Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen - The Summer Check-In!

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Rachel, Olivia, and Kevin catch up on all the latest summer happenings. Kevin shares exciting news about the newest addition to his family, while Rachel and Olivia dive into their adventures around the world. Together, they reflect on what it takes to stay present through the chaos and joy of summer! Watch this episode on YouTube!Like the show? Rate Broad Ideas 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and SpotifyThis is a Headgum podcast. Follow Headgum on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok. Advertise on Hollywood Handbook via Gumball.fm If you're struggling with OCD or unrelenting intrusive thoughts, NOCD can help. Book a free 15 minute call to get started: https://learn.nocd.com/broadideasSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a Headgum podcast. Hax is back for its fifth and final season, and so is the Hacks podcast. Join the Hacks creators and showrunners, Lucia and Yellow, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky as they unpack the Emmy-winning comedy series. On each episode, here's stories from the set, what goes on in the writer's room, and how these beloved characters close out their final season. Watch Hax streaming exclusively on HBO Max and listen to The Hacks podcast. on HBO Max or wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes we'll talk about dogs and kids and things. We'll talk about chicks and tampon strings. We'll talk about boys and...

Because people die. Welcome to Brad Ideas. Summer check-in. The summer edition. School's out. No pun intended. That's right. Girls gone wild.

I don't know what. Imagine if that, like, there's no way this day and age that that ever would exist. Girls gone wild? Yeah. Why? What do you mean why? What do you even mean? Why wouldn't it exist?

Wouldn't fly. Have you seen Onlyfans? Okay, fair. Yeah. I mean... I think it would actually thrive. Speaking of Onlyfans, Kevin has an announcement. I have a new fan.

I've become a new fan of someone. My newborn son, Desmond. I'm a dad now. Yay, congratulations. And I work with probably 10 hosts right now, and Rachel and Olivia were the very first host to know before anyone else. And so they got the debut announcement. And, yeah, you guys.

were here pretty early on and we had so much baby stuff in the living room and I was like I think I'm just going to tell them. Yeah. Yeah. We were told by default, but I did say, Lou, when you were off, I was like, we probably wouldn't have even noticed like there was like boxes of car seats, whatever. Like it wouldn't even phase us. We would have been like, oh, yeah.

I don't think we would have noticed. No. I really don't. I really don't. But I will say I did get an intuitive hit that day because I didn't know when you were going to have the baby. But all of a sudden out of nowhere, I was like, where's the baby? And you're like, actually a few hours away. Yeah.

Yep. So, yeah, there's a lot of interesting like numerology stuff with him where he was born on July 8th. So 708. And he was born at 708 a.m. What? Eight pounds, eight ounces. and he's 20.25 inches when he was born. So 2025.

So it was like 708 at 708 a.m. 8.8 and then 708, 2025 and 20.25 and 20.25 inches. Like 78, 25 pops up like. So, of course, a bunch of like family members got lot of tickets with all those numbers. That's cute. But yeah, kind of crazy. We were kind of, I mean, selfishly, I was kind of hoping my grandma's birthday was on the seventh. And so we induced on the six, but it was like a 30-hour induction. And so we ended up having him on the eighth.

But I don't know, he has his own, you know, his own day now and stuff. And all of the numbers popping up was pretty wild. So that is crazy. Yeah, it was nuts. We love numbers. Yeah. We're very into numbers. I know Olivia has her 33 shirt on.

That's so crazy. But how did it all go for Leah? Like, was she okay? She was okay. Yeah, we, everything went well. I think we were just, yeah, like I said, the induction was a day and a half. And so it's just like we were in the hospital from like Sunday to Wednesday, which I kind of naively thought like, we'll pop in Sunday and we'll probably be out the door Monday morning. And it's like, oh, that's not always how it works. So we're there a little bit longer than we thought we were going to be, but he is super healthy and happy and stuff. And, yeah, it's been great. So tomorrow he'll be two weeks old.

So you guys are my first, you're the first host to know and you're my first official podcast recording sense. So you're getting all the first here on Broadway. We are. Yeah. We feel special and we're very grateful. That's so sweet. Why can I, why was she in Duke?

