Your Mom Has a Podcast

1 in 4 women will miscarry a pregnancy. It’s so common you probably know someone who has lost a pregnancy to miscarriage or have experienced it yourself. And, if you’re thinking, “Hmm…actually, I don’t know anyone who has miscarried” it might be because we don’t really talk about it. Today’s guest, Clarissa Peppers, opens up about her very easy leap into motherhood but how carrying a second child to term was fraught with loss, confusion and anxiety. In the years between welcoming her eldest son, Rivers into the world, Clarissa and her husband, Nick, suffered 3 miscarriages before finally completing their family with a second son, Remy. We talk about the emotional toll miscarriage and recurrent miscarriage can take on one’s physical and emotional health, how it can affect your relationship with your partner or spouse and why it is important to bring these things to light. How we need to allow more women to feel held and supported during a time where they may feel very isolated, first, afraid to share the joy of being pregnant and then the quiet suffering that comes with an early loss.

I think that, once you become a parent, that new role bleeds into every other part of your life. It informs your choices, your actions and it is nearly impossible to separate your role as “mom” from every other hat that you wear in your life. Since I started this podcast and have had the privilege of speaking with all of my amazing guests, I have found that the ties that unite us as mothers transcend race, culture, economic status, geography…there are very real threads that bind us in this exclusive club. And one of those, I am recognizing, is how each of us pulls from our learnings as mothers and feels called to funnel that into our work both the 9 to 5 variety as well as work of the capital W variety. For today’s guest, Emily, becoming a mother and the first year of motherhood with her infant daughter, sent her on a personal growth journey and down a career path that was never on her radar. Tune in to today’s episode to hear Emily’s story of how she went from educator to mom to postpartum doula to running her own local doula agency here in Cincinnati and how her experience with postpartum depression was the catalyst that brought her to where she is today. This is your mom has a podcast, I’m Amanda Strong

Rachel Brown is on a mission. When I was connected to her through a mutual friend, I was immediately intrigued by her diverse work history and how her relentless hustle and desire for knowledge has shifted since becoming a mother. It seems that Rachel has always looked to carve an alternative path and has found it even more important to her as she looks to balance her desire to be as present and available as possible for her young daughter, Frankie, but also in pursuing entrepreneurship as a practitioner of Thai Yoga Massage, Microblading and trying to build a female owned and operated wellness and beauty business. And, while Rachel now feels like she has found her place in how she grows internally through work and educational endeavors, another big piece of defining herself in the face of motherhood is how she presents to the world on the outside. Despite how you dress or wear your hair before kids, often, when we become mothers, we feel the need to soften or tone down our appearance to look more like a mom. But is it necessary? Listen in to find our more….

Amanda reads comments she received on Instagram from fellow moms in the thick of sheltering in place and how to deal with the "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HOMESCHOOL THESE KIDS?"

In today's episode, I talk with Julietta Ladipo about mothering in the face of living without her own mother. We talk about that grief and how it lingers still today. Julietta also shares her experiences on the three main relationships she is focused on and how she balances each - where she has opportunities to grow and where she feels she's in her groove.

Jonelle Zachary is a FORCE. She entered into motherhood at a young age while climbing the corporate ladder in fashion retail. She grew and exceeded expectations working alongside seasoned colleagues often twice her age. She.was.killing.it. And then? Unexpected transition. Her job was being eliminated and she had a big choice to make: leave Cincinnati and her network of friends and family to continue to pursue her career OR take a chance, stay where she is and find new opportunities so that her young son would have the opportunity to know his people and foster those relationships. Listen in to hear how Jonelle chose to bloom where she was planted, how she followed her passion for speaking and teaching and learn some of the mindful practices she employs when it comes to raising her pre-teen son.

