Episode 13: William Dandjinou Race, Laura's Rollercoaster Birth Story

Episode 16: Swimming Lessons, Thrifting and Gay Pride Month

You've asked, and we've answered! After a brief hiatus, the mamas are REUNITED and back in the booth to give you that good queer parenting content you all crave. First on it, Laura talks swimming lessons for a two year old (OMG time flies!) and talks about all the fun they're having, including a harrowing story of her daughter trying out a diving board for the first time! The mamas move onto the second segment to talk about their great love of thrifting! Laura lists off her most recent great deals and why she gives certain thrift stores the side eye... Being a gay podcast, the mamas talk about June and why it's the gayest month of all. Justine gives some book recommendation (Rae Spoon's "First Spring Grass Fire" and Kai Cheng Thom's "Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir") for some excellent queer Canadian content. Laura talks about the beauty of her daughter listening to children's books featuring lesbian moms in her classroom. We wrap it up talking about Laura's daughter's upcoming birthday and all that entails. All this content is for YOU listeners, please listen and enjoy! And as always... we appreciate you <3

Episode 15: Fatherhood, Meal Prep and Date Nights with Kevin

One singular mama is back for YOU dear listeners, with a fantastic guest for your listening enjoyment: the one, the only: Kevin the Husband! Kevin is here to share his meal prep strategies (chicken pot pie: OUT, ravioli: IN), share date night stories and to participate in our long running tradition: My Horrible Poop Moment of the Day. Kevin also talks about being a small town queer, preferring the quieter slower pace. There is the odd time that being trans pops up, like in interactions with medical professionals, but as Kevin tells us, he lives a half-invisible life, with people able to read some flavor of queer from his aura, but aren't quite able to pin point it down ("bisexual, perhaps?"). We finish off by musing the role that queerness plays in our role as parents, and end it off by agreeing to go out on a date soon. It's a fun cute episode, hope you all enjoy!

Episode 14: Water For The People with Bethany Lee from "Protect Our Water Source"

Beloved listeners, the mamas have a treat for you: our very first guest on the podcast, featuring the marvelous Bethany Lee from Protect Our Water Source! Bethany is a fellow mother, and like Justine, has roots in the city and has fallen in love with the rural Quebec life in recent years. In this wide ranging interview, we talk about loving and belonging in our communities, how being mothers shapes our hopes for the future, and how we should share the most precious public resource: water. Bethany is the spokesperson for an organization called "Protect Our Water Source", which become organized when it was revealed there would be a commercial water pumping venture in Hinchinbrook. Her community of Powerscourt was both surprised and concerned by the lack of information provided, and the organization has sprung forth to push for more disclosure on how water testing was performed for this project. She takes us through the timelines of the project, what risks water pumping poses to the nearby farms, how the community has responded and what the next steps are. It's a fantastic episode, both for locals and all those who have ever wondered: "Who is water for?" Bethany would say: "it's for the people". Sources we mentioned: Protect Our Water Source: https://protectourwatersource.ca/ "The History of the County of Huntingdon [Quebec]: And of the Seigniories of Chateaugay and Beauharnois from Their Settlement to the Year 1838" by Robert Sellers Gleaner: "Farm To Food" podcast Eau Secours: https://eausecours.org/

Episode 13: William Dandjinou Race, Laura's Rollercoaster Birth Story

Fans of "Loud and Proud Mamas", you are in for a TREAT of an episode! It's finally that time: Laura's birth story! To kick things off, Justine talks about celebrating her 2nd year anniversary at the World Final's for short track speed skaing in Montreal. It was there that afternoon that 1) she learned of the existence of William Dandjinou and 2) instantly became a committed, die hard fan. Tragedy struck in his race, and it is the opinion of this podcast that Mr William Dandjinou was robbed of his gold medal #justicefordadjinou After that intro, we dive into what you've all been waiting for: Laura's incredible rollercoaster journey through labour and birth. This story has everything: a promising beginning, navigating medical beaurocracy, the power of family and friend support, and the complex emotions of having a different delivery experience that you had envisioned. Justine is the one who writes these episode descriptions, so I will state this with no ego: this is truly a beautiful story of doing your best in the face of physical agony, emotional turbulence and seeing a journey through to it's end. Laura talk with honesty about pain, fear, grief and how these feelings mix with joy during birth. It's truly a must listen episode. The podcast that Laura listened to while in birth was called "Crime Junkie" (linked below). If you are interested in sharing YOUR birth episode, or being a guest on this podcast, let us know! We are collecting ideas for future episodes, and we'd love to have you on! Get in touch with us at loudandproudmamas@gmail.com. EDIT: In the first version of this episode, Justine (me) pronounced William Dandjinou's name as "William Danjilou". Apologies to Wiliams Dandjinou and his fanbase, I misread his name and spoke incorrectly. I have since recorded the parts where I say his name, so if you notice some weird edits, that would be why. Keep going for gold William, we are big fans :)

Episode 12: Ice Apocalypse, Justine's Birth Story, Para Alpine Skiing

It's been a long journey to get here, but the mamas are happy to announce that we are here to deliver the content YOU'VE been waiting for: Justine's Birth Story! (Laura to come next ep!) We start off by talking about the Ice Apocalypse That Wasn't, our mild amusement and frustration about being over prepared for a storm that turned out milder than expected. Justine does a deep dive into her birthing experience at the Valleyfield Hospital, with shoutouts to Nurse Sophie and Nurse Coralee. Heads up that this episode does talk about the birth experience, so discussions of vaginas and internal machinations are involved. Music that Justine was listening to while in labour is tagged below, please enjoy the baritone and somber tones of Cash in his later years, Neil Young lament about Kent State and Bob Dylan in all his nasal glory. We end off with a recommendation to check out the Paralympics, especially Alpine Ski! French commentary is available on Ici Tou.TV, English commentary available on CBC Gem. Official policy recommendation from Loud and Proud Mamas: Canada must increase funding by 300%! We must be on the podium next Paralympics! Enjoy the episode beloveds, next ep is Laura's Birth Story!