Was there like a... No, we were just talking about... It was kind of encouraged by the OBs because Leah is 35 and he was a very... It appeared like he was going to be a pretty big baby. He was like 92nd percentile. And so they were like, we really encourage... And they said older mommies, which Leah was not a fan of.

They said, we really encourage... It's hysteriatric. I know. It's crazy. Yeah, they said we really encourage older mommies to induce a week early. It goes smoother and safer, especially with big babies. And so we were like, okay, when's a good time? And they said, like, roughly these dates and stuff. So we're like, all right, great.

We're going to go to our favorite hot dog place down by the hospital and then go straight to the hospital. Wait, what's the favorite hot dog place? It's called Tony's Darts Away. It's in Burbank. It's actually like a bar restaurant. So we had like a chivalry. chili dog and I had a beer and then we went to the hospital. That is amazing.

That is also very brave of her to eat a chili dog before childbirth. Yes, yeah. I guess it was, I think I got the chili dog and she got something else. But it definitely was like, well, and we were told like with the epidural, you can't eat the entire time you have it. And so she was like, I want to eat as much as I can because she ended up not being able to eat for essentially like 25 hours or 27 hours or something. So I'm glad we went there and loaded up on hot dogs and fries and stuff. And it was a nice like last little, we went out to

breakfast that morning and then we like had a little, you know, date lunch where we got the hot dogs at our favorite spot and then went straight to the hospital. That's so sweet. Wait, is this a spot worth trying? Uh, maybe. I mean, it's kind of like a dive bar in Burbank, but I love it. And it just has a bunch of, it's very like union strong too. It's a lot of like grips and like,

dudes and like black t-shirts covered in tats, playing Ozzy Osbourne. And I'm like, I love it. I think it's a blast. But yes, definitely not a fancy place. But yeah, it's called Tony's Darts Away. And they have a great vegan option, vegan menu,

which is kind of small. surprising. Yeah. So yeah, that was our little, I actually wrote out some questions and that was one that I didn't think to write down for you guys. Do you remember what you're doing like before and like leading up to it? Yes. The birth of your kids? What was it? Yeah, for sure. I was watching the office and it was like 11 something at night on my due date. Mm-hmm. And I went into labor listening to Michael Scott. Nice.

And all I remembered was Michael Scott needs to shut the fuck up. It was like the worst thing you could hear was my friend's not talking while you're going into labor. And yeah, puking, everything. It was real, real intense for me. And then we drove to the hospital. My mom's water broke watching SNL. Same thing, like on a Saturday night. Really?

Like comedy thing. Yeah, but who was talking? I know that's a good question. I've tried to look it up to you because it was everyone. I hope it was also like Steve Carell. How the people bother you that wouldn't tend to. No. Like I'm obsessed with Michael Scott.

Like, you know, it's insane. But like, but, you know, like, but hearing him in that moment was probably the worst thing that could have happened to me. Well, it's kind of like when you have food poisoning, you associate whatever happened that evening with that event. and you don't want anything to do with it for a long time. Right. Michael Scott and I've been broken up for 10 years. That's how I felt about penis. Oh, yeah, you were mad.

I was like, it felt like going back to the restaurant that gave me food poisoning. You know, I was like, I want nothing to do with that. That not only makes me sick, it ends up putting me in surgery. You know? I had an aversion to it. I was like, that's for someone else. Yeah. I remember I was, so there's a restaurant in Studio City called Coyote, and they have a salad called The Salad.

I ate that that night as well. We had talked about that too, yeah. Yeah. It's famous. I ate it that at the night before. and then I got it to go and had more that morning and was laying in my pool. And I just went in for a regular checkup. Yeah.

And they were like, you're in labor. Wow. And I was like, what? I don't even feel it. Like, I didn't even feel it yet, but I was showing contractions. You didn't feel contractions? Oh, oh, I ended up feeling them. But when we went to the checkup, they put me on the machine.

