The Weekly Newsletter for Heart of Houston Birth and Wellness Families
Last week and over the weekend
Happy rainy Monday, friends. Over the weekend we had our infant CPR class followed by our partner's event. Our friend Abigail was not interested in participating but her parents Katherine and Aaron were able to get their CPR certification AND share their tips for surviving the first weeks of life with a newborn. I love hearing our clients tell their birth stories once the fog of the newborn period starts to burn off. More often than not, as each birthing person recalls the journey of bringing their baby earthside they can see where their expectations started to fall away, allowing the birth to unfold as it was meant to. It's really beautiful to witness. The best advice to our expectant families was to lower your expectations for those first few weeks. Wonder where they heard that? Everything is new to you and your baby, you are all newborns. Sleep deprivation while healing from birth is no joke. Be gentle with yourself and each other. Plan ahead as much as you can and don't be afraid to ask for help. Remember we are here to help and your HOH community of parents are a WhatsApp message away, they are always happy to share tips or just listen.
Wednesday the 19th Angelique Geehan stopped by the birth center to impart her babywearing wisdom on some new and expectant parents. If you missed this event or you are interested in learning more about babywearing, Angelique will host a two hour workshop on Saturday February 26th from 10am-12pm. This event is free to HOH clients and Whole Heart Collective members. $25 drop in fee for everyone else. Please RSVP
Reader feedback
I love hearing from our readers! Well, I love hearing from y'all when you aren't writing to correct my spelling, punctuation or grammar. Just kidding, I love y'all too... mostly. Last week I received a sweet email from a reader who enjoyed our book recommendations. She suggested we reach out to our readers to see what they are reading and why. I LOVE this idea! What are some of your go to books that cover topics important to you and your family? Email me your top titles and why your family loves them so much and I'll share them here each week. And thank you so much for the sweet email, Meema Jean!
New offerings in 2022
We're continuing to add classes, workshops and special guests to our lineup. Check out what's new for February.
Massage, relaxation and sleep: Certified Infant Massage Instructor and founder of Bloom and Grow, Zoie Drake will offer two different classes to bond with your new baby. Saturday February 5th at 1pm join Zoie for a specialized baby massage workshop geared towards helping baby AND caretaker with relaxation for better sleep.
Saturday February 12th at 1pm Zoie join us for a Valentine's inspired workshop focused on play and learning with your little Love Bug.
Both workshops are open to the public. Tickets are $15 for Heart of Houston clients and Whole Heart Collective members. $20 for all other.
Register for classes on our event page.
This weekend
This weekend's pregnancy group will be the start of a new round of our Core Classes. These classes repeat every quarter so all our HOH clients and Whole Heart Collective members get a chance to attend each one.
This Sunday we will be an orientation to all our offerings. We will also discuss some of the things you can start preparing now to maintain a healthy pregnancy and help ease the transition into parenthood.
Class is Sunday from 2-4 over zoom. If you need a link to the zoom room please email me. Jessica at Heartofhoustonbirth dot com.
Here we grow again!
While we love Montrose and our current space we've been working hard on building out a new space for our growing birth center. We've also hired a few birth assistants and we have two midwifery students helping out. In next week's Bumpdate Mary Love will give you all the juicy details about the new location and more incredible growth on the horizon.
Upcoming Events
Postpartum Support Group: Wednesday 1/26 10am Zoom
Take a Walk PP Support Group : TBD
Latch Clinic: Now on Zoom Wednesday 2/2 10am, Leah Jolly IBCLC will join our weekly postpartum support group to answer your feeding questions. We have breakout rooms now so you can spend a few min in private with Leah if necessary.
Pregnancy Circle: New member orientation/Where to begin. HOH Zoom 2pm-4pm
Dance and Stretch: Saturday 2/5 and 2/12 10:30am-12pm Join Joanna Zepeda for an hour and half of grounding, breathwork, stretching and dancing to prepare you for your big day.
Ongoing Events
Postpartum Support Group: Every Wednesday from 10-12ish and Thursday 9:30-11:30. Zoom link has been sent to all HOH clients and Whole Heart Collective members. Email Jessica if you need more information.
Queer Parent Circle: Second Sunday of every month 3:30-5pm Open to the public!
Birthworkers Circle: Second Sunday of every month starting Jan 2022 time 11am-1:30pm
Various Childbirth Education Curriculums starting soon: Rebel Birth weekly series or weekend intensive,and Bradley Method with Anne Zwicky. Birthing from within, Birth Bootcamp.
That's all for now! Have a great week everyone.
