancy and we spend a lot of time talking to them about preparing for postpartum and to do it in a meaningful and intentional way and that it's worth the effort. Like if you give it an inch, you'll get a mile, but you've got to give it some something in the way of preparation. So, you know, we really drive that home and we have some people that really will do that and we see the benefits and then

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:42.024)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:50.3)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:55.324)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:00.688)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:07.729)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:07.81)
We have some people who don't and so maybe they struggle. Not everyone struggles. We definitely see struggle in the postpartum for sure. But we wish people put as much effort into the postpartum as they did into the, you know, baby registries and birth prep and and all of that. you know, it in our current society, it's not set up to support new moms. And I just want people to recognize that. you know, it's for a variety of reasons. There's no

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:15.11)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:32.412)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:37.26)
right or wrong and there's no quick fix. But if you plan intentionally and meaningfully and set some healthy boundaries for your postpartum period, at least for the first three months, and of course we know postpartum goes beyond that, but that's really a good way to start. And you know, I think that can really help people have a better recovery long term mentally and physically. And so wanted to mention, know, we have, has a postpartum planning class. If you ever want to share that with

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:58.023)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:05.222)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:06.966)
you're expecting moms and get them on the while they're pregnant. Get them.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:12.432)
I feel like I need to, I do that, but I feel like I need to do it more or earlier, but also too, when I have moms that are coming and starting care so late, I'm just like, Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:22.31)
there's so, and you know, there's so much that they're feeling like overwhelmed with. And we always dance around that too. We're like, we know you've got a lot going on because we give a lot of information to the, we even some feedback is like, okay, slow down on the information. I'm feeling overwhelmed. And I love when people communicate that because then we can help them through that. But we're like, it's here if you want it. Like, and we know information is empowering and it can reduce fear and boost confidence, but we understand it can be overwhelming too. so it's always a dance of like, we know you have a lot to do.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:37.093)
Uh-huh.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:41.487)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:50.64)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:52.354)
But if this could be more important than like, I don't know, painting your nursery, maybe if you could just see that like one actually has a long term benefit and one doesn't, it's really hard. But then I don't want to take away anyone's like preparation experience because that means a lot. But it's like I've been through it twice personally. I prepared very differently for my first and I did my second. We walk through this so much with people and so many second time.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:58.364)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:06.93)
Mm-hmm.

Nesting is fun.

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:15.58)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:21.08)
parents tend to have a grasp on what they truly need to do to navigate it but it's like we're always trying to strike the balance of talking about postpartum and not scaring people and not overwhelming them but I like trying to be like if you do this prep if you if you take this seriously it will have so much benefit and help you feel better through that through that period but yeah we see a lot of struggle in the postpartum for sure but this

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:22.94)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:48.346)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:48.992)
Hannah's class is pretty short and it's very tangible resources. not just like, doesn't just tell you what to do, kind of explains the why and then gives you like a tangible like list to make and things to think about and kind of building, organize it. Yeah, and build your village. Because everyone thinks they have people, but it's like, what kind of people do you have? There's different categories of people. There's the helpers and there's the the

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:02.248)
Mm-hmm how to organize it to make it beneficial Well, yeah

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:13.8)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:17.112)
come hold baby people and there's the bring the food people and there's, you know, who can do what? Identify those people, lift them up and let them serve you. People wanna help. But yeah, that's real.

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:22.94)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:27.732)
Mm-hmm. I know. That's... I feel like that's weighing on me. And sometimes I'm...

I just wish people knew it's like simple things and kind of what you're talking about with like Hannah's class as well too. It's not like you need big complicated schedules or things to like promote healing and postpartum because that's where I'm like, I just need you to come in for a 15 minute adjustment. We can totally impact how your nervous system functions. You can go sit in early morning sunlight for

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:48.792)
Mm-mm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (28:58.018)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:02.12)
10 minutes and that can drastically improve your function. It's like doing slight little meal preps beforehand that can drastically alleviate some stress and then you've made like good healing nutritious food. It's like it's the little things like that where I maybe we get overwhelmed. I don't know. It just feels heavy.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:03.128)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:11.96)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:24.61)
I think when you're in the state of overwhelmed and or overstimulation or stress, you're not, people aren't able to think or function in the way that they can when without those things. So it's a, it's a hard cycle to break because you have to sort of slowly kind of eliminate some things to make room for other things and help yourself start to feel better incrementally. so, but it's tough.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:29.475)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:33.096)
You can't logically see those things.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:39.516)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:48.625)
Yeah, it's tough, but that's I feel like that's weighing on me, you know a bit. I think it comes in it comes in waves. but I know so I just have to keep talking about it Keep talking about it. Yeah

