The Labor Mama

The Labor Mama Hi!
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I'm Lo. 👋
Stick around and get daily tips and support for birth, baby, and breastfeeding from an L + D & Postpartum RN, CLC, and mama x 4!
💻 Check out my online courses!
🎧 Tune into The Lo & Behold Podcast.
👯‍♀️ Join me on IG and TikTok.

05/31/2026

Comment SUMMA and I can’t send you my favs from the last years!

My pool/lake bag game is on point - as is figuring out some favs to bring the baby along too.

05/30/2026

Ok, here we go.

The shakes. Especially during transition or after birth? They can be SO wild and seriously - absolutely uncontrollable. Sometimes, you even end up passing off the baby bc you feel like you’re gonna drop them. Try sticking your tongue out to see if they’ll go away!

You fart - sometimes a lot. And sometimes more so after getting an epidural and def once you relax and sleep too.

Pooping during pushing - and sometimes if you have an epidural it just comes out even when you’re not pushing because, well, baby’s head is just pushing it down and out.

Your breath stinks - seriously. If you have a long process, once you’re in it you kind of forget your dental hygiene and all that heavy breathing and sleeping and all that means it’s kind of stinky. It’s fine if you realize it’s you, okay? (but birth partner, not you. You need a mint if you’re gonna be that close).

Your va**na might be so swollen you don’t even recognize it. Seriously - maybe don’t look those first few days unless you need to.

Speaking of smells - there are a lot of other ones (and they’re normal). Bloody show has a smell. The hospital has a smell. Discharge has a smell (even when not infected). Your down there has a smell. BO obviously is at play. If there’s an essential oil you love, it can be great to just mask the NORMAL smells of labor and birth.

All real, even when no one talks about it.

What am I missing? There’s more, you know there is!

05/30/2026

Grab your partner and talk about this real quick!

Look around your house together and find the spots that you can go to. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Just what’s available to you!

Toilet. Counter. Birthing ball. Pillows. Bed. Couch. Walking.

Whatever that may be - have those be familiar to both of you so that when you’re starting to hurt a bit, neither of you have to think, you can just do.

Typically, baby is going to be a bit higher up and you’re working on getting them into the pelvis and “engaged” so it’s all about making space side to side and/or in the lower uterus area so they can wiggle into that inlet! 

And also - it’s all about what feels good too. So don’t worry too much about doing the right thing, and think more about “what feels good right now?” and do that.

If you want someone more help answering the “when to go to the hospital?” question, comment E38 and I can send you my podcast episode about that too.

       

05/30/2026

6 things, here we go:

01. I understood supply - and how it works. This meant I could trust and/or figure out what was going on in the first couple days (and what will come next) - and knew what my babe was or wasn’t getting and what questions to ask when worried.

02.Hand expression (and trying colostrum collection). This was huge. I practiced hand expression for about 3 weeks before she was born. I got some colostrum and I started expressing after birth too (in the first hour, after our first latch). This helps milk come in faster AND made my engorgement the best/easiest it’s EVER been (she’s my fourth). (Research shows this so I did it and seriously, amazing).

03. If it hurt, I stopped. Unlatched. Tried again. New positions. This did NOT make the nips perfect (and I’m rotating Hydrogels, breastmilk, silver cups, and creams to stay on top of it), but it made it WAY better than other times.

04. Using the milk collector once the milk came in. Just passively, on the side, low pressure. But we’ve gotten a little extra, so I’m saving that if we need it.

05. I asked the LC to take a peek before we left the hospital, and I have her on text when I need her.

06. I brushed up on first week newborn feeding stuff inside of my own Breastfeeding Blueprint course. Cluster feeding, up all night, day/night confusion, second night syndrome - it’s all normal but woof, you forget how hard it is.

That course I mentioned? I’m doing a pay what you can sale on it right now. You literally CHOOSE what your family is able to pay for it. All of what I just shared is in there, and so much more beyond the first week too.

⭐️ Comment PWYC and I’ll send you the details so you can have a confident first week too ⭐️

It’s a roller coaster. Let’s not pretend it isn’t. But I am honestly shocked by how much better it goes the more and more education and support you have (even though we know this is true, it’s still so wild to see). No one can guarantee that anything WILL be perfect, but there is SUCH a difference when you know what is going on, what might come next, and where to go whenever you run into a problem, an issue, or need some support.

My older kids are almost out (although it did snow this week 😂), so we’re getting ready…and mildly panicking at all the ...
05/30/2026

My older kids are almost out (although it did snow this week 😂), so we’re getting ready…and mildly panicking at all the days with no routine (hi, type A, working on it and also the world needs me and my love for routine too).

Comment SUMMA for all of these favs that are in my pool bag. ☀️

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Denver, CO

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https://www.instagram.com/thelabormama/, https://thelabormama.com/podcast/

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