Today I talk with my dear friend Pam Hart. Pam is a register dental assistant and has one son, Benjamin who is my daughter Clare’s birthday twin. She also has two French Bulldogs and a kitty. I really enjoyed chatting with her about her postpartum story. She is incredibly encouraging about how calm and wonderful birth can be. We talk about how important other mom friends can be during the postpartum year and also about how all of your friendships change and shift as your life goes through the huge change of becoming a parent.

We also talked about these two songs: “You’re Gonna Miss This” and “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” that pretty much sums up our combined feelings on this postpartum year.

**This podcast is now sponsored by Audible. To get a free audiobook while supporting the show, please visit www.audibletrial.com/postpartum **

Thank you SO much for your support!!

Today I interview the doula I had for my birth with Clare, Nataly Bates. Nataly is a Birth Arts International trained birth doula. She is also a Hypnobabies certified hypnodoula and is rebozo certified. Nataly is also mom to two wonderful children. In this episode, Nataly and I talk about the importance of support, both during childbirth and after. Nataly talks about why she decided to become a birth doula and how different her postpartum stories were with each child. We also discuss chiropractic care and postpartum depression and the importance of finding and asking for help when you need it. Enjoy!

You can find out more about Nataly on her website here.

You can also find her on Facebook here.

I was so excited to chat with Kelsey Wharton of the Girls Next Door Podcast for this episode. I feel like we are such kindred spirits and we could have talked for so much longer. I hope to have her on the podcast again in the future. 

Kelsey is a science writer for Arizona State University, a blogger at RisingShining.com, and a podcaster on the Girls Next Door Podcast. She is a mom of two boys - her second was just a month old when we recorded. 

In this episode we talk about the transition from maternity leave to going back to work full time, postpartum blues and the importance of birth doulas. We also chat about the e-course that Kelsey is working on called Radiant Mamas. This will be a course geared towards bringing community and supporting working moms. Thank you SO much Kelsey for coming on!

Check out the Girls Next Door Podcast here.

Read Kelsey’s Blog here.

You can also connect with Kelsey on Twitter and Instagram.

**The website Kelsey mentioned for setting up a food train for new moms was Food Tidings.

Today we talk with Sarah R. Bagley, the host of the Sarah R. Bagley Podcast. Sarah is a blogger, podcaster, group fitness instructor and part time working mom of two – with a new baby on the way! On her podcast Sarah interviews guests about pushing past perfection and on what living a “B+” life looks like for them. During our episode Sarah and I talk about piece-mealing a work/life balance together once you have children, the identity shift that comes with going from working full time to being a mom. We also discuss the importance of finding a good pediatrician, how unexpected the loneliness of postpartum can be, prenatal and postpartum exercise and the importance of confidence during the postpartum period. Sarah is a joy to talk to and her confidence is sure to inspire. Enjoy!

You can find Sarah’s blog here. 

You can listen to Sarah’s podcast here. 

If you enjoy the show, please consider leaving us a rating or review on iTunes. These help the podcast get more visibility and reach more moms.  Thanks for listening!

Today we chat with Emilie Beecroft. Emilie is a postpartum doula, lactation consultant assistant and mom to two. Her children are 4 ½ and 2 1/2 . We chat about how Emilie decided to pursue becoming a postpartum doula, what a postpartum doula does and why a new mom might want to hire one and about some really helpful resources for new moms, both locally in our Sacramento area and more generally. When the weather gets nice again, Em will be hosting her monthly postpartum in the park moms groups here in Sacramento. You can follow her facebook page for more updates. She also hosts new moms groups at Java Mama here in Folsom twice per month on the first and third Tuesday. My favorite part of the interview was what she would tell a new mom – “You’re Doing It Right.”   Enjoy the show!

You can find Emilie’s website here.

Follow her on Facebook here. 

Emilie is also a member of the Capital City Doula collective.

In the inaugural episode of the Postpartum Podcast, I speak with Lesley Miller of the blog Barefooton45th. She is also the editor of Kidaround magazine, wife to Jonathan and mom of two.  In this episode we talk about how her first postpartum year was rocked by her husband’s cancer diagnosis, how different her postpartum period looked like with her second child, the importance of slowing down during your postpartum year, rest, and listening to your instincts.  Lesley also talks about how helpful counseling can be and overcoming her struggles with anger during the newborn period.  Her honesty is inspiring and I thank her so much for sharing her story!

A blog post of hers that we discussed was her post called “Dear Mom of a Newborn.”

You can find her blog here. 

You can find her on Twitter here.

You can find her on Facebook here. 

You can find Kidaround magazine here.