At Home with Kelly + Tiffany
At Home with Kelly + Tiffany
Ep 182. The 3 Most Impactful Rhythms for a Natural Pregnancy
Join us this week while we share our 3 rhythms we swear by for a more comfortable, lower risk, enjoyable pregnancy. We'll share practical tips on integrating these vital habits into your daily life, helping set the stage both a thriving pregnancy and a smoother birth experience.
00:00 Introduction to Kelly and Tiffany's Podcast
01:09 Engaging with the Audience
02:01 Current Listening Habits
10:03 Listener Reviews and Feedback
11:38 Three Key Rhythms for a Natural Pregnancy
18:46 Hydration Tips for Pregnancy
22:03 Importance of Nutrition During Pregnancy
28:41 Movement and Exercise for Expecting Mothers
34:59 Holistic Approach to Pregnancy and Birth
39:05 Supporting Our Ad-Free Show
Links We Chat About
Tiff's Jewel Memoir She's Enjoying
Spinning Babies Daily Activities
Our Monthly Membership
Our Weekly Newsletter
Our Childbirth Education Course, use code RADIANT10 for 10% off
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to catch every episode. Follow us on Instagram for extra education and antics between episodes at: @beautifulonemidwifery
Welcome to at Home with Kelly and Tiffany, where we share powerful tools, exciting education, and relatable views about holistic health, physiological birth, and thriving in the female body. We are home birth midwives in sunny San Diego. Passionate about the alternatives that give women control and confidence in health, in birth and in life. We've poured a lot of love into creating very in depth and high value offerings. A monthly membership, a physiological birth course, and holistic guides for the women who really want to dive all the way in. But this podcast. We want to bring zero cost information about health and natural birth and make these important topics accessible always. Your support of the show is also zero cost and means everything to us. When you leave a review, share an episode and join our newsletter. It really helps us keep this space open, ad free and full of honest, valuable conversations. Now let's dive into today's show. welcome back to the podcast. You are at home or you're somewhere else in the car. On a nice leisurely walk. Maybe you are doing the dishes, which you'd probably be at home for doing that. But anyway, you are at home with Kelly and Tiffany. I am midwife Kelly. And I'm Tiffany. And we are chatting about the three most impactful rhythms for a natural pregnancy. There are many rhythms out there. We have dialed it down to what we believe are the three most foundational pieces. If you were like, I can only focus on three things right now. I have so much going on in my life. I want a healthy pregnancy, but come on, I need to pare it down a little bit. This is the episode for you. It is the episode. Every episode is the episode for you. I would just like to say, but you introduced our podcast. Perfectly with the icebreaker today because you are talking about the multitasking of listening, learning, and then doing something else with your body, which I'm really working on getting regular walks in right now, and so I've been listening to. So much stuff, and I'm willing to listen at one and a half or two times speed for things. And so I'm consuming a lot of material and it's actually really lovely. I feel like there's seasons for that. I'll get burnt out on this and then I'll just listen to music for a while. But I'm definitely in a, I want the information, I wanna be invested in the stuff. So Kelly, I wanna ask you what you're currently listening to right now. I'll share while you're thinking'cause I didn't prep you for this one. I'm currently listening. This is kind of funny, but it's amazing. It's Jewel. Jewel, the singer, her memoir. I don't think she, I think she wrote it like maybe 10 years ago or something. But she's, it's really well done. And she does the audible version of it and it comes with the Audible membership for those of you who are audible people out there. But I also saw it on my Libby app. You can get through your, get the audio book through your library too. And I have. I'm almost finished and I've only been listening to it for four or five days. It's so good. And then I'm like very, I'm very deep into like a lot of podcasts about nutrition and macro and bodybuilding and putting on. Muscle and the strategy behind that. And so I have three or four podcasts that I have binged. Completely all of their stuff. And now I'm just feverishly waiting for the new episodes that they release every single week. Which is how people have described utilizing our podcast before too. So I totally get it. When you're just in a deep dive about something and you wanna know all the things, and you want to hear the opinions of people that you trust and hear them talk about the things that like you, you're like, tell me what I need to know. I get it. So those of you who listen to our podcast that way, thank you so much for your loyalty. Thank you for being here with us. Being