The New Mamas Podcast

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In this special Holiday themed episode, host Lina Forrestal is joined by Mariela de Santiago of Mama Wears Athleisure Podcast and they share tips and tricks for minimizing Holiday overwhelm from a first-time mom perspective.

Link to Christmas Ornaments Organizer: https://amzn.to/3SXQr70

Gift Ideas Mentioned in this Episode:

• Bombas Socks https://refer.bombas.com/x/42W15n (Get 25% off your first purchase by using this link)
• Kinetic Sand
• OurPlace Pans and Pots
• Magnetic building blocks
• Green Toys
• Car detailing gift card (for husbands)
• Carhartt flannels (for husbands)

Connect with Mariela: @mamawearsathleisure

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Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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Hello friends! I'm excited to share this bonus solo-episode with you all. The truth is I miss uploading twice a week, it was so fun to be able to talk to you more often about the things I care about and the things going through my mind! I hope to do more of these while on maternity leave-- which ps. I'm not going anywhere! I will still have weekly episodes (if not twice a week). 

Some of the things I chat about in this episode:

• How I'm feeling at 37 weeks
• Endless doctors appointments (NSTs, ultrasounds, etc.) because I'm "high-risk"
• How some of my friendships changed after I became a mom
• Becoming an adult and setting boundaries around who I want in my life (and who I don't)
• My relationship with my doula (@jmtnjphotography)
• Feelings around applying for free pre-school and Archie changing schools
• How the Holiday season used to make me feel sad because of my childhood
• Why I'm excited for Christmas now

Related Episodes: 

• Just Chatting: 30 Week Pregnancy Update - Gestational Diabetes, Hiring a Doulatog and PostPartum Doula, & Thoughts About My 2nd Birth
  
  
• Just Chatting: I had to put my 12-year-old dog down

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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With the holidays just around the corner, Lina sits down with the Consumer Reports Baby Safety team to discuss which baby products parents should avoid purchasing for their little ones or as gifts for others. 

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• 5 Dangerous Children’s Products Parents Should Avoid
• Are There Still Heavy Metals in Baby Food?
• Baby Bottles With No Detected BPA, Lead, or Phthalates

Other links mentioned:

• https://www.saferproducts.gov/

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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In this episode, host Lina Forrestal participates in a LIVE COACHING SESSION with Parenting Coach, Stephanie Agnew of Parents Place which is part of Jewish Family and Children Services. Lina is concerned about adding a newborn to their already solid family of 3 and seeks practical advice and tips for a smooth transition. 

Timestamps:
00:00 - 07:55 - Introduction to Parents Place and Stephanie Agnew
08:25 - 52:15 - Live Coaching Session with Lina and Stephanie

• What is Parent Coaching? Parent Coaching is a collaborative process between an experienced parent coach and you. Coaches provide a safe space for you to explore your concerns, identify strengths, and develop effective parenting strategies tailored to your family’s dynamics.
• What does a Parent Coach do? A parent coach provides clear, immediate strategies to address whatever you are grappling with. We take the time to get to know your family history, dynamics, and values, then create a roadmap just for you.
• Schedule a FREE 20-minute phone consultation to find out if parent coaching is right for you: https://ccy.jfcs.org/schedule-consultation/ 

Relevant Episodes:

• Just Chatting: My Husband and I Get Vulnerable Talking Marriage, Another Baby, and Answering Listener Questions
  
  
• My Husband and I Reflect on a Year of Parenthood
  
  

Stephanie Barry Agnew, B.A., Assistant Director, Parents Place - Stephanie has an extensive background in Early Childhood Education with over 20 years of teaching experience in Palo Alto area schools.  She was trained at Bing Nursery School while getting her degree at Stanford and has taught all preschool age groups from Toddlers to Young Fives.  She owned her own small preschool in Palo Alto for 5 years and worked as a parent educator at The Children’s Health Council where she was also the director of the Parent Education Program. Stephanie has been teaching and consulting for Parents Place since 2002.  Stephanie’s specialties include young child behavior management, social skills development, Kindergarten readiness, school choices, preschool/childcare consultation and preschool teacher training and support.  She teaches parenting classes, gives one session talks, leads teacher training workshops, observes children at home and at school, and offers individual parents information and support about a wide array of parenting issues.  She has two adult daughters and four young grandchildren.  For an individual consultation please contact Stephanie at [email protected] or 650-688-3046.

Connect with Center for Children and Youth on Instagram: @centerforchildrenandyouth

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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[RATED EXPLICIT] This episode has some explicit language! If you have little ones around it might be a good idea to pop in headphones or listen to it at another time :)

In this episode, Lina and Amanda Gurman of Honest as a Mother Podcast enjoy a cathartic episode together where they share their biggest mom rants. They tackle everything from marriage to in-laws and everything in-between. They react to mom rants that their listeners submitted as well!

Check out Amanda's book:  Honest as a Mother - Book 2: Personal Essays That Will Make You Feel Like You're Not Alone in Motherhood

Connect with Amanda on Instagram: @amanda.gurman 

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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Aimee is a Board Certified Pediatric Dentist and mommy to 3 boys. She is the owner of Oceans Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry with her husband and practices in Westfield, New Jersey. Listen to our first episode with Aimee: Teething, Pacifiers, & Early Oral Health Habits with Pediatric Dentist Dr. Aimee Leibowitz

Helpful Notes from this Episode:

