Mothering Wildlife

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My guest this week is Chandler Hammack, a carnivore keeper at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. As a wife to an active duty Coast Guard husband, Chandler is no stranger to moving around the country and gaining experience at a variety of facilities, especially in recent years after becoming married. We talk about her work history and whether or not she feels that variety has been beneficial. She worries people look at her resume and wonder why she's moved so much (which she admits is also because she has an adventuring spirit) but also admits that it has given her experience and perspective she might not have gained otherwise!

Chandler was working with *the* famous Clydesdales of Busch Gardens when she became pregnant with her first child. She shares why she waited to tell her coworkers about her pregnancy until she was 20 weeks, as well as how she was able to be a pumping mom while at work and continue to work such a strenuous job.

When Chandler's son was 8 weeks old, her husband deployed. Chandler shares the story of how she moved home temporarily so that she had support as a new mom. Due to her husbands's job, she also found herself as a stay at home mom for a period of time, before eventually getting back into the zoo field. Chandler talks candidly about how being a zookeeper and a mom are basically one in the same! She honestly thought being a stay at home mom was harder than going to work as a zookeeper! Staying at home was overstimulating, especially since she was used to working. However, most of her day as a stay at home mom was the same as what she did as a zookeeper - cleaning, feeding someone breakfast, doing dishes, and sweeping the floor - all on repeat just like at the zoo!

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My guest this week is Randi Toynton, a Senior Animal Care Specialist at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Randi is a mom of 4 at the time of this episode release, however at the time of recording Randi was pregnant with her 4th child! Randi is also a twin mom so she shares a bit about her twin pregnancy and how it was the hardest pregnant she had. However with her current pregnancy, things have been a bit different which just goes to show that even in the same woman, pregnancy can be so different. Each time she has been pregnant she has worked in different sections of the zoo which has also contributed to different pregnancies. 

Randi and I also talk about her first maternity leave and what made her the most nervous, which was sleep! Social media often bombards us with infant sleep and how to do it “right”. Randi and I talk about how as a new mom this can cause so much anxiety.

Randi also shares how she tried to take a proactive approach before coming back from maternity leave. She actually reached out to her supervisor to have a conversation about what she thought she could and couldn’t do. It can be hard to advocate for ourselves in these instances but Randi shows how important those conversations can be.

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This week I’m re-running the very first Mothering Wildlife Podcast episode which includes my conversation with Whitlee Turner. At the time, Whitlee was a new mom working at the Metro Richmond Zoo. Her motherhood journey made headlines when she shared a very intimate breastfeeding moment with another new mom, an orangutan where she worked. 

I heard Whitlee’s story and thought there was no better way to kick off a podcast about being a working zoo mom then to talk to someone who was literally merging motherhood with her job. 

Whether you’ve been a listener since the beginning or you just started tuning in, enjoy this episode from the archives! I’ll be back in two weeks with another new story from another new mom!!

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My  guest  this week is Randi Toynton, a Senior Animal Care Specialist at Brookfield Zoo. Randi is a mom of 3, including twins, and during the time of this interview she was pregnant with number 4!

Randi shares a little about her twin pregnancy and how it was the hardest pregnancy she's had. She was on light duty and sick all the time. However, with her current pregnancy, she has had such a different experience which just goes to show that even within the same woman, pregnancy can be so different! Each time she has been pregnant she was worked in a different section of the zoo, which has also contributed to different pregnancies.

We talk about her first maternity leave with her first child and what made her most nervous, sleep. Social media bombards us with how to make your baby sleep and how to do it "right" and Randi and I talk about how, as a new mom, this can cause a lot of anxiety. 

Randi also shares how she tried to take a proactive approach prior to coming back to work from maternity leave, knowing that she would have a hard time working on such little sleep. It can be hard to advocate for yourself in this manner but sometimes so important, especially when you know your limits!

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This week we have another dedicated episode on one topic of motherhood, not having a "village" to help you raise your children. My guests are Briana Schmidt from Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium and Jessi Gorman from the Fort Worth Zoo. Both have been on the podcast before and I'm happy to welcome them back to talk about his important topic!

Briana and Jessi talk about what their biggest challenges are in raising kids without a community. Most of those challenges center around schedules and finding and having people available that you trust to watch your children. Both talk about having to find weekend care for their children and how they went about finding caregivers that they trusted. 

It's hard to ask for help when you don't feel like you have a "go-to" family member or friend to help, especially with last minute needs or those times when you just need someone to watch your child for a couple of hours so you can get something done. Not wanting people to feel obligated to watch your child is an emotion that comes up time and time again, especially when children are younger and more is involved in their care. 

There's also the things that you don't think of would be a challenge when you don't have a village, including who you put down as emergency contacts if you and your partner can't be reached, who can help watch your child if you are sick, and how do you spend quality time with your partner when it's not easy to find someone to watch your child for a night out. The question becomes, "Is the thing I need/want to do worth it right now to go through having to find someone to watch my child or should I just bring them along?"

Ultimately, both Briana and Jessi have slowly but surely built villages and friend groups that allow them to have support but it's not easy and like Briana says, you have to put into it what you want to get out!

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This week we have another dedicated episode on one topic a lot of listeners will be familiar with; postpartum depression and anxiety. I'm joined by Tegan Noel, a Wildlife Care Specialist from the San Diego Zoo and Sarah Ross, a former night keeper at Disney's Animal Kingdom as well as vet tech.

Tegan and Sarah share their birth stories, which for both of them included some scary and uncertain circumstances. They also share how this played into their postpartum experiences and we talk about whether postpartum was as they expected or whether it was surprising in any way.

