49. The Secret to Great Days: A Tale of Motherhood, Postpartum Resilience, and Self-Care with Sarah Parise

Experience the raw, transformative journey of motherhood with my special guest Sarah Parise, the heart and soul behind Great Days by Sarah, as we share the highs and lows of our postpartum adventures. Imagine laughing, crying, and nodding in agreement as you join our momversation on the unspoken hardships and the powerful connections we forge through the trials of motherhood. This episode promises to wrap you in a warm embrace of camaraderie, whether you're cradling your first baby or guiding your last one out the nest.

Can the way we care for ourselves during the postpartum period truly shape our families for the better? Sarah and I answer with a resounding yes, delving into the importance of self-care, establishing nurturing routines, and the incredible impact of community support. From the physical recovery of our bodies to the emotional restoration of our souls, we share personal stories and practical advice that will inspire you to prioritize wellness and find your tribe.

By the end of our chat, you won't just be listening to another podcast episode; you'll be part of a movement celebrating the resilience and beauty of motherhood. Sarah's insights into creating life-changing programs for moms and my reflections on body image and self-care forge a path for any mother to reclaim joy and well-being. This isn't just a conversation—it's a call to action for self-love and mutual support that will resonate long after the last minute of the podcast.

Facebook Group, Time Out For Moms - https://www.facebook.com/groups/timeoutformoms

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[FREE Guide} How Busy Moms Prioritize Their Own Wellness

https://pages.sarahparise.com/guide-1

📺 Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOpw5ui4uxJHx0tLFVtpnfSkpObfc4d-K

You can find Katie at:
website: burntpancakes.com
YouTube: @burnt.pancakes
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Email: katie@burntpancakes.com

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Transcript

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00:10 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Hello, hello and welcome back to the Burnt Pancakes podcast. I am your host, katie Fenske. I'm a mom of three who is burning my pancakes and learning as I go. Today, I have a very special treat for you I am sitting down with Sarah Parise. She is a mom of two girls and the creator of Great Days by Sarah. She wants to show busy moms how they can prioritize their own wellness and from this she tells us all about her experience postpartum and how that led her to creating this course. 

00:45
She described motherhood starting motherhood as a dream come true and a nightmare at the same time, and I just instantly connected to her. Her story of her struggles postpartum, which led her to where she is now, and how she empowers women, is something that I really connected with. Not only that, but she and I just hit it off. We chit-chatted like we were good friends from day one, so I think you're really going to love her. We laughed together. We got kind of emotional about what those early days are as new moms even though we both have older kids now that are in school going back and reliving our birth stories and those early days, like there's just something that we don't forget, and we really connected over that. So I think you're going to love her and I cannot wait to share this episode with you. 

01:44
Sarah, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm very excited because when I got to know more about you, I was like we are very similar in our experience with motherhood and we're both former teachers. Like there's just so many coincidences, and then like our mission to help other moms, so I am like honored to have you on. I think this is going to be a great chat. 

02:07 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I'm so excited to have this one. 

02:10 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Okay, so start off by telling us how old your kids are. 

02:14 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I have a five and a seven year old, both girls. Natalie was my first. She came into this world like a sloth slow, slow, slow, slow, long birth. My second one, who's five, came in fast and furious, like her personality, and barely made it to the hospital. Very different stories for two very different children which I'm sure a lot of people listening can relate to that of like you have these kids, you're doing it the same way, but they're drastically different. 

02:42 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Oh, for sure. Like once you master one, the other one comes and it's like, oh, no, I'm not like that. Like my oldest went to preschool and was like bye, mom, see ya, peace out. And I was like, oh, okay, this isn't like it broke my heart that he wasn't like can I give you a hug. But then my middle came around and he was like ball of tears for like a month and I was like, oh, like this is what those other moms are talking about. Yes, so they're all very different. 

03:11
Okay, so I want to read to the listeners your bio that I saw on your website, Because when I read this I was like I am her, she is me, we are very similar. So read this. And then, like, I want to hear about your motherhood journey. So you put like so many other moms, I struggled when my daughter was born to find time to take care of myself. I struggled physically, mental, but mostly emotionally during this difficult transition to motherhood. It wasn't until I started taking care of myself that I noticed a real change in my mindset, self esteem, physical appearance and my marriage. My mission is to empower moms to take care of themselves without the mom guilt for doing so, and realize the awesome effects it could have on the entire family. That all was like. That's it. That's what I want to hear. So tell me a little bit about your initial motherhood journey. What was that like? Oh? 

04:03 - Sarah Parise (Host)
well, it was a complete dream come true, because it's what I wanted for so long, at the same time very much a nightmare, completely realized from the moment I didn't have that bad of a pregnancy. I dealt with some insomnia, some you know night sickness kind of stuff, but nothing compared to what other people have went to. It was not that bad. And then I went into labor and 36 hours later I was still in labor and around the 36 hour mark they my doctor looked at me and he said you got two more pushes or we got a C-section to get out. And that was like my biggest fear going in of like not because of the C-section but because of the all the work that went in to leading up to the C-section. That was like when I went in. If that was my biggest fear, like that's what it was, cause I've watched I was 36 when I had my first, so I had watched a lot of friends and family have babies and talk about their experiences. 

04:58
All a bunch of liars, by the way, liars and thank goodness, no word, they say because thank goodness I would have never done it if they told me the truth, but for sure, when all was said and done. They had to remove her with four steps. She was, the cord was wrapped around her neck, she had inhaled her own meconium. They took her out to the NICU without me even really seeing her. We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. So all the reverse framing was what is it? What is it as they're taking her out, as they're taking her, and she's blue? I mean like blue, blue, like no colors to her no crying, oh my gosh. 

05:33 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Like every worst case scenario like this is not my birth plan, yeah. 

05:39 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Your mind goes to the worst place, turns out, I had broken also broken my tailbone during that delivery. 

05:44 - Katie Fenske (Host)
During labor. Did you have an epidural or no? 

05:48 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Well, I did but it didn't work. Oh my gosh. So there was. I had to go through the pain of trying for an epidural and then, it being like, as soon as everything was happening, my doctor's like I feel it I did not take. This is not. You should be feeling. I'm amazed you had a second child, I mean it's shocking, I mean, the only person more surprised than me is my mother. My mother was convinced that she was only going to have one granddaughter. 

