It’s hard to believe, but our baby boy is going to be here NEXT WEEK! (Check out my recent post on IG about our very cozy breech baby + scheduled c-section here!) I wanted to share a few of my favorite resources that we have enjoyed + leaned on in the last 9 months!
I’m also so in love with our mini maternity session photos with my friend Brittany of Blue Rose Pictures! We wanted to do a few photos closer to town (I’ll be sharing our mountain session with my friend Betty next!) so we could include our furbaby, Lemon! She was a total spazz, but Brittany did a great job capturing her spunky personality! Thank you Brittany!!
The Medical Side of Things
Of course, I need to start off by recognizing our fertility clinic! Seattle Reproductive Medicine (SRM) was such a fantastic place to start our pregnancy and we obviously wouldn’t be here without them! SRM also referred me to an awesome nutritionist that I was able to talk to early on – mainly about maintaining our largely plant-based diet during pregnancy. They actually provide this service in house now with my friend, Chelsea – former Om Mama Collective member of The Wildflower Kitchen!
Secondly, on the medical team side of things, we have really enjoyed our experience with Swedish. We have been with the Ballard Midwives team, and taking part in Centering, which is group appointments with other families due in the same month. We’ve had (virtual) gatherings monthly, and then bi-weekly, and have discussed so many topics from the transition to parenthood to newborn care and breastfeeding. These meetings, as well as the WhatsApp group text with my fellow mamas, has been an invaluable source of information and support!
Swedish also offers several educational classes. We took Infant CPR and Car Seat Safety, and Kevin also took a class called “Conscious Fathering”!
A final plug for our support at Swedish was our prenatal lactation consultation. I had some questions and wanted to set myself up for success in breastfeeding, and was able to see their consultant even before birth! I feel much more prepared, and am grateful that they have consultants in house that will also be able to visit me in the hospital right after birth. Fitz’s pediatrician is also going to be my personal GP doctor at Swedish which makes everything feel good and connected. Lastly, since our baby is breech, and needing to be delivered by an OB via c-section (rather than the midwives), it was an easy transition to get that set up within the Swedish system. A midwife will be there to assist in the surgery though, and do all of my follow up care!
Other Classes + Resources
Kevin and I prioritized taking some parenting classes during pregnancy as well, which, if you have the time + resources, I highly recommend! We really enjoyed getting to talk about our goals and vision for parenting, and having these classes was a great starting point, and point of connection. We took the Gottman Bringing Home Baby class through Thresholds, as well as Positive Discipline, The Early Years workshop with our dear friends at Sproutable!
I spent a lot of time and effort (and TBH, money) assembling my care team. This is probably unsurprising considering my work + mission with Om Mama Co., and what I would sincerely hope for every pregnant person to have. I will be doing a separate post on all of my incredible providers, but in short, I can’t say enough about some of the people on my team:
- Chiropractor: Shea of Tree of Life
- Acupuncture: Dana of Esva Healing
- Pelvic Floor PT: Nicole of Solfuel Wellness + Allison of Body Motion PT
- Massage: Meghan Devonport
- Doula: Julia Kinnunen
- and my therapist!
I also can’t emphasize enough the support and friendship I have enjoyed through Om Mama. I am so grateful for the community we have built over the last 3 years and am forever indebted to the love, knowledge and hand-me-downs they have shared with me!
I do plan to (hopefully) do a bit more learning in this last week before he arrives, and plan to check out Karing for Postpartum (breastfeeding + infant care), as well as dipping my feet into sleep training!
Fitness + Mental Health
I have luckily felt pretty good throughout my pregnancy, and been able to keep up some semblance of working out. This has looked much different due to COVID than I would have preferred (I dreamed of in person prenatal yoga classes + Oh Baby! Fitness classes!) but my home workouts, mostly on the Peloton, and walks around our neighborhood have been great. I also participated in my friend, Kat, of Pronatal Support‘s virtual prenatal classes, and hope to attend her postpartum ones as well! She is a wealth of knowledge and another expert that I was able to ask a lot of questions as my body grew and changed (and ached in new places!)
I also highly recommend the Expectful App. It has been my favorite meditation app throughout TTC, IVF and pregnancy, and I am excited to grow with it into motherhood. They have also grown a lot as a company over the last year, and have been offering virtual workouts and workshops, along with provider recommendations and even some appointments – AKA a lot of what I envisioned Om Mama becoming if I were a tech person and had a team haha!
Books + Podcasts
Surprisingly, I didn’t end up reading a ton of books, or listen to a lot of podcasts. One thing I knew going into pregnancy was that I had a great support team I could rely on, and ask individual questions about my own personal experience, which I am so grateful for! I also know how wildly different everyone’s experience can be, with different complications and situations that can pop up along the way.
Two books I would highly recommend, though are Like a Mother by Angela Garbes + Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman.
I did listen to a few here and there, more about motherhood, than actual pregnancy + birth! Here are my top favorites: HERself, 3 in 30 Takeaways for Moms and Live Free Creative.
The Om Mama Pregnancy Guide
One more plug for my last big project for Om Mama – The Om Mama Pregnancy Guide! This *free* resource is packed with 15 lessons from the Om Mama Collective. Topics covered in the guide range from pelvic floor health, to motherhood meditation, and postpartum recovery. It is so much of what I would hope to share with other pregnant + birthing people. I am so proud of all of the powerful information that came together to create this resource! Get access here! And incase you were wondering what’s happening with Om Mama as I go on maternity leave, check out my *farewell (for now)* post here!
I hope this is helpful in finding your own support network and resources during pregnancy! I am so excited for this next chapter of motherhood and I can’t wait to see where I continue to grow and learn! Big hugs!
