Podcasts about Nicu

Season 12 is coming to a close, and it's been a season of big shifts. With Alyssa stepping in to host every episode and Madeline handling more behind-the-scenes projects, the podcast sounded a little different, but still hit all the same emotional notes. We also covered some especially heavy community topics, from family planning to marriage to familial rejection, which shaped the tone of the season in a really meaningful way.In this finale episode, we're sharing a quick look behind the scenes of what Season 12 was actually like for us, plus a full recap of the season through all the intro clips. We're also playing three listener takeaways, where Cary, Meghan, and Michelle share the episodes that resonated with them most this season.And finally, we're giving you a little peek at Season 13 on the topic of our children's disabilities, including long-requested topics like the NICU experience and how moms and dads are taken seriously (or not) in medical settings.Thank you for listening, supporting Sticker Club, and being part of this community. We can't wait to be back with you in January.Links:Join The Rare Life newsletter andnever miss an update!Fill out our contact form to joinupcoming discussion groups!Follow us on Instagram @the_rare_life!Donateto the podcast or Contactme about sponsoring an episode.Follow the Facebook page. Join the Facebook group Parents of Children with Rare Conditions.And if you love this podcast, please leave usa rating or review in your favorite podcast app! 

Send us a textThree third-year fellows present diverse research at Hot Topics. Dr. Tanima from Boston Children's demonstrates lung ultrasound's potential to predict respiratory support duration in 30+ week infants, with first six-hour exams showing strongest correlation—suggesting possible replacement for admission chest x-rays. Dr. Juhi from University of Illinois in Chicago applies large language models to extract IVH prognostic variables from AI literature, identifying critical gaps including absence of resolution prediction studies. Dr. Hailey conducts qualitative research on physician experiences with NICU mortality/morbidity, identifying three impactful loss categories: outcome-expectation mismatches, meaningful relationships, and weight of responsibilities. Their work exemplifies emerging neonatologist interests in point-of-care ultrasound, artificial intelligence applications, and clinician wellbeing. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

This week on the Moms on Call Podcast, Jennifer and Laura speak with parents Mark and Elizabeth Messenger from Birmingham, Alabama. They share their experiences as a blended family with children ranging from 11 years to seven months old, including their journey with their youngest, James, who spent time in the NICU. They discuss the challenges and blessings of having a routine in the hospital and how it helped their son thrive once home. The episode also touches on the emotional and logistical aspects of parenting, including the balance of caring for multiple children and the support systems that help families navigate these challenges.

In this profoundly moving and honest conversation, we sit down with Jeff Loving, a NICU dad, husband, and now an author, who shares the intimate and often unspoken grief experienced by fathers after pregnancy loss. Jeff walks us through the heartbreaking loss of his two sons, Davian and Jadon, the struggle to find empathy and appropriate medical care, and how these experiences ultimately led him and his wife, Cassie, to become fierce advocates for their future family. This episode is a raw look at marriage under immense stress, the importance of empathetic medical staff, and the redemptive joy of welcoming their "double rainbow" daughter, Isla Grace. Jeff also discusses his mission to help other men through their grief by writing his book, Holding Onto the Light. Key Discussion Points & Timestamps Time Topic Key Takeaway 00:06 Meet Jeff Loving: Husband, NICU Dad, and Author Jeff introduces his family, including his dog, Sage, his wife, Cassie, and their NICU "double rainbow" baby girl, Isla Grace, reflecting on five years of marriage and three pregnancies. 01:08 The Loss of Davian (First Pregnancy) Jeff describes the initial shock and excitement of their first pregnancy, the sudden onset of symptoms at 19 weeks, and the devastating choice they faced in the hospital due to an infection: lose the baby, or risk losing both the baby and his wife. 04:55 The Cruel Disconnect of Grief Jeff recounts the soul-crushing moment of holding his son, Davian, as his heartbeat stopped. He shares the struggle of navigating intense grief while the world—and Thanksgiving—kept moving around them. 07:58 Finding Support: The Power of Presence The discussion turns to how his family supported them by simply being present, rather than offering platitudes like "it's God's plan." The importance of showing up for grieving parents is highlighted. 11:21 Empathetic vs. Detached Care Jeff praises the nurses who were a "calming presence in the chaos" and later attended Davian's service. Conversely, he shares a painful anecdote about a male doctor's detached and jovial demeanor, asking if he wanted to cut the cord after the loss. 15:51 What Compassion Looks Like in Care Jeff shares what he wished the doctor had said: "I know this is very hard... just know that my heart breaks for you, and I'm so sorry that you guys are going through this." This is a vital lesson for medical professionals. 16:55 Marriage Under Stress After moving to North Carolina for a fresh start, Jeff discusses how the loss put their marriage under extreme stress—it would either break them or bond them deeper. They emerged stronger. 23:13 The Loss of Jadon (The Second Pregnancy) The traumatic situation repeats almost day-for-day with their second son, Jadon. Jeff details the medical system's failure to provide a cerclage procedure, despite repeated requests, and the resulting emergency. 26:45 The Audacity of Poor Communication Jeff recounts being livid when the doctor who denied them the preventive cerclage entered the room without him present to tell his wife they were losing their baby, and then left without speaking to Jeff. 34:20 The Blessing of Angel the Bereavement Coordinator Jeff shares the incredible support they received from their bereavement coordinator, Angel, who handled every detail from handprints to selecting clothes, even providing a moment of much-needed humor when she accidentally gave Jadon a hilarious nickname. 36:02 Remembrance Toys: Dino Dave and Jucletus The significance of tangible remembrance items, like a weighted dinosaur (Dino Dave) and a heartbeat bear (Jucletus), that allow Isla to connect with her "big brothers." 39:18 "This is Our Double Rainbow Child" Jeff discusses the difficulty of answering "Is this your first?" as a parent of loss, and how he now confidently speaks of Isla as their "double rainbow child." 42:03 A Resource for Fathers of Loss Jeff explains his motivation for writing his book, Holding Onto the Light: A Father's Journey Through Loss and Healing. He notes the lack of resources for grieving men and how he encapsulated real stories into a fictional narrative to help them feel seen and heard. 46:05 The Defining Moment The most powerful feedback: a man who hadn't read a book in a decade finally read Jeff's book after losing his son. 48:52 Where to Find the Book and Connect Jeff shares his book title, where to buy it, and the dedicated email address to build a community of grieving fathers. Action Items & Connect with Jeff Read Jeff's Book: Title: Holding Onto the Light: A Father's Journey Through Loss and Healing Author: J. S. Loving Available: On Amazon (print and Kindle Unlimited). Connect & Share Your Story: Fathers of Loss Email: holdingontothelightbook@gmail.com (Jeff's goal is to connect with other fathers and collect stories for a future project). Instagram: @L-O-V-I-J-E-F (L-O-V-I-J-E-F)   When parents feel empowered, everyone wins – kids thrive and the care team excels! Links and Resources: SupportSpot Website Download SupportSpot iOS or Android 85% of users report high satisfaction, appreciating the SupportSpot app's comprehensive resources and user-friendly interface. 92%  of parent users say the SupportSpot app's helped them understand medical procedures and treatment better. 80% of parents believe the SupportSpot app's has contributed to better health outcomes for their child. 73% of parent users believe the SupportSpot app's has made them feel more empowered to advocate for their child in healthcare Learn more here. Meet the host:  Katie Taylor is the co-founder and CEO of Child Life On Call, a digital platform designed to provide parents, kids, and the care team with access to child life services tools and resources. She is a certified child life specialist with over 13 years of experience working in various pediatric healthcare settings. Katie is the author of the children's book, and has presented on the topics of child life and entrepreneurship, psychosocial care in the hospital, and supporting caregivers in the NICU setting both nationally and internationally. She is also the host of the Child Life On Call Podcast which features interviews with parents discussing their experiences throughout their child's medical journey. The podcast emphasizes the crucial role of child life services in enabling caregivers both at and beyond the bedside. Instagram.com/childlifeoncall   The Child Life On Call Podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. The content shared in each episode, including stories, discussions, and interviews, is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast. The views and opinions expressed by guests on the Child Life On Call Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Child Life On Call. Child Life On Call does not endorse any specific medical treatments, procedures, or opinions shared in the podcast. If you or your child are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or seek immediate medical attention. By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge that Child Life On Call and its affiliates are not responsible for any decisions made based on the information provided. Facebook.com/childlifeoncall linkedin.com/in/kfdonovan  

In this week's episode, Ashley and Aisha sit down for a cozy end-of-year conversation to close out the 2025 podcast season. Together, they reflect on the stories, experts, and full-circle moments that shaped this year's episodes, and share how the Dear NICU Mama sisterhood continues to impact their own healing journeys.They also introduce something brand new to the community: our Right On Time Holiday Book Drive. After receiving more than 130 nominations from NICU moms across the country, six hospitals were selected to receive donated copies of Right On Time. This is a meaningful way for NICU families to give back to the places that cared for their babies so well!During the episode, Ashley and Aisha walk through how the book drive works, why it matters, and how every donation helps sustain the mission of Dear NICU Mama—from this podcast, to our support groups, to the resources that meet NICU moms right where they are. $25 donates one book, and listeners can choose to gift a book to a specific selected NICU or to the general campaign.As we wrap up another year of stories and connection, we hope this conversation reminds you that you are not alone. Thank you, mamas, for being part of this sisterhood. We can't wait to be back in 2026 with more stories of hope!To donate to the Holiday Book Drive, head to: https://givebutter.com/dnmholidaybookdriveTo get connected with DNM:Website | Private Facebook Group | InstagramSupport the show

In this episode of Parenting Understood, we speak with Jodi, founder of Flrrish, about her journey as a NICU mom after her daughter was born at 28 weeks. Jodi shares the shock, fear, and identity shifts that followed her daughter's early arrival, as well as the loneliness many NICU parents experience. She explains how these challenges inspired her to support other preemie families through coaching, community, and guidance navigating early intervention services. Lastly, we discuss parental mental health, the stigma around seeking help, and the importance of meeting children—and parents—exactly where they are. Jodi can be found at the following:  Website Instagram Facebook TikTok LinkedIn  

Get homemaking coaching in 2026: https://simplyconvivial.com/coaching || Perfectionism keeps moms stuck in a boom-and-bust cycle. Lauren, a NICU nurse working night shifts while raising three young girls and beginning her homeschool journey, shares how this year inside Convivial Circle changed the way she approaches home, work, and rest.This is her first year in Simplified Organization Community Coaching, and her story is a clear picture of what iterative, grace-filled growth looks like in real life. She talks about letting go of perfect plans, learning to review her week honestly, coordinating with her husband, adjusting expectations, and taking her homemaking one small step at a time.Do coaching in 2026: https://simplyconvivial.com/coachingHer experience shows that overwhelm doesn't have to lead to giving up. When you learn how to iterate, evaluate, and make simple changes, progress becomes possible even in busy seasons.If you want to stop cycling through fresh starts and burnout, this conversation will help you see a sustainable path forward.Mystie Winckler encourages moms to organize their attitudes and get traction at home so we are no longer overwhelmed or frustrated with homemaking. We are a community of Christian women striving to be competent, cheerful homemakers so we are fruitful, faithful, and hospitable. Subscribe for regular encouragement!