And this is the thing that sucks about having a husband that's a doctor is that I was watching him read the machine. And I could see that he didn't look right. Like his face didn't look right. And so we were sitting there and they came back in and they were like, you're in labor. And he walked out of the room with the tech. And I was like, what in the fuck? No. And then they came back in and they said, well,

you're in labor and you're going to have to get yourself together and go to the hospital now we're having a baby. Wow. And I was like so flabbergasted, but Elliot wasn't, his heart kept dropping. And so they had to induce. And it was like this whole scary event, but watching Jeff watch that monitor was horrendous. I was like, and I could tell he didn't want me to know what was going on because obviously they went outside. Yep.

You can see the heart dropping. The heart was dropping. Which can, like, happen during contractions, too, which is scary. Yes, but I guess, like, the degree in which it was happening, they weren't comfortable with. Sure, yeah. We had a slightly similar thing where the, when Leo went into labor, it was me and two nurses and the doctor who, was like helping with the labor didn't really have the best like poker face and so every contraction it was like push push and then leo would do the breathing and stuff and then the two nurses would be like

okay great job you know that was a really good one we're seeing a lot of progress but the main doctor would kind of go like hmm um and she was like kind of like looking up and look but she would never say like hey that was really good or anything sort of like positive or like reinforcing any anything And so eventually Leah just went, what's happening? Like every time I do this, you're just like looking up into the sky. And she was like, oh, I'm like doing geometry because I'm trying to find the best angle to push and how I can grab X, Y, and Z. But we did kind of have to say like, okay, that makes sense. But when we're doing these, you look like it's not going well, which is kind of scary.

So the kind of like lack of poker face is super interesting. She terrifying. And then I remember once they called it, after 48 hours of induction and everything, they called a C-section. And I remember being like so terrified. And then I went in and the doctor, I just remember the energy of the nurse that came in. they called in a special nurse. And so right when that happened, I knew we were going into surgery because she came in before they told me we were going into a C-section.

And her energy was just so positive. She walked in the room. She was like, all right, we're going to have a baby, you know? And I was like, okay. And she's like, I got called in specially. And so I was like, oh, we're going into a C-section. And then when we got in there, they turned up them. music and they were like having a party and they're like this is a celebration we're having a

birthday party let's go cute and i just remember that mixed with like the the birth shakes did you get those rachel the birthquakes not that i remember horrible um we had we had a kind of similar thing where, like I said, she was in labor for four hours. And at that point, and I think they're supposed to be around three to four. And the doctor was like, I think we should do a C-section. And Leo was like, I don't really want to. I feel like we're very close. And she's like, I'm going to call her in. And she called her in. And the C-section, like, surgeon doctor was like, no, she's really close. Like, you don't need me. Also, I have. a scheduled C-section in 25 minutes, so we'd have to rush this.

And Leo was like, yeah, I don't want to rush. Oh, my gosh. I don't want to rush the C-section. And so, and then, and then Olivia and I were chatting a little bit about this last week. But because he was born at 708, they do a shift change every 12 hours at 7 a.m. So basically, minutes before he is born, like several people leave and several people come in. And then a new doctor comes in, who is like a hardcore New Yorker who just starts like kind of screaming in a way that I think gave everyone a burst of energy because everyone else was very like nice and soft spoken. But she came in and she was like, I'm a New Yorker.

Let's do this. Go push! And she was like screaming at Leah. And then shortly after had the baby. So, but yeah, it was stressful at the shift change, which actually leads perfectly to an insane story that I have, which is because it was at the shift change, the doctor handed me the scissors to cut the umbilical cord and said, he's going to be born any minute. I have to leave. I am handing you the scissors to cut the umbilical cord. This is literally what she said verbatim. You will know when the moment. is right. And she walked away and I did not see her again. And I was just like, okay. So I just held scissors, obviously pointing down for the next 10 minutes. So then the New Yorker doctor says,

okay, who's cutting the umbilical cord? So I walk over, hold up the scissors and I go, it's me. And I start to go over and she goes, no, no, everyone screams. What are you doing? No. And I was like, oh, sorry. She was like, I have to clamp it. Stop. I was like, okay, I wasn't really given like I was just told like you'll know when the moment is right and apparently I did not oh my gosh yeah I was like let's do this and like 10 people were like no I was like I'm sorry I'm sorry that's really funny she's like she's like you'll know it's your intuition you're like yeah that's daddy instinct jumped the gun oh my god that's really funny I've been having a lot of sleep deprivation as you guys know. And I think a thing, and I'm trying to be better about checking when it's happening,