06:10 - Katie Fenske (Host)
That was. 

06:10 - Sarah Parise (Host)
it Was she there, was she in the room? She was not. She was back at her apartment. We were in California at the time and there's no way she could have been in the room. I mean, she would have passed out immediately. 

06:22 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I'm about to pass out right now hearing this, but you know what's so funny, we don't forget, but it kind of fades. It's like you're in this weird, like Twilight Zone weird. 

06:36
Yeah, I look back and I'm like that was. I remember with my third. He took forever as well, but I remember getting the epidural and feeling like I had to push as I was getting the epidural because it took so long to get him to come into the room. And I remember feeling like this is the most pain I've ever been in, like I've. And the minute he was done the nurse checked me and she's like oh, you're 10. Like it's time to push. I'm like so this whole time I've been feeling it. But looking back now I'm like that wasn't that bad Right, but in my head I was like this is the worst pain I've ever felt. But I somehow forgot that. 

07:13 - Sarah Parise (Host)
But you somehow do because there's no way. After going through, all through, and then, of course, like the six or eight months after having her, like having a bone, not being able to sit and feed her like thank goodness we had a high stop, I'd have to stand and feed her. She on top of everything. She was not, she was a non sleeper, she just screamed all the time. So we had, I mean, that can prepare you for that. 

07:38 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I feel like that was the hardest thing. For me was feeling like I prepared myself. I read the books I knew about sleep, training and all that, and then they don't sleep or no, they're just normal babies. That's like they were normal babies, but it was. It hurt. I was so tired, it hurt physically. I was like I am so tired, I hurt. 

07:58 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And I got so exhausted that I ended up having vertigo because of complete exhaustion. So, on top of like not being able to sit because my tailbone was broken and things spinning out of the time, it was just like a mess when I went into a dark place. It's not surprising that I went into a very dark place. I consider myself a pretty strong woman and there's just only so much that you can be thrown at. 

08:25 - Katie Fenske (Host)
That's how I have like I've always like I did myself on handling stress really well, and I think that's why it was so hard for me initially to say I need help. I can't do this Like I don't know what I'm doing, because you know you're an woman, it's like you're supposed to know what to do, right? You have that baby book while you're pregnant. 

08:43 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I knew all the things about the baby and no idea what the hell was happening to me, but I knew all about the baby and how to swaddle and how, like you said, how to sleep, train. Nothing worked and it was just nothing worked. 

08:53 - Katie Fenske (Host)
No, no. 

08:54 - Sarah Parise (Host)
She's a good sleeper now. Now she's the best, but she didn't sleep for a good year and a half Okay. 

09:02 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Which I think is more normal than what people say, because I don't think any of mine really slept well, like you know, the full going through the night until they were like three, because it was like, oh, it's five, 30 and they're up. But yeah, they slept through the night. 

09:15 - Sarah Parise (Host)
But yeah, but now she's. Now she sleeps 12 hours, now that's my middle. 

09:21 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I was always so worried because I would like hold him while he's napping, cause I'm like I just need to sleep, like he was my like terrible napper. And so I was like hold him and like have my pacifier ready to go, like well, see you sleep. He now will sleep anywhere. We'll hit the pillow, fall asleep. So, like any moms out there that their kids are, their babies are not good sleepers. They will be when they're a little bit older. They'll probably be your best, sorry. 

09:45 - Sarah Parise (Host)
But, man, if you can hire help and get a sleep consultant, it's the one thing that I wish I did. I wish that we had money to do at that time. I wish I even like got all the free resources of sleep like the sleep consultants that are not I did that with my third Cause. 

09:58 - Katie Fenske (Host)
My second was so bad and I was so exhausted I was like I think I just need to know something new, to try like something different. Have you heard of taking care of babies? 

10:08 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I have not. 

10:09 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Okay, she, I found her on social media and you're right. I started with just like her free videos, like oh that's a great tip, this is a great tip, and then I finally bought her course and. I think it was. It was for ages zero to 12 weeks is what like the age range was for? I think it was $99, the best money I ever spent, because it did not only everything yeah. 

10:31
And not only gave me new things to try that I hadn't tried before, but it gave me the like, confidence and peace of mind that it's like you're doing okay, like you can do it. Cause I was so, I felt so guilty for like holding my middle to nap Cause they always say don't hold your baby or spoiling them and she was like it's okay to hold your baby. Like you need rest, also Try and get one nap in the crib a day and I was like, okay, I can do that. I just felt so much more relaxed with my third and he was so much easier. But I think it's cause I was like oh, I have the tools, like I can do this and that's hey, there's so much free stuff, but when you do invest in it, you follow through. 

11:12 - Sarah Parise (Host)
You did it, you follow. It was $99. It's not like if you didn't do it I'm sure it wasn't going to make or break you Right, but all through, because you had kind of that investment in it. Yeah. 

11:23 - Katie Fenske (Host)
And I definitely. I think I listened to her course mostly in the pickup line picking up my oldest from kindergarten, but it was like I didn't know. My husband listened to it but I kept giving him like, hey, we should try this when the baby comes. He's like, okay, all right, so it totally worth it yeah. 

11:39 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Okay. 

11:39 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So first six months disaster, disaster. 

11:43 - Sarah Parise (Host)
We'll just talk it up. Just that was just a rough one for sure. It was kind of rock bottom at that six month mark. It was just definitely dealing with, you know hindsight, some definite postpartum issues In the moment? 

11:58 - Katie Fenske (Host)
did you recognize that? Or were you just like this is just how it is, like it is exhausting. I am going to feel down because, like I definitely had those baby blues where I was just like I don't know why, but I'm like really sad and I don't know how to snap out of it. But I didn't know until I got out of it, like oh, that wasn't how I normally feel. 

12:20 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Mine, I think, presented itself differently. So, like, when I mentioned it to my doctor, of being like I was angry, like I was just kind of enraged of, like no one told me that this is what this is going to be like and did my life go like I had 36 great years of taking care of myself and doing what I want to do. Oh my God, yes, I was taken away and I was mad, like I was really angry. And he's like are you waking up? Are you weeping, are you crying? And I'm like I've been crying since the baby was born Like I was just, I was really frustrated and really angry and I had a temper and I'd never really had a temper like this before, and the person at the front of it was my husband, unfortunately. 