Send us a text In this episode of The Incubator Podcast, recorded live at Hot Topics in Neonatology in Washington, DC, we sit down with Dr. Daniele De Luca, Chief of Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care at AP-HP Paris-Saclay University and leader of one of Europe's largest NICUs. Dr. De Luca discusses the groundbreaking Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Commission on the Future of Neonatology, a three-year initiative involving over 100 global key opinion leaders addressing the critical innovation gap in our specialty. He explores why neonatal medicine has experienced a slowdown in therapeutic advances since the 1990s, despite treating patients who will become citizens for decades ahead. The conversation covers the multifactorial barriers to innovation—from regulatory challenges to funding constraints—and the Commission's comprehensive recommendations for industry, regulators, academic centers, and patient representatives. Dr. De Luca emphasizes the urgent need to avoid treating babies in 20 years the same way we did 20 years ago, highlighting specific examples like the decades-long journey from drug development to registration and the paradox of FDA-approved equipment. He calls for a united approach to elevate neonatology's profile, establish formal specialty recognition, and accelerate the translation of research into bedside care.  Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textDr. Michael Narvey, neonatologist and Vice President of Canadian Pediatric Society, challenges the validity of pre-discharge car seat testing. After leading Canadian work resulting in nationwide abandonment of the test in 2016, he argues the test doesn't represent real-world conditions (potholes, movement) and lacks evidence demonstrating it saves lives from apnea or desaturations. Based on 50 years of autopsy data, rare car seat-related deaths result from unsupervised asphyxiation when infants slide down onto straps—not from events in moving vehicles. Narvey distinguishes between eliminating the test versus maintaining essential car seat safety education, emphasizing proper positioning and avoiding unsupervised use outside vehicles. Some US centers are reconsidering this practice. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textDr. Elaine Boyle, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at University of Leicester, presents the SURFON trial evaluating early surfactant versus expectant management in 34-38 week infants with respiratory distress. This pragmatic trial enrolled infants requiring 30-45% oxygen or non-invasive support. Primary outcomes showed no difference in hospital length of stay or progression to severe respiratory disease. Early surfactant reduced NICU duration and non-invasive support by less than one day each, with borderline pneumothorax increase requiring treatment of 80+ infants to prevent one case. Findings suggest watch-and-wait approaches remain safe and reasonable for this population, though this group requires continued research given their potential for severe illness. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textDr. Pankaj Agrawal, Division Chief of Neonatology at University of Miami, discusses rapid genomic advances—from six-month diagnostic timelines in 2000 to same-day sequencing today. While current practice targets phenotype-based testing for unexplained conditions or dysmorphic features, Agrawal advocates moving toward universal NICU sequencing to identify previously unrecognized conditions. Key barriers include administrative buy-in, cost concerns, consent processes, and result disclosure challenges. Even negative results provide value—offering families reassurance and contributing to research databases. With only 5,000 of 20,000 genes linked to human disease, ongoing gene discovery work continues. Agrawal emphasizes the NICU as ideal for genomic implementation given high genetic disease prevalence and intervention opportunities. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

“Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 AMP   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Discuss: How did God meet you in your experience of army life to reveal your choice of hope vs. fear? What have you learned about community, both before and after your experience of launching your husband into space? For all of us, how can we rediscover our fun side when we've been trapped in survival mode for too long?   Stacey Morgan is always ready with a funny or thoughtful story from her own life; whether it be holding down the home front during military deployments, working for the Smithsonian, skydiving, or blasting  her husband into outer space. Stacey is on staff with MOPS International, a nonprofit focused on the unique needs of mothers around the world. She and her husband, Army colonel and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan, have four children.   Connect with Stacey on Instagram or through her website.   Other Savvy Sauce Episodes Related to Friendship: Friendship with Drew Hunter Reflecting Jesus in Our Relationships with Rach Kincaid Nurturing Friendships with Jackie Coleman Art of Friendship with Kim Wier   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 2:54) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria.   I'm so excited to share a special Patreon re-release episode. And if you've been with The Savvy Sauce for a while, you know that we used to make some money by having people sign up for Patreon and as a reward, they would get access to special episodes. Now we have done away with that as we've transitioned to becoming a nonprofit, and we want to make all of these episodes available to you, so we re-release a few every year.   What I'd love to ask is, as we're approaching the end of year because we've taken out that revenue stream, would you consider financially supporting Savvy Sauce Charities?   There are two simple ways. First, if you want to mail us a check, that saves us all of the processing fees, and you can make that out to Savvy Sauce Charities and mail it to P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois 61561. Also, if you want to go online, visit thesavvysauce.com and you can type in different words to the search button. You could type in “donate” or “support” and it should take you to the place where there's a button to click and put in your credit card information and give that way. We would be so grateful for any amount, and we love our partnership with you.   Here's our chat.   Stacey Morgan is my guest today, and you may have heard her name in the news over the past few years. She has documented her story in her debut book, The Astronaut's Wife: How Launching My Husband into Outer Space Changed the Way I Live on Earth. And now she's going to share more about that season and all the lessons God taught her about making the most of her one incredible life, and she's going to inspire each of us to do the same.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Stacey.   Stacey Morgan: (2:55 - 2:58) I am so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.   Laura Dugger: (2:58 - 3:07) Well, it is truly my pleasure. And will you just start by giving us a little bit more context for our time together and just share a few things about yourself?   Stacey Morgan: (3:08 - 4:49) Sure. Well, hi, my name is Stacey. I currently live in Texas.   I have four kids. I'm married to a guy named Drew who has kind of an unusual job. I grew up in a small town just outside of Boston and was kind of a scholar-athlete growing up interested in a lot of different things but always involved in church and youth group. And that really served me well when I went off to college.   The first college I went to, West Point. And actually, I'll tell you in a minute, but that is where I eventually met my now husband, Drew.   We got married after I graduated from undergrad. He's a little bit older than me and he is an Army officer. And so, we have moved all over the country. We've lived on both coasts and had a number of kinds of unusual situations just, you know, kind of typical for a military family living all over the place.   I've had a lot of crazy jobs. I think mainly I have an unusual story because I'm really quick to say yes to things, which sometimes, you know, it's a double-edged sword. Sometimes you say yes and you realize, “I should have thought through that a little bit more.” But really it's been quite an adventure because we have had the opportunity to live in a lot of different places, experience a lot of different things.   And we ended up here in 2013. We can kind of get into that if you want, but we ended up down here in Texas with my husband, who is still an Army officer, but he became a NASA astronaut. And so, that totally changed the direction of our lives and kind of changing all the plans we had for what we were supposed to be doing in the military and ending up down here at Johnson Space Center. Then, him eventually launching into outer space.   Laura Dugger: (4:49 - 5:01) Wow, there are so many points to unpack, but let's back it up to what you had mentioned about West Point. So, will you just elaborate and tell us more about how you and Drew met and fell in love?   Stacey Morgan: (5:01 - 7:21) Sure. So, we were both cadets at West Point when we met. He was a little bit older than me, but we met through Officers' Christian Fellowship, which is a Christian club that is very popular on military bases, both at the academies but in big Army and other services as well when you get out.   It's a, you know, it's like small groups, typical for what most people would find comfortable in kind of church community. And so, we met there and we just kind of clicked, you know.   I would say it's funny looking back, we were not the type of people I think we would have thought we would marry. He was far more serious than I am. I'm a little bit more, I'm the one to more kind of like walk the fine line, but we work together really well.   We've always been a great team. That's always been a real theme in our marriage, you know, that we are a team. And, you know, when he proposed after I graduated from undergrad, he kind of said, “I promise you a life of adventure,” which at the time sounded wonderful and adorable.   Of course, it has come back to haunt me several times when he has been, you know, come up with some crazy plan and when I hesitate he's like, “I promised you adventure.” And I'm like, “Now that's unfair. I did not know when you said adventure back in 2000 that you meant all these crazy things like going to space or all these different deployments and all this kind of stuff like that.”   So, we now have four kids. We've been married this summer will be 22 years. And, you know, it hasn't been without its challenges like any marriage and certainly any marriage under stress because of stressful situations, whether that's military deployments, whether that's space travel or just kind of life and parenting. And as you kind of grow up together and get to know each other and the world changes around you, we've certainly had ups and downs, but we are a team.   And I think God has really honored that and it's been really helpful for us when we've had those sticky seasons where you just feel like, “Man, we are just not connecting or kind of jiving the way we would want,” to actually say to each other that we are on the same team and that has been really helpful.   Laura Dugger: (7:22 - 7:40) The part of your story that involves space travel is one that most of us will never be able to relate to experientially, but it's still extraordinary. So, can you walk us through the detailed events leading up to 9:28 p.m. on July 20th, 2019?   Stacey Morgan: (7:42 - 15:28) Sure. So, I should back it up one big step behind that just to give everybody a little context. So, in 2012, we were kind of living our lives. We had always been deep into the Army Special Operations community. We love that. In order to live and kind of thrive in that environment you have to be all in, and we were all in.   And one day my husband came home and he was uncharacteristically giddy and he said, “You're not gonna believe this huge news. NASA is opening up the application window for a new class of astronauts.”   And I thought, “Why are you telling me this? This has no bearing whatsoever on our lives. We are on this path and that is a completely different path.”   And he said, “Well, I want to apply.”   And I thought to myself, “Well, I wanted to be a ballerina at one point in life, but that ship sailed. Like who doesn't say they always wanted to be an astronaut? Like this seems like a childhood fantasy.”   But he said, “No, I just want to apply. Like don't worry, all of our plans are gonna stay the same. They've never selected an Army physician before. I just, you know, I want to...” You know, the joke was that you'll always be a NASA applicant, right? And that'll be great. We'll laugh about it at family Christmases and stuff.   Except he kept making it through every gate. And so, in 2013 we got the call that completely took our life off of one set of train tracks and put it on another. At that time, we were currently stationed just outside of Washington DC at Fort Belvoir. We were supposed to be literally the next week moving to Germany. And that's how close these changes kind of came up on themselves. And so, we had to unravel everything for Germany and move to Houston, Texas, because that's where Johnson Space Center is.   And so, he began his training in 2013. I started my journey in learning a whole new culture, a whole new way of doing life. I'd never lived in a place that was at least not near a military base or within a military community. Didn't quite recognize at the time how much that shared sense of community had made things easier in terms of connecting with people before that and when I didn't have it.   So, it was probably our rockiest transition for me personally that I'd ever had in terms of friendships and getting connected. That's a big part of my story because I think friendship struggles are so common for adult women. It's just something that nobody really teaches us how to do and so a lot of women are very lonely.   But fast forward, he trained for several years until it was eventually his turn to fly. And in 2019, the only way to get to the International Space Station was to fly on a Russian Soyuz rocket. So, some people are very confused because they think, “Well, every space movie I've ever watched is taking place in Florida, right? Whether that's Apollo 13 or Armageddon or whatever. Why didn't he launch from Florida?”   Well, between 2011 and 2020, the Space Shuttle program had ended. SpaceX Crew Dragon had not yet started launching from Florida again. So, for about a 10-year period, the only way to get to and from the International Space Station was to ride a Russian rocket.   So, that's what NASA did. They went into partnership with the Russians, which of course makes things very interesting given today's kind of current political climate and all the world events. But that meant when it was Drew's turn to launch, we as a family had to travel to Kazakhstan, which is a country that I could not spell before 2019.   And so, if you don't know where that is, don't feel bad. I didn't either. I had to look it up. It's a former Soviet Republic really kind of in between Russia and Afghanistan. So, it is in the middle of nowhere. And when the Soviets were building their space program in the 1950s and 60s, they built their secret space city there in Kazakhstan. That's where they started their space program and they have kind of kept it unchanged and they continue to launch their rockets from there today.   It was a whole kind of world travel and cultural experience to take my four kids to Kazakhstan, which is a completely different cultural experience for really what came down to a very stressful, very emotional moment really waiting for that launch. So, unlike Florida, which you know when you watch on television, it's colorful, there's a lot of people, a lot of spectators, big people remember from the shuttle days big countdown clock, a loudspeaker kind of telling everybody what's going on... that's not how it is in Kazakhstan.   So, about 30 minutes before the launch, the kids and I were brought to this viewing area. And by viewing area I would say big field. It's not... there was kind of some grandstands area far at the other end of the field, but that's where all the space tourists stand and the press and all that kind of stuff and we didn't want to be near them. So, our escort brought us down to the end, the other end of the field, and it's just dark and it's quiet and there's no announcements. There's no countdown clock. It's just looking at your watch or your phone there just kind of in the dark and you just know that that Russian ground crew is going to launch that rocket at exactly 9:28 p.m. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later.   And so, standing there in the dark holding my kids' hands, and we can see the rocket in the distance only about a mile away, which by rocket launch standards is very close. Knowing that in a minute or 30 seconds or 10 seconds as it gets closer, it's either going to be one of the best days of your life, super exciting, super proud moment, or it's going to be the worst day of your life, and you could become a widow.   And as much as it's easy to kind of get complacent because incidents are so rare, but we all can remember any number of space disasters that have happened. Columbia, Challenger, those are very real. And with my time down here at Johnson Space Center, you come to learn those names and you meet those families and you meet those widows and widowers and you realize that space travel is dangerous. You know, at the end of the day my husband was in a little tiny capsule on top of a rocket full of highly explosive fuel. So, it's very scary.   And in that moment standing there thinking, “In 10 seconds my life is going to change no matter what happens.” Even if this goes perfectly, what happens next? I don't really know. It's kind of like having a baby. You can read all about it and assume things will be the way they're going to be, but until you're in it and then it happens, you don't really know how it's gonna go.   And so, it was a really overwhelmingly emotional moment because you think this could go sideways. And also, by the way, the world is watching live with me. So, if something goes wrong, I'm not able to process this privately. I will be experiencing it in real time with the rest of the world.   But even if it goes perfectly, what happens next? Like what does it look like to live on earth with a spouse in space and single parent for nine plus months while their other parent is in space? And you really don't know and it's scary to think like, “Gosh, what if something happens?” You know, he can't like come home early. Can't just like a business trip jump on a plane or a train and get home early. There's no coming back early. So, whatever happens, I'm on my own for better or worse. I'm on my own and I hope I have the endurance and the support system and everything I'm gonna need in order to be successful in this nine months.   Laura Dugger: (15:28 - 15:47) And my heart is pounding a little bit faster just as I hear you describe this. And I'd love to get back to your story, but first just to pause and wonder with that mixture of this adventure right in front of you and then your experience of army life, how did God meet you in all of that to reveal your choice of you're able to choose hope or fear?   Stacey Morgan: (15:47 - 22:32) Right. So, you know, when you take the time to step back and think, sometimes you don't see these patterns in your life until you kind of start putting them down on paper. And it was interesting for me to see how God had prepared me for that moment with other moments, especially related to military deployments in the past. Because certainly experiencing a rocket launch and all that fear and kind of this moment of where is my hope found in this moment, that was a varsity level moment.   But I'm so thankful that about ten years earlier God really started to prepare me for that moment with some other big moments. Like when my husband deployed for the first time.   I'll never forget, it was the height of the War on Terror. So, we were living in a military community which was amazing and a lot of my friends' husbands were also serving in the same military units or similar military units and they were deploying. The tempo was high so that meant, you know, six months deployed or longer, coming home for short amounts of time and then deploying again. Lots of action specifically in Afghanistan and Iraq at the time.   And so, lots of fatalities, lots of injuries, lots of grief, and for spouses a lot of fear because we knew what they were doing was very dangerous. And so, for me and my friends we kind of had this unspoken rule which I think a lot of people can understand which was, “Let's just not talk about this scariest thing because somehow talking about it makes it seem more possible.”   And as crazy as that is to say, people get that. You know, there's a lot of things we don't talk about because it's just too scary to think about. And so, for us the scariest thing in our life at that time was the fear that our husbands would not come home, that they would be killed in action. And that felt very real because we were going to memorial services, we were visiting people in the hospital, we were turning on the news and seeing what was going on in the world. And there was often communication blackouts because we knew that they were doing things that were very dangerous, very secretive.   And so, at the time I happily did what everybody else was doing which was, “Let's just not talk about it. Let's just kind of live life managing.” We felt like we were managing this fear, I think that's what I would have said at the time.   But then one day my friend Lisa, who's an amazing friend and she's always like two steps ahead of me on the wisdom scale, we were having coffee on her front porch and she turned to me and she said, “I've been thinking a lot about what life would be like if our husbands were killed.”   And this was like a bomb drop. I mean because we just were not supposed to be talking about this. Like here the rest of us had been avoiding all morbid thoughts about what could possibly happen with our husband and instead she had like turned and looked it straight in the eye.   And I was shocked. And so, I kind of sat up straighter and I said, “What do you mean?”   And she said, “Well, I've been thinking about it and it's not that, you know, life would certainly be hard and doesn't mean we wouldn't need counseling or our kids wouldn't need support, but life would still go on even if that happened. Life would still go on. Life would still be full of good things and God would provide and bring people around us to support us and I've just been thinking about that.”   And I was stunned. I was absolutely stunned because while the rest of us were too afraid to face that fear, in looking at it she kind of exposed it for what it was, which was certainly real and an absolute possibility that that could happen. But when she started walking down the path of like, “Okay, if this happened then what would happen?” You have to decide, “Do I believe God would really be with me or not? Do I believe His promises are true that He will be with me on good days and bad days and that He will draw people to me who will love me and support me? And have I plugged myself into friends and a faith community that would be there for me if that happened?”   And it was a game changer. That was probably one of, at the time, the biggest life-changing conversations I'd ever had as an adult because it really did shift how I viewed feeling afraid about things like that. And so, I had several opportunities... Drew deployed several times and then certainly doesn't take combat deployments to feel afraid like that. I know I have felt it before when my daughter was in the NICU, you know, and I had to leave her in the NICU and go home at night. I know I have felt it during this pandemic several times. I know I'm gonna feel it when I drop my oldest off at college this summer. You know, this moment where it just life feels very scary mainly because of the unknowns that come next and the fact that you have no control over those.   And so, that rocket launch moment was, you know, I felt like God was really prompting me in that moment to say, “Hey, if this rocket explodes like what will you do with that? Do you still trust me that I'm here with you and that I will still bring people to you and love you? Like is your support, is your foundation and your hope truly found in me or is it found in this rocket launch going successfully? Because it might not, and then what does that mean for you?”   And so, it really was this choice of am I gonna choose to live a life of fear, which is our default because if you do not choose something else we will always live a life dictated by fear of something. It's exhausting to live like that because once you conquer one fear another one's gonna pop up. Then they come in bunches and they just start layering on top of each other. Honestly it can lead to despair because there's plenty of things in the world to be afraid of and new ones just pop up every day.   So instead, I felt like God was offering me a new way of living and it really felt tangible in that moment of that rocket launch which is, “Hey, I hope that you will choose to find your hope in me. Just me. The one unchanging thing in this world that will be unchanging regardless of what happens with this rocket launch in 10 seconds. But if it goes well or if it goes poorly I am unchanging. You can rely on me. I will be with you in the best and the worst of times. And even if the rocket launch goes successfully and whatever happens in the next nine months, I'm with you there as well. So, you don't need to be afraid because I'm here with you. You can have hope that I will enable you to do what must be done no matter what happens tomorrow.”   Laura Dugger: (22:32 - 22:49) I'm so grateful that you chose hope and you chose faith. And then after all of that excitement and that adrenaline experienced on launch day, what did your life look like in the months to follow?   Stacey Morgan: (22:49 - 26:47) Yeah, it wasn't easy. You know I joke that those nine months really were like it was like a master class in all these little lessons I've learned throughout the years, but I'd never had to put them into practice at this level and all at the same time.   So, things like being honest about that I needed help. That, you know, there are times in the past where I have certainly wanted people to know or think that I had it all together and that I could do it all by myself especially, you know, I think every mom feels that way.   Certainly, military spouses, we take a lot of pride and feel like I'm doing this on my own.   And I realize now that I had certain seasons I have made life a lot harder for myself because I somehow thought that there was like an extra trophy if I finish the race by myself. I said that it was like, spoiler, there's no trophy. And also, I was just making it harder for myself.   And so, this season I could not fake it. Like past seasons I could fake it. This one I could not fake it. I had two teenagers, two tweens, a lot of hormones and then prepubescent and puberty things flying around. Just a lot of scheduling, a lot of driving, like just life. And then just the stress of living with someone who, you know, a spouse who was living in space and the stress of what does that do to your marriage, to parenting and, you know, parent-child relationships. Just every single piece of running a house, of parenting all the things, was solely on my shoulders and that's a big weight. And it was tough. It was tough.   So, I could not fake it. I had to ask for help. I had to be willing to ask for it and receive it, which are two different skill sets I found. It's sometimes you get good at one and not the other. I had to get really willing to be vulnerable as my friends and say things like, “I'm really lonely.” Can you know, it's like being honest. Like everything's not just, “Oh, this is so exciting. Oh, isn't it so great? Aren't we just so proud of them?” Yes, but at the same time sometimes I'm lonely. Sometimes I'm struggling.   Sometimes in my stress I would overly focus on trying to control my home life or what was happening within my own house and become not as pleasant of a person to live with because I was just trying to kind of regain some control in what felt like a little bit of a chaotic world and then you become not your best self and you know that. And so, I had to learn how to kind of get out of that survival mode and still have fun even when life is hard. And really just kind of accept that life isn't one thing or the other. You can be in a hard season and it still have good things in it. Life can be full of opportunities and challenges and one does not negate the other. And when you try to live your life by one narrative or the other, not only are you faking it but you make life harder than it needs to be and you kind of block other people out of it.   So, there was a lot of learning going on in there but we really all came down to that first decision of how am I gonna live my life in this season? Am I gonna live it fearfully, reactionary, hair trigger, you know, just stress all the time because I'm afraid of what comes next. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to handle it? Or am I gonna live a life of hope, which is of course like not wishes and dreams but it is anticipation that God will be with me no matter what comes down the pipeline. And sometimes that's divine comfort that is hard to explain but you just feel it. Sometimes it's people he draws to your life who literally will sit on the couch with you and just like hold your hand or give you a hug that moment you need it. Sometimes it's someone offering to carpool or take your kid out driving because they're trying to get their driver's license, you know?   But that's really the biggest thing for me. I talked about it in chapter one of the book because that's the foundation that really all those other lessons were built on.   Laura Dugger: (26:47 - 27:26) And I think also with your book, it was helpful to hear little insights into what it looked like for your marriage. And it was even interesting when you said it's really important for astronauts to have forms of entertainment and that you were so committed to being involved in Drew's life and that you two still found ways to stay connected. I just think that has to be encouraging to any married couples listening right now because you clearly had a big barrier to overcome. But what were some of those ways that the two of you tried as best as you could in that season to stay intimately connected to one another's lives?   Stacey Morgan: (27:26 - 31:19) Yeah, it's not easy. And I think there's kind of this fallacy that is kind of dangerous for especially young married I think to believe which is like in every season of your life you're gonna feel amazingly connected to your spouse and you're gonna constantly be growing in your relationship. And sometimes that's not true. Like sometimes one person has a job that takes them away from home or someone is sick or there are other issues going on in your life where the connection is just not as strong not because you don't want it to be but because the circumstances you find yourself in don't allow for that.   And certainly, while my husband was in space that was a lot of challenges to feeling connected. I mean there's good communication but there's a difference between like quality and quantity, right? So, he could call me on the phone every day but because of the time differences and his schedule the only time he could call me was between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. my time, which as any person knows and with any kids, is like the worst time of the day. Like everything's happening, the wheels are coming off, homework, pickups, dinner prep, like all that kind of stuff was crazy.   So, needless to say, I was not able to sit down and have like a heartfelt drawn-out conversation. And then kids hate talking on the phone so he wasn't really talking to them during the day. I'm like, you know, my eight-year-old isn't gonna send him an email. So, you know, there wasn't like a lot of quality or quantity conversation with the kids which of course puts a little stress on your marriage too because you worry about that.   And then we have one video chat a month and you want it to be fun. You want it to kind of be good for the kids as well as him but it's a very, you know, it's one hour to share between five people and so that's not a lot of time. And so, the reality is that for that season there was a lot of, I would say, relationship treading water. And you're, you know, the goal is just not to let things go downhill, which you can easily do in life when you and your spouse are experiencing the same event but from different points of view. And that's what we were doing. You know, we were sharing the mission but from two vastly different points of view.   And so, you do your best. But the difference is I think you have to in order to kind of come out on the other end better, you have to have a kind of a mutual commitment that, “Hey, we're going to... we are eventually going to come back together on this. We can't change the circumstances. I can't make the time difference different. I can't give you more time on the phone. I can't... there's things I just cannot change. But we are committed as a team to doing the best we can right now and when this circumstance changes, in this case when he came home, we're gonna kind of back up again and do some story sharing and reconnect about some things that we just didn't have the opportunity to in the past.”   And so, it's a little bit kind of like two steps forward one step back but eventually you still come out ahead if you are committed to trying to come back together and share those experiences in one way or another. Where you run into kind of danger is if people start experiencing two different things and then they never come back together so the gap just kind of keeps widening and widening. And then you hear when people say like, “Yeah, I woke up and I felt like I was living a different life than the person who was sleeping next to me.”   And so, reminding us to ourselves that we are a team even though we were experiencing the same thing. I didn't know a lot about a lot of the things he was doing. He didn't know a lot of stories about how things were for me. And so, it's okay to tell them later if you don't have the ability to tell them in the moment as long as you both have the goodwill and you prioritize coming back together eventually.   Laura Dugger: (31:19 - 34:26) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University.   Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia. This online self-paced program includes 13 associate's degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees, and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. This could even be a great option to complete your general education courses and then transfer to the college of your choice and save money in the process. So, if you're looking for an affordable college option while simultaneously gaining valuable work experience and earning an income, Chick-fil-A East Peoria is the place for you. You don't have to go into debt to get a great education. To apply today, please go to https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria  and click on the careers tab. You can also call the restaurant at 309-694-1044 to find out more. And if you aren't located near Chick-fil-A East Peoria, make sure you check with your local Chick-fil-A restaurant to see if they also participate in the Elevate program with Point University. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Did you know that this podcast is 100% listener supported? We love producing free content that's available to everyone around the world with our monthly newsletters when you sign up for our email list and with our weekly episodes. We pray that this has been a benefit to you. That if any episode has ever impacted you, what we ask is that you will partner with us now and generously and prayerfully give financially before the end of the year. There's multiple ways to do this. Online at thesavvysauce.com, you can donate through Stripe,  PayPal, or Venmo with just a simple click. Or you can send snail mail to us at Savvy Sauce Charities, P.O. Box 101 Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. We hope you choose to support us today and during this season especially.   It sounds like you really leaned into your friendships. So, what would you say you've learned about community both before and after your experience of launching Drew into space?   Stacey Morgan: (34:26 - 38:07) Well, I tell you what, I realized that as an adult often a lot of us don't really know how to do friendship well. And our culture is so, it so values independence that we often convince ourselves that if we tell our friends or our community that we need help or just kind of show our true heart for how important it is to us, that somehow that's gonna be kind of like devalued or we're gonna feel weak. And I realized like, “Man, I wasted a lot of years trying to be tougher than I really am.” And I wish I could go back and change that because in this season, mainly because I had no choice. And so, God really used this opportunity to show me like, “Hey, I'm gonna kind of like force you to open up your heart, be vulnerable with this small group of really trusted friends and like just trust me to see what happens next.”   And I did and it was a game-changer. I mean, I have a lot of deep feelings but I put a little bit of a tough exterior and I forced myself to be super honest and super vulnerable with my friends and say things like, “I'm lonely or I don't even know what I need but I'm just feeling exhausted or angry or this is really frustrating to me or I need help with this and I don't even know where to begin.” And just let those friends step into my life in a really intimate way.   And you know, I think we've all had a friend at some point who has asked for help and we have been so happy to help them and we've never thought less of them for it. But somehow when it comes to our own time we're like, “Oh, I don't want to trouble anybody. Oh, they're gonna think I can't handle it.” Or like, “Well, this is like I made this bed so I better lie in it. You chose to have all these kids, you chose this career, you chose this whatever, like this is your problem.” But we would never say that about another friend. And so, I don't know why we are harder on ourselves than we are on our friends because it's not right. Most of our friends are happy to help us. They love us helping us, being with us, comforting us, supporting us. That's how they show how important you are to them and we need to let them do that.   I've also gotten better about verbalizing the feelings that I had always felt inside but I felt awkward verbalizing. Like, “Thank you for being my friend.” Or like, “Thank you for just spending this time with me,” or, “You are an important person in my life.” Words that we say to our kids, that we often say to our spouses, but sometimes for me at least felt weird saying to friends and I'm really trying to get better about that. That was a great nine months of practice. It doesn't come easy or natural I think to anybody but it's a game changer. Like why not tell your friends how much they mean to you?   So, community is essential. Like don't try to lone wolf this life. I've certainly had some more extreme experiences than probably the average person, but the principles are the same. Get plugged into community and have multiple circles of community. Certainly, your faith community but also you know if you work, if you go to the gym, if you go to school, like your kids' friends, like there's so many circles of community and don't be afraid to just jump right in and get connected. And you've got to do it before you are in crisis. You've got to kind of invest in these friendships so that you know them and can trust these friends so that when those seasons come that are hard you have this small group of people who you can rely on. It will be a complete game changer in your life when you have a small, could be one person, can be two people, trusted people who can journey with you.   Laura Dugger: (38:07 - 38:34) I could not agree more. I really think that friendship is one of the most precious gifts were given in this life. And going back to your marriage we had discussed that time of separation but then there was a whole other season of transition as well. So, what was it like to come back together after being apart for nearly 10 months?   Stacey Morgan: (38:34 - 42:55) Yeah, so it's funny there's always these Hollywood romanticized versions of what reunions must look like whether that's a military deployment reunion or you know when an astronaut comes home. And I think people assume it's some kind of like hot sexy romantic can't keep hands off of you but the reality is far different, right? Because it's... I mean maybe it is, maybe that's how it is for some people. I will just say for us, you know, when you've been living an independent life for however long, whether that was you know a six-month or an eight-month deployment or a nine-month deployment to outer space, you know I was living my own life fully independent for that long where I made all the choices. I didn't have anybody looking over my shoulder or you know there's a little bit of independent freedom there when you're the only one kind of making the big decisions.   And so, when that person comes back into your life, which you want them to come back, you're happy they're home, but there is this awkward transition period. It's definitely an opportunity for some tension because now there's another opinion back in the mix, right?   Like I had to kind of adjust my way of doing life for another person who had a valid opinion, another decision maker. The kids had to adjust to having another parent back in the house. You're kind of getting to know each other so there is a little bit of a sniffing out period where you're like, “Hey, nice to meet you.” Because we all change. You know you could be gone from someone for a month, you know, you're not the same person you were today as you were last year or six months ago or maybe even a month ago. So, anytime someone comes back in your life they're different, you're a little different. You're like my friendships had shifted over those ten months, like my work had shifted, everything in my life had moved on and he had not been there in the house with me to experience that so there was... it was a whole new set of experiences and a new person to get to know again.   Now he came home and what made it a little bit more dramatic was that Drew came home in the startup of the pandemic. He came home in April of 2020 which at the time I think we weren't sure, “Are we going up? Are we coming down?” We know now looking back we realize things were just ramping up; the world was, we were all still very confused about what's the best thing to do can we all the things you know. So, NASA pretty much brought him home and then he came home to our house after just a few days in kind of the quarantine facility there on Johnson Space Center. But then he came back to our house and then it's like he never left because all of the normal stuff that would happen when you come home from space like travel and meetings and all these kind of things were all canceled or postponed.   And so, instead of kind of like getting to know each other slowly it was like zero to sixty. I mean he was home and he didn't go anywhere, none of us could go anywhere. So, we joke that the irony that he was in space with five professional crew mates in a small space and then he came home to live in our small space with five amateur crew mates who are certainly not nearly as gracious or accommodating or helpful as the professional astronaut and cosmonaut crew mates he had. The irony is not lost on us. So, he came home I don't think we've ever spent that amount of time together you know 24/7 in the same house with all four of our kids, no school, nowhere to go because everything's closed. And so yeah we're getting to know each other in this kind of Petri dish of new experiences as the world is also kind of like upside down and everything's unusual.   So, in the end it was okay. I joke like we did a lot of “I was like let me go do this puzzle I just need some alone time” or “I'm going for a walk around the neighborhood please don't text me. I'll be back when I'll be back I just need a few minutes to myself.” I think everybody has had that moment in the during the last two years where you're just like, “I just need a few minutes alone please,” you know in my if you've been trapped in your house with somebody who you're not normally with 24/7.   Laura Dugger: (42:56 - 43:17) Well sure and with your experience, mental health is very important for the family of the astronaut and the astronaut themselves. Wasn't it your psychologist who is saying typically when you come back and enter this time of reentry and reuniting you do little bit by little bit because that tends to be wiser?   Stacey Morgan: (43:17 - 45:22) Yes, that's right. They call it titrating a return. That's a principle they have in the military as well which is they would normally come back from a deployment for at least the first couple weeks back from a long trip away they would go to work every day for several hours because it's you know psychologically difficult for two people who have been living very independent lives to come back together just with like zero transition. The military has learned this over the last 20 years you know that you could go from a combat zone to mowing your lawn in 24 hours. That's stressful especially if you add in you know marriage baggage, kids you know nagging kids or issues like that, financial struggles, that's a kind of what can be a breeding ground for some really difficult situation. So, it's best to let people get to know each other again a little bit at a time.   Like you said the normal return from space was kind of the same thing. It would be come home and then you'd have some physical therapy, you'd have these different meetings and it would be a little bit like going to work for several weeks while they're getting their body and everything back to normal. Then, you kind of could have this kind of extended time at home but it gave both people the ability to kind of like reintroduce themselves to each other in bits and pieces and just kind of ease into it. But we did not have that luxury so we kind of had to create it ourselves. And I am glad again that we had those past experiences to know where the potential minefields were. If you were not prepared you could be very disappointed if you went into it thinking, “Oh, they're gonna come home, it's gonna be like romantic. We're gonna be like together and loving it all the time and just connecting so deeply. It's gonna be amazing.” And then the first time that your spouse is like, “Why are you emptying the dishwasher like that?” It's important to know like, “Yeah, if there is going to be tension it is going to be awkward. That's okay that is part of the normal cycle and it's gonna be okay.” But I'm glad that we had that knowledge beforehand because it could be tough.   Laura Dugger: (45:22 - 46:07) Well and Stacey another reason that I really appreciate you being willing to let us enter your story with you. When we have different careers or we have someone in the military and a civilian who's not involved, there's so much room for assumptions and maybe not always assuming the best. There's opportunity for miscommunication so I'm just wondering about the person who's hearing this and what if they're thinking, “Well that sounds irresponsible or even selfish of Drew to choose this path if he's a husband and father.” So, how would you offer that kind of person another perspective that they might be missing?   Stacey Morgan: (46:07 - 48:20) I mean I would say is when it comes to astronauts for sure, you know, these are not like hot-rodding thrill-seeking people. In fact, I would say I think a lot of people make the assumption that people who do some of these higher like physically higher risky jobs must be like thrill-seeking you know just thrown caution to the wind about everything in their life. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. I think you would find that we certainly and I would you know I think a lot of people in the same career field are similar and that we are good risk calculators. And that like policemen, like firemen, like military personnel you know it's an act of service to be in this job. These are not just like you know space tourists or billionaires getting on a rocket for fun. These are professionals who have chosen a career field of service and whether that is as a policeman, a fireman, a service to the nation, service to humanity, service to their community and they all play a part in that.   I think most people recognize that that it is you know there's something to be said for the person who chooses a career that has a level of risk because they feel called to it and because thank God for people who will take on risk and are willing to potentially sacrifice themselves for someone else. I mean I think it's kind of a higher calling which is why in general in our culture we honor them and rightfully so. It is risky, it's very risky. They certainly don't do it for the money. I don't think anybody in any kind of government service would say that they're doing it for the money, that's for sure. You know they're doing it because they feel called to something bigger than themselves and to serve their fellow man in some way. That's certainly I know how we feel as a family that his choosing to transition as an Army physician into being still in the Army but serving in this capacity was just the next level up. The way he could serve our community, our country, our nation and all of humanity and he really is its service first. It's the opposite of selfish; it is selfless service really.   Laura Dugger: (48:20 - 48:55) Mm-hmm thank you for that. I just say amen to everything you just said. Really it's service from your entire family that requires a sacrifice from each of you like you said for the greater good. And I think something else that you pointed out so well in your book was that having this value more so of security or not living into this calling that you said this calling was put upon your lives that could actually be idolatry if you're starting to place a higher value on security or anything else other than God and so I think you model that well.   Stacey Morgan: (48:55 - 51:13) Thank you. Yeah I think a lot of people you know sometimes these idols creep up on us we don't realize that we have put something on a pedestal until it gets threatened to be taken away from us and all of a sudden our reaction is over the top because we're you know you realize, “Gosh, I'm finding my security in this thing I'm finding my identity in this thing whether this thing is a job, another person, a political party, a scientific breakthrough whatever it is.” Right? Like and I think a lot of people, I certainly felt it you know in that launch moment like, “Am I finding my identity in being married to this person or him having this job or this launch being successful? Because if I am in about 10 seconds my world may crumble because if that could all be taken away from me.” And in that yeah I think we all kind of have probably had a moment especially in the last two years where for a lot of people something that they have built their life on has been either taken away from them or has it has been threatened to be taken away because of the pandemic a job a person in their life you know a relationship your kids going off to school every day I mean whatever it is that you've built in your life and you have put on this pedestal and you kind of made without even realizing it have started to place more hope in those things remaining unchanged than you have in God. And all of a sudden when those things are threatened you have this over-the-top emotionally fearful response that's kind of an indicator I think to all of us like when we have that is like, “Whoo my fear and my response should tell me that I seem to be very very afraid that this is going to be taken away from me because I am putting too much hope in it. Instead, I should be taking that and putting it back where it belongs. I should reprioritize where I am finding my hope and the only unchanging thing that we can build our foundation on is God. Everything else, every person, everything, every job, every whatever it is can and could possibly be taken away from you and on your deathbed will be.” So, you know you can't help but have a little bit of self-reflection there.   Laura Dugger: (51:13 - 51:23) Well and then for all of us how do you recommend that we all can rediscover our fun side when we've been trapped in survival mode for too long?   Stacey Morgan: (51:23 - 56:05) This is a great question because I think all of us have felt this definitely in the pandemic. You know this part in your life where everything in the world feels very chaotic and so you try to regain some control in your own life by maybe regimenting your kids a little more, cleaning your house a little more, you know, controlling things at work or whatever your environment is. And without really realizing it you become this just like survival mode like your day just becomes about making things easier for yourself, streamlining things, making things just go go go. And you wake up one day and you were like, “I'm exhausted. Like why am I so tired? Why am I why do I have like no joy? Why do I just feel unhappy?” And you realize that you have not done anything other than just be like surviving and cleaning and doing work or whatever it is like you have just been doing the basics with no fun whatsoever.   So I have been there I hit that a bunch of times in the pandemic, but I certainly hit it when Drew was in space because it's really hard being a single parent and managing all of the emotional burdens and the logistics of it. And I realized that I was cleaning a lot I was kind of getting a little bit more trigger angry with kids or people who you know were making me upset because when you're in survival mode it's all about just like “Get out of my way let me do what I want to do,” it's about getting things done quickly and other people become an annoyance instead of a joy in your life.   So it's all about going back to something that that fills you up and it can be something really frivolous it can be something like it's very it's 100% unique to you and so I can't tell you what that thing is but I would say the first step in kind of getting yourself out of survival mode and kind of getting back to your your whole self is asking yourself the question like, “What do I enjoy?” Not for its educational value, not for its good cardio exercise or and not what your kids enjoy, not what is Instagram worthy, or anything like in your soul what fills you up? Is it reading? Is it watching movies? Is it riding bikes? Is it roller skating? Is it you know eating Mexican food? Like what is it that you enjoy doing that when you do it you just feel like more of yourself?   And then just go do it tomorrow. Like it's gonna take prioritizing time probably some money but that is as much of a part of who you are how God created you. He didn't make you this like worker bot or like just a mom or just a wife or just a daughter or a sister like He made you a whole person and a huge part of who you are are these things that you enjoy. And you cannot continue to pour into other people or work or your community if you are never getting filled up yourself. You will just dry out, you will be burnt out, you'll be unhappy and you'll actually be worse in all these other areas where you were trying to work hard because you're just gonna be like a shell of yourself.   So, for me it was prioritizing time with friends. It was... I got this crazy flyer on my front door for roller skating lessons and I had this fantasy of being a really good roller skater that stemmed from like when I was eight and so I signed my girls and I up for roller skating lessons which was hilarious and very humbling but it was just silly. It took time, we had to prioritize the time on every Saturday it took money, but it was just fun. It had no educational value my kids will look back on it and be like, “What was that all about? I don't even know.” But it was great because even in the midst of a stressful season like that was a very stressful season, undeniable, but as part of that narrative it will not only be like, “Yeah it was really tough when my dad was away and you know my mom had to like single-parent us but that was also the season where my mom took us to roller skating lessons. Isn't that weird? That was so weird.” And we'll laugh about it.   And so, it's just about finding something that you want to do and then just unapologetically spend the money, spend the time, and invite a friend to do it with you again. Doing something with a friend is always more fun than doing something alone. Don't feel like you have to justify it or explain it to everyone you don't need to take pictures to post online you don't need to tell it just just go do it and have a good time. It's amazing how when you do that suddenly like those dust bunnies or that email that had a weird tone that you got don't annoy you as much as they used to because your kind of like finding your whole self again.   Laura Dugger: (56:05 - 56:27) That's helpful to remember to live life to the fullest and be ready for the next adventure that life's gonna throw at us. Yeah. And just as a bonus can we just ask what are some of the most common questions that you and Drew answer about space?   Stacey Morgan: (56:27 - 57:25) That's a good question. A lot of like personal hygiene questions about teeth brushing toilets how do you know take showers or whatever and of course the answer is they don't take showers. But and then of course a lot of people want to know, “Hey I've always been interested in becoming an astronaut how does somebody do that?”   And there are so many resources online people you know I say, “Look go online read all about it. There's amazing videos NASA puts out an incredible amount of resources that you can read up on but at the end of the day do what you are most passionate about because the likelihood that you, or your nephew, or your cousin, or your co-worker, your son, or, whoever it is that you know is convinced they want to be an astronaut the likelihood of them being an astronaut is very low. So you should do what just fills you up do a career and a life that you are passionate about and if God calls you to that path those doors will open but if He doesn't you'll still be living a life fully within God's purpose for you.”   Laura Dugger: (57:25 - 57:39) And Stacey you're such an incredible communicator both in this interview time together but also really enjoyed your book. And so, if people want to follow you to hear what you're up to next, where would you direct them online?   Stacey Morgan: (57:39 - 58:41) Sure well they can go to my website StaceyMorgan2000. That's like Stacey Morgan two zero zero zero dot com. That has my blog that has links to a different podcast like this that I've been on and they can check that out. They can find me on Instagram same handle StaceyMorgan2000.   And you know if people want to reach out, I love when people have been sending me messages lately after they've read the book it's been so awesome. You know I tell people like I certainly didn't write this book for the money I'm actually donating all my book proceeds to charities that support military families. So, I've been joking like, “Hey read the book if you don't like it the worst that happened is you donated to a military charity. If you do like it buy ten copies and give one to all your friends. But if you do like it I love it when people send me messages and just tell me kind of like what resonated and how it spoke to them.” That's just been one of the I would say the coolest aspect of completing this project was kind of putting it out there and then getting to see how God uses it in people's lives.   Laura Dugger: (58:41 - 59:02) There were so many things that resonated but off the top of my head if anybody has a copy of the book they'll have to turn to the part about baloney on sale friends. And Stacey you may know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge and so as my final question for you today what is your savvy sauce?   Stacey Morgan: (59:02 - 1:01:08) Well I'll piggyback off your baloney is on sale friends' reference and that would be: pick up the phone and text your friend. We didn't need a study to show us this because I think most of us have just known this in our soul but there is an endemic of loneliness in the world right now as you know we've got all these ways to connect and yet people feel more disconnected. They feel more lonely especially women and what I learned through my own kind of relationship struggles over the years is that everyone's waiting for someone else to go first. That you in that moment you feel like you're the only person who's feeling lonely and alone and that everybody else is in these friend circles and you're just somehow on the outside. But the reality is that pretty much everybody feels the same way you do and everybody's sitting at home wishing someone would just text them and invite them to coffee.   So that's my practical tip is don't wait, go first be the bold friend or even acquaintance like it doesn't have to be someone that you are super besties with. But those baloney is on sale friends like I said you have to read the book and understand that that is like a special category of friendship that's the kind of friendship that our soul longs for but those things don't appear or like pop out of the ground. That kind of friend doesn't just show up it's developed over time it's invested in and cared for and loved and it starts with literally a text to go get coffee. That's how every great friendship story begins. So, if that's you, if you feel like yeah I don't have this close friend who I can do something with I'm lonely. Okay take that first step be the one who picks up the phone send that text message to the woman from church, or the woman from the gym, or that friend you haven't talked to in a while and just invite them over for coffee. Nothing fancy nothing crazy no agenda just come over for a couple hours for coffee. Every single person I know who does this no one ever regrets inviting a friend over for coffee. That's the first step that we can all take into just feeling more connected and having those kind of friends that we want.   Laura Dugger: (1:01:08 - 1:01:31) Love it. Well Stacy your book definitely changed my perspective on risk and I was so hooked on all the stories that you shared so I believe that your book is truly a gift to anyone who chooses to read it and your faith is very inspiring so thank you for sharing your journey with us and thank you for being my guest.   Stacey Morgan: (1:01:31 – 1:01:33) Well, thank you it's been great.   Laura Dugger: (1:01:33 – 1:05:16) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it

