You're Doing Great Mom

Motherhood is something that all women will think about at one point in their lives. For many, it’s not even a thought. It’s a ‘when’. For some, it’s a clear ‘not for me’. For every other woman who falls in between, there was a journey which led them and may still be leading them to the ultimate conclusion. And, as we know, the experience of motherhood always keeps flowing, changing, and growing along with our children. Almost all of us can say it’s the hardest thing we’ve ever done, and it’s true when we say it takes a village. Using that analogy and today’s technology, this podcast is for women, mothers, and (sometimes) for men so they can listen and hear personal and heartfelt stories told by real, everyday women.

YDGM Ep 32: Chantal Challenger, life as a mum and an expat. 10/30/2018

YDGM Ep 31: My husband Julian Wiseman talking about his book on Port Vintages. 09/11/2018

YDGM Ep 30: Keith Wassung 06/11/2018

YDGM Ep 29: Thomas Waller DC 04/03/2018

YDGM Ep 28: Craig Peterson, an American living in Rome 02/21/2018

YDGM Ep 27: Brendan Waddington on Fatherhood 02/01/2018

YDGM Ep 26: Julian D A Wiseman AKA My Husband 01/23/2018

YDGM Ep 25: Lillian Lartey 12/23/2017

YDGM Ep 024: Drea Clark 12/05/2017

YDGM Ep 023: Angie Dairou 11/27/2017

YDGM Ep 22: Michelle Dry 11/13/2017

YDGM Ep 021: Rachael Talbot-Frank 11/06/2017

YDGM Ep 020: Noreen Sumpter 10/28/2017

YDGM Ep 019: Samina Courtin 10/12/2017

YDGM Ep 018: Professional Singer and Performer Lara Martins 07/16/2017

YDGM Ep 018: Professional Singer and Performer Lara Martins [This episode is about miscarriage. Please understand that it may trigger sensitive emotions while listening, although the purpose of this episode is to spread the information about this topic so more women can learn about how common miscarriage is.] Lara Martins is a principle in the London production of “The Phantom of the Opera”. Lara is from Portugal, and studied theatre in the UK, and has been living in the UK for the last 20 years. I’m so happy to have Lara here with me for this episode. In searching for more topics revolving motherhood and pregnancy, I believe that it’s important to talk about all possible events relating to our experiences as women becoming mothers. One of them is miscarriage, which, for many people who do not know, it is quite common. Many women have experienced a miscarriage, and because of the sensitive emotional pain involved, most women do not know how to share their experiences. When Lara accepted my invitation to be on my podcast, she was very open and generous in sharing her story about her miscarriage. “When you have a miscarriage you don’t really think that because obviously miscarriage is quite a sensitive subject, and not many women talk about it. So you have no idea that having a miscarriage is quite common. It happens a lot. When you are confronted with a miscarriage it is very traumatic. It’s definitely one of the hardest things I had to deal with in my life. You know, the first thought you have is ‘what have I done wrong; did I provoke this’ and even though everybody tells you it’s nothing you have done, it’s nothing to do with you, it’s just your body maybe rejecting something that was not viable’. BUt you just try to find the reason. You just want to know why; what have I done; What could I have done differently to have a different outcome’.” “It gave me great comfort when I was trying to recover from my miscarriage to know that actually this is so common, and talking to other women who had the same experience. Because then I didn’t feel like some kind of freak, or that I had some kind of problem.” “I think when you have a very easy pregnancy, and obviously, and all the women that have never had problems in their pregnancy and never suffered miscarriages, pregnancy can be a very naive thing in the sense that when you look at that pregnancy test and it’s positive you think, ‘Oh great, I’m going to have a baby,’ because you just had a pregnancy that was completely normal, nothing happened, everything was great, so you think, oh, this is going to be the same thing again. It’s not until something goes wrong that you understand that actually quite a lot of things that can go wrong, and then becoming pregnant again it’s actually very very stressful.” To reach out to Lara Martins, check out her website and send her a message: To hear another woman’s experience with miscarriage, have a listen to episode 10 with Maryellen Stephens. Be sure to check out You're Doing Great Mom online. /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5533510

