Life, Death, & Baby Headbutts w/ Rachel Bloom

five finale of Katie's Crib. And I'm in shock because I can't believe it's been five seasons. And really I'm just so freaking grateful and want to say thank you to you all for listening. Thank you, thank you, thank you with all of my heart. Two was a absolutely wild year. I've got two kids that are like just not babies anymore. They're growing up, they're asking the hard questions,

they're becoming little humans themselves. And thanks to Katie's Crib, I get to take out all my questions and concerns and thoughts here on this podcast with all of you and all of our amazing experts and mamas who are experiencing similar things to just come on, be together and help me learn what the heck I am doing. My Katie's Crib community has been such a source of inspiration

and support this year. And you know what else is hilarious and what I love so much about all of you listeners is that for all the people who come up to me and fans of Scandal and Inventing Anna fans all of that, it's really the Katie's Crib listeners that I feel the most connected to and just find myself laugh crying in the streets. Katie's Crib people will come up to me and be like a great, great, great, yeah, fine,

Scandal amending Anna. No, really, Katie's Crib. It's what's gotten me through some of the most difficult, challenging and rewarding and hard times of my life. And I find myself just hugging and I get it. I feel like we're all in this together, and I'm truly just so appreciative. It means so much to me how you all continue to tune in every week. You're all awesome. Thank you. Now to wrap season five up, the guests that I have here for you all today is the one and

only Rachel Bloom. Rachel Bloom. I have been such a fan of her since she came onto the scene in her show Crazy Ex Girlfriend. I think she's a force. And when I saw on her Instagram that she was pregnant and sharing and all of that, I was like, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, we got to get around Katie's crib. She's a great guest and I'm so

happy to have her. As the season five finale, she talks about the experience of giving birth around the same time that a dear friend of her has died due to COVID nineteen and how that affected her entire experience. She talks about her breastfeeding journey, how her daughters style of breastfeeding. She actually calls it a piranha, which I can definitely relate to. She talks about how parenting is like living in New York, how it's got, you know, all those highs and all those lows, and also how

her daughter once head budded her in the face. So it's a very enjoyable episode. If you don't know who Rachel Bloom is, she's an actress, comedian, writer, singer, songwriter and producer. She's best known for co creating and starring as Rebecca Bunch in the c W musical comedy drama series Crazy Ex Girlfriend. She's received numerous awards, including a Golden Globe Award and a t c A Award in

the Critics Choice Television Award. In a Prime Time Emmy, she was featured in Trolls World Tour opposite to Kendrick and Justin Timberlake. Her other feature voice over credits include Columbia Pictures, Angry Birds, to Warner Brothers Animations, Batman Versus Teenage Turtles, and Netflix's Extinct. Two fifteen, Rachel married actor, comedian and writer Dan Gregor. She gave birth to her first child, Rachel. Welcome to Katie's crib. I'm a fan. Like I'm a real fan of yours. Oh my gosh,

thank you. Likewise, I just think you're the ship. And I don't know if you remember this, but one time, like a night before fancy Hollywood bullshit party, that's really fun. It's actually the most fun one because it's the night before party. I think it's the night before the Emmys. We were crossing each other's paths on the way in or out of the bathroom. And I don't know if I said at the time that I just think you're

so fucking wildly talented, please live, did I? So a couple of things happened that night that might have blocked this out, which is one of my agents basically convinced my husband to be okay with having a kid, Like he made my husband cry at this party. That's big, yes. And then I think this was a party where I was smoking a cigarette, which I rarely do, but I was like fuck it and Mandy Patinkin told me to stop.