Send us a textDr. Divya keerthy (New York Presbyterian Queens/Weill Cornell Medicine) and Dr. Katherine Nyman (UCSD/Rady Children's, San Diego) discuss their Hot Topics conference experience. Keerthy presents research on prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure measured via backpack monitors and silicone wristbands during the third trimester. Her longitudinal study tracked infant microbiome at three time points over six months, identifying two air pollutants affecting microbiome development. Nyman highlights interest in the Tiny Baby collaborative, particularly PDA management challenges in extremely premature infants. Both emphasize the value of Hot Topics' evidence-based sessions including "green and rotten apples" that stress-test current practices. They note the conference's focus on moderate preemies (32-34 weekers) who comprise 80% of NICU populations yet receive less research attention. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textDr. Edgardo Szyld from Indiana University presents the PLANT study evaluating 20 minutes of prophylactic CPAP for late preterm infants (34-36+6 weeks) born via cesarean section. This population represents 70% of US preterm births and experiences five times higher respiratory distress rates with cesarean delivery. The pragmatic pilot enrolled 100 patients, demonstrating reduced NICU admissions without pneumothorax cases—addressing previous safety concerns from observational data. Szyld's team is planning PLANT 2, targeting 35-36 weekers across 11 international centers, which will compare outcomes with and without antenatal steroids. This pragmatic approach addresses a high-volume but understudied population significantly impacting NICU resources. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textDr. Kavya Rao from University of Buffalo discusses quality improvement initiatives following completion of her master's in QI. Her team successfully implemented antibiotic stewardship by safely discontinuing antibiotics at 24 hours for early onset sepsis in clinically well infants with negative blood cultures, initially studying all gestational ages with plans for subset analysis. Additional projects include reducing PRBC and platelet transfusions using lower thresholds based on updated guidelines. Rao emphasizes finding QI topics through clinical passion and data-driven identification of performance gaps, using benchmarking with Vermont Oxford Network data. She co-mentors fellows in QI with Dr. Valerie Albertson and expresses enthusiasm for the Tiny Baby Collaborative, recognizing 22-weekers require distinct physiologic approaches. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textDr. Katherine P Callahan, neonatologist and bioethicist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, discusses the complexity of genetic testing in neonatal care. While the NICU serves as a launch point for genetic technologies due to high prevalence of genetic disease, genetic information is often ambiguous or uncertain rather than straightforwardly diagnostic. Variants of uncertain significance represent just one challenge—even clearly pathogenic findings may have unclear implications for individual patients, as demonstrated when parents carry the same mutation as their severely affected child. Callahan emphasizes that genetic information poses "informational hazards" requiring careful consideration of psychological and ethical impacts. She advocates for acknowledging complexity, rethinking outcomes beyond traditional measures, and embracing shared decision-making rather than standardized approaches to genomic counseling. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

