Postpartum on Purpose

Lady, I hope you never need this episode. But if you or someone you love have received a prenatal diagnosis of anecephaly and are preparing for the possibility that baby's life will be short or may end before birth, this episode is for you, straight from the heart of a mother who has been there. I'm deeply grateful to Bridget for sharing her testimony.

Bridget recommended a book called A Gift of Time "for moms in a situation where they're carrying a live baby who they know will die soon." A Gift of Time: Continuing Your Pregnancy When Your Baby's Life Is Expected to Be Brief (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book): Kuebelbeck, Amy, Davis, Deborah L.: 9780801897627: Amazon.com: Books Other excellent resources to check out include: Navigating Fetal Concerns Fetalconcerns.com "Compassionate, medically-accurate support for families facing a fetal diagnosis," We Carry You Still ("miscarriage and infant loss ministry"), and Red Bird Ministries ("Catholic grief support for families in loss")

Lady, I'm so happy to recommend another great postpartum book for you: The Postpartum Check-In: What's Normal, What's Not, and How to Advocate for Yourself, by functional medicine-trained chiropractor Dr. Alexandra Mackillop. I love that The Postpartum Check-In recognizes how many new moms are dismissed by well-meaning healthcare practitioners (or dismiss themselves, because "isn't motherhood supposed to be hard?") because the dividing line between normal and not often isn't the symptom itself. It's the severity of the symptom, or how long it lasts, or the other symptoms that show up alongside it.

The Postpartum Check-In covers the seven most common conditions that show up during or are triggered by postpartum, with symptoms, screenings, treatments (including a Do More and a Do Less option for each one).

Get in touch at [email protected].

Pure gold. That's what this episode represents, lady. I asked my aunt Marilyn, a long-time listener of the podcast and 5-time mom plus bona fide grandma tribe member twice over, to share her best tips and tricks for accepting help, declining unhelpful help, and being helpful (for the supportive moms, grandma tribe members, friends, and sisters out there). Listen and then share this episode far and wide, lady. It's a treat.

Get in touch at [email protected] or on Instagram @postpartumonpurpose.

Lady, I know you've got a few things vieing for your time and attention: feeding your baby, changing your baby's diaper, getting your baby to sleep, getting yourself to sleep, taking care of older children if you have them, the list goes on and on. And then here I come, inviting you to prioritize keeping your bedroom clean. Why? Why?!?!

It's because of what your bedroom represents, in terms of your marriage relationship as the foundation of your family. While the other areas of your home may be more highly trafficked, and certainly more public-facing, in this episode I make the case for showing your room a little love *first*, starting by asking the basic question "What's the next thing I can do to make this room a little more inviting?"

Get in touch at [email protected] or over on Instagram @postpartumonpurpose.

Lady, if you or someone you know are planning to or discerning foster parenting, today's guest host is THE lady to talk to. Madeline and her husband Adam have fostered for five years now, and she shares why she:

-recommends starting with respite care if you already have biological children

-where the phrase "Everything is figure-out-able" comes from in the foster parent world

-why smart foster parents know to "never trust the timeline" of how long a foster child will be with their family

-what's it like to go from two kids to five in nine months (yes, really!)

-what it's like to experience a biological postpartum alongside fostering a newborn (including the differences between postpartum and foster parenting a newborn).

This is an action-packed episode with loads of great advice, worth taking notes on!

If you enjoyed this episode, pass it along to a mom friend. Get in touch at [email protected].

Lady, I've found these three words that make up one phrase to be pure poison for my postpartum mindset, even though I hear them uttered regularly (and seemingly innocuously) in everyday life. Here's why I never start sentences with "Must be nice..."

If you haven't already, please leave a starred rating and written review of the podcast to help other new moms find it. Get in touch as always at [email protected], and find all my written articles over at postpartumonpurpose.com.

"My failures were an invitation for God to love me."

"I just asked the Lord to see myself as He sees me."

"I used to think I was always a basket case back then, but..."

Lady, I want you to listen to this gorgeous guest episode by mom and author Allison Auth, whose book Baby and Beyond was my very first exposure to a book focused exclusively on the postpartum period. In a way, the podcast you're listening to now is a fruit of reading that book 5 years ago. I want you to hear the full quotes I included excerpts from above, plus many more gems. If you've struggled to pray during postpartum and felt like your prayer life was one more thing you weren't doing well as a new mom, this episode is for you.

As always, full show notes are at: postpartumonpurpose.com/my-blog. Get in touch at [email protected].

GLP-1s for weight loss are everywhere, but are they safe to lose the baby weight, even if you're not breastfeeding? Today, I'm hitting the high points to consider if you're thinking about asking your healthcare practitioner for a GLP-1 prescription, including concerns specific to breastfeeding as well as postpartum-specific concerns more generally.

Find the full show notes at postpartumonpurpose.com/my-blog. Get in touch at [email protected].

Lady! Today's guest host has a story of resilience amidst and after an emergency C-section with her first baby, quite the opposite of the unmedicated birth she prepped, planned, and hoped for! Stories like Veronica's are the heart behind the PoP podcast: tough things can happen, but we can move through them. Our plans can go sideways, and we can accept and adapt. Whether you're still expecting and hoping so hard for an unmedicated birth, or baby's already come and you didn't have the birth you planned, you're going to love this episode. Such a treat!

Get in touch at [email protected]. Full show notes and links to get in touch with Veronica are over at postartumonpurpose.com/my-blog.

The single most important thing that I want you to know: you don't have to be afraid. Let's talk where scary thoughts, aka intrusive thoughts, in new motherhood come from, what they mean about you (spoiler: absolutely nothing), and what to do with them, using a spot-on analogy called Man in the Park from psychologist and OCD specialist Shala Nicely.

As usual, get in touch at [email protected].

Per of course, the information presented in the Postpartum on Purpose Podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for actual medical or mental health advice from a doctor, psychologist, or any other medical or mental health professional.