12:58 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Yeah, oh, I'm so glad you shared that, because that's not, yeah, that's not like it's not the normally presented list thing. 

13:06
But I felt the same way because, I mean, I had my first at 33. So, like my husband, I had lots of time to just be the two of us and I think that was part of it was like I got mad that I didn't see that we could have that back again. I remember one day like being so upset because he used to always get off work. We were in LA also at the time. He would get off work in Santa Monica and drive to pick me up and we go get dinner, like just go to Chipotle or something at like you know 830 at night. But I remember him calling me on the way home saying, hey, I'll just, instead of picking you up, I'll just pick up dinner. And I just started crying because I was like, no, like our thing is we would always go together, but now I'm stuck at home with this baby and I can't we can't put him in the car seat and like get him there. And I was like, okay, but I was like mourning that old life, like it's not here anymore. 

13:57 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And it took me a long time to even know, to learn that phrase of like mourning my old life, and that's exactly what it was. So I just just struggled, like I think, with so many people, just struggle. You're like this is just what it is. But finally, the six month mark, I was I follow, you know, santa Monica. So I found myself like on the fence in Santa Monica, like in Palisade Park, being like I'm having dark thoughts here. This is like this could go one very bad direction. And then I sat down on a bench and I just I bald, because I was like what if my mom? Like what if my mom decided that this was too hard when I was little, right, I decided to end it all. And then I just like I have to do something. There has to be a better way to do this. So I signed up for yoga class because it's something I love. I hadn't done anything because obviously, with a broken tailbone you can't really do anything. 

14:46 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I couldn't do anything, are you? 

14:47 - Sarah Parise (Host)
even able to walk. I could walk. It was the only actually it was the only comfortable thing I could do was I? So I walked. I couldn't sit. I was sitting was. Sitting was brutal, so I would stand to feed her. I'd put her in the strong. We would just walk slowly. I couldn't really do much, but standing was the one thing that I wasn't in pain with. I went to yoga the next morning. I rolled out my mat, I laid down and I literally just like cried into my arm, like I kept my sweatshirt on and I just was on my side. I cried the whole class. 

15:17 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Yeah. 

15:18 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I was. Here's my six months of not crying on my yoga right now, and I watched how 20 year olds are like these perfectly beautiful bodies. 

15:27
Right, santa Monica? Yeah, you're in it, and the mats are like two inches apart, so all of us are crammed into this tiny room and I was just like then again, I was mad at myself for like spending money to do this yoga class, but I'm just lay here and cry Like we all of a sudden had become a single income family. And now I'm like trying any yoga class, like I'm like what is wrong with you? 

15:49 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So, mom, guilt is torture. 

15:51 - Sarah Parise (Host)
It's so real, it is just like an. Until you're in it you have no idea like what it feels like this beautiful teacher like wraps up class probably, like who is this crazy lady who looks homeless on our yoga mat over here, thumbs up to me as I'm rolling up my mat, like trying not to show my face to anyone, and she put her hand on my shoulder and she's just like I don't know what's going on. But you know what? You showed up, just keep showing up. And the whole walk home that day I was like you have to show up, you have to show up. And I knew I needed to show up for my daughter, I needed to show up for my marriage, but really, most importantly, I needed to start showing up for myself. 

16:30 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Yeah, I cannot keep going day to day I could not. 

16:34 - Sarah Parise (Host)
There's no, no one is benefiting from this being in this state. And then, and then I'm like, oh yeah, then the whole thing changed. No, not even you know it was baby steps. 

16:43 - Katie Fenske (Host)
It's all fixed, taking it across everyone. 

16:46 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, it was baby steps of that, like getting up in the morning and having a cup of tea outside and most of the times with my daughter. Like a lot of times I wasn't like didn't have the luxury to like be by myself and I have attached me, but like finding little things that brought me joy of self care. And then I did. I continued my yoga practice, so two days a week I would go to yoga and I started being able to move my body in a way again, and then I was doing physical therapy for my massive amount of pelvic floor damage that I had. Oh yeah. 

17:16
But so good for you that you did that, because I know it was a thing until I went to someone at yoga and she was telling me that she's like I have the best pelvic floor therapist. She's like she doesn't take insurance. And of course in my head I'm like of course she doesn't. I mean it's like the best couple thousand dollars I ever spent in my entire life to go and fix everything internally because I didn't realize how much it was affecting me emotionally. Yeah, at that point, like I didn't think I would ever have sex again Like I was. Like this is I mean, everything was painful. 

17:50 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Oh my gosh, yeah. Why did we not know about this? 

17:53 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And it's like working with, working with her for six weeks, like completely changed everything. And she said so what's next for you? And I said well, you know, I've been like on the search for being like. I want someone, like I wish I had someone in those first six months to like tell me what to do with my body, tell me what to feed my body, because I was attempting to breastfeed, I was supposed to, and nothing was right, and then that fails and you feel like what's wrong with me? 

18:21 - Katie Fenske (Host)
And then, oh, your baby's not gaining weight. 

18:24 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yes, but I don't want to see it again. 

18:26 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Oh, okay, thank you I got down to the first percentile and I was still like I've got to breastfeed. I've got to breastfeed him. Like it was. It was torture, yeah. 

18:36 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Just brutal and I just want something to just tell me, like today, do this today. And she goes and you haven't found it, fully knowing where this was going. And I was like, no, and I haven't found this. And she's like, so now what? And I was like I'm going to make it. I looked at the face and was like I'm going to create it because I don't want anyone to go through what I went through and the stumble, stumbling blocks that I had to trip and fall my face over. Just feel like like 1%, like myself again. So that's when I developed my first course. It was six weeks and it was just like what did I call it? Mornings for mom? Because I found out if I got up earlier, then my daughter got up, even if by 15 minutes, and I did something that I loved for 15 minutes. My mindset completely shifted. So I developed this whole thing that you could do. Everything was in 15 minutes, so it was like a 10 minute workout and a five minute meditation. I love that. 

