The MINT Prjct
THE podcast to elevate your knowledge on pregnancy & postpartum fitness, nutrition and more along with parenting, business and advice to keep you living your best life. MINT stands for Motherhood In New Terms and we are so excited to begin bringing you fresh content in regards to all things motherhood, fitness, parenting, nutrition and so much more in a new way that is raw, unfiltered and hopefully refreshing. We are 3 gym owners, coaches, moms coming together from 3 different time zones to lay down some real talk when it comes to training through pregnancy along with a variety of other topics. Our goal is to remove the stigmas, clear the confusion, empower moms and trainers, and have some fun while doing it.
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The MINT Prjct
Filmmaking and Motherhood with Mariah Moore
Today we talk to Mariah Moore, a sports documentarian who has directed and co-directed CrossFit’s best selling Games documentaries, dominating the charts. She shares her unique journey: from her start at a local CrossFit affiliate in 2012 to co-directing documentaries, all while navigating pregnancy and motherhood with 3 babies. We chat about the complexities of breastfeeding while editing on a tight schedule and her experience bringing her newborn along to the CrossFit Games.
Mariah talks about filming her friend Tia while they were both pregnant and the influence of her mother on her creative journey. She also shares her viewpoints on the importance of maintaining a positive mindset during pregnancy and postpartum, and the critical role trainers play in supporting women during these transformational stages of life.
Lastly, brace yourself for an honest discussion on the challenges of balancing physical and mental health post-pregnancy. Mariah opens up about her tough recovery journey after the birth of her twins and the help she received from her husband and chiropractor to regain her strength. A story of resilience and determination this mama is an inspiration to hear from!
To learn more about The MINT Prjct and check out our programs and courses, head to TheMINTPrjct.com and follow us on Instagram, as well as your hosts, @bets.inthewild, @_coach.cara_ and @jesscarr.fit
If you're a busy mom who wants to get strong, keep up with your kiddos, not to mention look and feel amazing without spending hours in the gym, we have good news. Our program Mom Strong by Mint Strength and Conditioning is the perfect program for all of the above. Designed with the busy mom in mind, this four-day-a-week program can be done at the gym or at home during nap time in 45 minutes. It is time to get Mom Strong. For all the details, head to themintprojectcom.
Speaker 3:All right y'all. So today we're chatting with a badass mom named Mariah Moore If you don't already know who she is, although you might recognize her stuff and just not know it's her she's a film director and sports documentarian who has directed and co-directed CrossFit's best-selling games documentaries. Her work dominated the charts and have it even streamed on Netflix. So today we're specifically talking about how she's impressively pursued this filmmaking career, while also rocking it through pregnancy and motherhood. So, mariah, first off, welcome, and let us applaud you for all of that.
Speaker 4:Quite a report there on you. Oh, thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 3:So I want to dive right into the most recent thing I saw, which really solidified us wanting to hear more from you or like we already wanted to, and then seeing some of these things really just put the nail in. There's a photo posted of you at the games this year with your camera, sitting next to you off in a corner on the floor with your three-month-old baby girl in your hands. So she tagged along with you to the event. Tell us how did that play out? Tell us about behind the scenes there.
Speaker 4:Well, so the plan has always been every year. So my husband works for CrossFit and so I used to work for CrossFit, but I've continuously done contract work for them, so it's kind of the given that we're going to go to the games every single year. One of the projects that I'm typically attached to, which is the documentaries that didn't line up for me this year to direct, but I had another project that I was asked to come on board for, which was Sevon's Behind the Scenes, and I was really excited about that.
Speaker 4:And so it came down to this moment of okay, I've got to figure out how to make this work because I have a three-month-old baby in tow and, honest to goodness, I wouldn't have been able to do without my support system, which was my parents.
Speaker 4:So my three-year-old twins stayed home with my parents, and then one of my little sisters came with me to the games and she was on nanny duty essentially and would just bring the baby to me every time she had to feed, and sometimes I would actually run back to the hotel, like actually run with my camera back to the hotel to nurse my girl before getting back out there.
Speaker 2:It's amazing yeah, but it was.
Speaker 4:It's one of those things where it's you, just you don't want to make sacrifices and so you want to figure out ways to like these things can coexist.