When pregnancy takes an unexpected turn, information becomes power.  This week, we sit down with maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Jordan Perlow to break down what a high-risk pregnancy really means, how birth defects are detected, and the steps families can take to protect and advocate for their babies.  From screening and prevention to delivery and NICU decisions, this episode brings clarity, comfort and real answers for every mom navigating the unknown.  Consider this your crash course on what happens when pregnancy isn't "by the books".   For my exclusive content with us and Dr. Perlow, join our Patreon! Follow us on Instagram so you don't miss anything! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron and Lee talk about little Anakin, who passed at 7 days due to a virus. Aaron talks about how Anakin was born early and spent time in the NICU, but contracted an unknown virus and quickly became unresponsive. Aaron talks about how he and his wife had to make the final decision to stop life extending measure and how they held him till the end. DONATE $5 (aka "buy us a coffee/hot cocoa") to support the continued production of these stories. We appreciate all the help toward production and hosting costs.  Or if you want to purchase an "Always a Part of Us" Legacy Gift for $20, you'll be providing to one of these families that shares their story, full transcriptions, mp3s, and mp4s of the recordings of their baby's birth story and advice episodes for their family history records. You will also get a shout-out on an upcoming episode. Thank you! Donate: https://ko-fi.com/stillapartofus SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more birth stories from families who have experienced a stillbirth or infant loss. We're grateful that you're part of our community! https://www.youtube.com/stillapartofus SUBSCRIBE to our podcast Still A Part of Us, wherever you find podcasts. Links (some of these links are affiliate links, which means we may get a small commission off your purchase, at no extra cost to you): Website: http://stillapartofus.com/ Grief Support Groups: https://nationalshare.org/ Dad Music: "She Dreams in Blue" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/​​ #stillbirthstory #stillborn #stillbornstory #birthstory #infantloss #infantdeath #babydeath #stillmychild #podcast  #birthstories #babyloss #mybabydied #bereavedmother #bereavedfather #infantlossawareness #dadsgrievetoo #mamasgrief #pals #childloss #lifeafterloss #saytheirnames #babylossawareness #breakingthesilence #grievingmom #grievingdad #bereavedparents #pregnancyandinfantlossawarenessmonth

#surrogacy #ivf #surrogateLeslie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslie_kay_w?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==Sammi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammimichiko?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==The quiet after a delivery can be louder than labor. We sit with two retired, two-time surrogates who open up about the complicated relief of being “done,” the grief of being told no by doctors, and the surprising ways identity shifts when the calendar no longer revolves around monitoring, meds, and milk shipments. Their stories span identical twins born across the country from their dads during COVID, an emergency C-section at 30 weeks after placenta previa, and the tender joy of seeing intended parents finally hold their babies.We move beyond the highlight reel to unpack what most guides gloss over: how to handle control when a mosaic transfer, failed cycle, or NICU stay rewrites your plan; why 90 percent of the work happens before the six-week heartbeat; and how patience becomes the most valuable skill a surrogate can learn. You'll hear how kids, partners, and even nanny families became part of the village, why one surrogate wrote a children's book to normalize the journey at home, and how LGBTQ family building shaped a daughter's worldview around chosen family and acceptance.We also map the industry's evolution. Pre- and post-COVID journeys look different—contracts, screening, and insurance have changed—and newer models like a la carte journey management are widening access for intended parents while honoring surrogate autonomy. The takeaway is clear: do your homework, don't chase the first offer, and remember it's your journey too. Retired surrogates are not done; they're essential—leading support groups, mentoring, and keeping the heart in a small, growing field.If you're starting, ending, or somewhere between, there's hard-won wisdom here. Listen, share with a friend who needs real talk about surrogacy, and leave a review to help more curious, caring people find us.Send us a texthttps://stopsitsurrogate.com

Today I'm welcoming back Angela Warren, one of my very first Fertility Framework clients and a longtime friend of the podcast. When she first shared her story back in episode 92, she was secretly newly pregnant. Today she's back to tell the rest of her story.   Episode Highlights: Angela shares: How charting and basal body temperature gave her the first hint she might be pregnant How she prepared for a natural hospital birth with a supportive OB, and the beautiful, unmedicated delivery of her son, Azariah. How she developed a severe kidney infection and sepsis 24 hours after birth, and her newborn being flown to a NICU by air ambulance. Through all of it, God showed Himself faithful, and the meaning of her baby's name, “helped by God,” became a living testimony. If you're preparing for pregnancy, birth, or postpartum, Angela's story will encourage you to prepare wisely and trust God deeply. Resources & Links: ✨ Join Fertility Framework: If you're ready for deeper support, personalized cycle guidance, and faith-filled encouragement, come join me inside Fertility Framework! This is a space where you AND your husband can learn about the science of your cycle while keeping God in the centre of your fertility journey and growing towards Him together. Read the testimonies & enroll here: www.bekahyawn.com/course  ✨ If you are pregnant and looking for support to figure out your birth plan and/or help you during labor, I offer doula services both in person and virtually at: https://bekahyawn.com/doula ✨If you would like personal support on your journey but are not sure how to get started, book a free 10-minute consult with me here: www.bekahyawn.com/consult ✨ Join our Facebook community where you'll meet other Christian women who are praying over and encouraging one another. Come join the family! https://www.facebook.com/groups/802419477419221   

