Blog

  • Yoga for Birth

    Yoga for Birth

    Yoga for Birth: Preparing Mind and Body Teaching prenatal and postnatal yoga is a passion of mine. Exploring powerful poses to connect with your mind and body in preparation for your baby’s arrival can be immensely beneficial for both you and your little one. As a pelvic floor therapist, I often treat various forms of Read more

  • Sugar and Spice: Embracing Intimacy This Valentine’s Day

    Sugar and Spice: Embracing Intimacy This Valentine’s Day

    As Valentine’s Day approaches, it’s a reminder that its significance is truly what we make of it. Begin by reflecting on your perceptions of fulfilling sexual experiences. Are they influenced by media portrayals, literature, or early explorations of womanhood? The reality is, societal depictions often paint an unrealistic picture of love and intimacy, affecting our Read more

  • The Pelvic Floor + The Pause

    The Pelvic Floor + The Pause

    Imagine this… you’ve birthed and raised you babies to the point they might need you still, but definitely have found independence, giving you some time to yourself. You’ve put in the years of work to build a career and you’ve established personal relationships that are most important to you. Maybe some energy and desire returns Read more

  • The Core Connection

    The Core Connection

    Some of the most recent comments from patients have been along the lines of “I feel so disconnected. “Those muscles are completely turned off.” “They’ve been so stretched out they can’t work anymore.” To be clear, let’s not make this blog to be about diastasis recti. There’s room and a platform for that topic in Read more

  • The Heart Heaviness of Prolapse

    The Heart Heaviness of Prolapse

    You go your entire life without symptoms and boom, PROLAPSE. Pelvic organ prolapse or POP. You start to google with god-awful pictures on the black hole interwebs, you take a mirror to check things out down there and YOWZAS, you feel trapped by the constant worry of “how will this impact my prolapse?” I get Read more

  • Colds and Pelvic Floors

    Colds and Pelvic Floors

    I’ve had a summer cold. About 2 times a year, I lose my voice from straining to talk and irritate the vocal cords and muscles in the throat. I take it as a sign to stop talking so dang much and sit back and actively listen. Listen to not only those around me, but myself. Read more

The Husband says my first blog post will be embarrassing to look back on in a few months or years. (He has been running a financial blog for several years). I think otherwise. Let’s prove him wrong shall we? 

September is NICU Awareness month. I have a feeling each of you have either had a babe in the NICU or someone else’s babe has is/have been in the NICU. Two words: IT BLOWS. But, I think we can all agree, the NICU staff are hands down SAINTS. And the staff at Mercy NICU in St. Louis will always hold a special place in our hearts. 

This isn’t a post about Cecilia’s birth or time in the NICU (don’t worry, I’m sure that that will come). And although we “only” spent 10 days in the NICU at Mercy Hospital, it was enough to expose us to the world of miracles, hardships, and vulnerability. Since graduating from the NICU, I’ve had several girlfriends contact me with the question of “what can I do to help my friend/family member while their baby is in the NICU?”

WELP, here’s my top 4 suggestions:



1. CHECK IN

Yep that’s all. A simple text of “hey just checking in, sending you all the love today. No need to respond. If you need anything, let me know”. Just that opening of a text, if/when they get to it, is a heart warmer. 


2. GOODIE BASKET

The second day at the NICU, we were still shell shocked. My girlfriend dropped off a basket filled with a cozy blanket, snacks, dry shampoo, tooth paste/brush, gum/etc. Again, another heart warmer with some basics we kept at the hospital. And the blanket is now a keepsake for us. The hospital is the furthest thing from home with your baby, but these touches made us feel connected.

 
3. FOOD in MANY WAYS

This could be a meal drop off for the family, giftcard for door dash/restaurant/coffee/freezer meals. OR sometimes the family is covered, but as mentioned, the NICU staff are saints and they need energy to care for our babes. We’ve dropped off a few snack baskets in the last year, and you cannot go wrong.


4. COVER DAILY NEEDS

Offer to watch their other kids at home or play dates to give grandparents a break, clean the house/house cleaner service, run the laundry, keep the pets/take them for a walk. 

One more thing to note, everyone’s NICU journey is different. Some it’s a few days of making sure babe is good to go, and others it could be a few months. Assess your mama friend’s situation and see what would best benefit them. 

If you or a fellow mama friend is experiencing the NICU now, sending my love and hope these tips help. Or maybe this is something you keep in your back pocket. I sure as hell didn’t think we would cross the NICU journey.