PUSHINGit

Jen and Alise are feeling rebellious. They've decided they are sick and tired of everyone handing out advice. This week, they stayed up past their bedtime,  drank caffeine after 3pm,  gave the side eye to annoying people who drive with attitude and decided to bring that rebellious streak to podcasting.  Watch out listeners! Jen and Alise are hoping you’ll join them in some serious rule breaking by just saying NO to  10 common mistakes in labor. It's okay, you can e rebellious too.

At the first signs of pregnancy, many parents are quickly gathering the newest research on car seats, finding the best pediatricians and perfecting their birth plans. Few pause to ask if what we've told year after year about pregnancy nutrition is really the best. This week we have author Real Food for Pregnancy, Lily Nichols talking about taking the science and applying it to your real life. We know that not everyone has access to organic avocados or that the first trimester can be so rough. Lily brings tips and tricks to start changing your eating habits or to just incorporate new habits with pregnancy. She offers compassionate tips that real people can get behind.
Look for her book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Real-Food-Pregnancy-Prenatal-Nutrition/dp/0986295043/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MKG58K5GBNL3&keywords=real+food+for+pregnancy&qid=1554760917&s=gateway&sprefix=real+food%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-1

And check out her website for more useful information as well https://lilynicholsrdn.com/

A quick anatomy lesson went haywire when Jen and Alise realized that most women don't have down their basic anatomy before they give birth. There are far too many women walking the streets believing that we pee out of the vagina. To stop that rumor here, the ladies do a simple and humorous anatomy lesson in the style of the Magic School Bus. What would it be like if Miss Frizzle took the kids up the vagina and bumped into a closed posterior cervix that was just waiting to prepare for labor? This week, we're not just talking basic anatomy, we learning about all of the awesome things your cervix can do. Move over dilation! Dilation is cool and all but anterior facing and effacement is about to move into the spotlight and get the attention it finally deserves. 

If you're thinking of creative ways to bring on dilation or encourage labor to begin, Jen and Alise help separate the useful tips from the not so useful tips that only leave you with diarrhea and frustration. On top of all that, they are bringing tons of information on how to keep the momentum going through labor as well. 

Partners, this episode is for you. We see you and we know your job is big here. It can be hard t find balance between your own sleep, recovery from your experience with the birth and meeting your needs. We know the your new role also means taking care of the birth mom, the baby and the household. This week are going to help you figure out how to juggle all of these things.  We have useful tips on asking for help and for preparing ahead.

The first rule of being a kick ass birth partner is, be yourself!  Don’t try to be someone else. Show up as your yourself. No superhero capes! Just your best self. Compassion and empathy goes a long way. Just like she had no idea what this would feel like,  you can’t imagine it either. Labor can feel a lot harder than it looks on the outside. 

You’ll be working hard too. Lunging together, holding her in a squat and the double hip squeeze is hard work. It’s okay to go to the bathroom. Be sure that someone can step in and that it’s not in the middle of a contraction or a hard decision point. It's really important to meet some of your own needs though. Keep your worries (negative thoughts- your tired, annoyed at a nurse, your back hurt…) to the staff or speak to the staff. Remember that your energy can change her ability to cope, fears, adrenaline...Don’t live tweet the birth!

Let’s talk practical tips!

• Notice when the mood shifts and its no longer time to be funny or talkative. You can learn a lot by watching her face
• When you arrive in triage you need to be the rock in the room and keep her focused on her breath. There’s a lot going on
• If you are having a homebirth, it can feel like a lot is suddenly going on
• One you’re in the room and settled- get room set up- LED candles, scent, music, ask for a ball…
• Hydrate her!
• Top positions- slow dancing, hands and knees (on bed, floor, etc) this is a great time for lower back counter pressure. You’ll be surprised how hard you can push! Raise bed up and lean over, sit on a ball, hand and knees on a ball, Tub!
• Massage!
• EAT! Don’t faint
• Cold compress
• This is a big experience for you too! This is not an easy experience.

 Fast, loud,  out of control and always an emergency. If you’ve left your knowledge of birth up to television and film, these are the things you’ll believe are true about birth. Real birth just doesn’t work for a sitcom or a rom-com. It’s long, uneventful often and typically doesn’t involve a whole lot of drama. There’s so much about television birth that leaves us uniformed about the realities of birth. Jen and Alise pick apart TV birth and discuss the hazards of relying on the messages we receive through tv and film. Find out other ways to replace that information with facts and prepare for real birth.

Don’t miss hearing Alise and Jen bring there amazing acting skills to the show as they act out TV birth. Alise goes into fake labor into the grocery store! Jen races her to hospital just as the baby is crowning. Soon after, a 4 month old baby is born without an umbilical cord, just like on TV! You definitely  don’t want to miss a minute of this.

You didn't try to make your baby to grow, you simply trusted that all of their organs would develop week by week. While there's much we can do to prepare, we discuss whether it's necessary to banish all fear in reagard to birth. 

We think your BFF is just the best too. Alise might even agree that your that your BFF is better than most cupcakes. We want your BFF to be your BFF and your partner to be your partner at your birth and not have the pressure having to tell you to sit on the toilet so that baby can move down. Chances are, you'll have some not so kind language if that's suggested by some who isn't a professional. Doulas bring the knowledge of birth so that your team can focus on being there for you in  the way the know how best. 

Also, don't miss out on other important hot topics like why Alise believes cupcakes are being made all wrong and find out what is going on with Jen and her poppy seeds.  

The "WTF just happened to my body" stage is your mom friends' best kept secret. It's the stuff nobody tells you about, celebrities don't seem to experience and everyone else has to go through after bringing a tiny person out o their body. This week's episode is the top 10 WTFs you can expect. From the itchy, swollen, falling (say what?!) vagina, to overnight boobs, Jen and Alise will tell you everything those pregnancy magazines and  your girlfriends are too embarrassed to share. So, as you recover, healing from your tiny person, know that you are not alone and that women across the world are there with you. They are thanking their padsicles and holding their stool softners tightly while saying, "WTF" right along with you.

Becoming a mom doesn't mean that you will live a lifetime of mom pants, unflattering nursing bras and only hang out in mommy and me groups. Today's episode is a remind that this is a time of shifting and change. Your body and identity is changing quickly and you maybe begin to wonder who you are. You may even begin to feel like the real you has gotten a bit lost in the shuffle. Jen and Alise offer some pro tips on how to sink into the change, even embrace it, knowing that you will find you again. The even have helpful tips on how to rediscover yourself. They see you! the old you, the new you, and the you in between who is growing, learning and changing.