(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
Welcome to the Birth Prep Podcast. I'm Taylor, your birth bestie, who's here to support you as you plan and prepare for the unmedicated birth of your dreams. If you're ready to ditch the fear, conquer the hospital hustle, support that bump and bod, and walk into the delivery room like the HGIC you were born to be, then buckle up, babe.
This is where it all goes down. Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Birth Prep Podcast. I feel like it's been a literal eternity since I've chatted with you guys.
I missed two weeks of the podcast. I don't know if you noticed, but I definitely just told on myself. We had so much going on and with being sick and everything, it just did not happen the first week.
And then I was supposed to also record one in batch it because we went on vacation last week. So I just kind of dropped the ball, but I know you guys still love me and I'm happy that you're here today listening to this episode. In case you missed it over on Instagram, I am expecting baby number six and I have just been down and out.
I'm like surviving off carbs and naps right now. If you know, you know. I'm in my first trimester and I'm, what am I, almost 11 weeks.
So fun. So the end is near and I'm so excited for the second trimester burst of energy that I normally get. I'm praying that it's on the way because I don't know how I'll survive without it.
So, I mean, the Lord is my strength. Thank you, Jesus. But I need some physical strength in my everyday because unfortunately life just doesn't slow down even when you physically have to.
So I appreciate your patience with me in this season and your understanding and all the things. I'm so grateful to you guys, but enough about me. I came here to talk about you.
Me being in my first trimester, obviously I'm thinking a lot about first trimester things and I'm thinking like a first trimester mom, because that's the reality of my identity right now. And I just wanted to make a podcast episode about some things that you can start working on for your birth prep in your first trimester. Ways to just start very like powerfully and right out the gate without putting in like too much effort and having it all figured out yet.
Like that is not what I'm expecting of you guys by any stretch of the imagination. So if you're like, oh, I'm not ready for all that. It's okay.
This is easy stuff to get started on and things that you will thank yourself for later when it's crunch time. And you see every, all the other third trimester moms freaking out about their birth prep because they didn't lay these foundational things like you did. I have so many mamas that come to me essentially freaking out.
I don't like to use that term, but yeah, that's pretty much what they're doing. Um, when they're 36, 37, 38 weeks pregnant and being like, oh my gosh, what do I do? What do I need to do to get ready for this birth experience and blah, blah, blah. And like, I totally get that.
And I understand. And maybe you didn't even know you needed to prep until then. And that makes a lot of sense because it's not typically conversations that doctors are having with you until the end anyways, about birth plans and things like that.
So it makes sense to me. And also you're here right now and getting started on this. Now we'll save you so much headache and stress later when you are in a season of resting and surrender and all of that, because that is what those last few weeks really are all about.
First off, I want to say congratulations, whether you just peed on the stick yesterday, or you've known for a few weeks, finding out that you're pregnant is a moment that really truly changes everything. It changes the way we think, how we operate, the information we're consuming. It changes things so quickly.
And I don't care if it's your first baby or your sixth baby, you are adding another little life into this world. That's worth celebrating. That is worth pouring your time and energy into.
And obviously physical changes are happening. You're a little nauseous, a little bloated, a little this, a little that. It's so normal for really big feelings all across the board, right? We're so excited.
We're like just so grateful to be carrying life. Maybe we're unsure about things, where to even begin with everything. And maybe we're feeling overwhelmed by all the information that's flying at us now just because our algorithm all of a sudden knows that we're pregnant because we looked up some pregnancy announcement ideas and all of that.
And we Googled something real quick of like, is this normal? And now everything is birth and babies and pregnancy and this, that, and the other. And you're like, okay, this is a lot of information being thrown at me all at once. And that makes a lot of sense.
But today I just want to pull you in close and tell you something no one else is probably even saying yet. It's not too early to start preparing for your birth experience. You don't have to wait until week 36 when you're over it and swollen and trying to stuff a yoga ball in your trunk for the hospital.
