Momwell

Do you find that you are keenly aware of the shifts in the emotions of those around you? Are you wired to please others? Have you ever found yourself feeling panicked for no reason? Anxiety and trauma responses can cause our bodies to act in ways that may not make sense, and that can be scary. Clinical psychologist Dr. Quincee Gideon joins us to help us better understand our nervous system and how...

Do you struggle with family showing up unannounced? Does your family buy too many gifts for your child? Does your mother or mother-in-law ignore your parenting values and do things their own way? You are not alone. In today’s episode, Dr. Ream and I answer your questions to help unpack why boundary setting feels so difficult especially when it comes to dealing with our moms and mothers-in-law, and...

There are many roads that lead to motherhood, and some moms even start their journey solo. But what happens when you’ve chosen a partner to start a family, and it doesn’t work out? What does ending the partnership mean for your parenting situation, and your child’s situation? When we’re thrust into single parenting unexpectedly, the custody agreements that mean time away from our child can be deva...

In the wake of George Floyd, many parents’ eyes have been opened to the injustices that BIPOC communities face on a day-to-day basis. This has also left many parents questioning how to "do the work" and raise inclusive children. Figuring out where to start when it comes to anti-racism and social justice work can feel quite daunting. Dr. Traci Baxley is here to teach us about ways we can use our pa...

Do you ever feel more disorganized and frazzled compared to other moms? Do you regularly forget things you know are important because of how much you hold in your mind? While these might sound typical of most mothers, major factors of ADHD that often go undiagnosed in women include forgetfulness, inattentiveness, distractibility, and disorganization. Dr. Melissa Shepard is going to help us underst...

Pregnancy, labor, and delivery are hard enough. But having a baby in NICU is terrifying and can be traumatic. Kristin Reinhart is a social worker and perinatal mental health specialist with 15 years of experience. More importantly, she’s a mom who survived 2 NICU experiences. She’s here to share her experience, how to know when you need help, and how to help a NICU mom.  Show Notes: https://bit.ly...

Pregnancy is a time with lots of new restrictions, and it can feel like we’re losing our freedom. A lot of those new rules stick around during nursing too. With so many “Don’ts,” how do we know what’s okay? Can everything really be that bad for the baby? OB-GYN Dr. Jennifer Lincoln is going to help us unpack the effects of alcohol, CBD, and cannabis during pregnancy and nursing.  Show Notes: https...

Do you work as a mother or spend time on a hobby? Motherhood is hard enough without losing those other pieces of ourselves that are so important. But society has a clear idea of what a mom should be, and it’s not always juggling corporate calls and leaving daycare pick up to your partner. Dr. Courtney Tracy the Truth Doctor is going to help us unpack unspoken messages to moms and why we should ign...

New babies are snuggly and adorable, but they’re also a lot of work. Everyone tells us we need to babyproof our house, but no one tells us we need to babyproof our relationship. Or where do we even start to do that? Happy as a Mother Wellness Therapist Kameela Osman is a social worker and psychotherapist with over ten years of experience, and she’s here to help us babyproof our relationship.  Show...

Are you well rested today? I’m not! Moms don’t get a lot of sleep, and new moms get almost none. This can be hard on our brain. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is here to explain how we can best care for our brains during seasons of life when getting a full night’s sleep is all but impossible.  Show Notes: https://bit.ly/2X4SGKW   Book a Free 15 min Consult with a mom therapist: happyasamother.co/wellness  ...

Growing a whole human and keeping it alive can feel daunting! What are you not allowed to eat while you’re pregnant? More importantly, what can you actually eat? How do you know? And the decisions don’t get easier once the baby comes. Am I damaging my child for life if I sleep train because sleep deprivation is getting to us all?  What if there was an easy way to make these decisions? And what if...

Have you ever been on your way out the door, and then one of your kids flopped on the ground like a fish, because they wanted a different color backpack? Or put a well-fed and properly hydrated preschooler to bed only to have them come out of their room 5 minutes later and ask for a drink? These moments can be frustrating, but a lot of times, it’s the moving from one thing to another that actually...

