The Lady Birds

Returning to running after a prolapse diagnosis can feel overwhelming — especially when so many people are told they’ll never run, lift, or move the same way again. In this episode, Becky and Jessica break down the real factors that influence returning to running postpartum (or anytime after prolapse), including symptoms, strength, fitness history, healing timelines, and why the grade of your prolapse actually tells us way less than most people think.

They talk through what pelvic floor PTs are actually looking at clinically, how to know if your body is ready for impact, why “just wait 6 weeks” is terrible blanket advice, and how things like pessaries can completely change someone’s experience with exercise. The conversation keeps in mind what real postpartum recovery looks like — sleep deprivation, limited time, fear of worsening symptoms, frustration when your cardio outpaces your pelvic floor, and the mental load of trying to trust your body again.

In this episode:

🏃‍♀️ Why prolapse does not automatically mean “no more running”

⚖️ Why symptom severity matters more than the stage of prolapse

💪 What strength, balance, and impact tolerance have to do with return to running

⏳ How pregnancy fitness levels can affect postpartum recovery timelines

🧠 Fear, uncertainty, and rebuilding trust in your body after birth

⭕ How pessaries can help support running and exercise

👟 Why postpartum rehab is about way more than just your pelvic floor

Your prolapse diagnosis is one piece of information — not a sentence about what your body will or won’t be capable of long term.

Find the Birds: 

📧 [email protected]

📱 Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🌐 Book with us:www.ladybirdpt.com

⭐ Leave a review and share the episode with someone navigating postpartum recovery

This episode takes a clinical but very real-world look at anorgasmia, what it is, why it happens, and why it’s almost never just a pelvic floor problem. Jessica and Becky unpack the research, the limitations of traditional sexual response models, and how factors like medication, stress, relationships, and pelvic floor function all intersect. They also walk through how pelvic floor PT fits into the bigger picture — when it helps, when it doesn’t, and why collaboration with mental health and medical providers is often essential. It’s an honest conversation about a complex issue, grounded in both evidence and clinical experience.

In this episode:

🧠 The biopsychosocial reality of orgasm (it’s never just muscles)

💊 Medications and their major impact on sexual function

🔄 Old vs. modern sexual arousal cycle models

🧍‍♀️ Body image, stress, and distraction as real barriers

💪 Pelvic floor tension vs. weakness — and why it matters

🗣️ The role of communication, education, and relationships

🧘‍♀️ Nervous system regulation and downtraining

⚡ Why “just do Kegels” is not the answer

Find the Lady Birds:

📧 [email protected]

📱 Follow along on Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🌐 Learn more or book with us: ladybirdpt.com

⭐ Leave a review to help more people find pelvic health support

In this solo episode, Jessica breaks down one of the most common questions people don’t necessarily voice but want to know - what does my prolapse grade mean? This episode goes beyond the basic “grade 1 through 4” definitions and explains what’s physically happening in the body when prolapse occurs. Jessica walks through the difference between muscular weakness versus structural/fascial support changes, why symptoms don’t always match prolapse severity, and where pelvic floor PT, pessaries, and surgery each fit into treatment. It’s an honest, evidence-forward conversation designed to help people better understand prolapse without fear or oversimplification. 

In this episode:🫠 Why prolapse grades don’t predict symptoms perfectly

🧠 Fascia vs muscles: what’s actually changing in the body

🏋️ Why a “strong pelvic floor” doesn’t always prevent prolapse

🩺 When PT helps symptoms vs structure

🔄 Early postpartum prolapse changes and recovery

📍What grade 1–4 prolapse actually means anatomically

🧻 “I can feel a bulge” — what that usually indicates

🐦 Bird prolapse facts because apparently this is who we are now

A prolapse grade can tell you where tissue is sitting — but it doesn’t tell the whole story about your symptoms, your function, or your options moving forward.

Find the Birds! 📧 [email protected]

📱 Follow us on Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🌐 Book with us at www.ladybirdpt.com

⭐ Leave a review or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts

This episode breaks down how strength training actually supports a return to running in the postpartum period—especially when symptoms like leakage, heaviness, or pain are present. Rather than isolating the pelvic floor, this conversation reframes recovery through the lens of load tolerance and whole-body strength. Jessica walks through common mistakes runners make, how to progress strength training effectively, and how to interpret symptoms as useful data, not stop signs.

