Bloomington Birth and Bodywork, LLC

08/27/2026

Are y’all familiar with Tandem? Our future community birth center/current postpartum house? (Because if you haven’t heard about the postpartum house, PLEASE go explore their website! Thank me later 😉)

It’s where I volunteer to teach TummyTime each month, but they also offer so many incredible groups, classes, resources, and services—usually free or sliding scale.

Today I especially want to highlight their virtual and in-person Perinatal Mental Health Groups. They’re for pregnant people and anyone up to one year postpartum, and you don’t need to be in crisis or have a diagnosis to attend. Pregnancy and postpartum are just a lot, and nobody should have to navigate them alone 💙

There's one happening virtually today from 12-1! I can even join while streaming from the NICU... Which I plan to do. But sometimes days go sideways when you have a newborn (okay, let's be honest, FREQUENTLY days go sideways when you have a newborn) so I appreciate how accessible they keep their offerings. Most groups don't even require registration, and when they do, it's always super flexible if you can't make it.

Tandem is such an incredible gift to our community 🫶🏻

www.tandembloomington.org

08/25/2026

Notice: NEW DATE! 💙

The Bodywork Basics for Birth workshop has officially been rescheduled from this weekend to Sunday, November 8, from 10–11:30 a.m.

I need a little more time to focus on my postpartum recovery and be with Sully, but I’m still so excited to bring this workshop to our local birth community this fall!

We’ll explore Spinning Babies Three Sisters of Balance, foundational rebozo techniques, counterpressure, and simple massage techniques through plenty of hands-on practice. (Please note: this is NOT a Spinning Babies affiliated or SB approved workshop)

This workshop is designed for doulas and other perinatal professionals. Sliding-scale registration is $30–$50. If you were previously interested—or if the new date works better for you—I would love to have you join us!

Email [email protected] to reserve your space.

(... Our our upcoming Comfort Measures worhship will also need to be rescheduled... More details forthcoming!)

08/22/2026

So many of my clients and I have been having chats re: cougar puberty (perimenopause)... Tandem is delivering on the 'talk' we all have been wanting to have! Check this out 👀

You asked... we're delivering. Tandem finally has a perimenopause offering. Register and more will come!

08/21/2026

Heidi Brown is a talented yoga practitioner in our community who offers specialized perinatal classes. I can't wait to check out this postpartum yoga class with Sully once we bust him out of baby jail! :

Postpartum-friendly yoga poses and musical activities that benefit your baby. 4- and 12-week sessions available. Contact instructor.

08/17/2026

📣 Final postpartum PSA: get your ass in physical therapy! 😂

Seriously. I do not understand why physical therapy—especially pelvic floor PT—isn’t simply standard care during pregnancy and postpartum. It really grinds my gears.

Your body changes dramatically during pregnancy, and then it has to recover from pregnancy and birth. Massage and bodywork can do a LOT (obviously, I am a very big fan 😆), but we can only get you so far if you aren’t also strengthening what needs to be strengthened, stretching and mobilizing what needs more movement, and retraining the way your body is functioning as it changes.

I genuinely credit my physical therapist with a huge part of why I was able to keep working a relatively full massage schedule and stay active and comfortable throughout my pregnancy with Sully. PT helped me address problems as they came up instead of just accepting pain and dysfunction as an inevitable part of being pregnant.

And I have already requested an order for pelvic floor PT postpartum.

Importantly: those first several weeks postpartum are generally about rest, recovery, healing, and very gentle reconnection with your body… NOT jumping into a workout program. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait until six weeks to even think about PT. You can get a referral, get established with a provider, schedule an evaluation when appropriate, and get onto their very busy calendar.

One of the things that frustrates me most about perinatal healthcare is how much women are expected to simply tolerate. Pelvic pain? Back pain? Leaking? Painful s*x? Feeling like your core has disappeared? “Well, you had a baby.”

No. These things may be common, but that does not automatically make them something you just have to live with.

And honestly, this pregnancy has changed the way I think about my own work, too.

While I’m on maternity leave, I plan to pursue additional education in perinatal strength and movement so that I can better support my clients when I return. I’m actually rethinking quite a bit about the structure of my practice.

After receiving a LOT of prenatal massage myself while pregnant with Sully, I realized just how specialized this work really is—and how few practitioners locally have extensive education specifically in pregnancy, postpartum, and birth prep.

I don’t want my work to stop at giving someone a really lovely prenatal massage.

I want to help people feel better in their pregnant bodies, create more mobility and space for birth, understand how their bodies are changing, and recover intentionally postpartum. Massage and bodywork are a huge piece of that puzzle. Strength, mobility, pelvic floor care, education, and collaboration with other perinatal providers are pieces of it, too.

So, yes: get the prenatal massage. Please. Because I really love giving them 😂💆🏻‍♂️🩷

But also?

Get your ass in physical therapy 💜

08/16/2026

PSA #2: Hypnosis for birth is not nearly as weird as it sounds 😂

In the weeks to come, I’ll probably share my two wildly different birth stories in more detail. But the short version is: I used Hypnobabies to prepare for both births, and I genuinely believe my practice with hypnosis played a HUGE role in why I walked away from both experiences feeling overwhelmingly positive about them.

Especially this one.

Sully’s birth was absolutely not the birth I planned. There were hospital admissions, preeclampsia, IVs, blood draws, medications, a premature birth, and a baby going straight to the NICU. There were a LOT of opportunities for fear to take over.

Hypnosis didn’t make me blissfully unaware of any of that. I had moments of fear and overwhelm. But I had practiced, over and over, how to bring my nervous system down, soften instead of brace against discomfort, redirect my attention, and find my way back when things felt scary.

