Trauma Mamas

EXPLORE

Society & Culture

© 2024 PodJoint

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts211/v4/b5/9c/2a/b59c2a2e-f3c2-2fbd-d500-a5de0674b06e/mza_6163634543647866904.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

Trauma Mamas

Alison Winter

21 episodes

3 months ago

Send us a text This week, I’m joined by Erin. She’s an involved and empathetic NICU mom who just gets it. We talk candidly about what it was like to live in the ICU, the weight of advocating for your child, the emotional whiplash of NICU life, and how those challenges don’t magically end after discharge. Erin shares what it’s been like raising her funny, sweet son, born at just 24 weeks, and what life looks like now as a preteen. We talk about the ongoing obstacles he’s overcome, including BP...

Show more...

All content for Trauma Mamas is the property of Alison Winter and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Send us a text This week, I’m joined by Erin. She’s an involved and empathetic NICU mom who just gets it. We talk candidly about what it was like to live in the ICU, the weight of advocating for your child, the emotional whiplash of NICU life, and how those challenges don’t magically end after discharge. Erin shares what it’s been like raising her funny, sweet son, born at just 24 weeks, and what life looks like now as a preteen. We talk about the ongoing obstacles he’s overcome, including BP...

Show more...

Episodes (20/21)

Trauma Mamas

#21: “Once a Trauma Mama, Always a Trauma Mama"- with Erin from Capturing Courage Photography

Send us a text This week, I’m joined by Erin. She’s an involved and empathetic NICU mom who just gets it. We talk candidly about what it was like to live in the ICU, the weight of advocating for your child, the emotional whiplash of NICU life, and how those challenges don’t magically end after discharge. Erin shares what it’s been like raising her funny, sweet son, born at just 24 weeks, and what life looks like now as a preteen. We talk about the ongoing obstacles he’s overcome, including BP...

3 months ago

1 hour 17 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#20: You Weren't Expecting to Consult with The BPD Collaborative: with Dr. Audrey Miller

Send us a text This episode is an essential listen to learn more about bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)—whether you’re a NICU parent, provider, therapist, nurse, respiratory therapist, or someone supporting a medically complex baby. I’m joined by Dr. Audrey Miller, neonatologist, educator, and chair of the advocacy committee at the BPD Collaborative, for a conversation that’s both informative and honest. Dr. Audrey is a gifted and compassionate teacher, deeply committed to helping families ...

4 months ago

1 hour 11 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#19: You Weren't Expecting Your Baby to Have Diastrophic Dysplasia: with Sydney

Send us a text When Sydney’s son Walker was born with diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of skeletal dysplasia, she lost hope for what the future might hold. In this episode, Sydney shares the challenges of receiving a diagnosis that few people — even medical professionals — truly understand, and how devastating it can feel when answers are nearly impossible to find. We talk about the role of timing, luck, and connection — how one chance encounter, whether through social media or in daily lif...

4 months ago

1 hour 11 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#18: You Weren't Expecting to Need Help Advocating: with Medical Coach and NP Molly Trexler

Send us a text When your child is critically ill, one of the hardest things to accept is how little control you have. Many people go their whole lives without facing that kind of powerlessness. For medical parents, it’s reality. So how do you begin to accept that and still move forward? In this episode, I talk with Molly Trexler—a pediatric nurse practitioner, medical mom, and founder of Heartstrings, a coaching practice for parents navigating complex medical journeys. Molly helps families fi...

5 months ago

1 hour 15 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#17: You Weren’t Expecting to Have an IUGR Pregnancy or Know About Airways: with Paige

Send us a text “You don’t even understand the gravity of what it means to have a premature baby. Then you have to explain to people that it’s not just a super small baby—it means they’re born with underdeveloped lungs, brain, everything.” In this episode, Paige tells us what it was like having two high-risk pregnancies, and how we’ve adjusted to life as stay-at-home medical moms. We both had IUGR pregnancies, and we explain the challenges that come with that diagnosis—comparing our experienc...

