Episode 16 of the This Is Parenting Podcast features Ali Levine. Ali is a celebrity stylist, fashion expert, TV personality- you may have caught her on Bravo’s show Stripped, and she’s a mom to a sweet little one year old girl.

Ali reached out and wanted to come on the show to chat because after having one year of motherhood under her belt she realized how little the REAL and MESSY side of motherhood is shared publicly.

She shares that she wasn’t exactly on board with the idea of having kids but embraced her pregnancy and actually loved it.

Until she went in to labor that is.

Ali shares how her birth plan pretty much imploded from the start with an incredibly long and difficult labor that ended in a c-section. Like so many moms Ali struggled with breastfeeding. She felt like she continually failed time and time again but didn't want to give up. And her perserverance paid off and mom and baby finally found their groove. 

She also talks about her postpartum depression. She felt that many things attributed to her anxiety and issues. One of those things was her admission to staying on social media too long. She fell in to that trap of comparing herself to others which led to a lot of negative thoughts about herself as a mom.

Ali also went into this phase of life with a lot of ideals that unfortunately couldn't pan out due to circumstances outside of her control. But to Ali, it felt like so many 'no's' and not enough 'yes's' were coming her way. If she couldn't even get off on the right foot, how was she supposed to figure out anything else?

It all came to a point where her friends, family and husband knew something was wrong and they urged her to seek help. She shares how having access to therapy and the right kind of support system helped her get back on track.

Lots of realness in this one so buckle up!