This is where all of my interests and skills are combined for one purpose: to make peoples’ lives better through music. Whether it’s through my original songs, serving my community through my business, or singing with my children, this is my favorite place to share my musical endeavors. Thank you for visiting, and I hope to get to know you better.
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This is the book that will help you shape your music therapy career in order to make more money and live your ideal lifestyle.
Written by Listen & Learn Music creator Rachel Rambach, MM, MT-BC, Innovative Income for Music Therapists combines her own experiences with those of other trailblazing music therapists to illustrate the virtually endless ways in which to generate revenue using your unique training, knowledge and skills.
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{Parker Weekly} Five Weeks Old
The summer is flying by, and Parker is growing by the day. Everyone keeps telling me how soon I’ll forget that he was ever this little, so I am taking tons of pictures and holding him as much as possible.
The first month felt a bit like I was living someone else’s life; as much as I absolutely adore my son, I missed the way things used to be. But now we’re five weeks in and I’m finally getting used to life with a newborn — it feels, dare I say, normal. It helps that I’m feeling much better physically and emotionally, and we’re getting out of the house much more often. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been to the park, shopping, and friends’ houses. I love showing Parker off almost as much as the change of scenery :)
The most exciting thing this week has been witnessing Parker’s first “real” smiles. I was lucky to catch a few of them with my iPhone, and they are by far my favorite photos of him up until now. Most of the time he looks so serious; his smiley faces are so cute and playful.
The most EXHAUSTING aspect of this week has been the constant eating. Parker’s going through what can only be a major growth spurt, and he demands food almost every hour of the day (and most nights, too). Luckily everyone tells me this is temporary, and soon we’ll go back to a much more normal eating and sleeping schedule.
So in the meantime, I’m just trying to enjoy the extra bonding we’re doing during all those feedings. Oh, and playing lots of Candy Crush Saga on my iPhone ;)
One Month Old
I had grand visions of spending my maternity leave blogging, writing in Parker’s baby book, writing and recording songs, organizing my house, etc. while the baby slept peacefully in his bassinet a few feet away. HA! The number one lesson I’ve learned since becoming a mom: don’t expect to get much of anything done with a newborn in your arms.
Parker has made it clear that in my arms is where he likes to be at ALL times. Sometimes if I’m lucky I can put him down in his rock ‘n play without waking him up, and he’ll nap there for awhile (which is how I’m getting this blog post written), but mostly I hold him, which leaves me with only one hand free. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time watching TV and playing on my iPhone.
This first month of Parker’s life has been mostly wonderful, with just a few hiccups along the way. I’m coming to terms with the fact that my job now is to care for and feed my baby, and that I have to let everything else go. It’s been a big adjustment, in all honesty. But when I’m holding him in my arms, watching him eat or sleep so peacefully, I feel like he is all I need in life.
This morning at his one-month checkup, we found out that Parker has grown two inches since birth and is in the 85th percentile for length! He is also gaining weight like a champ and the doctor called him “perfect” — we are so lucky.
And now, some photo highlights from this past month:
My kissy-faced angel!
Destined for superstardom.
Meeting his Uncle Josh and Aunt Jeni for the first time.
Chilling out after bathtime.
Isn’t THAT the truth.
Our little family.
Sensational Ideas for Working With Children With Autism (Part 1)
I’m currently on maternity leave, and many of my colleagues have been kind enough to share their expertise via guest posts throughout the summer. The following comes to you from Amy Kalas, MM, MT-BC.
I am constantly on the lookout for ways to improve my skills as a music therapist, aren’t you?
I find it fun and motivating to discover more and more effective ideas for engaging children in music therapy and connecting with them through music.
The children I work with at both my full-time job at UCP’s Early Beginnings Academy and in my private practice, Wholesome Harmonies, are primarily diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
One of the main things that enhanced my work with these children is co-treating with occupational therapists who specialize in sensory integration. Through these co-treatments, I began to learn about the unique sensory needs of children with ASD and brainstorm how I can address those needs in a therapeutic music experience.
In a session where I have children who are “sensory-seeking” (those are the ones jumping and crashing into things, seeking sensory input), I always ‘start with sensory.’I’ve found that if I “feed” that sensory need by providing the children with a sensory integration experience such as jumping on the trampoline or bouncing on the therapy ball, they are better able to attend to and engage in the subsequent music therapy activities.