YDGM Ep 017: Part 2 of 2 with Dr Kelly McLaughlin and Dr Sarah Farrant 07/09/2017

YDGM Ep 017: Part 2 of 2 with Dr Kelly McLaughlin and Dr Sarah Farrant If you have wondered what chiropractic care is, and how it can benefit you and your family, this is a great episode to listen to. Dr Sarah: “Self-responsibility [in regards to their health]: the allopathic health approach, as it’s starting to implode on itself, more people are looking for that level of self-care which coincides with self-responsibility like, I’m going to take my health back into my own hands, then we’re the perfect health profession [chiropractic] to be there to meet them at that door. Because there are thousands health professions, and when we look at the allopathic health approach and you’re remaining passive within that, then there’s no sense of self-responsibility. I’m gonna go to you, you’re gonna tell me what I’ve got wrong, you’re gonna give me something, I’m gonna take that and it’s gonna disappear. That’s called a ‘treatment’ where ‘treat’ means in its shortest form, it’s creating an illusion that something doesn’t exist anymore. And then, when we go to the alter-NATE health approach, where chiropractic fits comfortably in this health approach, there is a level of self-responsibility. So if you can tap in to that sense of self-responsibility that everybody is searching for, then that position’s chiropractic in a way healthier arena to be able to meet those people where they’re at as they are exiting this allopathic approach.” “When we have a parent is wanting to have their child checked, then the conversation is not necessarily, my child doesn’t have back pain. We have parents saying that I want my child to be the best they can be.” Dr Kelly: “Usually [in our office] what we hear is ‘I wish I’d heard about it sooner, I wish I’d known that there was a different way to do things.’ Often, it’s quite cool, we’ve had a couple of clients who have been in the office with their children getting checked. There’s a little boy who’s 5-and-a-half and he’s been checked every week since he was three weeks old. His mum is such a vigilante for chiropractic. She’s such an advocate.” Dr Sarah Farrant lives in New Zealand and has been a chiropractor for the last 16 years. She has been helping families by educating them how to understand the chiropractic lifestyle and how it can help benefit their health. Her company provides vital tools for generational change in health. She educates parents, children, and grandparents in living a healthier life through a different perspective with chiropractic being the baseline. You can reach her at Check out her Facebook page: Vital Moms https://www.facebook.com/Vital-Moms-250515624977388/ Or email her at [email protected] Dr Kelly McGaughlin lives in the UK and has been in practice for 15 years, and the last six she and her husband have built their practice together. She also focuses on empowering people to approach health with a different perspective through family wellness care with chiropractic. You can reach her at . Be sure to check out my website . And if you want to learn more about chiropractic, take a look at my chiropractic practice website: /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5521001

YDGM Ep 16: Dr Kelly McLaughlin and Sarah Farrant 07/02/2017

YDGM Ep015: Harriet Waley-Cohen 06/22/2017

SPECIAL GUEST: Husband time 06/20/2017

YDGM Ep013: Mandy Adams - The Menstrual Cycle 06/11/2017

I am Wonder Woman 06/08/2017

YDGM Ep 011: Callie Burke 06/04/2017

YDGM Ep 011: Callie Burke “Growing up I had a lot of problems with period pain and things like that every month. I ended up going and seeing a specialist and was diagnosed with quite severe endometriosis. So from that I had operations such as laparoscopies, and things like that, and was told at 15 point blank by an OBY-GYN that I would not be able to have kids. And at 15, that’s not something you take on very well. I was mortified.” Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women from as early as menarche, the first period in a girl’s life, and continues throughout life. That’s a lot. Yet, many women who have it say they don’t talk about it. It’s just not something that is talked about in the public, so awareness is very low. So unless you have it, or know someone close to you that has it, you don’t know much about it. Endometriosis is when the uterine lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, around the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and sometimes in other areas in the pelvis such as the colon and bladder. It causes moderate to severe pain during periods and sometimes in between periods, as well as heavy bleeding during and in between periods. It’s one of the most common conditions related to infertility, and medical industry doesn’t know what causes it. Women are also told that there is no cure. Callie totally persevered through her experience with her endometriosis. “Education and girls getting the right information, and giving them the power back to own their body and what they want to do with it is huge. It’s quite debilitating, different conditions that relate to our hormone levels and to our periods and cycles and general fertility. They impact us well before we’re ready to have kids. And the information is knowing what to look for, and there’s so much stuff out there.” To connect with Callie, visit her https://eliteexecutivesupport.com/. If you’d like to contact her, send an email at [email protected]. You can also connect with her on https://www.facebook.com/callie.hoolihan. Remember to subscribe to this on iTunes and post a review. You can also listen to this on . /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430724