In this episode:

🏃‍♀️ Running = repeated single-leg load (not just cardio)

💪 Strength training builds load tolerance and therefor capacity to run

🦵 Calves are underrated but critical for propulsion + shock absorption

⚖️ Double-leg → single-leg → impact = necessary progression

⚠️ Symptoms are feedback, not failure

🌬️ Stop thinking about your pelvic floor while running - listen for why! 

📉 Underdosing strength work is one of the biggest limiting factors

If running keeps bringing up symptoms, it’s not your body failing—it’s your body asking for a different kind of support.

Find the Birds!

📧 [email protected]

📱 Follow on Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🩺 Work with us: www.ladybirdpt.com

⭐ Leave a review to help more postpartum runners find this info

This episode takes a clear, evidence-informed look at one of the most polarized topics in pelvic health: kegels. We break down what a kegel actually is (a pelvic floor muscle contraction), why the conversation around it has become so confusing, and how both the “always prescribe” and “never prescribe” camps miss the nuance. Drawing from clinical experience, we explain how pelvic floor rehab has evolved, why isolated muscle contractions still matter, and how they fit into a broader, functional, system-based approach to recovery. 

In This Episode:

🧠 What a kegel actually is (and isn’t)

⚖️ The pendulum swing: from overprescribed to overcorrected

📱 How social media has distorted pelvic health messaging

🏋️‍♀️ Why isolated muscle training still has a (small, initial) role in rehab

🔗 The pelvic floor as part of a larger functional system

🤯 Why patients feel confused (and sometimes fearful)

🏃‍♀️ Progression: from awareness → strength → automatic function

💬 Using patient-centered language vs. clinical accuracy

The problem isn’t Kegels—it’s pretending they’re either everything or nothing.

Find The Birds:

📧 [email protected]

📱 Follow along on Instagram @ladybirdpt

🩺 Work with us at Lady Bird PT (in-person or virtual)

⭐ Leave a review if this episode helped you cut through the noise

In this solo episode, Jessica breaks down one of the most common (and frustrating) postpartum experiences: feeling like your core just isn’t “back,” despite consistent effort. This episode takes a clinical, evidence-informed look at why core dysfunction persists beyond the early postpartum phase, highlighting issues like poor pressure management, loss of automatic core activation, and mismatched exercise progression. Instead of defaulting to “do more,” Jessica explains why strategy, coordination, and appropriate loading matter more, and how pelvic floor physical therapy can bridge the gap between rehab and real-life demands.

In this episode:

💭 “I’m doing everything right… so why does it still feel off?”

🫁 Breath + core coordination = the foundation most people are missing

⚠️ Pressure mismanagement → leakage, heaviness, and stalled progress

🧠 Loss of automaticity after pregnancy (your core isn’t reflexive anymore)

🧱 Too much tension = overworking, not strengthening

🐢 Staying too easy vs.

🐇 progressing too fast

🏋️‍♀️ Strength must match real-life demand (not just rehab exercises)

🧩 The missing piece is often a clear, progressive plan

If your core still feels off, it’s not because you’re not trying hard enough—it’s because your body needs a better roadmap, not more effort.

Find us:

📧 [email protected]

📱 Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🩺 Pelvic floor PT services at www.ladybirdpt.com

⭐️ Leave a review to help more people find the podcast

This episode explores the intersection of sexual dysfunction, pelvic health, and purity culture through a clinical and psychological lens. Jessica and Becky sit down with a licensed psychologist, Dr. Kristy Money, to unpack how early messaging about sex, particularly shame-based or fear-based frameworks found in purity culture, can directly impact arousal, orgasm, and pain with sex. The conversation highlights the complexity of sexual function, emphasizing that while physical contributors like muscle tension and hormones matter, psychological and cultural factors are often deeply intertwined. This episode reinforces the need for a multidisciplinary approach and offers insight into why some patients don’t respond to physical treatment alone.