a consumer on the other end of enjoying other people's podcasts definitely gives me perspective. I'm just laughing. There are certain podcasts, I can listen to it like one and a half or two times, and then I'm thinking of a podcast in particular where I'm like. She talks fast enough already that when I've tried that, I'm like, yeah, I can't get through this any faster, because there's so much going on already. I have two podcasts that I listen to that are like. I don't wanna say pop culture, it's at current events. And I listen to them not every single day. But when I'm like, Ooh, I'm interested in understanding this, like what is happening in the world in this way a little bit more. I'm interested in understanding the background of why these two people groups hate each other and they're going after each other in war, whatever. And so, I have two of those that I'm like very into. I have never once. Oh, am I truthful in this? I don't think I've ever once listened to an audio book. As you were talking, I was like, I think I only listen to podcasts and then I read books. But I, this is interesting. I wonder if I would actually like that. I listen to the Bible on my so I guess that's technically a book. And then I have two other, like strategy or personal interest things that I'm listening to right now where I'm really into. Like budgeting and investing right now, like wisely. And so there's a couple just very top level not weighing me down kind of things about those that I'm listening to. And then. I will also listen to, there's this comedian that we've seen in person a few times named John Christ. He has a a podcast where some of them that he puts away one every week and usually they're always funny, but I almost always listen to the ones when he has guests on.'cause he's just a really great storyteller and like interviewer. And I have discovered some people that I'm like, oh, I've heard of you before. But I never actually knew that I. Enjoyed spending some, like spending this time with you and learning about you. So I'll link a few of like my favorites just in case. That gets interesting. I really try to say, I don't wanna go too deep on current events'cause it can really mess my brain up of doom and gloom when you look around the world. But this is the way that I can dip my feet in and understand it a little bit more. While still protecting some of the space and getting like wise counsel on what it means and how to process it too. So I'm kind of all over the place. If you were to look at my podcast list, which I actually am, I really enjoy that. I'm all over the place with that. I, yeah. And I don't listen to anything in our niche. I do not care what other. Birth podcasts are putting out same. I do not wanna listen to that. I'm like the very I'm a human being. I have other interests. I will produce and create this type of content. I do not wanna listen to it. I feel exactly the same way. Exactly. I can't believe that you have never listened to an audiobook. I cannot believe it for somebody who loves. Books so much that you haven't tapped into that one. Yeah, I don't know why it's nothing per, it's nothing personal. I just, that maybe there's something I, oh, I don't even, not personal against you, personal against the idea of audio books. Even with Kindle. I can't, my mom gave me a Kindle and I was like, oh, I'm so thankful. But even that, I'm like, I don't, I think it's the physical movement of the pages or something that I also enjoy. I'm sure I could get into it. Maybe I should just give it a try and. Report back to the podcast. It is totally different experience listening. I will say completely different experience and I can't, not all books can be listened to the same way that they can be read. So it really depends. I would, you gotta be picky with those, with the distinctions there. I love that you're listening to the Jewel audio book though, because she grew up or had part of that story in San Diego. I'm pretty sure. And I remember being in high school or maybe it was a little bit younger and hearing that like she lived in a van and has made something of herself, right? Like this entire story of her life. And I remember being like. What a fascinating, like even as a young kid, I'm like, that's just fascinating that somebody can have that kind of life. And as you mentioned that, I'm like, oh yeah, I forgot she put something out. But that actually sounds really intriguing, like understanding that entire experience of hers. Yeah. She's a fascinating lady and I don't, I never knew very much about her, but got, just got curious because she was mentioned in another book that I'm reading about. Slow productivity she was given as an example. And he get, he went into a little bit of her background and I was just like, whoa, that's fascinating. I wanna hear more about that. And I'm at the point right now in the book where she's talking about her birth of her son and she needed a cesarean. And so the way that she, talks about that and details. That is very