The Sleep Sessions

On today’s episode, Danielle from Parenting Wholeheartedly shares about her experiences with a C-section and sleep challenges with both of her children that led her to work with a sleep consultant. She also discusses her husband’s depression and alcoholism that began shortly after the birth of their second daughter and how they were able to recover from that dark period in their lives.

Today I’m speaking with Morgan Molitor from @construction2style. With her first son, she experienced an emergency C-section after 12 hours of labor and afterward felt like she had been robbed of her birth experience. Morgan opted for a planned c-section with her second son but things still did not go as anticipated. Much of our conversation is centered around how she dealt with these experiences and how motherhood shaped her for the better.

On today’s episode, Brittany from the Growing Our Family podcast shares about her induction at 37 weeks, working with a lactation consultant, suffering from sleep deprivation, and sleep training her son via full extinction per a recommendation from her pediatrician.

On today’s episode, sleep coach & Occupational Therapist Molly Mahler shares about her lengthy birth experience with her first and ways she was able to involve her husband in the early newborn days, even while she was breastfeeding. Molly also talks about the different sleep training methods she used and how moms can support one another.

On today’s episode, Carole shares about her two C-section deliveries and becoming a mom for the first time at 37 years old. She also talks about her challenges with breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, dealing with postpartum depression with both of her children, and intrusive thoughts.

On today’s episode, Savannah shares her moving and inspiring account of her postpartum journey. Eight weeks after her home water birth, she discovered that she had retained placenta and underwent a D&C procedure to have it removed. Prior to the surgery, she faced tremendous challenges with breastfeeding and postpartum depression. Savannah also shares about the impacts having a baby has had on the relationships in her life and how often times she feels like she is now a burden to family and friends.

On today’s episode, Mary Bridget shares about her positive birth experience, her 6 month long breastfeeding journey, hormonal challenges she faced when she weaned, sleep training, and going back to work.

On today's episode, Allison shares her heartbreaking, yet inspirational story that starts with a postpartum hemorrhage resulting in an emergency hysterectomy following the birth of her first son. Due to the events that occurred, Allison became unable to carry and birth another child and was forced the grieve her dream of doing so. She shares about this grieving process, breastfeeding, returning to work after her maternity leave, and struggling to connect with other women who were having "normal" motherhood experiences. Though she experienced tremendous trauma, Allison's story has a happy ending thanks to her sister stepping in to be a surrogate and carry her second son. 

On today’s episode, Ali Levine shares about her traumatic first birth experience that ultimately led to her journey with postpartum depression and challenges with breastfeeding. Luckily, she has a strong support system and was able to overcome these hardships. Ali recently gave birth to her second baby girl via a successful VBAC and found having her placenta encapsulated really helped her through the postpartum period this time around.  About Ali Levine: Born and raised in New York, Ali has worked for some of the biggest names in the Fashion Industry. Ali relocated to Los Angeles, California and became a household name as a celebrity stylist. Ali recently appeared with her husband on Bravo's hit show, "Stripped." Ali makes regular appearances on local to National television promoting herself as a brand becoming an on- camera expert. After Ali's 1st birth of her daughter Amelia Rei, Ali transitioned to mompreneur and mommy influencer across the board. Belonging to sought after mommy groups her fashion sense plus real life day to day inspires many who follow her and cover her. Now she is a mama of two girls and sharing it all!! Ali has a well known podcast called Striptd Down with Ali Levine, all about motherhood, real, raw and everything in between!! You can find her @alilevinedesign.

Sleep consultant, Dr. Sarah Mitchell shares about her experiences with undiagnosed gestational diabetes, attachment parenting, and postpartum anxiety. From Ottowa, Ontario, Sarah and her husband now live in the San Francisco Bay area with her 9 year old son and 7 year old daughter. With 8 years of university healthcare research, Sarah thought she’d be prepared to deal with her son’s sleeping habits as a newborn. She began to struggle with unexpected sleeping issues and became obsessed with researching, studying and talking to experts about implementing solutions. Main points: 1:58 Planned on natural approaches 2:14 Undiagnosed gestational diabetes 3:23 Signs of gestational diabetes 4:26 Sleep problems 5:43 Birth incision healing 6:18 Postpartum anxiety 7:00 Sleeping and Maternity leave in Canaday 8:26 Sleeping pressure in Canada vs. United States 8:47 Sleeping approaches based on family demands 10:50 Path to good sleep 12:24 Have a plan in place that you feel comfortable with 12:32 Mental shift 14:24 Starting sleep routine 17:29 Sleeping through the night and Feeding habits 19:41 Second child 21:06 Sleep and impact on relationships in life: tension with husband Tips and Resources: Therapy Self-care Sleep Summary by age Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman Be sure to subscribe to The Sleep Sessions wherever you listen to podcasts and follow along on Instagram at @thesleepsessions.