The BumpCast

Postpartum doulas are engaged in care for the baby and family during the first 12 weeks of life for the new baby.

Jessica Stapp is here to help navigate the ins and outs of hiring and utilizing a postpartum doula as well as give great tips for setting boundaries around your baby, your home life, and your health.

Resources we discussed:

Baby cues video

What does a postpartum doula do anyway?

Connect with Jessica:

jessicasacdoula.com

Congratulations Mama and welcome to week 41 of your pregnancy. This week your baby is the size of a watermelon, measuring around 20.4 inches long and about 8 pounds. Or more. Or less. There really is no way of knowing until he or she makes their debut.

I know that some of you may have reached week 41 and I want to make sure you know what is going on with you this week!

Chances are, you are totally over this whole pregnancy thing and just want to meet your sweet baby already! All the experts are going to tell you that you should get as much sleep and rest as possible right now, and while I don't disagree, I also know that this advice can be frustrating and impractical to a mama on the cusp of meeting one of the most important people in your life.

Since you have gone past your anticipated due date, your doctor or provider will want to monitor you extra closely. You may be scheduled or another ultrasound, non stress test and or a biophysical profile just to check in on your little one.

A few tips on trying to naturally induce labor include: eating spicy food, having sex, acupuncture, and lots of walking! Remember to stay hydrated, even if you feel like you visit the toilet so much you may as well move your bed into the bathroom.

So why are you overdo anyway? Well, a family history of going past the 40 week mark can be part of the cause, but of course, your original due date may have been miscalculated, also.

Whatever the reason may be, it's not important to discuss your thoughts about induction with your provider. They may or may not be on board with your personal plan to serve an eviction notice and there are a few ways they can assist in speeding up the process. Also, remember that a due date is really just an estimate.

Stripping membranes which can be painful, can be done in the doctor's office.

You can take medication to help dilate your cervix.

Or the provider can "break your water" or rupture the membranes with a thin plastic hook. This one is usually only done when you've been in labor but haven't progressed past a certain point for hours. With my first pregnancy, I was induced and in the hospital in labor for 12 hours but didn't progress past to the point my water broke. The on-call doctor said he would break my water when he was out of surgery delivering twins via c-section for another family, and before he came back, my water broke on it's own.

There are a lot of things I would change about my first birth experience if I had the chance, but my best advice to you is to be your own best advocate. I also recommend having a support person with you that can advocate on your behalf (and that of your baby) in case you aren't able to, and also to remind you about your birth plan or wishes for your labor and delivery.

As you get ready to embark on Motherhood and you've been through 40 weeks of pregnancy, this is the perfect time for you to get a blast of expert advice from our guests.

This podcast episode is a mashup of advice pulled from interviews along your journey.

If you are burdened by the chaos in your life, I want to help you overcome the overwhelm that's standing in the way of your success!

Join the Conquer Your Chaos free 5 day challenge!

To get signed up for the next challenge!

m.me/chaosqueenspodcast

Congratulations, mama, and welcome to week 39 of your pregnancy! This week your sweet baby is the size of a pumpkin. Measuring about 20 inches long and weighing in at about 7.3 pounds, baby just keeps growing, despite being so crowded inside your 39 weeks pregnant belly.

It's almost eviction day.

I pulled a few common late pregnancy symptoms from thebump.com, so if you're looking for more information on any of these, head over to their website.

One symptom of late pregnancy is your bloody show - a discharge that's as thick as mucus and sometimes has a tinge of blood in it. Many people consider this to be a sign you'll go into labor soon, there's no exact science to it, so it's hard to say when showtime will be.

A few other symptoms you may be dealing with now include:

• Pelvic pressure. While getting into position for birth, baby may be sitting so low that that your lower torso feels heavy and uncomfortable.
• Lightning crotch. Because baby's so low, his or her movements can hit some sensitive nerves, giving you sharp sensations in your pelvis—yep, like a lightning bolt!

This week our interview is with Jodi Congdon from hiptoheart.com

Jodi is a birth and lactation educator and doula. In this interview we discuss Expectations and time management when nursing as well as answer listener questions about nursing with breast implants - it can be done!

Connect with Jodi at:

Facebook: Hip to Heart

Instagram @hiptoheart

This is week 38 on the BumpCast and I'm interviewing my oldest son, Riley. Tune in to get his big brother perspective on life as a 7 year old.