Here is a video showcasing an example of one sensory integration experience I use in my sessions with children with ASD:
In this video, the children are receiving proprioceptive and vestibular input by bouncing on a therapy ball, while the music is organizing the whole experience. The lyrics cue the children to bounce and stop; and the rhythmic beat and tempo tell the children how fast to be bouncing. All these elements work together to create an experience that is appropriate and beneficial to the children.
This activity can be extended by having the children move in different ways on the therapy ball: they could lay on the ball on their stomach and bounce up and down, or they could lay on the ball on their stomach and roll front two back, using their arms and legs to push themselves back and forth (I hear a nice 6/8 accompaniment in my head for this one!)
The ideas are endless…why not meet with an occupational therapist and find out some other ways you can utilize the therapy ball in your music therapy sessions?
This is just Part One of a series I am starting on Music Therapy & Sensory Integration on my blog, Wholesome Harmonies. Want to stay up to date on the next installments? Click here to hop on the list!
Amy Kalas, MM, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist with eight years of experience working with children and adolescents with special needs. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy (2005) and Master’s degree in Music Therapy (2010) from University of Miami. Amy has been employed at United Cerebral Palsy of Miami as a music therapist, practicum supervisor, and internship director since 2006. She recently accepted the position of Interim Professor of Music Therapy at University of Miami.
Amy is also the owner of Wholesome Harmonies, LLC, where she provides music therapy services in the Miami area. She is the author of two E-Books: Tuneful Teens: Creative Ideas for Engaging Adolescents in Music Therapy and Sensational Songs & Ideas: Sensory-Based Ideas for Music Therapy. You can visit the website and blog for Wholesome Harmonies at www.WHmusictherapy.com.
Mommyhood Reality Check
It’s taken me at least four separate sessions spread out over two days to type this blog post, so hitting “publish” is going to feel like quite an accomplishment. Just like completing a load of laundry, making the bed, putting on makeup, and writing a thank you card all feel like big accomplishments these days.
Before I had a baby, I just couldn’t understand why new moms always say they’re lucky if they are able to shower on a daily basis — and now I totally get it. Caring for a tiny human being is a LOT of work, between feeding, changing, comforting, and just holding him while he sleeps.
I have an inbox full of fantastic guest posts by several fellow music therapists and bloggers, and although it was my goal to have them queued up and ready to post starting last week, it just hasn’t happened yet. Parker and I are still establishing a routine, and when I do have the opportunity to get things done during naptime, I usually resort to either sleeping (because not much of that happens at night!) or taking care of the basics around the house.
This blog post is anything BUT a complaint; I absolutely love being a mom and everything that comes with it (including the sleepless nights). It’s more of a reassurance that I haven’t dropped off the face of this earth, and that there’s some good stuff coming your way thanks to my colleagues…just as soon as I have the time and mental capacity (that darn sleep deprivation again) to post it. Thank you for being patient and sticking around during this hopefully short-lived blogging drought!
Zach’s First Father’s Day
I celebrated Mother’s Day as an almost-mommy, but Zach was lucky to get the full blown Father’s Day experience! He took this photo the morning of, as we were all relaxing in bed before starting our day.
We hung around the house for most of the day, and being the sweet wife that I am, I even dressed Parker in Cubs gear to make his daddy happy. Unfortunately for Zach, the outfit didn’t last long as Parker had a little accident while I was changing him later on — he might turn out to be a Cardinals fan after all ;)
We spent the afternoon with my parents and had a little cookout to celebrate the dads and grandpas. All in all, it was a really nice Father’s Day — just another “first” in our lives as new parents!
{Parker Weekly} 1 Week Old
It’s insane how fast the first week of Parker’s life has flown by. The first two days are a bit of a blur, as they were spent in the hospital where we were up pretty much around the clock and just learning the basics of caring for a newborn. Needless to say, we were excited to get out of there and come home!
Those first few days were a BIG adjustment. Parker is the new boss around here and dictates when we feed him, when we sleep, and when we find time to attend to everything else going on in our lives (which isn’t much nowadays!). Luckily, our family has been awesome and has brought us food, helped out around the house, and of course, held and changed Parker so that I can get naps in here and there. My mom has been here just about every day — she and Parker have become best buddies :)
Although most of our time is spent just hanging out at home, we have managed to get out of the house a few times. Parker’s first outing was a trip to Target, and then the next day we went for the very first spin in his new stroller. On Thursday he had his newborn photo session, and on Friday we took him to his first pediatrician appointment. Busy week!