YDGM Ep 010: Maryellen Stephens 05/23/2017

YDGM Ep 010: Maryellen Stephens When I was a kid growing up, my mother used to always say to me one of Nietzsche’s phrase, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” For the most part, I think that’s definitely true. When I have these conversations with these women for my podcast, resilience and determination are what I think about. And something about Maryellen felt so close to me, even though I never experienced much of what she did. You could call it chemistry, and I had that connection with her almost instantly when I met her a few months ago at a chiropractic seminar. Without getting all sentimental here, it was probably because she told me she wasn’t British, she’s from Toronto, being from North America, and that gave me the common connection from the start. She came across as super confident, fun, expressive, and intelligent, and I’ve always been drawn to women like that because not only do I like being around people like that, I tend to feel a ‘healthy’ competitive energy that I enjoy when I meet someone like this. So when Maryellen and I got a chance to record this podcast episode, I was moved by what she shared, and how open she allowed herself to be. To me, vulnerability is a strength and a virtue, which I think everyone should practice regularly, especially moms. (And men). (Ok, everyone.) Maryellen shares, “… even from week 8 when I had that big dizzy spell, and I was talking to the baby all the time, you know I would say ‘please stay, I love you’, and all that kind of stuff, kind of knowing that something just wasn’t right. And when it kicked in and I just had a really powerful feeling that week, and I rang Alex up and I said, ‘Alex, I need to get adjusted, something isn’t just right.’” And he said, “Well, I can’t stop the baby from going if the baby’s going.” I said, “I know that, I just need you to adjust me.” “He adjusted me, and by the time I got home, I was losing the baby. But because of the adjustment, emotionally, I was able to cope with it.” I love Maryellen’s authenticity in telling her story, as well as her courage. It’s how we all connect with other human beings. When we hear love, vulnerability, and authenticity expressed, it’s what stirs our emotions and what let’s us glimpse into who we all are as human beings. This is what I love about people, connecting with them, sharing and opening our hearts, laughing about life’s little things, and celebrating the things that matter. Tune in to listen to Maryellen’s episode. I’m sure you’ll smile, cry, and enjoy what you hear. If you’d like to reach out to Maryellen Stephens, you can email her at [email protected]. Also, check out her and blog www.family-chiro.co.uk She is also currently writing her first book, and here’s a small excerpt from the introduction: “I am certainly not the person I was before becoming a mother. If pregnancy was a wild ride, then birth, well, that showed me I had a strength in me I never knew existed. And the emotions! When they say you walk about with your heart on your sleeve, words were never more true. But it changes you somewhere deep inside as a human being. From the exhaustion, to coming face to face with who you really are, and having it mirrored back at you through your children. Well, now, that's been a treat! Ha! I've become softer in so many ways, it's hard to describe. I look back and feel really good about who I have grown into, and largely, that is from a combination of being faced with children head on (the majority of which has been as a single parent) and all the crazy; years of exhaustion from lack of sleep; and willingness to heal the old bits of my own childhood, as I encountered incredible moments of compassion and forgiveness for both my parents and myself, through so many of these experiences. Embrace it, there's nothing to fear. I promise.” For information about The Red Tent for young girls learning about their bodies and menstrual cycles, visit https://mandyadams.co.uk/red-tent/ /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430725

