0:00:17 Hi, and welcome back. We do not have an intro yet. I don't know if you've realized this, but a lot of podcasts have these well-written or spoken intros that they play at the beginning of every episode, and we don't have one.
0:00:33 Do we need one? I feel like I'm bringing, you're on this podcast journey with me. We're creating this together. Here's what mine, I would imagine would sound like I tried.
0:00:43 No, I didn't even try. I just thought about it in my head. I was like, I feel like my podcast intro would be super cheesy.
0:00:49 Gosh, I feel like it'd be, Hey guys, it's Kim, your favorite fit bestie mom from Instagram. I'm talking all things health, lifestyle mom, like .
0:01:03 If you have a good idea for an intro, if you are like a copywriter, meaning someone who writes the words for commercials or like cool trendy slogans, like, please contact me , but please send me an email.
0:01:17 I'm trying to get a podcast email. It might already be set up when this podcast airs, but I'm trying to do [email protected].
0:01:26 If that is not , if that's like at return to sender not set up yet, you can e or send me a DM on our podcast page over on Instagram.
0:01:38 Hit me up, give me a follow. This podcast, we are going to grow it together as a community, and it's gonna be its own world.
0:01:45 It's gonna be its own, Ooh, I don't even know what to call it yet. But anyways, your glowing podcast, and it's the Y O U R E glowing podcast.
0:01:57 All right? It does look a little funny. It bothers me that there's no apostrophe, but go give it a follow dm me over there your idea.
0:02:06 Maybe I will give a prize or like a reward for the person who can submit an intro that is not cheesy, but fully embodies what we're all about here.
0:02:17 I do think what, what this podcast is, what I want it to offer is not only just a little bit of motivation, inspiration, encouragement, but also I wanna do all things health, fitness, with a motherhood lens on them.
0:02:33 Like keep very specific to moms without like being a mommy blogger type of podcast. No sh no shade to mommy bloggers.
0:02:41 Like I learned a lot from mommy blogger. So what before I had kids. But ugh, if you know, you know, please send me a dm.
0:02:49 All right, so no intro yet. Follow the Instagram account. Today we are diving into a little bit of a deep topic, probably the deepest thing I have discussed thus far.
0:03:03 But before we get like too , too heavy, we're gonna just cover some bases here. What's new, what's been going on?
0:03:11 We are back into a routine. Thank the good lord. I have needed this routine in my life. Even if there's some off days, even if there's some, like rough nights, like just having a general sense of peace in our household with between like a, like a balance.
0:03:31 I don't wanna use that word, but yes, there is some balance there with like school, you know, productivity, cleanliness, chores being done.
0:03:39 Like we've got things going. Yes, there's still messes, but for the most part we are in a groove. And right now I am doing my abs after baby level two, schedule the new one.
0:03:50 If you're in abs after baby, you know, there are now three schedules, which I love this for us. So there's the schedule there, original schedule that has levels one, two, and three.
0:04:02 There are ambassador workouts integrated throughout. So my programs all include my ambassadors, my other fit pregnancy coaches that are, you know, we have a yoga certified pre postnatal nurse who does yoga for new moms and pregnant moms.
0:04:17 I have a fitness instructor and Lindsay, who I love so much, she teaches group fitness classes. So she really adds a lot of fun like kickboxing dance, cardio type of workouts.
0:04:29 Love, love that. So that is the original schedule has just a whole variety of workouts, lots of focus on core, obviously, and we're starting with level one, that postpartum care that you need when you are starting to work out.
0:04:43 Again. I had been getting asked, Kim, I just want your workouts. Like, I just want you, and let me tell you, that made me feel special, , that made me feel so good.
0:04:55 Honestly, the reason why I added ambassadors, and this is like al coming up on three years ago, that I was like, I wanna add some more variety.
0:05:04 But truly I felt that my program with me alone was not enough. And that's, I mean, it's true that I can only provide by myself so much.
0:05:16 Like, I mean, I could go and get yogurt certifi divided and I can go get kickboxing certify. Like I could do all, it would just, I just knew my capacity and I was like, I would love to add in these other women.
0:05:32 So when I did, it was a hit. Everyone's loving these workouts, I'm loving these workouts. Like, it's so nice to mix it up.
0:05:40 But then over time I got more saying like, Hey, I, I would actually prefer it if it was, if I could get a schedule with just you.
0:05:49 And I am very flattered. I'm like, thank you. So sweet. Obviously it's a little bit different. Like there's not a ton of yoga workouts with me.
0:05:58 , I'm just like, are you okay? Wow, this is cool. Knowing that you would not get sick of me every single day with me.
0:06:05 That's cool. Let's do it. All right. I made the schedule, I primed it, I like went through it felt like a walk down memory lane too, because I'm not doing the level one workouts as much just because they are, like I said, for that core development, that very crucial restorative and strengthening time after you have a baby.
0:06:27 Still great workouts, but I've been jumping around from level two and three. I'm getting, I'm, I hope , I'm like, I'm like getting into detail here with these programs.
0:06:37 But yeah, so level one, like those are workouts that me are, are near and dear to my heart cuz I did them.
0:06:41 I filmed them and I repeatedly did them during my postpartum with Rosie and then postpartum with Blake. So when it, it's just like it holds a very special place in my heart, those workouts.
0:06:54 So the new schedule is out. I also have an advanced schedule with only the advanced workouts. If you are what I would consider a graduate of the program and just want your booty kicked every day.
0:07:08 , not every day. There are some sculpt workouts mixed in there too, but more advanced sculpts, so just be ready for it.
0:07:16 But yeah, I am in the groove. I'm loving this level too and like the way I ordered them, it just feels so good.
0:07:24 It feels so right going from like a total body workout to a core, to a cardio, to a strength. Like, ugh, it's perfect.
0:07:31 It's chef's kiss. We are loving it. It feels good. I'm in a rhythm. I look forward to my routine every morning.
0:07:39 Yes, okay. Also, I'm holding an accountability group. I'm co-hosting this group with my friend Mary. You can find her on Instagram at a very merry life.
