ABCs of Matrescence

In this episode, Mackenzie and Emma have an open discussion on the topic of miscarriage. 1 in 4 women experience a miscarriage and even though it's common it's still rarely talked about.

In this episode, the ladies chat through why many women wait to announce pregnancies until 12 weeks. The societal expectation and discomfort around hearing about pregnancy loss. Plus, how each co-host personally handled sharing their pregnancy news.

Next, Emma shares her personal missed miscarriage story with the hope that other women who have gone through similar, know they aren't alone. She also shares the reality of the physical aspects of miscarriage that she knew nothing about. Plus, the emotional fears heading into her next pregnancy after loss.

The ladies wrap up the episode by sharing ways people can support a woman going through a miscarriage. What you can say to be helpful and what might be well-intended but inappropriate to share. Whether you have experienced a miscarriage or know someone who has, this episode sheds light on the topic in order to make it less taboo.

As always, thanks for listening! You can find us on IG @abcsofmatrescence.com or www.abcsofmatrescence.com.

In this episode, Emma and Mackenize are excited to welcome back their go-to sleep consultant, Arielle Greenleaf, of Expect to Sleep Again and Restfully Sleep. The ladies had the honor of interviewing Arielle in episode 24, where they chatted about all things baby sleep.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/baby-sleep-q-arielle-greenleaf-expect-to-sleep-again/id1500358070?i=1000488671233

In this episode, Emma and Arielle dive into a listener Q&A to troubleshoot common sleep challenges that occur during the toddler stage of development. This is a must-listen episode for anyone in depths of or nearing the toddler age of parenthood.

Topics include:

- Average # of hours of nighttime sleep that a toddler needs?

-Toddler napping challenges:

*Common age to drop naps?

*How to handle skipped napped?

*When should you cap naps to not impact nighttime sleep?

- What age should you move a toddler out of the crib? What are the signs and do we really have to???? ;)

- How to handle the separation anxiety that can occur during the toddler age?

-How to work through a toddler using delay tactics to avoid bedtime?

- Nightmares and night terrors? Are they a thing and anything parents can do to help resettle an upset toddler?

- What to do when a kiddo wakes up saying they are hungry and/or thirsty? What to look at and how to tackle?

- Any tips to keep sleep intact during potty training?

- Early morning wakings:

*Toddler getting out of bed and wandering?

*Are “OK to wake up” clocks helpful?

*Should you let them cry a little and hope they resettle?

*Adjust naps accordingly?

- Do you frequently see sleep regressions when baby #2 comes home?

- How soon can you put baby #2 in the room with the toddler?

- What is the way to deal with room sharing when baby #2 arrives?

- How to balance new baby crying/sleep training etc while not waking up your toddler?

You can Arielle and her sleep consultant team on IG @expecttosleepagain and www.expecttosleep.com. As always, you can find Mackenzie and Emma on IG @abcsofmatrescence. Thanks for listening!

Mackenzie and Emma celebrate the start of the fall season with a conversation around family traditions. The co-host kick off the episode with a laughter-filled, fall-themed this or that.

Next up, the ladies dive into a quick discussion on navigating the holidays when merging two families with their own traditions. Not to mention, what happens when a baby arrives and each family wants to enjoy the holiday time with the new arrival.

Finally, the co-hosts share what family traditions matter most to them. Some of which they are excited to re-create a similar experience based on their own childhoods. Others being new ways to make memories with their husbands and toddlers.

As always, thanks for listening! You can find Mackenzie and Emma on IG @abcsofmatrescence and at www.abcsofmatrescence.com.

Mackenzie and Emma are back to chat all about navigating partnership in parenthood. Whether you are sharing parental duties within a marriage, partnership, or even family dynamic. The shifts to co-parenting is a challenge.

The ladies open up about their marriages during the early days as first-time mamas. Including lessons learned and practical tips for pregnant moms heading into the fourth trimester.

Topics Include:

- What were the expectations prior to becoming pregnant about the role their husbands would have?

- What role did they have during pregnancy? - What would they do differently for baby number two?

- The role their spouses played during birth and immediately after bringing baby home.

- The importance of being intentional about how they can help in the first few months and how they both somewhat dropped the ball and took on more of an “I can do it all” approach.

- Practical tips for ways to get the partner involved during those first few weeks to support mom and baby.

- Why it’s so important to support bonding between partner and baby from the beginning, especially in circumstances where mom is exclusively breast-feeding

- How they have currently found a rhythm in communicating with their partners.

As always, thanks for listening. If you have a chance, please take the time to leave us a rating and review. You can find us on IG @abcsofmatrescence or at www.abcsofmatrescence.com.

Mackenzie had the honor of interviewing author and memoirist Nefertiti Austin, whose work focuses on amplifying diverse voices in motherhood.