but I feel like an effect, an outcome of it is I will do things that I normally do not do. I wrote out an extremely strong worded email like three, four or five days in and like left it in my drafts and then was like, I haven't slept in two days. I'm just, I shouldn't send this now. It's 3.30 a.m. And then I woke up the next. morning was like, oh my God, I'm so glad I did not send that. What was it too? No, I wish. No, it was like a podcast thing and I was going to like quit in this very dramatic way about

something very minor. And then I just was like, oh, I haven't slept in days. That's real, though, Kevin. Like that is so real the kind of actions that you should not take on sleep deprivation. And even people talking to them and interacting with them, you're going to be a alien for a little while. I was going to ask if there are any moments like that that stick out for you guys. Another one that I had two days ago that Lee and I keep laughing about is we took Desmond on a little walk around the block in the stroller and one of our neighbors walked by and he like waved to us and said, Ola, come istaz? And I was like, hey, good to see you. And he goes, do you speak Spanish? And I went,

Instead of just saying no, I, in a like sleep fog went, I am now. And Leo went, what? And he was like, all right, well, good to see you. And Leo was like, I am. First of all, you didn't say that in Spanish. It made zero sense. You said the word no. You're like, no.

Instead of saying no would have been normal. I just went, I am now. I am now. And he was like, what? Okay. Oh, my God. That's so good. Do you have any, do you remember any like sleep deprived moments where you're like taking

stuff out of the fridge that you're like, what am I doing? I mean, that still happens. Like that doesn't go away. It's just like mom brain. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I do it every day. But then again, this also is like there's no memory in there.

So from it. Do you have, do you know examples, Olivia? No, I know something that happened to me that wasn't normal and it was because of the sleep deprivation and like having a baby, which is something that I think is probably common for moms is I got, what is it called? I didn't get postpartum depression, but I got postpartum OCD. So I got like really loopy thoughts and especially because I wasn't sleeping. And at that point I had what, Rachel, like eight years. sober or nine years sober or something like that. But I thought I started thinking it would be a good idea to start drinking again.

And so then I started calling everyone I know and telling them why I think it's a great idea. I'm in a good place. I should start drinking again. And everyone was like, wow, horrible idea, you know. But my brain was telling me it was a great idea. And then it started looping on that. And it would be like I could drink here and there. And then all of that showed me like, oh, wow, that's really not normal.

Like, no normal drinker is going to sit there and think about all the places that they can drink for hours, right? And so I had to really get help. But I was, like, down to make some, I was about to make some really bad choices. Yeah. Which is interesting. You'd think you have a baby and you'd be smarter and more protective. and, you know, have more insight opposite. Because there's no sleep.

So your brain cells are shot. Yeah. Yeah. Lee and I have gotten into arguments where we have to stop in the middle and go, neither of us have slept. Like this is an argument about absolutely nothing. We both just need even a 45-minute nap. And we would not be arguing about whatever, this diaper change or something.

Are you guys doing shifts? Yes. But it is tricky. because Leah is still having to wake up. I'm basically doing the night shift. However, Leah is still waking up every couple hours to feed him. So I'm trying to do the night shift,

but also provide some opportunities during the day where she can catch up on sleep. You know, so it's, I would say it's not 50-50, but not really because I'm like being lazy about it. of just the nature of like with breastfeeding is pretty tricky. But, um, I don't know, not to be TMI, but we're going to start doing the bottle feeding,

which I think will help a lot so that she can, you know, my goal is for her to be able to basically sleep longer than two to three hours at a time. And so I'm hoping that with, um, you know, with the bottle feeding and stuff, we'll be able to do that. But honestly, the first week was so hard for a hundred reasons, but one of them was just like, Every 90 minutes, he was, like the first four or five days, there was no sort of consistency. And now he, because he's sleeping like three hours at a time, we feel a lot better of like, wow, we're now finding a groove of like, we know he will sleep, you know, from like 11 to 2 a.m.

