Today is a special episode because I got to talk with another one of my dear friends here in Sacramento. Stephanie Dullanty is a birth doula, postpartum doula and birth photographer and mom to Rio. Stephanie and I met through Capital City Doulas and she is such a sweet and wonderful person. I am so happy to share her and her wife Martha's story of how they experienced conception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum.  

In this episode we talk about:

• How she and Martha chose their sperm donor (They used Pacific Reproductive Services) and how complicated the process can be to conception
• How she came to birth work
• Ways that we can be more inclusive to queer families in birth education and parenting
• Her beautiful birth story with Rio
• The importance of finding community
• Struggling with Rio's colic
• Balancing going back to work when your baby or toddler has only had one primary caregiver

You can find out more about Stephanie at her website Rio City Birthworks

If you are local to Sacramento, please check out our calendar at Capital City Doulas to see when the next Mama Talks event is.

Also, check out  Capital City Music Together if you're local, or check out Music Together in your area if you're elsewhere. 

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go to http://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum   

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

I so enjoyed chatting with Sarah Homec, who is one of the cofounders of Mommy Mailbox and mom to 3 boys. Her youngest was just 4 months when we recorded this, and I so appreciated her willingness to talk about motherhood right while she's in the thick of it with her newest addition.  Mommy Mailbox also has generously offered to giveaway one of their June Mommy Mailboxes to one lucky listener! Be sure to enter the rafflecopter giveaway below. 

In this episode we chat about:

• How Mommy Mailbox got started and how it works
• Her C-Section Stories
• The importance of having a village of friends around you
• The challenges of going from one to two kids and two to three
• How good just a clean house can make you feel
• The illusive idea of balance in motherhood and how it's more like a pendulum

You can learn more about Mommy Mailbox here and be sure to enter the rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win the June Mommy Mailbox!

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go to http://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

oday I chat with author,

In her episode we chat about:

Enjoy! 

***

As always, please consider

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do

The podcast is also sponsored by

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.

Thank you SO much for your support!

I so loved chatting with Stasia Savasuk about her birth and postpartum stories! Her stories are so amazing and powerful and she is just such a wonderful and inspiring person. She also blogs at Thrift Me Pretty and hosts Stasia’s Style School, “A 5-week online class and lifelong sisterhood that will teach you how to identify YOUR own personal and unique style so you can be the BRAVE BOLD BEAUTIFUL woman that you are…EVERY. DAMN. DAY!”

In her episode we talk about:

·      Two amazing birth stories! Her daughter has some genetic abnormalities and her son was nearly an 11lb natural birth!

·      How having a daughter with physical anomalies allowed her to change her own body image issues and how that led to the formation of Stasia’s Style School

·      The stories that our closets hold

·      How terrible the doctor treated her in describing her daughters unique features right after she was born and how all she saw was perfection.  This was the moment she became a mother.

·      How advocating for her child probably saved her life.

·      Pumping Exclusively for 18 months with her daughter

·      How empowered she felt after delivering her nearly 11lb son when her doctors were positive she was going to need a c-section

·      And SO much more!

Be sure to sign up to receive an email when the next round of Stasia’s Style School opens SOON and check out Stasia’s blog, Thrift Me Pretty.

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go to http://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

Today I chat with LA-based fitness expert Sara Haley! pre/postnatal exercise specialist, and mom of two boys. Her best-selling fitness programs are for moms: the award-winning prenatal workout DVD, Expecting MORE and follow-up Expecting MORE: The 4th Trimester Workout, for after baby and beyond. She also has a highly acclaimed excuse-proof workout program, Sweat UNLIMITED which offers quick workout solutions for busy people. With over 15 years of experience in the fitness industry and 7 years as a Reebok Master Trainer, Sara has a passion for giving women tools to stay fit, healthy and happy before, during and after pregnancy in the safest and most effective ways possible.

In this episode we talk about:

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go to http://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

 You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

Today I am excited to welcome blogger and fellow podcaster Bryn Huntpalmer.  She is mom to two kiddos, blogs at With Her Own Wings, is a senior content manager for Modernize.com AND is the creator and host of the Birth Hour Podcast. I enjoyed sharing my daughter’s birth story on her podcast at the end of 2015.  In her episode we talk about:

·      Her first postpartum year while her and her husband were in grad and law school

·      Interviewing for a job at 3 weeks postpartum

·      How the strength from her birth allowed her to have a kickass interview

·      Breastfeeding challenges

·      How she got started with the Birth Hour Podcast

·      Hormones!

