Ask Me How I'm Really Doing: A Mom's Podcast
by Hadiya Coppedge
🌸 Welcome to Ask Me How I'm Really Doing: A Mom's Podcast, friend! I'm Hadiya—a new mom, speech-language pathologist, and first-gen entrepreneur. This cozy space offers:🌱 Gentle encouragement for moms navigating motherhood & ambition🌱 Authentic reflections on identity, self-worth & dreams🌱 Softness & ease over hustle & burnoutHere, you're never alone—let's navigate motherhood together, side-by-side.Subscribe to feel validated, inspired & softly supported—because freedom starts with a nap & a dream. ☕️✨Join our cozy community on YouTube: @HadiyaCoppedge
Episodes
-
Why Toddler Meltdowns Are Part of Learning to Speak
You know that feeling when your toddler’s voice suddenly fills every corner of the house? One moment they’re saying “no,” and the next they’re telling you full stories about the park, the snack, and the dog they saw. It’s equal parts magic and meltdown. You might wonder if the chaos means...
-
Is Your Toddler Quiet, or Just Finding Their Own Words?
Some days it feels like your toddler is learning a new word every five minutes, and other days it’s like the words you heard yesterday just vanish. One minute you’re smiling because they said “ball,” and the next you’re wondering why they’re only pointing and grunting. It can feel confusing, even…
more -
Should Your 12-Month-Old Be Talking More by Now?
Picture this: you’re watching your baby wobble around the living room, maybe tossing food on the floor, maybe clutching a toy in one hand while pointing at something with the other. She’s not quite a baby anymore, but not yet a toddler either. And in that in-between stage, the questions creep in....
-
Are Your Baby’s First Words Coming Too Slowly?
You know those moments when your baby squeals or waves and you’re left wondering… was that a word? Or just a sound? Maybe you’re rocking in the nursery, scrolling during nap time, or trying to fold laundry with one hand while your baby babbles in the background. If you’ve ever questioned what...
-
When Baby Sounds Are More Than Just Noise
Some of the sweetest sounds you hear in the early months are those little coos, squeals, and babbles that sneak in between naps, feedings, and diaper changes. But in the middle of it all, you might catch yourself wondering, is this really the start of words, or just baby noise? If you’ve ever...
-
Worried Your Baby Isn’t Talking Yet? Here’s What Matters
You know those middle-of-the-night feedings where the house is dark and quiet, and you find yourself wondering if you’re doing any of this right? Or those long afternoons when the nap just won’t happen, and you’re left scrolling your phone while rocking your baby, second-guessing if you’re...
-
Is Your Baby Talking Late or Right on Time?
Somewhere between scrubbing dishes and rocking your baby at 2 a.m., the questions start to creep in. Is this normal? Should she be saying more? Why does it feel like everyone else’s baby is further ahead? And suddenly, milestones become another thing on your already heavy mental load. If you’ve...
-
Do You Feel Guilty Spending on Yourself?
You know that moment when you’re lying awake, scrolling through your bank app, trying to make the numbers work in your head? Or when you’re at the kitchen table with bills, daycare costs, and the never-ending list of “kid things” that always seem to pop up? And on top of all of it, there’s that...
-
What Motherhood Takes From You (And What It Gives Back)
You know how you reheat your coffee three times before you finally finish it? Or how you look in the mirror some mornings and barely recognize the woman staring back at you? Motherhood has a way of reshaping everything. Your body, your sleep, your patience, even your closest relationships. And…
more -
Why Moms Don’t Need to Be Perfect to Be Enough
Picture this: you’re standing in your kitchen at 2 AM, baby finally asleep in your arms, and you’re wondering how in the world you’re supposed to know what to do next. Nobody gave you a manual. Nobody told you the exact way to soothe your baby or when you’ll sleep again. If you’ve ever felt like...
-
3 Truths Every Mom Needs About Reclaiming Passion
Some mornings your patience runs out before the coffee even finishes brewing. You’re juggling school drop-offs, dishes in the sink, and the endless to-do list that no one else sees. You feel yourself snapping, hiding in the bathroom for just a few minutes of quiet, wondering where your joy went.…
more -
Why Moms Put Themselves Last (and How to Flip It Just Once)
You know that feeling when you skip brushing your teeth or delay your shower because your baby is crying and you put her first? That’s mom guilt. It sneaks into the tiniest moments, from dishes piling up to skipping your own needs just to keep the peace. You love your child deeply, but sometimes...
-
Are You Tired of Living in Yoga Pants Too?
You know that moment when you’re standing in front of a closet that’s overflowing, but you still feel like you have nothing to wear? Maybe you’ve been living in leggings for months, grabbing whatever is clean and praying no one notices the baby food stains. Somewhere along the way, you stopped...