And then like three to six. And so being able to find those like little pockets have been extremely helpful. And then doing stuff with him in the morning has been nice. So a thing that I keep being told is like you can try to make a schedule with a baby, but it will change every day. Yeah, 100%. But is he in the room with you guys, like in a bassinet in your bed or is he in his? We were assuming he was going to be in the room next to us like in a bassinet.

but basically we converted my office into his room and have had more luck with him sleeping in the bassinet there. And we have like a very comfortable chair that I basically will like edit for a couple hours seated right next to him or, you know, just like watch something on my phone. I'm catching up on so many shows and podcasts and stuff. So we've had more luck. it's funny because the whole pregnancy we're like well he'll be right next to us

and we'll both you know just kind of wake up whenever because he's in another room and one of us is always in that room with him it's like oh at least the other person now can get you know quote unquote sleep even if it's for short stints yeah all your plans go out the window

everything you think you're gonna be is so true completely out the window yeah you can't make any plans because for months we're like okay we'll do X, Y, and Z, and then like 36 hours in. We're like, okay, so we're not doing any of that. Exactly.

That's why when people have a birth plan, too, you're like, no. You don't know. Yeah, totally. And that was a thing that we were encouraged to do. But fortunately, because the staff was so great, I don't even think we handed it to the. I mean, we like talked about what we would like. but, you know, we were told like, oh, make this 30 bullet point list of every single thing that you want. And we're like, but it's like, it's more like preferences and not like a to-do list.

And I don't know, we just kind of discussed like the big things that we would like. And they were like, yeah. And then we'll just kind of adjust as it's happening. So I'm very grateful that both Lee and I weren't like, oh, but this Green Day song needs to. to be playing when he's born and stuff like that. Oh my gosh. Yeah, we had that. I don't know, but we did play our wedding playlist.

I brought a little, like, mini speaker and basically clipped it next to the IV bag. And so people would walk in and go, where's that music coming from? And so, because, yeah, we were, I was making kind of like a baby playlist, but we got married last year and made a bunch of like fun party playlist. And I was like, well, let's play that because it's like upbeat and reminiscent of like an extremely great memory in our lives. And so a few nurses comments at like, I like this music. And they were talking about it's fun seeing what couples play because like everyone brings their own playlist. And she was like, some couples play really boring music. And we saw a Reddit post that was like,

hey, I'm a nurse. Stop playing Disney music during the birth. As much as I want to listen to like Little Mermaid, I've heard it 900 times. I'd rather you play like Earth, Wind, and Fire or something. That's crazy. They don't understand how much of that they're going to have to listen to once their kids are of age. Yeah. 100%.

And that's what like the nurse is. were saying like you're going to hear this 9,000 times anyway. Yeah. Why don't you listen something that you want to listen to? You're like easy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, one from like Tupac to Smashmouth. And they were like, what a variety.

You had a playlist, right, Lou? Yeah. I had two playlists, one for each kid. But then all of that started to bother me in the moment. Like, I didn't even want it. I didn't want music. I didn't want people. I kicked out my doula.

Like, it was like a whole thing. She was a substitute dula, though, not the one. The one I had had was like there's only one day in the year I can't do. And of course, that's when we went into labor. And we had a substitute dula. And I was like, I don't want her in here. I kicked out my mom and my sister. I was like, I just only wanted Jeff.

It was like a really, like, primal weird private thing. And I was like, I didn't want the music. Like, it was just all like, go. I had a friend, though. It was funny because we did do the whole, you know, birth plan with the doula. And we were going to labor at home. Jeff was actually going to deliver the baby.

Wow. Because he used to deliver babies. So we had this whole great plan. And obviously none of that happened. And then I talked to my friend who was like this like really spiritual. And she was like, talking about her birth plan. And in my head, I was like, okay, good luck with that, you know.

And then afterwards, I was like, how did it go? And she was like, amazing. We birthed at home, had a home birth. I orgasmed while I was giving. Oh, my God. Stop. Like, how did you have an orgasm? Girls Gone Wild was playing.