You don't need to wait until the nursery is done or the baby shower is planned. You can start literally right now in the sleepy, snacky, stretchy pits glory of your first trimester. And please don't hear me wrong.
Starting now doesn't mean stressing out. It doesn't mean you needing a perfect plan or a three ring binder or all the things. It just simply means planting seeds.
Seeds of intention, of education, of empowerment. Seeds that are going to eventually sprout into the confidence and clarity that you're going to absolutely need and be so grateful for when the big day comes. So today I just wanted to dive into five super practical, super doable things that you can start right now in your first trimester, or maybe you're just headed into your second trimester and you want to start laying those foundations.
You can start doing that right now. First and foremost, I want to talk about vetting your provider early, or if you have yet to choose one, choosing one very intentionally and almost like treating it like a big purchase. Because honestly, it is a big purchase.
I'm like, even if your insurance is paying for it, that's a lot of money to have a baby with a provider. So I think the cheapest birth that I ever had was like six grand. And I'm like, that's nothing to sneeze at.
I'm like, that's like, what's a refrigerator cost? Like two, three grand? I'm like, think about how much effort you'd pour into thinking about what kind of refrigerator you're going to get. You wouldn't just go and pick one out, the first one that you saw on the website. You'd be like, OK, I need this.
It needs to be this size. I need to read the reviews, make sure that it's good, make sure that it lasts, all the things, right? You're going to put in some effort into choosing that because it's a big purchase. This is a really big purchase that you're about to make.
And I know it can sound weird to frame it that way, but I do want you to have a little bit of a consumer mindset and be like, listen, I'm the one in charge. I'm the one that gets to make an informed decision here. I'm the one that gets to read the reviews and ask the questions and have the consults and all the things.
And I get to choose the person who I believe is best fitted to help me along my journey. Because not only are they going to be at your birth, they're going to be with you every month, then every two weeks, then every week leading up to your birth experience. They'll also probably be the person that you're going to with postpartum issues as well.
So this is a big deal. And if I could go back and whisper something in past me's ear during that first prenatal appointment, it would be this. Nice doesn't mean supportive.
That was one of the things I can literally hear myself saying to like people that were asking me questions about my doctors, like my mom and like my sisters and stuff like, oh, well, how was it? Was it good? I'm like, yeah, they were really nice and nice is great, but that doesn't always equal support. When it came time for the birth experience, I wasn't supported. I was manipulated.
I was lied to. I was used. I was overlooked.
I was violated. So just because your OB smiles and nods doesn't mean they'll advocate for your unmedicated birth when push comes to shove, literally. So don't wait until your third trimester to ask the real questions.
Please start now at your very next appointment or as you are shopping around and finding the perfect for you provider. So I want to share some questions that you can take into that conversation. And also, if you have any other questions, anything that you need to ask specifically for your personal experience or just stuff that is on your heart and that you really want to get an answer for, please add those.
Please have those conversations. Do not skip this. Okay, here's the questions.
What are your thoughts on unmedicated birth or how do you support a mother aiming for an unmedicated birth experience? One thing I would really try to avoid here is asking yes or no questions. So questions like, do you support unmedicated birth? Odds are, they're going to tell you yes. And you don't actually know what that support looks like.
You kind of want to give them the chance and opportunity to paint a picture for you. And that's going to be a lot more telling than a simple yes or no answer. Next, do you support intermittent monitoring and freedom of movement? Take it a step further and ask what that actually looks like in the delivery room.
Then yes, we're already going to ask it because it's so important. What's your induction policy? How do you handle informed refusal? Especially if you are planning on saying no to induction and a lot of other things that are typically done like continual monitoring and cervical checks and AROM and all of that. Basically trying to gauge what kind of fight you're going to have to put up in the future with this provider.