Jonelle Zachary is a FORCE. She entered into motherhood at a young age while climbing the corporate ladder in fashion retail. She grew and exceeded expectations working alongside seasoned colleagues often twice her age. She.was.killing.it. And then? Unexpected transition. Her job was being eliminated and she had a big choice to make: leave Cincinnati and her network of friends and family to continue to pursue her career OR take a chance, stay where she is and find new opportunities so that her young son would have the opportunity to know his people and foster those relationships. Listen in to hear how Jonelle chose to bloom where she was planted, how she followed her passion for speaking and teaching and learn some of the mindful practices she employs when it comes to raising her pre-teen son.

Season 2 is coming in hot and I am bringing so many amazing moms into the sunroom to talk about their experiences in motherhood. SUBSCRIBE so that you don't miss a single one and follow along on Instagram @yourmomhasapodcast or the latest updates, photos and information about each guest.

Today’s guests, Jen and Leah Kaiser met in grade school and became friends. As young adults who were both out, and after a series of bad breakups on both sides, a mutual friend suggested the two might be a good match. They weren’t convinced. But, the comment planted the seed and each interaction after, they found themselves growing closer, in a relationship and eventually? Happily married. When it came to expanding their family, Leah knew she wanted children, Jen? Jen thought it might be more fun to have disposable income and like, a vacation home. But, after an unexpected melanoma diagnosis for Leah, the two realized what was at stake and the idea of starting a family and leaving legacy through them became a driving force in their marriage. Listen in to hear these moms talk about their experience in becoming pregnant, parenting their two small children and what it’s like raising good humans as a same sex couple.

I don’t know if I have ever gotten into much detail here about Why I actually started this podcast but today’s guest is part of it. In 2009 when my husband and I were trying to conceive and starting our family, we were the ONLY people in our circle of friends entering into that stage of life. It was lonely. In those early years, and honestly, still today, I have sought out a gang of Internet mom friends through blogs and social media whose online presence and transparency in their motherhood experience makes me feel a little less alone and a lot less like I am always screwing things up. Today’s guest Hillary co-wrote a blog with a college friend called, Not Raising Brats. I gobbled up every word. They were two years ahead of me in the parenting game and, as luck would have it, Hillary and I were expecting at the same time (her son Wes born less than 24 hours after I delivered Quinn!) so not only did I get to learn from their experiences with toddlers but I also had a mom going through the exact same things as I was and it was comforting having a long distance internet friend in pregnancy. Just like Not Raising Brats was a lifeline for me in the early days of motherhood, that’s what I hope for with this podcast. A little virtual life line that helps other mothers to feel al little less alone in whatever parenting hurdle they face. Today Hillary and I talk about what it is like raising sons. If you ask her sons what their family motto is they will first ask if they can “cuss” and then tell you it’s to not be an asshole. We talk about how she is mindful to open up her sons’ experiences and extra circular opportunities to things outside of their personal interests in the hopes of exposing them to things that may not necessarily be targeted to boys and men. We also talk about the importance of reading and how Hillary has cultivated a love for literacy in her home and how you can help your children love to read too.

Last week I had popped on to Facebook and happened to land on the Mom group page for our part of town. As I quickly scrolled through the most recent posts, one in particular caught my attention. It was a local mom looking to raise funds and collect toys for a toy drive that she hosts each year in memory of her son Christian. Christian died in 2014 at just 19 months old from a rare form of pediatric melanoma. A few months after he had passed, Tanya went to visit Christian’s grave site only to see the memorial items they had placed there were stolen. A friend started a fundraiser to help Tanya. The outpouring of support was more than they had anticipated and so, with the extra money the formed a plan. They would purchase toys for sick children at Cincinnati Children’s, The Shriner’s Hospital and The Dragonfly Foundation. This year will be the fourth year for the Christina Kennedy Graham Toy Drive. Listen in to today’s episode to hear Tanya’s experience as Christin’s mom and how his sunny outlook, even in the face of terminal illness, inspired her and her family to lean toward happy.

