Part 1 - There’s the unspoken societal rule that women are not “suppose” to announce their pregnancies until they are out of the first trimester because that means they are past the risk of their pregnancy ending tragically. So what happens when you did everything right, planning when to get pregnant, taking the prenatals, going to all of the appointments and then, halfway through growing your much loved and wanted baby you get devastating news about that baby’s health and life expectancy? No one talks about the babies that are unhealthy before they are born. No one talks about all the things that could go wrong. No one talks about the gut-wrenching decision about whether to bring a baby into the world where they would know nothing but pain and complications or to end their suffering before they are even born. Lauren is here to talk about her experience with all of those things that aren’t talked about for pregnancies.

**CORRECTION TO INFORMATION MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE: Turners syndrome was mentioned in reference to Trisomy 13 and being incompatible with life. This should have been Patau Syndrome. This was mentined in the early genetic testing that screens from Trisomy 13 (Patau Syndrome), Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome), and Trisomy 21 (Downs Syndrome).

Lauren lives in New England with her husband, athletic 8 year old step son, an almost 4 year old love bug son, and her rainbow baby girl who is 3 months old. She has her masters degree in the healthcare field and in 2022 found herself in the position to have to learn about what it means to end a pregnancy for medical reasons (TFMR).

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child loss

A personal note from Lauren:

I am telling my story for multiple reasons. First of all, my baby boy’s life deserves to be remembered and cherished, even if it was cut drastically short. Also, to discuss a topic often filled with shame, secrecy, and stereotypes. To me, the word “abortion” does not appropriately describe my situation, since the pregnancy was planned and so deeply desired to complete our family. Termination For Medical Reasons (TFMR) is a topic many people do not discuss, but it needs to be. Unfortunately, not all pregnancies yield healthy babies or are safe for carrying women. This is not a topic medical professionals prepare women for, but so many women find out their babies will not survive or have a gray diagnosis that will severely impact their daily life. These women are left in a lose-lose situation. I lost my beautiful son and a large piece of myself that may never return. I hope doing this podcast provides awareness about medical terminations that many people haven’t thought about previously.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of my son, who I call Baby March…. Mommy will always love you. I know you are with us everyday, even if we can’t physically see you. You will never be forgotten.

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Resources discussed

https://www.postpartum.net/

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram & Threads: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

Children from a young age are often exposed to things that they have no real say in or control over; that includes religion. Lauren opens up about her experience being raised Mormon, growing up in the church, and believing its teachings. That is, until she was exposed to different people with different life experiences than her. Ultimately giving her a new perspective on her high demand religion and views on the church.

Ashley Buckner is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist in both California and Utah who has been practicing for over a decade. She specializes in working with adults and adolescents, utilizing Brainspotting to foster powerful brain and body work. Ashley shares that she stumbled on an additional speciality (in addition to trauma and body image work) of religious trauma and faith transitions. She was raised in the Mormon Church and later left in 2008. Outside of her therapy office Ashley is a fitness class instructor in her community.

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Find Ashley in the following places

Website: ashleybucknerlmft.com

Instagram: @ashleyb_therapy

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram & Threads: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

Have you ever noticed how it seems like there are limitations for us in life but you’re not 100% sure where they came from? Be it family, our life experiences or our generation, oftentimes we develop into who we are unconsciously based on things we have no control over. Amy said “no more.” She pushed herself to go to the places that most people stray from and instead engages bravely with all fasciitis of life. Amy shares her experiences with grief, parenting, being raised in the 80s, and now working to become a published author.

Amy Crnecki is a wife, mother, blogger, aspiring author, and owner of My Story Seller, a life and content writing business.

In 2019, her life was turned upside down when she witnessed the tragic and unexpected passing of her infant niece, Ellie. As she grappled with the depths of complex PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety, her therapist asked her a question that changed the course of her life. Started a blog called Amy Unfiltered, which has now become the premise for her first book, a memoir that she hopes to have on bookshelves by 2025.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child loss

Resources Discussed

Holly Sitzmann's blog: Still I Rise - A Grieving Mother's Journey

Find Amy in the following places

Website: www.mystoryseller.com

Instagram: @mystoryseller

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram, Threads, YouTube: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

It’s a reality that no one wants to acknowledge is real. Babies are meant to come home. Babies are meant to have a whole life before them. And sometimes, they don’t.