And then another one, which is usually laid out for you pretty clearly, just so that expectations are set, especially in prenatal appointments. But just simply asking, will I have continuity of care or will I be rotating through providers? Will you be the one at my birth? All of that stuff. And if they seem annoyed by your questions or if they give vague answers or try to change the subject, I just want you to see that for the giant waving red flag that it is.
Okay? Okay. You quite literally deserve a perfect for you provider. Someone who sees your goals and says, absolutely, let's make it happen together.
And if your gut is like whispering that this provider might not be that person, please listen. Like you've got time to pivot better to switch at 10 weeks than to settle for someone who's not aligned when you're 40 weeks and vulnerable and at the end and feeling stuck and all of the things. So that's number one, vetting your provider or choosing one.
If you have yet to do that already, choosing one with intention. Number two, I want you to start learning how birth actually works in those early few weeks and months. It is so easy and so tempting to just focus on all the cute things like the nursery inspo and the baby registry and like all the cute little diapers and teeny tiny little hats and cute outfits and things.
But those things are not going to help you during contractions. They're not going to help you navigate hospital policies. They're not going to help you say no to unnecessary interventions.
Understanding how your body actually works to birth a baby is what is going to help you more than anything, honestly. And I hate to say it. I hate to be the one to tell you, but your OBGYN probably doesn't even know.
They are trained to manage birth, not support it. I am not asking you to learn all the things. I'm not asking you to go to school for 10 years for it.
I am asking you to learn the basics of birth so that you can understand what your body is doing and how to help it do that work. Like, your body knows what to do. It's going to give birth.
I'm not going to sit here and subscribe to the lie that my body doesn't know how to birth the baby that it just created from literal scratch from a few ingredients, including an entire organ to support that baby. Like, please be for freaking real. My God is way bigger than that.
Like, come on. You were beautifully, wonderfully, perfectly, fearfully made to do this work. But we are not taught God's design for birth.
We're taught fluffy stuff. We're taught about the ping pong ball and the balloon during the birth class. And it goes down the uterus and all the things and the contractions start at the top.
And like, that's great and wonderful. But like, that's unnecessary information. We're taught about how long contractions are and how close together they can be.
And like, that's great information to have. But like, it's also kind of fluffy. I want you to learn about hormones like oxytocin and adrenaline and endorphins.
I want you to learn what actually happens during each stage of labor, not just the number of contractions you'll be having and how close together they'll be and what the pain might look like. I want you to understand what supports labor naturally and what stalls it. I want you to know what interventions are common and what to ask before saying yes and how to make an informed decision in the moment.
I want you to understand what these interventions are doing to your body and how they disrupt the physiological process. That's the kind of stuff that you need to know. And no, you don't need to binge 10 books right now.
You don't need to be doula certified by next week. You just need to start learning a little bit at a time. You're here listening to this podcast that's telling me that you're already doing this work.
This is a great place to start. There are so many other resources out there. I've got free resources.
I've got the birth prep course if you want to go all in. It's your roadmap from literally start to finish. Knowledge is power and you're going to need that power when you're in a hospital room making decisions in real time.
So let's get you prepared now so you're not panicked later. So that's number two, start learning how birth works even if it's just a little at a time. Number three, let's get a little deeper journaling your fears, your prayers, and your desires for your birth experience.
One of the most underutilized birth prep tools in the first trimester is a blank notebook. Before you start googling every possible symptom or watching every traumatic birth story that you come across on TikTok, please pause, sit down, breathe, write it out, bring it to the Lord. Start with just simple stuff like what am I afraid of? What do I hope this birth will feel like? Where do I need support? What lies do I believe about my body, about my worth, about my ability to do this? And ask God what do you want to do through this birth? What do you want from me in this season of my life? There is so much power in naming your fears out loud and fears come up from the second you pee on that stick, right? Oh my gosh, what if this happens? What if that happens? What if I can't do this? Or what if this ends like this? Or what if the birth doesn't go well? Or what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, right? So many and you probably like can think of a few off the top of your head that are probably like living ramp free, right? Fear is totally normal to feel, especially if this is your first baby or you've had a traumatic experience in the past, like fear is to be expected, okay? I have fear this is my sixth baby and I quite literally do this for a living, but with this being a new pregnancy and a new experience and I'm aiming for a very different birth than I've ever had before, like there are fears coming up and I'm having to do the work that you guys are doing with naming fears out loud and finding healing and speaking truth over them and taking it to the Lord and praying peace and surrendering that outcome and letting God into this process now, not waiting till I'm in labor.