·      Reaching out to your friends who are new moms, even if they aren’t close friends

·      #TakeBackPostpartum, #VariationsofNormal, #StopCensoringMotherhood on Instagram

You can learn more about her podcast at The Birth Hour.  To hear the episodes where she talks about her kids/ birth stories, go here and here.   If you want to hear me talk about my daughter's birth story on her show, go here. 

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go tohttp://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum   

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

Today I got to chat with Julia Aziz. Julia is the mother of three children and author of Lessons of Labor: One Woman's Self-Discovery Through Birth and Motherhood. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a hospice spiritual counselor, Julia leads private classes and silent retreats exploring the bigger questions of self and purpose. Before having children, Julia worked as a counselor for youth, adults, couples, and families. She has facilitated a personal growth group for teens, silent retreats for midwives and doulas, and a mindfulness group for new mothers. 

I so enjoyed chatting with her in depth about her birth and postpartum stories!

Just a few of the things we chat about: 
-    How birth is a metaphor for what we need to learn as parents
-    Her vivid descriptions of her kids’ birth stories
-    How a 30 day challenge ted talk inspired her to start her book
-    How she learned to let go of control when it comes to parenting, and how labor taught her that. 
-    Looking for the spaces in between the pain – in labor and in life
-    The best advice is to not take any advice too seriously
-    Love is expansive, not exclusive

Here is some praise from the one and only Penny Simkin about Julia’s Book:

“From her own unique and varied childbearing experiences, Julia Aziz learned much beyond what labor and birth can be like; she guides us through her musings on the lessons gained from her labors–about life as a woman, life partner, mother, and human being. This engaging book, told in her personable style and warm voice, relates how she was transformed, and her pithy wisdom helps us see how we also may be transformed by life’s unpredictable adventures.”
–Penny Simkin, author of The Birth Partner, co-founder of DONA International

Be sure to check it out here AND enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway to be entered to win a copy of her book!

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go tohttp://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

Today is a special episode where I talk with Jillian Van Ness who is a certified Infant Massage Practitioner and Watsu® Massage Practitioner.  I am so excited to share these two lesser known modalities with you all today!

In the episode we talk about:

·      The benefits of infant massage for both babies and their caregivers

·      What an infant massage class looks like

·      The absolute importance of touch in our lives

·      How she got into infant massage

·      What is Watsu Massage?

·      What a Watsu Massage session looks like

·      How Watsu can be particularly helpful for pregnant women

·      Her dream to build an aquatic center here in Sacramento

To learn more about Jillian please visit her website.  

Free Swim Lessons at Swim America in Davis, CA

To find an infant massage practitioner in your area go here.

To find a Watsu® Massage practitioner in your area go here.

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go to http://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

 You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

Today I had a blast chatting with Brian Salmon, also known as Brian the Birth Guy. Brian is a childbirth educator, lactation counselor and San Antonio’s only practicing male birth doula.  I so enjoyed hearing his perspective as a dad, doula and birth enthusiast!

Brian is hilarious, passionate and kind. We talked about so many different things, but here are the highlights:

You can find more information about Brian on his website, you can follow him on Facebook and on Periscope.

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go tohttp://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!

Today I’m really excited to chat with Nathalie Saenz of the Dearest Doula Podcast.   Nathalie is a Birth Doula and mom of one with another on the way.  I had the pleasure of being on her Dearest Doula podcast last year, twice! – you can listen to those episodes here. In this episode we talk about:

·      How she healed from her C-section from her first birth

·      And found her passion in birth work after seeing a play about birth and The Business of Being Born

·      How she is planning for a VBAC homebirth with her second child

·      Undergoing a mastotomy from mastitis during her first breastfeeding experience

·      The importance of not projecting our own expectations on new mom friends, supporting the fact that being a new mom is hard.

To find out more about Nathalie and find her podcast, visit her website here.

She also mentioned the Birth Without Fear Blog.

***

As always, please consider subscribing and leaving a review on iTunes here. Your reviews really help the show out because they allow it to be more visible so that we can reach more moms. 

Do you shop on Amazon?  Use this link and do your shopping as you always would and the show will get a teeny tiny kickback. 

The podcast is also sponsored by Audible.com.  To get your FREE audiobook and 30-day trial, please go tohttp://www.audibletrial.com/postpartum  

You can also support the show by becoming a patron on Patreon.  No donation is too small, for as little as $1 per episode, you can make a huge difference for the show.  Click here to learn more. 

Thank you SO much for your support!