Deena Is Back: The Postpartum Truth No One Tells You

After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings

Dear Media and Big Little Feelings

Kristin Gallant, Big Little Feelings, After Bedtime With Big Little Feelings, After Bedtime, Deena Margolin, Parenting, Kids & Family

4.7 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The world tells us the newborn stage is supposed to be magical. Soft lighting. Sweet snuggles. “Soak it all in.” But for so many parents? It’s a blur of no sleep, hormonal whiplash, identity loss, and quietly asking yourself, “Why am I not okay?” Deena is back from maternity leave, and in this raw, deeply honest conversation, we’re finally talking about what she actually lived through. Not the highlight reel. Not the “grateful, glowing, cherishing every moment” version. The real one.

We talk about the adrenaline of the first weeks… and the crash that hits after. The rage no one warns you about. The intrusive thoughts you don’t want to admit. The weird grief that can exist right next to overwhelming love. The exhaustion of juggling a newborn and other kids. And the pressure to be “back to normal” when your nervous system is still in survival mode.This episode is for the parent who loves their baby fiercely… and still feels like they’re barely holding it together.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why the postpartum hormone crash can hit weeks in, not right away

• Why irritability, rage, and numbness are just as real as anxiety or sadness

• How struggling is so much more common than you think

• And how to stop telling yourself you’re doing this wrong

Whether you’re in the thick of the newborn stage right now or still carrying the emotional imprint of it years later, this episode will make you feel seen, understood, and a help-you-breathe-again kind of relieved."

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

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Produced by Dear Media

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a dear media production.
0:03.8	Welcome to After Bedtime, where the house is finally quiet, but the real noise begins.
0:10.2	The thoughts, the questions, the wondering if you're doing any of this right.
0:14.2	We're Kristen and Dina, child behavior experts, moms, and co-founders of big little feelings,
0:20.1	and we're not here to give you more pressure or perfect parenting energy.
0:23.6	Nope. We're here to tell the truth, the unfiltered, beautiful, brutal truth about what it means to raise kids and re-raise ourselves in the process.
0:32.6	Because parenting isn't just about sleep schedules and snack hacks. It's about healing. It's about breaking
0:38.4	cycles. It's about becoming the kind of adult you want your kids to grow up to be. This is the place
0:44.1	where we say the quiet parts out loud, and we're so glad that you're here. Besties, you're not
0:49.9	going to believe it. You're not going to believe it. I'm sitting across from Dina. She has her coffee hat on.
0:57.2	You know what I'm talking about. The black coffee hat. She has her sunglasses on. She's wearing a
1:01.8	black sweatshirt that says box, box, box. I think that's Formula One. Dina, can you confirm or deny?
1:06.4	Confirm. She's wearing her black leggings. As we all know in love, Dina's back, baby.
1:14.6	Dina. I'm back. You're back. Okay. Somehow I'm here. I'm here sitting across from you. It's really nice.
1:21.8	I can't wait. I just slammed my head against a concrete wall. Yeah. Are you okay? you're in the, yes, thank you for asking.
1:30.5	We're in the Dear Media Studios. It's like a legit studio. Yeah. And I just slam my head against.
1:35.7	Just like a little kid. Like my kids do that all the time when they get in bed and, you know,
1:39.8	they accidentally like hit their head on the wall or their bed frame. And you're like,
1:43.1	whoa, are you okay
1:44.6	how did that happen to you like why did you even do that like how could you why did your body
1:50.2	decide to do that you know like that's a wall yeah yeah yeah that's what happened to me i'm a toddler
1:55.0	yeah that makes sense hi hello oh my god you're in l a know. This feels good to be with you. It feels really, really good. Yesterday we were at a hotel, our favorite hotel, and that felt really good, except for the travel day. I didn't mind it. That's amazing. It felt like a vacation, honestly. I, like, got so much done on the airplane. So much. So so wait i'm just going to rewind for a minute
	...

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