frustrating for me. Love all the other pieces about the book, but she actually said some clinically inaccurate things about her prenatal care and the pro, the way that the cesarean was performed. I was like, no, that's not what to you probably, I hope not. You'd have a whole lot more. Serious things happening. But besides that, and she tends to be very, very emotive, a little bit woo with some of her thoughts and ideas and stuff. But the story of her life is very fascinating. I would recommend the book. Great. Okay, we're jumping right into not the topic. Nope. No. We are jumping right into a beautiful review from the Real Patty Mac gives a five star review. The title of the review is the Best Exclamation Mark. And she says, I've been a follower on Instagram and a podcast listener for quite some time, probably three years. And I still enjoy Kelly and Tiffany so much. Not only are they a wealth of knowledge to women wanting to take a more hands-on approach to their health, but they're so funny and relatable. Thanks for all your content. I've been binging your older episodes and I learned something new almost every time. That's from the Real Patty Mac. You let us know. You heard us read your review on our show. We'll buy you a drink. I like that she said she's been listening to us for a while and she sounds surprised that she's still enjoying us. That was like the sweetest review, but I was like, oh, that's actually really funny. Oh, I've been listening to you guys for a while and amazingly I still find you acceptable and enjoyable. I love it. Yeah. Somehow we have maintained our humor and relatability. I love it. Maybe because we took a nine month break. Probably. Maybe that's the key. Keep'em guessing and wanting and hungry and we'll come back refreshed. Still funny. Still relatable. Absence makes the heart grow. Much fonder. Oh man. I don't know if our, I don't know if our follow, if our audience can handle another long break. We're not gonna do that to you guys again. Probably. Nope. Probably won't. Alright. Three most impactful rhythms for a natural pregnancy. There's so much advice out there, ladies, and a lot of it is good. A lot of it's true, but it can quickly become overwhelming. It can quickly become performative. And when we feel overwhelmed with these quote unquote shoulds are burnout on all the stuff. Doing all the things. Hashtag we can fall back on the foundation of rhythms over tasks. So it's an opportunity leaning into the rhythm. We talked about that a little bit in our last episode. Pregnancy and other life seasons. Like pregnancy, they are meant to connect us. They are meant to connect us to our bodies. We thrive on rhythms. We don't thrive on rigidity. And I think as women especially, we have this like uncanny ability to really own our. Actions and really bring meaning to them and allow them to be like important and intentional. And we can do that in our pregnancies too. So when we talk about pregnancy rhythms, we share that word, we share the word rhythm a lot on here. But it's basically daily habits that create sustainability nourishment stability. Resilience there. It's all meant to connect you to the experience in a really meaningful way, but the rhythm piece of it kind of gets us out of the rigidity of. The shoulds and the tasks and stuff, and so it's, we, it's really considering how do I adopt these pieces into my life that feels like authentic, that feels easy, that I feel excited about. And so we asked our Instagram audience. To tell us what three things they think are the most important and these three things. Exactly. It was fascinating how quickly and how abundantly these exact same three things came up again and again for women. And so of course we have to agree these three core rhythm rhythms to support a healthy and connected pregnancy are hydration. Nutrition and movement. And so that's what we're gonna unpack with you ladies today. How to why they're important, and how to fold them into real life. Yeah. And it's so funny'cause those are like hydration. Yeah. You gotta do that to. Stay alive, right? It's, we're talking very foundational, but when we miss some of these things, the impact that they can have on our bodies is pretty incredible. So even something like hydration that I'm gonna talk about, like it has such a huge impact on any season of life. Like you almost always can be like, I can do this a little bit more, a little bit, work this more into my day. But again, I think it's helpful to see, it's not like. Getting a new red light mask, and it's not a vibration plate and it's not, it's not all of these extra things. It's actually coming back to very simple things and doing those well and kind of enjoying that simple piece. And that's what I just love. I love peeling off some of those layers and figuring out like, how can I feel better without ha having to like, keep feeling like I'm doing more stuff? Or what's something really simple I can do that will make me feel much better without that much, mental effort. These