With spring less than two weeks away, it’s beginning to hit me that this baby boy will be here not long after. As I approach my third trimester of pregnancy, I thought I’d share my thoughts thus far on working as a music therapist while expecting (a ‘la Michelle Erfurt, who wrote the Pregnant MT blog series before having baby Eddie) in the form of the top questions I’m asked on a daily basis.
“How are you feeling?”
One of the many awesome things about my job is that I see LOTS of moms every day. They’ve all been in my shoes, so they know that pregnancy has its ups and downs. I get this question several times each day, and luckily, the answer is almost always “great!”. I have been super fortunate that this pregnancy has been relatively easy, especially in these last few months. Of course, I get pretty tired towards the end of the night (my last student is out the door at 7:30 pm) but other than that, I feel pretty fantastic on most days. Oh, and also the “you look great!” comments…those never get old :)
“Is the baby kicking right now?”
The baby is actually at his most still during my hours in the studio, so the answer to this question (posed quite often by my students) is usually no. However, I have noticed that every once in a while, I’ll get a kick or a jab during a song, which I usually will share afterwards with a curious kiddo. I tell them, “The baby must have really liked your singing, because he was dancing along!” and boy, do they get a kick out of that — bad pun intended.
“What’s your baby’s name going to be, Miss Rachel?”
I have two students in particular who are very curious about what we’ll be naming Baby Rambach. Each week, not only do they ask if I’ve picked out a name, but they also have plenty of suggestions for me. I have to say, they are much more creative than anything Zach and I have come up with! The truth is, we have narrowed down our list to a couple of names, but we don’t plan on sharing them until after the baby is born and we’ve made a definitive choice.
“Will I still see you after you have your baby?”
A number of parents have shared that their kiddos were worried I would no longer be their music therapist or teacher once the baby is born. And while I’ll definitely be taking a longer break than usual this summer (the baby is due on June 14th), I most certainly plan to return to work full-time by the end of August.
“Can I play with your baby when I come for music?”
Since my students see me here in my home studio, it’s only natural for them to assume that the baby will be around during their sessions and lessons. After all, most of them have seen my dog Sadie at one time or another. While we haven’t quite figured out our plans for child care during those couple of hours when the start of my workday and the end of my husband’s overlap, the baby most certainly will not be sitting in with my students (much to their dismay). However, I will probably have a meet and greet day this summer when my families can come over and see the baby.
While it’s a fun topic of conversation, pregnancy has not had a huge effect on my work as a music therapist and teacher. Yes, playing the guitar is getting a bit more awkward as my belly grows, and I run out of breath much more easily while singing, but if that’s the worst of it, I have it pretty good! It will be interesting to see where things stand when I’m further along…my spring sessions ends on May 31, at which point I’ll be 38 weeks pregnant. Here’s hoping that the baby waits until at least June 1st to make his appearance!