0:07:51 She's a mom of three. She is a former personal trainer. She is pre and postnatal certified as well. And her page is not about fitness at all.
0:08:01 It's mom humor, which I love and I . I feel like I, everyone can relate to her in some way or another.
0:08:07 She's very likable, relatable, funny. And she approached me about this in December and was like, Hey, I'm doing your workouts and I think it'd be cool if I, we were to run like some accountability group and normally I wouldn't do this.
0:08:22 Well I, let's just say I've never done this in the past and it would take a very special person for me to say, you know what, we're gonna do this.
0:08:29 I'll do it with you. Let's do it together. Let's put my workouts with your mindset. That's, that's, that's a lot for me because I don't wanna say like I work alone, but like it's hard for me to find someone whose values align with mine, you know, and Mary do hers.
0:08:46 Do she just, she's very clear with, you know or she's very like transparent with body image and how like ba ba bouncing back is not a, like I don't talk about it on my page.
0:08:58 I'm not like, here's how to lose the baby weight. Ugh. I hate the word baby weight, baby fat, like bouncing back.
0:09:04 Like all that is like, no, no, no, that's not, that's not what we're here for. We are here to restore our energy or restore our strength to get that boost from our workouts.
0:09:16 Yes. Are you gonna be live a healthier life probably if you're working out at like four or five days a week?
0:09:21 Yes, but we are not promoting weight loss. We are not promoting fat loss, burning so many calories Like that is just not the vibe here.
0:09:29 So anyways, we're hosting an accountability group. It is not too late to join. The start date is January 15th. It is 12 weeks.
0:09:37 12 weeks my friend. And if you already have a program it's way cheaper to join and just do the accountability where you're gonna be doing live calls.
0:09:47 You can ask me questions, you can chat with her, get support, get what you need, ask the health questions, ask the mom struggle questions.
0:09:54 We are here for you. And there's also going to be daily and weekly prompts for you, check-ins for you. I've, like I said, I've never done anything like this before.
0:10:05 I will put the link in the show notes. We are calling it Feel Mary with Perry because her thing is Ave.
0:10:12 Mary Mary, Mary Mary. We're gonna call it Mary Perry . Feel Mary with Perry. It's all about feeling good, having a healthy mindset with fitness and moving your body.
0:10:22 Boom for moms boom. Whether you're pregnant, going to be pregnant, newly postpartum, or your seasoned mom, we are, we're all in this together.
0:10:31 We are doing it. Okay, let's go. All right, what did we watch? I'm gonna have some new Netflix things for you and I think I need to start a list in my phone.
0:10:40 I told my sister this, I was like, I need to have recommendations like somewhere like keep a list cuz I forget.
0:10:48 I forget what I wrote down. All right, here's what I watched. Don't pick up the phone on Netflix. It's the three episode docu-series.
0:10:58 Very interesting. I mean, well let me tell you right now, I love like a good crime docu, you know, let's find the bad guy.
0:11:06 Like this is a true story. Like that is so captivating. Is it the best thing I should watch? Probably not.
0:11:12 But yeah, I turned it on with my sister and we were actually very disturbed. I will put a trigger warning out there.
0:11:18 Sexual abuse, it is hard to watch. They didn't show all this stuff but just hearing people talk about it and how like sad it was.
0:11:27 Basically what happened was this guy would call a McDonald's or any fast food restaurant and ask to speak with a manager.
0:11:34 Say someone had stolen something and tell the manager like this young woman, she can either come, he would describe like, oh as a young, young, pretty like brunette and the man, there was always a young pretty brunette or young blonded, whatever colored hair he described, short girl.
0:11:51 There was always that type of person working there. Or at least the, the manager was able to to like take, touch a description and like put it like this is who I think they're talking about and bring them into the office.
0:12:00 And then the guy pretending to be a cop on the phone would say they can either come down to the police department and get a strip search or they can do it there in front of you.
0:12:08 And he would walk them through this strip church and it like, until they were completely naked and then he would have them do things that are so completely ridiculous.
0:12:22 He'd be telling them this on the phone, like you need to do this. Like our cruisers will be there in the next, you know, they're, we're on our way but like in the meantime, oh it was so, it was so sick.
0:12:32 But the fact that the manager didn't for once question it, is this actually a police officer? Ugh. Anyways, we watched, I watched the first episode but I actually was like scrolling on my phone cuz they like this.
0:12:46 Isn't that interesting? Until the end of the first episode I had caught me and I was like, oh my gosh, I gotta see, I gotta see what happens next.
0:12:54 But basically I'm gonna do a little spoiler alert because I don't know if this is like a must watch three part series, but it was very interesting.
0:13:03 So maybe like skip forward a co like 60 seconds, okay. They see on police or on security cameras at the Walmart.
0:13:12 This is back in the nineties into early two thousands. He was calling from payphone and then he started using these calling cards, which like I have a very faint memory of like I never was at the age during the calling card thing where I was away from my parents and needed to own one of those.
0:13:28 Or he used one like anyways, they were able to track down the calling card to the Walmart where he bought it.
0:13:34 They find him on camera, he is wearing a police officer like pants. So they're like, he's a police officer. So that's when I'm like, I gotta see what happens next.
0:13:46 But here's a spoiler alert and maybe you're gonna wanna watch this after I tell you. But he, after he did hundreds of calls to McDonald's, taco Bell, pizza Hut, Wendy's, Arby's, like all these chain restaurants where he knew people working there were not as educated, they were very willing to listen to law enforcement because he was calling these small towns.
0:14:06 Oh it was so creepy. He was found completely innocent. You watch it or don't I actually watch this last night.
0:14:15 So it's really fresh in my mind. I saw like, you know, a couple minutes when they show you like the preview and it sh was talking about how they were using MySpace.
0:14:23 This is bad again, early two thousands. I don't know why, what it is about like that era that's just like, I love watching, it's nostalgic, but they were talking about MySpace using it to find this killer.
0:14:36 And I was like, oh, we're watching it. It was interesting. It was about this family with this woman. She had five kids, all boys, one girl, the girl was with her brothers in the car and was shot at and killed.