Her memoir, Motherhood So White, is an Amazon bestseller that offers a profound look into her childhood and upbringing, including her own Black adoption. Additionally, Motherhood So White dives deep into Nefertiti’s adoption of her two Black children as a single mother. Her powerful perspective informs and educates her readers while offering them an intimate look at her unique journey, as well as giving voice to the motherhood experience of Black mothers in a broader sense.

Mackenzie and Nefertiti chat through a variety of topics, including:

- Her motivation for writing her best selling book. (linked below)

- Her journey into adoption and what advice she would give to a parent seeking adoption to start a family.

- The concept of showing weakness as a mother and why it does not serve us as women and mothers.

- The importance of community in motherhood.

- How we as white mothers, can be better allies to women of color.

- Her favorite parts of being a mother.

- What is next in her professional journey.

Please check out these links to sites mentioned in the podcast:

- NYT Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/parenting/black-families-children-kin-grandparents.html

- Find her book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Motherhood-So-White-Parenting-America/dp/1684574110

You can find Nefertiti Austin online at https://nefertitiaustin.com/ and on social media @nefertitiaustin.

As always, thanks for listening! You can find us online at www.abcsofmatrescence.com and on IG @abcsofmatrescence.

Mackenzie and Emma delve into the topic of career and motherhood. This is a hot button topic, often with an unnecessary divide between stay at home mothers and full-time working mamas. Please note: Mackenzie and Emma are fully on team "do what makes you happy". Drop the judgement or mom guilt and find what is right for your family.

These co-hosts each had clear expectations going into pregnancy and the postpartum period as too what career moves they would make. Enter baby and it's amazing how plans go out the window.

Episode Topics Include:

- What did we think would happen postpartum?

- What happened (our decisions and why)?

- What we miss most/what is the hardest about staying home mainly/how these ebb and flow?

- What we are currently doing career-wise (including continuing education/certifications)?

- What helps with keeping a positive/forward focused mindset?

- What do we see for the future?

As always, thanks for listening. If you have a moment, please leave us a rating and review. You can find us on IG @abcsofmatrescence!

Welcome to Season 2! Mackenzie and Emma are back with a fun catch up episode to kickoff a new season of @abcsofmatrescence.

This episode begins with an introduction for our new listeners. Mackenzie and Emma share about themselves, their families, where they live, how they met, and what made them start the podcast.

Next up, a little life lately catch-up conversation.

- COVID updates

- Daycare/school decisions

- Fall travel fails

In this episode, our co-hosts also recapped some of their favorite and must-listen episodes from season one:

- They discuss the topic of hypothalamic amenorrhea in episode 4, where Mackenzie and Emma share their personal journeys.

They were also honored to have Dr. Rinaldi from No Period Now What share her HA expertise.

- Episode 7 was a great episode with Tina Haupert from @carrotsncake on ulcerative colitis, life on social, and motherhood.

- In season 1, Mackenzie and Emma tackle breastfeeding with IBCLC Alisha Peterson in episode 10. While also sharing their breastfeeding experiences in episode 9.

- A popular topic of body image and fueling women’s heath was covered in episode 12 with Lindsey Lusson of @food.freedom.fertility. They also dived into HA body image with Jess Dalliday from @thehealthysweetpotato in episode 18. Mackenzie and Emma also share their struggles and victories with body image in episode 18.

- We took a deep dive into Matrescence with Clémentine Sarlat (@clemsarlat) in episode 14 from the podcast @lamatrescence.

- We were honored to have amazing women open up about their motherhood experienced, starting with @Safia_Tellal chatting motherhood around the world in episode 19. LaWann Moses (@morethanamotherpodcast) shared all about being more than a mother, black motherhood, and much more in episode 21.

- The girls chat their own baby sleep woes and win in episode 23. They followed up that episode by having sleep expert Arielle Greenleaf (@expecttosleepbetter) on for a listener q&a in episode 24.

Finally, the girls wrap up this welcome back episode with a little fun what we are loving lately.

Foodie Finds:

- Run Fast Eat Slow Cookbook by Shalane Flanagan

- The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

Self Care:

- @Cocokind masks

- The Original Kessa Hamman Scrubbing Glove

Entertainment:

- (Un)Well on Netflix

- Book Club of the Month (@BOTM)

Clothes for the boys:

- Mini Boden + Gap

- Cat & jack from Target + Burt’s bees pj’s

Toys/Entertainment:

- Green toys truck/helicopter + Hape puzzles

- Melissa and Doug

As always, thanks so much for listening. If you have a moment, please leave us a rating and review. It truly helps our community grow. You can find us online at www.abcsofmatrescence.com or on IG @abcsofmatrescence.