And maybe most importantly, it helped me adapt when the plan changed.

I also want to be transparent: Hypnobabies is a commitment. You listen to tracks every day for weeks on end and regularly practice the techniques. Some can be done while falling asleep or sleeping, but it’s still a significant time investment. Hypnosis is a skill… and I practiced. A lot.

I also think their pregnancy affirmations alone are worth their weight in gold. There is something incredibly powerful about intentionally priming our minds for confidence instead of spending pregnancy absorbing everyone else’s fears and horror stories.

Full disclosure: I loved Hypnobabies so much after using it for Veda’s birth that I trained as a Hypnobabies Hypno-Doula and became an affiliate. So yes, I’m biased. 😂 But I became biased because it was so profoundly helpful to me.

💙 If you’re curious about the program, you can check it out through my affiliate link here: https://hypnobabies-academy.thinkific.com/?ref=UhQDWzea6mDCB_

Hypnosis didn’t make either birth go according to plan…

But it gave me tools for whatever actually happened.

And after using those tools through two completely different births? I believe in them more than ever. 💜

08/14/2026

I just want to take a minute to brag on my doula, Amy, and to make my little PSA that if you are expecting a baby, hire a doula 📣

I know having a baby is expensive. I know there are a million things competing for that money. But doula support is an investment in an experience you are going to remember for the rest of your life.

And I think there are still so many misconceptions about doulas: that they're only for super crunchy people having unmedicated home births, or that you don't need one if you have a supportive partner, or plan to give birth in a hospital, or want to have an epidural, or need to have a cesarean...

Nope. Doulas are for birth. Period.

And they're not just there for the person giving birth, either. Amy was there for both me AND Sage. She didn't replace him or take him out of the experience — she helped support us through it 💙

When Sage and I arrived at the ER Tuesday night, Amy was already there waiting for us.

What followed was a very fast, very unexpected preterm birth that could have been absolutely terrifying. Amy was beside us through every step of it. She helped me stay grounded when things felt overwhelming. She helped both of us feel safe, supported, informed, and cared for. She thought of questions we didn't even think to ask. She was always one step ahead with practical actions (like putting the pad onto the mesh underwear and helping me step into it).

And then, when Sully needed to go straight to the NICU, Sage didn't have to choose between staying with me and going with our brand-new baby. He could go be with Sully, knowing that Amy was staying right there with me.

I never felt alone, because I never was.

That is what doula support can look like. It's not just candles and birth tubs 😂 Sometimes it's an emergency room, monitors, hospital gowns, a premature baby, and someone you trust sitting beside you through all of it 🩷

I'm sharing the most recent version of Bloomington's actively practicing birth doula list because I would genuinely recommend anyone on it. And I'm always happy to answer general questions about what doulas do or how to find the right one for you.

But mostly: doulas are fu***ng awesome. Hire one. 💜

08/13/2026

Well… my maternity leave timeline changed a little unexpectedly! 💛

Our sweet Sullivan “Sully” arrived on August 12 at 34 weeks - apparently he had plans of his own.

He is currently being very well cared for in the NICU, where he’s getting a little extra time and support to grow stronger before coming home. We are completely in love with him ❤️

I’ll be taking some time away from the treatment room while I recover and we adjust to this new chapter. If you have an appointment coming up, I’ll be reaching out directly as needed while I figure out what the next few weeks look like for both Sully and me. I’m incredibly grateful for everyone’s patience and flexibility while my family comes first for a bit.

This certainly isn’t how I imagined beginning my maternity leave, but I’m so very thankful that our little guy is here, safe, loved, and exactly where he needs to be 😌

Welcome to the world, Sully! 🙌🏻

08/10/2026

Maddie is one of the talented practitioners on my professional referral list 💛💆🏻‍♂️ she has openings this week, so I wanted to share!

08/09/2026

A little unexpected personal + business update. ❤️

This weekend took a bit of a turn, and I ended up being admitted to the hospital for monitoring after developing preeclampsia much earlier in pregnancy than anyone would have liked.

The very good news: baby and I are both doing well, my labs have stabilized, and I’m going home! 🙌

The goal now is to keep this little guy safely inside for as long as we can. We don’t know exactly when he’ll need to arrive, but we’re now preparing for the likelihood that Sully will be born early and may spend some time in the NICU. Every additional week we can safely keep him cooking is a win. I’ll be monitored very closely with twice-weekly NSTs and weekly labs, and my OB has recommended that I significantly limit my activity.

So, effective immediately, I’ll be reducing my massage schedule to no more than one client per day and taking things week by week from here.

Unfortunately, that means I’ll need to cancel or reschedule a number of upcoming appointments. If you’re already on my schedule, you don’t need to do anything right now: I’ll be reaching out directly to anyone whose appointment is affected.

I hate stepping back from work earlier and more abruptly than I had planned, especially because so many of you have trusted me to care for you during your own pregnancies and postpartum seasons. But right now, my job is apparently to sit my butt down and keep this baby cooking. ❤️

My incredible birth team has put together a Meal Train for our family. With my workload and income changing so suddenly and our household trying to make this unexpected transition, we are incredibly grateful to anyone who would like to support us with a meal or financial contribution. Please know there is absolutely no expectation — your kind words and well wishes mean a whole lot, too.

🥘 Meal Train: www.mealtrain.com/trains/mwdq53
💛 Venmo: https://venmo.com/karicantrell (phone ending in 8735)

Thank you for all the love, flexibility, and support you’ve shown me and my little business. I’m incredibly grateful to be heading home today, and we’re hoping for a very boring, uneventful next several weeks. 🤞🏻❤️