I love pregnancy! I love being pregnant! I love birth! I love being around other pregnant women and sharing an instant bond with a complete stranger simply because we are creating a new soul within us. And, as a yoga instructor, I love sharing prenatal yoga with expecting mothers. 

     This brings us here. Below I give you a list of recommended websites, books and DVDs that have guided me through almost two pregnancies (I'm currently 34 weeks in my second one) and one birth (soon to be a second one). The resources below led me to the decision of having an assisted home birth attended by two midwives with my son, Avie, now three and a half, and of planning an assisted home birth for baby number two as well, with a midwife, doula and selected hospital as backup in case of emergency. 

     Not interested in home birth? Great! The resources are equally as useful, if not more so, for women planning to deliver in a hospital or birth center. They aided me in my appointments with four midwives from three different OBGYN clinics over my two pregnancies, with two doulas and in my overall search and research for my baby's birth. Further, they have guided me as a prenatal yoga instructor, if you, too, happen to teach yoga or work with pregnant women in another capacity. 

     When it comes to our own health, self-knowing and staying informed reigns supreme. Learning as much as possible from many sources in order to critically think, assess and make personal choices is paramount.

     This becomes absolutely essential during pregnancy for birth so that decisions rest in your own hands and not solely in the hands of others such as doctors, nurses, midwives, family or friends. It's you and your baby's birth! Own it! Be knowledgeable, proactive and assertive in your wishes, and make your relationship with your delivery persons or location two-sided... you have lots to bring to the table! This begins with educating yourself to feel confident enough to question everything anyone tells you.

     My son's birth was supremely exciting. My water broke while I was sleeping in bed next to Eric. The burst of the water woke me up, and I hit Eric in the arm in utter excitement and announced, "My water broke!" It was 3:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 27. A day later, after 19 and a half hours of contractions and 26 minutes of pushing, Avie Jennings Harder arrived, at 12:02 a.m., on June 28, 2013.

    He was four weeks early, five pounds and 12 ounces, and he was placed into my arms within seconds of his daddy catching him upon the last push. This was my dream - to be the first one who held my baby, the first one who met eyes with him.

     And when our eyes met, oh boy!!! That was the beginning of a lifetime of endless love... I was overwhelmed with complete bliss. Pure bliss. The sense of clarity I had from a drug-free birth allowed my bliss to radiate. Being completely unmedicated allowed the pure awareness of this moment to reach a height of supreme joy. It was an outer-body experience, and the happiest moment of my life. I was spiritually and emotionally taken to new heights as my tiny Avie and I held each others' gazes. It was magical. 

     Because I believe that every woman has the right to own her own birth, to find her deepest strength, a power she never knew existed, and to hold her baby for as long as she pleases after pushing it out, I share with you the resources that led me to my first magical birth with hopes that you experience that same unforgettable bliss, no matter where or with whom you decide to deliver! 

Spinning Babies is "an approach to optimize the physical relationship between the bodies of the mother and baby for the easing of childbirth." Spinning Babies, led by a midwife with 35 years of experience, offers yoga and informational videos, literature on birth anatomy and optimal fetal positioning, tips on working with a breech baby, daily self-care activities for expecting moms, yoga and stretching routines and more! 

​Baby Center is full of information - I see it as my pregnancy encyclopedia and use it in the same way that I use the book What to Expect When You're Expecting. It offers straight-forward information. Avie and I read our weekly update when a new week begins. He loves to see what new size the baby is - it's always a fruit or vegetable! For instance, currently at 34 weeks the baby is the size of a cantaloupe! 

Yogaglo offers yoga classes to subscribers for only $18 per month with unlimited access to thousands of videos by some of the top instructors in the industry. Classes can be filtered by length of time (from five to 120 minutes), type of class (vinyasa, hatha, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Yin, restorative, meditation, Kundalini and Pre/Postnatal), instructor, focus, body part and level of difficulty. The pre/postnatal classes are taught by currently pregnant instructors or moms and vary from active vinyasa style to the more restful yin and restorative type to ones involving a mixture of movement and stillness. There are classes for labor preparation, low back pain, morning sickness and meditations to create a peaceful pregnancy. They are informative, interesting and full of variety which makes practicing fun and productive! My advice is to forego buying any prenatal yoga DVDs (except the one that I list below!) and subscribe to Yogaglo. 

