But how do you navigate your need to be close to your family and friends while still keeping baby healthy this Holiday Season?

When we feel the internal buildup of pressure, we often seek a way to relieve it (STERB: Short Term Energy Relieving Behaviors). The problem with STERBs is that they appear to work for a while, until they don't anymore. Then we seek out more of that behavior or even a new one in order to distract ourselves from the internal energy buildup.

C O M P A S S I O N Showing Compassion to Herself Compassion is such a misunderstood concept. If you look up the English meaning of this word, it lists it as a noun. A thing. As if we can hand it out or keep it for ourselves. But if you look at the etymology and roots of this word, you begin to understand it so much better and recognize how it can be so transformative for both us and others. Compassion stems from Latin and Greek Roots. Com - Coming near, close beside or toget

As children, we may have been given resources to know that these bodily sensations are actually our emotional responses to life. We may have been guided gently by caregivers teaching us the names of these different sensations, seeing us where we were, and showing us dignity and compassion. Or we may have had caregivers who were doing the best they could with what they had, but who were unable to guide us down a healthy emotional path.

What if we listened to the message that those little "feelings" those physical nuances were trying to speak to us? What if we paid attention to the body's whispers before it ever felt the need to yell?

Sometimes mamas all know when the time is right and you get more than one birth in a short amount of time. This is what we call a "birth storm."

Isolation can make postpartum depression so much worse! We were made for connection. We were made to support each other. And if we are not connecting with others, we are much more prone to be deceived into believing lies . . .

Any experience that was not validated and handled healthily in the moment of occurrence can be stored as trauma in our amygdala. This causes a fight or flight response in our body (cortisol and stress release response) any time our bodies feel threatened in a similar way - thus fear, insomnia, anxiety, and panic!

But reality is: even small pregnancy changes can feel like big changes to us personally. And our body will remember whether we honored what it endured or whether we ignored what it was trying to tell us.

Each day our bodies speak to us - they tell us when we are sleepy, hungry, or have a need for the bathroom. They tell us with pain and discomfort that something needs adjusted or that there might be a problem worth looking into. They let us know when we are mentally fatigued and they carry the tension of our mental and emotional stressors in forms of muscle tightness (and maybe even stomach pains or headaches). OUR BODIES ARE ALWAYS TALKING!

But pregnancy is a HEAVY Physical experience! Your body is stretching and growing in ways it never has before. Your organs are being pushed aside to make room for your growing babe. Your body is demanding more caloric input as you are outputting hundreds of extra calories per day in the development of your "mini me."

Long births are the name of the game in doula work. We intentionally try to minimize the risk by high quality education, offering support from a distance until active labor commences, and putting clauses in our contracts. But somehow, we still hit those births that last 24+ hours. Ever experience birth hangover?

We cannot allow ourselves to get trapped in the lie that we are what we do. Take a step back, evaluate your being as a whole - what you need, what adds value, who you're already connected to, and what you long to learn. Doing so will prevent burnout for years to come as our bodies finally feel valued for who they really are!

When we find ourselves grasping for more exposure, more clients, more money - the greedy heart can take over and our truest, deepest selves get lost in the hustle. Once our hearts are buried deep beneath the game, we lose ourselves - our identity, our dreams, and why we really began this career anyway.

An Enneagram Type 9 needs to find their voice and realize that their birth belongs to them - not to their doctor, partner, or doula.

The Enneagram 8 has the most energy of any of the enneagram types. They always seem to be moving forward, getting things done, and proving o

As an enneagram type 7, pregnancy is an adventure waiting to happen!

A type six tuning into the present moment can experience a birth that is full of beauty and free from fear!

At the core, a type 5 feels like their own personal needs are constantly at risk.

A Type 4 in pregnancy and birth needs to be seen, known, and heard in their desires