19:29
I love that five minute journal, like it was all just 15 minutes and it was called mornings for moms and it was awesome. So I took like a bunch of people that I met at the hospital through these new, new mom baby groups through the six week program and just started to morph it and change it and they're like it needs to be longer, like I wanted to be more of a people wanted it to be more of like a weight loss thing and for me I that was never the intention. So one of the women that was one of the first ones to go through my new 12 week program said she goes. You know, I went in wanting to lose the baby weight but now this is just like a pleasant side effect. So nice Because. 

20:06 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I was like I just started implementing a morning routine like literally this year I used to always like get up and work out, but it was like just work out and that's it. But now I'm starting to like do a little meditation, do a little journaling and, like this morning it was I did a 20 minute yoga video and normally my workouts would have been like sweating hardcore, but I was like I just need something to move my body. 

20:32
Have a little meantime and then I put a little massager on and we have a little massager and I read my book and that was, and then my son got up, you know, in the middle of it, but it was like I had time to myself and I have totally noticed, when I do the morning routine I'm in a good mood. 

20:48
When I sleep till my alarm goes off and I have to wake the kids up. I'm like cranky and you would think it'd be the opposite, like, oh, you got more sleep. But just the fact that I had some me time where no one else is awake has been a game changer. 

21:02 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And see, it hasn't even been that long. 

21:03 - Katie Fenske (Host)
You've already noticed that it's just like a couple, because I started it like November of 2020. So it's yeah, do you still offer that course? 

21:12 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I don't. It's kind of built into the 12 week program. Okay Now, because we the first part we talk about is this morning ritual of like okay got it, I included, I took like the best of the best of the six week programs and then just put the expanded it to the 12. It is like a 12 week program. You just see way more results and you get in these routines that can become routines that stick for a lifetime. 

21:36 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I did like a 21 day little thing right at the start of Christmas and it ended at 21 days and I'm like I want more Because now it's done and I'm kind of like, oh well, what should I do this morning, you know? So I like that it's longer and like you for like figuring that out while you were in it. 

21:55 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I think it, though, like it helped me recover and it helped me be so mindful of, like when I was doing some of the recordings. I listened back to it and I was like man I. It brings me back, like it makes me feel how I was feeling during those, you know, those first couple of months when I started to join with the idea I'm like can I help people, even though I'm not in the greatest space now, but I know that this does help, this does work. And it's not just the weight, like I think everyone goes like I just want to get, I just want to lose the weight. Just great. There's a part of you that will feel better if you lose the weight. But what about the mental and emotional side of like completely losing yourself as an individual when you become a mom, which I think happens immediately? 

22:35 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Right, I that's been interesting. When you said you heard yourself. I hear songs to this day that I remember I had a playlist when my oldest was born and I would just like play the music while we're in his nursery you know, like trying to play with a baby, like oh wait, but I would play this playlist. When I hear songs from that playlist Now I'm like it like hurts my heart, like I just remember how, how hard it was and how I was feeling at the time. And, yeah, it brings me back. 

23:04 - Sarah Parise (Host)
It's amazing that music can bring you right back like that. 

23:07 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Yeah, yes. What was it like having your second? Did you have a similar experience, or Nothing was similar. You already, for one, had the tools that you knew. If I do feel this way, this is how I'm gonna care for myself, so that's a bonus, the biggest thing I did. 

23:26 - Sarah Parise (Host)
so I found out I was pregnant with her. We were living in California when I was right through my first trimester. We moved to Baltimore. 

23:33 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Oh, okay, a big move yeah. 

23:34 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I was doing. I was going to Johns Hopkins for all my like prenatal stuff and there was a study that I randomly saw like on a hallway wall about. It was post-partum depression but kind of like leading into it, like while you were still pregnant, learning about it, learning to what science to look for and everything like that, and it was her first time moms. But I sent an email anyways and it was just like I really struggled with my first undiagnosed I don't. You know. 

23:59
I still don't know if I did or not, but everything I know now I'm pretty confident that's what I was dealing with. I said I'd love to get in the study, just so I have like a touch point of if I start feeling like this, I can come back, like I can come out of it, and then I have those supports set up. They let me join the study. It was the best thing I could have done because it was weekly check-ins before giving birth and then weekly check-ins after giving birth and it was with a like physician or a counselor, with a physician and a counselor. 

24:28
So they did Amazing and they did. They were doing blood work and saliva tests and they were doing hormone testing to see like if there's any correlation to this, and like your rebalance of everything, and it was fascinating. 

24:40 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Cause I did say like the science of it would be so interesting, like what are the? Hormones doing at this time? Like what factors are contributing team to how I'm feeling? 

24:50 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And it was very different because she did came. She came fast and furious. I was like I'm not going to the hospital, I'm laboring more at home because I didn't want to sit in a hospital room for 36 hours again. I was like I just didn't want to. So I'm walking around the house in Baltimore and my husband my parents were there to take care of my older daughter, who was then two, and my husband's like I think we should just call the doctor. I'm like having sporadic contractions. I'm like I'm not going to the hospital. 

25:14 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I was like that woman. He's spending hours there he goes. 

25:17 - Sarah Parise (Host)
You know what I'm not doing. I'm not giving birth in a car, that's what I'm not doing. I'm going to the hospital. And I was like I'm not going to be here to carry me out there if you're going to give me the car. So I was like just before midnight and I'm like doing side lunges, I'm like on my birth ball. 

25:29
I'm like I'm going Needless to say, he's timing my contractions and they're like about three minutes apart. Oh yikes, I'm going to call the doctor just to see. I'll just see if there's space, if he can just check you out. And finally, I was like that's fine, like I'm getting tired, I'm probably going to get a bit of you from the hospital, like 20 minutes, Okay, not super far, but not right around the corner. Yeah, I'm like I'm going to be getting the car. We don't even get to the end of my street. My water breaks, oh no. And it was like it comes fast, huh, I mean, it was me trying not to have a child in the car. And I'm laughing at this point because I think I'm like delirious. 

26:08 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I have to be something that goes on in our bodies that just like shuts off certain awareness. 

26:16 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, I was like this is going to happen and of course, my mom was like, well, you always said you wanted to have a baby so fast. It came in the car, careful what you wish for, and I'm like, okay, I think I can make it. So we're like trying to breathe. I'm like don't hit any ones, don't push, don't push. We get to the end of, like, the main road that we live on. There's like a massive herd of deer crossing the road and I don't know if him and I have ever laughed so hard in our lives. We're like we lived there for like a year and a half before we had this baby. We've never seen these deer ever. 

