Known. Doula Services

Known. Doula Services Certified birth, bereavement, & postpartum doula working with families in Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area

06/08/2026

23 week bumpdate!

This week has been great overall. Still enjoying the glow of the 2nd trimester & frequently forget I'm pregnant until someone says something or I see myself in a reflection 😂

This week, the only real symptoms I had were fatigue & a pulling/stretching sensation in my belly button.

My midwives had previously checked my iron levels at the end of the first trimester, & they were a little low. I bumped my iron supplements at that time but have since backed off a bit, so now I'm going to increase my supplementation again to hopefully help with the fatigue!

The pulling/stretching sensation is completely normal & appropriate at this point in pregnancy, because baby's starting to really grow & my uterus has to keep up! The discomfort is annoying, but it's all a good sign.

How did you feel at week 23? Did you have a weird stretching sensation at any point in your pregnancy? Let me know below!

06/01/2026

22 weeks!

Again, I've been enjoying the 2nd trimester "glow" this week, with very few complaints--praising God for the lack of pain & no symphisis p***s dysfunction (more about that on Thursday!).

Only thing I've noticed is that I must not actually be prioritizing my pelvic floor work, because I peed myself a little when I laughed this morning 🙈 So now I'm off to do my exercises with a VENGEANCE--because dude that's just gross 😂

But I can feel that baby girl is moving & grooving much more than I could previously feel, so I'm hopeful my placenta is moving higher up on my uterus.

05/25/2026

We're *officially* halfway to meeting our baby girl!

Feeling really good now--grateful for the sunshine & ability to get outside with my kiddos! Only real complaint I have right now is my pelvis is just super loosey-goosey.

It's a great sign that my body's releasing the right hormones to allow my pelvis to open enough for baby to drop down & come through. Unfortunately, though, it also means I'm feeling a clicking sensation almost every time I shift my weight or even walk around.

I'm beyond grateful I haven't had any pain with it (yet), it's just pretty annoying at this point. Let me know if you have any tips & tricks for dealing with this symptom!

05/22/2026

This week FLEW BY, but we're still gonna talk about hydration in pregnancy! I promise I didn't forget!

When you're pregnant, your body requires many more minerals than outside of pregnancy. When you're pregnant in the dead of SUMMER, as I have been twice now, your need for minerals goes up significantly. It's vital to replace everything we lose in sweat, plus more, because we are growing a human who will otherwise take from our bodies what they need! Of course, if your body is requesting some plain iced water, drink it! But make sure you're also

My favorite easy way to get extra replenishment is LMNT packets--let me know if you want a link for a free sample pack! But if you're low on grocery money right now (I hear ya!), & willing to DIY a little, I have two low-cost options for you!

First up, a little mocktail drinky that tastes like a lighter lemonade:
1c coconut water
juice of 1/2 a lemon (fresh is ideal)
pinch of salt to taste
1/4tsp cream of tartar (for extra potassium)
1-2tsp maple syrup

Next, a bulk DIY version of LMNT I've really been loving this week! You can get all this on amazon for half the price of LMNT packets alone!
3.5oz package potassium chloride
3.5oz package magnesium malate
8oz package lemon powder
2/3-3/4 cup Redmond Salt (to taste preference)
6-7 cup stevia (to taste preference)

That's it! Let me know how you like to keep your minerals in check & whether or not you try either of these DIY electrolyte drinkies 😊

05/18/2026

Twenty weeks pregnant!

It's official! The belly button has popped. My personal working theory that belly buttons pop earlier with more extreme diastasis recti seems to be coming truer, because I had my last pelvic floor PT appt this week. I'm much stronger than how I started out pre-pregnancy, which is a hugely exciting thing for me.

Now I get to keep working on my exercises, mindset, & physical strength/softness to prepare for labor with this lil bean. I probably won't go back to PT until after baby, so hopeful that I continue to get stronger as pregnancy continues!

Another thing, my knee is improving day by day. Definitely have to keep taking it slow, especially walking & getting up from off the floor, but overall the pain has lessened--praise the Lord!

I'm roughly halfway to meeting this baby, & I cannot WAIT for labor to start (except, yes I can... Like until 38.5ish weeks or later 😜). But also it's quite likely that next week is when I'll truly be halfway--many healthy pregnancies make it to 42 weeks, so I'm mentally preparing for that to be the case!

05/14/2026

Another baby GIRL!

If you've been here for any length of time, you know I highly value the meaning of the names we give our children. That hasn't changed this time around either! Our new daughter's name is Chessa Brooke, which means Peaceful River/Stream.

Our prayer for her is that she'd be like a peaceful stream to everyone whom she meets, bringing them the Life & the true Peace that comes from Jesus.

Were you right? What kinds of names do you like to choose for your kids?

05/11/2026

19 weeks?! What?!

The very day I "turned" 19 weeks, I was blessed with some fetal heart sounds through the fetoscope for the very first time. Baby was also very particular about the fetoscope for the first time, kicking & punching at it while I was trying to listen to him/her. We definitely have a strong lil nugget!

Our anatomy scan is at the end of this week, so stay tuned for that--we can't wait to see all of baby's sweet features & make sure he/she is still healthy enough to proceed with our home birth plans. 😊

Any guesses on whether baby's a boy or a girl? Drop your guess below!

05/04/2026

We're 18 weeks pregnant!

This week has been pretty good overall, been able to feel baby move a bit more than in previous weeks. Only thing I'm a little frustrated by has been that my body is continuing to produce more & more of the hormone relaxin.

Relaxin is a special hormone which makes our ligaments looser in preparation for birth which is a GREAT thing! Unfortunately, it's not specific, so when I fell & tweaked my knee this week, the relaxin has made my recovery a little slower. Womp womp.

Overall though, I'm starting to feel that "pregnancy glow" people talk about. When did you feel like you started to coast in pregnancy?

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5655 Deerwood Street SW
Cedar Rapids, IA
52404

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