Click here to view my Prenatal Yoga Videos.

       Currently, we (baby and I) are well into our third trimester at 33 weeks and eight months! Thus, my husband Eric and son Avie, age three and a half, and I have been in preparation mode for the anticipated arrival of our new little one! Big brother Avie is as eager as Eric and I to meet baby number two, expected to make it's debut into the world next month. 

     For one, we've been preparing our living quarters - mopping floors, shining windows, scrubbing bathrooms, dusting bedrooms, organizing the garage, building shelves, unpacking and cleaning Avie's stored away infant items and making space for them in the house, gathering supplies for our home birth kit, purging our space of unnecessary items ... and the list goes on! 

     Not only are we prepping the house, but Eric and I recently attended the Yoga and Birth Preparation for Partners Workshop offered at Bliss Yoga Studio in Morgantown, WV. What a lovely way to bond as husband and wife, mother and father and birthing duo! The workshop infused us with excitement as we learned lots of ways to work together (mostly what he can do to assist me!) throughout our baby's birth. We missed our scheduled workshop last time because Avie surprised us and came at 36 weeks! 

     So, the house is being prepared. And Eric and I took our preparation course and continue to read our select books about pregnancy (his, The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin and mine, Birthing From Within by Pam England and Bob Horowitz; see links below for book info). What's left to prepare? My body, which is the one carrying this wiggly little soul and the one who will ultimately be responsible for birthing it. 

​     On to the purpose of this post... to talk about walking and yoga for an active birth!

    Since the start of pregnancy, I've been sharing my running-while-pregnant journey, which evolved into a walking-while-pregnant journey in the sixth month. Follow my journey by clicking on the links below: 
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• The Joy of Birth & Running Uphill: A Meditation to Bring Baby Into the World
• From Running to Walking While Pregnant: Month Six (Weeks 23-27)
• Running While Pregnant: Month Five (Weeks 18-22)
• Running While Pregnant: Month Four (Weeks 14-17)
• Running in the First Trimester: Gratitude & Playing the Edge

​ 
     When I set the intention of running while pregnant, I never made it a goal to run until the very end. Instead, with each run, I honored how I felt and knew that if it stopped feeling OK, then I would stop running. And that's what I did. 

     Thus, walking and pre-natal, slow flow, yin, restorative and gentle vinyasa yoga have predominated as my top two forms of exercise in these final months. Both of these - yoga and walking - are among the top recommended exercises for expecting mothers. Even more, they both offer ample space for the spiritual and meditative work so paramount to create a calm, healthy, mindful pregnancy and a mindset to withstand and flow with the unpredictability and spontaneity of birth. Moreover, yoga and walking are preparing me, and can prepare you, for an active birth.

​     What is active birth? Janet Balaskas, founder of the Active Birth Centre and Active Birth Movement and author of the book Active Birth, describes it as: 

• A way to prepare the body and mind to activate your physiology’s natural birth-giving abilities
• A celebration of the miraculous unfolding of the natural process of pregnancy and birth
• A philosophy and a movement that has empowered women to choose how and where they deliver their baby
• A common-sense, evidence-based approach that is supported by midwives and doctors, and taught in NHS hospitals and birth centres

     "Active Birth has evolved as our understanding of the incredible process of birth has developed. But three ideas have been present since the beginning: encouraging mothers to use instinctive upright birthing positions; stimulating natural hormonal responses during labour; and empowering women to make their own choices about their births." (http://activebirthcentre.com/)

     My first birth was active even though my physical activities differed from this pregnancy. I believe that running and the power yoga that I was doing while Avie was in the womb did help me to birth actively, but such intense physical exercise does not work for most, including me, this time around. Side note - I do not recommend hot yoga to any expectant mother, including myself, as I reflect back. Running, however, I view as a safe activity as long as your body feels OK with it. 