I think what was maybe this one? So there were things that happened at this this party because it was the only time I went that might have blocked out your kind words for my memory. Well, if there was ever going to be a thing, let it be both of those. And also, I'm here to tell you now I'm a massive fan and thank you. That party is insane, Like it's just really wonderful because it's where actors feel

we get gussied up, and there's good food. Like my husband just as obsessed because there's like a lobster roll bar and he just like sits and eats all fucking

night long. But it's like, I do think everyone feels a little bit more comfortable to like smoke a cigarette or whatever because there isn't like a roaming photographer or it just feels like a little bit I don't know if you could say safer, but it just feels I've had like I had the fortunate um we got to go with Scandal for a bunch of years, and it was just like always like where I could fan out the most because in such a TV head like I

don't really understand movies or care that much about them, but I fucking love television and I always have. And so when I get to go to that party, I'm like, it's every guest that I love, including Rachel bloom Um, who we have so many friends in coming. I'm just

so glad to have you on. But actually, this Night before Hollywood Shenanigan story brings me to my first question, which is you gave birth to your child during COVID at the same time close close friend of yours passed away due to COVID, and I think it's really weird that the same a party where someone told you not to smoke, maybe so that you wouldn't die is the same night that your husband decided that you may have kids. And I just think that when you become a mom,

it's like death thoughts all the time. And I can't even and that. And that's coming from someone who didn't have a good friend die of COVID. So explained to me, do you have this sick local life death thoughts all the time? Like I do? I do? And I'm actually I've been. I'm working on a live show that I hope to be a film special literally about that that which is the experience of giving birth. I gave birth late March. The night I gave birth, I found out

Adam was sick. I didn't know Adam was sick um and then he basically died the day after we took her home from the hospital because she was also in the nick you And so it was this huge wall of of a death and sickness awareness at once and a big question. And what the show I'm working on is about, how do I live my life knowing that death is real? Knowing I always knew death was real, but like knowing you know, like on a heart level, that death is real and can come any time, but

also not having it paralyzed me. And it was yeah, I mean it was extremely traumatic. It was extremely formative. Uh. And it's funny. I talked to other moms who who gave birth during this time, but because things were changing so much, if you gave birth between like mid March and like June, your experience might not be the same as as someone else. Like so, for instance, there were

fathers banned from delivery rooms. And I actually got induced. Uh. My doctor basically was like, look, we don't know what is going to happen. If the hospitals here anything like New York, we are going to get inundated with patients. So I want to get you in and out of the hospital as quick as possible. Now, what ended up happening was unrelated to me getting induced. My daughter was

in the Nike You. She ended up staying in the hospital for five more days, and I was I was really kind of freaking out because COVID was ramping up and by then I knew Adam was sick, and it was really it was so weird they still didn't have us masking in the Nike You. It's really weird. So so when when I gave birth, it was so early in COVID. I wore a mask into the hospital, my first time wearing a mask anywhere. I took off my mask the second we got to the maternity floor. I

wasn't masked when I gave birth. When when my daughter was in the nike I didn't have to wear a mask. I had to wash my hands. It was the hand washing thing. I didn't wear a mask around my daughter, but I had to like do the whole scrub scrub, scrub your thumb, scrubby wrists thing. And then my husband and I couldn't be in the nikkei at the same time.

That was the COVID regulation that came in. And then by the time we left the hospital, but my daughter was still in the nikke you, my husband could not go back in the hospital period. So my husband didn't see my daughter for until she came until she got home. I just like, there's so much death around us, and it's really hard to like buy in and you gotta start.

And I got my start with my baby too. Like you know, I had the experience where I was waiting in line with pregnant women, like praying for someone to give us a vaccine, and my O b because it wasn't the vaccines, weren't being pregnant, women were not considered high risk yet um in terms of people who were allowed to get vaccinated, and it started to get out that, oh my gosh, if you could get a vaccine, that

might help your baby not get COVID. I mean, anyway we have we are all at this moment living to tell this story, and it's just traumatic. I think what we're all realizing too, is that the past years where there was no pandemic was kind of an anomaly that more of human history than not our war and pandemics. So I think that we're especially shocked because when you don't have hardship and you're in a period of relative like economic boom and safety, to be sincere about things