• How many times should a toddler brush their teeth a day? Twice is ideal, however if were being more real mama realistic it might be once — but make sure you make that ONE time NIGHTTIME bc after a full day of eating breakfast lunch dinner snacks etc you def don’t want them going to bed with dirty teeth, saliva isn’t slowing as much when we sleep, and that food/plaque will just sit overnight on the enamel causing decay. Morning brush would be great but I know in my house mornings are a hot mess most of the time so something as simple as putting the age appropriate amount of toothpaste on the brush and giving it to your kiddo and letting them do their thing is A-OK and way better than skipping it all together
• Toothpaste with fluoride or without fluoride? The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends an age appropriate amount of fluoride toothpaste as soon as the first tooth erupts. It's been proven with extremely good high quality studies that fluoride prevents cavities. If you are looking for a fluoride alternative brands like Risewell or Boka are HYDROXYAPETITE toothpastes that act in a similar and more natural way to fluoride to strengthen teeth. 
• What kinds of foods support teeth health? Low carb foods i.e. your crunchy leafy veggies, cheese, nuts, meats, water, now let's be real mama realistic again for hot sec - is this a typical diet for most toddlers — no however encouraging them and exposing them to these foods from the get go will help establish healthy habits, rather than the chicken finger and mac cheese diet. Other great choices fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, popcorn. For sweets: dark chocolate and ice cream are a way better option than fruit snacks, candy or cookies.
• What is the least worst Halloween candy? Chocolates are a keep as they wash away off our teeth faster, gummies and sours etc. are a trash as they stick and cling to the teeth long after you’ve finished eating them.
• How do we talk to our toddlers about candy? I love to use the term “sugar bugs” to talk about cavities. For Halloween: I tell parents let your kids go crazy that night, eat what they want and after that GET RID OF IT. FREQUENCY is way worse than QUANTITY. Meaning if you having pieces of candy every single day over months its more like to cause cavities than if you had a whole lot all at once right on Halloween. 

Connect with Aimee on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceanswestfield/ 

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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Gabi Day is an identical twin mom (17 months) and also the CEO, Founder, and Formulator of Bright Body and Bright Body Baby, a nontoxic + refillable personal care brand dedicated to creating clean products.

Lina and Gabi discuss:

• The mindset around the "just wait" phenomenon 
• A quick overview of her traumatic birth 
• Gabi and Lina's reaction to the talcum powder recall in April 2023
  • Article, "Is Any Kind of Baby Powder Safe to Use?"
  • Safe alternatives to baby powder
• Which ingredients should NEVER be used on babies
  • Simple alcohols
  • Synthetic fragrance OR nontransparent fragrance (trade secret)
  • Sulfates + harsh surfactants (cocamidopropyl betaine)
  • Phenoxyethanol, parabens, aldehydes, isothiazolinones
  • Harsh detanglers: cetrimonium and behentrimonium chloride, behentrimonium methosulfate
  • Dyes
  • Propanediol/propylene glycol - filler
• What are some sources or apps that moms can turn to 
  • EWG
  • Think Dirty
  • Yuka App
• What are PFAs? 
  • perflyoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Natalie Crawford

Connect with Gabi on TikTok: @itsgabiday
Shop Bright Body: https://mybrightbody.com/ 
Shop Bright Body Baby: https://mybrightbody.com/pages/bright-body-baby
Connect with Bright Body on Instagram: @mybrightbody
Connect with Bright Body Baby on Instagram: @brightbodybaby

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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Lina is now in her third trimester at 30 or 31 weeks! She can never remember how many weeks she is but her due date is coming up on December 10. In this episode she catches up with her listeners about everything from house projects, to financial concerns, her pregnancy diagnosis and thoughts around birth. 

Talked about in this episode:

• How Lina switched rooms for her office, giving Archie and Baby E a shared room
• Umbilical hernia
• Gestational diabetes and some of her go-to meals
• A doctor's appointment gone wrong
• The process of hiring a doula and why Lina decided on a doula/photographer (aka doulatog) 
• Hiring a postpartum doula
• Lina's thoughts around birth, the epidural, birth "elitism" around drug-free births, etc. 

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

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When Katy and her partner Will found out they were pregnant, they were ecstatic. Katy and Will have a blended family of 4 young kids that they co-parent with their biological mother. They shared the good news with their friends and family and started to prepare their journey into having a child together. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned and Katy experienced a missed miscarriage.

In this episode, she shares her experience in having to make a decision between a d&c procedure or taking an abortion pill. She also discusses the process of getting her baby's remains and how difficult it was both logistically and emotionally.

Katy feels called to help moms and parents who have experienced loss and hopes that she can help those who are grieving feel less alone.

Katy owns a farm called Sticky Holler Farm in Arkansas. She's on Instagram as @stickyhollerfarm

Katy's Fundraising Link for Molly Bears: Custom Weighted Teddy Bears
Molly Bears Website: https://mollybears.org/
Molly Bears Instagram: @mollysbearsorg

Listen to Katy's 1st Episode: Divorce, Step Moms, and Getting Along for Your Kids with Bio-Mom Abi and Step-Mom Katy

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast) 

Send us Fan Mail

Former NYC mom and professional organizer Jaclyn King is pregnant with her second baby. Both Lina and Jaclyn's kids are around the same age and they have an honest chat about what they're excited for, what they're not excited for, their concerns, and how they're organizing their small country houses for a new baby!

Talked about in this episode:

• How both Jackie's babies are IVF babies
• Anxiety (both perinatal and postpartum anxiety) 
• Baby products that both Jackie and Lina want this time around
• How we're preparing our toddlers to have a sibling
• How pregnancy feels different this time around

Listen to the first episode with Jaclyn:  How to Stay Organized as a New Mom with Professional Organizer, Jaclyn King from Sort of Space

Connect with Jaclyn on Instagram: @sortofspace

Support the show

Connect with Lina on @linaforrestal on Instagram
Follow the @newmamaspodcast on Instagram
Read Lina's Blog: www.linaforrestal.com
Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newmamaspodcast)