It is so much fun getting to know this tiny little baby, and I have honestly fallen in love with him more with each passing day. Life is definitely much more complicated now that he’s here, but I can’t imagine it without him after just a week.
Introducing Parker Joshua Rambach!
I’m thrilled to share with you that my beautiful baby boy was born on Saturday, June 8th. He arrived at 10:31 am, weighs 7 lb, 5 oz, and is 20.5 inches long. He’s perfect!
After spending two days in the hospital, we were able to come home and settle into our new life as a family of four (that includes our golden retriever, Sadie, who is adjusting to our new addition incredibly well).
Although it’s only been a week, I can hardly remember life before becoming a mom. Parker has been such an incredible blessing to our lives already, and I know that life will only continue to get sweeter with him in it.
I’ll be writing about Parker and motherhood in general here at Listen & Learn on occasion, but for lots more about our baby boy — including the story of his birth — feel free to pop over to my family blog. Thank you for all the support you’ve offered as I embark on this new journey!
Due Date
Like his mommy, Parker likes to be early — he proved that by making his appearance 6 days before his due date! But after 30+ weeks of documenting my growing belly, we couldn’t let the series end without taking one final photo for week 40. And posing with Parker was infinitely more fun than doing so with any fruit or vegetable.
We spent the morning of Parker’s due date at his one-week pediatrician appointment, where he checked out perfectly! He has already gained back the few ounces he lost after he was born, thanks to being such a great eater. We both got incredibly lucky as far as breastfeeding goes; he took to it naturally on day 1.
I’m so happy that we were able to have this “bonus” week with Parker…I think I would have been going crazy with anticipation had I spent one more week pregnant!
Parker’s Birth Story
I should have known that the story of Parker’s birth would be nothing short of spectacular. After all, he was conceived on the very first try, and my pregnancy was nearly picture perfect. What started as a story turned out to be more of a novel, as you’ll see below, because I don’t ever want to forget a moment of the best day of my life.
The wheels were set in motion on Friday, June 7. We had our weekly doctor’s appointment that morning, at which time a growth scan was performed since I had lost 5 pounds the week before. Luckily, the baby looked wonderful and was estimated to weigh around 7 pounds, 15 ounces.
After examining me, Dr. Dignan-Moore announced that I was almost fully effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. She was excited about my progress since the week before, and suggested doing a membrane sweep to get the ball rolling. She said that if it was effective, I would go into labor within 24 hours. That thrilled me to no end, because I was really hoping for a June 8th birthday (8 is my lucky number; our wedding anniversary is 8/8/08).
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, putting some last touches on the nursery, doing laundry, and grocery shopping. I was pretty discouraged that I wasn’t having any contractions, but was still holding out hope.
My friend Crystal texted me that afternoon and offered to go walking with me, since that had worked for her. After walking the Centennial Park trail near her house and hanging out with her family a bit, I headed home and was excited to be feeling a little crampy.
Zach and I had plans to go on one last pre-baby date that night, and by the time we got in the car, I was having contractions. They weren’t super painful, but they were pretty regular (about 7 minutes apart). We headed to Lake Pointe Grille, and I enjoyed every last bite of my salmon while timing my contractions. They continued after we got home, and I was fully convinced we would be off to the hospital that night.
By 11, they were not getting any closer together nor stronger. Discouraged, I went to bed, waking up every hour or so to use the bathroom and feeling a little contraction here and there, but nothing substantial.
That is, until 4:15 am, when I was jolted awake by a contraction that was stronger than anything I had felt the night before. Of course, I was very excited and laid in bed tracking them using an app on my phone until about 5. Once I determined that they were regular (about 6 minutes apart), I got up and went into the living room. I bounced on my exercise ball for a little while, but the contractions continued to get stronger to the point where I had to lean over and breathe through them.
At about 6 am, I decided to take a shower…just in case. During that very quick shower, I had 4 strong contractions that were about 2.5 minutes apart. This had to be the real deal. So I got dressed and told Zach to get in the shower and put his things in a bag (mine had been packed for weeks!). He thought I was overreacting — after all, my water hadn’t even broken yet! But after speaking with the nurse at Springfield Clinic, and checking in with my doula Janet (who had just gotten back from vacation the night before), I was told to go, go, go.