Wait. You know? Like, I'm like, of all people, of course, you had an orgasm while giving birth. And I was sitting there, like, being cut open and feel the whole thing. Yes. Yeah. It's real. I don't believe it.

I mean, that wasn't my ex. I feel like the girl from Saturday Night Live, you know, in the aliens, when she's like, that wasn't my experience. That's really funny. Yes, Desmond's shit all down Leah's leg as he came over. So. Aw. I love the name Desmond. It's a really good name.

Thank you. Fortunately, we haven't gotten insane gifts, but we do have friends that have gotten very weird ones that we talk about. One of them is someone gave our friend essentially like a used medical bag of stuff for when their child was born, including like a snot sucker that had not been cleaned. And the person was like, here's a bunch of stuff. You might have to clean it out. And our friend went, oh, when, you know, when did you have the baby? And she said, oh, he's 18. Stop it.

That's not for real. It is, yeah. Did you guys get any, like, weird gifts? All of ours have been normal, and I feel like lucky that we haven't gotten anything weird like that. Some serious hand-me-downs right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kevin, our kids are so old. Yeah, I know.

I'm asking hyper-specific questions from years ago, I guess. Oh my God. I know. I, you know, I'm trying to think. And things have changed so much, too, like what you have now. You have it so easy. I feel like it just keeps getting easier and easier, like all the gadgets and the things that come out. But as far as like crazy gifts go. I mean, I remember a gift that stands out, but it wasn't like bad or weird. It was just, it was actually really thoughtful. sweet and something I wouldn't have known to do is my friend Libby came over before I delivered and before I gave birth and she set up like mommy stations in my bathroom. That's incredible. So it was like nipple cream and like the squeegey thing to clean yourself and pads and like all of these different things by each in each bathroom.

so that I was set up for like taking care of myself after, which ended up being really great and useful. And like nobody thinks of that. They just get the baby stuff, but she did mom-focused gifts. Leah's best friend came, as you know, we have a hedgehog named Clippy, and she fed Clippy for a couple days for us.

But when she came, she put like welcome home family signs in our house. She, like, stacked our fridge with a bunch of, like, homemade food and stuff. And, like, that I feel like I'm going to remember much more so than a lot of things of just, like, oh, you made our life so much easier. Even just, like, it was fun coming home and seeing, like, the signs and then, like, a little champagne bottle and stuff like that was very sweet. So, I will say the food is the most important thing to me. Like, Rachel did that. I remember, you know, you totally stalked me up with both kids.

Oh, yeah, big time. I remember, like, getting home with Elliot. And I, like, had everything from Jones on third. And then you made a homemade lasagna. And then you came to the house and made sure we had food to come home with Shep. And we were in the hospital and you were making sure there was food for Elliot. Like the food, to me, that is, like, the most loving, nurturing thing you can do for someone. because that just takes it off their mind.

They don't have to think about what they're going to eat. And, you know, they don't have to do any effort when it comes to that. I think that's a big deal. It was interesting because the Breyer was born, like, DoorDash, like all those things were starting up or, like, around. But we didn't use them. Like, we didn't really know, you know. And then as it was going on, I'm like, what were we doing when she was a newborn?

Like, that is such a game changer. And that alone, like, can't even. I don't even know. But that was one thing. I was like, why didn't we use this sooner? But I do remember someone sending the best cookies and like save my life. Yeah. We got some cookies last night from insomnia cookies. And it was amazing. It was like 12 vegan cookies. I was super happy. You know, you're totally right. The amount of gift cards we've gotten from like new friends of ours that are also new parents. And it was like an Uber Eats gift card or a grubhubh hub gift card and they always put like this was the most important thing for us the first month.

