This episode rounds out our second season of the podcast! We are taking a break for a couple of months and we talk about how we got here. Hanna covers how she manages brain space, and what it looks like for her to take an actual time-out. We will see you again when we return later in the Spring! Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Welcome back to our brains! We are reacting this week to the 12th episode of Glennon Doyle's podcast "We Can Do Hard Things" (July 27th 2021) and we go down the rabbit hole for sure. How do we see our children (and other people) for who they are today instead of who they have been in the past? What stories are we carrying around about the people we love and how do those get in the way of truly seeing and knowing them, and even hearing them? How can we learn to listen and get out of our kids' (and our own) way? Topic starts at 3:15 Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Megan and Hanna talk through breaking down the societal rules that we don’t want our children to absorb. How do we keep from passing on what we don’t agree with when we’re still learning ourselves? Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Megan and Hanna discuss the Christmas season and how they plan to celebrate (or not) this year and with their families in the future. Happy holidays to everyone out there, and we hope you are able to be kind to yourselves during a busy season! Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Hanna takes us on the ride of her very first pregnancy test ever! There's no buns in these ovens, but it's a beautiful rollercoaster ride to clearing up some brain space. When your cycle just isn't playing by the rules, all of the thoughts and best/worst case scenarios can take up a lot of room, and there's only one (almost totally) reliable way to clear up the question marks. Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Caitlin (Caity) Robinson joins us this week! She’s sharing her story of her son Hunter (a legend by all reports 🤩), who was born with a cleft palate, which made him unable to breastfeed. Caity committed to pumping exclusively, which she kept up until his first birthday. (Quote Hanna: "You are a Ninja!") Caity talks about the ups and downs within that first year, her struggles and what helped her to keep going and trust herself, what she learned along the way and all that she is grateful for. Follow Caity on Instagram: @living.the.abundant.way Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Megan brings us news of a (re-)new(ed) beginning in her life: movement! She tells us about her experience of exercise through pregnancy and as a mom. We talk about finding time and motivation for exercise and how there's no "just" doing anything when facing different kinds of barriers to taking care of our bodies. Each step taken is a victory, and now on to trying to do it again.. https://www.youtube.com/c/yogawithadriene https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Website Instagram E-Mail: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Hanna and Megan talk about periods and cycles this week! Our constant companion (with some breaks) is a topic of much discussion in our relationship, and we love to talk about her. Hanna shares her many-faceted journey through pills and products and the cycle of the moon, and how she got to where she's at - in tune with where her body is and what it needs. Megan talks about getting back her old familiar, though now foreign, rhythm after being period-free for over a year. It's a beautiful, bloody, magical time. Megan mentions Hanna's Instagrams and Websites: AMANAS is a collaboration of hers with her friend Niqui. The Instagram, website and podcast are in German. Her individual Website is also German, but her Instagram is sometimes in English. ;) She does offer her services in English. So feel free to DM her on Instagram or send her an email if you are interested or want to know more. (kontakt@hannacharlottestein.com) Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Today we introspect a bit about the changes we go through as parents in our everyday life. How is life different, and what changes are we looking forward to? We talk prioritizing the essentials and figuring out what those even are. And of course, we cover the classics: sleep and date nights. Life may be unrecognizable, but it's a beautiful change! ...mostly Go to 3:52 if you want to skip our chat about curtains. ;) Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube

Jerika Smith joins us this week! She's studying to be a midwife and comes on the podcast to talk about her path to becoming a CPM, attending births, and how home birth and birth centers became an option for so many during the pandemic. We range from talking about midwife legalities drama, to gentle c-sections and hospital shift changes, and the cost barriers to being and having a midwife. Settle in and enjoy! TW: For those as squeamish as Hanna: Warning for minute 24-25. Follow Jerika! facebook.com/daisydoulaservices @daisy.doula.services The instagram account she mentions is @badassmotherbirther - would recommend for anyone who wants to see real births! Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube: Hey Mama, I have questions.