Aligned Birth Podcast (29:59.68)
Yeah, same. We drive that home a lot. We have those conversations regularly, but that's all we can do, know, offer support and lots of check-ins. We give our clients so many check-ins postpartum because we know things shift and change and then the questions come up. So they may not know beforehand what they need until they're in it and we're there to support them for that too, which I really like.

Aligned Birth Podcast (30:09.404)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (30:25.062)
Yeah, there's that, Yeah, knowing, it's hard to, yeah, not knowing completely what you might need. So then it's like, have I put too much effort into prepping for this? And that really wasn't the issue, but.

Aligned Birth Podcast (30:37.844)
we say prepare for the marathon and if it's anything less or easier or whatever cool that's for both birth and postpartum right it's okay to over prepare as long as it's not stressing you out to prepare right like i think it's okay to have like more things in place more communication more self-reflection and then if it's easier or you don't need some of those things okay that's okay yeah

Aligned Birth Podcast (30:43.506)
Then that works. Yeah. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (30:50.077)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (30:54.268)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:00.466)
Exactly. How are things in the doula world for you all? What are you noticing? Any trends?

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:07.03)
Yeah, solid. I had three births last week, which is a lot for me personally. Hannah and I as a partnership take about two clients a month, which is really, really low volume for a partnership, but we also run the agency. So we're doing all of that. But this is like my due date example, right? Of like, we had an early June, we had a mid June.

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:12.166)
Hmm. That's a lot, yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:23.815)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:36.662)
We had an end of June. They all came in the same week. One.

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:40.872)
My end of June went early too because I had a little running thing in my head. was like who's gonna have their baby first? Yeah

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:48.558)
One was late, one was just like, you know, a week late. One was a due date, I had a due date baby, which is always fun. And then we had someone go early. I had a first time mom, labor like a second time mom, and I had a second time mom, labor like a first time mom. And then there was a, yeah, it was cool. It was a cool time.

Aligned Birth Podcast (31:52.391)
Mm-hmm.

Cool.

Aligned Birth Podcast (32:00.475)
a little bit earlier.

Aligned Birth Podcast (32:09.352)
Who saw it all?

Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (32:16.653)
And that's not typical. They tend to kind of even out in space out and be chill. But it was a fun week and made me super happy. So that was all personal. But we're rocking and rolling with our team. We've got 15 doulas, birth postpartum, childbirth education, all the stuff. And it's going well. It feels good because now we're serving a bigger area. So we're fielding.

lots more inquiries that we're able to take, which feels great. And trends I'm seeing, it's constantly changing. I'm not seeing anything consistent. I mean, we had a few cesarean births in a row and then a few unmedicated in a row.

Aligned Birth Podcast (32:46.887)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:07.214)
I'm seeing a lot of advocacy and I think we're attracting that, which is great. We're seeing people come in who are really wanting to advocate for the birth that they want.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:11.334)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:18.826)
Yeah, I mean, seeing really positive evolution and care, but also seeing some hard things like I just we're just seeing so much. I'm excited to see Kenistone Hospital, local hospital is updating all of their labor and delivery rooms. They are beautiful. Sorry, my dog, I can't do anything about it. He's upstairs. I'm downstairs. If I could ask him to be quiet.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:24.892)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:39.656)
Nice.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:43.942)
He's doing his thing. I know. Maybe in the editing, I know. He's fine.

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:50.073)
Um, he sounds like he's this big crazy dog and he's big, but he's not aggressive or anything. Um, but anyways, they're getting an update their rooms and so that's super exciting. That hospital is so busy. Um, so that's just great for people given birth there. Um, you know, I attended, I've been doing this for 11 years and attended

Aligned Birth Podcast (33:57.705)
a lot to say. He has a lot to say. Okay.

Aligned Birth Podcast (34:09.436)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (34:18.104)
for really the first time a home birth, like birth, but in a hospital setting. So it really was like the birthing person was very much very convicted on what they wanted and advocated. And we helped them do that to achieve the birth that they wanted. But it was just, it was affirming and like putting physiology first in a hospital setting is very possible with some specific action.