I, because we had to stay in the hospital for 24 hours after he was born, I like did a grubhub thing for something down the street, was very excited about it. They sent it to like urgent care. And so I had a walk like three blocks and show up and, you know, a very tense room. And then I, like, walked in and was like, I'm looking for, like, my grill cheese. And, but, yeah, no, that's been super helpful. And the thing that we talked a lot about leading up to his birth was, like, how important the convenience of food is going to be. My parents visited over the weekend, and they asked if there was anything that they could help with. And I handed them our grocery list and was like, if you could.

could get these 10 things. And I even like sent them pictures of like this is this almond milk brand and this is this whatever. So it was like very easy for them. But just like that, it was like, okay, we're good for another week or something like that. Um, was, uh, super helpful. Yeah. Yes. Oh, it sounds like people have really been showing up and that's amazing. Absolutely. Okay. I feel like I'm reminded every few hours that babies are in six. The most recent example of this is Desmond will fart or shit himself awake. He will be sleeping and he will fart so loud that he will wake up and then be awake. Are there any weird memories like that the first few weeks where you're like, I can't believe babies are not aliens in disguise?

Well, like that they're still. I still don't believe that. Like popcorn. Oh, yeah. That was, I remember being like, their shit smells like popcorn. Yeah, because the first few days, it is, like, essentially, like, a black tar because it's, like, from the placenta, right? Like, it's not the milk. No, it's after that.

It's, like, the breast milk. You didn't have that, Lou? Maybe I did. I don't remember. I remember that, for sure. I remember their mouth smelling, like straight heaven. like the smell of a baby's mouth because it's all they have is the breast milk which is like sweet yeah i would just like sniff their mouths oh my this is she's so like of course she's sniffing their

mouths now she just listens she wants to hear them crunch crunching you and all the crunching i love it it's all mouth stuff yeah i feel like my nose is just glued to the top of his head yeah it's very fun the one thing I didn't know, which I think that was really crazy, was the sensation, and you're not getting this, but if Leah is breastfeeding, which it's not always easy. Like, for us, it took six weeks with Shepard, and some, you know, people don't get to do it. So it's really, it can be a journey. But I remember the feeling of when I first started that, getting those downloads of oxytocin

or like nothing I've ever experienced from my life it's like kind of addicting right Rachel but how about when your nipples

like scab from the breast eating and how gnarly that is has that happened yet with Leah not scabbing but it is like you know

can be like immensely painful if he like does not latch correctly it is it's like hard to watch raw like it gets to that point that you get to get

It was so painful and that you don't even know until you do it. That was a surprise. Yeah, that's a surprise. And then the way you feel from doing it is a surprise. Yep, definitely that as well. He got his first bottle yesterday and we were laughing at how fast he drank it. And we did it like the horizontal way. It was, you know, it was the proper way.

But Leah was like, he just drank what normally takes like 20 minutes. in like five. He was just like, oh, great, I can do this faster. So, yeah,

the bottles and stuff has been like a new development. And like what Rachel was saying too, like a little bit of why we were waiting was like, oh, we got this fancy bottle washer, but it actually is arriving two weeks after he's born. And so there's been a lot of like that stuff too of like,

oh, the cool monitor that connects to his camera is delayed. But we can, It's a lot of like weird management stuff like that. Oh, really? You're like the baby's, you know, you're the baby's boss. Or it's like, update on the Amazon order, little guy. Wait, I have a question for you guys.

One of the things that I find strange is did your babies when you first have them look anything like you had tried to conjure up in your head? No. And people keep asking us like, oh, does he look like you or Leah? And we're like, I don't think either. Like he just doesn't really resemble anything yet. One thing that has like been fascinating for us. And one of the nurses told us is he puts it. He kind of defaults and puts his hands up like near his face.

And one of the nurses said, in all your ultrasound pictures, does he do that as well? And we're like, actually, yes, we always joke that he's like pushing away the paparazzi because he's always like kind of shielding his face. And she was like, oh, when you swaddle, that's a thing to keep in mind is like he might just kind of default go like cactus mode and stick his hands out and up. That was kind of the only like hyper specific thing. But like with how he looks, people are like, oh, he has your nose or her eyebrows and stuff. And we're like, we don't really see any of that yet. Well, it's hard at first. But there's the old wives tale that they all look like the dad when they first come out.

Yeah. So the dad knows that it belongs to him. You've heard of. Yeah. I've heard that. Yeah. But when they're so little, it's like hard to say what they look like. But like in your imagination, did you picture Breyer to look the way she does?

