Growing Together, Not Apart, In Parenthood
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How does becoming a parent change daily life, sleep, and a marriage?
I remember taking a pregnancy test and I remember thinking, I can't tell him yet. Is this what he wants? I just didn't know because he was chasing this dream in the NFL. I was like, I can't throw this on him as he's going for three of the most important, you know, tryouts that he had. And so I remember I waited to tell him and I have never been so terrified in my life. Mm-hmm. Hey. Can I talk to you about something? I wish you knew.
I wish you knew how lonely Menopause felt.
I wish you knew why it's so hard for men to share their feelings. I wish you knew what it was like growing up in a low-income family.
I wish you knew how hard it was not having a college degree. I wish you knew what it's like to be me.
Welcome back to Mind If We Talk, where you get to be a fly on the wall for mini therapy sessions and learn some mental health tips in the process. I'm your host, Srila Roy Green, a licensed mental health counselor with over 19 years of experience. Today, we're talking about one of the most beautiful and quietly destabilizing transitions a couple can go through: becoming parents. Having a child changes everything, your schedule, your sleep, your sense of self, and often your relationship too. You and your partner suddenly have to make room for someone new, someone who needs constant care and attention, and yet we don't often talk about what a child can really do to a marriage. Those experiences tend to stay behind closed doors.
But the couples who fare the best are not the ones who never struggle. They're the ones who find ways to stay connected through the struggle. Today we're speaking with Sean Johnson, the renowned American gymnast and Olympic. Gold medalist and Andrew East, a former NFL athlete who's played for the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders. Sean and Andrew have been married for 10 years and are parents to three children. But their journey into parenthood wasn't always straightforward. It began with an unplanned pregnancy, followed by a miscarriage, and later a difficult experience with postpartum depression, That neither of them fully saw coming. The two were deeply candid and vulnerable in sharing their parenthood journey with me.
Later in our episode, I'll sit down with BetterHelp licensed therapist Sonny Williams. We'll talk about what's really happening psychologically and emotionally when couples navigate pregnancy loss, postpartum, and the identity shift that comes with becoming parents. And we'll get into some practical tools you can use too. Let's get to talking. Thank you both again for joining us today, Sean and Andrew. It's a real pleasure and honor to meet you both and have this opportunity to get to know you both. Want to start off by talking a little bit about both your families and your family dynamics growing up. How do you feel that influenced your perspective on marriage, children, building your own family?
I actually think that's one of the greatest gifts both of our families gave us. My parents. got married and they were sixteen. They came from very, very troubled and very hard upbringings and they were the escape from that for each other. They met when they were twelve. And They had a hard marriage. They they fought and they had so many things to work through. They ended up having me when they were 32. And I'm only child and And but I never saw them quit on each other. Ever. And it was the greatest gift I was ever given as a child because even to today they we live on the same property. We see them every single day. They are Some of my like absolute best friends in life. Which comes with its hardships as well.
Sure.
But In raising a family. Seeing them day after day after day fight for each other. Even though it wasn't always easy, I think gave me the gift in our relationship of saying, like, we're gonna fight. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna go through a lot of hard things that aren't pretty. But you know what? I'm never I'm never gonna leave. I will be here forever.
Yeah. My parents uh my parents were high school sweethearts. They uh they met in high school and then
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How does becoming a parent change daily life, sleep, and a marriage?
0:00–5:45
2
What fears and decisions arise when facing an unexpected pregnancy?
5:45–8:25
3
How do couples cope with miscarriage and the grieving process together?
8:25–13:41
4
In what ways does parenthood transform communication between partners?
13:41–16:58
5
How can partners recognize and address postpartum depression and feeling misunderstood?
16:58–22:51
6
Why did therapy become essential for this marriage and what improvements did it bring?
22:51–36:57
7
What expert strategies help identify postpartum mood disorders and support a partner?
36:57–46:38
8
How can couples protect their connection and intentionally schedule joy during parenting?
46:38–56:07