5 months ago

1 hour 14 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#16: You Weren't Expecting to Carry Trauma or PTSD After the NICU: with Kim and Nurse Sammie

Send us a text I could not have picked two better people to help me with this conversation—Kim, a mental health professional, and Sammie, a medical professional who walks beside families in their hardest moments. Kim has a master’s in counseling and a bachelor’s in psychology. She worked in the school system for 10 years, including in the Sandy Hook district, where she developed a deep understanding of PTSD and secondary trauma. She also brings powerful lived experience—spending a year in the...

5 months ago

1 hour 17 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#15: You Weren’t Expecting to Have So Much Love4Landry: with Kami

Send us a text This week, Kami shares her journey as a medical mom to her son Landry, a 28-week micropreemie born after a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. Landry has severe BPD and is trach, vent, and G-tube dependent. But none of that defines who he is—he’s been a fighter since day one, and his mom and dad have been right beside him every step of the way. Kami opens up about the chaos of those early NICU days, including transferring hospitals when Landry was just 3 days old, the devast...

6 months ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#14: You Weren't Expecting Your Baby to Develop Severe BPD (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia): With Tori

Send us a text This episode is all about bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) — not from a medical textbook, but from two moms who’ve been living it for over two years. Tori and I share how we’ve come to understand our sons’ diagnoses of severe BPD: what it is, how it shows up, what treatments our kids have needed, and what we’ve learned from being in the trenches of the ICU for almost 2 years. We explain things in the way they were explained to us, in layman’s terms. From symptoms and type...

6 months ago

59 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#13: You Weren't Expecting to Live in a Ronald Mcdonald House-With Kate and Abby from RMHC of Central Ohio

Send us a text When your child is hospitalized—especially far from home—everything changes. Whether your stay is just a few days or nearly 700, you need more than a bed. You need care, consistency, and people who understand what you’re going through. That’s exactly what Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio provides. In this episode, I sit down with Kate, Chief Program Officer, and Abby, House Manager, at the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world, located right across the stree...

6 months ago

51 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#12: You Weren't Expecting Your Trach Baby to Become TikTok Famous

Send us a text This week, I’m joined by Nicole from The Daily Vent Podcast! We talk hurricane prep, hospital life, in-home nursing, and why we started sharing our stories online. This is a laid back conversation about so many things. Our sons have similar diagnoses—BPD and Tracheomalacia—so we discuss what life looks like post-discharge and the ups and downs of parenting trach babies. Nicole, a “trach-fluencer,” shares how social media became her lifeline—and now, she’s doing the same f...

7 months ago

1 hour 22 minutes

Trauma Mamas

Thank You to Our Listeners and Co-Hosts! Brand New Episode April 15th

Send us a text In this special episode, we’re wrapping up the first 10 episodes of Trauma Mamas: Stories from the ICU and Having Medically Complex Kids. I’ll be taking a short break from posting new episodes until April 15, during this time I’ll be working behind the scenes on new content and spending time with my family. Here’s a HUGE thank you to all of our amazing co-hosts and listeners! I’ll share some updates on the first 9 co-hosts, highlight some positive feedback we’ve received, and g...

7 months ago

21 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#10: You Weren't Expecting to Learn so Much From Nick and Leslie: You Are Not Defined by Cerebral Palsy or Other Diagnoses

Send us a text Wow!! Episode 10! I had just met Leslie for the first time doing this episode. She is just so easy to talk to and get to know. After discovering our podcast through Tori, Leslie reached out, excited about the community we’re building—a community she wished was there during her own uncertain and difficult times with her son, Nick, back in 1995. Leslie tells what it was like to have nick unexpectedly, miles away from her home, at 28 weeks. Unknowingly, she contracted listeriosis ...

8 months ago

1 hour 16 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#9: You Weren't Expecting Your Baby to Need a Kidney Transplant: with Ariana

Send us a text When Ariana learned at 20 weeks pregnant that her son Hudson had severe kidney issues, her world changed. With one kidney non-functional and the other working at only 10%, Ariana faced a challenging journey of managing Hudson’s care — including peritoneal dialysis at home — before her husband Grant became Hudson’s kidney donor. In this episode, Ariana shares her experience navigating hospital frustrations, unexpected emergencies, and the emotions of going through a transpl...