YDGM Ep 009: Sarah Keen 05/11/2017

YDGM Ep 009: Sarah Keen Sarah Keen had no idea her first pregnancy would end up being one of the most challenging experiences in her life. Her son was born premature at 33 weeks. “Having had a cesarean and, you know, an emergency cesarean, without any labor because a lot of people said, ‘oh, did your waters break? and did this happen, and how often were your contractions,’ and I didn’t have any labor at all. I was literally pregnant, rushed into theatre, and then the next minute in the recovery room, and without my baby. Because that’s the other thing, because of the way they take them away to special care, or intensive care. They take the baby straight away, but nobody told me. Everyone knew it would happen, but nobody told me, and I presume it’s because they always assumed somebody else had.” Today’s episode is Sarah sharing her very scary and personal story of her first born son, who was born premature at 33 weeks because her placenta had stopped growing. Her condition was a placental insufficiency, more specifically an absent end diastolic flow. The doctors discovered that her baby was SGA (small for gestational age), and she had to be monitored daily. This lead to a cascade of chaos, from rushing into an emergency cesarean, and into motherhood, breastfeeding, and bonding with her new baby. “I had this thing in my head the whole time. He’s gonna die. He’s gonna die. He’s not gonna make it. I’m not gonna get to see him. The only reason why they are keeping me away is because he’s gonna die. What the hell is wrong with me? I’m not feeling it. What the fuck is going on? And for me, as soon as I saw him I got it. And I was like, it’s OK; I do love my child.” It’s an emotional story, and also filled with courage, inspiration, love, discovery, and joy. Her second pregnancy was unexpected, and she speaks about how she had to face her unhealed wounds from her first pregnancy, which triggered her PTSD. She envisioned growing her baby as far as her body could take her, planned a home VBAC birth, and wanted to bask in the enormity of her beautiful pregnant belly. Tune in to listen to what happened, what she learned, and her amazing inspiring story of strength and a mother’s love. Powerful beautiful stuff! To connect with Sarah, visit her http://pregnancypodcast.co.uk/. Also tune in to her podcast called . /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430727

YDGM Ep 008: Rebecca McColl 05/05/2017

YDGM Ep 008: Rebecca McColl In adversity, determination, resilience, purpose and conviction will get you out of it with flying colors. No one said life is easy, and one of my most important mantras is, "Stop making excuses." As human beings, we are often 'stuck' in our stories, keeping ourselves from creating a life that is meaningful, purposeful, and gratifying. Rebecca lives by this full-on. She's a perfect example of someone being accountable for her choices and actions. "Funnily enough, I planned to have a baby that young. I was actually pregnant at 15. So I had my daughter when I was 16. And I thought I had, um I was in love, and I'd been with this person forever and I thought I knew everything and I wanted to be a mum." Rebecca is the first woman I've met who's chosen to be a mum at 15 years old. To me, that sounds unique. She explains why she thought this was what she wanted at the time, and how she coped with her life as a new mother at 16-years-old. Her relationship with her daughter's father turned into a domestic abuse situation, which she was able to get out of, and then remarried at the age of 21. Most women at that age are partying at university, with motherhood and marriage even remotely on the radar. Rebecca chose a different path. Then, after nearly nine years of marriage, and having two more daughters, she divorced at age 29, and has lived with her girls as a single mom since then. As she was telling me her story, I couldn't help but think about how downhill her life could have turned. She didn't allow herself to be positioned in a situation of being another statistic of poverty, domestic abuse, and dysfunction. We hear so much about these tragic stories, and Rebecca never saw herself in becoming that. She admits how challenging it was and how she had to sacrifice valuable time with her daughters for a budding career to support her family. She had the opportunity to step into a career where she excelled and learned a great amount of skill in sales, and chose to earn a comfortable and successful lifestyle. "It was extremely long hours, on average 16 to 18 hours days. It was hard. I really want to give the girls a good education and the opportunity to do sports and things like that that I might not have been able to do when I was younger. I often thought 'do I keep doing this or what' because you are sacrificing time with them. Sometimes they'd have their, 'oh you know we're at our friend's house and such-n-such's parents baked afternoon cookies and they did this and that' and of course they did have that with me because, you know, I wasn't there." Then, five years ago, she was diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune disease. She was told that she was only 1 in 19 other people in the world with this disease. Her kidneys were affected, and one day she woke up with nine kilos of fluid accumulated in her body from the waist down. This forced her to take off from work for three months. She realized that she needed to start paying attention to herself, taking care of her mind and body, and focus on healing. She shares about how she needed to listen to her body and how she chose to look after her health, which put her on a path to her own self-development and self-discovery. Tune into listen to Rebecca's incredible story of motherhood, adversity, determination, self-development, and success. To reach out to Rebecca, visit her . You can also connect with her on /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430728

