07Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn
The Captivating Home of Your Fetus

The Captivating Home of Your Fetus

Health, Infants, Life, Parenting, Pregnancy
The captivating home of your fetus is riveting when you genuinely take the time to learn each discovery. The microscopic to the most significant details will blow your mind. The more you understand about this symbiotic environment, the easier it is for you to nourish yourself a little bit more through the pregnancy. From the time you saw the pregnancy test appear favorable, you’ve likely done a lot of reading about pregnancy, labor, birth, and babies. Maybe you’ve even watched a bunch of videos or taken a class to become more comfortable with the process or perhaps talked to a variety of seasoned moms. Whatever route you are using to learn about motherhood, it probably does not include enough information about the complex environment your protégé is growing in. Parents…
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04Nov 2023 by Sarah Glenn

How to Find Your Mom Tribe

Parenting, Pregnancy, Relationships
Every woman should have a mom tribe. Even if you're not pregnant yet, start gathering information to use later when the time is right. Finding a mom tribe is integral to your well being! Here's a possible scenario: You’re a few days late with your period and decide to pick up an at home pregnancy test.  Once in the store, you’re overwhelmed with the options available.  Is the price predictive of a more accurate reading? Which one has better reviews?  Is one stick easier to pee on than the other?  Will you be able to understand the process and how to interpret?  With so many questions you may turn to Siri, google, YouTube etc. instead of a friend or family member because you want it to be a secret.  Once…
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31Oct 2023 by Sarah Glenn

5 Creative Ways to Involve Visitors so YOU Can Rest

All, Infants, Parenting, Pregnancy
Let’s face it, a baby brings many emotions from various people in your life.  Most humans want to greet the new, squishy “potato” with lots of holding and kissing.  While germs are good to build antibodies, we want to use caution when it’s possible.  So how does a newly delivered family make everyone happy but stave off the parasites?  Let’s start by keeping well-meaning-baby-lovers busy.  Since the majority of your closest relatives and friends are begging to help in some way, give them a productive list of options. Basic housekeeping: No one person must do it all, but many hands make light work.  You could plan for this or have your bff organize everyday chores for the first month.  Things like laundry, dishes, vacuum, clean a bathroom, take out the…
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24Oct 2023 by Sarah Glenn

Why You Should Have a Doula

Pregnancy
By definition a Doula is someone who gives emotional, physical & educational support to a pregnant, laboring and or postpartum mother.  Traditionally, this woman (or man) has gone through an educational training, an apprenticeship and or attended women (for free) at least 20 times before venturing out on her own. She is also a teacher and offers childbirth, breastfeeding and baby care classes as well.  Some doulas will become a specialist in certain aspects of birth or postpartum and only offer services reflecting that.  For instance, the woman who prefers to do all the teaching but not attend the birth, or the person who only wants to attend a home or hospital birth and of course the woman who may only attend women in the postpartum period.  Helping the new…
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10Oct 2023 by Sarah Glenn
The Fourth Trimester

The Fourth Trimester

Breastfeeding, Infants, Life, Parenting, Pregnancy, Relationships
It's strange to hear the newborn period referenced as the "fourth trimester." You've spent 10 (not 9) long months on a countdown through days, weeks, months and trimesters patiently waiting until the end of the third trimester for "this" to be over so you can meet your little one. Emotionally, those first three months postpartum are a time of transformation for you, your baby, and your partner. Learning how to be a family is taxing. Physically your body is adjusting to the new spaciousness, milking breasts, and the crazy hormone acclimation. Let's not forget the exceptional changes a newborn phase through. The cerebellum alone triples in size during the first year. Those early experiences outside the womb are integral to optimize brain development. Newborns are born slightly immature at full…
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04Feb 2023 by Sarah Glenn

Breast Pain

Breastfeeding, Health, Infants, Pregnancy
When breast pain doesn't go away it can leave a mother to feel defeated and distraught. Especially for those that felt breastfeeding was going well and her achy breast was not much of anything to worry about. Clearly, having a plan to resolve the issues quickly can bring peace back to the symbiotic relationship. Breastfeeding is an intricate exchange between a mother and her child. The mother relies on her offspring to take the milk from the breast while the child expects to find a quality bounty while suckling. Now and again the communication between the breast and infant goes awry for one reason or another and a "back-up" in the breast occurs. A firmness that makes the mom feel full and uncomfortable can become rather troublesome. Despite all the…
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15May 2020 by Sarah Glenn

They Told You the Baby is Posterior

Health, Infants, Life, New Parenthood, Pregnancy, Relationships, Third Trimester
They told you the baby is posterior, what exactly does that mean? Posterior fetal position (OP), otherwise known as "sunny-side-up," is a term used to determine how the baby's head is presenting when inside mom's belly. In the OP position, the back (occiput) of the fetal head is towards the woman's back (posterior), and the baby is looking "sunny-side-up." Babies have many challenging tasks to accomplish when going from in-utero to mother's arms. The majority of these efforts are done without mom having to do anything special to be successful in finding the optimal fetal position for birth. In a nutshell, babies are driven to find the correct way out of the water world. Most munchkins settle into the optimal fetal position between the 32nd and 36th week of pregnancy. Eager…
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08Apr 2020 by Sarah Glenn

Third Trimester Planning

Breastfeeding, Health, Infants, Life, Parenting, Pregnancy, Relationships
Third-trimester planning takes the pressure off when you are busy learning your new role- MOM! It's not essential for you to do everything on the list before the baby, but it can improve your recovery from birth. You will become an awesome mother whether you're prepared or not; after all, babies don't require much more than diapers, clothes, breasts, and shelter. It'll be ok! To-Do List Employer conversation: Know the federal, state, and office policies on FMLA-pregnancy-maternity leave and the pumping at work laws before you broach the subject with your boss. Be well versed in your rights and start that conversation now about your plans to return even if you're not sure or think you may not go back. Get a tentative return to work date agreed upon and…
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07Feb 2020 by Sarah Glenn

Meeting Your “New Mom” Needs

Health, Infants, Life, Pregnancy, Relationships
Integrating your baby in your life while meeting your "new mom" needs can be tricky. Everyone wants to be part of those first few weeks, but quickly lose interest after the first month. Check on your new mom friends after week four, and you'll find some of them chomping at the bit to "feel normal again." Incorporating that balance will take time. Finding something that can help improve your new daily regimen AND keep your baby with you can be challenging. As a new mom, you're always looking for a small window of opportunity to duck out and exercise, meet friends for lunch, groom at the hairdresser, read a book, run to the store or take a bath without 487 interruptions. It becomes especially important when your health could be…
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29Jan 2020 by Sarah Glenn

Milk Coming In

Breastfeeding, Health, Infants, Parenting, Pregnancy
Milk-coming-in is part of the changes you experience after the delivery of your progeny. Your body has been making all the necessary preparations since egg and sperm met. Possibly you've even seen a discharge from the nipple occasionally during pregnancy. Remember you've spent 40 weeks creating life and now you need to sustain that life. At first, women worry whether milk will come in but after a few days, they realize how bountiful their yield is. Engorgement is when the breast tissue overfills with milk, blood, and other fluids. It may cause your breasts to feel very full, to become hard and painful, and your nipples to flatten and tighten. Engorgement is a temporary stage to the milk-coming-in part of breastfeeding. Milk-coming-in is part of the changes you experience after…
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