The Post Party

Rhiannon and I sat down this week to chat about her twin pregnancy and plans for her postpartum. Her due date is fast approaching with lots of changes on the horizon. We talked about how she’s preparing herself, her home, her family, and the support team she has in place. And we also discuss what this means for the podcast.

Our guest this week is Parijat Deshpande. Her new book is Pregnancy Brain: A Mind-Body Approach to Stress Management During a High Risk Pregnancy. Parijat is here to discuss how our traumatic pregnancies and births and NICU stays can affect our postpartum period. Parijat is uniquely qualified to talk about this not only because of her professional experience, but because she had a very high risk pregnancy and long NICU stay so she speaks with compassion and first hand experience.

We have a group show this week! And it’s our first group show with us all face-to-face which was fun. Lori Lynn flew down from Arkansas and we were able to hang out and record a show. We decided to give ya’ll some behind the scenes info to help you better understand the podcast and then we interviewed ourselves by asking the same questions I ask moms all the time. So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and join us as we talk about sex, feeling special as a new mom, and of course, therapy.

Keriann MacElroy is a sleep consultant with Dream Factory Sleep Solutions and she was on episodes 16 and 17 discussing sleep and we did a bonus episode on sleep training as well. This past May she finished her certification in Infant Mental Health so today she’s back to talk about babies and their brains and what we as moms need to know. Also, Lori Lynn and I give a sneak peek into a project we're working on for all you Mamas. 

This week I’m chatting with Jenny Bradford. Jenny is a certified Yoga instructor and a certified Lagree instructor. She’s also the mom to three kids and her youngest is just 6 months. She is in the middle of sleep deprivation and infant food allergies and she’s on the podcast today to share what real life is like right now. 

This week Anna is chatting with Natasha Red. Natasha is the author of The Seasonal Meal Planner and the new book Hospitality in All Seasons, both of which come out on August 8th 2018. Natasha’s goal is to help moms streamline their meals and practice hospitality. Anna follows Natasha on social media and has been encouraged by her simple and realistic approach to meals and meal planning and we think you will be encouraged as well.  

This week Anna, Rhiannon, and Lori Lynn are chatting about visitors. Maybe you loved holding court as the new mom or maybe the thought of visitors makes you groan. We’ve been there too. We all are happy to show off our precious little ones, but it can be difficult to navigate expectations, boundaries, and well intentioned but frustrating visitors.  So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and join us as we talk about the helpful meals and the unhelpful question askers.

This week I am chatting with Jen McLellan about her postpartum experience. Jen is the founder of Plus Size Birth and the host of Plus Mommy, a podcast about being a plus size mom. She has been a lifeline to many plus size moms who are marginalized and looked down upon by our culture, and especially their medical care providers. She is here to talk about how her own experience empowered her to reach out and help other moms.

Out guest is on the podcast today to share what it was like to survive and leave an abusive marriage while also taking care of two young children. We’ve decided to leave out most of the specific details of the abuse and divorce for the sake of the other people involved, but Anna personally walked with our guest through this season of her life and we are so glad she’s open to share what she has learned.

As our regular listeners know, we recently added a second co-host to our team and today is our very first group episode with all three of us! Rhiannon, Lori Lynn and I sat down to chat about accepting help during the postpartum months.  So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and join us as we talk about vulnerability, boundaries, and some of the funny little things we’ve learned about communicating with our husbands. 

In today’s episode I’m chatting with Rachel Armstrong, a busy mom to four young boys. Rachel opened up about her differing postpartum experiences and breastfeeding struggles.  So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and join us as Rachel and I chat about euphoric newborn days, the double whammy of postpartum depression and anxiety, and the decision Rachel made with her fourth that she doesn’t regret at all. 

Today I’m chatting with Jen Hoffman of Healthy Moving. Jen is a certified personal trainer-restorative exercise specialist (CPT-RES) and a registered yoga teacher (eRYT-500). She is with us to talk about body truths that we can learn first through movement that translate to motherhood. 

Today I’m joined by a special person and I will explain that at the beginning of the show. And our conversation is all about having childless friends after we’ve become parents. It can be challenging to navigate the postpartum months when you have friends who have not experienced parenthood.  So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and join us as we chat about expectations, free babysitters (or maybe not), and talking about the elephant in the room. 

On today’s episode I’m chatting with Supna Shah, the founder of We Go Kids and the mom of triplets. While Supna’s postpartum experience was challenging, she has turned all life has given her into wisdom that she happily shares with other parents needing encouragement. You definitely do not need to be a mother of multiples to appreciate all that Supna has to share. 

On today’s episode I’m chatting with a doula. Lori Lynn Tucker is a labor and postpartum doula  and she also does placenta encapsulation. Her doula practice is in Northwest Arkansas. Lori Lynn is a delight to chat with and she shares what it is a postpartum doula does for new moms as well as what led her to be a doula in the first place.