Savannah Becerril is the Assistant Program Director of the Strong Mamas, Thriving Babies program for our nonprofit, YANA.  She has done a lot in the marketing world before coming to YANA including social media, websites and small business expansion.  She was a teen mom at the age of 18, is currently a foster mom to a 16 year old, a mom to a 13 year old and a 6 year old. She has so many different ages and personalities in her house that her life is chaotic on a daily basis! Her biggest challenge of being a teen mom was building a mama village. Her village has come but it took some time. Being a single, teen mom was so difficult but didn’t think she needed the help. As she grew in her motherhood journey, she was really lucky to marry into a family who truly stepped up and became an amazing mother-in-law, giving her the support she didn’t even know she needed.  She has been a mom for 18 years and finding the joy in motherhood isn’t always easy to find but all the small moments of being a present parent.  Her worst mama moment was when her youngest son, who was 11 months old was in the school when an active shooter was shooting up the school. Her son is the youngest child on record of being in a school shooting.  This is NOT something you want to be known as and the unknown time when she didn’t know where her son was or if he was safe, was the worst day of her life. She wishes she would have known that teenagers are really tough and maybe been a little more prepared even if she doesn’t know what that means. Parenting in 2024 is not for the weak at heart. 

Kalissa Braga is the Regional Program Coordinator for the Strong Mamas, Thriving Babies program through our nonprofit, YANA.  She has quite a birthing story with her 3 babies. She was diagnosed with PCOS as a teenager so she knew getting pregnant was going to be a struggle so they started with Clomid to get the process started and sure enough, she was able to get pregnant after the second round! She struggled with breastfeeding and had no support nor did she know what she was doing.  She thought pumping and feeding would be such a great way to feed her new baby but boy did she realize that wasn’t easier! She found out she was spontaneously pregnant 18 months later but lost that baby. After lots of fertility treatments and IUI’s and after 9 rounds of IUI’s, she finally found out she was pregnant, right before they were going to start IVF! They moved from Iowa to Colorado with her mom and dad, having family close by for the first time in her life! She was so excited to have a 2 ½ year old and about to give birth to number 2, was helping her mom start a business, moved to another state and her water broke! The birthing center she was supposed to deliver at didn’t have the capabilities she needed so off to the hospital they went (NOT the plan!). Incompetent medical providers made it quite the story but she eventually had her second baby but she wasn’t crying and it was a traumatic situation from start to finish. They started the fertility process again quickly, including IUI’s and Progesterone shots. After 5 IUI’s and were about to start IVF treatments when she finally got pregnant…AGAIN on the last IUI!  She was almost rushed into emergency surgery to stop the hemorrhaging that happened because of a “piece of placenta that was left.”  She is blessed to have her 3 but was told she had to stop having babies because of her inability to stop bleeding.  This was heartbreaking and sad for her but at the age of 32 she had to have a hysterectomy.  Her story hopefully will encourage you that it CAN happen for you, even when you think you might not. 

Jessica Jamison is a therapist and personal trainer in the eating disorder and body image space. She found herself there because of her own journey. When she couldn’t get pregnant, she needed to find ways to do things differently. She specializes in women who need help finding themselves. When she finally decided to have kids, it took her over 2 years to get pregnant with her first but it took years for her to slow down and take care of herself with love and respect for her own body. The pressure of new moms to “bounce back” and get back to their pre pregnancy weight is unrealistic and ridiculous.  She feels like she adjusted to her first baby really well. It took over 2 years so she seemed to “have it together” but after the second baby, she realized she was NOT ready for that. Her kiddos didn’t get along from the beginning and that was hard on her mama heart. She had to be physically in between the 2 kids because she was concerned for the safety of the baby because her son was NOT happy about having another child in the mix.  Sibling rivalry is a REAL thing and can derail a whole family and the dynamics in the household. She has had a lot of support from her parents as a mama and has childcare by her parents! She is super lucky to have them available to her. Her worst mama moment came with her first and only panic attack due to an irrational fear of something happening to her daughter. She had a miscarriage before giving birth to her daughter and she believes the fact that she didn’t truly process the grief of her loss was a catalyst to her panic attack. She wishes she would have known how much she would change. Her beliefs, values, and priorities have all shifted.  You genuinely change when you become a mom. That’s NORMAL and ok. You can find Jessica at Revolutionhc.com  Her Facebook group is called dumbbells and donuts and is specifically for women struggling with food, fitness and body image.  Check it out.

