everymum everymum

My guest this week is my lovely friend, author, and journalist Liadán Hynes, who is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to parenting, and life in general really. She's a single parent to one daughter who's 9 years old. She's self-employed and works flexibly to be as present as she can for her little girl and writes often about her experiences as a working single mother. We talk about everything from facing what could be lonely weekends without your child or children, the imbalance that exists for mothers in the workplace and so much more. Lia's got so much of her own experience to draw from, but as an empathetic and resonant writer, she has so much wisdom to share from years of interviewing. A truly lovely chat, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
*Note the cards mentioned by Liadán about the mental load mothers carry are called the Fair Play Game, created by Eve Rodsky.

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My guest this week is Carla Kelly, who is one of the founders of Ask The Midwife, a company that aims to support parents from pregnancy through to postpartum and beyond. A midwife herself, we asked you guys, our cherished listeners, to put questions to her that you might need advice on. We talked about an incredible grandparents refresher course that they run (totally genius if you ask me) their various antenatal and postnatal classes, how they help build a community of mothers so no matter what you're going through you feel less alone, and there's a little bit of chat about the various colours of baby poop. We cover all bases here on everymum! Anyway – enjoy my chat with Carla and I'll speak to you next week.
Note: If you have a specific medical query, it's recommended to speak to your GP.

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My wonderful friend Caroline Foran is my guest this week, and a returning guest to Everymum the podcast. This time, we talk about her most recent struggles with her son Caelan, and how she has recently undergone assessments with various clinical assessors to help better understand her son's unique needs. We talk about the anxiety over a potential future diagnosis, how guilt can be associated with wanting a straightforward life for your child, and how she cries every night at bed time out of sheer frustration at how challenging her days have become. She talks with such bravery and candour, but also with empathy and a genuine sense of gratitude. This chat might be of particular help to anyone starting or in the middle of an assessment process, or anyone who feels the frustrations and guilt associated with parenting. I hope you enjoy!
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My guest this week is Shannen Bulman Joyce, who was previously known on social media as Big C and Me, because she used her platform to document her cancer journey. Over the course of her adult life, just the past ten years, she's been diagnosed with and survived cancer three times. She's now the healthiest she's ever been, and is thriving and living life as a single mother to her daughter Roisin. We chat about everything from health anxiety and mam guilt, to what it was like having to explain to her daughter that she and her daughter's dad were no longer together. We also talked about the difficulties around being a parent and being sick, even with a more minor illness, and the guilt that comes with that. I'm thrilled I finally got to chat to Shannen as I'd followed her for a long time, and she's one of the most genuinely inspirational people you could come across. Enjoy and I'll chat to you next week.
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My guest today is model and mam of three, Rosanna Davison. Over the past few years, life has changed dramatically for Rosanna. From going through a tragic 14 miscarriages and believing she wouldn't be able to carry a pregnancy to term, she and her husband sought the help of a surrogate from Ukraine to make their dream of having a family come true. She talks to me about the anxiety of knowing her baby was in someone else's body in a completely different country, and how she coped with that. And then we talk about the shock of her finding out shortly after her daughter was born that she had spontaneously conceived healthy identical twin boys. It was great to hear Rosanna's honest take on life with three under five, how she manages everything and how her identical twins have interesting differences (particularly when it comes to sleeping arrangements!) but it was an emotional episode too, and I had tears in my eyes many times throughout – I hope you enjoy lovely Rosanna's story.
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Kelly Donegan is my guest this week – you might know Kelly, if you're a millennial like me, from Tallafornia, a reality show she starred in 12 years ago now. If you've been following her online, you'll have seen her go from reality TV star to fitness expert to now, a mammy of one. Since her daughter Cherry arrived, Kelly's plans for motherhood haven't quite gone off as she'd hoped. We talk about the disappointment you can feel when your birth plans go the exact opposite to what you'd hoped, the challenges so many people go through when it comes to breast feeding, and what Kelly would do differently if she could go through it all again. It's such an open, honest and brave conversation, which I think is refreshing, given the tendency online to only show the 'good' and cover up the tougher times. I hope you enjoy it.
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