Speaker 4:One of the best pieces of Vivid Ice I got when I was pregnant with the twins was you were not joining their world, they're joining yours. So don't stop doing the things that you love doing, and for one of those things is for me, is my work, it's my career, it's the identity that I have outside of just being a mom, which there's nothing wrong with that. I think being a mom is a huge part, but I feel like I'm a better mom when I have something outside of motherhood that is for myself, and so figuring out how to make sure those things can coexist without making my kids suffer or my work suffer and it would not have been possible without the support system that I've had in my family.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. How old is your sister? Is she younger or older than you?
Speaker 4:Yeah, she's 20, 20 years old. Now. I have a lot of sisters. She's one of the younger ones, so she's 20.
Speaker 3:Oh, you're like a stupid carrot, lots of aunties, lots of cousins, lots of sisters.
Speaker 4:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Nice to have that support, for sure. It really is.
Speaker 1:I was going to say it reminded me. Your story reminds me a little bit of Kara brought her baby to. We did a project with Pliability and Tia Claire to me not too long ago and we have a picture of Kara breastfeeding and also running the show, and I love what you said. It's so important to continue to follow your dreams, even being a mom there, and it's great. I think society is kind of finally catching up to the fact that moms are in the workforce and we still want to be badass and you can do both. So it's super inspiring to see.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and what's funny is one of the it's such a funny thing that I don't think people think about is when I have conversations with colleagues or people that I might do some work for one of the things that I appreciate the most is when I'm having those conversations and they don't bring up the motherhood aspect of it, they're just they are treating me like a colleague or whatever it is, and it's maybe that's more unique of me, but I kind of I appreciate that because it's like okay, cool, like let me, let me, on my end, figure out how I'm going to make this work. Like I appreciate the fact that you just see me as whatever it is that I'm going to be doing, so you just see me as the director in that standpoint, because I think that we do face especially in this. You know, in society a lot of people want to assume that we're not capable of doing the things that we're doing because we have kids in tow or you know other responsibilities.
Speaker 3:Yeah, have you. This is kind of a question I was going to ask them why, but it loops in with what you just said. On the flip side, is there any moments where you feel like misunderstood by some of your colleagues? I mean, you're in a male dominated industry and it's starting to change now, which is awesome, but historically speaking, that hasn't been the case. So have you ever been had moments where it's like, well, you don't understand what's going on, or not even maybe upset, but just kind of comical that the things they have to deal with are minute compared to the large amount of additional things you have in the pot?
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. I had one situation once where I was contracted to come in and do a highlight edit for the games during 2020. And so we were in a COVID bubble and so, you know, I was having a test every single day and at that point I had my twins were about a year old, and then we showed up and this was one of the games were at the ranch, and so it was really tight. You know, they, they again, it was just very limited personnel, very limited media team, because they couldn't let people into the COVID bubble, and we ended up needing another camera off. We were just we were lacking, and so I ended up again. I was there that contracted to do an edit, but I ended up picking up a camera as well and shooting, I think, 13 out of the 15 events. Yeah, and so, and so it was. I had a moment where I was able to turn out the edit by 5pm on Sunday afternoon, so it was like within an hour of the games wrapping up.
Speaker 4:So I had been editing all week as well as shooting, as well as breastfeeding my one year old twins in the back of a car out in a row Almost in an ox shoulder, so it was really hot, yeah, and then having a budding heads with someone about certain yeah, about some notes on the edit and I was like, no, it's too late, I'm done.
Speaker 1:I turned it out.
Speaker 4:And there was just, you know, there was. Maybe I was a little too emotional because I I was, I was exhausted because it wasn't just doing this edit and shooting, but I was also, you know, leaving the games every single day to run to the hotel to put my twins to bed, to go back to the venue to do some more editing and then making sure they were breastfed in between events and doing all those things. And so there was that mental load too. That it was I kind of just wanted to shake people by the shoulders and be like, give me some slack here, like what I just did was really impressive.
Speaker 3:Breastfeeding two humans. Yeah, yeah, he ends killing it.
Speaker 4:So we definitely have those moments of just like pay more attention to. Maybe that sounds self centered, but you know, or maybe be more appreciated yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the awareness factor of the whole picture of what you're doing, yeah.
Speaker 2:But any mom is sitting here thinking like, wow, that is impressive. You know, I feel like if you had other moms around, they would be very aware and like what is this girl doing?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so yeah, there's not other moms out there, which I hope someday there are.
