In this episode, Meghann and Mike interview their good friend and neighbor, Kristin Paquette. Kristin shares how she became a mom even after she and her husband made the original decision to not have kids and lead a "DINK" Lifestyle: Double Income, No Kids. She opens up about her experiences with pregnancy loss, her son's health scares, and the changes that parenting brought to her relationship with her husband.

0:00:00 - Trigger Warning

0:00:20 - Intro

0:03:13 - Welcoming Kristin

0:06:34 - DINK Household And An Unexpected Surprise

0:07:54 -Double Loss

0:20:50 - A Vasectomy Pregnancy

0:25:33 - Will's Deployment

0:33:08 - Jack's Health Scares

0:48:01 - The Importance of Self Care

0:54:26 - Relationship Changes Through Parenthood

1:03:28 - Advice

1:07:26 - Recap

1:16:41-Closing - Like, Follow, Subscribe

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In this episode, Meghann and Mike discuss their postpartum experience with their first born in depth. Mike opens up about experiencing Post Partum Depression (Yes, it can happen to men, too! ) throughout the newborn period. This episode offers a brutally honest look into what those early days can look like with a colicky newborn.

0:00:00 - Intro/Housekeeping

0:05:53 - A little background

0:11:31 - Our postpartum story

0:22:29 - Mike's postpartum depression

0:32:32 - Some statistics

0:35:32 - Meghann's baby blues

0:37:59 - DSM-5 Criteria of a Major Depressive Episode

0:43:15 - Meghann's recollection

0:48:05 - A listening friend

0:58:19 - Current Events

1:09:29 - Couple's Therapy

1:18:31 - Closing-Like, Follow, Subscribe, Email, Share!

Resources:

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/yes-postpartum-depression-in-men-is-very-real

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6659987/#sec5

Have a question or want to be on the pod and join the discussion?

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In this episode, Mike interviews his good friend, Will Brown, who shares about his and his wife's experience with intrauterine insemination (IUI) and the birth of his son. Will shares what the first several months were like as a new dad and also discusses some of the hardships they encountered in regards to allergies and his son's battle with eczema herpeticum.

Episode Chapters:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:02:42 - Welcome Will Brown

0:07:47 - The journey through IUI

0:23:53 - Being the birthing partner during a C-section

0:29:43 - The challenges of the first few months

0:38:09 - Sleep deprivation through months 4-6

0:48:26 - Challenges with allergies

1:05:30 - Advice

1:13:10 - Recap with Meghann

1:31:32 - Closing-Like, Follow, Subscribe, Email, Share!

Have a question or want to be on the pod and join the discussion?

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In this episode, we discuss our pregnancy and birth story of our firstborn which all took place during the global pandemic of Covid-19. We recall how medical protocols changed during this time and how these changes impacted our experience. Towards the end of the podcast, we cover "current events," as well as a brief "couple's therapy" segment!

0:00:00-Welcome and Intro

0:02:19-Trying for a baby

0:03:47-Chemical Pregnancy

0:14:20-Trying again at the beginning of lockdown

0:16:30-First Trimester during Covid

0:21:38-20 Week Appointment

0:27:29-Third Trimester

0:28:16-Virtual Baby Shower

0:30:03-The Birth Story

0:46:00-Current Events

0:58:32-Couple's Therapy

1:09:50-Like, Follow, Subscribe, Email, Share!

Have a question or want to be on the pod and join the discussion?

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Instagram 📸: @ponderingparenthoodpod

Facebook🙂📘: Pondering Parenthood

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Youtube📺: Pondering Parenthood

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In this episode, we interview Mike's aunt, Michelle Haar, about her journey into parenthood with each of her three children. She discusses the complex intersection of grief and the transformative experiences of pregnancy and postpartum.

0:00:00-Welcome and Intro

0:01:17-Introducing Michelle

0:03:13-Michelle's entry into parenthood/story

0:24:49-Grief and postpartum

0:39:19-Decision to have a third

0:46:52-Death of Michelle's father

0:53:18-Best/Worst parts of parenthood

1:00:20-Advice

1:09:03-Meghann and Mike's recap and debrief

References:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/04/upshot/up-birth-age-gap.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/05/18/graphics-show-changing-trend-average-age-parents/73707908007/

Have a question or want to be on the pod and join the discussion?

👉Contact us!📨[email protected]

👉Follow us more places!

Instagram 📸: @ponderingparenthoodpod

Facebook🙂📘: Pondering Parenthood

⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577794780908⁠

Youtube📺: Pondering Parenthood

⁠https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvVj3-8T_qdSZogTiEopUpUqZD5J0lFkQ⁠

Thank you for listening and supporting!

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Get to know us, Mike and Meghann, and what brought us here. In this episode we discuss our journey into parenthood and how it has compared to what we thought it would be like.

Have a question or want to be on the pod and join the discussion?

👉Contact us!📨[email protected]

👉Follow us more places!

Instagram 📸: @ponderingparenthoodpod

Facebook🙂📘: Pondering Parenthood

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577794780908

Youtube📺: Pondering Parenthood

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvVj3-8T_qdSZogTiEopUpUqZD5J0lFkQ

Thank you for listening and supporting!

👍Give us a like👍✏️ Write a comment ✏️💞Share this podcast with someone else 💞