In this episode Olivia Van Dyke, a wife, a mother, and a CEO, speaks about her experience conceiving her first child at 24, the self-imposed pressure to get pregnant before her ailing father passes away, along with grieving the loss of her father while simultaneously preparing to give birth. This conversation is exceptionally moving as we examine together the heartbreak and the beauty found within the everyday moments of motherhood.
2:46 Origins and inspiration for the Motherlands Podcast
3:12 Misconceptions about conception
7:02 The journey and guilt of grief and loss during pregnancy
9:39 Holding space for your emotions
11:15 Olivia’s first birth experience
20:39 The post birth feeling of invisibility for the mother and partner
24:18 Feeling disconnected from your baby
28:54 NICU and a rough transition into motherhood
31:35 Conceiving their second child and a very different second birth
33:03 Self judgment at play for using or not using an epidural
33:41 Finding a connection with a doula and determined to have an unmedicated birth
35:44 A fear of changing existent family dynamics with another child
36:48 Many new factors: an unmedicated birth during covid
48:44 Breastfeeding and working in early motherhood
51:56 Feeding the other parts of you outside being a mother
53:33 Sex drive after birth
57:21 Therapy and discovering new parts of yourself after having a baby
1:00:29 Advice for future birth-givers: you will be ok
1:01:50 The benefits of being off of social media: no FOMO or comparison