Speaker 2:While you're paving the way, which is really cool. You're showing that it can be done and everyone can figure it out in their own way. But you figured out in yours and that's really cool.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so it's been fun, it has been.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So back up a little bit, tell us more about kind of your timeline, of when you started your career, when was your first pregnancy and like how they have intertwined now.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So I started pursuing film and photography back in high school. I knew that that was something that I wanted to do from the age of 16. I knew I wanted to be a director and then so I started working out at our local affiliate as soon as it opened in 2012. I was 18 at the time. I was graduating high school.
Speaker 4:I did that for a year to met one of the members, his brother, who at the time worked for CrossFit. He told me that there was an opportunity to go work at CrossFit HQ as a production assistant and this was 10 years ago now and so I instantly I quit my job at Starbucks and I quit all my college classes and I picked up and I moved to Santa Cruz to go start just as a production assistant which is just lowest of the totem pole, just your wrapping cables and putting mics on to people and things like that. But I figured you know, I figured why maybe this isn't a good thing to be advocating for, but I was like why go to school when I can just get paid to learn how to do this?
Speaker 3:Yeah, especially in grade school. I think that's great. That's how that industry works too.
Speaker 4:There's only somebody in the industry who's like I just I kind of feel like you can't. Yeah, exactly, I'm like you can't, kind of can't teach creativity, yeah they're, you know, artists from work.
Speaker 4:Yeah, exactly, and so it's like everything else, I can go learn how to do on the job, I don't need to sit in the classroom. So I quit my, quit all of my college classes and moved to Santa Cruz, and that was in 20, I think, end of 2013. Yeah, end of December of 2013. I was 19 years old at the time, yeah, and so I worked on like the broadcast side of things for a couple of years before I moved over to the more storytelling side under Tyson Oldjoy, my now husband, and Savon Matossian and kind of just got thrown right into things and started helping edit the documentaries and then eventually got to co-directing them. And then CrossFit went through all of its crazy changes in 2018, laid off the entire media team and in at, yeah, early 2019 was when there was the last wave of layoffs with, like, the final people of the media crew, which was, you know, myself and a couple other people and my husband as well. He wasn't my husband at the time, but we were pregnant.
Speaker 1:I was pregnant, oh my gosh, and it was it was the craze with twins.
Speaker 4:It was the crazy thing.
Speaker 3:Did you know it was twins yet so that's.
Speaker 4:This is the great story. We at that point there were so many layoffs that we knew that if you got an email from HR that you were, you were losing your job, and we were all kind of just waiting for it anyway. And so in January we found out that I was pregnant, and so I scheduled the first ultrasound on Tyson, my husband's birthday, which was in mid February. And then the day before his birthday and the day before our ultrasound we got that email from HR.
Speaker 4:So we were like hey, sorry we're going to have to push this meeting back. We have to go to our first ultrasound appointments. So the next day went to the ultrasound and found out we're having twins. Went to work, both lost their jobs, then went out that night to celebrate my husband's birthday.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's a lot of different feelings, that one oh yeah, it was.
Speaker 4:There was a lot of laughing, crying, yeah, yeah, but we look back on it now.
Speaker 3:That's gotta to be the person who fires someone who is about to have, the two people who are about to have their first baby. Slash two babies yeah, takes takes a lot. I definitely thought for them.
Speaker 4:I definitely felt for the ones that the people that had to do it A lot of feelings for everybody that day. You know, but like we talk about it all the time, it was the best thing that could have happened in our lives.
Speaker 4:It was it allowed this beautiful transition for us where we got to enjoy the pregnancy in a way that we hadn't before, because there was a lot of turmoil within CrossFit at that point because all of our friends were getting let go and there's so much change. So for the first time, my husband and I actually got to sit back and just enjoy it and not have the weight of anything else, and we really just savored the entire pregnancy. It was absolutely beautiful. I continued to do some like contracting, editing work for CrossFit, and so we were good. And then it was. It was actually really cool because six weeks after I gave birth to the twins, tyson was asked to come back on at CrossFit.
Speaker 1:So it was like that worked out great that works.
Speaker 4:That did. It was just a little break to just enjoy the pregnancy.
Speaker 2:The first few weeks of the life. Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It worked out perfect. So how do you now kind of from that stay motivated to kind of take risks with having kids and a family and but still really wanting to pursue your dreams?
Speaker 4:You know, when you've done it, I feel like I've been in a really beautiful, really unique position where I've known what I wanted since I was very young and so it hasn't really felt like taking risks for me.