YDGM Ep 007: Dr Melissa Longo 04/27/2017

YDGM Ep 007: Dr Melissa Longo I remember being in my early 20s as a student in chiropractic school when I’d go to as many seminars as possible because the fees were so low for our student rates. I’d sit and listen to many different speakers present, and I was always incredibly inspired by the women chiropractors who spoke about their lives, their practices, and their kids, and how they juggled everything. I sat there thinking, “I wanna be just like them.” To grab her phrase from her podcast, Melissa is one of those rockstar chiropractor moms who inspires me. It’s a honor being in her circle as one of her peers, and to be able to get to know her. In this episode, she shares about how she got married and then got pregnant in her last year of chiropractic school. “I graduated and had my son four days later.” She talks about her fast birth of her first child, “My son was born very quickly. It was a little bit of a surreal experience. It was literally like three hours from start to finish … and before you knew it, boom, he was there in my arms.” I was impressed with her level of clarity and groundedness. She said she attributed that to her being married to her chiropractor husband at the time, both sharing the same dream of starting a family letting it happen naturally. The impressive part was about when in the span of only six months, she graduated, had her first son, then moved and opened up a practice together with her husband. “It is what it is. It’s the way it was supposed to play out for me. And we literally graduated, I had my first son, we moved to Toronto, we bought our first house, we opened our practice. We did all these major life things in a six month period and we didn’t know any other way. You just figure things out as you go along.” Melissa also goes on to share about how, after her divorce, she handled and figured out life as a single mom, raising two boys. “You know, what your kids need is love. If kids are misbehaving, it always comes back to ‘where is the hurt here’. Because I don’t believe the majority of kids are trying to be manipulative. They are trying to communicate in whatever way they can that they have a need that’s not being met. It’s not that they are trying to cause problems. They are reacting to something. What’s this behavior coming from? What’s the real underlying situation here? It’s just remembering that kids just really want your love and attention. They just want your time. She shares how important it is for us mothers to take time for self-care. “I also think it’s important as moms to not only be taking care of yourselves because it gives you so much back, but to continue to nurture yourself because there’s going come a time when your children are not gonna be your sole existence. It can be really difficult for some women who don’t have any sense of self or any sense of contribution or anything that gives them joy and happiness …” Melissa is truly inspiring, a leader in our chiropractic profession, a role model, and a mentor. And I’m sure that her two sons would say that above everything, she’s a super rockstar mom. She’s awesome and I loved getting to know her on this podcast episode. Enjoy. To connect with Dr Melissa Longo, check out her http://drmelissa.ca/ Also, be sure to check out her podcast, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rockstar-doctor-moms-chiropractic-life-practice/id1181580224?mt=2 /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430729

YDGM Ep 006: Charlotte Lomas 04/20/2017

YDGM Ep 005: Nicole Cowley 04/10/2017

YDGM Ep 005: Nicole Cowley “I was diagnosed with ITP, an autoimmune disease, the weekend before my husband and I got married. Literally, I spent the weekend before our wedding in the hospital.” Nicole lives in Indiana with her teacher husband and her two-and-a-half-year-old toddler son. I had no idea what her story was, and when she shared her story, I was so impressed with her determination, her positive energy, and drive to create such a fulfilling life for herself and her family. She talks about her diagnosis and how she also had to have a planned c-section due to a placenta previa. “… it was a whole difference experience. It was scheduled, we went into it, I climbed onto a table, and they put me out. That was never ever how I picture how I would have my child.” Now she runs her own social-media and coaching business centered around helping chiropractors market their practices. She’s able to work from home, set her own schedule while taking care of her family, and having a full-on life. “I knew I didn’t want to go back to that, but I really had no career plan. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, I knew I didn’t want to work nights and weekends anymore, and I knew I wanted more for my son.” With a background in technology and sales, she asked her aunt, who is a chiropractor, if she could help promote their practice. After searching and brainstorming, she found her calling in marketing and social media for the chiropractic industry. After meeting the CEO of Vitalogics, she hit the ground running and took her business by storm. Then, last year, after finding herself doing too much and overwhelmed, she was diagnosed with Lupus, another autoimmune disease. “The hours that he was at daycare, is where I was like, I have to get the most out of this. I need to make sure it’s worth my time. But it turned out to be a negative. I was to the point where I really wasn’t even stopping to make lunch.” Through this diagnosis, and finding her balance, listening to her body, she is now thriving and her priorities are much clearer for herself, her husband, and her son. She talks about how she knew she wanted to create something bigger for herself, being empowered, with freedom and control of herself and her life. “My grandpa was an entrepreneur, my aunt was an entrepreneur, I wanted to be in control. Being a wife and a mom, I knew I needed to be in control. I’m the type of person who goes 200 miles an hour straight forward until I plow into a wall. And then I take a step back and put the pieces back together and I realize the best map and the best route I need to go.” Tune in to listen to Nicole’s impressive story being challenged by her health, and putting her passion and drive into achieving what she wants. And she says she’s only at the beginning. Enjoy! /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430731