is not cool. You want to like talk about the fucking darkest ship, and that's not the way life is anymore. Things have cycled back to I mean chaos, which seems to be the stasis more often than not. Yeah, I think we were all like someone came over my house for life fourth and she was like, oh, I'm just realizing, like it was like it was all a lie, but we were like living in it for so long I

mean I definitely was. But to your point, like Shonda Rhymes when she did Scandal, I mean, she's been on record saying like, you know, I don't know how long Scandal would have lasted, but she was the one she made the decision that the show was ending and there

were no more stories to tell. But it was because she's saying, you know, political shows really do well and exist when the lights are on, uh in d C and when things seem you know, like if you look at when west Wing was on, I was just about to say west Wing being a liberal wet dream, right exactly. And same with Scandal, she was like the minute the world when a different direction. She and all of a sudden, it seemed like the d C we were telling about was not even close to as bad as what was

really going on. It just didn't seem fun anymore. Um. Now, talking about your husband, going back to that point, did he not always want to be a parent and someone convinced him at that party? And did you always want to be a parent, Like it was a process. He wasn't totally convinced at that party. So my husband and I've been together almost fourteen years, and so we talked about kids a lot. We were always talking about kids.

I haven't actually an old A O L I AM conversation from when we were just friends, because we've known each other for like seventeen eighteen years, and so we were having an I AM conversation. I like went I went in a while ago printed out all of our old A O L conversations and I'm so glad I did in some of our old G chats, and we have like an early conversation where we were just friends talking about like baby names. I don't know why. It was just it was so random, and I was fully

not dating him. In fact, I was dating one of his friends, so it makes no sense. But umlass, yeah, my husband, he wasn't like never ever, but he's like, I'm edging towards no. I could be convinced. You'd have to like really convince me, and I was mildly on the side of yes, but it wasn't part of my kind of future identity. I wasn't like I want to be a mom. It was just it was more of a I think I want that for myself someday. But you could also convince me no. So we both kind

of always saw both sides. I was more positive, he was more negative, but we were kind of in that middle road, and then he kind of stayed where he was. I got a little more I want this, I want this, I want this is frankly, I felt my biological clock kicking and also crazy X was a majority mom's writer's room. My writing partner, Lean is twenty years older than I am.

She's too now grown kids, and so I spent I started to spend a lot of time practically with moms in the workplace and seeing no, no no, no, you keep your identity while also having kids, and I hadn't. I just hadn't worked with moms much, and so that was also It was definitely a factor, and I don't know, I got him on board, and then I got pregnant right away. He thought we'd be having fun trying for

six months. I got pregnant on the first cycle, poor guy. UM. And then he found out he we were having a girl, and he was that really helped. He really wanted a girl, um for many reasons. And you know, he wasn't wrong. It's really fucking hard, like we were both right. I was right that I wanted to feel that love and have that have that experience, and he was right that it was going to change our fundamental dynamic in our

lives and be really hard. We were both right. It's both things, and it's why I think a lot of people who have kids suddenly become those people who were like, at everyone has to have kids, or you're not having kids?

Why are you having kids? And I think there's a little death protest too much in that, because I think it's maybe the people who do that either they really really love their kids and they want for everyone, or they're trying to continue to tell themselves a story that yes, having this was the right thing to do when everyone needs to do this. I never tell anyone to have a kid, but I'm trying to put myself in that person's shoes, where if I was trying to bargain someone

to like not miss that boat. It's because I'm praying that when I get to the end of my life and I can really look at it, whenever that is, and that split second, I will have said, I'm so grateful I made that choice. I'm so grateful I was a mom to somebody. I'm like you, I see all sides of it. I'm like there are some days where

this is the best fucking thing ever. And there are some days where I'm like, I cannot get on a plane with a fake identity and like a different boyfriend and like just do it different, like because this is so fucking hard. Having a kid is so fucking hard. I mean, one day I was like losing my mind. My daughter was very, very upset. She was screaming, she head butted me in the face, and then thirty minutes later she was playing in a fountain and watching her