Speaker 4:It's felt like this is my goal and there's a very clear trajectory and I'm only going to do the things that help get me closer to whatever that goal might be. And at the time it was just directing, and right now it's like I don't know what the next step is for me to continue to progress. But I know I'm going to take it once I recognize what it is and it doesn't feel like taking a risk. It's more of yeah, it's again going back to that idea of it's. It's it's doing something for myself, because I feel like as long as I'm continuing to do something for myself which for me is I'm a very career-driven person as long as I'm doing something for myself, I feel like I'm a better mom for it. I feel like I can give more to my kids because I'm giving something to myself as well. So, yeah, it doesn't feel like taking risks for me and maybe that's very unique of me, but I feel lucky in that sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it's worked out for you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2:It didn't feel risky to you and might look like that to someone else, but it seems like, yeah, it's working out really well. Yeah, so you kind of gave us the backstory about your first pregnancy with your twins, how you didn't really have a secure set job but you were doing some. You said you've got some editing work to do. Yeah, so that must have been pretty different. With this pregnancy. You're on more of a demanding schedule. Also, you were pregnant the same time as Tia there to me, which is really cool because you did you were able to film her as well. So what was it like being on such a demanding schedule filming Tia while you guys were both pregnant, and did that kind of change the way that you did approach that project creatively?
Speaker 4:You know, yes and no, tia and I have been really good friends for a really long time, and so it was. It was really funny when she told me so we, we told her pretty early on that we were pregnant because we had been working on this project for a really long time, and so we're like, oh, by the way, there's, you know, we have a new assistant coming along on these shoots now, and so when Tia called me up, was like, hey, I'm pregnant. I was like, oh, this is awesome. This is like, this is so exciting.
Speaker 4:And so I was able to maybe approach the project a little differently, in the sense of like I was like, okay, we need to make sure we get the footage of this and this and this, and I knew what kinds of topics to ask her about and things like that where, yeah, and so it's like what you know, maybe this is a lot to talk about, for you know your common viewer, but it's really important.
Speaker 4:What are you doing for your pelvic floor, like an athlete at your caliber? Like, what are you doing to do, you know, strengthen that in preparation for birth and then also for continuing your athletic career after this? So there was that and again like doing something for myself of you know it was man, I don't know, maybe I'm crazy. I just didn't feel like it was a lot for me to get on a plane and go shoot while pregnant. It was actually really exciting to go do it and be like, oh, this is cool that we're gonna get to share this together. Yeah, definitely more tired. I was definitely more tired on the shoots, but again it was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it just it's, we're enjoying it like it's like a really emotional time anyways, like if you, strictly speaking, about hormones and then you're getting to channel that into something that, like, feels so good in your body, has creativity I mean through shooting, obviously we see how that played out. How about, as a mom, like, how are you taking that creativity and just bringing it into more like your hobby side of life with kids?
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, honestly, I'm really bad about continuing creativity outside of work, because I feel like when I'm off the clock, I'm off the clock and I don't want to pick up a camera. I don't want to do anything like that, but it has been really cool to watch my son, in particular, really start to develop an eye for things. So he's constantly stealing my phone to take photos of everything and figured out the filters, and he's only three years old and I know I'm like oh my. God. Look at these photos that he took.
Speaker 4:But I really feel it's like yeah it's really exciting and it's really exciting for me to start to, to try to give him outlets, creative outlets, because I think he's going to follow in my footsteps and that's a really exciting part to be able to start passing down what I know to them and also being able to, you know, tell him like, hey, if this is something that you really do want to pursue, whatever you know artistic outlet it might be, you don't need to go to school for it, just start doing it. And that was something my mom taught me, because I inherited a lot of, you know, my artistiveness from her. So just trying to continue to pass it down In that sense has been it's really fun. It's really fun Really exciting.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of what you're saying or what you've said about like working and continuing to work and do things for yourself, like it's such a mindset like we talk a lot about mindset in pregnancy and even postpartum and even as a mom who's further along down the road like having that mindset that like, yeah, I can still go do this when I'm pregnant, I can still go do this when I have a tiny little baby. It's just like there might be some things I need to work out before doing that. So I think it's so inspiring to hear that side of it and not just the like oh, I just had a baby three weeks ago and like, not for, like you said, that might not be everyone's story that they want to go out, go to the CrossFit Games. You know super early postpartum, but knowing that you can do those things and you can do what you want to do and you know, regardless of what kind of box society is maybe put moms in, is very cool to hear. Trainers, did you know that 85% of women will become pregnant in their lifetime? This means that you will work with pregnant and postpartum clients, so get the information you need to safely and effectively guide your clients through this chapter of their fitness journey and become an expert in the space. Not only will you learn about movement, you'll learn about nutrition and mindset, from fertility through pregnancy to postpartum, as well as how to market yourself as a professional in this space. You'll interact with the Mint experts throughout the course, giving you the guidance and accountability to finish and get to work. Head to the mint projectcom and go to the education tab to learn more.