Like I promise you, you do not want to white knuckle your way through this. Fear shows up huge in the birth space. If you haven't heard me talk about it before, fear quite literally creates the pain that we feel during our birth experience.
So the more that you can work through those fears, quite literally the less pain that you can have during your experience. With our last baby, that was pretty much the majority of my prep was working through fears and undoing beliefs and, you know, aligning myself with what the Lord says about me and really putting on a different identity that I had ever had before and I promise you that work is why I had a pain-free birth experience because that was pretty much the only thing that I did differently. I still walked with the Lord during my fourth birth experience.
I still prayed. I had the worship music going in my birth space. I had biblical affirmations playing.
I did all the things that I did with the last one except I did all of that inner deep work that honestly is pretty uncomfortable to do and I'm not going to discount the fact that it is hard work, but it is work worth doing and it doesn't really feel like that in the moment and it definitely doesn't feel like that on paper. I'm like, Taylor's telling me to journal about my fears. Like I promise you I wouldn't be telling you if it didn't work and it wasn't so impactful for your experience.
Honestly, start yourself a new little journal, a new little pregnancy journal and put your prayers in there and your fears and all the things and it's something that you can come back to again and again as your pregnancy unfolds and it really just shows you like how far you've come and what you need to be working on and what you're praying for still for this birth experience and it can be such a beautiful thing. So number three, basically mindset 101. Journal your fears, your prayers, and your desires.
Number four, I want you to start investing in your birth now, not later. Let's flip the script for a second. Instead of thinking, oh I'll worry about birth when I get closer.
What if you asked what can I start investing now to make that day feel aligned and supported and powerful and however else you want to feel that day and I'm not just talking about money though that can absolutely be part of it. I'm talking about your time, your energy, your attention, your intention because birth isn't just a day, it's an experience and how you show up for it that starts right now. So let's break this down a little bit.
First, financial investment. If you do have the capacity to save or to budget, this is a great time to start slow and build steady. Even setting aside like 10 to 50 dollars a week can turn into a few hundred dollars by the time your third trimester rolls around and that could cover a birth course like mine, a doula deposit, a postpartum meal service, child care for your other kids so you can rest, like literally there's so many options for support right and you get to decide what kind of support that you want and need for this experience.
Some things you can ask yourself are you know like what support would make this birth feel better, what would reduce stress, what would increase my confidence, what would set me up for postpartum success. This is your experience and it's worth the investment. But let's talk about different kinds of investments because not everybody has money to invest and that's totally okay.
Your mindset still matters though. So start investing time into listening to birth positive podcasts. Hey girl, you're doing that already.
Good for you. Watching free trainings. It's been a long time since I've done one of those.
I need to put one of those on the calendar. I miss those a lot. I love doing live events with you guys.
Reading stories that reflect the kind of birth that you want. Journaling your fears and your dreams which we just talked about right like investing your time into these different areas. And guys this doesn't need to be hours every day.
It could be 15 minutes a couple times a week and that can add up fast. When you consistently pour into your prep now you'll feel that confidence rising month after month. And then finally I want to talk about investor support.
Finding investors and this is something that most people don't talk about. Definitely not in early pregnancy but I'm talking about emotional investors. People who want to support your vision.
Who will pray with you. Cheer for you. Show up for you.
Even physical investors right babysitting your toddler. Bringing your dinner postpartum. Help fund a doula or course if needed.