26:48 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Oh, I wonder what deer are a sign of Like. That must be a sign Like, whatever it is like. Does your dog emulate that, or something? 

26:55 - Sarah Parise (Host)
It's true, there probably is something like that that up, but you find it's hostile. I waddle in and like kind of holding myself because I she's coming and I'm like this baby's coming. The nurse is like everyone says that darling. 

27:11 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Yo, how about you check? Don't call me darling. 

27:15 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I was like I, this baby's coming. Like right now there's two other couples sitting in the waiting room like first time parents. They're like oh, you go, you go. So I did I get in there. They gave me a gown. I like I'm just like she's coming. I sit on the bed. The doctor did not make it in the room. Like the nurse checked me and she's like okay, you can push, go ahead. Wow, oh, it was so fast. And her personality is that she's like feisty. I feel like she was born. She, like army, crawled up and started breastfeeding right away and was like oh, such a different experience. 

27:51
She was also huge. She was like almost nine pounds, so she looked like a four year old girl. I was like this is fantastic, wow, you think because she's that big and. But she came so fast. I didn't have any damage. There was no, like my doctor did tell me he's like you're probably not going to break your tailbone. This is like one of those things that is like a freak, like it's not just been the positioning of your. Well, that's like my second. 

28:18 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So my first was a C-section because he was breach and I sometimes wonder if, because they had me come in at 39 weeks, there's your scheduled C-section. I sometimes wonder if that's part of why I got a little bit of postpartum, why I was like because I, my body wasn't. I had never had a contraction, I wasn't like ready to go into labor. So I don't know if it was like something about that, like taking there's a lot of things behind that. 

28:46
I've always wondered, because my mood, my behavior, my like, personality, everything about my other two was totally different. And it's. They were my other two and I knew what to expect, but my middle was like 36 plus hours of labor, pushing, pushing, pushing, like if you don't get them out, it's going to be another C-section. I was like I am having a be back, like I'm doing it. My third was 41 weeks, had to be induced, took forever, but it was two pushes and he was out and I was like well, why did this one take me 36 hours and like hour and a half two hours of pushing? And this one was nothing, no idea. I think it's like how he was positioned and he has a huge head, so I blame him for that. Oh, interesting. 

29:31
Okay, so when you had the second, then what was like the first six months? For that like? 

29:36 - Sarah Parise (Host)
At about the three month mark I started feeling more sad than anything One. I thought it was because we knew we were done. Like I was almost nine, we had talked about a third If things had gone well. I was having like enough, enough issues down there, like you know what this could get risky for me and you have two perfectly healthy girls. Like we don't need to have a third. So I think I was three month market. I accepted that. It was like is this what we're doing? And then she was just growing too fast, like she was big anyways. So she was. I felt like she was never really that like itty bitty baby, that I was my first being. 

30:15 - Katie Fenske (Host)
And when you're in it it feels like this is never going to end. But it goes so fast, like that newborn stage is a blip. It's so fast. It really never have them that small again. 

30:25 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I know, and I just remember all those of like not sleeping, but it was so different. It was like I was downstairs in the recliner with her and I was just enjoying it, probably because, like your second and third, like you know what to expect. You know this is a phase you know, you know what you're doing, at least at this point. 

30:40 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I know, like, how the tiredness is going to feel and how to or like ask for help Like hey, I'm going to be really tired. Can you just like take the baby for an hour? You know, like it got easier to ask for help. I wouldn't say I was great at it at the second, but you just know a little bit more what to expect. 

30:57 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And then we met, started meeting people and we had friends and we would do flip flop nights and date nights and things like that and it was just. It was just a totally different experience than it was with my first one and I was getting those weekly check ins from top. 

31:10 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Great. Did they give you any like tools, any tips? If you were like, oh, I'm kind of feeling sad, like what were some of their suggestions? 

31:16 - Sarah Parise (Host)
It's actually the when I started meditating in the morning. I never had meditated before because I was still in that camp of like, yeah, I'm going to have silence, I'm going to like meditate close my mind, my brain can't shut off like I got a million things running through it. 

31:30
Like two moms really meditate Is that like a thing? And she's like actually, yeah, you can do it like a guided meditation. So that's why I started doing like guided meditations online and stuff, and it was just like three minutes. I started it in the morning and started it as part of my daily routine. And then she did say she's like you sound like she had me go through my day of like what I was doing and she's like you don't stop, like you need to still rest. You're still nursing you. Still you have a toddler. You need to sit down at some point. 

31:57 - Katie Fenske (Host)
But I'm feeling every do that with a newborn toddler. Is it possible? 

32:02 - Sarah Parise (Host)
All of it. And she said all I want you to do is I want you to carve out time where it's just reading with the, you know, with the kids. So whether sleeping ones up, whatever, but sit down, make a cup of tea, put your feet up and just rest, like your physical body Rest, your mental body will rest because you probably read that same book 65 times, so you probably don't even need to read it, you don't even need to look at it. But she made me like schedule it, like I schedule a doctor's appointment, so like every day at three o'clock when I really felt the worst and we did like story time. So it became like a routine in our house that we just kind of everything shuts down for a little bit. And that's when I sat and that's when I didn't do anything except read, right, and it's so silly, but it helped so much. 

32:44 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Not at all, I'd be so afraid I'd fall asleep. There were so many days where I'd be like reading before naptime, like, oh my God, okay, it's time for a nap now it's time for everyone to go down. But there is something about like I'm going to pour myself a cup of tea, like that's going to be my little treat, and just like I don't have to entertain, I'm just going to and reading a book, you don't have to entertain them. It's like there you go, there's your book, yeah. 

33:06 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I love that, and when they're little, it's like they can't read. So if the words are wrong or you're like making it up, like it doesn't age, you know, get through that book. I feel like at three they start noticing, they start remembering things. Yeah, little one was so. It was just honestly, it was giving someone, giving me permission to just stop and like, not do all the things. 

33:26 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Right, and then we feel like we have to be go, go, go, like I've got to entertain them. I've got to have something planned every second of the day. 

33:33 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Or like of course there's dishes to be done, of course there's laundry to be folded, but it's okay to just leave it. It's still gonna be there, it's fine. 