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Speaker 4:Yeah, and that's not to say that it's not without its own unique crazy hardships as well. Yeah for sure there were. There have been times where it was like last year's games was the first time I had left my twins at home with my parents and I was crying every night because I missed them and because I felt the mom shame, the guilt of leaving my kids and making me feeling like I was making my kids suffer or sacrifice for in order for me to do this, and then getting home, you know, and within a week they didn't even had any care anymore.
Speaker 2:You know nothing nothing.
Speaker 4:It doesn't take that those emotions away of like this is really hard. Or even this year, at the games, it was I had to approach it so differently. It was I have to. You know in years past, sometimes you get a meal and sometimes you don't. You know it was you. Just you're going going, going and this year, having to change my mindset and be okay with I'm going to miss this moment. I'm going to miss filming this moment, because I need to sit down and eat and drink some water, because I had to keep my milk supply up, because you have to.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, and so it's like there's a lot of things change. You know, feeling the guilt of my three month old isn't with me at all times right now and she needs to be, or she should be, or whatever it might be, and then again at the end of the week being like, no, that was all right, it was okay, but in the moment it's really hard. It's really hard and you feel a lot of shame and a lot of guilt and it's it's most impossible to not feel those things. But you know, again, it's like you kind of got to you get on the other side of it.
Speaker 4:You're like okay yeah, it was okay.
Speaker 3:And.
Speaker 4:I did something to fill my cup and and because of that I'm able to give more to my kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely yeah. We did a whole episode on mom guilt, so we're right there with you. It is real, it is it is and you know there. It just is there and, like you said, coming out the other side and looking at what, what, how is this going to impact? You know, years from now, your kids are going to see how cool and badass you were, and you're still there for them too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I never. I don't want them to ever feel as though they and maybe they wouldn't, but I don't want them to ever feel as though they they stopped me from doing the things that I wanted to do, or that I had to give up those things Like. I want my daughters to look at me and be like oh, I can still do the things that I really love doing or the things that I really want to do when I become a mom too. That's really important to me, for sure.
Speaker 1:So were you active? It sounds like you were, but were you active in working out before your pregnancies and then did you continue that during as well?
Speaker 4:Yes, for sure I was definitely way more in shape pre-twins, but you know seasons of life, I was, you know, childless, so I was able to go to the gym and spend multiple hours in the gym and it was really convenient back, you know, before the twins, because at the time I was working at CrossFit and so I worked upstairs and our gym was down there and I got to go anytime during the day. But for sure I definitely maintained my physical fitness through the pregnancy and I honestly attribute that to staying pregnant as long as I did with the twins. I went 39 weeks before throwing in the towel and saying get them out.
Speaker 2:You did it. That's amazing.
Speaker 4:Yeah and so, yeah, it was pretty nuts. I did stop working out, I think around 30 weeks with the twins because I was nervous about what is it called preterm labor?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And then about 36 weeks I started working out again and would not go into labor.
Speaker 2:I was like, well, I did not need to stop.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I was like I did not need to stop working out because nothing was going to get triggered. So, and then, yeah, and then trying to maintain fitness as much as possible post-twins and then through this pregnancy and yeah, a lot of it has it's been for my not just physical health but mental health and emotional health as well. I was trying to make sure I get into you know, whether it's out to the affiliate or just in the garage or going for a walk or whatever it might be. I definitely think maintaining some sort of physical collectivity has been huge for me, really big. I would love to be back to you know my fitness level as I was pre-twins, but maybe someday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe someday you don't have three kids through and after.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Balance right. You got a lot going on.
Speaker 4:Yeah, something's gotta give, something's always gotta give, yeah.
Speaker 1:And how about, like your postpartum experience, any challenges there, like physically or mentally, that you worked through?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so with the twins. It was. That was a labor and delivery. It was really rough. On that one I was again. I was induced.
Speaker 1:And so.
Speaker 4:I labored for about 24 hours, or I was you know so they started the induction. I was in my labor for 24 hours. They broke the water. My boy's water pushed for, hit with him for about two hours and then went another 10 hours. Oh, my God oh my gosh yeah between before I had my girl.
