In this week’s episode of The Anastasiya Podcast, I dive right back into peeling the layers of this new season of life: motherhood. Reaching for gratitude: daily, is once again at the top of the list. I share my thoughts on how not all motherhood is created equally, how wanting what we don’t have shows up even in this season, and how I want to remember these years of my life.

“Surviving, not thriving” is a phrase often coined in motherhood, and I want to challenge it. When I look back on the season spent growing our family and pouring into our littles, I don’t want to remember these years in shades of grey because I was just “surviving.” There has to be a better way, and I’m in pursuit of finding it!

In this episode of The Anastasiya Podcast, I talk about my very complicated relationship with social media after taking the entire month of January off. Like every social media hiatus I’ve ever taken (because yes, I do this often), it felt amazing. I didn’t miss it. Not even a little. Life was quieter, clearer, and somehow I had so much more time… shocking.

What’s interesting is that I’m not even consuming political or sensationalized content. I’m watching wholesome videos about families, kids, and funny moments that genuinely make me think, “Oh my gosh, I love people!” And yet, the second I put my phone down, I feel physically sick. Instant cyber sickness and real remorse over free time I somehow donated to the algorithm.

I reflect on how much content we absorb in even one minute on social media and how quickly that multiplies without us noticing. Twenty minutes goes by, and we’re maxed out long before we realize it, smiling at our phones. I don’t have a perfect solution or a polished plan moving forward. I just know I still deeply love and hate social media... and for me, there truly is no in-between!

In this solo episode, I’m sharing a few real-life updates before diving into a topic that stopped me in my tracks. I started reading a book last week that referenced a study by Dr. Edward Wilson on the innate biological differences between men and women. Learning (or re-learning) that men produce new sperm for their entire lives, while women are born with every egg they will ever have, sent me down a deep rabbit hole - one that made me seriously reflect on my own fertility and biological timeline.

That curiosity turned into a deep dive into what our fertility actually looks like after thirty, and the data around conception after 35–37 was a genuine jaw-dropper. And that’s assuming everything else is in optimal shape: hormones, sperm health, stress levels, nutrition & overall wellness. It became very clear why so many women and couples in their 30s and 40s are facing fertility struggles, and why this conversation matters more than ever.

This episode isn’t meant to scare or pressure anyone. For me, it was about giving myself permission to sit with the facts, absorb the data, and re-evaluate what I want for our family. And once I did that, I knew I wanted to share this information with my female listeners so we can make honest, empowered, informed choices instead of relying on narratives that may not tell the full truth.