Did you know that, on average, women ages 26 to 25 years have a 15-20% of falling pregnant per month? Furthermore, 80% of couples will conceive naturally within 12 months of trying but…what happens when mother nature doesn’t answer the call? There are so many ways to start a family. And for those who want to experience pregnancy, embracing modern medicine through fertility treatments can be the ticket to parenthood for those who desire it and who have the means to get there. Jen and her husband David knew conceiving children without assistance was going to be tricky. A childhood illness had left David at a disadvantage in the "available swimmers" department and he knew making a baby might be difficult but never imagined the lengths he would have to go to be a dad. Listen in to today’s episode to hear Jen talk about her hard won journey into motherhood and how their experience with In Vitro Fertilization or IVF inspired them to launch the non profit, Parental Hope, a voluntary organization dedicated to helping couples battling infertility in three important ways: To help alleviate the financial burden of infertility through financial assistance, creating community and providing education and through support groups for couples battling infertility.

Let’s say you’re going about your day and oops! You trip over those 15 pairs of shoes by the back door and break your ankle. What do you do? Go about your day and just hope it goes away? Ignore it? Cross your fingers and pray that it magically gets better? Maybe you’re shaking your head at that thought. You should be. That’s ridiculous. If you broke your ankle, you would be at the doctor or Urgent Care getting X-rays trying to determine how to take care of yourself. So why do we go about ignoring our brains when our mental health is suffering? Why do we do this? Honestly, I feel super passionate about this topic and the intro just isn’t enough to get into details about WHY we ignore our mental wellbeing. In today’s episode, I speak with mom Jess Sankal about how a mental break after the death of her older sister forced her to finally step back and seek help in learning how to cope with childhood trauma, the death of her mother and the death of her older sister, Alyssa. (And, just for a warning, today’s story covers physical aggression, death, eating disorders and PTSD. )

Today I talk with Mary Gaertner, mom to Nora, a sweet and precocious 4 year old going on 40. Mary wants to raise a strong daughter who feels empowered to do and be whatever it is that her heart desires. According to Mary, parenting Nora feels much like parenting herself and we talk about how she’s navigating that in a way that honor’s her daughter’s spirit. We also talk about Mary’s role as the director of the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of Girls on the Run, a non profit after school program for girls in grades 3-5 where participants are inspired to build confidence, and other important life skills through dynamic, interactive lessons and physical activity. Mary also shares how she has learned to stop martyring herself at home and find time to recharge and how she’s learning that not everything has to be a lesson when it comes to raising kids.

As a society, we still don’t treat mental health as seriously as we do other physical ailments. And honestly? As a mom, it’s so easy to put off your personal needs because it often feels like one more thing to do. Add in feeling overwhelmed and over scheduled, the thought of finding a therapist you click with, digging in to the things that are causing this anxiety in the first place? It’s very real WORK! My guest today is a mother of 3 who opens up about her own mental health journey. She shares how a stressful pregnancy with her first child was where her own anxiety started to grow. It grew again with an unexpected birth outcome and then, again with a personal health scare this fall. Listen in to hear Hubbell talk about how she recognized she needed to seek help, how her life as a mom has shifted and how she’s used her experience to recognize and help her eldest daughter work through her own anxiety.

Today’s interview is a true story of a twenty-something woman, picked to live in a house with 6 strangers and have her life taped. Listen in to find out what happened when she stopped being polite and started getting real. You know I had to open with that, right? I HAD to. I am thankful that my adolescence and young adulthood happened BEFORE social media. That the dumb things I did were not preserved for all eternity on someone’s phone or story or timeline much less broadcast to millions on cable tv. For Melissa, Y2k was the year, she broadcast 6 months of her life in the ninth season of The Real World New Orleans. And, what seemed like a good time and an easy way out of her hometown of Valrico, Florida, ended up taking her beyond what she had imagined. Her reality TV debut turned into a brief stint in Hollywood chasing commercial roles, auditions, and a full time job on Chelsea Handler’s show Girls Behaving Badly. Then, one day, after some soul searching, she decided she’d had enough of Hollywood and moved to Long Island, New York to live with her then boyfriend, Justin. In 2007 Melissa and Justin married and, in early 2009 she gave birth to their first child, a daughter. It was then when she realized that being a mom? This was the gig she was meant to land.

