Yeaaahhh Friday! Alaska had a huge melt this week and it has been WONDEFUL. After being careful about walking on ice for 6 months, you can now run on pavement worry free. Come on summer!
This Five is packed. There were so many good things to throw in and I couldn’t cap it – so I didn’t Enjoy and happy weekend!
1. Carrie Pagliano’s Physical Therapy site.
As usual, I am always finding great resources I didn’t know about. This find was a gold mine! As a provider, it’s hard to have all the knowledge to truly give someone good advice to return to exercise after having a baby. I think full postpartum recovery and education takes the knowledge of an OB/GYN, a midwife, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a running coach, a lactation consultant and a nutritionist (and probably a chiropractor and a massage therapist too). It’s quite a list but each of those individuals brings different pieces of healing to the postpartum period.
Carrie offers a free postpartum return to running checklist that covers a lot of these healing aspects and expectations for return to exercise after birth. She sends you the link via email and then you download the PDF. The PDF is full of exercises (wall sit, full plank…) that you should achieve without any concerning symptoms before you return to running. It’s the best checklist I’ve ever seen for women to use when they are returning to exercise. Check out the courses and free assessment there.
I also found this humbling statement on her site about the postpartum period:
“We only get to do post-partum as often as we have kids. See it for what it is, an opportunity to give yourself grace, and intentionally find the pathway back to wherever you’re going that works for you. Plan for it to NOT go according to plan. The baby weight may stay a little longer than you thought, your abdomen might feel like a hollow cave or your descending organs may be a parting gift that your child decided to take along with them during delivery. Support each other. Get educated. Get help. There is a better way.”
– Carrie Pagliano
Everyone has a podcast these days. And how you choose to spend that time listening varies from person to person. I only have 1-2 hours a week for podcast listening so I am picky.
That being said, I am always on the lookout for excellent education for mamas. Birth workers get SO many questions about normal foods or activities and if those are safe for breastfeeding or pregnancy. This podcast offers some education on common pregnancy conditions – for example, pre-eclampsia and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy – but also offers information on if you can drink kombucha while you are pregnant! Consider subscribing to brush up on all the Q+As they offer. These would be great to listen to in the car on the way to and from OB appointments.
3. Another pregnancy and postpartum running resource… TheMotherRunners!
I always say: “My runners have the BEST placentas.” And they do. In the birth room, you can look at the placenta of a mama who was jogging or running during the pregnancy and the vessels are larger and well formed. The cotyledons are often thicker and juicier! Runners make a nice placenta. And I think it’s from the high intensity cardio from running. Anyways, there aren’t a lot of great resources out there for running during pregnancy but this site does a really nice job.
I also like the 8 Clever Tips for Running While Breastfeeding. I have definitely sat on the side of a running trail to breastfeed my babes before!
4. A few great resources for mamas and midwives about car seats:
- Website: http://www.safecar.gov/parents
- Toll-free Auto Safety: 1-888-327-4236
- Have kids in boosters? This chart was great to show the progression of seat charades through childhood!
5. This video about kids and anxiety. I hadn’t heard about Sissy Goff until this video but I looked her up afterwards because I think she’s walking the walk and knows her stuff!
- Sissy Goff’s website (https://www.raisingboysandgirls.com/)
- Sissy’s podcast on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5zTYu7Y…)
- Sissy’s podcast on Apple(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast…)
Other goodies….
This video as well from Rachel Cruze. I always appreciate a good compare and review video. Please give me the bottom line and save me the research time.
I currently don’t receive any subscription boxes on our doorstep. Mainly because there isn’t anything I need monthly other than groceries from Amazon’s Subscribe and Save (amen to regular deliveries of Cetaphil soap for the kids, Bob’s Red Mill steel cut oats, crock pot liners, deodorant and vitamin D drops for the kids – yes, these are the things that were costing me actual pain from forgetfulness with grocery shopping). Anyways, I am always on the lookout for gift ideas for the family year round. Some of the beauty subscriptions would be good gifts for a few members of the family – even the LOFT subscription for my Monday through Friday business casual crew!
I definitely added a few ideas to the gift list after watching this.
This story about a mama who was able to meet her baby with Trisomy 13 for just a little bit of time. Trisomy 13 is a rare genetic disorder and these babies are born with multiple conditions that usually cause them to pass away shortly after birth. To honor their daughter, this couple decided to start a not for profit to help families through loss and miscarriage.
Disclaimer – the video is a tear jerker for the first 5 minutes but the couple speaks so honestly and earnestly about loss, healing and support. I think every mama deserves hold her baby for every second she can get. And some mamas never get a chance to hold their babies if they lose a pregnancy early on.
Check out http://www.faith-45.com for more info. I really liked some of the gifts they offer in their shop and I cannot think of a better organization to support. Also, sometimes it’s hard to anticipate what a mama who has lost a baby needs. Like the video says, sometimes just holding a hand is a start. But if you think a mama would benefit from someone else having the right words to say, this devotional looks lovely.
I also loved this Christmas ornament and hope it comes back into stock soon. For labor units that have bereavement committees or programs, this would be lovely to include in a bereavement box for a family.
On a totally different note, Lifetime decided to make a movie that is definitely going to cause stirring in the birth community: Beware of the Midwife. I haven’t seen the movie but there isn’t any amount of money you could pay me to watch it. It’s about a couple that chooses home birth and the midwife kidnaps their baby. Lifetime, our society doesn’t need this video. We don’t need anymore fear in birth than there already is. We don’t need to plant seeds of fear for birth outside of the hospital. We don’t need to plant fear about midwives – midwives are experts in normal birth. And we don’t need to fuel more anger about Black midwives or disparities than we already have. I signed a petition to remove the movie from Lifetime. If you want to support the removal as well, sign the petition here.
And to round out the Five…AWHONN has a new CEO. I like what he had to say: “Lives are at stake.” That’s a great mentality to have as a leader for maternal and neonatal health. I always say, the patient should always be at the center of your decision making. It hasn’t proved me wrong yet!
Also, have you checked out the RESOURCES page lately? It’s chock full of resources for everything and I add things all the time!
Most recently I started a list of “Parenting” resources. As Sissy Goff stated in the video above, more than ever, I think parents are discouraged. And I think parenting is only going to continue to get harder. Build yourself a stack of resources that you can go to on the hardest days or the days you need inspiration! Reach out to other mamas. Surround yourself with a tribe of strong women and mamas. Together we are stronger!
Need a spark in your parenting arsenal? Check out Monday’s post on the book Parenting Scripts. I cannot recommend the book enough!
Jamie
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