    Instead, I love waking up and busting into an improv, spontaneous prenatal flow, doing one midday while my son plays alongside me with his trucks and also in the evening (often done in bed!). Closing my eyes and tapping into my inner wisdom and guide while visualizing myself using these yoga flows as a means to cope with labor are EMPOWERING and bring a sense of courage and grit to the birthing process. If you're interested in practicing yoga during pregnancy, I came across a helpful blog by Moms Love Best. Click to read Be a Poser - How to Practice Yoga Safely During Pregnancy. 

​     In addition to yoga, as mentioned above, is the walking. For the first half of my first labor with Avie, I walked, and it helped tremendously in managing my restlessness and progressively stronger contractions during the 20 hours it took for him to make his way into the world. Active birthing heralds upright positions (standing, squatting and kneeling/hands and knees) as the most effective and natural way to encourage the descent of baby during labor. Walking, is, indeed, one of those active, upright positions.  

     The moderate exercise that yoga and walking provide has lots of benefits for pregnant mothers. These include developing stamina, strength, balance and coordination; maintaining healthy weight gain; calming the nervous system; increasing circulation; decreasing the risk for preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and a breech baby; and helping to combat fatigue, nausea, moodiness and constipation. On another note, walking outside, in nature, no matter the weather or temperature, hones my connection to Mother Earth. Breathing in her presence fortifies my spirit and renews the feminine divine within me! So, yes, let's do some yoga, get outside and go for a walk!  

     With all that said, below is a breakdown of what month seven held for me in terms of physical activity. During weeks 30 to 32, sciatica got the better of me, so I cut out one day of walking (from five days to four) and stopped walking while pushing Avie in his stroller. Instead, I waited for my husband to get home to enjoy a stroller-free stroll. 

     Thankfully, sciatica is all better now, thanks to a combination of lemongrass and wintergreen essential oils mixed in sesame oil - upon lathering this concoction on my hips and thighs, any pain associated with this common pregnancy ailment disappeared within five minutes. It took several days of application for it to subside completely, but once it did, it did not and has not returned. Whew!  

     My hope is that the following information inspires other fit mamas to be flexible in their approach to exercise and to view it as a form of training for the big day of delivery, of receiving your sweet soul child into your arms in your own unique, beautiful, powerful way. 

     Week 28 (Jan. 2-8): 12.87 miles walking (five days of walking two to three miles)
     *Yoga seven days per week: sessions varying in length from 20 minutes to one hour, with one day consisting of two and a half hours of yoga practice broken up into three times throughout the day
     
     Week 29 (Jan. 9-15): 11.02 miles walking (four days of walking two to three miles) 
     *Yoga seven days per week: sessions varying in length from 35 minutes to one hour, with two days consisting of two and a half hours of total yoga practice broken up into two to three times throughout the day

     Week 30 (Jan. 16-22): 11.75 miles walking (four days of walking 2.75 to three miles)
     *Yoga six days per week: sessions varying in length from 20 minutes to one hour

     Week 31 (Jan. 23-29): 9.6 miles walking (four days of walking 1.6 to three miles)
​     *Yoga seven days per week: sessions varying in length from 40 to 75 minutes 

     Here's to walking and yoga for an active birth!

     Follow the link here for information on my upcoming Prenatal YOMA (yoga with massage) class, led by me and a massage therapist, at LPS Strength & Meditation yoga studio!

     "Joy is what a woman feels when she has done something she feels dogged about, that she feels intense about, something that took risk, something that made her stretch, best herself, and succeed... 
     ....maybe gracefully, maybe not, but she did it, created the something, the someone, the art, the battle, the moment; her life." ~from the book Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes Ph.D. 

    Recently a friend and fellow runner, Colleen O'Neil, shared the nine-minute film 'Running With the Belles' with me and some other trail running women. In the first 10 seconds, the above quote appears.

      The film documents several women from the Maroon Belles trail running club, based out of Colorado, as they run the 27-mile Four Pass Loop, which covers four 12,000-foot alpine passes and 8,000 feet of vertical ascent, in one day. 