0:14:53 They killed the girl. Like not accidentally, but like it was not intentional to kill just her, but she died. The c I don't know actually if it was her cousin, this littler girl, she's 23 years old now.
0:15:05 So back in like 2006, how old would she have been? Oh wow. Super young. I don't know. But she started using MySpace as like child essentially to find the killer.
0:15:17 I don't know, I just liked, I liked that story and not that I like enjoyed it, but yes, I watched it.
0:15:22 Not sure if I would recommend, but basically they made a profile for the girl who passed away with or they used her picture a different name and they ended up like, she kinda like seduced these gang members that were responsible for her death.
0:15:36 And then these guys were like in love with her in the dms, like . They were like, can I come pick you up?
0:15:42 I'll bring you to a party. Like let's hang out whatever. And then the mother took over the account and was kind of like, I'm actually this girl and you killed me.
0:15:54 Like why did you kill me? But yeah, very like I feel like that one had a better ending than the McDonald's.
0:16:03 Don't answer the phone one. Okay. So those are two just little crime shows that I've watched. Documentary Doerries, whatever you wanna call.
0:16:11 Okay. Skin and hair. Okay. So for skincare I am still using my probiotic gel cream from Dime and loving it.
0:16:19 I forgot how cloud-like it is. My skin feels so good. It's moisturized but not oily or greasy or like heavy.
0:16:27 It's like a light moisturized. I'm loving it. I it this time of year, this is exactly what I want. When the air's a little bit drier, when it's a little bit cooler, I need that.
0:16:39 I need the probiotic gel cream from dime code Peri 15 to save on your order. And then I've also recently introduced something new from Tula.
0:16:49 The, it's a triple vitamin C serum. It's brightening treatment drop. So I put that on before my probiotic gel cream.
0:16:58 I like do a couple, I actually didn't know how to use this container. When you see it online it's, it like it has like a push top, but I'm like how does this work?
0:17:08 You have, it's basically a dropper. It's just like fancy. It's too fancy for me , but I figured it out.
0:17:14 So after I wash and dry my face, I put a little bit of this brightening treatment serum with triple vitamin C on my face and then the probiotic gel cream.
0:17:25 It feels good. My skin is glowing. I'm loving that combination for me. And then nighttime is still, I'm using the beauty sleep treatment from Tula.
0:17:36 Love that. I swear it's for moms because we do not get the amount of sleep we need and our skin will show it unless you're using beauty Sleep by Tula.
0:17:46 Love that hair care. I got a shampoo, conditioner and mask from my uncle for Christmas. He is a hairstylist in Miami and he knows his stuff.
0:17:57 I have yet to try it because I keep forgetting to put it in my shower. Oh my gosh. Does anyone else have this issue?
0:18:02 I feel like with bathroom stuffs I forget things all the time. Like I forget we're out of Q-tips or I forget we're out of toothpaste because I'm usually like in the morning like I forget to like add up to the list.
0:18:15 But anyways, it's in my bathroom but not in the shower. So when I'm washing my hair in the other room, I haven't easy yet, but it's in a black bottle.
0:18:25 It's a brand I have never heard of before and I have very, very high hopes that it's gonna leave my hair looking salon quality.
0:18:32 Not that I don't like my hair right now. Right now I'm using Navy hair care. They had sent me some stuff over the summer to try and I love it.
0:18:46 Love it. It's great. I've also been still using Divvy, my divvy drops and occasionally I will do the divvy shampoo before I use my other shampoo.
0:18:59 I have a lot of different shampoos I kind of rotate through. I don't know if you, if you do the same, like if you feel like your hair kind of gets, you know, when you use a new shampoo, your hair just is like, wow, what is this?
0:19:11 I feel so much cleaner after this shampoo for some reason. Not that my other shampoo was bad, but this shampoo was like really, really deep cleaning my hair.
0:19:21 I don't know. I remember in high school my friends used to be like, your hair gets used to the shampoo so you have to like switch it up.
0:19:28 I don't know if that's true. Anyways, moving forward, we're gonna try the hair, black bottle products, whatever. I don't even know the branding, but I'm excited to try and report back.
0:19:39 I need to try it before the end of the month because I got it in December and I really want to use it.
0:19:45 Okay, I think that was everything on my list that I was like, we need to chat about this. And before we begin to the episode, all right, so let's get into this.
0:19:54 I wanted to chat on postpartum anxiety. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to call it by its name because I just feel like it could be be so many different things, right?
0:20:09 Like it could be just like hormone imbalances, it could be mood shifts in our mood as moms. Like, and, and it's really hard cuz there is no like pinpointing.
0:20:22 It's not like you got in a car accident and you broke your ankle and now you have ankle pain and you have to deal with and like work on the rest of your life.
0:20:28 like we don't know if like a postpartum anxiety is from like a traumatic birth experience or from the hormones at postpartum or if it started during pregnancy.
0:20:40 But let's just get into this because I wanna tell a little bit of like my story and then also some information that I, that I was reading just to help me like better understand it.
0:20:51 So I just googled postpartum anxiety. Just out of curiosity cuz listen, I am not fully educated on this. I am not even clinically diagnosed.
0:21:01 I am not a doctor . This is literally just my experience and from what I've seen, heard and talked about with other moms.
0:21:10 So I googled and it said, or someone wrote, how long does anxiety last after having a baby? And this is from parents.com.
0:21:21 Unlike the baby blues, which lasts about two weeks. Postpartum anxiety doesn't always go away on its own. It's crucial to seek help if anxiety is disrupting your sleep or you're constantly preoccupied with worries in moderate to severe untreated cases, postpartum anxiety can last indefinitely.
0:21:43 , I just put my elbow on my desk in my hand in my head because that is not what you want to hear.
0:21:50 So basically they're saying like, postpartum blues are normal and like it just comes in a wave and it goes after, you know, newborn days.
0:21:58 But anxiety is a different thing. And like I said, I have never been clinically diagnosed. I haven't had any mental health, like severe mental health issues.
