OT Uncorked

I’ve been keeping a little secret these past few months! I’m so happy to announce that my husband and I are pregnant with our first child. In today’s episode, I had the pleasure of talking to my friend and fellow OT mama podcaster, Sarah Putt, MA, OTR/L about everything pregnancy. We talk about the many (and frequent) transitions in pregnancy, from our identity, changing occupations, symptoms, and so much more.

Show Notes

Guest: Sarah Putt, MA, OTR/L
Topics we Uncorked:
  • Pregnancy updates
    • Sarah was 36 weeks at time of recording and is now mom of one month old Baby A!
    • I was 17 weeks pregnant at the time of recording and am now 24 weeks pregnant!
  • Occupational transitions of pregnancy
    • Identity 
      • The moments that remind us of our new identity as “mom”
      • Telling our husbands they were dads
      • Sarah shares about her identities as both an OT who specializes in early intervention and a new mom
      • I share about my experience with having health conditions that are highly associated with infertility and the relief of finding out we had conceived
      • Changing expectations of ourselves 
        • Asking for help
    • Changes to our occupations
      • How our identities and patterns of participation (high achieving, active, always doing something new and challenging, etc.) and symptoms (being exhausted, pregnancy brain fog) collide
      • Adapting our ADLs (dressing, donning shoes, changing diet)
      • Difficulty focusing and multitasking at work 
      • Podcast interviewing and the difficulties of pregnancy brain (hello word finding difficulties)
      • Changing workouts and activity patterns
      • Projects that we wanted to do together with our spouses
        • Our home renovation “DIY”
        • Sarah and Ray’s furniture refurbishing 
      • Grocery shopping is exhausting
        • Carrying bags
        • Walking around the store
    • Pregnancy symptoms and how we’re coping
      • Symptoms people talk about 
      • Symptoms people DON’T talk about
      • The first trimester symptoms and experiencing them without others knowing we’re pregnant
      • Second trimester “surge” of energy
      • Third trimester (aka the return of the first trimester)
      • Pregnancy brain
        • I always thought this was a secondary effect of being tired, but pregnancy brain is REAL
    • Using our OT brains to help us adapt
  • Finding the right health team 
    • Seeking help and validation when we’re concerned 
    • Not sure if you should call your OB to ask a question? Sarah and I had that question, too. Calling or messaging our practitioners gave us peace of mind and empowered us!
  • Being pregnant during a pandemic
    • Pros
      • Wearing yoga pants to work! (aka my living room...)
      • Our spouses are home with us, too, and can be part of the daily ups and downs of being pregnant
      • Easier to keep pregnancy to yourself when you’re socializing and working over Zoom
      • Strangers don’t randomly approach to touch your belly
    • Cons
      • Going to appointments alone
      • Inability to celebrate and share this life milestone with people in the ways we had hoped
      • Additional fears of how to best protect ourselves and our babies during a pandemic
      • Social isolation layered with being pregnant and wanting social connection
  • Lessons learned from being pregnant that will make us better therapists
  • Our favorite pregnancy “hacks”
Wine we Uncorked:
  • None! These two pregnant ladies enjoyed their favorite flavor of water (plain 'ol tap water)
  • In episodes 27 through 30 of OT Uncorked, which were recorded since I became pregnant, I “reviewed” wines instead of drinking wine during the episode… did you notice the subtle shift in my wording? I felt clever! Now that the secret’s out, I want my listeners to know that those reviews were based on notes I took about wines pre-pregnancy. In some cases, I let my guest review a wine they were enjoying (check out Lindsey Vestal’s AMAZING wine review in Episode 30!)  
Resource Recommendations:
Check out our favorite pregnancy resources:
More from OT Uncorked: 
*Show notes may contain affiliate links. By purchasing a product through an affiliate link, OT Uncorked will receive a small commission from your sale, at no extra cost to you. 


What is OT Uncorked?

OT Uncorked is a podcast for wine-loving OTs, pairing wine and hot topics in occupational therapy. Hosted by Miranda Rennie and featuring guests from the profession, OT Uncorked was created to learn from people doing ordinary and extraordinary work across OT settings and share resources with other practitioners. Miranda is an OT who is passionate about providing holistic care for people with neurologic conditions. She is a small-town East Coaster living in Los Angeles, CA. Miranda hopes you will join her in uncorking hot topics and wine, discovering what’s new and relevant in the profession!