three things are absolutely that, so hydration matters, right? Of course it does. But it matters particularly in pregnancy because. Your blood volume is increasing so much, your amniotic fluid is being created. So that in and of itself is a lot that's happening FluidWise in your body, but then we need to also move some of these detox pathways through. We need to support your digestion, we need to support your energy. All of those things need support throughout pregnancy and hydration is a massive, has a massive impact on those things. And when we're not focused on that or we're kind of lagging in this particular area. More chronic dehydration or even a day you may feel like, oh man, I actually really feel that you might get more headaches, more just exhaustion and fatigue. Swelling and even preterm contractions. Lots more brass and hicks, things like that. Almost like kind of across the board when women would come into our office and say oh man, I'm having a lot of Braxton Hicks. I'm having. A lot of these contractions, low back stuff, whatever. One of the first things we ask is like, how's your hydration been? And a lot of times they're like, well, I could be better at that. I'm like, well, yeah, it's 85 out and you're running around after a toddler. Like these are important things, right? Important rhythms to really establish and. Create some importance around, right? We talk about rhythms in TIFF mentioned this idea of like, how can I do something that doesn't feel like I'm necessarily have to check it off a list, like it's, hanging over me, but how can I just weave it into my day where it feels like. This is just who I am. I am the person who hydrates myself. So one of our best tips is first thing in the morning, getting a glass of water right? And mineralizing it really well. So just a good glass of water. First thing in the morning. You can put trace minerals in there. A pinch of salt. You can put some lemon in there. You can do all of it if you would like and drink that. Start your day off really well. It's really common for women to wanna go straight to coffee or something like that. We wanna. We wanna beat that and start the body start the day off really well for your body. So that's like probably one of the keys that can help make this more of a rhythm for you where you want to continue on with that. If you don't have a large water bottle with you I definitely recommend grabbing one. It's a really easy way to track your intake. So instead of just drinking out of glasses all day, it could be really helpful to say, Hey, I have this water bottle. And, or 40 ounce or 20 ounce, whatever, and here's how many I want throughout the day, right? We're shooting for 80 to a hundred ounces a day, generally speaking. And so that's a really helpful way to make sure Hey, I am in the rhythm of actually hydrating myself because I can see. I can see, hey, I've had to fill this thing up three times and it's 20 ounces each. And hey, I'm shooting for 80 today, so I need to do this again. We've mentioned also herbal infusions and things like that on here. So, we started selling our Nora tea and we got a lot of questions on does this count as hydration really? And yes, it absolutely does. It can really gently hydrate also. And you also get the impact of these really nourishing outcomes from these herbs. And so it's a great way to be like, I maybe don't like water so much, or, gosh, I'm happy to try the trace minerals, but they're not my favorite. What else can I do to add something just slightly different without drinking,, juice or soda or something like that. Norty in particular, but herbal infusions are wonderful to help kind of break up that day. And then just being aware. As you look at yourself throughout the day, check in with yourself and what exactly is going on, you wanna watch for signs of dehydration. You wanna make sure okay, maybe you're somebody who needs a little bit more than that 80, ounces, and your body will start to tell you that, right? You wanna take a peek at your urine. If you have dark urine, that's definitely a sign. If you're experiencing headaches, it's always worth it to try to drink a little bit more mineralized water. If you're chronically dry lips or experiencing dizziness, those are all things that when women bring them up to us, we are like, Ooh, let's go here first. Let's talk about this and how that's going for you, and then continue to move on, right? For different questions and situations. But what's great is that, again, like I mentioned, some women are just like, I just can't drink that much water. It's feeling like so much. You can totally make it what you want it to be. So say you're like, dude, the trace minerals, that's gross. Or, I don't really like lemon. All the things that you're saying are not my favorite. You can absolutely put different add-ins that you would like to. My daughter has been putting cucumber in the bottom of hers, like very bougie, but she drinks way more water now. And I'm like, I don't care. Be as bougie as