Episode 84: Finding Joy & Laughter in Pregnancy and Motherhood

Summary: In this week's episode, Jodi chats with Jennifer Lopez who is an author who writes about motherhood. Why I Cried: Tales from Hysterical Pregnant Women is her debut book. Jodi and Jennifer discuss how Jennifer became inspired to write her most recent book, Jennifer's difficulties during her  pregnancy, and Postpartum Depression.  

About Our Guest: Jennifer Lopez is a mother of 3 as well as head of Digital Marketing Agency, Jalapeno Digital. During Jennifer’s 1st pregnancy she began documenting “all the fun pregnancy hormones” she was experiencing. This collection of Jennifer’s stories as well as other mom’s journeys through pregnancy can be found in Jennifer’s 1st book Why I Cried: Tales from Hysterical Pregnant Women

Show Notes:
5:08 What inspired Jennifers first book Why I Cried: Tales from Hysterical Pregnant Women
“I started posting these things to Facebook and my friends were just hysterical and said you need to collect all these & turn them into a book.” 

 8:06 Easing the struggles of pregnancy with a humorous outlook
“A lot of people who bought the book were not even pregnant. Mostly moms looking back…Y’know when you're just a little bit further out of that stage all of that becomes so funny...” 

10:21 The mission of Why I Cried: Tales from Hysterical Pregnant Women
“To help women see the joy in pregnancy and in motherhood, and to remind them that it's okay to take time to breathe and laugh at yourself. Also finding camaraderie in other moms and finding your mom tribe...” 

11:45 The indicators of Postpartum depression
“If you start feeling these signs longer than a week and are more intense that’s typically the sign that you could be bordering around something like Postpartum Depression...”  

16:05 Jennifer's experience with Pregnancy Rage
“At one point I ... didn’t know I was pregnant yet, and I was [on] rage. That’s when I reached out to someone as I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had so much anger and I didn’t understand why” 

22:45 Jennifer's closing thoughts 
“Do your research ahead of time, know the signs. Keep the door open, a lot of women think that’s not me. That wouldn’t happen. [But] You are not in control of these hormones ... planning for yourself is the best thing you can do because it can be a little bit hard under the weight of everything.” 

Connect with Jennifer: 
Jennifers book Why I Cried: Tales from Hysterical Pregnant Women 
Instagram
Email Jodi at: jodi@loveadventuremom.com
Rebekah Saltzman's Painless Pesach Decluttering Challenge at: bitly.com/painless2022 

Power Up for Pesach: powerupforpesach.com 
Credits: 
Host: Jodi Fried 
Guest: Jennifer Lopez 
Editor: Max Suib & Autumn Michels