Notes: From Motherhood

EP13. Matrescence Doesn't Sink in Right Away: Carla on Motherhood, Milk & Mum Shoes

Jade sits down with Carla — a Venezuelan-born, Montreal-based urban planner and mum to a two-year-old — for an honest, unhurried conversation about matrescence and the long, slow work of becoming a mother. Carla doesn't sugarcoat any of it. She talks about the year of therapy before trying to conceive, the pregnancy loss that came before her son, the eighteen months of feeling "uncomfortable" in her new role, and the day she pumped breastmilk in an office bathroom and quietly wondered how any of this is actually allowed. It's an episode full of the contradictions matrescence is built on. Carla shares the resentment she felt toward her husband — a deeply involved, loving dad — simply for being able to walk out the door. The cool mum shoes she bought to feel like herself again. The breastfeeding moment by the St Lawrence River that turned the hardest thing she's ever done into one of the most beautiful. And why she sat down and wrote her own birth story — not for anyone else, but to take back control of the words. If you're in the thick of it right now — folding washing, breastfeeding, driving, surviving — this one's for you. Carla's parting wisdom: time is elastic. Find the small pleasures. Put the music on.

EP12. The Story Almost Every Mother Is Carrying (And Never Quite Tells)

Almost every mother has told her birth story. But almost none of us have told the whole thing. We've told the dinner party version. "It was long but fine." "Ended up being a C-section, but the baby was healthy, so." The edited, tidied-up version that fits into the space other people are comfortable holding. Meanwhile, the full story — the one with the feelings attached, the thing the midwife said, the look on your partner's face, what you were actually thinking when they put the baby on your chest — is still sitting inside you. Shaping how you mother. Underneath the impatience, the anxiety, the quiet voice that says "maybe I'm just not cut out for this." In this episode, I talk about why so many of us never get to tell the whole thing, the research that proves you're not imagining it, what matrescence actually is, and what starts to shift when a mother finally puts her story somewhere outside of herself. Whether your baby is three months old or ten years old — this one's for you. 🎁 Free community, journal prompts & book chapters → Mama Inner Circle [https://www.skool.com/your-mama-journey-7063/about] 📖 The Birth Story Journal → yourmamajourney.com [www.yourmamajourney.com] 📸 Follow along → @yourmamajourney [https://www.instagram.com/yourmamajourney.co/] Alexandra Sacks, TED Talk →A new way to think about the transition to motherhood [https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_sacks_a_new_way_to_think_about_the_transition_to_motherhood]

EP11. Postpartum Anxiety Isn't Your Fault—Here's What's Actually Happening

That constant checking. The "what ifs" you can't turn off. The feeling like you're the only mum experiencing this? You're not broken. About 1 in 4 postpartum women experience maternal anxiety—and it looks different from regular worry. In this episode, Jade (an accredited mental health social worker) explains the difference between worry and anxiety, why motherhood changes everything, and a simple technique using attention-shifting that actually helps your brain recalibrate threat signals. You're not meant to survive motherhood in a state of fear. This is how you start to change that.

EP10. Your C-Section Recovery: What Nobody Actually Told You

You were cleared at six weeks. So why does your body still feel like it's trying to tell you something? In this episode, accredited mental health social worker and mum Jade Marklew gets real about C-section recovery — starting with her own emergency surgery after sudden onset preeclampsia, and the moment she walked out of her six-week check feeling anything but healed. Jade breaks down why the information most mums receive after a C-section is medically accurate but fundamentally incomplete — and how a system built on seven-minute appointments was never designed to guide you through what real recovery actually looks like. You'll hear the truth about the 12-month recovery timeline your doctor didn't mention, what's actually happening to your scar, nerves, core, and pelvic floor at each stage, and why your emotional healing may not follow the same path as your physical one. Jade also speaks honestly about birth trauma, body image, returning to sex, and why grieving the birth you didn't have doesn't make you ungrateful — it makes you human. This episode is for every mum who's been told she should be back to normal by now. You're not broken. The information was just incomplete. Notes from Motherhood is hosted by Jade Marklew, founder of Your Mama Journey. This podcast does not replace professional therapy.

EP9. How to Navigate Transitions in Motherhood

Welcome to the Mama Inner Circle 'How To' Podcast Series! TODAYS TOPIC - How to navigate transitions in motherhood! You know that feeling when your child starts daycare or school and everyone's asking "how are THEY handling it?"—and meanwhile you're having a full identity crisis in the school car park? When you're supposed to feel excited about finally getting time back, but instead you're crying after drop-off and wondering who you even are when you're not actively mothering someone? Here's what no one tells you: You're not going through a transition. You're going through TWO. In this podcast, we're using the school/daycare transition as our example, but here's the truth—every motherhood milestone works this way. Weaning, going back to work, your baby sleeping through the night, potty training, your youngest starting kindy, your teenager getting their license—every single time your child grows up a little, you're also transforming. This framework applies to all of it. We take what we actually know about child development and attachment theory—which is solid—and combine it with the maternal psychology that gets completely ignored. Because your child's transition is visible and validated. Yours? You're just supposed to quietly disappear into the background and get on with it. What we cover: * Why your identity feels like it's dissolving (hello, matrescence—the becoming of a mother that no one warned you about) * The neuroscience of why you literally can't think straight right now (it's not failure, it's brain restructuring) * Identity excavation—how to bring back the parts of you that went underground during survival mode * Why "all-or-nothing" motherhood identity is what's breaking you (research shows mothers who hold multiple roles have lower depression and higher life satisfaction) * The confident drop-off strategy that works with your nervous system, not against it (your calm = their safety) * What your child is actually asking during separation (spoiler: it's one question, and you already know the answer) * How to handle the ambivalence—relief AND grief can be true at the same time * The week-by-week plan for YOUR transition (not just theirs) * Identity breadcrumbs—the small, consistent actions that rebuild your sense of self faster than any big plan The big reframe: From "I should just be happy they're becoming independent" to "Their growing up doesn't mean I disappear—we're both becoming." This isn't about being a better mother or managing your feelings better. It's about understanding that every time your child hits a milestone, you're renegotiating who you are—and building a plan that actually accounts for both transitions, not just theirs. The tools in this podcast work for whatever stage you're in right now, and whatever transition is coming next.