Speaker 2:That's a long time.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and so I did.
Speaker 3:I would try to push you to to hurry that up or go in there and get her? Did you have to advocate for yourself, or were they just pretty on board to let your body do it?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I was definitely. I mean, it was still very much a hospital setting and so there were still protocols in place that I was not stoked on. But for the most part I had the OB that I had picked. Her name was Dr Drake. In Santa Barbara she actually delivered Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby too Nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she was a big deal. Right like we can gesture, she's gonna keep us alive. Oh yeah she was.
Speaker 4:She was very, very patient, led. She was amazing. She knew what I wanted, and so she was. You know, unfortunately, she actually ended up closing her practice a couple years no, last year and rumors is because she was so patient led that the other doctors didn't, you know, kind of pushed her out unfortunately, oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was really heartbreaking, but because of that she was awesome. She again. There was things that, like looking back and like man, we really didn't need to break, you know, my boy's water, you know we could have just let it keep going, but the fact that she'd let me labor for 10 hours in between was I'm just. I'm just.
Speaker 2:Do they have different?
Speaker 4:birthdays then no, they don't. I know I wish they did.
Speaker 2:You went through all that work. It was a different birthday.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, it's the power of in-court, yeah.
Speaker 4:I think my boy if I remember correctly he was born at like two something AM, and then my daughter was born at like 12.
Speaker 2:That is.
Speaker 4:I did not know.
Speaker 2:I did not know that you could go that long, so did you completely like have to go through all the dilation again, or she just wasn't descended?
Speaker 4:She just wasn't descended. They again. I don't know, like I'm not. They told me it closed back up to seven, seven meters. That's what I've heard yeah, yeah, I've heard that, but I also I've heard that you don't actually close back up. So I don't, I don't know. You know how it really works, but she hadn't descended. I tried to push with her for like 30 minutes after I had delivered my son and I was like I can't, like I am too tired, everything hurts too bad, like I can't do this, double the work, but not just that.
Speaker 4:the ultrasound's leading up to, because twins are considered high risk. So you get, you're required to get way more ultrasounds. They started telling me that their measurements were way off, like my boy was really small, my girl was really big and they were saying if the size difference is too severe they'll have to do a C-section. And so I was kind of like again I would not advise this. But I was like, oh, I'm just not gonna go to the ultrasound appointments anymore then. So they don't tell me that.
Speaker 2:So they're like yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So I was like we're just not gonna go anymore, because I don't want them to tell me that.
Speaker 3:You can't, nobody can see it.
Speaker 1:So he, yeah, just avoid it, right yeah all right, they don't need that info.
Speaker 4:So he was 5'11 and she was 8'1.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:And he was first, so he was significantly smaller. Oh great yeah, when we looked at their umbilical cords. So the placenta, their placentas had fused and my husband says that I didn't really get a good look. But my husband said that her umbilical cord was nice and fatty and his was like a coffee straw.
Speaker 2:Oh wow really short and really tiny.
Speaker 3:Yeah, her, she was making it all for him.
Speaker 1:She's still the boss. She's still the boss. I was gonna say she's going to be a boss lady. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 4:So I ended up getting the epidural with her. So I went he was unmedicated the first born, and then with her I ended up getting an epidural and because of the because I couldn't feel anything one of the nurses was like wrenching my legs way up because I was pushing for another two hours with her and she just didn't want to come out. And so after I afterwards, for about a week after, I actually couldn't walk, I couldn't lift my feet. I my hips were so like out of place from getting wrenched on so bad, and so there was a lot of recovery with that. On that end of, my husband literally had to lift my feet into the bed for me and physically like scoop his arms under me to roll me onto my sides. Were you so sore or?
Speaker 2:you just they wouldn't work, they just wouldn't work.
Speaker 4:Wow, yeah, I ended up going to the chiropractor and he said that the gap in my pelvis was. He said that you know, if you compared a normal gap to, you know to like a, it should look like a river. He says, yours looks like the Grand Canyon.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 4:I've never seen such severe pelvic trauma before. Oh my gosh, yeah crazy. I thought I had. I thought I had lost so much weight giving birth and I was like, wow, I have the craziest thigh gap now. And I was like it was just, things were so spread apart.
Speaker 1:It's like you're just in the middle of this, yeah.
Speaker 3:She literally tried to break you in half.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah. She's like trying to like, fold me off, like the like, away from the.
Speaker 2:I don't even know what she's doing.
