Emily Russak

In case you needed to hear this today.

Make it make sense.

Today my Angel girl turns 10 months old and we’re celebrating with a milkshake!

8oz raw milk
2 raw eggs
1 tbsp raw honey
Blend that s**t up

Babies love milkshakes

I was GBS+ and refused antibiotics!

Let’s talk about GBS. Group B Strep (GBS) is a transitory bacteria that lives in the va**na. It is completely harmless to adults but can be fatal to babies if ingested.

In the American medical hospital system, you (for the most part) cannot refuse receiving antibiotics if you are GBS+ (about 30% of pregnant women are).

Here’s what happens: when you’re 35 weeks you’re tested for GBS (it’s given a 5 week lifecycle in the va**na, as it is transitory by nature) and unless you go past 40 weeks, you’re assumed to have GBS in your system unless you’d like to retest at 41 weeks.

Here’s the question I asked my midwives: what’s to say that the end of the 5 week lifecycle of GBS didn’t end the day after I took the test? What if the GBS left my system before I gave birth? Their answer: we don’t know unless we test you weekly/daily (complete overkill).

So let’s talk about the risk of fatality: if baby is born through the birth canal, they could NOT ingest the GBS (do women hear this from their OBs?), the baby could ingest the GBS and be completely fine, the baby could ingest the GBS and need NICU attention due to respiratory distress, and RARELY does a baby who ingests GBS die - most practitioners would chalk this up to a huge medical miss.

Implications of taking antibiotics: your ENTIRE va**nal microbiome is WIPED! With what we know about the importance of bacteria ingested by baby in the birth canal, it blows my MIND that we just encourage (force?) women to take the antibiotics for something that may very well not be in their system at the time of birth that will also make sure that baby doesn’t receive any of the incredible bacteria that sets up their gut microbiome and immune system for success!

Blows my mind. In most other western countries they take into account risk factors DURING labor before administering antibiotics. And Midwives all over America give women all of this information and the choice to receive or not receive antibiotics.

Know the what’s and why’s of everything going into your body in pregnancy and labor y’all!

ps. Who loves this photo of Stash having just received all the goodness from my birth canal?!

CONTROVERSY! A midwife recently told me this and while I had heard birth workers say this before, it’s always such a great visual to have.

If you are choosing a vegan lifestyle for health reasons or for the simple fact that you do not like meat and you become pregnant and want to remain vegan, please reach out to someone who knows proper nutrition needs in a vegan pregnancy!

Make sure you’re eating 80-100g of protein per day, make sure your eating mineral and micronutrient rich food constantly, and make sure you’re getting regular blood work to keep an eye on any deficiencies that will need supplementation!

But, if you are choosing a vegan lifestyle for animal ethics… what about the human animal you’re growing inside of you?

We are all one with the earth. Nurturing your growing baby with the best nutrition he or she can receive via animal products is the most humane and sustainable thing you can do for Mother Earth.

for credit!!

The more you freaking know SMH - I’m just here for informed consent!

“A *crap conspiracy theory* book that is full of lies.” - someone close to me …absorb this information at your own risk.

Helping new moms establish breastfeeding is the single most important things we can do as a society!

I was sucked into the fear from peds who tell you your child doesn’t weigh enough. The fear of not being able to produce and provide for your child can do some serious damage to your psyche.

Percentile charts need to be explained and received with a grain of salt… a large grain.

My perfectly thriving, 10th percentile for weight baby, is healthy AF

Find friends like & who support your motherhood journey without fear!

Tag a mom friend who supports you below!

First believe that you are free in your heart, then act accordingly. We are all deserving of freedom in our hearts and souls and no government, pharmaceutical company, or tech company can tell you otherwise.

Freedom is a deep knowing that you are responsible for your life, regardless of the circumstances that you may or may not have been dealt. Finding freedom in your heart is the ultimate expression of self love.

This is what I stand for, what I speak for, and what I fight for every day.

Monday thoughts: we spend 4 years in college preparing for our futures but when it comes to making a human fu**in being, we spend no time learning about how to better our chances of fertility and positive birth outcomes.

What’s up, America?
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Happy happy birthday to my baby boy! 3 years ago you made me a mama and change my life forever. We have loved watching this Stash grow into the funniest, craziest, and most loving sweet boy.

Whenever I was coaching and pregnant, would say “I love pregnant Embo, she doesn’t take any s**t.” And that’s truly the energy I’ve tried to keep since hearing those words. Thanks, Juan 😂

There is nothing quite like pregnancy to bring out some inner fire, how it manifests is different for everyone… but keep that fire, mama 🔥