Pinterest Perfect Social Media Moms (say that 5 times fast!) can be fun to observe online, but what happens when it's all you see day in and day out and it leaves you feeling like your life just doesn't measure up? As mothers we are often caught comparing our lives and families to those around us and it can be impossible to escape this current online culture of the "Slay all day" influencer mom. Logically, we recognize that what we see online is just a snippet of a moment or a life, but, after a while, it can leave us feeling like we just aren't enough if we aren't showered, dressed to the nines and having nothing but magic moments with our children 24/7. Amanda shares her perspective on the good and bad of social media, how having her second child forced her to be very specific about her personal boundaries online and in real life and how pacing your mom magic is one of the most important things any mom should do to avoid parenting burn out.

In the summer of 2007, Stephanie was visiting Cincinnati for a friend's going away party. That night at the party, Stephanie found herself connecting with a man named Matt, whom she describes as looking kind of middle eastern, a little like, "hot Jesus." They both felt sparks that night and stayed in touch long distance until Stephanie found a job in Cincinnati and moved there that July. By August? Stephanie was pregnant with hot Jesus's baby. Tune in to hear Stephanie share how she went from Team No Kids to having three, how she believes that open lines of communication and honesty is helping her to raise confident and empowered children and how her main parenting goal is to just not raise assholes.

Olivia's mom left her and her four siblings on Olivia's 13th birthday. The move came as a total shock and, as a young girl with no background on what spurred her mom's exit, Olivia was left feeling hurt, angry and confused. 18 years later, after she experienced a miscarriage with her first child, Olivia was heartbroken. She wondered how, if she was so sad about losing a baby she had never met, how on Earth could her mother have left 5 children? Listen in to hear how this HUGE life event affected Olivia's adolescence, informed who she became as a woman and a mom and how she reconnected with her mother after 18 years of estrangement.

It can be really hard to love your body during pregnancy. Between fluctuating hormones and all of the lovely side effects that come with that (nausea, morning sickness, headaches, mood swings, hot flashes, OH MY!) and then steady weight gain, it's like a really weird puberty. And then, after baby arrives, you have a whole new body to contend with. Night sweats, leaky boobs, hormone fluctuations, hair loss, bleeding (JFC, the endless bleeding). It's truly a crazy miracle but goodness gracious, it ain't pretty. Amber Fowler is a mother of three and candidly shares her journey into motherhood through IVF and how she struggled with her body image after her second pregnancy, especially working in the hyper critical fitness industry. She gets honest on what she finds hard about motherhood and what she hopes her kids get out of their fun, crazy family life in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.

What is it about motherhood that invites judgement from others? When Jenna decided to leave her teaching job to be a stay at home mom (a decision that was as surprising to her as it was to her friends and family), she was astonished by the comments that came from close friends and strangers alike who didn't understand why she would want to stay home. She also shares how judgement comes in at other times - whether it's the kind of activities her children choose to pursue or how she chooses to spend her days at home with her kids. In the second half, Jenna shares how, at 34 weeks pregnant with her second child, she decided to have a home birth. She opens up about how the decision unfolded over those following weeks in preparation for her baby's arrival. From telling her husband she wanted to stay home (He said, "HUH?" to sharing with select family and how her son entered the world on a cold morning in 2016.

Getting pregnant her Freshman year of college was NOT how Lauren expected her first year to go. However, despite the incredible detour in her plan, Lauren found that having her daughter that year helped her focus in on what really mattered. This incredible mother of four takes us on her journey from OG Teen Mom to dating and meeting her husband, having more babies, pursuing her passions, embarking on a masters degree (!) all while raising a tribe of amazing kiddos age 16 to 8 months.

Life for Christina and her family had been pretty average up until 7 months ago. When one morning, on a quick car ride to school, she asked her sons, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The answer that came from her son Nathan would send Christina and her family down a transformative journey she never saw coming. In this episode, Christina shares what it has been like to parent a child who is Male to Female Trans and where they are today in this very new season of life.