In this episode of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast, Kayleigh sits down with Kelsea, a mom of three, to share the emotional, terrifying, and deeply transformative story of her son Oliver's birth and NICU journey a birth she hoped would finally be a peaceful experience after two difficult deliveries, but instead became her most traumatic one yet.Scheduled for a repeat C-section at 37 weeks due to rising blood pressures and a history of preeclampsia, Kelsea entered the hospital with a pit in her stomach,  a feeling she now knows was intuition. The days that followed were filled with fear and uncertainty. Oliver deteriorated quickly, and for 24 hours, doctors weren't sure what was wrong. Finally, a NICU physician discovered that he had a pneumothorax, a collapsed left lung, and early signs of sepsis. He was intubated, placed on chest tubes, and put under strict no-hold restrictions leading to a heartbreaking stretch where Kelsea couldn't touch, comfort, or even pick up her newborn son.Together, Kayleigh and Kelsea talk through:

In today's Regretful Parents episode, Erika and Kristen dive into a viral story from the I Regret Having Children Facebook page — and this time, it's not a confession but a financial horror story. An Ohio mom's TikTok exploded online after revealing the NICU bill for her premature quadruplets: $4.04 million. Erika and Kristen unpack the wild reality of childbirth costs in America, why one medical complication can financially ruin a family overnight, and how unpredictable — and brutally expensive — pregnancy and birth can be. Inside this episode:• A NICU bill for quadruplets that hit $4 million• Why childbirth and complications are financially catastrophic in the U.S.• Parents of twins facing $11 million in NICU charges• How insurance actually works (and doesn't) for medically complex births• Hidden hospital costs, nonsense itemized charges & billing scams• Why “just have kids” ignores medical and financial reality• The emotional toll of raising premature or medically fragile infants• Why the childfree movement keeps gaining traction• The fear, uncertainty, and chaos behind “miracle baby” stories• Why influencers oversimplify parenthood into “children are a blessing”• U.S. healthcare vs. Europe's systems — and who ends up paying

Un interviu cum rar vezi în România. Greu, direct, fără ocolișuri. Invitata este Adina Marincea, cercetător la Institutul „Elie Wiesel" — o voce curajoasă care vorbește deschis despre: • extrema dreaptă din România • cine sunt fasciștii de astăzi • ce înseamnă nazismul • neolegionari și atitudinile lor Un episod care va stârni multe reacții. Poate și furie — mai ales acolo unde adevărul deranjează. 00:00:00 Promo 00:01:43 Cine este Adina Marincea 00:04:25 Avem mișcare legionară în România? 00:06:40 "Eveniment" la Catedrala Națională a României 00:08:30 Maica Mina și "cetățuile" 00:12:30 Mitul sfinților închisorilor 00:15:50 Radu Gyr - ideolog important al mișcării legionare 00:19:50 Mesajele mișcării legionare 00:24:00 Atitudine antisemită 00:29:00 Mitul iudeo-bolșevismului 00:29:50 Ce este fascismul 00:36:00 Eseul lui Umberto Eco 00:43:58 "În AUR există mai multe filoane ideologice" 00:48:12 Remigrare 00:50:00 Ce este nazismul 00:56:20 Există un cult Corneliu Zelea Codreanu 01:04:00 Pădurea Tâncăbești 01:13:08 Șoșoacă și elogiile pentru Zelea Codreanu 01:17:30 Este Călin Georgescu periculos? 01:24:16 Călin Georgescu și taberele de muncă voluntară 01:30:42 Activități cu elevii în școli bucureștene 01:33:30 Nicușor Dan și legea Vexler 01:39:09 Ce înseamnă organizație legionară? 01:43:03 Nicușor Dan și poziția sa față de mișcarea legionară 01:50:54 Riscurile meseriei de cercetător 01:55:15 Cine este extrema dreaptă în România 02:04:30 Se repetă istoria?

Family of toddler killed in police chase sues two local police departments. Mother put in ICE detention while her infant is still in the NICU. Conservative student gets professor put on leave for flunking her hateful paper. Host: Sharon Reed (@SharonReedLive) Co-Host: Tehran Von Ghasri (@IAmTehran) *** SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠  ☞ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/IndisputableTYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW US ON: ⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠  ☞ ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/IndisputableTYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠TWITTER⁠⁠⁠  ☞     ⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/IndisputableTYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠ ☞ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/IndisputableTYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Melanie, mom to 12-year-old Masen, shares the unexpected path to her son's diagnosis with Homocystinuria (HCU) after a routine eye exam revealed something "off." What followed was months of uncertainty, a rare diagnosis few providers had even heard of, a crash course in low-protein diets and metabolic formulas, and two back-to-back eye surgeries to prevent further damage. With gentleness, honesty, and deep advocacy, Melanie describes how they adjusted as a family, how Masen built resilience, and how finding community changed everything. A story of early detection, parent intuition, and the power of connection. Why this episode matters Rare disease reality: What it feels like to navigate a diagnosis most clinicians have never seen Caregiver intuition: How a parent's sense that "something isn't right" can spark life-saving action Practical communication: Age-appropriate ways to explain health changes, procedures & dietary needs Health equity & systems gaps: When newborn screening misses what should have been caught Hope forward: The resilience of kids—and the strength families build together What You'll Learn Early signs Masen showed (or didn't show) before diagnosis How a routine eye exam led to life-changing discoveries What HCU is, and why newborn screening only catches ~50% of cases How metabolic diets work—and why the formula is so hard for kids Talking to kids about scary changes in simple, honest language Navigating back-to-back eye surgeries How parents balance their own needs while supporting their child Building resilience without expecting perfection The power of community: conferences, meetups, Facebook groups Advocating for improved newborn screening for future families Timestamps 00:00 Meet Melanie & Masen: family intro, life in Vancouver 01:23 Sports, hockey, and life surrounded by nature 01:56 Routine eye exam → the moment everything changed 03:38 The optometrist's concerns & the start of uncertainty 04:01 Google panic, calling providers, needing answers 04:55 Keeping fears private during COVID 07:38 Mother's Day call: the rare diagnosis finally revealed 07:47 What HCU is and why newborn screening misses it 10:45 Treatment basics: low protein & metabolic formula 11:19 Explaining diagnosis to an eight-year-old 13:14 Parenting through fear while staying regulated 14:52 "Eat the prawns in the pantry"—navigating food changes 17:29 Building resilience while validating hard feelings 18:31 Finding community online & through HCU conferences 20:41 Masen meets other kids with HCU 22:33 Advocacy: improving newborn screening across Canada 24:28 Social media vs. real-life progress 24:58 Masen's eye surgeries & long-term vision care 27:46 What parents can request if concerned about HCU 30:22 Trusting your care team & staying curious 30:51 Who Masen is beyond a diagnosis 34:22 Where to learn more about HCU Melanie shares that… "My heart was racing. I knew something was off." "Most doctors have never even heard of HCU." "The formula tastes terrible, but it keeps him healthy." "You can be proud of your child's resilience and still wish they didn't need it." "This should have been caught at birth—we want to change that for future kids." Resources & Links HCU & Metabolic Disorder Communities HCU Network America (Instagram: @hcunetwork_america) CANPKU+ (Instagram: @canadian.pku) SupportSpot App (by Child Life On Call) Procedure guides, coping plans, journals, and parent resources to help families feel prepared and advocate with confidence.  Learn more here. Meet the host:  Katie Taylor is the co-founder and CEO of Child Life On Call, a digital platform designed to provide parents, kids, and the care team with access to child life services tools and resources. She is a certified child life specialist with over 13 years of experience working in various pediatric healthcare settings. Katie is the author of the children's book, and has presented on the topics of child life and entrepreneurship, psychosocial care in the hospital, and supporting caregivers in the NICU setting both nationally and internationally. She is also the host of the Child Life On Call Podcast which features interviews with parents discussing their experiences throughout their child's medical journey. The podcast emphasizes the crucial role of child life services in enabling caregivers both at and beyond the bedside. Instagram.com/childlifeoncall   The Child Life On Call Podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. The content shared in each episode, including stories, discussions, and interviews, is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast. The views and opinions expressed by guests on the Child Life On Call Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Child Life On Call. Child Life On Call does not endorse any specific medical treatments, procedures, or opinions shared in the podcast. If you or your child are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or seek immediate medical attention. By listening to this podcast, you acknowledge that Child Life On Call and its affiliates are not responsible for any decisions made based on the information provided. Facebook.com/childlifeoncall linkedin.com/in/kfdonovan  

Send us a textIn this episode, Dr. Andrew Beverstock discusses his research on urinary sodium and its relationship with growth in preterm neonates. He shares insights into the importance of sodium for neonatal growth, the methodology of his study, and the unexpected results that challenge existing literature. The conversation also touches on his diverse medical training, mentorship experiences, and his involvement in medical education and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Dr. Beverstock emphasizes the significance of careful population selection in research and outlines his future research directions. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

In this week's episode, Ashley and Aisha sit down with two very special guests: Allie, a PA who cared for Ashley's son during his NICU stay, and her husband, Troy—the illustrator of Right On Time, Dear NICU Mama's first children's board book. Together they share the full-circle story of how their NICU connection led to creating a book that honors and represents the diverse journeys of NICU families!Ali reflects on her years in the NICU and her work in pediatric rehab, and Troy shares what it was like to illustrate a project so close to his family's heart. You'll also hear exciting updates on the book's arrival, our successful pre-order campaign, and the upcoming Holiday Book Drive. We hope this episode reminds you of the power of connection, storytelling, and the extraordinary milestones our NICU babies achieve, each one right on time.Order the Right On Time book here!To get connected with DNM: Website | Private Facebook Group | InstagramConnect with Troy: Website | Instagram | X | Email: ttbecker@gmail.com About Troy: It starts in New York Mills, MN where Troy was born and raised. After an affinity for drawing, comics and art - he graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN with a B.A. in Art and Communications. After a few stints in Minneapolis, Connecticut and Wisconsin he found himself back in the F-M area. Troy has been an illustrator, cartoonist and graphic artist for Forum Communications for nearly 18 years. Troy also served as an adjunct professor at MSUM from 2015-2020. The art continues in his home studio where he enjoys creating screen prints, comics and graphic novels. You can find his art in local exhibits and commissions across the upper Midwest.Support the show

I spoke with Dr. Elaine Cheng, a neonatologist at Loyola, to learn about her experiences with navigating the challenges she faces in the NICU and how it's shaped her perspective on striking the balance between being clinically efficient while consistently being supportive and empathetic towards patients and families.Episode produced by: Anumitha AravindanEpisode recording date: 11/10/25www.medicuspodcast.com | medicuspodcast@gmail.com | Donate: http://bit.ly/MedicusDonate

In this episode, we wrap up the year with a special collection of the most powerful, relatable, and unforgettable moments from the Twiniversity Podcast in 2025. From NICU heartbreaks to hilarious toddler confessions, these guest clips reflect the true emotional and logistical rollercoaster of raising twins. You'll hear from moms, dads, and twin experts as they open up about identity shifts, mental health, partnership dynamics, and the quiet wins of twin parenting. Whether you're still pregnant or knee-deep in sippy cups, this episode will leave you feeling seen, supported, and ready for whatever 2026 throws your way.#TwiniversityPodcast #BestOf2025 #ParentingTwins #TwinMomLife #TwinDadEnergy #NICUParenting #PostpartumTruths #ModernParenting #TwinLifeUnfiltered #RaisingTwins #TwiniversityCommunityEPISODES FROM 2025→ Ep. 231 - Stay-at-Home Dad, Working Mom with Twin Mom Alex Jelencovich→ Ep 226  - Am I Eligible For Support Services For My Twins?→ Ep 224  - Dads Need Support Too with Twin Dad Myer Krah II→ Ep 228 - Journalist To Twin Mom with Zara Hanawalt→ Ep 221  - When All of your Family Lives Abroad but you Still Need Help→ Ep 227 - Being An Adopted Identical Twin With Julie McGueEPISODE THEMES

Scoot and Ian Hoch bring listeners inside Manning Family Children's for a series of heartfelt conversations with patients, parents, caregivers, and champions of pediatric care. They hear from Christina and her daughter Abigail—joined by Child Life Specialist Bailey—NICU Director Jacqueline Schnapp, musician Lord Phillip and his son Tripp, neonatologist Dr. Emily Masoumy, and NICU mom Kaila Razon. Together, their stories paint an inspiring picture of resilience, expert care, and the life-changing impact of community support.