it was like, I've never felt such joy. It's like I compared to living in New York the highs or highs and the lows are low. Yes, it's harder than we thought, but we went into this knowing it would be hard. And so I mean, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Like I think a lot of the world's problems are caused by people becoming parents who shouldn't be parents, and then they emotionally and or physically

abuse their children. Uh, and then there these children are humans and adults walking amongst the world who haven't dealt with that horrible trauma and now they're awful. Yes, Like, because you know the world is the world is bad because of trauma, right, and being parents who shouldn't be parents UM is one of the big traumas. And so like, I'm amazed that you have to take a test to drive a car, but there's no test to become parents,

or there's no like required class. It's insane. It's totally insane and the quickest way I feel like why being a parent. One of the many reasons why parenting is hard is because anything you haven't worked out or looked into or looked at about yourself, ah, a light is shine on it, even more so with your child, Like if you have people pleasing issues, or if you have rage issues, or if you have patients issues, or if

you have a horrible relationship with your parents. I mean just all of it is accentuated come to light even further by this child that you've been given UM, And so you've got to work out your own ship if you want to be a good parent. Really, I mean really, Oh, my husband and I did couples therapy when we decided to get pregnant, just just to like preemptively do it, and then we were doing it all throughout us pregnant, like just to do it just to like talk through issues,

talk through Okay, what's our family philosophy? It was awesome, right, Like you don't learn until you get there. But you're like, oh, are we those parents that like fight in front of our kids? Do we not fight in front of our kids? Do we raise our voices? Do we not raise our voices? Do we sit down to a dinner table? Do we not? What happens when the child asks if there's a god?

How do you talk to your children about death? I mean, all of this ship is like big stuff that a lot of times you don't even really have these conversations. A lot of people don't have these conversations with their significant other or partner if there is a partner in this with them. Uh in how to raise a person totally shifting gears, How was your pregnancy, I'd say six, you know, which is about where you and your husband were in the pro and five exactly, I would say sixty, good, forty.

I never threw up. I don't throw up easily. I was so nauseous all the time for the first three and a half four months, and then I got pretty bad back problems, back pain starting at six months to where I had to like carry around a cushion, a personal cushion everywhere we went. I couldn't. Basically, I needed something to be bolstering the small of my back. You've always been a larger size in the breast department, and then I'm sure with pregnancy and breastfeeding that did not

help any back situation. No. So, so it was interesting because I always had big boobs, but but I wasn't unhappy with them. I wasn't like I always had big boobs and I and yeah, there were like pains and I did a song called heavy Boobs and I joke about it. But like I never wanted a reduction or craved reduction. When I got pregnant started breastfeeding, I went from a double triple D to a G very fast, and and the way that my G was it was

just no shape anymore. And I have a short torso, so when you put a shapeless G on a short torso, my breasts were down in my belly button. And I was like, I can't, I can't live my life like so I had a reduction pretty soon. I mean I had a reduction. Mm hmm. It was it was like a year and a half after I gave birth, Wow, and it was great. How was breastfeeding? How was that journey for you? I had a very drama free breastfeeding journey.

I only ever made about four ounces. Um, and my daughter was They were like, I took a like quiz one time, what what style of us feeding as your baby? In her style was called piranha, which is that the second she you put her on the nipples, she just went on ringing, and so she was so hungry, so very quickly I started supplementing with formula just because I even at my fullest, I only ever made four ounces. But but I made and I'm actually still lactating in

my left boob. If I squeeze really hard, I can still get a drop out. It's real weird. Oh yeah. I was with someone who will remain nameless, who hasn't breast been in like seven or eight years, and we were just like squeezing our nipples next to each other in a bathroom because I had a clog, and she just like squeezed out this like green fucking ooze, and I just was like green, that's like the body is insane. The body is so weird. Green. That's interesting, dark, deep

like Kale Green. Yeah, I don't know. It's like super colostrum, right, I think, So, how is your actual labor? I had had this thing. I I basically had I guess what you'd call Braxton Hicks because every time in my last two months of pregnancy, every time I had to go to the bathroom, I'd start getting up cramps like contractions, And then every time I went to the bathroom, I'd get cramps again. It was just I think the way that the bladder putting pressure maters, so I was getting induced.

