#15: Who Am I Without This?

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
#15: Who Am I Without This?
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Liz has known since she was a child that she would be a mother. It was the fact she based many of her life decisions around and the thing that made her “a crazy person.”

#14: “In The End, Wasn’t It Worth It?”

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
#14: "In The End, Wasn't It Worth It?"
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Nicole had a severe case of pregnancy sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum—which is definitely NOT morning sickness—that left her feeling like a shell of a person for virtually her entire pregnancy.

Mini Episode #1: Love the One You’re With

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
Mini Episode #1: Love the One You're With
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Today’s episode is an essay written and read by Lizzie Heiselt. It takes on the “all that matters is that you have a healthy baby” idea. For anyone who’s been told this, you know there’s not really a response to that. On some level, it’s true. Having a baby—let alone a healthy one—is something to […]

Bonus: A Beautiful Heart

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
Bonus: A Beautiful Heart
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In the days after Gina gave birth to her stillborn son, James, she wrote a record of the event on her blog. It was a beginning of her mourning and rebuilding process and captures both the grief she was feeling at the time and the hope that she had that her life would be made […]

#13: The Full Human Experience

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
#13: The Full Human Experience
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The full human experience includes this: pregnancy, birth, life, death. And if all goes well and normally, the pregnancy is 9 months, the birth takes a day or so, the life is decades long, and the death neither sneaks up nor hovers for too long. But the normal order is sometimes confused. The pregnancy is too short. […]

#12: “But Honestly, How Are You Feeling?”

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
#12: "But Honestly, How Are You Feeling?"
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There is an expectation with pregnancy that growing a life leads to glowing. The question, “How are you feeling?” is supposed to elicit maybe some talk about morning sickness, followed quickly by, “But we’re so excited.” The words “prenatal depression” are rarely heard even in the rare case they are acknowledged by the expectant mom.

first pregnancy

#11: On the Brink of Something Big

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
#11: On the Brink of Something Big
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We talked to some soon-to-be-moms about this, their first pregnancy, to find out how they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what their story is as they are on the brink of becoming someone new. Someone’s mom.

#10: What Does “Healthy Birth” Even Mean?

Cocoon Episodes
Cocoon Episodes
#10: What Does "Healthy Birth" Even Mean?
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Among her 5 children, Alanna Smith has had just about every type of childbirth experience you can have, and each one has left an impression and shaped her perspective. In episode 10 she shares the ups and downs of childbirth—and how, by the time she had her 4th baby, she found what she was looking for in a healthy birth.