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After 40 episodes, your co-host Sam Strom is sharing her birth story.

Sam flips the roles and sharing the deeply personal story of how she became a mom—despite being sure she never would. Growing up with financial instability and watching the emotional toll motherhood took on her own mom, Sam was convinced kids weren’t for her. But life had other plans. In this conversation with Zara, she opens up about what changed, the reality of a traumatic pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), and a birth experience that ended with two (nearly three) blood tranfusions and her surgeon saying “she’d never experienced anything like it in her 35 years.”

We talk about everything—from my complicated feelings around motherhood and how a therapist’s words unexpectedly nudged her into parenthood (spoiler alert, her words were less than honest), to the brutal reality of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and a traumatic birth during the pandemic. She talks about the guilt, the pressure to “bounce back,” and how lit took months to truly bond with her son.

If you’ve ever questioned motherhood, felt unseen in your journey, or realized your experience didn’t match the picture-perfect version the world sells us—this episode is for you.

⭐️ If something here spoke to you, follow, rate, review, or share it with someone who might need to hear an honest story about motherhood. It will help both them and us get our podcast to folks who it can help.

We’re just getting started.
🔗 Resources & Mentions:
Tone It Up fitness during pregnancy
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (not an endorsement—listen for why)
Taking Cara Babies sleep program

Pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum, traumatic birth, and postpartum recovery

birth story podcast, traumatic birth story, hyperemesis gravidarum, postpartum recovery, first-time mom story, pregnancy complications, birth trauma, motherhood podcast, honest motherhood stories, C-section experience, postpartum anxiety

I didn’t want kids, unplanned motherhood journey, giving birth during the pandemic, bonding with baby, postpartum guilt, postpartum identity crisis, maternal mental health, pregnancy after 35, pandemic birth story, severe morning sickness, emergency C-section, blood transfusion birth story

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zarahanawalt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zarahanawalt/