The first thing they do before they give you the potoson is they give you a sailin. They just they hydrate you with fluids. So what this do was it's supercharged my bladder. It made me feel like I was already going into labor, like I couldn't tell. I was like, wait, am I going into labor right now? Because they it was filling my bladder. I kept having to disconnect my

wires go to the bathroom. Finally, I tried to fall asleep on a bedpan trying to get there, like trying to get some They were like trying to get some sleep before you go into labor. And this was like three am. I checked in midnight. At this point it's three thirty am. I tried to sleep. I couldn't sleep. I went up to go to the bathroom one more time and then the contraction started kicking in from the potosan and it felt like someone kicked me in the back.

Within twenty minutes, I had the epidural. I knew I wanted the epidural. They came in and they were like, what's your pain goal? And I and I was like two. And they're like, okay, so you wanna have a little pain. I was like, can I say zero? Because I never I was never one of those people who was like, no, I'm going for natural birthway. My husband said something interesting, which is and this is controversial, but he said that women opting for no pain relief during childbirth. It's the

equivalent of guys being like, how much can you bench? Bro? There's a there's a pride in how much pain you felt. That is a way I think some women lord over other women. For me, I have a very low pain tolerance. I am not having a baby to give birth. Epidurals are wonderful. They're very effective, they're very safe and very calm. And so I always knew I wanted an epidural. Um. The epidural was painful. I mean, I mean I knew it. I kind of basically, I didn't read up on how

painful and epidural was because I knew it would be painful. Um. But I remember, right before getting the epidural, and I was in labor, I said to my husband, I'm only doing this once, as if he was the one who pushed me to have a baby. He was like, okay, yeah. And then I got the epidural. Oh, and then they put a cafeter in me. Did you feel that? Oh? My god, no, I didn't you so relieved because you

didn't stop worrying about belief. I fell asleep and there was a bag around my ankle filling with piss and I loved it. And my doctor woke me up to break my water, and then she woke me up again to be like, you're dilated. You need to start pushing. So I was like, so, I like, I woke up to push. My labor was twenty minutes when I started actually pushing. Uh, And which is interesting because they say

epidurals extend labor. So my doctor was like, ha, do you not at the epidural, it might have gone even like faster, which is crazy. Um. And then my daughter was born with fluid inter lungs. And it's hard because, like I sometimes blame myself. I'm like, oh, was my labor short because I had an epidural? Did I do that to her? Did her lungs get not expressed enough fluid? And it's like, no, that this happens to babies all the time. It's a thing called T t N, which

stands for transitory. It's where in your baby as fluid and their lungs And that was crazy. That's my labor T t N, which again, what is that stand for? Again, I've actually never heard the technical medical term. Yeah, T t N here, I'm gonna look it up right now. Transient tack to kypnea of the newborn. Oh. I see after delivery as a baby breeze for the first time, the lungs fell with air and more fluid is pushed out. Um. Babies with T t M have just extra fluid in

their lungs. Um. And it's specifically called transient because it doesn't last long and doesn't have any effect on development. When she came out, was it obvious right away that she was having a hard time breathing and there was fluid in the lung? Yeah, yeah, I have it on. I actually have it on, and it's like and it's like you can tell she's going like I mean, like, that's my impression of a baby trying to cry. I didn't know because I had nothing to compare to. But