Speaker 4:She's like just peeling his back. Yeah, exactly so, but then so that was gnarly. The twins was crazy. But then with our newest baby we did a home birth and that was a nine day difference. Nine day difference. Way faster recovery. Way faster labor and delivery. It was like two hours from start to finish.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. That's a way different from what you went through before Way different.
Speaker 3:Yeah, did. Is that like the main thing that drove you to do that Like, were you educated in Holmberg's beforehand, or was it your experience that made you think not doing it like that again?
Speaker 4:No, so I actually, when I found out I was pregnant the first time, I had told Tice and my husband I was like I want to do a home birth and he was like, oh, okay, cool, like that sounds great. And then, as soon as we found out it was twins that went out the window. Yeah, because it's illegal, I think, in most states, but it's illegal maybe not all in California for a midwife to deliver twins.
Speaker 4:Okay, Just because it's high risk, yeah, and so I would have had to hire a doctor to come deliver at home and then nearest doctor to me and that would do it was in LA and it was like $10,000 just for the labor and delivery.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 4:And at that point my husband and I were both unemployed.
Speaker 2:So we're like oh, that's, true, yeah.
Speaker 4:So we're like we can't fund, we can't afford this one. So we ended up not doing that and honestly, the plan. But because of that, when we found out we were pregnant, again after that crazy story and again doing it with an amazing doctor, dr Drake. But when I found out I was pregnant, I had just also found out that she had closed her practice.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 4:I was like, what am I going to do if it's twins? What?
Speaker 1:am I going to do yeah, if Dr Drake's not.
Speaker 4:So I actually had like schemed in my head. I was like we're just going to go to Utah, we're going to go to Utah. Go yeah, because midwives can deliver twins in Utah, I believe. Yeah so yeah, but we'd always wanted to do a home birth. It was really cool. It felt like a very redemptive, though, to get to do it.
Speaker 2:It's not going to help. It's cool.
Speaker 3:So, yeah. So amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you have your three kids now. They're all still very young. We'd love to ask this question because I think it's just so helpful for other moms to see how are you balancing your motherhood and your career, especially one that's so fast paced, and you've got to be really creative with that. You've got to have your stuff turned in on time. How are you balancing all of that?
Speaker 4:Probably not well. Again, something has to give. Usually it's not going to be the motherhood aspect of things, it's not going to be my job, it's not going to be my relationship with my husband, so typically it's my fitness. I prioritize making sure we eat really well in the house. I do all of the cooking and stuff, but a lot of days I have to give up working out Because when it's nap time, it's time for me to work Before the kids get up.
Speaker 4:It's time for me to work After the kids go to bed. I'm trying to do my work or spend some time with my husband. So there's a lot of that and then also just learning that we have to have days where we turn off work completely and we just focus on the kids and being our relationship with my husband and taking some downtime as well, and so trying to be really good about that. And then also knowing that it's OK right now it's OK for me to not be looking for work at the moment. It's OK, it's very needed and it's OK, especially as an independent contractor, to be like I'm going to take a few months off. We are in a very good position where we can afford to do that. I know a lot of people aren't. But again, just taking those few hours or just that day of being like Saturday or Sunday, we're just going to take the kids to the beach and we're not going to check our phones, we're not going to talk to people off the clock, that's just. We're just going to take that time.
Speaker 2:Do you have that scheduled in or do you just kind of take it as it goes, because I'm sure your work also goes, like you said, in seasons, crossfit games, it's going to be really high workload. Do you always plan month after that? I'm just going to take that whole month off, kind of reset with my family, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah for sure. So yes, it's definitely a seasonal thing. So for us it is like the week or two after the games, or a couple weeks after the games, we really lay low and we don't try to not take work calls, we really try to just be with our family, and then over Christmas break, and then just I mean because again, our lives are very much intertwined with the CrossFit games season, and so from about January to games, it's very, very busy for us because that's when the game season starts, and so it's usually August, September, October, November where things really get to slow down and while we still do maintain work, it's really where we try to take as much time as we can to just be a family. So no, not we don't have anything scheduled in. We should, but we're just wondering.
Speaker 4:I was just wondering, so we can.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So is that a learning curve for you and your husband to figure out? Or were you guys raised or were aware of like, OK, we're going to have to, really, because in the industry of working for yourself it is hard to get off the clock. So how did you guys kind of figure that out together?