you wanna be. This is actually helping us. So this is great. I will. Hundred percent every single day. Drink way more water. If my water bottle has a straw versus one that I have to like. Really struggle and move my neck to put my neck back to drink a straw, like changes that for me. So that's a really helpful little tip there in case you're like me. Or you could be like, this is gonna be, my, my fancy cup. This is gonna be my fancy water bottle. You go get something that makes you feel like. I want to use this and I mean this is true in a lot of different ways, but you probably will use it a lot more because it's your special, it's your special cup. It's your special bottle for doing that thing. So there are some pieces to like just start to weave this more into your day. We oftentimes don't think about it like, yes, we have to drink some water. But especially in pregnancy, it matters a lot. And so those are my best tips for creating that rhythm for yourself so that you're, creating the healthiest, happiest, most comfortable pregnancy for yourself. Yeah, and we like are asking our own clients about hydration at every single visit because it really does matter so much in just, multiple things and helps prevent other complications and stuff. I am always like asking women about hydration and they're like, yes, I'm drinking enough water. And we're like, well, where's your water bottle right now? Do you go someplace without a giant water bottle, like your prenatal appointment then you're probably not hydrated enough. Or when we would, we always ask women before we. Do their physical exam. Do you need to go to the bathroom before we press on your, abdomen and your baby and your bladder? And if they have not gone to the bathroom during the entire ti our entire visit, that's another thing. I'm like, you're probably not drinking enough. I'm probably not drinking enough cleaner fluids. So keep that in mind as you assess. Are you drinking enough water? Are you carrying your water bottle with you everywhere? Are you. Do you need to use the restroom frequently? I mean, you're pregnant, right? So yes, but hydration is important enough to take a couple extra tricks to the bathroom in order to get hydrated, and you don't wanna save all of that for the end of the day when you're feeling poorly and you're like, oh, I probably didn't drink enough water. And then you throw a bunch of water in your body. To get into bed and have to get up and, pee extra times and stuff. So, front load it, ladies, it's so important. The next big rhythm is nutrition. Nobody needs to be talked into. Eating well in pregnancy, right? Everyone knows that is the time to really show up. Nutritionally food literally builds your baby. It is fueling all of the systems that are a little bit stressed in your body. Nutrient stores and nutrient intake also help prevent common complications. It's important to pay attention to when you're eating. How long you're going in between meals, having balance in the types of foods that are getting on your plate. Blood sugar, stability is key for so many things. Your mood, your energy your sleep. Your baby's ability to start, managing their own metabolic processes. So lots and lots of reasons why good nutrition matters in pregnancy but to incorporate this into your life a little bit to see if these rhythms are in the right place or if they could use a little bit of improvement. Consider eating within an hour of waking up, having a really protein dense meal first thing in the day. And we're not talking to eggs on a piece of toast that is like 12 grams of protein. That's not enough. You need about a hundred grams of protein every day, and you're. Pregnancy. So each meal needs to have 30 or 40 grams of protein, and we suggest getting the most protein out of your breakfast meal. And that takes a lot of conscientious energy and thought so. Be thinking about that ladies, where can you put the col? Where can you scoop some collagen? Getting breakfast meats or dinner leftovers incorporated into your breakfast routine to get a lot of protein. First thing in the day is gonna really help the whole rest of the day. Experiment with this. Don't take my word for it. Commit to having a protein rich breakfast an hour after waking up in your pregnancy. Give me like five days of that. And if it, and you tell me that it doesn't help you feel better and more energized and like you can tackle your day a little bit better. Controlling hunger, blood sugar regulation, all of that good stuff, we want three main meals or five mini meals. When you get towards the end of your pregnancy, you might need to have. Smaller meals, which means they need to be closer together. It doesn't mean that we're going to eat less. We want some snacking in there, and we want these food choices to be focused on protein first. And then next is really good. Healthy dietary fat, like animal fat, nuts and seeds, fat and just good, healthy fats like, olive and coconut, and I could just list all of the. All the fats that