What I'd tell my younger sister

In this episode, we’re talking with Chantal Eder, a movement specialist focused on pre- and post-natal wellness. Jenna and I were lucky enough to take prenatal yoga classes with Chantal—and got so much more than “expensive stretching” (as our dad likes to call it). We’ve learned so much from her earned wisdom on self-care, not just for the body, but for the mind, the spirit, and the soul. Today, w...

When you’re a new mom, there are a lot of things you need: sleep (a lot more of it!), a hearty meal to fuel you for all that physical labour, and a hot shower. Just one rung higher on the hierarchy of needs: someone to talk to (who really really gets what you’re going through) and probably a bra for whatever new and strange shape your boobs are in. At The Fourth, a maternity and nursing shop and c...

It’s a big season of change over here—after 13 months off of work, Kasandra’s wrapping up mat leave and heading back to paid work. That means 2 kids in daycare, 2 parents working full time… can we do this?  We don’t know yet! But in this episode, we’ll talk about closing this chapter (pour one out, a bottle my baby never took preferably), what we’ve done to prepare for this new one, and of course—...

It’s safe to say many (most?) of us have some fears when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth. Everything is new, we know there will be discomfort and pain, and there’s so much that’s unknown and out of our control. But what about when the fear feels too much to handle? In today’s episode, we’re talking with Sonia about her experience with tokophobia (the fear of pregnancy and birth), how it showe...

Once you've unpacked, recovered from jet lag, and gotten back into routines, what remains from travelling with babes? For us, it's a lot—today we're talking about the big takeaways we had when reflecting on our time abroad with babies. We're talking cultural observations, family bonding, and developmental changes. In this episode, we talk about: Giving your babies safe places to explore when you'r...

We’re ba-ack! And we missed you all. We’ve just returned from two weeks overseas with our babes, and we’re pleasantly surprised to report we’re not too much worse for wear! We’re here to recap our trip and talk through all the logistics, planning, and prep of getting two babies and one toddler overseas—and back—in one piece. In this episode, we talk about: Travel expectations vs. reality (guess wh...

Hello dear listeners! Just dropping in to let you know we'll be away the next few weeks—we are *attempting* to take our little families on an adventure involving overnight airplane travel, new time zones, and new languages. We hope to bring back stories (apparently your boobs get jet lagged?) and our very best travel tips (and, as always, our fails). This fall we'll be bringing fresh episo...

Whether you’ve been on a waitlist since you conceived of conception, or you’re realizing you’re going to need more support with your wee ones as you transition back to paid work, finding childcare can be *stressful*. It involves a lot of sources of stress—money, parenting/childcare approaches, so many unknowns (especially those mystery waitlists, woof), and for many, guilt. Today, we’re talking ab...

When you’re pregnant and early postpartum, everything’s new and feels different. Your body, brain, and relationships. Plus, you’ve got new stressors on your system—lack of sleep, a baby’s cry that feels like a siren’s wail, and less time to cope with it all. All of these changes can make it hard to tell the difference between “normal worry” and a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD), like po...

Maybe you’ve been told it’s normal to pee your pants a little after you have kids (forever). Or maybe your pelvic floor is a little uptight and she needs to go to yoga. Somehow, pushing 10-pound watermelons out of your vagina throws off the surrounding region’s groove *just a little bit*. Today, we have our very! first! Guest! Our friend and fellow listener Katie McLeod has been on a pelvic floor...

We like to think of the before times as BC (before children) and the now as AD (after dominance)—adding a baby to your family changes *everything*. Bringing in another flips that upside down (and reverses it, sometimes). In today’s episode, we talk about our experiences going from child-free to child-focused, including all the ways it’s surprised us, delighted us, and slapped us in the face, over...

Some of the body changes we go through in pregnancy and postpartum are obvious and anticipated—your growing belly, your swollen ankles, your cute new outie belly button. And many, especially the less exciting ones, aren’t—boobs that blow up, deflate, and droop, hemorrhoids that hang on for dear life, and re-landscaped undercarriages… not to mention your relationship with them.  Tune in to hear us...

Once you’ve had a baby, there’s no going back—you’re a different being than you were before. So of course your relationships are going to change—you have a new set of ever-pressing questions, interests, and activities. For some friendships, this gives you something new to bond over and deepens your relationship. For others, it may challenge or even strain the relationship as your priorities grow a...

Baby’s crying. Your partner’s asking you where your toddler’s blue milk cup is. Your toddler’s yelling at you to wipe their hands with the green cloth (not the yellow one). You just noticed a dried-up spit-up splotch on your shirt (did that happen before or after daycare pick up?), your phone is blowing up, there’s a pile of laundry glaring at you out of the corner of your eye and—WEEE-OOH! Is tha...

Yes, we’re still talking about sleep—and this time not just our babies’, but our own too.  We’re finally coming to terms with the fact that we’re not getting enough sleep and probably won’t be for awhile. In this episode, we talk about how we’re creatively coping with the lack of sleep. Plus, we’ll chat through common sleep recommendations (never let them sleep in a car seat! Don’t let them get ov...

Now that we’ve talked about breastfeeding, we might as well wade into the even-more murky waters of baby sleep. Apparently some babies sleep just fine on their own, but we’ve never met them (or their moms).  Whether you choose to sleep train, co-sleep, or something in between, you’ve probably struggled with making the right choice for you and your family, and you might have felt guilt or shame ove...

So you’ve finally got the hang of breastfeeding. Then BAM! In comes a parade of unexpected new challenges. Undersupply! Oversupply! Clogged ducts! Figuring out how to use a breast pump in a closet at work! People looking at you weirdly when you’re nursing in public! We’ll share our hot—and lukewarm—takes on all the surprises lactation has thrown us so far. In this episode, we talk about: Leaking n...

Pre-baby, we expected breastfeeding would go how we saw it in public—whip out a boob, pop the baby on, move on. Bim bam boom, easy. Hahahahahahahahaha. Little did we know those babies were probably 6 months or older—post-graduate-level breastfeeders with tenured expert mom profs.  Breastfeeding takes a lot of practice, and can be really challenging. For us, it was full of more bumps, bites, and br...

My birth was the marathon that I was not prepared for and maybe never could have been. For potentially the first time (ever) I tuned in, learning to trust my body and respect its new levels of strength and resilience. Although I was slightly delirious by the time my daughter was born, it was the most meaningful day of my life meeting my new baby, my husband as a new father, and my new version of s...

Only you know your body best—the lesson I learned the hard way (twice!) in the hard labour of childbirth.  We wouldn’t be a new mom podcast if we didn’t take the time to tell our birth stories. In this episode, Kasandra shares her two very different experiences: birthing under the care of an OB-GYN in a California hospital, and at home with a midwife in Alberta, Canada.  In this episode, we talk a...

Pregnancy was hard. Now you’ve had a baby! You’re broken inside, outside, and probably in places you can’t name (or shouldn’t on a podcast). Early postpartum is a blur of bleary eyes, breakdowns, AND bliss. Here's how we approached it, what we did different, and what you can do to set yourself—or someone you love—up for a nurtured early postpartum period. In this episode, we talk about: Prepar...

Is this thing on?  One day at coffee I (Kasandra) threw out the idea that we could try recording a podcast, as a time capsule of fresh-baby life, but also because we were spending hours every week talking about all the changes we were going through. It felt like therapy, and hey—maybe someone else might find it helpful, too. Little did I know my little sister (Jenna) had the same idea. We borrowed...