Both talk about having children in the NICU and the anxiety around bringing home a NICU baby. At the time of this recording, Sarah was 3 months postpartum and shares how she is still coping with the anxiety around bringing home her second child from the NICU. 

We also talk about how social media influences our views about the postpartum period and the shame a mother can feel if her experience doesn't seem like other's picture perfect postpartum period. This is an important conversation and both Tegan and Sarah share their own stories on this topic. Both were able to receive help from providers and want others to know that there is no shame in asking for help. 

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This week's episode is another dedicated episode on one topic - pregnancy and childbirth complications. I bring together two guests; Carolyn Kelley, the Assistant Manager of Tours at the St. Louis Zoo and Caroline Adams, the former Director of Education at the Zoo in Forest Park, who left the zoo field a couple of years ago and is now working for the state of Connecticut in childcare licensing. 

Both share their stories with pregnancy complications while trying to work routines at the zoo. Their stories include journeys with hyperemesis gravidarum, inguinal hernias, Type 1 diabetes, pubic symphysis diastasis, and post partum pre-eclampsia. 

We talk about how it felt to care for a newborn while also trying to care for your health and some of the differences between the postpartum periods of their first children vs. their second.

One topic we dive into is the feeling of jealousy watching other mom's "normal" postpartum experiences because that wasn't their reality. We spend some time talking about the grief associated with deciding you are done having children because of complications that arose in your previous pregnancies.

Finally, we talk about the guilt felt from having to modify routines at work and being put on light duty and how that impacted their teams. 

Caroline's advice is to not only advocate for yourself at work, but advocate for yourself in a medical setting. Carolyn has made it her mission to try to supprt other moms as much as she can, hoping that by sharing her story that someone else navigating complications will feel less alone.

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My guest this week is Carley Gonzalez, an Animal Curator, from the Topeka Zoo. While Carley currently spends all of her time working with and managing terrestrial animals, she started in the field as a marine mammal trainer working with orcas!

Carley and I touch on her professional journey, which includes some time spent out of the zoo and aquarium field, and then a journey back into the field. Through the power of networking and an open willingness to put her family first and learn something new, Carley went from working with marine mammals, her passion since she was a little girl, to learning about and working with terrestrial animals in a traditional zoo setting. We talk a lot on this podcast about pivoting into new roles as well as leaving the field and what it takes to get back into the field and Carley's story is a great example of the success that can be had when you are open minded.

Carley's motherhood journey also includes some time spent as a single mom, working with marine mammals, and trying to navigate late nights and crazy schedules. We talk about this time period in her life and how she made it work. Moms are so good at just doing what needs to be done and as Carleys says, this was just her life and she didn't know any different so of course she made it work!

Carley's advice to other moms is to put your family first and try to remember that work things can wait until tomorrow. She really urges moms to enjoy their kids when they are little and to try to be present while not beating yourself up about things out of your control. 

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This week's episode is a little different. I wanted to bring together two moms within the zoo field who have IVF as part of their motherhood journey and let them have the opportunity to share their stories and talk to each other about their journeys. Kaitlyn Fulmer and LeShea Cochu joined me for this dedicated episode on going through IVF as a zookeeper, and I'm so grateful to them for being willing to share such intimate details about their experiences.

Kaitlyn and LeShea both share their journeys to becoming pregnant through IVF. They talk about the timelines and the emotions involved with going through the process as well as how they cope with working while going through such a physical and emotional time.

Both have had support at work and share that that can be critical in helping to feel like one can navigate going through IVF while working. Kaitlyn even shares some of the accommodations her team made for her in regard to working with sea lions who were on birth control.

We also talk about how they both decided how much to share about what they were going through with their coworkers and facilities, as well as how they handle unintended questions and comments from family and friends.

We talk about the financial side of IVF as well, which on a zookeeper budget can be tough. Both LeShea and Kaitlyn share about how they were able to finance IVF, including how much it costs for medication and how frustrating it can be to have to pay for unused medication.

Finally, we talk about the schedule associated with IVF and how both of them were able to work their appointments around lunch schedules and changing work shifts. Kaitlyn and LeShea give some great advice about how they made the rigid schedules of IVF work with their roles at the zoo.

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My guest this week is Ricki Roemer, a Supervisor in the Mammals 2 Department at the Caldwell Zoo. At the time of our interview Ricki was freshly postpartum, and believe it or not her baby joined us in the bouncer the whole interview! Her and I had tried to set up an interview quickly before she gave birth, but we didn't make it in time before her second child was born!

Ricki started at the Caldwell Zoo in the bird department, then moved to large mammals. However, while she was on maternity leave, she was promoted to a supervisor role! Along with returning to work postpartum, she returned to a new role, with new responsibilities, new species, and new routines. Ricki and I talk about how she is navigating this whole new world of being a new mom, with two kids now, and in a new role. Part of the new role includes keeping a different kind of mental work list and Ricki and I talk about the different sorts of things that linger in her brain at the end of the day now as a supervisor compared to when she was a keeper.

Ricki and I also talk about the difference between coming back to work after her first child and coming back to work after her second child. Spoiler alert: it's the schedule of trying to find a new routine with two instead of one and getting out the door in the morning!

Finally, we also talk about some of the biggest challenges with having kids in the field - from finances, to schedules, and working holidays. Ricki says she's always been so inspired by others that have made it work (including other moms who have been on this podcast). Ricki's advice to a new mom returning to work is great - give yourself the same amount of time that you were on maternity leave to adjust to getting back to work. I love that because it is so true! We need time to adjust and we have to remember that things will look different in the interim, and that's ok.

Mothering Wildlife links:
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Email: [email protected]