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.
Performances
Events
Videos
Members of Listen & Learn Plus have access to ALL of my songs, resources, and session plans. Learn more about the perks of membership, and get a free sneak peek inside.
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.
Let’s Connect on Instagram
Joining the 30s Club
When you’re almost 10 months pregnant, you can pretty much expect to have a fairly tame birthday. And although it was a BIG one, I was juuuust fine with that.
My day started with Sadie jumping on the bed to wish me a happy birthday at 5:30. Luckily after Zach left to get me some breakfast (my favorite bagel and smoothie from Panera), she snuggled next to me and we both went back to sleep until about 8.
The rest of the day was spent with my mom, going out to lunch at Incredibly Delicious, playing tourists at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, and then enjoying the nice weather at Starbucks — my belly made a nice shelf for my drink, as you can see in the picture.
That night, the whole family went out to dinner at American Harvest, and then we did dessert and presents afterwards. I got completely spoiled with a Keurig coffee maker, some furniture and goodies for the nursery, and gift cards to spend on myself. I couldn’t think of a better way to ring in the big 3-0!
Week 38
This has been one fantastic week. Since I am officially on maternity leave, I’ve been getting things done left and right in preparation for the baby, for my online businesses, and around the house. Everyone told me to relax and get as much sleep as possible, but I pretty much have done just the opposite.
I’ve still been making my morning pilgrimages to the gym, although I have a feeling those days are extremely numbered. I’m trying to keep this baby INSIDE through Friday, because my doula Janet is on vacation until then. And getting on that treadmill is just tempting fate a little too much, so I’m going to take it easy the rest of the week. Not to mention that tomorrow is my birthday, and that calls for a little sleeping in!
Maternity Photos
After a few weeks of planning a maternity photo shoot but not actually getting around to it, I was a little nervous that the baby would arrive before we had the chance. Luckily, though, we found some time last week — and finally had a nice day of weather as an added bonus.
Lots of the photos we took include Baby Rambach’s name, which we’re keeping off the internet until he arrives, so I will post the whole album once he is born. But here are a few to tide you over in the meantime!
We are so lucky to have a talented photographer in our family…big shout out to my father-in-law Steve for always providing his services (for free, no less!). Another person who deserves a big shout out is our 4-year-old nephew, Mason, who was a trooper for almost 3 hours. Uncle Zach rewarded him with a few hours at Chuck-E-Cheese afterwards.
We’re heading out again tomorrow to get a few more shots, and I can’t wait to share the entire bunch with you! It will be so nice to have these visual reminders of my last few days of pregnancy.
Week 37
I have officially made it to “full term” point in my pregnancy! I never imagined that at 37 weeks along, I’d still be doing everything I’m currently doing — working out daily at 5:30 am, keeping the house insanely cleaned and organized (hello, nesting), working full time, and somehow managing to stay calm despite the fact that in just a few weeks, we will have a newborn living with us.
As much as I’m ready to meet him and not be pregnant anymore, the truth is that a small part of me is actually going to miss this. I love feeling the kicks and rolls throughout the day, and even the attention I get for this big ol’ belly is kind of fun (sometimes). But I know that it won’t compare to actually having my little guy in my arms!
We’ve been seeing the doctor for weekly visits, and at this point, she says it could be any day now. The great news is that he is head-down, and in the past week, I’ve started to feel some contractions here and there…signs that my body is preparing for labor.
I’m hoping that he stays put for at least one more week, though; the longer baby bakes, the more prepared he will be to enter the world (not to mention that my doula is on vacation until June 7!).
Faking It
Surprise! We had a baby! Or…I got dressed up in a hospital gown, grabbed a doll, and pretended that we did :) Baby Rambach is still safe and sound in my belly, but we sure had fun going through a “dress rehearsal” of labor and delivery at the hospital last week.
I jumped at the chance to be models for a photo shoot at St. Johns Hospital — not only will the photos be used in future trainings, but it gave us the opportunity to have a dry run of what our hospital stay might really be like (wardrobe and all).
First came my admittance, by wheelchair of course. Not sure if I’ll actually be smiling this big when the real deal happens…
Here I am just after getting hooked up to the monitors. It was fun getting to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and now I have an idea about what I’ll be wearing as far as “accessories” during the labor process.
Fastest labor, delivery, and discharge ever! Just a couple hours later, here I am getting ready to take baby home! (That’s our wonderful doula, Janet, who also served as a model in the photos). People passing me in the hallway actually thought I was holding a real newborn, which I found hilarious since the doll was HUGE. I guess I just had that “new mom” glow!
Week 36
I officially have nine months of pregnancy under my belt, with only one to go. Four short weeks left of carrying around this 6-pound “watermelon” — after that, he’ll be in my arms!
We kicked off Week 36 by spending our entire Saturday at Lullaby University, where we learned all about newborn care and breastfeeding. I learned a LOT, but probably not as much as Zach did…I think he is beginning to realize what a HUGE job a baby is. Rewarding, for sure, but much more time-consuming than he originally thought. The class also made us even more excited about our little guy’s arrival.
On Sunday, I got a little taste of what it’s like to be very pregnant in the summertime, thanks to spending a couple hours walking around the art fair in the 85-degree heat. That experience made me really appreciate the fact that I’m due June 14 rather than August 14!
The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful, just busy with wrapping up work (only one more week to go!) and getting as much sleep as I can. Coming up: another doctor’s appointment on Friday, followed by a long holiday weekend :)
The Most Annoying Symptom of Pregnancy
After 9 long months of pregnancy, I’ve discovered the most annoying symptom — and it’s not one of the usual suspects. Morning sickness, leg cramps, heartburn, interrupted sleep, and exhaustion have been no fun at all, but my least favorite of all is my hoarse voice.