0:22:07 God bless, like I'm so grateful that I haven't, cuz I know those struggles can be the most difficult thing to go through or to watch somebody go through.
0:22:19 But like, I don't even know where I would start. And I feel like what I am dealing with, which I'll get into is not nearly as bad as others.
0:22:29 Like I feel like my, like mine is, it comes and goes. It's, it doesn't impact my life negatively to the point that it's co concerning or alarming.
0:22:44 Maybe I'm a high functioning anxious person. So when I read that I was just like sad. I was just like, wow, this is like gonna last a long time.
0:22:56 Like it is not just a postpartum thing. So let me go a little background into my experience with anxiety. I never felt anxious, like at least more than like feeling nervous about like something exciting or whatever coming up.
0:23:12 Never had that type of anxiety. Until I was pregnant with Blake. It was 2019 in the fall and I had Ayla and Rosie who was so small, still like barely a year old when we got pregnant with Blake.
0:23:28 And it was, I remember being cold, Justin was working a lot and then he, it was hunting season so he was on some hunting trips and I just normally like, this is all stuff I can handle.
0:23:40 And I don't know if it was just, you know, being a mom of two with a pregnancy in the cold, cold Massachusetts, trying to like do simple things with the girls.
0:23:50 Like it just was too much for me. Like I just felt like this is too much. Like that's how the feeling started, like overwhelm.
0:24:00 And I remember the day I had brought Ayla. Oh geez, no, I was trying to sign her up for swimming lessons.
0:24:07 Like, oh my lord, this was like, it's swimming lessons. I'm trying to sign her up. Why is it so hard?
0:24:15 I don't know. And why did this send me into a spiral? I don't know. But like I had tried online, I couldn't figure it out.
0:24:21 I called, I don't know if they asked me to go there, but listen, I would not have chosen to go there unless I had to.
0:24:27 So I go to this gym in the freezing, frigid cold. The girls are all bundled up in boots. Rosie's not even walking.
0:24:34 Like Ayla was three, like just in the freezing cold. And we get there and they basically told me like I had to go home and sign up online.
0:24:45 And it br it's just like, it was the, the straw that broke the camel's back, let's say . I'm like cr carrying the girls, putting them back in the car seats.
0:24:55 And I'm like, this is so much work. I'm like early first trimester pregnancy. Like, like nauseas, I feel like absolute s h i t like just I was broke.
0:25:04 I like just started crying in my car. I was like, I feel awful. This is terrible. I'm overwhelmed. I can't do anything.
0:25:10 Like I hate this. This is awful. Like I just felt like the end of the, not the end of the world, but like, yeah, it was just like, I'm done.
0:25:17 I just give up. I'm surrendering, like crying. But I also felt so sad and unstable and like shaky and like what is wrong with me?
0:25:27 What is wrong with me? And then, you know, after that, like I got home, I got some rest things continue.
0:25:36 We we're doing like, we're fine, like we're doing okay. And I don't really remember ever having like an episode like that of just like completely overwhelm even though the rest of my pregnancy mind you was in 2020 was during quarantine, was during the world shutting down.
0:25:54 Like I should have been even more anxious than I was. Like I give myself a lot of credit for keeping it together, let's say.
0:26:04 But yeah, and then I had Blake and after that is when I really was wow, okay, anxiety. Like I, and also I now I'm a mama three .
0:26:18 I have a newborn. I've got this Rosie toddler and I've got an Ayla, basically still toddler. She was only three and a half, almost four.
0:26:26 But I, there was many days I had to call Justin. I was like, you need to come home, you need to come home.
0:26:31 I cannot do this, I cannot do this. And it just felt like literal overwhelm to the max. Like I can do it.
0:26:40 I just felt like I cannot do it. So maybe you're thinking to yourself, Kim, that's not anxiety, that is a regular life that is transitioning from two to three.
0:26:49 Like I don't, I don't know what it was, but like I felt a feeling that I had never felt before.
0:26:58 And still to this day I will occasionally feel it. And it is more than overwhelmed because it's like I'm stuck.
0:27:07 I feel so stuck. Has anyone felt like that? Listen, are you listening right now? Like, what is she talking about ?
0:27:15 I'm like, maybe three is my max. Maybe I cannot have more kids because I cannot handle it. Like, this is me not handling my children.
0:27:22 Like I can't do it. I've hit my limit. Let's just call it a day bec and just pray that we can get through these years.
0:27:31 Like that's how it feels. Oh, it's so sad. Like I don't ever want my life to be like , but we have days.
0:27:38 Listen, there are days when it feels like that. There's also days when it feels easy, okay? Or like moments when it feels easy.
0:27:45 But most recently, last week or so, I felt super anxious and it was a number of things like piled on top of each other that was feeling like overwhelmed.
0:28:00 I was behind on my emails, I was behind on my dms, my work projects that I wanted to do. Like I had all this built up in my head.
0:28:10 Plus I have three children who are each, the best way I can describe it is like they were their own solar systems of chaos and talking and crying and whining and asking for things like it was just too much for me and I could feel it in my chest.
0:28:27 I couldn't hardly breathe. Like I wanna cry thinking about it like it's the worst feeling, not the worst, but like, it's a terrible, it's a terrible feeling of just complete overwhelm again, like I hate the, I hate the way I feel.
0:28:41 I don't wanna feel this like desperation, like help, like I get me out of this. Like what do I do, right?
0:28:52 I'm just trying to like paint the picture for you. I don't know if like , I totally lost you, but stay with me.
0:28:58 So I have, I wanna talk about like the ways that I fix this, but first I wanna talk about other signs or like symptoms I guess, of anxiety because I know mine are not the only ones.
0:29:12 So specific signs, and this was for postpartum anxiety, specific signs for postpartum anxiety. Feeling like you aren't bonding with your baby, feeling like you are worrying all day every day.
0:29:26 I have a lot of friends that have had postpartum anxiety with like doctor's appointments or their kids getting sick. That is a trigger for them to spiral into that anxiety.
0:29:37 All right, it says also some specific signs to watch for our signs of postpartum depression, which I guess could be linked to anxiety, feeling overwhelmed with the day-to-day life.