come from animals too, which would be wonderful to get on every single plate that you prepare food for yourself. And then the next focus inside of that is fiber. So picking really high fiber foods is gonna help you assimilate your nutrients better. It's gonna help with digestion, it's gonna help with keeping your detox pathways open. It's gonna help with using the bathroom. It's gonna help with. STI and just being able to have comfort and ease in your body with a good amount of fiber. We also wanna be emphasizing mineral rich foods. I know we harp on that all the time, constantly. We even said, mineralize your water. We'll see if Kelly has a way to mineralize movement in the next section. But things like. Eggs, leafy greens, grass fed meats, root vegetables, broth. That should be something that you're getting in every single day, is having a mineral mindset. Don't be afraid of salt. Don't be afraid of fat. They're vital in your pregnancy. And then if you're having trouble with digestion and you've got your fiber where you want it to be, we're talking like 25, 30, 35 grams a day of fiber is a good target. You can support your digestion with digestive bitters or digestive enzymes. Being mindful about eating, so planning, mealtime, sitting down, concentrating on your food, chewing it, not scrolling on your phone or watching TV or. Eating while you're standing in the kitchen. That's my worst habit, is just like cleaning up and eating at the same time. And then probiotic foods are really important for digestion too. And probiotic foods are really important for so many other things in your pregnancy and can even be a part of preventing GBS overgrowth and all of that. So we wanna make sure that is an emphasis. And what we recommend that our own clients do is do a little bit of planning. You don't have to do full on meal prep or meal planning, but make a little station in your kitchen where all of your go-to snacks are so that you're never stuck not being able to grab something when you're hungry. Pregnancy, hunger can come on really quickly and suddenly because there's just such a bigger demand on your body. So you wanna make sure that you have things like dried fruit and nuts, hard boiled eggs. Chia pudding. Collagen smoothies, prepped cheese, beef sticks, trail mix, all that kind of thing that you can just grab. Even if it's just your favorite protein bar or having fresh fruit around. Just make sure that you always have something that is kind of balanced, that you can plan ahead of time. This is what I'm gonna grab when I'm so hungry. Sometimes like you're getting a snack while you're preparing your meal, right? Because you're like, I need to eat right now, and then I can take the time to make the food that I need after that. And food is a very loaded topic. There's so much more that we could share. On the nutrition perspective, it was really hard for me to keep it pared down. I hope it didn't overwhelm you because when I say we, we need to be careful to emphasize these 27 things. I mean, it. What's funny is I have kept this like little idea of a food station, a snack station since my last pregnancy. Because I was like, all of a sudden right here, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna eat an egg and a beef stick, and then I'm gonna decide what I want to eat. But the same thing can still happen. And so I still just grab a beef, stick a cheese stick, whatever, and then I'm like, okay. Now I feel more balanced. If we've been out for a long time or something. And so I, these are great rhythms to get into in pregnancy, very important. But I think you'll start to find that once you start doing them, then you're like, well, this is just my life. This is just how I do it. And it can have really positive impacts beyond pregnancy as well. Okay. Tiff, you mentioned the last one up is movement. I can figure out a way to mineralize this that I will share with you in just a moment. But movement is going to be incredibly important. There's a lot on there that when I say movement, I'm saying moving your body. I'm not saying. Join a CrossFit gym. I'm not saying start this new program. I'm not saying, completely shift your life. I'm saying the foundational, moving your body. We'll talk about a little bit more what that can look like, especially if you're somebody who's just not in that rhythm already. But movement in your body is going to be incredibly important. It's gonna support your circulation, which is working overtime while you're pregnant, it's gonna help your lymph flow, which absolutely helps. Detox pathways and all of that good stuff. It's gonna help stabilize your blood sugar. Incredibly important in pregnancy. It's going to support baby's position, getting them to an optimal position, which. Both helps for comfort throughout your pregnancy, but also prepares for birth as well. And also movement consistent movement has absolutely been linked to mood stability and so rising of moods and just like feeling more stable in that way. So that is a like a