Prairie Doulabar & Wellness at The Hive YXE

11/23/2025

What was one pregnancy symptom NOBODY warned you about!? 🧐 🫶

11/19/2025

PCOS isn’t “just irregular periods.” It’s a whole body condition that affects your hormones, metabolism, mood, and daily life and so many people suffering through it are told it’s “normal.”

People think PCOS is just about cycle issues or difficulty getting pregnant.
But what they don’t see is:

• The mood swings that hit without warning
• The deep fatigue that makes even simple tasks feel impossible
• The acne that feels like a throwback to high school
• The weight changes that don’t match your effort
• The hair that grows where you don’t want it, and disappears where you do
• The bloating, cravings, and inflammation that seem to flare out of nowhere
• The way insulin resistance can make you feel “stuck” inside your own body
• The mental load of being gaslit by your own hormones

PCOS isn’t “just a hormone problem.”
It’s a daily negotiation with your body — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

And here’s the science behind it, broken down:

👉 PCOS is a hormonal + metabolic syndrome.
Your body may make higher levels of androgens (male-type hormones), which mess with ovulation, skin, hair, and mood.

👉 Many people with PCOS struggle with insulin resistance.
This can increase cravings, cause weight to stick, and make energy crash hard — even when you’re doing “everything right.”

👉 Cycles can be long, missing, or unpredictable.
Not ovulating regularly means fertility can be impacted, but it doesn’t mean pregnancy is impossible.

👉 PCOS affects mental health too.
Anxiety, depression, and overwhelm are more common — not because you’re weak, but because hormones, inflammation, and chronic stress all collide.

👉 PCOS affects 1 in 10 women.
It isn’t rare.
It’s just overlooked.
Minimized.
Misunderstood.

For every person sitting in a waiting room being told to “just lose weight,” there’s someone else crying in their car wondering if their body will ever regulate.
For every person experiencing painful acne, infertility fear, or spiraling fatigue, there’s a clinician brushing it off like it’s no big deal.

And that silence?
That dismissal?
That’s what hurts the most.

So no — we’re not going to stop talking about PCOS.
We’re not going to stop bringing awareness to something that affects millions of women, teens, and even people who haven’t yet been diagnosed.

Because awareness leads to support.
Support leads to proper treatment.
And proper treatment leads to a life where you finally feel like your body and your hope are on the same team again.

To anyone silently battling PCOS:
Your symptoms are real.
Your frustration is valid.
And you deserve care that listens to you, believes you, and helps you make a plan that actually works for your body.

💛 You’re not broken.
💛 You’re not alone.
💛 And your voice matters.

11/18/2025

👀 🫶 🐝

11/18/2025

No one really prepares you for the fear that comes with an emergency C-section.

Not the kind you slowly talk through… but the kind where one minute everything is calm, and the next your room fills with nurses, doctors, and urgency.

The kind where you go from “We’re okay” to being rushed down the hallway before you can fully process what’s happening.

The kind where you don’t remember meeting your baby for the first time because you were under anesthesia, because there was no time to spare.

The kind where you look your provider in the eyes and say, “Do whatever you have to do. Just keep my baby safe.”

The kind where your partner is left alone in a quiet room, terrified, waiting for someone to tell them you’re both okay.

The kind you can’t speak about without your throat tightening, because it still lives in your body.

Emergency C-sections are real.
They can feel traumatic and life altering.
And they deserve to be acknowledged, honoured, and processed with support.

At The Hive YXE, we talk about all versions of birth — even the unplanned, unpredictable ones.
Birth planning isn’t about controlling every detail…
it’s about creating space for your voice, preparing for possibilities, and making sure you feel informed even when things shift fast.

If you want to explore emergency scenarios, options, and ways to prepare while still feeling empowered , let’s sit down together and build a plan that supports you through every outcome. 🐝🫶

11/18/2025

These two sweet Christmas boys, decided they were ready for this big world! 🫶

The NICU can feel like a big, overwhelming word… but behind those doors is a team of absolute superheroes. Neonatal nurses, respiratory therapists, neonatologists, lactation consultants, and support staff who live and breathe caring for the tiniest humans on earth. They don’t just take care of babies, they take care of families.

The NICU doesn’t have to be scary.
It can be a place of:
✨ Reassurance — monitors tell the team exactly what baby needs.
✨ Support — parents aren’t pushed aside, they’re invited in.
✨ Connection — skin-to-skin, soothing touches, whispered lullabies.
✨ Progress — every gram gained, every tube removed, every little breath… it’s a step forward.

These babies are fighters.
These parents are warriors.
And the NICU team? truly the most compassionate, skilled group cheering right alongside you.

And as your doula, I’m right there supporting you too — explaining what you’re seeing, holding space for your emotions, and reminding you that you are still your baby’s safe place, even when things look different than you expected.

The NICU is full of hope and you’re never alone in it. 🫶

11/18/2025

🌼Pressed Flower Workshop for Loss Families

Join us for a peaceful afternoon of crafting as we create with pressed flowers to honor your baby or little one gone too soon.

This free gathering is for loss families, offering space to remember, connect, and create something meaningful.

If you have handprints or footprints, we invite you to bring a photocopy to incorporate—or simply create something uniquely meaningful to you.

Space is limited and our last event filled quickly, so please register to save your seat. We look forward to holding this space with you. 🤍

https://www.emptyarmspls.com/pressedflowers

11/17/2025

The first trimester… otherwise known as “why am I like this?” season. 🤢✨

Did you know the placenta becomes the hormone headquarters of your entire pregnancy?
We’re talking progesterone, estrogen, hCG, relaxin, placental lactogen — a level of hormone production your regular endocrine system would never sign up for.

But here’s the coolest part most people don’t know:
💡 The placenta actually begins from dad’s DNA.
Yup! The trophoblast cells that become the placenta come from the s***m, meaning your partner literally contributes to the organ that’s now turning you into a hormonal soup.

So when you’re nauseous, exhausted, crying because the drive thru forgot your dipping sauce, or suddenly convinced that carpet feels emotional…
You’re not being “extra.”
You’re not overreacting.

Your body is working around the clock…
Growing a human AND running a hormone factory built from both of you.

Give yourself grace, hydrate, and remember:
If you’re falling apart in trimester one… that’s just the placenta doing its job a little too well. 🤍

11/17/2025

Birth isn’t a performance to perfect.

It’s not a badge of honour to earn if you did it the ‘right’ way.

And it’s definitely never a contest for who did it the “best.”

Your birth is your story. Unique, valid, and deserving of full support no matter what it looks like.

Hospital room or cozy home birth.
Birth centre or OR.
Epidural, unmedicated, induced, planned C-section, VBAC, high-risk, low-risk, somewhere in between…
Every path is real. Every path is worthy. Every path deserves respect and support!

I walk with families through all of it, the quiet moments, the intense ones, the monitored ones, the unexpected pivots — because sometimes intervention isn’t optional, it’s what keeps you and your baby safe. And there is nothing to apologize for in that.

If you’re looking for support that’s shame free, compassionate, steady, and rooted in real life birth work…

Hi! Im Melissa, your local SK doula at The Hive YXE & you’ve landed exactly where you need to be. 🫶 🐝

11/14/2025

See you soon!!!

11/14/2025

Today & tomorrow!

11/12/2025

Let’s talk about what postpartum care can look like for you. 🫶

11/12/2025