33:40 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Was your husband working out of the house? He was out of the house then, yeah, you're like home alone for a lot of things. 

33:46 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And then things real shifted during COVID and things got even more interesting. So it's just like everyone else. 

33:52 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Were you able to find a good community of moms in Baltimore? I did. 

33:58 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I joined this mom's club that I like literally was like on meetup, on the app and meetup, and I was like, all right, you're doing this, let's go. And I just had in California because I all my friends were not mothers, so like I was the first baby. So I was like who do I hang out with now? Like who's doing this with me? So I went to the hospital and did like a new mom, new mom, like support group. But now I'm like I have a little one, but I also have a toddler, so it's not like I'm going to go to the hospital with this terror of a toddler around. We went to the food court and as soon as I walked up I was like all these are my people. 

34:40 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I'm here for it, yes, but you do kind of have like yourself out there. 

34:45 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, you do yourself out there. 

34:47 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Because I found I think it was called mom's club in. 

34:51 - Sarah Parise (Host)
LA. It's like an international thing, yeah, but I remember this one mom. 

34:55 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I was like walking in the neighborhood she's like, oh, you have a little kid, okay. And the first time I went I was so nervous. It was like a coffee chat at someone's house and you bring your baby. It was like for everyone, certain babies age and you just like let them, you know, lay on the ground, or like crawl around and you have coffee. And I remember my husband saying later he's like I'm so proud of you for going, like I'm so impressed that you did it, because I had been in Orange County for most of my life and all my friends were down there, moving to LA and then having kids. I'm like I didn't have any friends. 

35:25
So I was like I'm proud of myself too, like this was a big step of like I need people and I think motherhood taught me like I'm such an extrovert I didn't realize that before because I was kind of on the shire side but I'm like when I'm around other moms I feel like I've got all the energy I need. But when. I'm stuck at home with the kids by myself. I'm like drained. 

35:46 - Sarah Parise (Host)
That's what I try to tell people too and that's how I encourage moms to go find that support. Because I went and it was terrifying and I was like I felt like I was very old because I moved yeah, that it was normal to have kids in your late 30s to an area that everyone was 10 years younger than you 21, 22. Wow, people are talking about like where they went to high school and I'm like, oh, my goodness, I could be in high school. That was another thing that I was just kind of it took me a while to like actually open up and share my age because it was. I was like a little embarrassed of it. I was like 10 years older than everyone. But as soon as you find the right people, it's like anything. It just like flex and if you have the same age kids and it just makes it easy and you need that support because they know you're going through it like they're living, so it's not just the fact that their kids can play with your kids for a little bit is heaven. 

36:42 - Katie Fenske (Host)
It's so nice. Absolutely. The poor is crucial, right, okay, so one of the things I wanted to ask you about was body image, because I know you said you work on body image, and how did you feel after having a baby? Because I know like I didn't recognize my body and I it's never going to be what it was before having kids. So how do you work on that as part of self care? 

37:08 - Sarah Parise (Host)
It's so hard with our, the society we live in and just the culture that we're grown like, we grew up in and that, like I remember, my my mom's never been thin like she's on the shorter side. I'm tall, I'm 510. I'm built like my dad. 

37:22 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I'm 5'9. Oh, there you go. I should see another car lady. 

37:25 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I gained weight. I gained it everywhere. So I was like a lot of my shorter friends that were like 5'2, 5'3 and if they gain the same amount of weight, it looks very different on someone. Yeah, like people looked at me and they're like, well, you didn't, you barely even gained weight. I'm like, are you sure about this? But I was just, I was just larger in general. Yeah, as a starting point. But I tell moms now it's like, yes, we want to lose the weight and yes, we want to like I just want to feel good in my body, like I'll never weigh what I weighed pre kids. Like I've accepted that this is not. I'm in my mid 40s, which is crazy, that sentence. 

38:00 - Katie Fenske (Host)
But it gets bizarre to me. I don't know so much younger than what I thought it was going to be Right. 

38:05 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And I still feel like I'm really young. And then like I see actual young people and I'm like why do you look like you're 11? I don't, I'm confused. 

38:13 - Katie Fenske (Host)
And why did I enjoy that? 

38:14 - Sarah Parise (Host)
freedom. Yeah why did I need to like be skinnier then, like you, look back. 

38:20 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Oh my gosh, why did I think I was fat when I was like perfect body back then? 

38:25 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Perfect body at all, but I think this whole idea of body image is like one to let go of the scale, as hard as it is, because I think we've made on it for like our whole lives, and instead like, pick an article of clothing that you like to feel good in. Like I have one dress that I know when I am eating well, exercising well, I know this stress I feel very confident in, and so I take that as my that's my goal dress like all the time, and it ebbs and flows because, especially in my 40s and now being pure menopause, something else look forward to is that all over the place, you know, like it's just like you do the same thing and you're like, why is? Why do I feel heavier? Why is this fitting tighter? But to be able to like, just feel good in your own body and it might not be the weight that you want to be, and that's okay. Like our body can be a healthy weight, or like what I consider my good weight. That feels good, but I can still have chocolate and wine occasionally. Like I don't want to give up everything I love. That's the other piece of like enjoying your day to day, because if you never get to have things you enjoy, then what are we doing all this for? 

39:29
Anyways, through the program, we talk a lot about just leaning off the scale. I mean I start with clients a lot of times and they're weighing themselves every day. So, like every day is like a kick to your self esteem because you're not. Your weight is not going to drop that much in one day, unless you're doing something so extreme which I wouldn't get behind anyways. So forgetting that not totally forgetting the scale, I like a once a month scale check in keeps you honest, right. So instead, having those clothes that you do feel good in, that you can feel awesome and sexy and or whatever you're going for, and doing it that way instead. But it's a lot of the mental work. It's a lot of the mental work why we feel the way we feel. What have we seen like? What was your mom like? What was the pressures that you grow up with? I mean we're about the same age. I mean it was like you were taught at a very young age it'd be skinny and like not athletic skinny, like, skinny, skinny and like I was it. 

40:27 - Katie Fenske (Host)
All those runway models were like super thin, like thickly thin, when we were going out. 