Nicole Majik was a chemist over 16 years but almost died of mercury poisoning. She has had a business for almost 17 years to help people overcome their limiteding beliefs and step into their authentic selves. She has a genetic mutation (that she didn’t know she had) that doesn't allow her body to metabolise heavy metals and the exposure to them in her job created a catastrophic situation where she couldn’t even speak! She was in chronic pain and it took 18 months to get the metals out of her body and cost thousands of dollars!  She had to diagnose herself and figure it out for herself. She is now healthy, happy and doing well but it was something she doesn’t wish on her worst enemy. She is a mom of 4 and started having kiddos at 24.  She is a mom to a 25, 22, 19 and 15 year old. She was pregnant with her first baby and the doctors told her that the baby was not “well” but they couldn’t ever figure out why. She decided at that time that she couldn’t control what that outcome was going to be so she was going to let it be what it was and accept it. As a parent, we have to learn that we can’t control what paths our kids take and sometimes we have to just sit back and watch, hoping that what we taught our kids is enough to keep them safe, happy and healthy (however that looks for them). She believes we are all meant to follow our own divine alignment.  Nicole is the Empowerment Alchemist and you can find her on all social medias with Nicole Majik or nicolemajik.com

Whitney Frost is not only the Founder and CEO of The Riley Center for Hope and Healing as well as a Board member for YANA!  Her center takes all insurances including Medicaid and are on a sliding scale! Her journey has been a rough one. She had 5 losses between the 2 earth-side girls and her two pregnancies were very high risk!  She has two sassy girls, who obviously get their sassiness from their dad!  She is working hard at leaving her work at work and needing to be PRESENT for her girls. Being a working mom is close to impossible and we are often so overwhelmed by things like packing lunches! The jobs that moms are expected to fit into our days are never ending! Her hubby is her biggest cheerleader and biggest support but also part of the challenge (like most spouses). With postpartum OCD, she has struggled with moments of needing to be perfect even today. Traveling is the time when it tends to come out more. She wishes there would have been a handbook of things to understand. Her baby had 2 heart defects and postpartum depression is really hard. She wishes there was a playbook for motherhood. But the surprises just keep coming. You can find her at theryliecenter.com

Christi Gmyr is a mental health counselor in upstate New York who virtually specializes in helping moms with managing and understanding all of the things it takes to be a mom. She had her own Covid baby but then had a 4 year old at home with her too during the pandemic. Mothering the 2 at a time was really challenging when she expected to have her 4 year old in preschool and having one-on-one time with the new baby. She had an idea of what it would look like but life changes and is different than we think it is going to be. The unknown is one of the hardest parts of parenting because when we become moms, we realize so much about it outside of our control.  Many moms have expectations of themselves even though they have never been in this place before. Moms are always expected to be supportive of others.  Judgements are just opinions and the nature of opinions is that everyone has a different one. We get to decide who we get to listen to and whose opinion we want to listen to. We have expectations of ourselves AND of others. The messages we get from others can really derail us as moms. Moms struggle with losing friendships but good friends will be flexible and honor the fact that having a baby changes your availability. Life changes, people change and we need to be flexible about our relationships too. Watching her children show kindness are her best mama moments and her worst mama moments were during the pandemic when she lost her “cool.” We ALL have those moments and beating ourselves up doesn’t serve anyone!  She is a coach of stressed out mamas who have demanding careers, helping them overcome burnout, resentment and guilt   Check her out at ChristiGmyrcoaching.com