Aligned Birth Podcast (34:25.306)
Aligned Birth Podcast (34:32.721)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (34:46.472)
and conviction from the birthing person. you know, we didn't do EFN. They did Doppler. So she really had no wires. had no, she wasn't hooked up to her IV. Really hands off, you know, 15 hour at the hospital labor and one cervical check. You know, so some things that are definitely against the norm and

Aligned Birth Podcast (34:46.652)
Yeah.

Wow. Was that at Kinnastone? Nice.

Aligned Birth Podcast (35:04.572)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (35:11.322)
It's possible. The yes, the checklist medical norm. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (35:15.606)
and everything went really well and you're kind of like, okay, did we get lucky? But I'm more inclined to think things went really well and we didn't have complications because it was more hands off and physiology first with lots of support. It wasn't a hands off like people weren't caring for her. Everyone was tended to and taken care of and it was so cool. It was so cool.

Aligned Birth Podcast (35:26.94)
with his hands off. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (35:40.553)
I had a first time mom and she went a little bit early because I actually thought she was going to be coming in and getting adjusted this week and then she sent me a text and so she had her and she had a doula and she had her and she's also a nurse and so she I think she even works in and labor and and delivery but she had her baby unmedicated

Aligned Birth Podcast (35:53.454)
You

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:03.48)
Mmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:09.448)
vaginal birth and that was really exciting. So and that was at Kinnastone as well too. I'm excited to hear how that feels for her and what she had like to see this other side of it you know from what she knows but that's really fun to hear that from your client. That's really cool. So yeah yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:22.646)
Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:32.204)
Yeah, that's one I want to talk more about because it's definitely some people are like, that's not possible or, you know, have some opinions about it. But I'm like, no. But it is rare. I've been doing this a long time and I've had a lot of unmedicated birth in the hospital, but not always that hands off, especially for such a long. I've seen hands off when like we're walking in ready to push. That tends to be more hands off because there's just not you're not laboring there for a long time.

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:45.21)
Yeah

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:49.006)
Mm-hmm. That hands off. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (36:56.262)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:01.391)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:01.464)
But this was like, we were there for 15 hours before baby was born. So it's like, there's a lot of opportunity to intervene or interfere. And we had just a really great experience, but there was a lot of preparation, a lot of advocacy and good client like conviction, like that maximum self-determination, which I think plays a huge role. She's also a nurse.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:07.792)
Intervene. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:18.76)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Good. I feel like sometimes you get one or two schools of thought with nurses, know? Uh-huh, yeah. So I've got some over here, some over there. Hey, it's totally fine. Well, it's all good. Maybe we need to do, I feel like there's been some recent research and stuff that's come out too with talking about inductions. I don't know if you've seen some of the chatter.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:31.498)
Yeah, yeah, yep. We've had them all. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:36.97)
All good, we're here for it all. Yeah, so no, but solid.

Aligned Birth Podcast (37:53.085)
maybe from ACOG, even from even something coming out of Australia, I thought I had seen some research as far as like inductions and the timing and do inductions really prevent cesareans? And I was pretty fascinated by it, especially too, from some of the words that I'm hearing that have been spoken to moms about inductions and how

some providers just prefer them. And I think it's a control thing and a risk management thing. And I know that's probably gonna take us down a whole rabbit hole that we don't have time on. So maybe we do an episode on it. that conversation has come up a lot in the office lately. There's been a lot of fear around inductions. And I always go to our episode that we did because I'm like, I always hear you in my head talking about if it's used in a good manner, it can be.

Aligned Birth Podcast (38:37.954)
Well, yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (38:49.32)
a good thing, but it's not an across the board thing. It's not like everybody gets the same type of treatment with it. So I just, I'm hearing that a lot because I feel like it still gets thrown into moms a lot. Well, if you're not here by this time, we're going to induce it. If baby's like this, we're going to induce it. Blah, blah, blah, blah. We're going to induce. That's what I, I feel like I'm hearing. Way early.

Aligned Birth Podcast (38:54.968)
Right.

you

Aligned Birth Podcast (39:06.744)
when they start having that conversation way early, that it's already, a, I don't want to use that word, but it's it's planting the seed of like getting them warmed up to it. And we actually now we've bumped up our conversation of how we introduce, like we talked to them about how at this point in pregnancy, especially if you're traditional model of care that you're, you know, normal traditional provider.