0:29:51 That's me feeling like your anxious thoughts are worsening, feeling restless, wound up or on edge. Yes, wound up and on edge.
0:30:04 I can definitely say I have felt those feelings being easily fatigued. That's a little tricky, because if you just had a baby, you're probably tired every day.
0:30:13 So just be careful with that one. You're not sleeping. Having difficulty concentrating, being irritable, having headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches and unexplained pains.
0:30:29 Difficulty controlling feelings of worry, having sleep problems such as difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. All right, I don't know about you, but I just like checked a bunch of those boxes.
0:30:41 Sleep, honestly think the Lord has not been an issue for me. Anytime I'm feeling anxious, like I get that fatigue feeling and I could just sleep.
0:30:49 Like any ti like I just feel like my mind is going so fast and my heart is going fast that I feel exhausted and I just wanna lay down and cover my head with a blanket and then uncover and watch Netflix and just lay there.
0:31:03 , no, but really, like, honestly my sleep is really good. And if yours is not, I do recommend soul CBD sleepy because those are great if you are struggling to fall asleep, but also stay asleep throughout the night.
0:31:17 Okay yeah, those are, those are some pretty serious symptoms. And very honestly, those are common. Like I have heard from a lot of women that they struggle with these same things or maybe it's different from me, but it's still, it, it's on that list, right?
0:31:39 I don't wanna like dig too deep into like the symptoms and what it looks like, but I, I'd rather talk about the, the ways I manage it.
0:31:48 But before I do, another statistic that I found that again, I was like, wait, is this right? I wanna know how many moms experienced postpartum anxiety because like I didn't have it after Ayla.
0:32:02 I didn't have it after Rosie. It only came a little bit when I was pregnant with Blake and then it came a lot after I had her.
0:32:09 And I am two and a half years almost postpartum still having these feelings. So maybe I'm that person on the list of like if left untreated I need to go get treated or just, I mean I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it.
0:32:24 It's not every day I'm feeling this way. It's not like once a week. It is literally I was coming off the holiday season, which is a lot of high emotions, a lot of, we were off our schedule, we, you know, work was different.
0:32:41 Every, everything was just a little crazier. So that might have triggered it. I wanted to see, like for me it was like kind of like a one in three situation because I had three pregnancies and it only happened during one, right?
0:32:53 So I'm like, well what's the average? I googled and I [email protected] approximately 6% of pregnant women, six, 6% of pregnant women and 10% of postpartum women develop anxiety.
0:33:11 Sometimes they experience anxiety alone and sometimes they experience it in addition to depression. Those numbers are super low. I don't think it factored in all the people like me that don't talk to their doctor or report it to postpartum.net.
0:33:27 Like where are they getting their numbers from? ? Like where are they getting these numbers from? These cannot be accurate.
0:33:32 Just like I've posted a poll on my story back when I was feeling that anxiousness and there was way more people that said occasionally or Yes, this is very normal for me, versus the person who wrote no or rarely ever there was way more women.
0:33:52 Like, it was very clear that this is a common thing. So those numbers just don't match up at least to this community here.
0:34:00 Like maybe, geez, maybe I should like post about it and be like, apparently 90% of women feel anxious after having a baby.
0:34:09 Like cuz it's normal. And that's what my, according to the Kim Perry community , we have a 90% chance of feeling anxious after we have a baby.
0:34:18 And that's normal. And here's how we're gonna cope with it. , I dunno why I just turned on like a news reporter voice, but here's how ideal, okay?
0:34:27 Number one, I crave internal balance when I'm feeling all the time, but when I, when it's really bad, like I am just like, I want normal, I wanna feel normal.
0:34:43 And what I do on a regular basis to feel that internal balance is I am making sure I'm drinking water.
0:34:51 I am eating enough food throughout the day, enough nutrient dense foods throughout the day. I am taking my supplements, my soul, C b D I take that daily.
0:35:05 I do, I take my gummies, I take my drops, I, you know, mix it up sometimes. I also wanna make sure I'm taking either a multivitamin or drinking my ag one, my athletic greens.
0:35:18 I wanna make sure I am getting sleep, which that is such a tricky thing cuz sleep affects, affects all areas of our life.
0:35:28 And it's like, oh my gosh, it's so hard when you're mom. So how can you get the rest you need?
0:35:36 And how can you give your body what it needs on a regular basis so that you can create that internal balance?
0:35:43 Like that's the question for me. And I'm asking it for you as well to just think about what do you need to do every day?
0:35:49 Oh, and then my, my workouts, which we'll get to, but that's like part of like how I feel internally balanced.
0:35:54 Because I believe that you cannot find balance or balance in the physical world is nearly impossible. Even if you have the perfect amount of work and play time and the perfect amount of family time and the perfect amount of alone time, the perfect amount of time with your partner, the perfect amount of time with your friends, everything is balanced and aligned.
0:36:12 Something is bound to go wrong, the kids are gonna get sick or the babysitters are gonna cancel or like something happens and then your life is outta balance.
0:36:22 Like , it's just physical. Like real life balance is very un unattainable. But having that sense of balance on the inside makes those situations easier.
0:36:34 It makes handling the overwhelm easier. It makes managing your day-to-day or even like the stress of the day-to-day, it makes that easier when you can have the internal balanced feeling first.
0:36:49 So taking care of your, of that regularly, not like re you're reacting to like, oh shoot, I feel st Epreally stressed and anxious.
0:36:57 I need to start take I need to take care of myself. No, do it now. Do it now while you feel decent.
0:37:03 Do you know while you feel good? Maybe you're like sensing something's come, whatever, just start now. Get into that regular habit of taking care of yourself, Dr.
0:37:13 Like literally just drinking enough water throughout the day, maybe managing the caffeine intake. . Let's get into that next. Okay, caffeine.
0:37:22 We know caffeine, honestly, like I have really just tried to stay within the pregnancy slash postpartum limit or breastfeeding limit I should say when it comes to caffeine.
