Hodoula

Tips on how to survive the 1st trimester.

Stay hydrated:
H2O helps prevent UTIs , fights fatigue, prevents constipation and hemorrhoids. Water also helps the vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and hormones get to your placenta and baby. Did you know your blood volume will increase by an average of 45% during pregnancy?

Eat well:
It isn’t always easy to find things to eat during the first trimester. Do your best to eat a healthy balanced diet. Find out what foods are not pregnancy friendly!

Nausea management:
Eat small meals and snack often. Nothing exacerbates nausea more than an empty stomach. Sometimes dry crackers are the only thing that will stay down. Smelling a lemon can help pass a moment of nausea. Ask your Doctor about vitamin B-6 and other medication to help curb nausea. Ginger ale might become your best friend.

Physical activity:
Low impact exercises such as walking, yoga, swimming and Pilates. If you are used to running or jogging, you can keep up with that too. Always check with your Doctor to make sure these activities are safe for you.
Sleep: This exhaustion has a lot to do with hormonal changes and specifically progesterone as well as your blood volume increasing. Your heart and body are working hard as they sustain this new life.

Scheduling prenatal appointments and finding a doula:
Doctors clinics and doulas tend to get booked up months in advance. It is a good idea to book your appointments as soon as you can so that you don’t miss the window of time for each exam. This is also a great time to start interviewing doulas and finding a birth class right for you.🤍

What kind of Birth do you want?
Towards the end of a meeting, a potential client said "this is the first time anyone had asked me what I want.
She went to her Doctors appointments and felt like, one of many passing through that day.
In her birth class she felt again, one of many.
No one took the time to check in with her!
As a doula this is my first question.
What kind of birth do you envision?
What is your fantasy?
How can I get to know you better to support you in the best way through your birth?
How involved and in what way does your husband wish to be part of your birth?
My goal is to being as intentional as possible and as precise as possible.
Birth is individual and personal.
You matter.
Your partner matters.
Your preferences are important.
All your questions and your thoughts are legit.
So tell me, what is on your mind?

Women were never meant to give birth alone.
Not that you can't. It is just that we were meant to be supported, nourished, sustained and pampered through the birth process and afterwards.
Midwives are even mentioned in the Torah. Shifrah and Puah were the women who essentially saved Jewish pregnancy and childbirth during our slavery in Egypt.
Great commentators such as Rav, Rashi and Malbim have many explanations and have answered questions that would otherwise be eternal ponderings about them.
Rav says that Shifra was Yocheved, Moses' esteemed and righteous, mother. Puah was Miriam, Moses' beloved sister.
Rashi commentates that "Shifra" means to improve לשפר/ שיפור he believed it to be pertaining to the health of the newborn. Puah, referring to a cooing sound designed to soothe the little babies.
Finally, the Malbim "a master of Hebrew grammar and biblical commentator", says that Shifra and Puah are not people, but a description of the special jobs of guiding a mother safely through labor and the other tending to the baby's needs.
In my mind these are both my jobs. Guiding you through your birth, encouraging you and supporting you to the best of my ability and, as you welcome your child to the world, gently assist you in those first essential moments of motherhood.
"It takes a village" they say about child rearing. In my mind it is about childbearing in general. From the sound / flicker of a heartbeat and from then on

I haven't been here for a little while. It's a good time to say hi!
I am Talia I am a certified doula and birth educator. I am here to help you and support you through your birth. I welcome you to reach out if you would like more information.