Congratulations mama and welcome to week 37 of your pregnancy! Baby is about 19 1/4 inches long and weighs just under 6.5 pounds.

A few things to prepare this week: pack your diaper bag and install the car seat. If you're having a hospital birth, the staff will typically check that your car seat is installed correctly when they discharge you, so avoid delays by making sure this is done.

Baby's lungs and brain are growing and maturing rapidly in these last few weeks. So, when you feel like you just can't be pregnant anymore and you're completely over it, remember, baby still has some growing to do!

Things are getting snug inside your womb now, so baby can't do as many summersaults or flips, but she should still be kicking often.

This week we are talking all about Blended families with the host and creator of the Essential Step-Mom podcast and The Spectacular Step Mom community, Tracy Poizner.

Tracy discusses how you can approach introducing a new baby into a blended family household and even touches on some of the fears and obstacles step moms that are moms-to-be can have during pregnancy and beyond. If you're a step mom or are looking for tips on how to beat integrate a blended family, this episode is for you!

Connect with Tracy:

www.theessentialstepmom.com

The Essential Step Mom Podcast

Congratulations, mama. Welcome to week 36 of your pregnancy!

This week we are discussing the ins and outs of your baby and your body at 36 weeks.

We have a great interview with mama and relationship coach Angelique Moore. Angelique is the mother of 5 beautiful children, one son (22) and two sets of fraternal twin girls (8 and 18). If you have ever been curious what it's like to have two sets of twins, you don't want to miss this episode!

Make sure you connect with Angelique for all the amazing things she's doing for women!

www.loveherwellness.com

www.thebumpcast.com/post/week-36-multiples

Congratulations mama and welcome to week 34 of your pregnancy! Baby weighs in at 4.7 pounds and around 17.7 inches.

Did you know that your baby can hear your voice and recognize even your partner's voice!

Thebump.com states:

Some experts say that, after birth, babies can recognize songs mom sang while pregnant; they may even be more easily soothed by those familiar tunes once they're "on the outside."

You may want to start thinking about your hospital stay (if that's your thing) and make sure you've reviewed your birth plan with your health care provider so everyone is on the same page.

You're going to start seeing your OB every week now, if that's the route you're going.

Everything is probably really swollen a lot of the time now. Laying flat can help with that, but for you mamas who can't get regular rest throughout the day, at least take some time to stop and put your feet Up on breaks and in the evenings. Light stretching when you wake up each morning can help your blood circulation and prevent swelling, and remember to drink lots of water.

This week we are interviewing Jen McLellan from Plus Size Birth. I got the chance to chat with Jen about making sure your health care provider is size inclusive and gets an overall picture of your health, as well as hearing the excellent advice that if your provider is rude, bias, or not giving you the care you feel you should get, it's perfectly acceptable to fire them and find someone you work well with.

Jen McLellan is a certified childbirth educator, wife, and mother to a charismatic 8-year-old. She's the host of the popular Plus Mommy Podcast, published author, speaker, and founder of Plus Size Birth, the premier resource for all things plus size pregnancy. With over 4 million page views on her blog and 177,000 followers on Plus Mommy Facebook page, Jen is passionate about plus size pregnancy and navigating the bumps along the road of motherhood.

I loved chatting with Jen this week, and I can't wait for you to hear all she has to share. Don't forget to check out the show notes on the BumpCast.com for a link to Jen's free resource on what to pack in your hospital bag!

Jen's Free Resource on what to pack in your hospital bag

At week 33 you're only 7 weeks away from meeting your sweet baby. This week, baby is the size of whole pineapple. At a little over 4 pounds and measuring 17 1/4 inches, things are getting snug inside your womb.

This week we are interviewing Susete Pinto from Night Night Baby Sleep Consulting.

Susete is a Child Sleep Consultant who, as a mom of two boys, empathizes with the difficulties of parenting a child who doesn't sleep well. She founded Night Night Baby Consulting to help parents who dream about putting their children to sleep with no fuss by teaching them healthy sleep habits.

As a member of the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants and Sleep Sense, Susete is knowledgeable in how to teach your baby to sleep well by addressing your baby's specific sleep issues and providing a plan to resolve them; all while being there each step of the way.

You can find her on Facebook & Instagram @ NightNightBabyConsulting