We dropped Sadie off at Zach’s parents, and by that time, I was in a lot of pain. I was also a little scared, and just completely flooded with emotion. Once we got to the hospital and were checked in at 7:30 am, we headed up to triage to get checked out. Sure enough, those contractions were coming about 2 minutes apart, and I was 3-4 centimeters dilated. Holy cow!
Just as the nurse finished checking me out, Janet walked into the triage room. I had several more contractions right there, and she talked me through each one. She immediately calmed me down and made me feel confident that I could have this baby naturally (epidural-free), just the way I had been planning for the last few months.
Janet walked the halls with me for about an hour, and we’d stop and lean over the railing with each contraction. She helped me breathe and stay in control, reminding me not to let the contraction overtake me. Zach and my mom were also with us, but they hung back for the most part and let us do our thing.
At one point, I had to stop walking and have my IV line inserted as well as my blood drawn. Sitting through that was torture, since standing up made the pain much more tolerable. Then the OB resident wanted to check my progress, so we went to my delivery room (we got the best one on the floor, thanks to Janet!) and I had to get into the bed for that. More torture, but awesome to find out I was dilated to 6-7 centimeters!
I sat on the birthing ball for the next few contractions, which really helped. Of course, the pain was tremendous during each one, but I got through them because I knew they would only last about a minute. The breaks I got in between were so nice — I even managed to crack a little smile for Zach, who (no surprise) had the camera out.
After awhile, Janet encouraged me to get back up, since all that walking had helped me progress so far in a short time. I made it over to the chair in my room and had one last contraction before I told her I needed to get into the bed, because I was getting the overwhelming urge to push.
I was starting to get panicky at this point, because I knew I couldn’t push yet. Janet was so amazing at talking me through, and telling me exactly what I needed to do. The on-call OB, Dr. Ertmoed, came in to check my progress, and then they started wheeling in all the equipment for the delivery. This was really going to happen soon!
The next thing I knew, everything was set up and I was in pushing position. My lovely nurse, Lindsey, reported that my OB, Dr. Dignan-Moore, was rushing in and hoped to be there in time for the delivery. I was so happy to hear that. Just as I was about to give my first push, she ran through the door and put on her gown while cheering me on.
The next thing that happened was simultaneously awesome, gross, and hilarious — my water broke and reached all the way across the room on that first push! I still laugh every time I think about it. Talk about a dramatic moment. After that, it was serious business; pushing with strength I never knew I was capable of. This went on for just 25 minutes, and then Janet told me my baby had a head full of dark hair. He was almost out, which made me even more determined. A couple of pushes later, there he was; my baby was on my chest.
I couldn’t believe how beautiful my baby boy was. I also couldn’t believe how in love I was at first sight. As soon as the cord stopped pulsating, Zach cut it like a champion, and then I just stared into my baby’s eyes while trying to process the fact that he was finally here.
Parker Joshua Rambach was born at 10:31 am, a mere 3 hours from the time I checked into the hospital. He weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long.
So many moms have told me that they forgot the pain of childbirth almost immediately afterwards, and I could never wrap my head around that. But it’s true. When Parker was in my arms, all of those contractions were a distant memory and all I felt was happiness.
When I first found out I was pregnant, I didn’t even want to think about the actual delivery process. It completely terrified me, and I just always assumed I wouldn’t be picky about my birth experience. But once I reached the middle of my second trimester, I had some serious conversations with a couple friends — specifically Vanessa and Crystal — who turned me on the idea of an epidural-free, all-natural birth.
The more I researched, the more I felt like it was the right decision for me. I was met with a lot of resistance; even Zach was skeptical for a long time because he didn’t want me to experience all that pain unnecessarily. But he eventually came around, and was an amazing support. The three people who were by my side on the big day — Zach, my mom, and Janet — helped me to have a birth experience that surpassed even my highest expectations.
And now Parker is here, and I am on cloud 9. I can’t wait to share him with my friends and extended family, but for now, we are just enjoying our time as a very, very blessed family of three.
Week 39
We made it to week 39! I spent all of this last week crossing my fingers that baby Rambach would wait until today at the very earliest to make his big debut. Not only did I not want us to have to share our birthdays, but also my doula Janet just returned from vacation. Thank you for waiting, baby!
There’s still one week to go before his due date, but I’m hopeful that he comes sooner than that…like, tomorrow! 8 is my lucky number and June is my favorite month, so really there’s no better birthday that June 8. And since we found out at our sonogram this morning that he is measuring a little over 7 pounds, I’m even more ready to meet him. We shall see when he decides to join us on the outside!