In this episode:

🧠 Sexual function is biopsychosocial — not just physical

⚡ Trauma + purity culture are major drivers of dysfunction

🪢 Guarding, fear, and anticipation can perpetuate pain cycles👩‍⚕️ Pelvic PT + sex therapy = often the missing link

📉 Arousal and orgasm disorders are under-researched and undertreated

😶 Shame and messaging get stored in the body (even when you “know better”)

🛑 It’s okay to pause sex when it feels like a chore

✨ Pleasure is a skill that sometimes has to be relearned

Find Dr. Kristy Money:

📱 Follow along on Instagram @drkristymoney

🩺 Website: https://www.kristymoney.com/

⭐ Pleasure and purity culture survey: https://www.kristymoney.com/survey

📉Resources on anorgasmia: https://www.kristymoney.com/anorgasmia

Find the Lady Birds:

📧 [email protected]

📱 Follow along on Instagram @ladybirdpt

🩺 Book with us at Lady Bird PT

⭐ Leave a review to help more people find this info

It’s time for Becky and Jessica to catch up on life! (We really do save some conversations to have them realtime on the podcast!) Today we talk about what it actually looks like to raise 21–22 month olds—chaotic energy, unpredictable eating, early potty training signs, and the ongoing mental load of feeding choices. We also get into a more nuanced, evidence-informed conversation around breastfeeding, pumping, and formula feeding—what we thought going in versus what we see now in practice and in real families. It’s honest, a little messy, and very reflective of this stage of parenting.

In this episode: 

👶 Toddler personalities: wild child vs chill observer

🍓 The “fruit + carbs” toddler diet struggle

🥦 Exposure vs control in picky eating

🍼 Breastfeeding, pumping, and formula—real tradeoffs

😴 Sleep, workload, and equity in parenting🚽 Potty training readiness vs timing stress

🐦 A wholesome birdhouse update to close it out

Find us:

📧 [email protected]

📱 Instagram: @ladybirdpt

💻 Book a visit: ladybirdpt.com

⭐ Leave a review to help more parents find us

In this episode, we sit down with Kim Borchert, birth and postpartum doula and IBCLC intern, to unpack what birth preparation actually looks like. With over a decade of experience and hundreds of births attended, Kim brings a perspective that challenges the belief that preparing for birth is mostly physical. We dig into why birth is largely mental and emotional, how unprocessed expectations can shape birth trauma, and what it really takes to prepare for labor, both medicated and unmedicated. This conversation bridges clinical insight with lived experience, highlighting the gap between how we prepare for birth and what actually matters in the moment.

🧠 Birth is 90% mental, 10% physical

🔥 How expectations, not outcomes, drive birth trauma

🧘‍♀️ Learning to sit in discomfort (instead of avoiding it) and why that is helpful for birth

🤝 The real role of a doula

💉 Epidurals: timing matters more than you think

🚿 Showers, spiky balls, and the “midwife’s epidural”

😵‍💫 When pain coping tools work… until they don’t

🍼 Postpartum: the part no one prepares for

You can’t control how birth unfolds—but you can prepare for how you meet it.

Find The Birds:

📧 [email protected]

📲 Follow along on Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🩺 Learn more or book with us: ladybirdpt.com

⭐️ Leave us a review—it helps more parents find this info

🔥 Let’s keep smashing the patriarchy—one pelvic floor at a time.

Find Kim:

📲 Follow along on Instagram: @austindoulacare

⭐️ If you’re local to Austin - find doulas, classes and more at: https://www.austindoulacare.com/

In this episode:

In this episode, we break down De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, aka “mom thumb”, a common and often debilitating wrist condition in pregnancy and postpartum. We walk through what’s actually happening anatomically, why it shows up when it does, and how to treat it effectively (often faster than people expect). This is a very practical, evidence-informed conversation focused on early intervention, realistic treatment strategies, and how to keep caring for your baby without making symptoms worse.

In this episode:

🤱 Why “mom thumb” is so common postpartum

🦴 Tendon sheath irritation vs. tendon injury (what actually matters)

🔁 Overuse, swelling, and the real root causes

🦾 Bracing: what kind, how long, and why it works

🛏️ Sleep positions + daily habits that quietly make it worse

🧠 Early treatment = faster recovery

💉 When cortisone injections make sense

🏋️‍♀️ Rehab basics: isometrics, load, and what most people don’t need

It might feel scary when your hand suddenly can’t keep up with caring for your baby—but this is one of those things that usually gets better quickly when you know what to do.

Find the Lady Birds:

📧 [email protected]

📱 Follow along on Instagram: @ladybirdpt

🩺 Work with us: www.ladybirdpt.com

⭐ Leave us a review — it helps more moms find this info when they need it most