win-win, win-win situation. It's gonna prepare, like I mentioned, getting baby into a good position. It's going to prepare your body for labor, right? It's going to encourage that endurance that you are going to need, and it's gonna encourage some connection with your actual body. What is my body saying to me? How do I feel when I'm moving my body? How do I feel when I'm not moving my body? And so pregnancy is a lot to do with that connection with your physical self and how you are feeling about your changing body. And all of that movement can absolutely help support that experience as well. So daily, what we are looking for, some of these like rhythm ideas, we are looking to basically one of the, some women will come in and say. Well, I'm just walking. I just go for a 30 minute walk every day, and that's all I'm doing and I'm like, that is the best thing that you could be doing, right? That is one of the very top things that you could be doing between 10 and 30 minutes every day if you only have five minutes. You can do that just multiple times, right? You only have 10 minutes, you only have 15. You can break it up absolutely, but you may discover man, this is actually feeling really good. Once you could go together as a family, you can go by yourself. You can say, my midwives said I had to leave the house for 30 minutes. And, you just enjoy your solo time, whatever that is. But simply just walking. So again, I'm not saying you need to turn your life upside down, but that is an incredibly supportive rhythm to get into. So beyond walking. Stretching is gonna be really helpful. I don't know if you've ever done like a really good stretch where it's almost like it hurts so good where you're like, oh my gosh, that's the spot. Ooh, kind of. But also, oh my gosh, yes. That kind of stretching throughout pregnancy can feel really good as you're bones are shifting as the fascia's changing. All of that can really help. Just feel good. Open up your hips a little bit, balance your pelvis really well. Spinning babies. The website, we can put it in the show notes, has great kind of daily stretches and like quote exercises. It's,, positions to get into kind of thing that are wonderful for some of this kind of prep that we're talking about. If you find yourself, if you're like, okay, that sounds great, but all I'm getting is really just a walk in the evening, maybe 30 minutes. That's great. But one of the things, especially if you're somebody who sits, at a computer a lot during the day or you're just noticing throughout your day huh, I'm not really moving my body much during the day. My toddler's on the floor playing and I'm just sitting on the couch.'cause I'm like, I don't wanna get on the ground. And, maybe you're not going out'cause you're not feeling well or something like that. If you have some sedentary time consistently in your day. Just break it up a little bit. Break up, stand up, walk around the room a few times, right? Sway back and forth. Moving your body, your hips. Do some pelvic tilts. Get a birth ball. If you're somebody who's, sitting at a desk at work or something, you may feel ridiculous, but you are going to be so happy if you switch to a birth wall. It's gonna feel really good to get a little bit more of that movement in again during a more sedentary time potentially. And then I think it's important to recognize. This is not the time, again, like you do not have to overhaul your whole life to do this. And it's not the time to be like I am now going into get into the best shape of my entire life. It's not necessarily a bad goal, but it's not about that, right? You wanna be moving to feel good, not about the pressure that's on you and your body and the way it looks and all of that, right? You wanna be moving for yourself and for your baby and how that makes you feel. So you need to kind of recognize too, as you're moving. Potentially you're like, okay, yes, but I do wanna also wanna strength train. Wonderful. You want to do that to feel good, not to overexert yourself or to get like your personal best, record or whatever you're doing it to again, connect and get that rhythm piece in rather than this entire overhaul. But you can absolutely call a friend and be like, Hey. Will you be my walking partner or have a few of them or put your headphones in and listen to this podcast, listen to birth podcast, listen to something that's going to lift you up and get you excited for what you are doing right. That can make me excited. There's some, car rides I have to take and I'm like, oh, actually I'm excited'cause that 45 minutes is absolutely like, that's the time I'm gonna get this podcast in. And that feels so good. Something kind of mundane that gets you excited about doing it. And then if you are doing some gentle movement, walking, stretching, things like that, take that as a time to. Pray to meditate, to just be grateful for this experience that you're having. And then I'm gonna add in, you also can spray some magnesium on your legs and things after you're walking