by Rachel | Guitars & Granola Bars
I’m changing things up BIG TIME for the month of June on the podcast. In celebration of Father’s Day, I’m featuring four DADS who are sharing their perspective on parenting and life as a music therapist.
This week’s guest has an even more unique perspective, because he lives in New Zealand. I really enjoyed hearing about Ahjay Stelino’s journey to becoming a music therapist, and how the field of music therapy differs between here and there.
Ahjay talks about nurturing his young son’s love of music, what it’s like to be a music therapist in New Zealand, and how he avoids professional burnout in Episode 21 of the Guitars & Granola Bars podcast.
Be sure to check out the show notes page for more information about Ahjay, along with links to the resources he mentions in the episode.
This episode is sponsored by Music Teacher’s Helper, which is software for music teachers and therapists that helps manage your private music lesson studio and/or music therapy practice. I’ve used Music Teacher’s Helper every single day since 2011, and it is one of the best tools I have to keep my private practice running smoothly.
Sign up here for a 30-day no risk trial. If you choose to sign up after the trial using my link, you’ll save 20% off your first month!
Click here to subscribe on iTunes, or search “Guitars & Granola Bars” in the podcast app on your Apple device.
Click here to listen and subscribe on Stitcher, or download and search the app on your mobile device.
by Rachel | Guitars & Granola Bars
I’m changing things up BIG TIME for the month of June on the podcast. In celebration of Father’s Day, I’ll be featuring four DADS who are sharing their perspective on parenting and life as a music therapist.
My inaugural male guest is the one and only Tim Ringgold. He was without a doubt the first person who came to mind when I had the idea for this special series. If you know Tim at all, then you know what an exceptional father, music therapist, and friend he is.
I look forward to seeing Tim at AMTA conference every year, because I come away from our face-to-face conversations feeling completely inspired and encouraged. I think you’ll feel that way after listening to this episode.
Tim talks about the winding road that led him to music therapy, his unconventional roles as a parent, and how he is empowering other music therapists to earn what they are worth in Episode 20 of the Guitars & Granola Bars podcast.
Be sure to check out the show notes page for more information about Tim, along with links to the resources he mentions in the episode.
This episode is sponsored by Music Teacher’s Helper, the best way to manage your private music lesson studio and/or music therapy practice. I’ve used Music Teacher’s Helper every single day since 2011, and it is one of the best tools I have to keep my private practice running smoothly.
Sign up here for a 30-day no risk trial. If you choose to sign up after the trial using my link, you’ll save 20% off your first month!
Click here to subscribe on iTunes, or search “Guitars & Granola Bars” in the podcast app on your Apple device.
Click here to listen and subscribe on Stitcher, or download and search the app on your mobile device.
by Rachel | Family Life
I’m so happy to share with you that my baby girl is here! Mia Belle Rambach was born on Saturday, May 23 at 9:29 am. She weighed 6 lb 13 oz an measured 20 inches in length. She looks just like her brother Parker did when he was born, except with a lot more hair!
I wrote Mia’s birth story on my personal blog and shared many more photos from her first day of life. She’s almost two weeks old now, and we are starting to find our rhythm as a family of 4. Parker LOVES his little sister and gives her about a million hugs and kisses a day.
It’s funny how you forget what it’s like to have a newborn; at first, I couldn’t believe how much she slept. I’ve actually been able to get things done around the house and even get some rest myself on the days Parker is at school — the days he is home are a different story! Mia is even sleeping well at night, sometimes for 4 hours at a time.
I’m so happy to have the entire summer at home with my babies (minus a couple hours per week I’ll be teaching early childhood classes next month). Life has been so fast-paced with work up until now, and will be again come August, that I want to soak up this time as much as possible. I learned very quickly with Parker that it flies by in the blink of an eye.
I’ll be posting here as often as I have the chance, not because I have to but because I love doing it :) I’m making a bigger effort to stay connected to my work during this maternity leave; I didn’t do that last time, and it felt like a big part of me was missing after awhile. Thanks for reading, however sporadically, and all the words of encouragement and support I’ve received so far!
by Rachel | Family Life
The last month of my pregnancy was a bit of a rollercoaster. It started smoothly enough; I was feeling pretty good, just huge and tired. Work was keeping me more than busy as I wrapped up lots of loose ends, and of course Parker kept me on my toes at home.
But at the beginning of my 37th week, things went a little downhill. Zach left on a company trip to Puerto Rico, so of course something had to go wrong.
On that Friday I woke up feeling fine; Parker and I had a nice morning playing and eating breakfast. But as we were sitting on the couch reading, I got a bad case of the chills that wouldn’t go away and started feeling some pain in my back. I called my doctor’s office, and they thought it sounded like the symptoms of a UTI. The pain kept getting worse, though, and later that afternoon I thought I felt contractions. So they told me to go to the hospital.
Luckily Parker was able to stay with my mother-in-law so my parents could go with me to the hospital, and that’s when the real fun began (and by fun, I mean total misery). It turned out I was completely dehydrated, so much so that they couldn’t find a vein to start an IV of fluids. They had me drink a ton of water, and my contractions — which had been coming just a few minutes apart at their peak — started to die down. They sent me home at 8:30 that night with instructions to come back if I started feeling worse.
I woke up around 3 in the morning feeling completely awful…horrible chills, pain, and more contractions. My mom had stayed with me that night, and she insisted we go back to the hospital. By the time I got there I was running a fever and my contractions were worse than ever. They had to call an anesthesiologist to insert an IV since my veins were still so bad, and then they started running tests. Later that morning they admitted me and did an MRI to try and find out what was causing my fever. They thought it might be kidney stones or something even more serious.
All this time, there was a threat that the baby could arrive early if the contractions were effective, which was so scary since I still had over 3 weeks left and Zach was out of the country. My doula Janet stayed with me and helped me through the pain, and my mom too. The results of the MRI came back negative, so they decided it was some type of flu that had caused the fever and other symptoms. Also, I wasn’t dilated at all, which was AMAZING news after all those hours of contractions. After getting all that IV fluid, I started feeling better and later that day they discharged me.
The next couple days were rough, since I had basically been in labor all that time and my body was feeling the effects. Parker stayed with my mother-in-law and my mom stayed with me until Zach got home.
I returned to work after taking two days off, and at that point felt pretty much back to normal. I took it easy for the next couple weeks, but I also realized it was probably a good idea to get ready for the baby in case she did end up coming early. I got all of her clothes washed and put away, had Zach set up the pack n’ play downstairs and install the carseat, and packed my hospital bag.
And then I waited. I was convinced she would arrive at the start of week 39 just like Parker had, but she seemed nice and cozy. I continued working, even though at that point I was pretty uncomfortable and exhausted. In fact, I worked up until the day I went into labor…
TO BE CONTINUED!