0:37:37 Just because I know for myself, I do not operate well. Oh my gosh, I'm having a flashback. I need to tell you this story.
0:37:45 So energy drinks, I don't drink them typically really ever. Like, and if I do, I will not drink a full one.
0:37:54 The first time I ever had an energy drink, I felt my first anxiety, oh my gosh, I don't know why I didn't start with this.
0:38:01 I totally forgot until I was talking about caffeine. So my friend and I, , this is, I think we were 16.
0:38:08 She, I was sleeping over her house and she told her parents, I don't know, we were lying, but it was a stupid lie.
0:38:16 We said we were going to the movies or something and we went to the mall. Like, why would we lie about that?
0:38:23 I, I don't know, I don't remember, but you know, typical 16 year old stuff, right? So , she is a rebel.
0:38:32 This girl, she's like a super sweet girl, but also a rebel. She was driving, she's also smoking cigarettes out the window.
0:38:38 I'm like, oh my god, this I'm the goodie two shoes right in the passenger seat. Like, oh my God, I'm nervous.
0:38:43 We get was it a monster energy drink or I'm gonna say it was a monster. We're drinking these energy drinks.
0:38:54 I have no desire to drink an energy drink. I was like a very energetic, like child adolescent. Like I wasn't the one who slept all day.
0:39:01 I was up early and I was like high energy like fun. I did not need to. And I did not need 500 milligrams of caffeine in my body.
0:39:08 I just didn't, I was also very tiny. I was a very scrawny little teenager. I had no boobs, no curves.
0:39:16 I mean, I still don't have either of those things, but just picture me like 20 pounds lighter. Oh my god, I was a twig.
0:39:25 No muscle whatever, drank this can of energy drink. We're walking around the mall, I was like, oh my God, we're gonna get in so much trouble.
0:39:35 I was freaking out. I thought I was looking around like, I'm gonna run into my mom. I can't believe it.
0:39:39 My mom's gonna be here so I'm gonna be here. They're gonna catch us. We're lying, we're lying. Like fruitful on panicking.
0:39:45 And I d in that moment I was like, it's that energy drink. Oh my God, that drink made me feel like a wacko, right?
0:39:53 Like I, I never drank another can of energy, Dr whatever ever again. , at least not fully and at least never a monster.
0:40:04 . I don't know if it has something to do also with like the sugar plus the all right, so caffeine.
0:40:10 It does not do good things for your body. All right? It helps a little bit when you're feeling tired, but it doesn't actually give you energy.
0:40:17 Did you know this caffeine doesn't give you energy. It blocks the receptors in your mind that make you feel tired.
0:40:24 It's blocking that like tired receptor and it's like, no, you're not. You feel great. It's just like shutting off that side of your brain that, so I hope that helps you understand why caffeine is not that great for you.
0:40:38 But also, yeah, it causes that jitteriness, that anxiousness may increase your heart rate a bit. These are all things that we don't want.
0:40:46 We wanna create that calm, that balance. A little bit of caffeine, you know, if you can manage it is okay.
0:40:52 Like I said, I have continued to stick with that, like 200 milligrams of coffee basically. I'm not drinking more than two cups of coffee a day on average, maybe one cup of coffee on a crazy day for some reason.
0:41:05 If I'm like on the go and I'm with my sister who always influences me to get coffee at Starbucks or wherever , there might be a third maybe, or it's like a bigger size.
0:41:17 But I know I cannot drink coffee all day and it will not end well. So let make your caffeine intake also be on the lookout.
0:41:25 Like I have to notice, like I drink tea, so I have to check that label. If you are a soda drinker or there's caffeine in like, like granola, like energy bars.
0:41:35 Not even like energy bars, but like granola. Like I buy protein bars that now I had to look, they have caffeine in them if they're like chocolate mocha flavored.
0:41:45 So you might be taking in more caffeine than you think. So get a handle on that. You're drinking plenty of water, you're getting sleep when you can if possible on like in those moments when you are feeling anxious or, I mean, I'm just gonna say it like you gotta ask for help.
0:42:04 If you are not sleeping and you like, we all need sleep in it. You are at the point where like, I am not getting the sleep I need.
0:42:10 You need to ask for help. Whether that is like, Hey babe, I need a night off from this. You're gonna have one night where you're up with a baby.
0:42:17 I need one night of full sleep. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe it's like, mom, hey mom, do you think you could watch the kids for one night?
0:42:27 I know it's a lot. I have, I can pack everything. I will pick them up first thing in the morning.
0:42:32 I just need one night to just catch up on sleep. Maybe that's, maybe it's a sitter, maybe it's a night nurse.
0:42:39 Maybe you're investing in Samantha day's sleep course because you need to get your toddler or little one on track to sleep longer stretches so that you can do longer stretches.
0:42:50 But either what you need to find something to help you sleep and then help yourself also. Right? Like, let's turn in a little bit early, as early as possible, as early as possible.
0:43:03 like pick, instead of cleaning your whole house at night doing laundry. Like pick like two chores to get done.
0:43:09 Do your skincare routine. Shut off your devices and go to bed. We don't need to be watching Netflix. We don't need to watch that documentary.
0:43:16 I was just talking about like, you don't like, it'll always be there. That's one thing too, I have to remind myself.
0:43:20 I'm like, Netflix and like Hulu. All those shows are gonna be there tomorrow. They're gonna be there. Save 'em for a day where you, it's like a rainy night or what?
0:43:30 I don't know. Save it for another day. I don't know. It'll always be there. All right, so we've talked about, you know, my supplements, water, just general healthy habits.
0:43:41 Let's talk about movement. Another general healthy habit. Moving your body in sweating is so therapeutic for your brain. It's so therapeutic for your mind, body, and soul.
0:43:55 Even if, and I'm not saying like every day you're gonna feel like euphoric after workout, like that's not the case for, for me at least.
0:44:03 , like some workouts I don't wanna do and I'm like, ugh. I just feel okay after. But I know I, I'm just doing it because I know it's for the greater good.
0:44:11 It's for this bigger purpose that maybe I can't see. Like it's for, it's, it's to help fend off those anxious feelings, right?