Megan brings us up to date on her little one and the happenings in his budding toddlerhood. Day care, walking, and what words he’s saying, it’s all just too adorable. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Megan brings us an update on sending her little one to a "home daycare." We cover the process of finding care and the special torture that is being on a waitlist. We talk emotions around transition, deconstructing judgements, deciding what's important, and letting go of everything else. Be sure to listen to the end for the baby's opinion on how things are going! Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

Janine is back and telling us about her pregnancy! She threw the bucket list out the window and got lucky right away, she and her partner are welcoming their little one in February! She shares about the beginning of her pregnancy, her experience in her Gynecology practice and with her midwife, and her top tier snack game :D She's had a lot of highs and lows so far, and even with everything going super well, pregnancy is hard. We're so happy for her, and we're so happy she came to talk to us about it! TW: discussion of medical trauma and miscarriage. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

We're talking about the impact of the first 8 weeks of a baby's life today, and how important they are for our lives as adults. Hanna brings us an excerpt from "What Happened to You" by Oprah Winfrey & Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD. We learn about how secure connection and a safe, stable environment for just eight weeks when a baby is born gives us a huge leg up in dealing with adverse childhood experiences. Babies may not 'remember' that time, but it's still so crucial! **TW - We don't talk much about specific instances of trauma but do give a few examples, one around PTSD from combat experience (25:10-27:23), mention of miscarriage (12:30-12:40), and one that involves murder (9:17-11:30). None of these are detailed, we just mention the situation as an example. (The last time stamp is so long because we use that example to explain rhythm as a regulating tool.) Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube: Hey Mama, I have questions.

How do we strike the balance between time at home and time away? How do we navigate our self-care with dependents? This transition is on our minds this week. Hanna’s life and work are giving her skills to navigate the transition as it’s front and center in Megan’s mind with ‘normal’ life reasserting itself. Subtitles available on YouTube. Links available on our website. Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

NICU nurse Emily Lines joins the podcast this week! We talk about what to expect in the NICU as a parent, how to support your friends when their babies need intensive care and her own experience as a NICU sibling. It’s an invaluable peek into an experience that can seem intimidating and mysterious, and we’re so grateful that she could help us be a bit more informed! Subtitles available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTYyGb4RZ4Y0AMauCJOeZw Links available on our website. Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com

All moms are obsessed with their babies and hate to leave them for even a second, right?? Turns out, no. Megan shares her experience navigating the gap between the narrative around being a mom and her experience of motherhood. There's a million different versions of this gap, and they can all make us feel alone. Say it with me: We are enough, we are good parents, and we love our babies!! *The reticular activating system is the word Hanna was looking for when speaking about the brain. Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTYyGb4RZ4Y0AMauCJOeZw

Relationships are complicated and beautiful and take work as they evolve and change. This week, we go over some of what came up while discussing grandparenting, namely meta communication! How do we talk about how we communicate and what we mean by the words we choose. What do our choices communicate to others and how can we navigate parenting around the people close to us when it feels like we’re speaking different languages? Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTYyGb4RZ4Y0AMauCJOeZw

Megan and her mom discuss what it’s like taking on new roles. Beth shares her experience of grandparent-ing and we talk about understanding your own and others’ needs and limits. Taking on the role of a grandparent is “like wearing new shoes in a familiar place.” This and many more kernels of wisdom coming your way in this episode. Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTYyGb4RZ4Y0AMauCJOeZw

Well, this episode turned out to be a perfect representation of us and this podcast. :D Tune in to get the cliff notes on our past few months and a behind the scenes of producing this podcast. Here's to Season 2! Hanna's exciting new endeavor: Website: https://amanas.love Instagram: @amanas.love foot note: MonthS long course. Plural. It was a very extensive course. (The Human Design Studies) I felt the need to make that clear. H Subtitles available on YouTube. Website: https://heymamaihavequestions.com Instagram: @heymamaihavequestions Email: heymama@heymamaihavequestions.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTYyGb4RZ4Y0AMauCJOeZw