See You at Babies & Bumps on Sunday, June 8th and at the Becoming Retreat on Saturday, September 13th!
Join Vanessa as she drops in during a Summer Break to share what she's been up to. See her present a Birth Planning seminar at Babies & Bumps in Columbus, OH on Sunday, June 8th! She'll also have a table throughout the day giving away prizes, including opportunities to win 50% off her Metamorphosis online self-paced Metamorphosis course! Also announcing Becoming, a one-day local in-person pregnancy retreat for second-and-third-trimester Mothers and Birthers.
🔑 4 Key Takeaways:
Life Has Been Full—and That’s Okay. Between returning to the office 4 days a week, navigating long commutes, and juggling sports and parenthood, Vanessa shares what it’s looked like to rebalance work, life, and creative energy post-pandemic.
Big Things Are Coming: Babies & Bumps + Birth Planning Session Vanessa is a featured speaker at the Babies & Bumps Columbus event on Sunday, June 8! She’ll be presenting a session on 8 Key Questions to Help You Build a Meaningful Birth Plan—plus sharing giveaways and resources at her vendor booth. If you’re attending, don’t miss her at Classroom A at 1:45 PM!
Becoming: A Local Pregnancy Retreat You Don’t Want to Miss. Vanessa officially launches Becoming, a full-day, in-person pregnancy retreat happening Saturday, September 13, 2025 at Clay Studios in Blacklick, Ohio. Designed for deep connection, preparation, and reflection. Only 8 spots available — now open for registration!
The Podcast Hit 500 Downloads! A huge thank-you to every listener and supporter! Vanessa shares a milestone moment that felt especially meaningful—hitting 500 downloads mid-year, even after pausing regular episodes.
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00:00 Welcome to the Breath and Birth Co Podcast
00:47 Personal Update: Balancing Work and Family
03:17 Exciting Announcements and Upcoming Events
05:30 Launching the 'Becoming' Pregnancy Retreat
08:04 Celebrating Milestones and Future Plans
09:19 Conclusion and Gratitude
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Vanessa: Welcome to the Breath and Birth co podcast. I'm Vanessa, a hospital-based DONA- international certified birth doula, and passionate childbirth educator. I love to merge the power of your intuition with the precision of modern medicine to help you navigate pregnancy and birth your way. Each week, we kick off with Monday meditations to bring calm and connection to your pregnancy.
Then we build your confidence through insights, birth stories, and care provider perspectives during thoughtful Thursdays. Ready to feel supported, informed, and empowered. Hit subscribe to the Breath and Birth Co podcast today and let's embark on this transformational journey together. As a reminder, any information shared here is not medical advice.
For more details, visit breath and birth code.com/disclaimer.
Hi, friends. I know I've been quiet here in your podcast queue, but that's for several somewhat strategic and personal reasons. So I wanted to take a chance and catch you all up on what I've been working on in the background.
First, as some of you know, I have a full-time job in architecture and design. We went back to the office four days a week starting in May, and I actually live on the opposite side of the city as the office. So my commute can be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half each way, depending on traffic.
I've been getting up at five or. Sometime between five and 6:00 AM every day to get to the office by seven, before the morning traffic, and then leaving by about three 30 so I can get back home and pick up my son from daycare on time. because it's also peak sports season for my son. he was in soccer and t-ball each three times a week at five years old, if you believe that.
And they overlapped by two weeks. So yeah, as soon as I could pick 'em up, we'd be headed to sports and then home for a bath and bedtime routine, and I was so exhausted. It's been really hectic and a difficult transition for my routine after five years of working from home and staying local for the most part.
And then our summer is jam packed with sports and trips and family events, including my 40th birthday. Speaking of which, I also took a girls' trip to Palm Springs, California in May with some of my college besties. Uh, we all turned 40 this year and have been planning this trip since last year.
So it was really exciting. And it was great to spend time together under one roof. We had a. Really cute mid-century Airbnb dined at some great restaurants. We had a private yoga and sound bath at the house. And also being the design and architecture nerds, we are, we did a self-guided architecture tour.
So that was fun. I'm obsessed with mid-century architecture and just that time period in general. So I really, really enjoyed, the sites and food and spending time with my college besties.
Um, anyway, my goal was to step away from the podcast for the summer so I could record and produce some episodes more in bulk because my schedule has shifted, and my mornings and evenings are less available than they have been in the past.
So I'll be back for a full second season in the fall. That's the goal, but I'll try to check in with you all, as I can before then. So you might see some episodes pop in your feed every now and then, but I'll be back for a full season in the fall. And in the meantime, today's check-in is also to announce a few really exciting things I've been working on.
I'll be participating in Babies and Bumps Columbus event tomorrow. So this is an expo style show where there are vendors with tables, um, selling goods and services, and also some educational sessions and demos as well, all surrounding pregnancy, postpartum and just parenthood in general.