8 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#8: You Weren't Expecting 10/10 to Mean So Much: with Kim

Send us a text Kim shares her experience of having periviable preemie twins at just 22 weeks. She tells the story of her daughters: Amelia, who was stillborn, and Quinn, who was a fighter from the start, letting out a scream at birth, something almost unheard of at that gestational age. In this episode, we discuss the realities of NICU life, bagging, codes, ventilation and things that might sound shocking if you’ve never lived it. But for us, this was life. Talking about it is the easy part. ...

8 months ago

54 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#7: You Weren't Expecting to Know That It’s Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Month: with Kaylee

Send us a text When you’re expecting a baby, you don't think you’ll become an expert in congenital heart defects (CHDs). But for Kaylee Berner, that became her reality when her son, Bennett, was born with Tricuspid Atresia, Transposed Great Arteries, and Pulmonary Vein Stenosis. His heart may be one of a kind, and in this episode, Kaylee breaks down his complex condition in a way that makes sense. Bennett spent his entire first year in the NICU, undergoing multiple surgeries, including ...

8 months ago

1 hour 3 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#6: You Werent Expecting to Co-Parent with an ICU Nurse: with Sammie

Send us a text I’m joined by ICU nurse Sammie, who made a lasting impact while caring for my son. We discuss how parents and medical teams can work together in the high-stress ICU environment, focusing on communication, mutual trust, and making tough decisions. Sammie shares advice for parents on navigating hard truths, accepting the emotional toll, and finding clarity while addressing the communication barriers that can arise between parents and staff. This episode highlights the importance ...

8 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#5: You Weren't Expecting to Have a Micropreemie in the NICU: with Tori

Send us a text Episode Title: You Weren’t Expecting to Have a Micropreemie in the NICU In this episode, Tori and I share our personal stories of navigating the NICU with a micropreemie—complete with some comedic relief! We talk about how to face the NICU with grace (even though we didn’t always get it right 😆), common preemie complications like ROP, NEC, and brain bleeds, and the emotional rollercoaster of intubation and reintubation. Tori shares what those early days were like and gives advi...

9 months ago

1 hour 8 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#4: 421 Days of Smiley Sienna: with Andrea

Send us a text Andrea shares her traumatic pregnancy complications and the early birth of her daughter, Sienna, at just 24 weeks. Sienna, battled extremely severe BPD (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia) due to her underdeveloped lungs from being born prematurely. Sienna’s perseverance and strength carried her through challenge after challenge, all while keeping a smile on her face. She truly was a medical mystery and miracle. Andrea, a college instructor, is a great resource to the podca...

9 months ago

1 hour 9 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#3: You Weren't Expecting to Survive HELLP Syndrome or Have a 26-Weeker: With Tori

Send us a text In this episode, I’m joined by my friend Tori, whose son Elias spent 21 months in the hospital after being born at 25 weeks and 6 days, battling severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), a heptoblastoma, and being vent- and trach-dependent. But Tori’s journey didn’t start in the NICU—it began with a rare and life-threatening complication called HELLP syndrome, which led to Elias’s early birth at just 26 weeks. Tori shares the traumatic experience of surviving HELLP syndrome whi...

9 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

Trauma Mamas

#2: You Weren't Expecting to Have a 23-Weeker: Kelsey's 143 Days in the NICU

Send us a text In this episode of Trauma Mamas, we meet Kelsey, a first-time mom who never expected her journey into motherhood to look like this. At just 23 weeks and 1 day, Kelsey gave birth to her daughter Baylor, weighing only 1 pound, 2 ounces. What followed was 143 days of uncertainty, fear, and the relentless fight to bring her tiny girl home from the NICU. In this episode, Kelsey opens up about the emotions of waking up not knowing if she had a baby, the surreal experience of seeing ...

9 months ago

1 hour 3 minutes