Thank you, wonderful sponsors!
Stephanie Sibbio’s Glowing Mama To Be Course: https://glowing-mama-courses.thinkific.com/  (15% off with the code: happyhomebirth15 )
Instagram: stephsibbiofitness
Hatched at Home-Midwife Carrie LaChapelle: www.hatchedathome.com
https://www.facebook.com/MidwifeCarrieLachapelleLMCPM/
864-907-6363
 
Body Works Physical Therapy
http://bodyworks-physicaltherapy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MamaBodyWorks
Email: bodyworkspt.llc@gmail.com
Phone: (864) 757-2440
 
Show Notes:
-Stephanie is a fitness and nutrition coach for new and expecting moms.
-She’s been working in the industry for almost a decade now.
- Stephanie began doing this work almost by “accident”… one of her clients became pregnant, so she realized she needed to learn more about pregnancy in relation to fitness.  She was a natural at it, and the mother, who had several pregnant friends, asked if she would do a group class.
-Through this experience, her career was born.
-When it came to preparing her own body for a successful labor and delivery, Stephanie said the things she considered were:
            -Nurturing her body with proper fluids, eating an anti-inflammatory diet, and making sure she was getting all of the nutrients she needed
            -She said it was important to make sure that she was not in any pain, because when you’re in  pain, the last thing you want to do is get up and do a workout.
-“It’s important to work specifically for what you want to accomplish”
-She mentions that for labor, our legs need lots of stamina, we need mobility in our hips, and we need overall strength and endurance.
-“Labor is a big interval session, right?  You get a contraction, you get some time off.  And then repeat!”
-“If you can work out in a way that almost simulates labor, then you’re in a good place when it’s actually time.”
-Stephanie saw a pelvic floor physiologist, a chiropractor and an osteopath during her pregnancy.
“I kept repeating through labor… I can’t believe THIS is how we get people into the world… I can’t believe this is how we populate the planet!”
 
            -Stephanie mentions again how important whole, natural foods were in her prenatal preparation.  She made sure to eat all of the colors of the rainbow, and if she had a craving for something unhealthy, she would try to recreate it in a healthy way.
            -She also mentions how important supplementation was during pregnancy: A link to her guide for prenatal supplements is mentioned below.
 
Stephanie’s Birth Story:
-She feels it went pretty much as smoothly as it could be.  She wants to note that there was no ego about this- she did not want a homebirth at the risk of her health or her baby’s healthy. 
-She was only 38 weeks and 3 days… “My husband said he knew I was in labor because the bathroom was cleaned!”
-The next morning, around 6 am, she felt some contractions and intuitively knew she was in labor.  Stephanie had not had any Braxton Hicks, but she felt confident that these were early labor contractions.
-She remembered her midwife saying try to get some sleep during labor, so she tried.  By about 7:30, she was ready to get out of bed.  She headed for the bath, but became overheated and got out.
-At this point her step sons were awake, so she let them know that she was pretty sure she was in labor, so not to worry if she bent over and moaned or had to work through contractions a bit.
-A while later, Stephanie called her doula to tell her that although the timing of the contractions was still all over the place, she was experiencing more and more pain.  Her doula suggested that she come over to work on some acupressure points to potentially get contractions more consistent.
-Stephanie’s mother was also on the way over- Stephanie made a “game time decision” to let her mom come to the birth.
-She discusses how beneficial her decision to hire a doula was for her birth experience.  Having someone there to help her determine what needed to be done at what