If you’re an expecting mother, are you set on breastfeeding? If you already have a child, did your feeding journey go as expected? As moms, we often feel a lot of pressure to get everything right, and feeding is often our first introduction to this. Pressure comes from both ourselves and others to make our feeding experience go according to plan. Johanna Phillips, a registered social worker and on...

Do you find yourself constantly thinking about the glass of wine you’re going to have at the end of the day? Do you feel a pull to have a drink throughout the day when things get hard? Are the majority of your social events with other moms centered around drinking? Mommy wine culture has been made into a lighthearted merchandisable topic that can have serious consequences for those who find themse...

Do you have a child starting kindergarten this year? That’s always a huge transition, but this year is even more of a transition than usual. Many of our kids haven’t been out of the house in a year and a half, and we haven’t been away from them in that amount of time either. Preparing for this transition and making sure your child is ready has always been a source of parent stress, and this year k...

Have you ever been in a medical situation where you felt completely powerless? Have you ever had decisions made about yours or your child's care and felt like your voice was not heard?? There are so many situations that can cause medical post traumatic stress syndrome, and these are just a couple. Since so many mothers experience medical PTSD, I thought it would be a good idea to unpack what medic...

Do you find that you get irritable the week before your cycle? Do you find that your mood or anxiety fluctuate depending on where you are in your cycle? You are not the only one, it is not a secret that our hormones play an important role in our overall mental health. Dr. Nichelle Haynes , a Perinatal Psychiatrist who focuses on mental health during infertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and parentin...

How old were you the first time you heard the word consent used in connection with your body? For a lot of us, it was the tail end of some really bad high school video. But teaching kids consent—both that they own their body and are in charge of who touches and respecting others boundaries—can start a lot earlier than that. Psychotherapist Jessica VanderWier will help us understand what consent lo...

I remember when I was getting ready to have my first baby and researching all the options out there—it can be so overwhelming! When it’s your first child, it’s hard to know what your birth plan should include, and as useful as the internet is, not all information is created equally. Mommy Labor Nurse and Registered Nurse Liesel Teen is here to help us understand what actually needs to go into a bi...

It’s six weeks postpartum. Your OB/GYN visit went well. Exciting things are happening. If you had a c-section, you can likely drive again, and you’re probably cleared for sex too. But are you really ready? You may still be bleeding six weeks after a baby. Even if your body has completely healed, are you really ready? Are you prepared mentally after the trauma of giving birth and the mental toll of...

If your best friend called you upset because her baby has a horrible diaper rash that she blamed herself for, would you hop on the bandwagon and agree that it was her fault? Or would you offer suggestions to get rid of the rash and remind her that it happens? If she lost her cool on her toddler, would you scold her? Or would you respond with care?  Now imagine your own child has a bumpy red bottom...

Do you ever feel yourself snapping at your kids or partner when you’re not even angry, you’re just overwhelmed. That’s called overstimulation and it happens when your brain has 50 tabs open and trying to move back and forth is both frustrating and overwhelming. I find myself wanting to wear ear plugs around the house just so that I can hear myself think. Noise is one of the many sensory factors th...

Did you know that most moms will report experiencing some amount of memory loss during the postpartum period? If you can’t remember what you ate for breakfast, it’s okay! No other mom can either. As a mom of three boys I can totally relate to the forgetfulness and brain fog that sets in during those early postpartum days. Mom brain can be annoying—who wants to forget why they walked into a room—bu...

Did you know that the majority of mothers experience scary and intrusive thoughts in the postpartum period, but feel so much shame they hardly talk about it? Even worse, these intrusive thoughts can become debilitating and take control of a mother's life leading to postpartum Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).” For a lot of people, a thought like that might trigger extreme shame and guilt, causi...

Understanding how your brain works is incredibly empowering. Maybe your go-to emotion is rage when your brain is at capacity or perhaps your brain gets stuck in anxious overdrive. Or perhaps your child's brain gets flooded with big emotions that appear as frequent tantrums, which leaves you feeling like they are intentionally disobeying. If we understand how the brain influences our emotions, we c...