The cat's out of the bag. Mackenzie and family had COVID! Thankfully, they all have (mostly) made a full recovery and she was kind enough to share their story. Along with the normal laughs you'd expect from these co-hosts.

In this episode, Mackenzie shares a rundown of their experience. Including:

- How they assume they got it

- First signs and symptoms

- Getting tested

- The severity of symptoms and timeline of how they progressed and regressed

- How they are feeling now

Next, Mackenzie shares the biggest challenges for her family during this time:

- AKA taking care of a toddler!!

- Basic cooking/cleaning doesn't stop

- The physical symptoms, aka sick AF

- The mental worry and depression

What advice would they give to other families trying to get through COVID:

- Isolate from the positive family member, if you can, to prevent a sick household

- Cancel plans if you have any symptoms or direct exposure.

- Backtrack to let those you've been in contact with know your situation

- Find a quick test option & chat with PCP

- Take care of yourself!! Hydrate, eat, order in and rest as much as possible.

- Get a PulseOx to monitor breathing

- Stay mentally strong!!

Next up, Mackenzie shares what's changed for her family post-COVID:

- Being more fearful of older family members being exposed

- Frustration with the testing process. Especially for frontline workers and their families

- Misinformation around how the virus is spread and ways to prevent

- A dose of respect for how serious this can before people of all ages

Finally, Mackenzie shares her takeaways:

- Thank your frontline workers!!

- Wear a dang mask. Seriously.

- Support others who might go through this or another illness. It's really hard!

As always, thanks for listening. You can find us on IG @abcsofmatrescence and www.abcsofmatrescence.com.

Whoever said, "sleep like a baby", has obviously never had a baby! Baby sleep is a hot topic in the mom world for good reason. It can often feel like a puzzle that is missing several pieces. Long nights, short naps, and a tired mom and baby can lead to total exhaustion. That is exactly why we are so stoked to have had the honor to interview sleep expert and owner of Expect to Sleep Again, Arielle Greenleaf.

After struggling with her own daughter's sleep, Arielle felt inspired to support families through the process of finding better sleep for all. In this interview, we first tackle the controversial topic of "sleep training", which we both agreed is a terrible phrase for helping baby learn to sleep independently. Next up, a Q&A based on your questions!

We tackle:

- Help! My 2 week old won’t nap anywhere but on me, normal? Any gentle ways to ease towards naps in the bassinet?

- What is “sleeping through the night” and how can the age babies begin to do so vary?

- Dream feeds, yay or nay?

- Sleep props, what to use, skip, and when to ditch:

Doc a tot

Merlin

Paci game

White noise

Snoo?

- Myth busting sleep regressions, what are they, what ages are most common and how can you handle while staying sane?

- 4-6 month old baby only naps 31 minutes, why?? How can we lengthen short naps?

- How to navigate a baby's sleep once they start daycare if it’s not your ideal schedule?

- What are signs for when to drop a nap and tips during the transitions? Specifically the 2-1 transition.

- 6+ month old babies are still waking up to nurse frequently overnight, habit vs hunger?

- Teething and sleep, what’s the deal?

- Early morning wakings, what to troubleshoot?

You can find Arielle and her knowledgable team of sleep coaches on IG @expecttosleepagain and on her website, www.expecttosleepagain.com.

As always, you can find us on IG @abcsofmatrescence.com and www.abcsofmatrescence.com. Thanks for listening! If you have a moment, please leave us a 5-star rating and review. It helps to share our community with others.

Mackenzie and Emma are chatting one of their most requested topics to date. Baby sleep!!

For new parents, baby sleep can feel like a constantly moving jigsaw puzzle that is missing a crucial piece. Late-night googling of the best swaddles to buy, regressions, "training", awake windows, teething, and all the other causes of sleep disruption can be exhausting. As if running low on sleep isn't exhausting enough?

Mackenzie and Emma are here to share their personal experiences in navigating the first year + of baby sleep. Every baby is different and what works for one family, might not feel right for another. As always, these co-hosts have an open and judgment-free conversation about what they found to be most helpful in getting better sleep for their kiddos.

Topics Include:

- The newborn stage: co-sleeping, bassinets, white noise, pacifiers, doc-a-tots, swaddles, and all the other props we used (or didn't) to get some Zzz's.

- Sleep regressions: when, why, and how we survived.

- The advice we received from others: what we kept, ditched, and wish people would keep to themselves.

- What we worked, what didn't, and what we would do differently.

Resources Mentioned:

- Taking Cara Babies (@takingcarababies & www.takingcarababies.com)

- The Ollie Swaddle (www.theollieworld.com)

- Halo Swaddle (www.halosleep.com)

- Hatch White Noise

- Arielle (@expecttosleepagain & www.expecttosleepagain.com

As always, thanks for listening! You can find us at www.abcsofmatrescence.com or on IG @abcsofmatrescence.