Jacqueline Schnapp, Director of NICU Services at Manning Family Children's, offers an inside look at the hospital's Level 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit—the highest level of newborn care in the state. She shares what makes the NICU's expert team, family support, and specialized treatments so exceptional, and why donor generosity is vital for the 40 fragile babies currently fighting for their futures.

Kaila and Charles Razon shares their son Clark's ongoing journey in the Level IV NICU at Manning Family Children's—from the terrifying first moments of realizing he needed intensive care to the comfort and confidence they've all found in the hands of the expert NICU team.

Dr. Emily Masoumy offers a compelling look into the lifesaving care provided to the sickest and most fragile newborns at Manning Family Children's. She explains why infants require NICU support, the powerful feedback her team receives from families, and the unique challenges faced by those transported from across Louisiana and the Gulf South. Dr. Masoumy also shares why community generosity is essential to ensuring every baby—and every family—receives the expert, compassionate care they deserve.

Giving birth trauma a voice. Doula and advocate HeHe Stewart explores the emotional journey of NICU parents and the unseen wounds of traumatic birth experiences in this episode. From redefining advocacy to helping families find healing even in survival mode, HeHe shares powerful insights, personal stories, and practical support for those navigating life after the NICU. Whether you're a parent, partner, or professional, this conversation sheds light on the resilience, grief, and hope that shape the path to recovery.  

Cătălin Drulă vine la LEADERS. Candidatul USR la primărie răspunde la întrebări despre programul său, cererile de retragere adresate de Ciprian Ciucu, dar și relația cu Nicușor Dan. Așteptăm opiniile și întrebările voastre.

Guest: Kathryn (Kati) C. R. Knudsen, PT, MPT, CNT, PCS, DCS, CLEEarn 0.1 ASHA CEU for this episode with Speech Therapy PD: https://www.speechtherapypd.com/courses/pts-and-feeding-in-the-nicuDid you know Physical Therapists can play a vital role in feeding and PO readiness in the NICU? They sure can! If you're curious about the unique expertise they bring to the table, this episode is for you.Join Michelle Dawson, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, BCS-S, as she chats with Kathryn C. R. Knudsen, PT, MPT, CNT, PCS, DCS, CLE—affectionately known as “Kati”—a NICU PT with more than 25 years of experience. Kati shares her journey into neonatal care, explores the specialized training PTs receive to support oral readiness, and offers insight into how they help caregivers who are learning to chest feed or bottle feed their little ones.You'll also hear about the effects of Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) on feeding development and how collaborative care between SLPs and PTs can make a real difference. This episode is a powerful example of interprofessional teamwork, with the shared goal of helping babies and caregivers thrive.Show Notes:Find Local Assistance: https://www.findhelp.org"Welcome to Holland" Poem: https://www.emilyperlkingsley.com/welcome-to-hollandAbout the Guest: Kati Knudsen has practiced as a pediatric physical therapist since 1996 and as a therapist in the NICU since 1999. Kati served as lead therapist for two NICUs at sister hospitals in Portland, Oregon for 10 years, and continues to work per diem for these hospitals while serving as an account manager for Dr. Brown's Medical. She has obtained certifications in neonatal therapy, pediatric physical therapy, lactation education, neurodevelopmental treatment, infant massage, developmental care, and transportation of children with special needs to better support infants and families. Kati has published articles about support for preterm and medically fragile infants and spoken nationally and internationally on improving the care of infants in the NICU. Kati serves as the therapy representative on the Vermont Oxford Network Multidisciplinary Advisory Council and is a founding member, past co-chair, and past treasurer of the Neonatal Therapy Certification Board. Kati saw patients in NICU follow-up clinic for more than 25 years where she also helped to redesign care to make it more accessible to families. Kati's overall goal with her professional activities is to support improved long-term outcomes for medically fragile infants and their families.Follow First Bite: https://linktr.ee/FirstBitePodcast?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=1571047e-c5cf-4d4a-8cc6-08ec5871aeb5Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36kfA1xbU156vHPilALVoJ?si=c187e347d3984b45Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-bite/id1399630680

Title:  EP 133:  “Walking by Faith: Maria's Story of Survival and Purpose”

ANALIZĂ Patriotism sub semnul AUR. Adrian Papahagi: „Cum poți să justifici iubirea de țară lăudând principalii dușmani ai României?” (Adevărul) - Judecătorii admit că în pandemie au fost pacienți care au murit după ce au luat COVID din spitale. Ce daune pot primi rudele celor decedați (Libertatea)  - Ultima ediție Fidelis din 2025: Dobânzile și miliardele cu care românii au împrumutat statul în acest an (CursDeGuvernare) Dragoş Damian, Terapia: Nicuşor Dan, discurs de mare CEO, de mare corporaţie, de 1 Decembrie 2025. Aveam nevoie de asta (Ziarul Financiar) Nu este un comentariu de tip odă conducătorului suprem însă, trebuie să recunoaştem, este prima dată când un Preşedinte al României ne vorbeşte, cu candoare, dacă putem spune aşa, despre adevăratele probleme din societate, citim în ZF. ”Trăim mai prost decât anul trecut. Dar trăim mult mai bine decât acum 20 de ani. Şi trăim mai bine decât mulţi din oamenii din ţări vecine nouă”. De fapt trăim mai bine chiar decât anul trecut, au crescut salarii şi pensii. “România este o ţară coruptă (…) .Totuşi, suntem mai puţin corupţi decât acum 20 de ani”. Nu trebuie să fim supăraţi pe cei care primesc şpagă ci pe noi, cei care o dăm. Daca mediul de afaceri va înceta să dea şpagă atunci mâine România va fi mai puţin coruptă decât este astăzi. “Avem multe zone de excelenţă în educaţie, dar, în ansamblu, sistemul de învăţământ este slab spre foarte slab. Şi asta o să ne provoace mari probleme în viitor. Sistemul sanitar este departe, foarte departe de unde ar fi putut să fie cu toţi banii pe care noi toţi i-am dus încolo. Dar vedem totuşi primele corpuri noi de spital care sunt construite prin finanţare din PNRR” Discurs de mare CEO al unei mari corporaţii. Dacă recunoşti care sunt problemele reale din organizaţie vei ştii care sunt măsurile de remediere de care organizaţia are nevoie. Şi o vei salva, conchide Dragoș Damian, directorul general al Terapia Cluj. ANALIZĂ Patriotism sub semnul AUR. Adrian Papahagi: „Cum poți să justifici iubirea de țară lăudând principalii dușmani ai României?” (Adevărul) George Simion a fost prezent luni, la Alba Iulia, cu ocazia Zilei Naționale. Îmbrăcat într-un cojoc tradițional, liderul AUR a participat în orașul Marii Uniri la un miting, alături de câteva sute de membri și simpatizanți ai partidului, care au fluturat steaguri tricolore și au scandat pentru „suveranitate” națională. Este o imagine pe care AUR o pune în scenă cu regularitate, în încercarea de a capitaliza politic curentul patriotic ignorat de partidele politice mainstream. Cu alte cuvinte, „cine nu-i cu noi este împotriva României”, un refren des utilizat în ultimii ani. Faptul că George Simion și ceilalți lideri AUR își autoproclamă regulat patriotismul nu îi face însă cu nimic mai iubitori de țară, remarcă profesorul Adrian Papahagi, care subliniază, într-o analiză pentru „Adevărul”, că patriotismul adevărat se măsoară prin faptele unui om. Radu Carp: Observ un fenomen îngrijorător, normalizarea în societate a discursului de tip AUR - Interviu video (SpotMedia) România se confruntă cu o serie de provocări, de la consolidarea extremei drepte până la o criză internă de reprezentare, dar și una legată de capacitatea de guvernare.  Profesorul Radu Carp a analizat modul în care România a gestionat anul 2025 și de ce formațiunile populiste precum AUR și-au atins maximul de potențial, situat undeva la 40%.  Această ascensiune a extremelor politice face parte dintr-un fenomen european, alimentat de o uriașă criză a reprezentării, generată de rețelele sociale. Cunoscutul analist politic consideră că țara noastră nu are o alternativă la extremism în afara actualei coaliții de guvernare. Mai multe în interviul video de pe pagina SpotMedia. Judecătorii admit că în pandemie au fost pacienți care au murit după ce au luat COVID din spitale. Ce daune pot primi rudele celor decedați (Libertatea)  În pandemie, 24.527 de pacienți s-au infectat cu COVID în spitalele din România, potrivit datelor oficiale. Erau oameni internați pentru alte probleme medicale, numite „comorbidități” de cei din Grupul de Comunicare Strategică. Erau părinții sau copiii cuiva, veniți la spital ca să se vindece. Mulți dintre ei au plecat de aici în saci de nailon. După ani buni, instanțele recunosc că ceea ce s-a întâmplat atunci în spitale a încălcat legea. În câteva cazuri, rudele celor decedați au dat în judecată spitalele şi au cerut daune. Pe portalul hotărârilor judecătoreşti din România există patru dosare de acest fel. Unul singur a ajuns, între timp, la finalul procesului. Libertatea vă dezvăluie toate aceste patru poveşti cutremurătoare, dar şi deciziile judecătorilor, în fiecare dintre ele.    Ultima ediție Fidelis din 2025: Dobânzile și miliardele cu care românii au împrumutat statul în acest an (CursDeGuvernare) Ministerul Finanțelor va derula, în perioada 5-12 decembrie, ultima ediție Fidelis a acestui an, potrivit unui anunț al ministerului.  Ediția din decembrie vine cu dobânzi de până la 7,55% la emisiunile în lei și de până la 6,20% la cele în euro. Persoanele fizice rezidente și nerezidente cu vârsta peste 18 ani pot subscrie în titlurile de stat FIDELIS denominate în lei și în euro prin intermediul băncilor partenere. Per total,cumulat, în cele 10 ediții lunare din acest an ale Fidelis, Guvernul a împrumutat de la populație 19,6 miliarde de lei, conform calculelor CursDeGuvernare.ro, ceva mai mult peste ce lua în 2024, când o ediție Fidelis avea loc la 2 luni și Finanțele atrăgeau pe emisiune între 3 și 3,5 miliarde de lei de la populație, pentru finanțarea deficitului bugetar. De notat că titlurile de stat beneficiază de un regim fiscal special, fiind neimpozabile.

This week, I owe Texas an apology. Between discovering that Tex-Mex might be the best food on Earth and listening to a kindergarten voicemail about baby mama drama, I had no idea where this episode would go. But then my kids started planning how to get rid of a body, a student declared his future as a midwife, and somehow we still managed to end with a heartwarming story about my sister's new baby and a resource to help your students love writing again. Takeaways: Andrea finally admits she was wrong about Texas and Tex-Mex might be elite cuisine. A kindergartener exposes her “husband's other babies” in the classroom. Andrea's kids invent a disturbingly creative plan for “body disposal.” A student's career quiz leads to a midwife meltdown and a hilarious OB-GYN story. Andrea gets personal about her sister's baby's birth, gratitude for NICU staff, and the importance of helping kids embrace discomfort. -- Teachers' night out? Yes, please! Come see comedian Educator Andrea…Get your tickets at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠teachersloungelive.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Educatorandrea.com/tickets⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for laugh out loud Education! — Don't Be Shy Come Say Hi: www.podcasterandrea.com Watch on YouTube: @educatorandrea A Human Content Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brittany shares her extraordinary journey from a challenging conception to a life-changing premature birth experience. After 18 months of trying to conceive with low AMH levels, Brittany and her husband Braden welcomed their son Tulla at just 28 weeks following a dramatic turn of events. What began as routine monitoring for IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) quickly escalated into preeclampsia, emergency caesarean, and a four-month NICU journey that included heart surgery in Melbourne. Brittany's story is one of resilience, advocacy, and the incredible strength of the parent-baby bond formed in the most challenging circumstances. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

December brings us to the final Papers of the Month for 2025 and we're finishing the year with three studies that challenge assumptions across critical care and resuscitation! This time questioning the role of arterial lines in shock, looking at the true prognostic value of end-tidal CO₂ in cardiac arrest and finally to airway management in neonates. We start in the ICU with the EVERDAC trial, a large multicentre RCT exploring whether early arterial catheterisation in shock truly changes outcomes. This challenges some of the papers we've recently looked at recently which champion the benefit of early arterial line insertion! The EVERDAC trial looks at the effect they have on mortality and the results are pretty striking. Next, we move into the world of cardiac arrest with a systematic review and meta-analysis examining end-tidal CO₂ as a prognostic tool for ROSC. ETCO₂ is firmly embedded in ALS practice, but its real predictive power isn't completely clear, as we've seen in the recent ERC guidelines. This review pulls together studies with more than 3,000 patients and helps us understand more how much weight we should give to ETCO₂ and the way in which it's best utilised. Finally, we finish with a neonatal focus: a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing video versus direct laryngoscopy for urgent neonatal intubation. Success rates in NICU and delivery room intubation are notoriously low. This paper looks at the impact of video laryngoscopy on first pass success with some dramatic results, which raises important questions around training and resource allocation. Three papers, three very different patient groups, and three opportunities to reflect on how evidence continues to challenge our practice. Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via X @TheResusRoom! Simon & Rob