0:44:22 It's proactive. I'm doing this now so that I won't feel like crap later. And that's why like I stress consistency so much because like doing a workout cuz you're like, I'm I, I I feel stressed.
0:44:34 I just need an outlet. Like, yeah, it's a great outlet to have, but if you're doing it prior to those stressful, anxious, overwhelmed feelings, it's going to help you have less of those strengths.
0:44:45 Stressful, anxious, , what did I say? Overwhelmed feelings. Okay, moving your body. It like clinically, like scientifically has been proven that you will have a healthier mindset when you are working out.
0:45:02 You will have a healthier lifestyle overall if you exercise. There's just so many benefits to it. And obviously I know like my account is like very fitnessy, blah, blah, blah, fitness workout.
0:45:12 I do it every day. But outside of that, I'm telling you it's very important even if you're just getting outside.
0:45:19 Which brings me to my next point. I was gonna say getting outside for a walk. Okay. Being outdoors. There's something about breathing in fresh air, seeing the sky above you in the earth beneath you and just getting outside of the four walls of your house.
0:45:39 That's so refreshing. It's invigorating. It boosts your mood, right? The vitamin D from the sun. Oh, it's, it's just all going to contribute to that greater wellbeing that we're, we're trying to get so that we can feel less of these feelings.
0:45:56 If you ever are feeling anxiousness, depressive feelings, if you know you have depression or anxiety, go talk to your doctor.
0:46:06 Call them, make an appointment. Find a therapist in your area. Maybe it's a virtual teletherapy. You need to talk to someone, confide in a partner, a friend, a family member.
0:46:20 Tell somebody you don't have to be struggling alone. And again, I am not the doctor, the therapist, the, the, the clinical person you should be turning to.
0:46:32 I can relate to it, but I do want you to seek help because there is help out there for you.
0:46:38 I am only able to give help through my experience, which might not even be helpful for you honestly. I am just hoping it's helpful right now as I am speaking this out loud.
0:46:50 I'm hoping that it helps you. If anything, it just makes you feel less alone. But I just wanna reiterate the importance of talking with a doctor.
0:47:02 Your healthcare professionals, right? Maybe you even have a chiropractor that you're like, I have been feeling this way. And there's someone that they can refer you to.
0:47:10 Tell somebody, have someone to talk to about it. Please, please, please. So I've talked about the things I do proactively to help prevent it.
0:47:23 But what happened the other day when I was so anxious, I felt it in my chest. I felt like I, I was wearing a sports bra, six sizes too small, like ala size and I couldn't get it off and I couldn't breathe and I felt like I was gonna cry and I felt like I needed, it was just an awful feeling I had to tell.
0:47:42 I told Justin, I was like, this is what's happening. I, every time I take a breath, I feel like it's my first breath of the day.
0:47:50 Like I would have to like force myself to breathe . So taking those deep breaths very intentionally feels good. Join me, join me on this next breath.
0:48:04 Ready in deep clearing breath in and out. Now there are breathing exercises you can do, and I learned this five years ago, maybe six now.
0:48:22 But think about when you're feeling anxious. You're just like, just this like constant, like short little inhales. Like you're breathing is really short versus when you're feeling like low and down and almost like depressed.
0:48:37 Your breathing is more like, like size, like shoulders are dropping or just like, okay, so when I'm feeling anxious, I want to do a shorter inhale and a longer exhale.
0:48:56 So you count in, let's do like a three count inhale and a six count exhale. Let's just try that. If we're feeling li pretend you're feeling anxious, you can feel that stress.
0:49:03 Think about something stressful. We're gonna breathe in for three seconds. So breathe in two, three and then out for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
0:49:17 Again, breathe in for 1, 2, 3, and out for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. What that's doing is it's bringing you back down. Cuz when you're feeling anxious, it's this heightened state, at least again, in my experience, it's this heightened state where everything is intense and up high versus being low and grounded, right?
0:49:48 So right now when you're feeling that heightened state, you need to ground back down, down. So breathing techniques can help with that.
0:49:54 I also like to do like the, the box breathing or four count where you breathe in for four, hold for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds and hold that breath out for four and then continue, breathe in.
0:50:07 That feels really good. Grounding can also be done by just sit, literally go and sit on the floor. Better yet, go outside and sit on the ground, sit in the grass, put your bare feet in the grass that is literally getting on the ground.
0:50:25 That's what I'm talking about. And when you can, can feel yourself touching the floor, I'm doing it right now. It really physically takes you out of that heightened seat.
0:50:36 On a physical level, you are moving your body down lower. Okay? It's, although, I mean this is like really earthy, crunchy we're getting into, but it, I'm telling you like this stuff feels really good in those moments when you're desperate for that grounded feeling.
0:50:54 So we're taking control of our breath, we're taking control of our physical space. Another thing you can do along with the grounding just a way to get out of your head.
0:51:04 Cuz I feel like, I mean, yes, I was having physical, like chest pain, but I was very much in my head too.
0:51:12 Like my thoughts were racing and like, I just felt like my brain had been taken over. So what you can do to get out of your own mind is look around and account four, no five things around you.
0:51:27 Like I see okay, I'm looking out my window. I see grass, okay, in my, I'm I'm at my desk, I see my desk, it's shiny, I see my oil diffuser and it's blowing out this puffy cl just name five things around you.
0:51:43 Then you're gonna touch four things. Touch four surfaces. Like maybe you touch the ground you are sitting on, maybe you touch your hair and just feel the way your hair feels in between your fingers.
0:51:57 A piece of paper, how smooth it is. Just feel for surfaces. Just as just really bringing yourself into the physical world versus this heightened state in your mind.
0:52:07 And then you're supposed to like, can I smell three things right now? I can smell my oil diff, I can smell my laundry detergent on my sweatshirt.
0:52:16 I can smell the coffee that I just made. Maybe it's not a coffee cuz we're avoiding caffeine. It's decaf, it's a decaf coffee .
0:52:24 I can smell the decaf coffee brew. I'm just trying to think of scents in your house. Maybe it's a candle.