-
When Breastfeeding Doesn’t Work the Way Moms Are Told It Should
I thought breastfeeding would be natural, instinctual, automatic. Instead, it felt like my body betrayed me. At 23, I had a breast reduction and I had no idea what that choice would mean when I held my baby years later. In the hospital, I watched her cry while my body couldn’t give her enough…
more -
Why Moms Never Really Sleep (Even When the Baby Does) Part 2
I’ll be honest, I didn’t even want to talk about this one. I’ve been co-sleeping with my daughter since she was three days old, so broken sleep has been my normal. But last night was one of the hardest nights yet. I’m jealous of moms whose babies sleep, resentful of every headline that says…
more -
Why Moms Never Really Sleep (Even When the Baby Does) Part 1
Last night I had the worst sleep I’ve had since becoming a mom. I’ve been co-sleeping with my daughter since she was three days old, so broken sleep has been my normal. I thought I was used to it, but this night was something else. From middle-of-the-night slaps to phantom cries, I hit my edge.…
more -
Have You Ever Felt Jealous of Women Without Kids?
I’m going to say the quiet thing out loud. Sometimes I get jealous of women who aren’t moms. Not because I don’t love being a mom, but because I miss the ease they seem to move through their day with. The extra time to get dressed slowly, to look put together, to not have every minute accounted...
-
The Mental Load Moms Aren’t Talking About
Lately, my brain has been running calculations from the moment I wake up. How many ounces of milk are left in the freezer? How many pants still fit her? How long until the next nap? I didn’t realize motherhood would turn me into a full-time mathematician, constantly weighing every decision like...
-
Why Mom Time Still Matters
I was so ready to spill the tea with my friend. Instead, I was wiping food off my shirt, keeping my daughter from tumbling over, and trying to have a halfway decent conversation between bites. I love being a mom, but that day I realized just how much I miss connecting without constant...
-
Why Moms Skip the Big First Birthday Party (and Don’t Regret It)
I didn’t throw my daughter a first birthday party. Who even am I? What kind of mom skips the milestone moment? I second guessed myself when the invites from other one-year-old parties rolled in. I thought about the Pinterest boards, the perfect cake, and the decorations, and then I thought about...
-
When Motherhood Makes You Want to Run Away
This morning started with a baby glued to my hip, a rumbling stomach, and a pan of butter burning on the stove. I hadn’t brushed my teeth, my hair had given up on me, and my clothes were whatever I grabbed off the floor. In the middle of it all, I opened my old work inbox just to escape for a...
-
Motherhood Burnout: Bra-less and Still on Duty
This morning, I almost lost it. I was standing in the kitchen, unshowered, still in yesterday’s clothes, trying to make breakfast with a crying toddler strapped to my body and I nearly dropped a burp cloth. That tiny moment cracked something open in me. I felt the grief, the rage, the pressure of...
-
Are You Burnt Out but Still Showing Up?
This week, I recorded a podcast episode, and it felt like me again. After six weeks offline, after travel, burnout, nap refusals, and spilled matcha, I sat down and created something. And it didn’t drain me. It brought me back to myself. If you’ve ever celebrated something so small it almost…
more -
Do Moms Ever Really Spoil Their Kids?
Last week I was curled up on the couch, Estelle asleep on my chest, her little head tucked right under my chin. And as the house quieted, those familiar voices crept in again..."she’s too attached, you’re spoiling her, she needs to learn to sleep alone." But something in my body softened as I…
more -
When the Village Doesn’t Come, What Do You Do?
I almost didn’t go. I was newly pregnant, still adjusting to my new city, and honestly, a little lonely. But something in me said yes to group prenatal care and that yes changed my entire motherhood journey. I found a circle, a friend, and the beginnings of a village I didn’t even know I needed.…
more -
What Happens When Work Isn’t an Option for Moms?
I used to think ambition meant spreadsheets, hustle, and crossing off goals. But this week, ambition looked like whispering a dream to myself while Estelle clung to me. I never planned to quit my job. I thought I was just taking a year to bond and breathe, but here I am...still home, still...
-
Moms, You Don’t Have to Choose Between Baby and Dreams
I made this episode in the quiet glow of a humidifier, sitting on the edge of a spare bed in Virginia while Estelle slept beside me. It was day eight of solo parenting, and everything felt raw. No sisters. No backup. Just me, my baby, and a t-shirt I hadn’t changed in three days. But somehow, in...
-
Can Moms Want More and Still Be Good Mothers?
I recorded this one from the edge of a spare bed at my mom’s house in Virginia, in a t shirt I hadn’t changed in three days, while Estelle napped beside me with her tiny hand curled around my shirt. It was day eight of solo parenting, and I was holding so much. Not just my daughter, but the ache…
more -
What Really Happens When Moms Quit “Perfect Parenting”?
I am recording this right after dinner, right before bath time, squeezing it in while my partner distracts our daughter for just fifteen minutes. This feels full circle because tonight I am talking about how we redefine success for our children by first rewriting it for ourselves. When I started...
