The Birth Lounge Blog

(This post is a piece HeHe wrote for JDEducational.  This article can be read in it's entirety by clicking HERE .) Bringing home a baby can be an exciting time for the whole family. However, it can also be challenging to navigate. Introducing Child #1 to Child #2 can cause new emotions to arise for your older child and disrupt any sense of normalcy you may have. Keeping these helpful hints in mind when preparing this transition can help for a smoother change in family dynamics . Tip #1: Prepare in Advance with Language, Books, Songs, Pretend Play Tip #2: Help your child settle into their new role. Tip #3: Involve your older child(ren) Tip #4: Routines (vs schedules) Tip #5: Carve out alone time for each child. Tip #6: Capture casual snapshots Tip #7: Ask for help (Read more about these tips by clicking HERE to read the full article!) The relationship between siblings is an unbreakable bond. However, your interaction and support as a parent is...

Hey Tranquility Tribe! There seems to be about a million and one decisions that the world throws at you when you’re becoming a parent, and if you’re expecting a baby boy, there’s yet another one to add to the list: to circumcise or not to circumcise? This week, we’re going to learn all about circumcision and the pros and cons of the procedure to help you out with making the best informed decision that you can! As always, let’s get started with the basics - what exactly is circumcision? It’s a surgical procedure to remove the foreskin (the hood of skin that covers the head of the penis), done typically within a few days after birth. The procedure itself is relatively quick and simple. The penis is numbed via injection or topical cream, a clamp is attached to the penis and the foreskin is removed - all in the span of about ten minutes. It then takes about seven to ten days to heal, during which the bandage should be changed upon every d...

My First Time Using a Menstrual Cup I want to set the stage for you before we dive head first into my last period. I have been using  Thinx  period underwear for almost two years. I have nearly 10 pair. I do not period with them. I even travel with a pair or two when my period is nowhere in sight...ya know, just in case. When I say these underwear changed my life, I mean it. I made the transition to  Thinx  after an absolutely terrible (read: traumatic AF), 18-month journey with the copper IUD. I share more about this experience on episode #71 of The Tranquility Tribe Podcast. Because of this experience, I fell into the world of free-bleeding and this led to my discovery of these magical underwear. For the longest time, I was not open to anything else but  Thinx  to manage my period. You read that right. For nearly 18 months, I was free bleeding and even avoiding the pool if I was on my period. I had...

Hey Tranquility Tribe! When the excitement of a possible pregnancy rolls around, you want to be sure you’re getting the most accurate result when it comes to a pregnancy test. With so many tests lining the aisles of any given drugstore or supermarket, it can be overwhelming trying to find a test that you can trust. Today, we’re going to break down what goes into an accurate home pregnancy test so you can be ready next time that you’re in need!  While digital and traditional both detect pregnancy the same way - by detecting the presence of a hormone produced by an embryo, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), in urine. Digital tests can detect it at a lower level than traditional tests, meaning they may able to detect a pregnancy earlier. Digital and traditional tests differ also in the way that the test results are displayed . With traditional tests, you get the one line or two lines to indicate the results like you see in movies, ...