Today, I'm here with Kali Dayton. Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP, is a critical care nurse practitioner, Host of the Walking Home From The ICU and Walking You Through The ICU podcasts, and critical care outcomes consultant. She is dedicated to creating Awake and Walking ICUs by ensuring ICU sedation and mobility practices are aligned with current research. She works with ICU teams internationally to transform patient outcomes through early mobility and management of delirium in the ICU.

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Being in the midst of suffering, heartbreak, and tragedy can be painstakingly lonely and the most desperate time of your life. You can be left questioning God, confused as to why He isn’t answering your prayers, and even downright angry with Him. 

Beth Mull, from our Raleigh, North Carolina community, experienced all of these emotions as she walked through the unraveling of her marriage and the terminal diagnosis of her baby daughter. But, as Beth recalls through her story, it was in those feelings of helplessness that she can clearly see the Father’s persistent pursuit of her heart through His unconditional love and redemptive power as He led her to His unique purpose for her life. 

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Love Life

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Join ⁠Atara and I for ⁠#AskAtara! This month’s question: “How to practically prepare for a NICU stay if you know you’ll have a premie?” This is a tender topic—tune in to hear our thoughts on how to prepare for a sensitive time. Tune in to hear more!

 Today I'm joined by Ashley Byram. Ashley currently lives in Homewood, Alabama, and this past August, she and her husband celebrated 20 years of marriage. They have three children, two biological boys, and one little girl who they adopted through foster care. Her faith is a foundation of her life and she's very involved with her church and her children love sports, and her husband is a builder while she is a realtor. So he builds it. She sells it.

**Extra Trigger Warning for today's episode. Topics of kidnapping, murder, and suicide come up in mine and Ashley's conversation today.**

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This week’s podcast episode is one I’ve avoided for a long time. 

Not because it wasn’t important. Not because I hadn’t thought about it. But because on some level, I think I’ve been avoiding survivor’s guilt altogether. 

Don’t get me wrong—I’ve absolutely wrestled with the question: Why did I survive, and Dez didn’t? 

If you’re not familiar with Dez’s story, she was a fellow mom who lived about an hour from me. Less than a year after my own amniotic fluid embolism, Dez experienced the same rare birth complication… and tragically, she didn’t survive. 

It shook me. 

For years, that tension sat quietly in my soul—unspoken, unresolved, but always present. Survivor’s guilt has layers. It’s complex. And yet, I know I’m not alone in this. 

So this week, I’m finally talking about it. Because the time is now. Because I want to serve this community honestly. And because I know for certain, I’m not the only one carrying this kind of grief with gratitude. 

In the episode, I explore what survivor’s guilt can feel like as a believer—how we reconcile the pain with the truth that God does not make mistakes. I pray it encourages your heart, wherever you are on the healing journey. 

Tune in to hear more. You are not alone.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book...” (Psalm 139:16)

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Dr Brad Montage is a veteran (4 decade) Functional Medicine doctor who has helped women through all phases of life. From infertility, through pregnancy, delivery, postpartum, nursing, and all stages of motherhood. He has delivered his own children and helped many moms through all stages of crisis and need. 

He is a master at prevention, helping many moms avoid the pitfalls and traps that rob them of the joys of healthy deliveries, healthy recoveries, and healthy babies.

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 Today I'm joined by Andrea  Calvaneso. Andrea was born and raised in a suburb of Detroit. She's been married for almost 15 years and has four kiddos. She's passionate about family and her faith. Her faith is the very foundation of everything she does. When she married her husband, she converted to Catholicism, and more recently to the Lutheran Church. She's a huge Placenta Accreta advocate and hopes to grow her advocacy journey in her free time. Andrea loves to travel and experience life with her kids. 

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  Today Gina DiMarco joins me. She is a mom of five boys and is happily married to her best friend, Chris. She's a business consultant specializing in non-profit fundraising and communication. She is passionate about sharing her genuine lived experiences as she believes that is the best way to not only cut through the polished facade of social media, but also remind others that they aren't alone in feeling the range of emotions that come with living as imperfect creatures in an imperfect world.

⁠⁠Trauma Tribe⁠

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Today's guest is Dr. Yaya Ren. Dr. Ren is a medical and cultural anthropologist. She's passionate about bringing the science of human interactions to create mobile technology solutions that improve quality of life and health outcomes for preemies and their families. She has conducted extensive field work, capturing the social, emotional, and health disparity journeys of NICU families in the US and Taiwan, focusing on. Bringing communication gaps between medical teams and families.  Preemie + You combines her industry expertise, bridging online and offline social interactions, with her social science expertise in NICU medicine. 

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 In this week's episode, I am joined by Cristina P. Simmons. She is a speaker, author, and trauma-informed wellness coach whose path to motherhood has been marked by unimaginable loss and deep resilience. After losing three biological children (Kaelynn, Kadyn & DJ) due to a rare genetic syndrome, Cristina and her husband were blessed to adopt three incredible children—twin girls (Dani & Dori) born on Christmas Day and a son (Juddsen) born just months after their final loss. Each child brought light into the darkness, though the road was anything but easy. Her daughters were exposed to substances in the womb, and her son was later diagnosed on the autism spectrum. 

While the journey has been filled with countless challenges, it has also been one of deep love, transformation, and faith. Cristina now uses her lived experiences to guide other women through grief, healing, and growth. Through her holistic approach that combines mindset, movement, and spiritual connection. She helps women break free from survival mode and step into strength, clarity, and confidence. Her story is a testament to perseverance, purpose, and the power of choosing joy, even after trauma.

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