-
Should Moms Teach Kids to Pay for College Themselves?
I can still feel that gut drop when I sat in front of a campus computer and saw my classes were dropped because my tuition was unpaid. I was fresh off move-in day, full of dreams, and my dad looked at me and quietly said, “We might have to go home.” My heart said no way. In this episode of Ask Me...
-
Why Naming Your Baby Feels Harder Than Anyone Tells You
I still laugh about how hard it felt to name a tiny person I’d never met. I remember sitting at my computer, nine months pregnant, blankly scrolling baby name websites while sipping my morning latte and wondering, who are you in there? In this episode of Ask Me How I’m Really Doing, I’m telling…
more -
What Your Postpartum Body Is Really Teaching You
😬 I almost didn’t hit record today. My daughter and partner had just come back from a run, and I was hiding in the other room trying to grab a moment (and a cookie). I’m recording this in the same outfit I’ve worn for four episodes because that’s what batching looks like right now. I’m learning…
more -
You’re Allowed to Rest and Be a Good Mom
☕️ Hey friend, I recorded this after finally catching a quiet moment—one I almost filled with noise and doing. My daughter was with my partner, and I felt that familiar pull to “use the time wisely,” to run and be productive. But instead, I paused. I cleaned. I breathed. I gave myself space to...
-
What If You Could Actually Love Your Body After Baby?
🥹 This episode was recorded during one of those sacred nap time windows and to be honest, it might be one of my most personal ones yet. I talk about the mirror moments that made me pause, the postpartum fog I didn’t expect, and the slow, quiet ways, as a mom navigating early postpartum identity...
-
The Lie About Maternity Leave and Here’s What I Learned
🏝️ Someone once told me that maternity leave was like a vacation. I was six months pregnant, sitting at work, and I remember thinking—vacation? Girl, no. I’m not heading to a beach. I’m about to give birth. This episode of Ask Me How I’m Really Doing is me pulling back the curtain on what...
-
Do You Feel Lonely in Motherhood Too?
I recorded this episode of Ask Me How I’m Really Doing after nursing and tidying up, after one of those quiet moments when the house finally felt still. And even in the stillness, I found myself aching for something I hadn’t named out loud, a real mom friend. Not the kind who talks only about...
-
Could Choosing Yourself Actually Save Your Relationship?
Episode 9: Choosing Me Meant Changing Everything, Even My Relationship 🫣 Hey friend, I’m recording this episode right after Episode 8. Dinner’s done, baby’s doing her bath time & bedtime routine, and I’m back in front of the mic but this one’s heavier. I got into a big argument with my partner...
-
Do You Feel Like You’ve Lost Yourself Since Baby?
Some days are beautiful. Other days are brutal. This postpartum day was one of the hardest... I recorded this episode at the end of one of the hardest days I’ve had in a while. I couldn’t remember what my original outline was because the truth of my day completely took over. My only goal was to...
-
Can Birth Break You and Make You at the Same Time?
I’m recording this one while the baby naps and the house is finally still. I’ve been sitting with the story of how I became a mom and how nothing went like I imagined, how I broke down in ways I didn’t expect, and how I’m slowly piecing myself back together. This isn’t the birth story I dreamed…
more -
Can Moms Carry the Family and Still Build Money Freedom?
Hey love, I didn’t always know how to name it The kind of weight that doesn’t show, but lives in your body, your breath, your bank account. The quiet pressure. The job of being okay for everyone but myself. This episode is about that. I’m taking you back to my early days navigating college with...
-
What If You Stopped Waiting for Perfect, Mama?
Hey mama, I almost didn’t hit record on this one. I told myself I’d wait until the background was cleaner, the lighting was better, or at least until I had a shirt without a stain. But something inside me said no. This dream can’t wait for perfect. This episode is for the version of you who shows...
-
Have You Lost Yourself in the Chaos of Motherhood?
☕️ Hey friend, welcome to the very first episode of Ask Me How I'm Really Doing: A Mom's Podcast! Today, I'm opening up about something deeply personal: those foggy early months of motherhood where every day felt exactly the same, my own version of "Groundhog Day." I'm sharing how I struggled…
more
About this show
🌸 Welcome to Ask Me How I'm Really Doing: A Mom's Podcast, friend! I'm Hadiya—a new mom, speech-language pathologist, and first-gen entrepreneur. This cozy space offers:🌱 Gentle encouragement for moms navigating motherhood & ambition🌱 Authentic reflections on identity, self-worth & dreams🌱 Softness & ease over hustle & burnoutHere, you're never alone—let's navigate motherhood together, side-by-side.Subscribe to feel validated, inspired & softly supported—because freedom starts with a nap & a dream. ☕️✨Join our cozy community on YouTube: @HadiyaCoppedge
Hosted by
Hadiya Coppedge
Categories