Aligned Birth Podcast (39:16.57)
It does. And I try to pull that seed out.

Aligned Birth Podcast (39:34.83)
especially if we know that that provider will probably introduce induction early, we let them know, hey, your provider is going to start talking about induction at this point. So don't be caught off guard. And we actually, we learned through our advocacy training, this fun new term, precautionary induction. So we always hear if it's medically necessary or not. And then a lot of them are painted as medically necessary, but they are actually precautionary.

Aligned Birth Podcast (39:44.21)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (39:56.753)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:02.556)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:02.862)
reasons for induction such as big baby being it's a precautionary because we no one can say for sure whether or not that baby can pass through your pelvis especially if we're talking about eight nine ten pound babies now 11 12 not too much bigger that's not accurate right and the recommendation is that that should be that's not an evidence-based reason to medically induce someone we should give them a chance to have their baby right um and then and if it's truly a big baby like if we're talking like

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:05.448)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:14.106)
and the measurements on them are not as accurate as we say they are.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:23.922)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:33.069)
11, 12 or more pounds possibly. It's not even an induction that's recommended. It's actually a cesarean. So this inducing for possible big baby is just bananas and it's not evidence-based but that's a precautionary, precautionary, you know, reason for induction. So learning about like things that might get introduced that might feel medically necessary and how that plays on our brain, on the birthing person's brain like

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:38.984)
Hmm. Hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:45.809)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (40:52.69)
tough.

Aligned Birth Podcast (41:03.086)
We know that if they introduce the idea for a big baby, you have a 30 % higher chance of having a cesarean because it gets in your head. Like, is this baby going to pass through my pelvis? And the whole bit. Yeah. And so we had that off. We have very intentional conversations now, especially with these categories of like, here are reasons that are truly medically necessary. And here's how you know these are medically necessary. Here's precautionary.

Aligned Birth Podcast (41:11.528)
It's fertile ground up there and that plants uh-huh. I've been dealing with that quite a bit. I know I've been yeah

Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (41:28.86)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (41:32.418)
Here's the reasons. so knowing precautionary, if you hear that information, you can be like confident of like, I've learned about this. If this isn't truly, truly medically necessary right now, I can explore my options. We're not saying decline or deny. You have every right to choose what you want in pregnancy and in birth. And then there's the ones that are like elective and we don't, so we don't see those a lot, but we do. We still, we see the whole gamut. But we like to introduce it. We are, and we are now introducing it much earlier.

Aligned Birth Podcast (41:45.326)
Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (41:56.551)
Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:00.625)
Earlier. Yeah, that's good.

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:01.058)
to try and head off. Like we don't want the provider to be the first one telling them, hey, you might need an induction. Let's go ahead and put you down. Like at 40 weeks, they want to go ahead and induce you or put you on the schedule for 41 weeks. And we're like, you don't have

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:06.416)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:16.488)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Life. Like I said, he's got lots to say. No, but that's right. I know. I think maybe we could re-, I don't know, revisit it or something, but I've been seeing that a lot and it's navigating,

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:21.228)
You don't have to do that. So I'm sorry, my dog. So loud. I don't know what he's even barking at.

Anyways, I'd love to explore that.

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:42.32)
I don't know, it's navigating that conversation, maybe conversations about inductions. I don't know. But that's just another thing that I see, I've been seeing and hearing. yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:55.47)
cool sorry I'm making some notes for our ideas but anyways I know we're kind of at time this has been fun is there anything else we want to touch on

Aligned Birth Podcast (42:58.81)
Making notes. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (43:04.112)
Yeah, I know. Good to check in. Good to see you. No, no, I don't think so. Just rocking and rolling, moving forward. Yeah, with intention. think that's my main thing.

Aligned Birth Podcast (43:19.0)
Yeah, and we've got, you know, we're I guess halfway through the year. We're continuing the same cadence for the rest of the year for episodes every other week. Lots of great interviews coming up, lots of great episodes. So we hope you continue to tune in and listen. And, you know, we'd love to hear from anybody with any ideas about topics to record. Yeah. And yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (43:45.307)
Always fun. We'll chat soon then. Bye.

Aligned Birth Podcast (43:47.374)
Alright, bye friends.