For almost 3 weeks now, my voice has sounded like I just finished screaming and singing along at a Taylor Swift concert (and yes, I would totally do both of those things at a Taylor Swift concert). It’s been raspy, a little mannish, and any hope of hitting high notes is out the window. At first I thought maybe I was getting sick, but I had no sore throat, cough, or sneezing. Then I suspected allergies, but I’m not really one to suffer from those. And I hadn’t been using my voice any more than I usually do, so it wasn’t due to overuse.
It all started to make sense after I explained my condition to one of my client’s moms before a music therapy session. She told me that she thought a hoarse voice was a symptom of pregnancy, and after some quick Googling on her iPhone, we found that she was right.
At my doctor’s appointment the following week, the OB confirmed that pregnancy can cause the vocal cords to swell just like the rest of the body, so my hoarse voice is normal at this point. The downside is that it’s probably here to stay until I have the baby, so I can look forward to a little over 3 more weeks of raspiness.
By now I’ve adapted to my new voice, though it sure makes my job interesting! Luckily, there are only 9 more working days left before I’m officially on maternity leave for the summer. I have quite a few new songs I’d like to record, but they just might have to wait until after baby’s arrival if I actually want people to listen to them.
So far, no cankles in sight…just a man voice and a few other manageable symptoms. I suppose if that’s the worst it gets at 36 weeks, I don’t have much room to complain :)
Week 35 – Featuring Baby Shower #3!
Home stretch, baby! And it’s a good thing, because I am getting restless. On one hand, I want to get out of the house and do things, but on the other, I’m so exhausted that I can barely keep my eyes open half the time.
Despite the exhaustion, I managed to have a pretty eventful and productive week. It started with my third and final baby shower, hosted by my wonderful sister-in-laws Rebecca and Shannon. The theme was “nautical” (shocking, right!?) and everything about it — the decorations, games, gifts, guests — was delightful. Click here for more of the photos my father-in-law took.
Rebecca and Shannon went all out, not only with hosting the shower but also their awesome DIY gifts. The boat-shaped bookcase (pictured below) is something I’ve been on the hunt for since I came up with the nursery theme, so I was super excited to see it on display when I arrived!
Zach arrived at the end of the shower to help load up all the gifts and pose for a few photos.
Baby Rambach must have known he was the guest of honor, because he didn’t stop kicking and wriggling around until after the shower was over. He is quite active on a regular basis even though he’s starting to run out of room in there!
Speaking of the little guy, we had an appointment this week and found out that he’s growing right on track…actually, he’s in the 63rd percentile at 5 pounds, 11 ounces. My doctor was surprised, since my belly has been measuring smaller than it should at this point. He’s also head-down, which is awesome news for delivery. At this point, there’s less than a 5% chance that he will change positions.
In other baby news, we bought the rest of the stuff we need off our registry and are pretty much set as far as the nursery goes. Once we get the pictures hung and a few other finishing touches, I will post photos. Also coming soon are photos of our newly painted playroom. Yay for progress!
Week 34
This week has been a bit of a turning point in my pregnancy. Up until now, when people asked how I felt, my answers were always the same: “Great! Wonderful! Sometimes I even forget I’m pregnant!” But at this point, I’m really starting to feel it.
The third trimester exhaustion I kept hearing and reading about has kicked in, which means lots more “naps” after my morning workouts (and by naps I mean crawling back in bed for a couple of hours). It’s also getting progressively harder to make it through my work days, since they don’t usually end until 7 or 7:30 at night. Not to mention that sitting on a stool for long periods of times is becoming increasingly uncomfortable. But then I remember that I only have a little over 3 weeks of work left, and I can do anything for 3 weeks!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not all complaints over here. All things considered, I do still feel pretty good and have enough energy to tackle things around the house and in my office on most days. I even made a trip to St. Louis with my mom last weekend for my friend Vickie’s bridal shower, which was wonderful even if I couldn’t drink any of the wine :)
I’m really looking forward to these next few days, which include a doctor’s appointment (and ultrasound!), my third and final baby shower, and Mother’s Day. Week 35 is going to be a good one, even if I am a bit sleepier than usual :)
Week 33 – Featuring Baby Shower #2!
Week 33 was another eventful one. My best friend Katie flew home from NYC to host a baby shower for me, and it was so beautiful and perfect! Everything — from the food to the decorations to the gifts — were nautical themed; I was so impressed with her attention to detail.
I couldn’t get over how cute the table was decorated. And how adorable are the napkins and silverware, with the lifesaver ties? Katie also ordered napkins with the baby’s name and little anchors, and there are tons leftover…I think we’ll have a nautical themed first birthday party :)
The clothesline full of nautical baby clothes was thanks to Annette, Katie’s stepmom who did most of the actual decorating (since she lives here in town, as opposed to a plane ride away). And since both Katie and my mom ordered cookies — from the same person — we had tons of these cute sailboat and anchor treats for dessert.
My lovely neighbor Wendy was kind enough to take photos of me with most of the guests; here I am with my mom and with Katie. I was so grateful to her for the shower, and also to all the guests for the huge pile of amazing gifts I brought home.
I feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family who are showering us with baby items and love. I had so much fun going through everything this week, especially sorting all the cute, tiny clothes! One thing is for sure: washing them and organizing the dresser is making this all feel very, very real!