Kari Anderson (she/her) is located in California. She has two children, and is happily married to her husband, Sam. . Kari and I have a dynamic conversation about coming of age stories, funny toddler anecdotes, and the complexities we both experience raising biracial children in our current cultural climate. . Kari and I go way back to being next door neighbors as elementary school kids.  It was fun, and at times difficult, to address our upbringings from our new adult perspectives. . Listen in love, heart with your heart, and enjoy Kari on Coffee With Parents!

Jessica Arzate-Diaz (she/her) is located in California. She has two children, is happily married to her husband, and they're currently parenting in a multi-generational household with Grandparents. Jess is a baker and owns Flour Child Baking Company. . Jess and I have a great conversation about body image from teen years through postpartum, starting a small business during a pandemic, the reality of receiving some concerning ultrasound results while pregnant with her daughter, and how the Lucky Fin Project changed her life. . I so enjoyed hearing Jessica's story. She's as sweet and spunky as a snickerdoodle (which she bakes! check out her website above!). If you hear her say "Joaquin" in a few conflicting contexts its because it is both her husband and her son's names. I realized while editing that may not be completely clear so I'm letting you know here! . Listen in love, heart with your heart, and enjoy Jess on Coffee With Parents! You can support by following @flourchildbakingcompany on Instagram and by ordering delicious baked goods from her website!

Cynthia Epstein (she/her) is located in California. She has two children and co-parents with their Father. She works in the veterinary field and absolutely loves what she does for a living. . Cynthia and I have a great conversation about parenting through the loss of her uterus due to cancer as well as the loss of her Father, being adopted from an interracial family into an interracial family, and how Disneyland helped her parenting journey. . I was so happy to chat with Cynthia about such a huge spectrum of topics. This episode could have easily been 3 hours if we’d let ourselves keep going! . Listen in love, heart with your heart, and enjoy Cynthia on Coffee With Parents!

Zoë Etkin (she/her) is located in Tennessee. She has one child and is happily married. In addition to her private doula practice, she also runs a doula training organization called Embodied Doula Trainings, AND a birth-pro specific website development company called Birthing Your Brand. . Zoë and I have a great conversation about becoming a Mother, talking about grief in the birth space, and dabble into astrology. . I was so glad to delve deep into some philosophical conversation with a fellow birth worker and so glad to get to know Zoë better! . Listen in love, heart with your heart, and enjoy Zoë on Coffee With Parents! . https://embodieddoulatrainings.com/ https://thememphisdoula.com/ https://birthingyourbrand.com/

Hey Human Beans! As a token of gratitude, I’d like to recite these love letters to everyone who helped me put together season 1 of Coffee With Parents.  Including you, the listeners, the Human Beans who make this podcast possible. Dear Kay, Anna, Eugenia, Joy, Joseph, Birth Team, and Listeners, Thank you and I love you. Love, Torrey

Post-PAR-tum adj./n./v. The newly actualized, yet permanent expression of the mind, body, and spirit realized after natural evacuation of the uterus (miscarriage), medical/ or self-compelled evacuation of the uterus (abortion), evacuation of the uterus by birth, and/or during embodied parenthood characterized by, but not limited to, one or more of the following: Specific hormonal shifts in the brain and body Lactation Vaginal bleeding Perennial soreness Hemorrhoids Uterine cramps Stretch marks Exhaustion Tears of joy/ sadness/ anger/ frustration/ existentialism/ love/ and/or no reason what-so-ever The final piece of my personal parenting journey, Part 3: My Postpartum Story, talks about how I define “Postpartum,” the wholistic care I received in early postpartum from my Doula, Anna, and my Midwife, Tema, and addresses the need for a better culture surrounding postpartum care in the US. At the end, Anna and Joseph help me answer some of your postpartum-related questions in the “Spill the Beans” segment. Listen in love. Hear with your heart. And enjoy part 3 of my personal parenting journey, My Postpartum Story!

This special release is a heart offering for the upcoming April 2021 new moon (4/11/2021), but can be listened to during any phase of the moon at any time. It's a poem meant to be received as a meditation. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and let this ode to the moon hold you for 11 minutes and 11 seconds. 

Eugenia (she/her) is located in Pennsylvania.  She has 2 children, and is happily partnered.  She is an herbalist, and a doula at heart.  Eugenia and I have a great conversation about her early childhood curiosity about birth and sex, some of the experience of her Russian immigrant family, the challenges of her second birth, and the pressures she felt (and many of us feel) to have a romantic home birth.  Eugenia is a childhood friend of mine and I so enjoy sharing this stage of life together with her.  At the end of the episode, her daughter, Fiona hops on as a surprise guest to share her 6 year old perspective! You’ll have to turn your volume all the way up for that part because she wasn’t using a microphone, but it’s worth it! Listen in love, hear with your heart, and enjoy Eugenia on Coffee With Parents!

"Then, I felt like I needed to push.  This was it! The big moment! The second stage of labor! I was feeling all the things! Physically and emotionally.  I started pushing In several different positions, for several hours.  Spoiler alert: this ended up only being about two thirds of the way through my labor." Here is part TWO of a three part series talking about my personal parenting journey - My Birth! My birth Mother, Joy, and my Partner, Joseph - both present at my birth - join in with their perspectives to talk about my Birth Story in this episode. . We talk about two spontaneous changes in my birth place, a few c-section scares, the cervical lip in the way, 42 hours of labor, the joy of seeing our baby girl, and the first-night snuggles with our fresh babe. . Listen in love, hear with your heart, and enjoy my birth story on episode 4 of Coffee With Parents!

Anna Forsberg (she/her) is located in California.  She has 3 children, and is happily married to her husband, Casey.  She is a postpartum doula and reproductive justice advocate.  Anna and I have a great conversation about managing boundaries in a multi-generational household, being raised by a single mother, and she gives some great advice for other parents at the end of the episode.  Anna is so fun and easy to talk to, I just love our conversation.  Listen in love, hear with your heart, and enjoy Anna on Coffee With Parents! You can reach out to Anna for her professional doula services at wholeheartpostpartum.com