0:52:29 Maybe you could light a candle just so that you could smell it and look at it and just take a moment in that space and then you can do like a taste and then maybe sounds, you can hear, right?
0:52:39 Like just really put yourself in the space you're in for that grounding effect. I also told Justin I need to get some stuff done because that is gonna help me feel better.
0:52:52 Did I wanna do it? No, I had a deadline for a brand I was working with that I probably could have moved, but the thought of that made me even more anxious.
0:53:03 So I was like, I'm gonna film this for them and send it to them. . It was not my best work, let's just say that.
0:53:10 But I was like, I need to do this. He took the girls, God bless him out of the house. They went out, where did they go?
0:53:18 I think they went out for ice cream. Anyways, I filmed this, which was really difficult for me, but being able to check something off of my list felt good.
0:53:29 So I'm not saying force yourself to do something , but if you can like fold that one pile of laundry that is sitting there that you're staring at, or maybe even just like put it in the basket and go put it back in the laundry room.
0:53:43 So it's not visual clutter. Maybe it's clean off the counter and just wipe it down. Get that sticky stuff off the table.
0:53:51 Like for me, all the visual things are like, my constant to-do list causes me more stress. So being able to check something off, I cannot tell you it feels so good, like not so good, but like it's put, it's moving me in the right direction.
0:54:08 So it really didn't take me long to film that, that one thing I had to do. And then I moved on to the couch and I sat down with my legs up and I relaxed.
0:54:22 I didn't scroll on my phone because of that is something we should avoid when we're feeling anxious. , honestly, like unless you're watching cat videos or like maybe cooking videos, don't just scroll on Instagram because, and if, I mean, if you struggle with comparison, which all of us do at some level, it will mess with your mind.
0:54:44 So I knew for myself, I cannot be on Instagram because it's gonna make me think I should be, I should film something.
0:54:50 I should post a reel. I should be on stories, I should answer Dion's. Like I just, or like I should do more of what she's doing.
0:54:56 Look at her page. It's so pretty. Look at her videos. Like I just get in my head. So I was like, yeah, no, I am not on Instagram.
0:55:05 I am on Netflix and I am on chill and we are just chilling until further notice , because that's what I had to do.
0:55:14 And then I went to bed super early that night. I'm talking eight 30, like fell asleep with Rosie when I was putting her to bed, slept all night.
0:55:23 I still kind of felt tired in the morning because I mean, emotionally that was a lot to it. It's a lot like feeling that way.
0:55:32 I can't imagine going through that every day. It would be extremely difficult and I probably would've told my doctor if it was continuing.
0:55:40 So again, if you have this feeling, if you have this experience and it's, it's continuous, it's very regular. Go talk to your doctor.
0:55:49 Even if it's not very regular, if it's just like occasionally like me, we need to, we need to talk about this.
0:55:57 It needs to be discussed further in moderate to severe untreated cases. Postpartum anxiety can last indefinitely. That is not for me and you.
0:56:08 No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That will not be us. We are gonna work on the creating that balance in our every day.
0:56:14 We are gonna talk to our healthcare team and we are going to get it treated. I'm not talking about like just like getting some prescription, I'm talking about like doing the lifestyle changes, talking with someone, really figuring out like what do we need to, to do and change and how do we navigate this?
0:56:34 Okay, are we on the same page? I hope so. Well that was a lot. That was a lot. I almost cried at one point.
0:56:41 I don't know if you could tell, but I was definitely tearing up. But it felt good to talk about. I've been wanting to chat with you for a while.
0:56:49 I mean I just love, I'd love this. I love my podcast. I love talking to you. And I wanna read our first like review.
0:56:54 It's not even a full on review, but I had, I got a DM and I was so excited. And if you sent me a dm, I would love to read it on the next episode.
0:57:03 But this is from, oh my gosh, I didn't crop. Oh, here's her name. Nicole, this is from Nicole h Hey, I've been listening to your podcast exclamation point.
0:57:14 I have to emphasize that she is excited about it. Okay, can't help but bust. Move to your theme music. L o l.
0:57:20 Keep going. Okay, Nicole, this made me so happy and I wanna share with you, I shared with Nicole, I sent her some voice messages back, but I wanted to tell you, picking the audio, like the music, the intro and outro, which you're about to hear on this outro, it took me forever because there's so many.
0:57:38 And I was like, I wanted to have the right feel. I wanted to be something that like you're moving your shoulders too, cuz it is a, it's a bop , it's a vibe, it's a jam.
0:57:47 Like, I wanted something fun, but not too hip poppy. I, I was going down rabbit holes looking for songs, and I found this one.
0:57:55 I was like, I think, I think we have a winner. So having this message from Nicole made me feel so good.
0:58:00 I was like, yes. Yes. That is exactly what I wanted. You dancing to my theme music. Yeah. Also, I asked her for podcast recommendations, any topics she wants to hear, and she got back to me.
0:58:11 So Nicole, I got you. We are chatting, we are gonna have more conversations about the things that she listed out for me.
0:58:19 And if you have an idea for the podcast, I would love to have my take on a, a topic. Or if you have questions that you'd like answered on my podcast for like a live q and a, I would be happy to answer them.
0:58:32 Go to your glowing podcast on Instagram and dm e I will see you over there. Thank you for listening. Don't forget to rate five star rating.
0:58:43 Please, , please give me a good review if you wanna hear more episodes like this. And if you don't, just send me a dm.
0:58:50 Don't give me a bad review, please. I don't know much about how reviews work, but I'm assuming that we want them to be good, right?
0:58:56 Like it costs 60 seconds of your time, which I will gladly thank you for. I am very appreciative if you take any amount of time to like, just for listening, like, I'm so grateful for you being here, but if you go the extra step and leave a review, like, oh, that means so much to me.
0:59:15 Like, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. All right. I will catch you in the next episode. Thank you for being here.
0:59:22 I love you. You're doing a great job. And don't forget, if you are struggling with any mental health issues, big or small, please talk to your healthcare professional and confide in a friend, family member.
0:59:34 All right, I'll see you next one.