40:33 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And at least now I feel a little bit more positive about having two girls because there's not more awareness. I'm like people have different body shapes. Like I just trained a woman this morning and she's like she was comparing herself to another friend that we have in common and I'm like, but you'll never look like her because you don't have her body type. Like other woman has like zero hips. She has like she's just a very small person. You're a curvier person. You're never going to weigh what she weighs. You can't comparing apples to oranges. 

41:01 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I love seeing now when you're like looking for jeans or bathing suit, they will show models of different sizes. Yes, You're like it's really hard to order clothes from like a size zero model and you get them and you're like, well, this is not what the jeans look like. Well, this is what they look like in a different size. Yeah. 

41:17 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, but I think it's something that will kind of always battle as women of like. I don't know if I'll ever get to a point that I'm like you know what I am, what I am, I don't need to improve. 

41:27 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I would love to get to that point, but I don't know how to actually get all the way there and just be like I'm thrown on a bathing suit and walking down the beach and feeling great. People who are like that I so admire. I'm like I so admire that you don't like. Yeah, even think about it. 

41:44 - Sarah Parise (Host)
But it's probably just because they feel so comfortable in their own skin. So it's more like the mental work than it is the physical work. That it's not. Most of the time it's not the people that are flaunting it because they've worked so hard on their bodies and they're so physically fit and all of it. Usually it's not. It's the people that are mentally and emotionally stronger that have that confidence. Yeah, a lot of times that's the piece, unfortunately, that we need to work at, because that's the hard stuff. It's so hard, that's a real hard stuff. 

42:13 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So tell me a little bit about the program that your 12-week program, that you have for moms. 

42:18 - Sarah Parise (Host)
So it's 12 weeks and I say it's a complete physical, mental and emotional transformation. So we start in on. Where are we now? Where is your baseline? What are you doing? A lot of times the answer is nothing for self care. That's why I signed up for this. It's totally normal. People are reluctant to tell me they're not doing anything, and I'm like this is why you're here, so I can hold your hand over a step of the way, to make sure that you keep yourself accountable. And the whole overlying umbrella of it is to take 2% of the day and dedicate it to yourself. So it's not going to the gym for hours, it's not like a labyrinth. Meal prep it's all very doable things and it's made for moms and I used to say busy moms, but I've never met a mom that's not busy. All moms, it's just all moms in general. So it includes food prep. So I give you all your grocery lists, tell you breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day and people, these meals that your kids will eat as well. 

43:15
For the most part. Yes, Not my children, but like normal children. Ok, then not mine either, so I still attempt Like you can still attempt, you can still attempt and you can still deconstruct. So for my kids they don't eat things at touch. That's their thing now. 

43:31 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So do you have the separated plates, then yeah, like everything has Nothing can touch, nothing can be near each other, that is my husband, but I think he is very neat and tidy, so they may end up being very organized, very, yes, are you like that? Are you like that? No, not at all. I'm like a mix that mashed potatoes in with stuffing. 

43:52 - Sarah Parise (Host)
So the meals are like doesn't take long to create, it doesn't take many, it's not weird ingredients, it's not like you need to go to a different grocery store to get things or something you'll never use again. I try to repeat a lot of the stuff, ok, you? 

44:05 - Katie Fenske (Host)
use it, so it's for the week, like this is what you do. 

44:08 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, and then I give it's like two prep days. So I know a lot of people don't want to do like a full day. On Sunday when I got into prep I had a friend that was like she was the 160 container person in the refrigerator, so like he's got four kids. It was during the pandemic, so I will give her this Like this is how she's dealing with a lot of the stress and anxiety of it all Just controlling this, and she's like you have to do this. This is life changing. And she took a picture of her refrigerator and I almost like had a panic attack. I was like I am not doing that, I'm never going to do that. She has everything labeled, like every single meal. Wow, and she still does it. She's phenomenal. This is like her jam. It's gotten to be her habit. 

44:47 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Like that. 

44:47 - Sarah Parise (Host)
This is her habit and this is how her family functions and she's just. It's unbelievable. So once I accepted that I don't need to do that, I created a new version of food prep. So you like prep a little bit on Sunday, and then you like prep a little bit on Wednesday, and then you kind of fill in the blanks throughout the course of the week, so it's not like an all out prep and then you just pull and heat out things Right. 

45:08 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Most people don't have all day Sunday. Well, it sounds a lot better than my method. My method right now is I don't know what we're doing all week, and then they go to the grocery store and go what should I make for dinner this week? And just feel totally lost. And then we ended up, not eating the greatest stuff, because I don't plan ahead. 

45:25 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And it doesn't. I think people are very reluctant too, because they think it's going to take a lot of time. But I, literally, in 75 minutes on a Sunday, I plan the week and prep a lot of stuff in just 75 minutes and to me it's like a gift to myself, it's like a gift to my future self. 

45:40 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So, like on Wednesday, evening you're like oh, I just love Sunday. Me Like, this is so great. 

45:44 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, sunday Me is so fantastic, wonderful. So that's kind of the nutritional part of the program. And then of course there's the physical part and there's strength training and yoga and I lean into a lot of the strength and flexibility and just like that core stability that so much of us lose after. 

46:03 - Katie Fenske (Host)
That's what I need the most. I think Go along to get back. 

46:06 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yes, and I work with and kind of modify things with whatever you're dealing with, like the separation. If you have diastasis, recti in the middle, I give you exercises to strengthen and heal that. The same time you're getting strong and through the rest of your body. But the mental, emotional part is the best. It is like weekly lessons on how to become more resilient and how to ask for help and how to take things off your plate. And amazing to me, when women come into the program with one goal, say it's the weight, or say it's like the eating, they're like I just snack all the time and I eat off my kids' plates, like I never really eat, like I'm the only one I snack. 

46:44
Half my dinner yeah. 

46:45 - Katie Fenske (Host)
You're like this is what. 

46:46 - Sarah Parise (Host)
I'm doing, and then they come out and they're like oh my goodness, I didn't realize that I needed to not be on every single board of every single organization that my kids are involved in, because I could take that time and I could turn it into a little bit of me time and feel good about it and feel totally fine with letting someone else do something. 

47:04 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Which is so hard to let go of. But then you realize I so needed that. 

47:10 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, and you just kind of reap the benefits of it. So it's amazing to me what people go in thinking the problem is and then coming out the other end and being like, oh I really totally different than I thought it was going to be. 

