During today’s episode, Natalie Brenner shares the joy, sadness, and grief she has experienced during her biological, adoptive and foster care motherhood journeys. She describes how her love of all things motherhood helped her navigate through postpartum depression, the intense emotional responsibility of foster parenting and her passion to dispel common myths and assumptions about the connection between adoption and infertility.
The foundation of her book, This Undeserved Life: Uncovering the Gifts of Grief and Fullness of Life draws from her wide spectrum of the motherhood experiences and emotions.
In this extremely vulnerable conversation, Natalie shares from her heart about her homebirth-turned-emergency-cesarean, how it’s possible to experience and make space for both grief and joy, and what her crazy life is like day today. Her heart for both mothers and children will inspire you to embrace the moment you are in and give everything you have.
Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!
In This Episode:
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Fully feeling the grief after a miscarriage -
Her passionate response to the ‘you must have finally conceived because you adopted’ myth
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Meeting the birth mother of her adopted son
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The excitement she felt to experience birth
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How her body didn’t respond to epidural or spinal medication for her c-section, resulting in last-second general anesthesia
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The sadness she felt after her biological birth experience
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The painful, post Cesarean procedure, to reduce her risk of a blood clot
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Her journey of breastfeeding both her biological and adopted child simultaneously
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Their unexpected entry to the world of foster parenting
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The uncertain lives of foster children
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Having a community of foster parents in one area to keep foster siblings together
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How she makes time for self-care during this crazy season
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How to get a free one-month trial of guided meditations through Expectful
Show Notes:
Expectful — One Month Free Trial for MotherBirth Community Members
This Undeserved Life: Uncovering the Gifts of Grief and Fullness of Life, by Natalie Brenner
About Our Guest:
Natalie Brenner is the author of #1 new release, This Undeserved Life. She is also a writer, speaker, mom, and photographer.
Originally from the two-stoplight town of Harrisburg, Oregon, Brenner gave up driving tractors and moved to Corvallis where she met her now-husband. Together, they helped to plant a church, built a youth ministry out of scratch, and fundraised their entire income. After this short season, their career paths shifted entirely as did their home, and they moved to Portland, Oregon. She now writes and photographs for a living, raising two under two with the occasional foster care placement, and spurs others on to chase their dreams. Her heart beats for justice and Jesus, creating spaces for every fractured soul. Natalie is addicted to honesty and believes honesty is at the core of a full life.
Natalie’s growing blog, NatalieBrennerWrites.com, has had over ninety-thousand page views since January 2017. Her work has been featured in Adoption.com as the top writer, Pregnant Chicken, Adopting.org, Today SHOW, Parents, and more. Natalie has been a featured guest on several podcasting shows including National Public Radio’s OPB, Honestly Adoption, Blossoming Mommy and Baby, The Birth Hour, and more. She is a lover of life and breather of grace and hopes to always love bigger than before.
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