YDGM Ep 004: Melissa Sandford 04/06/2017

YDGM Ep 004: Melissa Sandford One of my biggest take-homes from this conversation is this. Melissa explains, “I think the mistake we make is that it’s not our births. It’s our children’s births. We don’t even know who they are yet. We don’t what their personality is. We don’t know anything about them. And it’s their journey and we’re just the vehicle for that. So being able to connect with them and let them have their journey is kind of really where it’s at. And when we try and make it about us, the birth, about making it look really pretty and trying to control it ... I don’t think we should do that.” Six natural births. Empowering, positive, and loved being pregnant. So much experience and so much wisdom. “This is a bit of a fire-up statement. I can pretty much tell you, when I meet a pregnant woman whether they’re gonna end up having a safe and natural delivery or whether they’re gonna end up having an intervention. I can tell by the language they use because behind the language is their own fear. And when they start using disclaimers about well ‘I have to do what the hospital says, I have to do what the doctor says’. They’re relinquishing ownership of their bodies and control. When you use language like that and your emotions are really fear-based, you just have no hope.” Melissa is a super mom. She’s amazing. She’s so grounded, full of wisdom, she’s full of life, and is an expert on motherhood, love, and enjoying life. Melissa moved from Melbourne, Australia to Devon, UK and lived there for nearly 20 years. She has six children, her eldest studying chiropractic in Australia. She met her first husband, who is British, in Australia, moved to Devon together and had her first three children who are now 23, 21, and 18. Then, also while living in the UK, met her second husband, and has three children with him. They are 10, 7, and 5. Chiropractic has been a huge part of her adult life, started getting adjusted regularly as part of her healthy lifestyle. Her first husband was a chiropractor, with whom she separated, and then remarried again, who is also a chiropractor. Melissa is a woman who loved being pregnant. She fully embraced being pregnant, being a mother, having the mindset of ease, peace, and enjoying every aspect of it. She talks about each of her births in detail, what she discovered and learned about herself, her babies, and her body with each one. “With my last three, I actually didn’t see a midwife until a week before I was ready to give birth.” “I’d done it before, I knew, when you tune into your body you know when you’re well and when you’re not well. I didn’t want to be poked and prodded and weaned on a stick all the time. I have a busy life and fitting that in was stressful and I didn’t want that for myself.” Fear and stress in labor is what creates a cascade of complications and interventions. Melissa shares how she was able to keep the fear and panic out of the equation to embrace the natural process of birth. “Once you go into that panic place it’s all over, red-rover. When women are in that place it’s much more difficult to give birth. I think you shut down. Your contractions shut down. And so I was very aware not to put myself in that head space.” “In our society we don’t place any value on your emotional and mental health. We don’t any value at all on the fact that your emotional state can affect your physical state. That’s just crazy.” Melissa gives her wonderful story of natural birth, her strength, and she shares many tools for women to hear about having an empowering and beautiful birth. To reach out to Melissa, email her at [email protected] Tune in to hear more! (This episode is brought to you by . To claim your 5% discount, email them and mention this podcast with code YDGM!) /episode/index/show/youredoinggreatmom/id/5430734

He calls Trump a "Turkey Vagina" 03/31/2017

You're Doing Great Mom

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