my doctor knew instantly. Was she bluish so purple just just which I already knew she'd be, because like babies coming out are pretty purple in general, but like she was like purple. Wow, how what a wild wild I can't imagine just being in COVID and like having this problem, with this feeling of like wanting to just get your baby out of there. Maybe if the hospital was proving seeming like something that was like not a safe place to be in. Each pass an hour and day less

and less, so it was getting very stressful. So so she was in the NIKE for five days. And then I had a psychiatrist at the time who has since died, which is a whole other presence of death in my life. Um, my psychiatrist knew the head of the hospital, and he was like he was like, what does your daughter have Again? I was like, she was t TN and he's like, hump, why are they keeping her? I was like, I guess to rule out infection and he's like, I think they're

keeping her as a formality. He's like, you need to get her. You should get her out of the hospital soon. Let me call the head of that He knew the head of the hospital. So because my psychiatrist knew the guy around this hospital, I think they went to college together. Um. I got her out two days sooner. Wow. Wait, speaking about your psychiatrists, this is another thing I really want to talk to you about. So you you were on

medication I'm not sure which one, but previously before getting pregnant. Yeah, yeah, prozac. I just want to talk to being on medication during pregnancy, during breastfeeding, and how you came to that decision, what your support team of professionals looked like, etcetera. No one ever said I should go off, I asked my psychiatrist, I asked my O B du I N. I guess if i'd maybe been on a higher dosage. I'm on ten milligrams of prozac, which is kind of the minimum dose.

Maybe if i'd been on higher dosages, they would have talked about scaling back. But not only are s SR eyes which stand which are antidepressants. It stands for I believe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Uh not only are they do they not affect a baby, but but the but the risk, The thing you want is for a calm mother S SR eyes helped that. So I was never

counseled to go off the whole time. Did you feel any postpartum depression anxiety at all considering you were dealing with also a death of a friend or was it almost too I don't even know. I don't know. I mean, here's the thing is, I don't I think I had postpartum anxiety. I really I also had like pre part of anxiety. I've always had trouble with so I have generalized anxiety disorder, which can sometimes go into intrusive thinking

which crosses into O c D land. So during big periods of my life, whether it be good or bad, just I will sometimes get intrusive thoughts because my brain goes to like, I don't know, my brains in high anxiety mode, and so it goes into intrusive thoughts because that's just how my brain chemistry works sometimes. So I did have some intrusive thinking. Around the time I gave I had some depression, especially my first trimester. The nausea

didn't help. And then I had some heightened anxiety around the time I gave birth, and then Adam died and we were in a pandemic, and I was depressed and I had a newborn. So I can't really, I can't tell you. It was just all really confusing. Okay, So March twin to me, so she's she's over to now,

so she's over too. Was there ever a moment where you woke up and you felt like yourself through all of that, like you ever were like a year and a half have gone by and you're like, I'm starting to I mean, yeah, pockets, there were always pockets of that. They're always pockets of feeling like myself. I think that

the journey has been integrating the two. A part of my brain that is a mother and caring for my child feels like a completely different part of my brain than who I am is like a writer and after performer, a friend. Even sometimes I feel that way. Do they're just kind of apples and oranges, and it's why like when we had moms in the Crazy ex Writer's room, we had like a baby room, and I was like

surprised they didn't bring their kids in more. But now I get it because it's two different parts of your brain,

almost especially when your kids are really little. Yeah, it's it's so romanticized in my head that I always have my kids if I'm were you know, I just worked on a project that it was like, you know, I was working eighteen hour days for a month, and of course I have my kids visit as much as possible, but I always realize it's like that's like it's just not great because my mind is in a different place when you're working and you're in that sort of vibe

and it's like there, it's it's it's hard when you're when you get your thirty minute lunch break and I just go into I'm like, okay, just meeting my trailer and let me do thirty minutes of like mommying, like I'm gonna breastfeed he and I'm gonna make him feel connection and all this ship and it's like it's just they are two different parts of my being in a way. They function differently, and to sort of cram one into the other is probably why your writers weren't bringing them

in the room more. Yeah, you just it's just two different It's just it's two different things. And I think I'm slowly integrating the part of myself. I also was isolated for for a year because of COVID, So like I very again, like I can only talk about my experience as I had it. I'd be interested in the parallel universe where COVID didn't happen, what it was like for me, because when everyone locked down, I was locked down with a baby, and no one really met her.