Sarah Boes is a multifaceted mama who started her own business during covid but sold it and moved into advocacy. She found out that her daughter had congenital heart disease and has 4 heart conditions! With numerous ultrasounds, she thought she was going to have a healthy, happy baby. She also found out that she had OCD and her baby became her obsession. Her daughter will have to have numerous heart surgeries as she grows. Her spouse was her biggest supporter but she also had a postpartum doula who changed her whole motherhood journey. Her daughter has had a lot of medical issues throughout the last two and a half years but she is healthy, happy and doing amazing but it has been quite the journey. She was frustrated with how the after birth process worked and the lack of support she had in the NICU. She advocates for Congenital Health Disease awareness on Capitol Hill!  She has been unseen and unheard and diagnosed in her 30’s with OCD after years of therapy. One in 100 babies will be born with a heart defect! She is out in the world, making sure people know about it!  Find her at SarahMichelleBoes.com

Dr. Bragg is a doctor in Norfolk, Virginia who treats people with non-surgical solutions for orthopedic and spinal problems. She is a pain management physician who does comprehensive pain management with as little pain meds as possible. She isn’t completely against opioids but has treated over 20,000 people. She has been working with pain management since 1995!  She wrote a book after taking care of her mom and it sparked her need to help others with their pain. Women are more apt to have back pain because of their daily routines.  Moms can do small things to alleviate back pain and injury. The routine changes can make or break you (and your back!). Exercise during pregnancy is really important if approved by your doctor as well and after birth you will benefit from those efforts.  Her YouTube channel is called Dr. Winifred Bragg and you can hear some of her tips and tricks! You can find her website at www.knockoutpain.com and can download a chapter of her book there. 

Margot Bisnow spent 20 years working for the government and then her oldest son started a company and she decided she wanted to get involved!  She joined his young entrepreneurs and most of them had people who believed in them. Most of the time, that person was their mom. Her book is called Raising an Entrepreneur and she interviewed 70 entrepreneurs and their moms to learn about how the support of a mom helped shape who they became.  She has learned a lot from these interviews and what parents seem to want for their kids. She is a mom to kiddos in their thirties where she travels to visit them now. She was ambivalent about being a mom and she loved her life. She didn’t feel a gap and since she had done the big career thing first, she felt secure and took 6 weeks off with her first. With her second child, 20 months apart from her first son, she wanted to have them close enough in age so they could be friends.  She had a nanny to help with the kids and felt great about that relationship. She tells moms that they have three choices…they can not work and feel guilty, they can work full time and feel guilty or they can work part time and STILL feel guilty!  For her book, she interviewed 70 entrepreneurs and learned so much and really enjoyed learning what she could about the different family dynamics and the fact that they were all basically raised the same. ALL of them had an interest outside of school and their parents supported them in it. Supporting your kiddos looks different for each parent and however you are supporting your kiddos is best for you and them. Be proud of who you are and how you are parenting!

Susan Caso is a mom of 3 and a therapist who works with teens and adults for many years.  She lives in Boulder, Colorado and is also an author of a book called the The Parent-Teen Connection.  She gave birth in Denver but had such an interesting experience where the nurses took her baby to the nursery anytime she fell asleep.  She wanted that baby near her! Her biggest challenge was having her third child at the age of 43! That rocked her world. To have a child later in life, you have so many different things with the older kiddos but then you have the newborn to feed during the night. Advanced Maternal Age is a horrible way to say it to a mom who may already be fragile. She has a sister who was a huge support and lots of friends but her husband is an incredible support for her. Having a spouse who understands you and is a team with you. Empathy plays such a huge role in marriage and life! Susan’s mama moments are when they are all in the same house together. Thanksgiving is one of her favorite times to all be under the same roof. Her worst mama moments were when she didn’t handle things better when her kids were younger. She wishes she could go back and change how she reacted to the bickering. Dropping her kids off at college was also one of the hardest part of motherhood. She wishes she would have known she didn’t have to be a perfect parent. As an anxious mom, she worried too much about being perfect. Let it go mama!