Baricade 43. Prieteni, este episodul care apasă exact pe nervul prezentului. Cătălin Striblea și Radu Naum nu discută ipoteze abstracte, ci o întrebare care atârnă greu peste toată Europa de Est: „Dacă Rusia ar ataca, cine apără România? Nu e doar despre armate și alianțe. E despre noi. Despre cât de pregătiți suntem mental, ca societate, să înțelegem pericolul. Despre dacă avem reflexul de apărare sau încă trăim cu iluzia că „nu ni se poate întâmpla nouă". 00:02:10 De-ale traficului 00;03:50 Din comentarii - Dincolo de limita criticii 00:06:15 Are cine să apere România? 00:06:55 Declarații ale reprezentanților europeni despre posibile atacuri ale Rusiei 00;10:00 Posibile victime pe flancul de Est 00:12:01 României îi lipsesc vocile 00:14:50 Miniștri actuali cu studii la facultăți particulare 00:17:50 Paralelă între clasa politică din România și echipa națională de fotbal 00:19:45 Cristian Ghinea, „dușmanul" nației 00:24:00 Semnalele Rusiei au început acum 11 ani 00:25:25 Statului român îi lipsește capacitatea de decizie 00:28.50 Nu suntem pregătiți la niciun capitol 00:32:30 Cătălin Striblea: "trebuie să vedem și plusurile" 00:34:20 Transportul armamentelor în situație de criză 00:36:45 Repere în istoria noastră 00:41:00 Profeția dezastrului. Sar scântei! 00:51:10 Demisia lui Moșteanu 00:55:20 Cine ne apară în războiul hibrid? 01:03:50 Serviciile secrete și Nicușor Dan 01:10:34 Din mesajele primite la întrebarea ediției trecute 01:13:43 Concluzii

Send us a textIn this episode, Mandy Daly shares her profound journey as a NICU parent and her advocacy work through the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA). She discusses the emotional challenges faced by parents of preterm infants, the importance of family-centered care, and the need for systemic changes in neonatal healthcare. Mandy emphasizes the significance of building support networks, empowering families through education, and the impact of lived experiences in shaping healthcare policies. The conversation highlights the collaborative efforts required to improve outcomes for families navigating the complexities of neonatal care. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

On today's episode, you'll hear Dr. Mark Costes in his first-ever recording from the brand-new DSI studio—joined by none other than Dr. Cody Boals, who shares his journey from small-town Illinois to co-owning a thriving 10-operatory dental practice in Colorado Springs. Dr. Boals opens up about launching Kissing Camels Family Dentistry with his wife Alexa, their approach to grassroots marketing, and how they scaled from seeing 40 new patients a month to over 150—all while maintaining a strong family-first philosophy.   Cody reflects on his early leadership missteps, how COVID and a NICU stay changed their practice vision, and the systems that helped them grow to nearly $5 million in collections. He also dives into his passion for endurance racing and what led him to complete the legendary Leadville 100 ultra-marathon just weeks after welcoming their second child. This episode is packed with insight on intentional scheduling, team culture, giving back to the community, and how to grow a practice without sacrificing your values. Be sure to check out the full episode from the Dentalpreneur Podcast! EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.truedentalsuccess.com Dental Success Network Subscribe to The Dentalpreneur Podcast

Today's episode is a quick moment to pause and say thank you. Your messages about feeling understood, less isolated, and more connected remind us why TRL exists in the first place. Hearing how this podcast fits into your NICU nights, med routines, or car rides means more than we can say.Sticker Club is also open for a few more days, and it's one of the reasons we can keep making episodes like this. If you want to support the work and grab this year's sticker designs, now's the time. It truly helps keep this community running.Links:Join Sticker Club! Support The Rare Life and get a thankyou sticker (or four!)Follow Amanda onInstagram.Follow me on Instagram. Follow the Facebook page. Join the Facebook group Parents ofChildren with Rare Conditions. And if you love this podcast, please leave us a rating or review in yourfavorite podcast app!

Send us a textIn this episode, Leah Jayanetti speaks with Keira Sorrells, founder of the NICU Parent Network, about her personal journey through the NICU experience with her triplets and the advocacy work she has undertaken to support NICU families. They discuss the importance of family-centered care, the NICU Babies Bill of Rights, and the emotional challenges faced by parents in the NICU. Kira shares her insights on healing through storytelling and the need for self-care among NICU leaders, emphasizing that hope is an expression of love, regardless of the outcomes.Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Black Friday is finally here, and it's your chance to grab $150 off your Lifetime Membership to The Birth Lounge. Just a few days left to get trauma-free, evidence-based birth prep that puts you in control from start to finish. Get your discounted membership here!    In this episode, HeHe sits down with Tori, a seasoned NICU nurse, to bring clarity and confidence to the early weeks of newborn life. Together, they unpack the things most parents are never taught but deeply need — from what normal newborn breathing actually looks like to the feeding and diaper patterns that signal things are on track. They also explore the signs that something may need pediatric attention, helping parents feel grounded instead of guessing.   Tori offers her expert insight on the benefits of having a lactation consultant in your corner, how to recognize dehydration early, what parents should truly know about newborn jaundice, and how to keep an eye on temperature changes without slipping into fear.   These show notes center evidence-based guidance with HeHe's signature calm, holistic approach. Parents and professionals alike will walk away feeling more supported, more informed, and more empowered to advocate for newborn well-being during this overwhelming yet beautiful transition.   Guest Bio: Nurse Tori, MSN RNC-NIC, is a seasoned NICU nurse with over a decade of experience caring for critically ill newborns and supporting their families. She is also the co-founder and CEO of NICUity, a company dedicated to empowering NICU providers and parents through modern education, tools, and resources. Social Media: Connect with HeHe on Instagram  Connect with HeHe on YouTube   Connect with Tori on IG  Connect with Tori:  https://www.tipsfromtori.com/ https://nicuity.com/   Resources Mentioned: Kinsa Thermometer  https://lactationnetwork.com/ Listen to episode 239, colostrum is milk with Gina Motsay, IBCLC  Birth Education Join The Birth Lounge here for judgment-free childbirth education that prepares you for an informed birth and how to confidently navigate hospital policy to have a trauma-free labor experience!   Download The Birth Lounge App for birth & postpartum prep delivered straight to your phone!   The Birth Lounge Black Friday sale is in full swing, and you've got only a couple days to snag $150 off your Lifetime Membership. This is one of only two sales all year, and it unlocks HeHe's full evidence-based system for confident, empowered birth — including the CONTROL Method, the Secret Sauce to Pushing, partner prep, advocacy scripts, all PDF guides, and the Birthing Your Big Ass Baby course. You'll learn how to navigate the hospital system with calm authority, avoid unnecessary interventions, push efficiently, reduce tearing, and advocate for every choice that matters to you. Plus, HeHe is sending you a handpicked Birth Box, packed with comfort, self-care, and advocacy tools she's used herself to help parents have their best birth possible. Your birth, your rules, your confidence — don't miss out. Go to thebirthlounge.com/join and use code BF25 before the sale ends.   Looking for a low tox way to care for your family? Check out Zebra, use code HEHE to save at https://yayzebra.com/

Send us a textThe jokes land first—Flavor Flav, ranch on mashed potatoes, rogue gaming takes—but the heart of this conversation is fatherhood in all its mess and wonder. We're three dads at three different stages, from 21 days to 26 years, comparing notes on the invisible load men often carry when pregnancy gets complicated, partners recover, and the bills and errands don't stop. No scorekeeping, no “who had it harder,” just honest talk about how stress moves silently and why naming it helps everyone breathe.We unpack the early days where the textbook rules crash into reality. The bassinet looks perfect until your baby refuses to sleep there. So you iterate: contact naps, white noise, careful couch setups, and whatever soothes safely. That trial-and-error mindset becomes a habit that lowers shame and raises teamwork. We also lean into the tougher layers—sleep guilt, the urge to do it all, and the need to rest before you break. There's room here for older-dad truths too: making peace with past mistakes, choosing the least harmful path through divorce, and the power of repair. Counseling insights, like shedding a hero complex, become practical steps for loving better.What kids remember isn't perfect technique; it's presence. The moment a child finds you in the stands and lights up will recalibrate your priorities in a second. We talk resilience, raising kids with limitations, the value of respectful coaches, and why a small village—family, friends, community—multiplies a father's impact. And yes, between NICU tears and bedtime wins, we make room for pop culture, from AI jokes to movie recs, because laughter is part of how we carry the weight.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a dad who needs a lift, and leave a quick review so more parents can find these conversations. What's one fatherhood myth you wish more people would drop? Support the showPlease share and SUBSCRIBE!!!If you are able ... would you help us in becoming a subscriber and helping us get the word out. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1133780/supportThinking about starting a podcast. Check out our affiliate link here.Listen on apple hereFacebook Listen on Spotify here

Today's guest shares her family's NICU story and her beautiful book, Waiting for Max. She explains how the anxiety of a NICU stays with you for a long time and why she's dedicated to helping other families. Her book supports parents AND siblings who are waiting for their NICU baby to join the family at home. Join us! Emily Rosen is a mom, freelance creative director, copywriter, and children's book author. She has built her career working for top advertising agencies and brands. Always striving to use her creativity for good, Emily empowers women, mothers, and kids, and her inspiration comes from her son Max's time in the NICU. She wrote her first children's book to help families going through experiences similar to hers. When she's not writing, Emily loves going for a run in the neighborhood, singing karaoke with friends, and reading to her two kids. A proud native of Cleveland, she now lives in Los Angeles with her family.  Show Highlights: NICU statistics in the US: 10% of babies have a NICU stay Emily's NICU journey (16 days) with Max, born at 34 weeks in 2019 Reading books to Max in the NICU brought a sense of normalcy to what was otherwise a frightening experience. Emily's inspiration to write Waiting for Max – and how she found unexpected healing Helping kids understand the NICU in age-appropriate language Life after the NICU may look different for your child, but there is hope for a normal life. Emily's infertility journey to have a second child—and inspiration for a second book about infertility and surrogacy Creativity as a way to process feelings and protect your mental health Emily's best strategies for parents to get through a NICU stay What NOT to ask parents with a baby in the NICU Resources: Connect with Emily Rosen: Website, Instagram, and Waiting for Max Call the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA or visitcdph.ca.gov. Please find resources in English and Spanish at Postpartum Support International, or by phone/text at 1-800-944-4773.  There are many free resources, like online support groups, peer mentors, a specialist provider directory, and perinatal mental health training for therapists, physicians, nurses, doulas, and anyone who wants to be more supportive in offering services. You can also follow PSI on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and most other platforms. Visit www.postpartum.net/professionals/certificate-trainings/for information on the grief course.  Visit my website, www.wellmindperinatal.com, for more information, resources, and courses you can take today!  If you are a California resident seeking a therapist in perinatal mental health, please email me about openings for private pay clients.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Waiting rarely feels like a blessing. In today's prayer and devotional, we reflect on how waiting often feels like life is passing us by while our prayers remain unanswered. Whether the longing is for a child, a marriage, healing, clarity, or a breakthrough, seasons of waiting can stir deep discouragement. But Scripture assures us that God is good to those who wait for Him, not only after the answer comes but in the waiting itself. Waiting is not wasted time — it is often the place where God does His most transformative work. Gratitude during waiting does not minimize the pain; instead, it shifts our focus from what we lack to the God who is present with us. The “soil seasons” are where roots grow deep, character is formed, and faith matures. The author shares her own story of longing for motherhood — a journey marked by years of delay, painful loss, and a NICU stay that tested her trust all over again. Through that journey, she discovered that the miracle was not only the child she finally held, but the heart God formed within her while she waited. The same is true for us: the waiting shapes us in ways the answer never could. If you find yourself in the difficult tension of waiting today, know this: you are not being overlooked or forgotten. You are being prepared. God is aligning details you cannot see. Gratitude becomes a doorway to peace, grounding you in His goodness even when the future feels uncertain. Today's Bible Reading:“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.” – Lamentations 3:25 Main Takeaways Waiting is not punishment; it is preparation. God is actively working in the unseen details of your life. Gratitude invites God into your ache and strengthens your faith. Seasons of waiting shape you for the blessings to come. God's timing is perfect — His delays are not denials. A Prayer to Give Thanks in the Seasons of Waiting Father, thank You for being with me in the waiting. Thank You for the ways You’re working, even when I cannot see it. Forgive me for the moments I’ve doubted Your goodness or tried to move ahead of Your plan. Teach me to find peace right here — not in the next season, but in Your presence with me now. Help me choose gratitude even in uncertainty. Thank You for shaping my faith, deepening my dependence, and strengthening my trust. Thank You that Your timing is perfect, and You do not withhold good from those who walk with You. Help me to rest, to release control, and to trust that Your delays are not denials. Prepare my heart for whatever You have ahead, and help me wait well with a spirit of praise and expectation. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Additional Scriptures for Meditation Psalm 27:14 Isaiah 40:31 Romans 8:25 Psalm 46:10 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.