People would come to our front yard and see her outside, but but like most people didn't meet her until she was over a year, and in fact, there was just um oh, she was a flower She was a flower girl at my friend's wedding, and it was the first time some people met her, and that finally almost felt like a coming out party of like, hey, everyone, I have a kid now, Like I felt like I went to hibernation and came out with a kid. So I'm slowly integrating those two parts of of myself. And it's

because they're just they're just two different things. Were you right in the in the in when you were giving birth to your daughter and you said, this is the only time I'm doing this. Do you still feel that way? Yeah, I think we're a one and done situation. I mean, I could be wrong, but for numerous reasons, I think the best version of our family is having one um. Part of the way I sold my husband on it is like, let's do this one time. Let's have this

beautiful one time experience. And then, aside from everything else, I gotta say, the circumstances of her birth, through no fault of hers, were fucking traumatic and I don't really want to go through that again. I think it would be reliving some trauma in a way. But but aside from everything, I think we're a one in done And I was an only child, so that's a template I know. And she's the best. I love her. We're wrapping up, but I really want to talk to you because my

mom I read something that you. Your mom made you play an instrument. I believe there was something in your house of like Mozart saying you'll thank me one day, kid, or oh my god. Yes, I don't know where you read that, but yes, we had yes. And you know, we pick and choose whatever things we were raised with that we agree or disagree, or pass on or don't. But one of the things you are passing on is that you would like your daughter to play an instrument.

It doesn't matter which one, but she's got to play something. And my mom made me play piano till I was eighteen. Oh my god. We used to fucking fight Rachel fucking Hem and Hall like please every single fucking day, joke, I mean not every day, every Tuesday for fucking thirteen years. Joe comes over at five thirty is me at six o'clock was my brother, and she fucking forced us. And I have to say, I'm so you are right. You win.

Your mom wins, My mom wins. I don't know what else better I thought I would be doing at that time, that I have like a nice parlor trick in my back pocket, that I can fucking play a piano and I can read a note, and like I have that other language and I have that as it's such a gift. I wish she had done the same thing for the language. To be honest, I like, you know what I mean, Like now, I'm like shit, I know, I feel a little guilty. I thought, Oh, I'll raise her bilingual or whatever. No,

or all just speaking English. So are you hoping for a instrument or do you really not care? I don't care. She really likes playing our piano. We have two pianos in the house. She loves playing them. I gotta say she's already matching pitch. If I sing a song, she's already singing. Or my kids, And let me tell you, I was fucking relieved. I think that's genetic. Also, someone will remain nameless on Scan. But we were a big singing cast on Scandal. It's so funny because such a

dramatic show. But as soon as they would call cut on any single world, we were all singing at all times. And my favorite, one of my favorite people on the show is incredibly tone deaf, like for real, like cannot hit a note that anyone around them is singing. It's insane, and I'm I'm feeling I felt really great when I sing a song or my husband sings a song, and our son can just match whether we modulate or whatever. He's like, there, aren't we relieved? Oh my god, I'm

so relieved. One of the potential names. This isn't her name, but one of the potential names we had for at one point was Melody. And then my Alean pointed out, She's like, that is just asking for a child to be tone deaf. Really really, you're right, I'm not gonna curse her with that. But she loves that. And then we have a little toy guitar she loves playing, So I'm fine with whatever. Why is it so important to