because you may have exerted yourself if you're up on hills and things like that. And that is where you can get your minerals in while you are focusing on moving your body. So an incredibly, this sounds so simple, all of these things. But if you kind of like nail these, I can guarantee you are going to be feeling much better than if you were like subpar, like not focusing on these things. And like to mention, give it a few days of implementing these things. I can, I could guarantee you are going to be feeling much better and you're also giving yourself the opportunity to set yourself up for the healthiest pregnancy that you possibly can. Yeah, and like it's, it really is about the foundation, right? It's about doing these things really well, and then. Having the space to be able to layer on top of it, not skipping over it, but layering on top of it. Other ways of taking care of your body, throwing in some other routines and stuff like that to prepare for birth. This has to be the foundation, but we're not sharing it in these are check boxes either. Like they're meant to be anchors. These are small actions that you feel like you can repeat almost every single day so that you're creating this internal environment within yourself where pregnancy can thrive because pregnancy is a holistic experience, so we need to keep in mind how. The rituals, the rhythms the intentionality with what we do is helping us physically. And that's important, right? That we feel physically healthy and strong. But also how is that impacting us emotionally? How is that impacting us mentally, spiritually, relationally, like these rhythms are meant to inspire all of those pieces. And we're not just building a baby here. We're not just trying to survive pregnancy. The point of pregnancy is to give us time to wrap our hearts and our minds and our bodies around the really impactful event of birth. And so the, these types of rhythms are about building your body's trust, building connection with what's happening with your body, carving out moments of intention awareness. Feeling really good about how you're nourishing yourself, listening to what your body's saying and being able to respond. Feeling connected to when you're not eating enough, not drinking enough, not moving enough, and just feeling more confident and more connected with what's going on in your body. Is. Only gonna lend you to a more confident and connected birth experience too. So I know that pregnant women are highly motivated to make these types of changes, to adopt these types of rhythms. Because it's not just about you, it's about the baby too, right? And so, pregnancy is a wonderful time of transformation, but like you said, Kelly, there's a whole lot of that happens beyond pregnancy. A lot of these rhythms. And intentions end up sticking around in our. Lives and lifestyle because they serve us so well. So there's an opportunity here too, which is really cool. And for those of you who are listening that are wanting this concept, this holistic view of pregnancy that blends into. Birth preparation. Our childbirth education course has tons and tons of applications for that concept inside of some really basic foundations like this, so places to get started. Then the layers that can come up on top of that. All for the point of preventing complications in your pregnancy, keeping your birth low risk, getting the right amount of support around you, approaching these pieces with intention and information, and feeling in charge of what's happening in your body. That is the place to get that type of perspective. So take a look at that link in our show notes too, if you're looking for. The type of childbirth education that starts at the very beginning of your pregnancy and walks you all the way through that first year postpartum. It's a really comprehensive and holistic approach to enjoying this season of motherhood, which I hope that you have found something in this episode that kind of like grounds you to that concept too. Ladies. Yeah, and honestly it was like such a good reminder for me some of these really foundational pieces and how much of an impact the basics really can have for you both in pregnancy and beyond. So hopefully it was an encouragement to you as well, ladies, and we will catch you next week. Hey ladies, if you're loving the show and want to help us keep it ad free so we can keep talking about all things birth and women's health, without cutting to an ad about electrolytes or grass fed beef sticks, here is how you can support us. First, leave us a quick review or a rating. It helps more women, new moms, and birth enthusiasts find our show. And it honestly means so much to us to be reminded that you love what we are doing here. Second, share this episode with a friend, with a doula buddy, or anyone who is on their own holistic health or natural birth journey. And third hop on our newsletter list. This is where we share. Bonus goodies behind the scenes stuff. 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