Holiday Boundaries, Big Milestones & What I’m Carrying Into 2026
Birth With Power
Dr. Nicole C. Rankins
4.8 • 650 Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2025
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is your invitation for a softer season, a clearer mind, or just a moment to breathe before the year ends. It will feel like a nice warm exhale.
In this reflective end-of-year episode, I’m sharing the milestones, challenges, and growth that shaped my 2025 — from sending my NICU graduate to college, to navigating perimenopause, to choosing rest over hustle. I’m also walking you through the non-negotiable holiday boundaries that matter most during pregnancy and postpartum, and how to give yourself permission to honor what you need this season.
You’ll learn:
– Why rest is a necessary part of preparing for birth, postpartum, and motherhood
– How I’m protecting my peace during the holidays — and how you can too
– Simple, clear scripts for setting boundaries with family and visitors
– What my family milestones taught me about growth, identity, and motherhood
– Why I’m stepping back for the remainder of December (and how you can build your own pause)
Resources Mentioned:
Instagram: @drnicolerankins
Free Resources to Help You Birth With Power
Get the support, clarity, and confidence you deserve. Download any of my free tools designed to help you prepare for a calmer, confident, and more empowered hospital birth:
• Hospital Tour Scorecard — Know exactly what to look for so you can choose the right hospital
• How to Tell If Your OB Is Right for You — Ask the right questions and spot red flags early
• Labor Pain Management Playbook — Learn the tools and strategies I teach my own patients
Free Resources to Help You Birth With Power
Get the support, clarity, and confidence you deserve. Download any of my free tools designed to help you prepare for a calmer, confident, and more empowered hospital birth:
• Hospital Tour Scorecard — Know exactly what to look for so you can choose the right hospital
• How to Tell If Your OB Is Right for You — Ask the right questions and spot red flags early
• Labor Pain Management Playbook — Learn the tools and strategies I teach my own patients
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The holidays are creeping up fast. And if your gift list still has some blank spaces, |
| 0:09.3 | I've got you. Uncommon goods makes holiday shopping stress-free and joyful with thousands of |
| 0:15.3 | one-of-a-kind gifts you can't find anywhere else. These aren't generic grab-and-go presents. They're |
| 0:19.7 | meaningful, personal, and they feel intentional, not last minute. One of my favorites this year is a tea advent |
| 0:27.2 | calendar. My daughter's a big tea drinker, and this is the kind of gift that a tea drinker |
| 0:32.1 | would love because it feels like you really thought of them. Uncommon goods curates pieces |
| 0:37.4 | that are high quality, unique, |
| 0:39.3 | and often handmade, and there's truly something for everyone, your partner, your best friend, |
| 0:44.0 | the foodie, the book lover, they've got it. Plus, every time you shop with uncommon goods, |
| 0:50.4 | they donate a dollar to a nonprofit partner you choose. They've already given over 3.1 million. |
| 0:57.8 | That's the kind of impact I can get behind. So don't wait. Make this holiday the year you give |
| 1:03.1 | something truly unforgettable to get 15% off your next gift. Go to Uncommonogoods.com slash Dr. Nicole. |
| 1:10.2 | That's Uncommonogoods.com slash Dr. Nicole for 15% off. |
| 1:15.6 | Don't miss out on this limited time offer. Uncommon goods, we're all out of the ordinary. |
| 1:24.7 | As we close out the year, I'm sharing some honest reflections, big life moments, and how I'm |
| 1:31.1 | choosing to rest and reset before 2026. And I'm also going to talk about protecting your peace |
| 1:37.2 | during the holidays, whether that means setting boundaries or even starting new traditions that |
| 1:43.0 | light you up. This episode is all about |
| 1:45.7 | tuning into what you need and giving yourself permission to honor that. |
| 1:55.0 | Welcome to the Birth with Power podcast where knowledge is power and power transforms birth. |
| 2:02.5 | I'm Dr. Nicole Calloway Rankin's mom of two and practicing board certified OBGYN with over 20 |
| 2:08.1 | years of experience and nearly 2,000 births attended. |
... |
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