you that she does play something? I think what you're saying it's it's just the skill that you can always have. I think it helps you. Music is another language, and I think it's a very important language. And to just be keyed into what that language is, I think it extends to so many other things in life, and then you can like bust out, you know, good riddance to the party. Hell yeah, walking in Memphis or some ship that's my husband's always go to. Um okay, very quickly,

where does religion come to play in your household? Uh? Well, I wanted the age where the kid is like asking lots accused. I mean I wanted to know ifive for some more than I do. I wanted to do the holidays, I wanted to understand the culture because my husband and I are both Jewish, and but it's it's a cultural thing, got it. Yeah, it's a cultural tradic You want to give her traditions that you enjoyed and loved and partook and would like to actually know more about. I was

raised pretty secular, to be honest. So I think there's a there's a happy medium between how I was raised, which is like, I mean, I don't regret it, but I dropped out of Hebrew School when I was around eight because I wanted to do theater on the weekend, so I wasn't bough mitzvah. So I was raised very secular. My husband was raised he would say conservatives. He went to Yeshiva until he was thirteen. He kept Kosher until in college. He rapped, you know, he prayed every day.

He rapped to fill in so some some some medium and he and he would say technically conservative, but compared to I think Los Angeles Jews, it's technically like conservati docs but like they call it conservative, but like also he's rapping to fill in um. So I think the happy medium between those things. Breastfeeding in public, did you don't you did you care? Oh my god, I have a little balcon I have a balcony in my house

that overlooks the entire street. The amount of people who must have seen my tips had they just looked up? I don't care. You're such an exhibitionist. You just are have you always? Uh? Well, I don't go around showing my tits normally, although I did go topless at Radio City Music Hall, So I guess I am um, No, I just it's just if your breastfeeding, it's how your kid is fucking eating. It's just they're not sexual objects anymore.

It's like this is this is my kids, Fawcett, Fuck you yea and fun and fuck you for not being able to control your fucking boner because that's what it is. Yeah, it's your fucking problem. It's not my fucking problem. It's not my problem. It's not my problem that you're such a monster that you can't control your fucking boner around me doing with my breasts what they're like naturally supposed to be doing. Like, it's control your boner because I'm

feeding my baby, you weirdo. I'm so grateful that you made time to come on Katie's Crib. I'm so interested to hear about the project in your show you're working on for I'm gonna put my email. I'm gonna put my email in the chat to you right now. Okay, great. I want everyone to listen and look out for whatever you're working on that is about the local nature of life and death and motherhood. Yeah. Check it out. It's like a live show. I'm doing a live show. Yeah.

Oh yeah, yeah, it's like a live special I'm working on. When is that, uh it goes up. I've been putting it up at this theater Dynasty Typewriter, So it goes up next July sevent and then it'll go up again in August and then again in September, and I've just been kind of doing it. Non negotiable. Must come everyone listening, if you're listening in this airs of that time, everyone must go. Um finish this sentence, Rachel Bloom. Parenthood is parenthood is living in New York City. The highs or

highs and the lows are low. Brilliant answer we've never had. It makes perfect sense to me. Um. Thank you so much for coming on Katie's Crib. This was such a joy and I hope you have a wonderful uh time putting your kid down tonight and on your family dog walk. Thank you, thank you for having me all right, guys, Wow, we did it. That's it. That's our last episode of season five. Thank you to all my awesome guests this season for being so brave and for sharing your personal

experiences and advice. And always thank you listeners for subscribing and spreading the word about Katie's Crib. Yes, the season maybe ending, but don't you worry season six who We'll be coming at you in There's so many more topics to explore and share it. In the meantime, be sure to email me the names of guests that you want to hear from or topics that you'd like me to talk about. You can always reach me at Katie's Crib

at Shanda land dot com. Oh, make sure you also subscribe to the show so that you'll be the first to know when season six is returning. And of course, if you haven't done so already, follow Katie's Crib on Instagram and Twitter. Will be dropping news there too for when the new season drops. Until then, see you all in season six. I Love you. Katie's Crib is a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with I heart Radio.

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