     Watching the film elicited many thoughts and feelings. For one, it ignited the idea to form a local all-women trail running club after baby number two arrives - get ready, lady runner friends!

     Two, I became curious, picked up my Kindle and purchased the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, from which the above quote is taken, and then I downloaded the film's theme song, Running With the Wolves by AURORA and listened to it all day!     

     Three, the quote, which the film maker applied to running, had me reminiscing about what was happening in my very-running-focused life just one year ago. I recalled that exactly one year ago, in January 2016, I began training for the Mount Summit Challenge, the daunting, totally uphill 3.5-mile local race that takes place every April. Last year I sought to to win first female for a deeply personal reason, which you can read about in Dad, I Won the Mount Summit Challenge for You. 

      At the same time, I was in the midst of Pittsburgh Marathon training, held on May 1, 2016. The races were one week apart (first the Mount Summit Challenge, then the marathon) and fell within a couple weeks of another big event - my wedding! Avie's father, now my husband, Eric, and I wed on April 16, 2016. 

     These three events were fun, exhilarating and happy in nature, yet, committing to a major competition, a 26.2-mile race and a huge celebratory affair all within 16 days of one another presented a fair share of challenges. Knowing this ahead of time, I managed the impending and almost-certain emotional and mental fatigue with prayer, lots of runs done while reciting mantras or the rosary, meditation, yoga and journaling. There were sleepless nights and moments of wanting to throw in the towel, but I came out of the training, the racing and the planning ready for exactly the thing that inspired me to do all of these BIG things at once... 

     One might ask, why not spread them out, do the April race, wait three months to do a marathon and wed in the fall? First, we had been engaged for a year and a half - long enough!!! Second, I love the freshness of springtime! Third, the Mount Summit Challenge was the one I had to do - read why here.

     Ultimately, this was my "why.".. because the thing that drove me to clump these events so closely together was my desire to grow our family - to have another baby! But first I wanted to get married, win the Mount Summit Challenge and run a marathon. Check, check and check.

     The trying commenced! Gratefully, it only took a few months before conceiving.  

    Thus, this year, as January began, Mount Summit and marathon training did not ensue, and, of course, wedding planning did not commence, either! Rather, birth preparation takes precedence as my due date of late March approaches. Currently, I am 32 weeks along, the beginning of month eight.  

     A couple weeks ago, Eric and I attended the Yoga & Birth Preparation for Partners workshop at the Bliss Bliss Bliss yoga studio in Morgantown, WV. One tip that the facilitator, a yoga instructor, doula and mother of three, offered as a labor coping mechanism resonated with me on a profoundly personal level. She said to use imagery as a way to maintain focus throughout labor. One visualization she mentioned was to "picture yourself running uphill."

     Running uphill?!!! If only she knew how much running uphill meant to me! YES!!! Oh, yes, I can certainly picture that! I hit Eric in the arm with excitement and jotted in our workshop booklet, "Running up Summit." Let it be my labor meditation! 

     Visualization became a key component of last year's race training, particularly for the Mount Summit Challenge. Every day, I closed my eyes in meditation and pictured myself running up that mountain. Even as I often drove the race route, I pictured myself on the side of the road in lead female and doing it, winning! Seeing is believing, after all! 

​     Even more, when a goal is tied to something as personal to me as that race is, the goal becomes more of a need, an absolute primal desire, a force that cannot be stopped, much like labor.  

     Labor is the process of soon getting to meet your baby, and with that, the joy of it makes it all worthwhile. Whether it's the joy of pushing out your baby or pushing uphill to a tough finish line, as the above quote states,
Joy is something we women:

• feel dogged about
• feel intense about
• something that takes risk
• makes her stretch herself
• best herself
• and succeed

     Clearly, these can be applied to both running and birthing (and if you're not a runner, find that something for yourself!). With that, I carry my past race experiences and my running uphill visualization into the last months of pregnancy and ultimately to birth as a source of courage, strength and faith, to create the something, the someone, the art, the battle, the moment; my life.... and that of my baby's.