You know just asking for help and just say hey like I'm planning to do birth differently this time. This really means a lot to me or maybe you're doing for the first time right. I'm planning to really take charge of this birth experience and really show up in my God-given abilities and go all in on what this look on what I'm wanting and stuff.
And I'm trying to invest in resources that will help me prepare and if you'd like to be a part of that here's how you can help me do that. You're not asking for charity. You're inviting people into a mission right.
Like you are asking for backers for what you are trying to pull off here. This could look like sisters and friends and your mom and your grandma and your people at church and other people in your life. Your husband.
Anybody that is going to get in there and be like you know what yes this is worth the time and energy. I want to play a part in this and believe me when they see how strong and empowered you are on the other side of this they will be so glad that they played a role. So that's number four.
Invest in your birth. Start doing it now. Start thinking about what it is that you're going to need.
Start saving if you need to. Start gathering bits of information and resources and things like that. And then finally number five.
Begin building your birth squad. Your birth team. Your dream team.
Whatever you want to call it. We call it the birth squad in the birth prep course. But not just like who will be there but who's actually going to support you and protect you and empower you.
You are not like gathering an audience. You are gathering a support team that might look like your husband or your partner. Please have the hard conversations with them now.
Do not wait. They might not be the best person to support you and that's totally okay. If they're willing and able to get to that point please start doing the work now and start having those conversations.
Say hey this is how I want and need to be supported and here's what you're going to have to do in order to get ready for that. Okay that's like so important. Maybe it looks like a doula or a coach or a trusted friend who's praying with you or stopping in during your labor and just encouraging you bringing you a little snack.
It's a midwife or provider who actually gets your vision and who's there to support you. It might look like going to the support calls in the birth prep course that the crazy lady that you found on the internet who's yelling at you about informed consent and all the birth things. Ask yourself who do you want in your space? Whose energy feels safe and calming? Who do I need to train so that they can actually support me not just witness it? Who would I need to link arms with along the way so that I'm actually prepared walking into that room whether they're there or not? Because birth is not a spectator sport, okay? You're not hosting a party.
You're bringing a human being into the world. So choose your people with care, okay? So number five is begin building your birth squad. So there you go five powerful ways you can start prepping for your birth in the first trimester.
I'm just going to run through them really quick again. Number one, ask the hard questions and vet your provider or be very intentional when choosing one. Number two, learn how birth actually works so that you can support your body and the work that it's going to be doing.
Number three, journal your fears, your prayers, and your desires and start digging into what your thoughts and beliefs are about birth. Number four, start investing in your birth now. Start budgeting.
Start saving. Start having conversations. Start investing your time and energy into this.
And number five, start building your birth squad so that you have the bang and support that you deserve that day. And you don't have to do all of this today, okay? You don't need a 12-step plan, but if you just take one of these steps this week, you're already ahead of so many women, I promise. This is just your reminder that you were chosen for this baby on purpose for this season.
Your body is not broken. Birth does not have to be traumatic, and you're not doing this alone. If you're ready for a deeper dive, come check out the birth prep course.
It's the practical no-fluff map for pulling off your unmedicated hospital birth with confidence and clarity and peace, quite literally step-by-step. It's all at your pace. If you want to add some Jesus at the center, there's stuff for that too.
We talk about newborn stuff, postpartum prep, all the things, and it's just a great place to get everything you need to prepare for your birth experience. You can grab the course or check out all the free resources at thebirthprepcoach.com or check the show notes for the links. And if you're on Instagram, shoot me a DM with your takeaways from the podcast.
I'd love to hear from you. Thank you guys for listening. I really appreciate you guys being here, and I love that you're doing this work.
I'm so, so proud of you guys, especially these mamas getting in so early during their first trimester. Y'all are awesome, and I'm so here for it. So have a beautiful, wonderful week.
I will chat with you guys again next week. As always, happy prepping.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