Speaker 4:It was definitely a learning curve. It was definitely putting in too much time and having to reach the point of burnout to realize, oh, this isn't healthy anymore. We have to take some time for ourselves, especially because we both work from home and so it's very easy to not be able to turn those things off, because our home is our work also. So definitely there have been, and I'm still working on it, I'm still trying to figure out how to be more balanced in those things. But yeah, definitely hitting the burnout mode quite a bit, definitely having some moments of crying and being up till 3 o'clock in the morning crying because I have to hit a deadline.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 4:I'm tired and I'm pregnant, you know, yeah. So but really just learning how to turn things off when we are off the clock, and just I mean we're still working on it because my husband and I like to talk work when the kids go to bed and we're like maybe we shouldn't do this Maybe we should talk about something else.
Speaker 1:It's hard, it's hard.
Speaker 4:It is hard, especially because we work in the same space, so we know every time we talk about all the things. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:So it's interesting. You talk about the turning it off, but then also in the creative space, sometimes there's work to be done but it calls for that spark, that creative motivation, the ideas to be flowing. How do you especially when there's kids around, how do you turn that on when you have to turn it on but there's little people who need you or want you and you have to choose the work and the creative flow has to get started somehow.
Speaker 4:Yeah, honestly, that's been me learning myself. That's me learning how I need things to look for me to be able to function. So it sounds crazy. And again, I have the luxury of I work from home and my husband works from home and so we both were able to tag team working. So it's like, ok, I'm Tyson's, I have a few hours of meetings, and then I have this kind of break and then you get to tag in and get some work done. But for me, it's really knowing how I operate, in the sense that it's like I can get. This probably sounds crazy. I can get probably 20, 30 minutes of really productive work in before I feel like the creativity starts to fizzle out and then I have to get up and walk for 20, 30 minutes.
Speaker 4:And then I can come back in for another 30 minutes, 45 minutes or however long it is, and then I have to get up and move again and sometimes and it's just a part of being creative Sometimes you get hit with this you get in the zone, essentially, and you can go for hours and just being able husband being able to recognize that and be like OK, cool, you're in the zone, I'm just going to take the kids, we're going to go figure out dinner, you just stay in the zone and so having again the support system with my husband and with my family, because we're near my family, and again just really knowing myself and knowing how, what I need and knowing how to listen to my own cues of OK, it's time to get up and walk away again because we're starting to force this. This isn't happening naturally anymore.
Speaker 3:So another question A lot of moms I think we listen to all the time have identity is hard to find, like you said in the very beginning, you identify as a lot of things, but a lot of moms lose their identity completely. What would you say to moms who are looking for how to find their own identity again without um the cost of their family?
Speaker 4:You have to fill your cup to be able to pour into others. That's a big one. It's do all the things that you need, you know, try everything, figure out what it is that you like and then find the time to do it, and it's your kids aren't going to suffer if you take an hour every single day to do something for yourself. If anything, it's going to make you a better mom. I feel like that's really been the case for me, of just finding something that your own identity.
Speaker 4:I feel at least for me personally, the moments where I feel like motherhood is all consuming. It's almost like a safe place for me to be able to go clock in for a little bit. It's my break, it's something that I'm doing for myself, and so I would just advise that mothers find whatever it is, whatever it is that you're doing for yourself. Maybe it is career, maybe it's not career, maybe it's just going for a walk every single day, or maybe it's sitting down and reading for a little bit, or just. You know my husband, it's like. He's like. You know, when I want to break, it's don't. I don't want to leave the house for my break. I want him to remove the kids from the house because I want to sit in my house in silence.
Speaker 4:And so having a really supportive spouse in that sense of he's like, ok, I'll take the kids and go for a drive or whatever it is, I would just definitely prioritize taking some time for yourself. You know, maybe that is an identity thing or maybe it's just a hobby kind of thing, but you know it's, your kids are not going to suffer if you take an hour for yourself or two hours for yourself or even a couple of days for yourself every year. You know, if anything it's going to make you you're going to be a better mom for it, because you're going to be able to give more of yourself 100%, totally agree.
Speaker 3:Mariah, thank you so much for coming on. Definitely an inspiring conversation. Tell people where they can find you if they want to kind of follow your journey.
Speaker 4:I'm just on Instagram, that's it, no, facebook.
Speaker 3:Nice and easy Mariahmore.
Speaker 4:Yeah, mariahmore on Instagram, and that's all.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome, we'll put that in.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for coming. Yeah, we'll put that in the chat.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much. Awesome Thanks guys.
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