And, Jamie Grayson, internationally renowned. CPST is the keynote speaker, and he'll be doing a ton of baby product giveaways. He is a baby gear expert and somebody that I've been following on social media for years now and is an excellent source of information, uh, around, car seat safety strollers, baby gear safety in general.
And I will be also having a, a. Session speaker session of my own, around birth planning. And my session will be answering eight key questions that you may be having around your birth. The first of which is what is a birth plan? How do I prepare for birth?
What key decisions impact my birth plan? What options do I even have? Um, how do I make an informed decision once I know those options? And then how do I communicate what my decisions are once I've been fully informed and, make my decision for what's best for me and my baby and my family. And then how do I advocate for myself, my baby, or my partner?
So this is for you two birth partners, and then how can I help you prepare more? As in me, Vanessa, helping you beyond just that Babies and Bumps 30 minute session? So, so yeah, I'll be in classroom A at 1 45 and throughout the day, I'll be at my table highlighting my offerings and I'll also have a spin to win wheel for free giveaways, including a chance at 50% off my metamorphosis course. so if you're interested in coming, I'll link the ticket registration in the show notes. we are on track and anticipating to sell out soon.
But if you don't have tickets and they're still available, DM me because I do have a 30% off coupon code for you.
Then on top of all of that, I am also officially launching Becoming, which is my one day local in-person pregnancy retreat. if you remember in previous episodes I mentioned I was going through prenatal yoga certification and this. Concept idea Dream really, came out of that. This was part of my final project for certification and I'm so, so excited to see it come for, come to fruition. Um, so this will be on Saturday, September 13th, 2025 from about eight 30 in the morning to four 30 in the evening. So one day, a full day. And I'll be hosting it at Clay Studios in Blacklick, which is on the east side of Columbus, kind of between New Albany, Gahanna and Reynoldsburg.
It's such a beautiful space with plenty of parking. That was really important to me too. And as far as the events for that day, we'll be doing a Mother's Blessing, a Fear Release, a birth priorities game, a Nourishing Lunch prepared by Len Huff and a provider panel.
So we're gonna have a panel discussion with a few local providers, including Dr. Nicole Short, who's a chiropractor with Rise Chiropractic Nutrition, Dr. Emma Lengerich who's a pelvic health physical therapist with foundation's, pelvic physio. Sarah O'Donnell, who is a perinatal mental health therapist with Sonder Psychotherapy.
Uh, Leah Christie, who is a nurse in I-B-C-L-C, lactation consultant with l and m, lactation and Erica Lane, certified birth doula. And postpartum doula with labor of love doula care. And then after that we will transition to a prenatal yoga session led by me. We'll have some silent reflection time after that.
And then we'll lead into a closing group ceremony to kind of round out that day and and honor the whole day's experience.
And the whole day we'll be photographed by the talented Morgan Whitney photography, and we'll have opportunities throughout the day for little mini maternity photo shoot too.
And you'll get those images after the event.
So there will be limited tickets to that. it's meant to be just a small, intimate retreat. I'm capping it off at eight people max. They're available for purchase on my site right now, so I'll link that in the show notes too. And more to come on this whole retreat, and concept. I have some big dreams for future retreats as well, so I'm hoping this one is successful.
I also. Crossed 500 downloads on the Breath and Birth co podcast. So while for some, this might seem like a drop in the bucket, for those of you more experienced podcasters, this feels like a really big milestone for me who never dreamed I would be doing my own podcast and just on a whim was like, I'm gonna do it. And I started in January. And so I'm so grateful for all of you who have listened and have shared, and it's also been a really wonderful reminder for me that I achieved this goal.
After taking a step away. I had been doing two episodes a week for from January through end of April I believe, um, which was a lot on top of a full-time job and everything. And then I took a step away and I was worried that it would just kind of fizzle out. But you all kept downloading, you all kept sharing and I'm so appreciative to have hit that 500 mark around halfway through the year.
So thank you so, so much and I hope you'll stick with me.
So yeah, I think that was all I wanted to cover. It's been a crazy, hectic last few weeks preparing for all of that in the background on top of all the family and work life stuff. but I'm motivated and excited to see it all come to fruition. So I can better serve, mothers and births out there, especially locally here in Columbus. So stay tuned for more and I'll see you in the fall with regularly scheduled programming.
Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I hope you found this episode helpful and encouraging on your journey. Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss a future episode. And if you enjoyed today's conversation, I'd be so grateful if you left a quick review. It helps others find the show.
For more information, resources, and links mentioned in this episode, be sure to check out the show notes. You can also connect with me on instagram@breathandbirth.co for more support and inspiration. Until next time, remember. You've got this, and you're never alone in this journey.