47:21 - Katie Fenske (Host)
But they probably think too like oh, it's easier than I thought. 

47:25 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And again it's the permission. It's like I'm holding them accountable and I'm giving them permission to take something off your plate. If someone says you can have this candy bar, you're way more apt to have the candy bar than if no one told you to have the candy bar. 

47:37 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Then you said that I shouldn't have it. Should I have it? Yeah, so is your course recorded live. 

47:44 - Sarah Parise (Host)
It is recorded, but it's a combination of group and one on one coaching. So every Tuesday night we get together on Zoom and have a little pow wow in our pajamas and face masks oh my actual fun and just kind of talk about trials and tribulations, wins and successes and just kind of go through the 12 weeks together and then I'm just the one on one that's accessible whenever they need it. I, like one woman said she goes Sarah, never let me fall off the horse. 

48:10 - Katie Fenske (Host)
She might have dragged me behind it a couple days, but she never let me fall off, and how nice to have a little community, because sometimes it's hard to find people in person. So you're creating that little community for people that maybe can't find it and it makes a difference because everyone's going through the same thing. 

48:28 - Sarah Parise (Host)
You're in the same maybe not exactly the same stage of parenthood, but your body is the same. Your mind probably feels pretty similar and we can work through some of this stuff together. 

48:38 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Do you get a lot of baby moms or older like my kids are in school now. 

48:44 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yes, way more of my kids are in school now. 

48:46 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Interesting because I can finally devote some time to my mom. 

48:49 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Every once in a while I'll say I have a unicorn mom at that six or eight week appointment. She gets cleared and we've been chatting, she's already found me. She's like OK, as soon as I get cleared I'm doing this and we'll jump in and do this. But I'll say I think I've worked with four total women that were like that. Everyone else is like elementary school. Once my parents were in school actually, I just had two grandmas go through the program. Oh my gosh, which was amazing, they said it's going to take decades Definitely interesting. 

49:17 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I am now getting to that middle mom phase, so my youngest is four. Like you hit this new phase where you're like this feels different. I'm not that baby mom anymore, I'm not untaught their mom and I thought it would be so much easier to see friends and make friends. But sometimes it feels lonelier because it's like we don't just meet up at the park anymore and like, oh, meet a random mom and chit chat. It's kind of like oh, your kids are in school, my kids, then we have practice and you're busy. Like it sometimes feels a little bit lonelier. 

49:44 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Absolutely, and I think that's where it comes in too, when you're like well, I guess I should take care of myself because there's nothing else pulling my attention. 

49:52 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So now I will, and you start seeing like, oh, one day they are going to be gone. And that's not quite my old, this is almost 10. I'm like that's not quite as far as it used to feel when they were little Absolutely. 

50:05 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And then the two grandmothers that just came through or just became grandmas and they're really how much it takes to keep up and they're like I got to get myself in better shape so I can keep up. So it was fun to take them through the program Because the stuff is geared towards more like when your kids aren't sleeping through the night or your kids do this or whatever, and they're like it just brought me back to like you're not in that kind of stage, but we're up in the middle of the night because we have to pee five times instead. 

50:32 - Katie Fenske (Host)
So they got to get back to pee after that, because we're in perimenopause and we can't sleep right now. Yes, ok, so do you do it every 12 weeks? Or, if someone was interested in your course, where do we find it and how do you sign up? 

50:47 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Yeah, so you can find me on my website it's greatdaysbysarahcom, or on Instagram, greatdaysbysarah. And we start every Sunday. So we usually try to do it for, like there's going to be a group of women. I'll be like, ok, when are you looking to start? And they'll be like, oh, within the next month, and then we'll see who can start together. So we have like a cohort that starts A little cohort. 

51:05 - Katie Fenske (Host)
OK. 

51:06 - Sarah Parise (Host)
There's plenty of people that are like I don't want to wait, I want to start this Sunday and I'm like, great, and you come in and you join the little cohort that's going through it, because it's fun to see, like this is where I am and this is where you're going, and that makes up it. So, yeah, every single. 

51:19 - Katie Fenske (Host)
You can just meet your best friend over Zoom. 

51:22 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Amazing how many women have been connected and just because they've gone through something like this together, they have lifelong friends because of it that live way across the United States All over. 

51:34 - Katie Fenske (Host)
Well, just reading your story, I was like so many of us are going through this. We're like we enter motherhood and it's just like crazy, not what we expected. And then we can look back on the other side like, OK, we made it through. 

51:47 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Here's how we want to help other moms. Well, we're making. 

51:50 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I would say I'm making it through, I'm still at it, still going through it. New stage, phase. 

51:56 - Sarah Parise (Host)
And each phase it has its own challenges and each phase has its own rewards, and that's what I keep finding. I'm like we're in a really fun stage now, at five and seven, yes. And we're like, oh, you just wait. I'm like I am just going to wait, I am just going to enjoy this. Yes. 

52:10 - Katie Fenske (Host)
I do. I actually do love this age right now. I love it so fun. Well, thank you so much for sharing all of this. This was like you were so easy to chat with, so fun. 

52:20 - Sarah Parise (Host)
Oh, this was fantastic. I knew just reading your bio that this was going to be a fun one. 

52:24 - Katie Fenske (Host)
When you responded I was like, oh, we're totally going to hit it off. This is going to be fun. Well, I cannot thank you enough. I'm so glad you came on and I wish you the best of luck in your course. Thank you so much. 

52:38
OK, how much did you love Sarah and want to join her cohort? I just want to be a part of her group. I just love that she has this for women, that she found a way to come out of her difficult experience and make it something that other women can benefit from. So she's definitely learning how to just keep flipping. If you want to know more about her program, please make sure to take a look at the show notes so that you can also learn how to have great days. 

53:08
On that note, I want to thank you all for joining and tuning in. I would love it if you left me a review. If you're not sure how to do that, reach out to me, because when I heard people say that, I had no idea how to actually leave a review for a podcast. So reach out to me, because I would love to teach you how. Let me know what has been your favorite episode, because I'm looking to add more guests for the upcoming months and I want to know what you want to hear more about. I know sometimes my topics are all over the place, from baby registry to menopause, but you guys, we're moms and we chat about it all. So let me know. And until next week. I want to remind you that everyone burns their first pancake, so just keep flipping, and I love you all.