Part 2

Becca Sharpsteen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and school social worker in Mankato, MN. Her and her husband, Dan, experienced the significant loss of their first born son, Cal, in 2021 when she was 38 weeks pregnant. Navigating their loss has been a journey of growth, healing, and acceptance. Becca and Dan recognized the limited amount of time they were able to spend with their son in the hospital and wanted to provide an opportunity for other loss families to build memories with their children. In 2022, they established Cal’s Corner which provides loss families with a bookshelf stocked with family favorite children’s books. Families can pick out several books to read with their baby and take home to cherish forever. In June of 2022, they welcomed their second baby, Lenni, and are expecting their third child in March of 2024. Becca hopes to continue honoring Cal by helping other loss moms and families build lasting memories.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Stillbirth

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Resources Discussed

Cal’s corner: https://calscorner.weebly.com/

https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

https://www.postpartum.net

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram, Threads, YouTube: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

It’s a reality that no one wants to acknowledge is real. Babies are meant to come home. Babies are meant to have a whole life before them. And sometimes, they don’t.

Part 1

Becca Sharpsteen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and school social worker in Mankato, MN. Her and her husband, Dan, experienced the significant loss of their first born son, Cal, in 2021 when she was 38 weeks pregnant. Navigating their loss has been a journey of growth, healing, and acceptance. Becca and Dan recognized the limited amount of time they were able to spend with their son in the hospital and wanted to provide an opportunity for other loss families to build memories with their children. In 2022, they established Cal’s Corner which provides loss families with a bookshelf stocked with family favorite children’s books. Families can pick out several books to read with their baby and take home to cherish forever. In June of 2022, they welcomed their second baby, Lenni, and are expecting their third child in March of 2024. Becca hopes to continue honoring Cal by helping other loss moms and families build lasting memories.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Stillbirth

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Resources Discussed

Cal’s corner: https://calscorner.weebly.com/

https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

https://www.postpartum.net

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram, Threads, YouTube: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

Grace had it all planned out. School. Family. Career. She was a girl who knew what she wanted. Life however, had another plan for Grace. After spending time, energy, and focus on achieving her goals, Grace learned that things actually weren’t panning out as she intended them to. After shifting her focus to the spirit of the end goal rather than the exact “thing”, she became more flexible which ultimately allowed her to find her passion. Grace shares her experience of getting better aligned with herself and letting go of the plan that she thought was “supposed” to happen.

Grace is originally from Seattle, WA but is currently living in Orange County, CA. Grace has a passion for helping people and focuses her health science and psychology knowledge into her work of helping people cultivate healthy habits. Grace has her own experiences with mental health struggles and finds fulfillment in helping women take control of their symptoms and their life through actionable steps. Grace emphasizes the message of “you are not alone in what you are feeling, life doesn’t have to be as hard as we are making it for ourselves, we can build habits to tame anxiety and live life more vibrantly and smoothly.”

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Find Grace in the following places

Instagram: @gracecropp_fit

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram, Threads, YouTube: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: miscarriage

PART TWO!

After becoming unexpectedly pregnant and having a smooth pregnancy, who would think that subsequent pregnancies would be any different? For many women, each pregnancy is a completely different experience. This week, Sophie shares her journey of trying to grow her family and experiencing unexplained miscarriages time and time again. Sophie speaks of hope and resiliency in spite of her tremendous loss.

Sophie grew up in a small town in west central MN before heading to college to get her bachelors in teaching. She taught high school English while she worked towards earning her masters in culturally relevant teaching. Currently Sophie is a stay-at-home mom to her two boys and subs occasionally. She loves cooking and getting creative in the kitchen because simple meals bore her.

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Resources

https://www.postpartum.net

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram, Threads, YouTube: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: miscarriage

PART ONE!

After becoming unexpectedly pregnant and having a smooth pregnancy, who would think that subsequent pregnancies would be any different? For many women, each pregnancy is a completely different experience. This week, Sophie shares her journey of trying to grow her family and experiencing unexplained miscarriages time and time again. Sophie speaks of hope and resiliency in spite of her tremendous loss.

Sophie grew up in a small town in west central MN before heading to college to get her bachelors in teaching. She taught high school English while she worked towards earning her masters in culturally relevant teaching. Currently Sophie is a stay-at-home mom to her two boys and subs occasionally. She loves cooking and getting creative in the kitchen because simple meals bore her.

Click play now and help further deep, meaningful connections about conversations that are typically avoided.

Resources

https://www.postpartum.net

Be sure to stay in touch with host Brooke, on various online platforms including subscribing to our email list found on the website below!

Website: www.redbirdcounselingmn.com

Instagram, Threads, YouTube: @redbirdcounselingmn

Facebook: @redbirdcounselingmn21

As always subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing with friends helps as continuing to reach more people. Everything helps and we thank you for your support!