Find the Episode That Fits Where You Are Right Now.
Every conversation on this show is built around a specific challenge. Not a vague topic, but the actual thing you are dealing with today.
Tummy Time and Milestones: What to Expect in the Early Months
Christine Hernandez and Haydee Medrano
27 min
Tummy time is one of the most asked-about topics in early parenting, and one of the most misunderstood. Christine Hernandez and Haydee Medrano join Lauren and Melissa to explain what tummy time is actually for, how to do it in a way that works for your baby, and what developmental milestones matter in the first months without turning you into someone who charts everything.
Listen NowBeyond Outnumbered: Practical Survival Strategies for Parents of Multiples
Kylie McClellan
29 min
Kylie McClellan is an occupational therapist who also raised triplets. That combination of clinical training and the lived reality of three newborns at once makes this a different kind of conversation. This episode does not offer inspiration. It offers a realistic, OT-grounded picture of what functional daily life actually looks like when the standard postpartum advice does not apply.
Listen NowThe Power of Touch: How Infant Massage Supports Regulation and Bonding
Dr. Kimberly Day
24 min
Touch is not a soft concept. There is specific neuroscience behind what happens when a parent holds, strokes, or massages a newborn, and the research on infant massage connects directly to regulation, bonding, and daily functional care. Dr. Kimberly Day explains what it is, why it matters, and how to begin.
Listen NowFrom Chaos to Calm: Simple Sleep Strategies for New Parents
Kaili Ets
19 min
Kaili Ets is both an occupational therapist and a mother who has been in the middle of postpartum sleep deprivation. This episode is the practical follow-up to the nervous system conversation, focusing less on why and more on what to actually do about it. Three sleep strategies, built for the real conditions of new parenthood.
Listen NowWired and Tired: How the Nervous System Shapes Infant Sleep
18 min
Every new parent has been told to 'just let the baby sleep.' This episode explains why that advice ignores half the picture. Lauren and Melissa walk through the neuroscience of infant sleep regulation: what the nervous system is doing, why it matters, and what that means for the parent trying to survive the night.
Listen NowEpisode 2
TBD
Details coming soon.
Welcome to Functional Fourth Trimester: Rethinking Daily Life After Birth
20 min
This is the episode that explains everything. What this podcast is, why two occupational therapists made it, and what the OT framework for postpartum life actually means in practice. If you are new to Functional Fourth Trimester, start here.
Listen NowNot Sure Where to Start?
If you are new here, these three episodes are the best place to begin, depending on what is most pressing right now.
Wired and Tired: How the Nervous System Shapes Infant Sleep
If every night feels impossible and you want to understand what is actually happening, this episode explains the neuroscience without making you feel like you failed.
Listen NowWelcome to Functional Fourth Trimester
If you are not sure what this show is or whether it is for you, Lauren and Melissa lay out the entire framework in the first episode. It is the right starting point.
Listen NowFrom Chaos to Calm: Simple Sleep Strategies for New Parents
This episode addresses the experience of postpartum daily life not working, and the feeling of not recognizing your own routine.
Listen NowWant the Free OT Guide to the Fourth Trimester?
The Fourth Trimester Functional Living Guide covers what occupational therapy wants every new parent to know, and it is free.
Educational content only. Not a substitute for professional care.