PUSHINGit

You've got the power! In fact, it's been there all along my dear, and we will help you find it. Maybe you need a cape, some red lipstick or a really solid birth plan. No matter what calls to you or what type of birth you want, you can always find your power. 

Jen and Alise offer useful tips for finding your power and helping you prepare for feeling powerful in labor, way before labor ever begins. It's never to earl to begin. From educating yourself to preparing yourself, you will find several ways that speak to your birthing style.

Don't miss out on more of Jen's sound effects and 90's flash back songs. Alise also talks about where she really wishes she could birth. Chances are, she's not alone.

The "birth"  version of porn is only showing the world large breasts with large nipples and “perfect” bodies. 

This is a realistic view but only a snapshot. This isn’t a big picture view. This is another form of mom guilt. How do you live in the moment and stay authentic to who you are and what you want?

This doesn’t only apply to birth. This also applies to pregnancy. In early pregnancy when you are feeling sluggish and it feels hard to get out of bed, t can be so hard to see #nurserygoals or elaborate babymoons. 

Some women feel depressed during pregnancy or feel sick during their whole pregnancy. If you’re on bedrest through most of your pregnancy or even most of your final trimester, we see you. You aren’t likely to have an elaborate gender reveal. 

Let’s also fast forward to postpartum. You may not look like the person in the newborn and family photos. We are actually hoping that you aren’t bouncing back. You might be struggling with mood and social media may be a lifeline or make you feel more isolated.

Decide what feels better. Use social where it feels right.

In the same way that a Playboy photo is a photo of a real woman but photoshopped, background changed, details rearranged… social media is a form of birth porn. We get a tiny glimpse of what someone wants to show of their pregnancy, birth or postpartum. Like pornography, this can lead to feelings of inadequacy, guilt, depression, feeling less than or a variety of other emotions, including anger. All of these stages around having a baby are often out of our control.

Alise and Jen are soaking up the final weeks of summer here in Seattle so we are revisiting their favorite past episodes. 10 things that will come out of your body during labor and birth that will make you say, "whoa, did that just come out of me".  Birth, like parenthood,  can be messy. Don't get caught by surprise. Everyone knows there's a little blood sweat and tears in birth but what about all the other things that come out of your body?  And it's not all lists, Jen and Alise have a messy parenthood story contest between themselves. Alise's kids may have fleas. The doulas have the old debate, adult diaper vs thong underwear in labor. 

The words "bounce back" are like nails down a chalkboard to Jen and Alise. It took a lot of time, restless legs, pickles and ice cream and big changes to grow a baby. You can't expect to bounce back to where you started overnight. You're best shot at healing is front loading your rest and recovery with laying low with Alise's rule of 3. If taking it easy makes you panic, don't worry Jen has your hall pass.

Don't miss out on Jen giving Alise some rules as well. Alise isn't recovering from giving birth but she might be in the middle of a hair crisis.

We all have that friend who has a cousin who had a pain-free birth and the baby just "fell out". But is that how it really works? Why does it have to hurt? Jen and Alise have the answers this week. They are discussing the variations in pain and your options for managing pain. They are talking about how labor pain is different from any other pain that you have ever experienced. This means that you get to learn new ways to get through it and what you thought you knew about your pain tolerance might not be true. 

Alise invites you to story time to hear about Peaches and her pain-free birth in the supermarket. Find out why Peaches wishes she felt her contractions and how it made buying produce very challenging for all around.

What other people give a f*ck about doesn’t matter! Your birth doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s birth. Hear about Alise’s mind altering experience - She felt equal amounts of internal pressure to look a certain way. You may not feel connected to your body all through birth, you can rock your birth even if you’ve never done a squat in your life! 

You don’t need to want or feel called to a “natural” birth, a medicated birth, you can feel afraid of birth and still have an amazing birth. In fact, in our experience most people feel some apprehension about birth or dare we say even fearful!  

Identify what you do give a f*ck about! Write a birth plan. Know the limits of your birth place. If you are having a homebirth, you can’t have an epidural. If you don’t want students in the room, don’t have a baby in a teaching hospital. If you are high risk don’t have a baby at home. If you hate hospitals, have a baby at home. Decide what’s the most important on that birth plan- pick what you are going to dig your heels in about and let the other stuff go.

Don’t feel the need to explain the need to explain yourself to anyone. You do you! 

Pick your influences carefully. Fear breeds fear. Surround yourself with good stories, people who trust birth and support your choices. If you have someone in your life pushing their agenda about birthing or parenting, take space from them.

This could be some soul work. There may come a time in pregnancy or even in labor when things arise when you need to make adjustments to your birth plan. You may need a medication that wasn’t planned or an induction. These types of moments may require some big soul searching and deciding what you really want to give a f*ck about.

Your birthing inspiration or (birthspiration) may not come from a birthing source. 

Have a blast with Jen & Alise while all this swearing makes Jen blush. Hear about Jen's amazing tattoo close call.  Stay connected and join the community on Facebook and on Instagram. Have a question you want answered on the show? email at [email protected] or follow them on social media. 

Alise sits down for a very important interview with a cranky uterus. If you think your job is hard, wait until you hear what she's expected to do- grow, share space with several neighbors, contract at appropriate times, behave, shrink... The expectations are high! This week, Jen is out and Alise spends some quality time with a very special guest so we can all learn how to better give our own uteruses some hard earned r-e-s-p-e-c-t! She's offering up real tips on how to give her rest and hydration, what her favorite food and drinks are and how to prevent her from working an overtime shift.

This week, you'll be sure to walk away with a whole new respect for this amazing muscle and all of her hard work. We'll all miss Jen this week and look forward to having her return next week, but do not miss out on this amazing interview!

• Get a water bottle! Save the earth and save your uterus from non-progressing contractions in the 3rd trimester!
• You need some thick skin otherwise known as resilience.- folks are gonna have opinions but actually they may just wanna engage. 
• Compassion.... Self-compassion.  Your lifestyle is gonna be altered and rather than viewing it as "I should be able to do this", how do you give yourself compassion for this stage of life.
• Snacks everywhere! Keep the energy up and nausea away
• Naps! There's research to back it up..... Jen can't remember where she read this but it's out there.
• Research Skills.  You are gonna need a car seat etc but tap into the research others have done. Research the care options you have for birth.
• Mom friends - be open to opportunities to find your people.
• Reassurance. It's nice to be a little weird but when it comes to pregnancy, it's so nice to be normal. Look for the landmarks along the way to help you feel ok and not alone
• A sense of humor- you gotta laugh at yourself. This is a crazy journey you're on.
• Comfy clothes: boxer shorts anyone?

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https://www.pushingitpodcast.com/podcasts/2019/7/21/things-you-need-during-pregnancy-cause-theres-plenty-of-marketing-for-your-baby

Ahh, the sounds of summer. The clink of the ice in the endless glasses of water that you're drinking,

Warning: No children were permanently harmed in the making of this episode. 

No harm was done but Jen and Alise have been part of some poison control calls, fire pit vomit, bumps to the head, water to the face and a whole lot of tears for all. In spite of it all, they are here and mostly okay with sharing their parenting confessions. Find out how these moms managed to navigate the silly, scary and tricky moments of parenthood.