Or did you picture her to look? You know, it's funny. I was looking the other day at a picture of the Disney Sleeping Beauty. And you know, her name's Briar Rose when she's in the forest in the movie. And like she has like honey hair and brown eyes in the picture. And I'm like, how weird is it that she kind of resembles that having not known anything, but is she is kind of, you know, like named after that. Yeah.

And it was just kind of like I literally had that cross my mind. I think it was two days ago I saw a picture of sleeping beauty. I was like, that's weird. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't know. Do your kids look like how you pictured them, Lou?

Not at all. not even remotely. I thought they were going to look more because my dad was so prominent in us. I thought that they would take on more of those characteristics. But they came out little white babies. They're so white. They're so white and fair and blue eyes. Like I thought they would be darker.

And I mean, as they've gotten older, they've gotten darker hair. But people tell me on a daily basis that Elliot's my twin and I don't see at all. I don't know if he's your twin, but I mean, definitely, your kids definitely look like you. I don't think so. Like, Breyer looks identical to you. You'd pick her out in the lineup and be like, that is her child. Yeah, it's funny with, um, Leah feels very strongly that, like, my side, mostly like my mom's side

has, like, very strong genes. And kind of the joke is that, like, no Bartelt needs. to introduce themselves because it's very clear who the Bart Heltz are. So like at my wedding, my sisters would go up to my friends and be like, hey, I'm Meg and I'm Kevin's and they would cut. We know, we know. We know you're a sister. Yeah.

And so Leah's like, oh, well, he's going to look like you because your side has very strong genes. And then what's been kind of funny, and I don't know if you're listening to this mom, but I am going to call out you roasting dad. it was just very funny how little digs come out of like, wow, 20.25 inches were shocked given your father's height. And I'm like, damn, mom. So it's just, I feel like it becomes an excuse to like make little digs at family members of like, oh, well, given your dad's side or your mom's side, like, what a pleasant surprise. That's so funny.

Wait, you guys, really quick, Briar and I were sitting next to each other today. Our legs, her leg, her actual legs are longer than mine. Wow. I believe that. She's like a gazelle. Well, I know her legs are really long, and mine are really short. But literally just a couple hours ago, I was like, we were like next to each other. She's tall.

She's tall. She is tall. Yes, she is. She's very tall. She's got really long legs. She's longer than mine. It's not saying much, though. I'm not saying much.

I know. It's just how did we get here? It's crazy, Kevin. You'll see it's like you hear it a million times about how fast it goes and it's so cliche and all of that. And then you blink. Yeah. And their legs are longer than you. And you're like, how did we get here?

Yeah. You were just a baby two minutes ago. Yeah. And then you kind of forget all the stuff. And then you hear it and it sounds familiar, but you're on to a new chat. of new things and it really is quite wild how fast it goes. Yeah. Even this part, you're like two weeks in and it's like you're an old pro and you forget

when you probably brought them home day one, you're like, I don't know what to do with this thing. Totally. Yeah. Lee and I were looking at because obviously our TikTok is 99% baby stuff and has been for the last few months. but one of the ones we get a lot now is like two weeks old versus two months old and it's just like how drastic of a size different that is. And I sent one to Leah and she was like, you can't send these to me because I'm going to cry.

Like I'm not even ready for that change. And yeah, it's just so fascinating seeing even at 13 days old the little things he's learning of like, oh, he realizes that like his feet are connected to his body. and they're not just like random things at the bottom. And he can like, Leah will like rub his foot and he'll like, you know, his toes will move and things like that of he can tell the difference between me and her and his neck is moving and this and that.

And it's just really fun to see. And not even just like once a day. Like I feel like every few hours it's like, whoa, look it. He did this thing for the first time. And so Leah bought a. like baby's first year calendar and has just been like writing down every day like a little thing that he does just so that we can keep track of it. I will say one thing that happened

that I'm so sad about is Leah and I were talking about putting like an iPhone camera pointing near her because she was like, I'm afraid during labor, I'm going to just completely forget it. And I'll be on so many drugs. They're going to hand me the baby. And we have friends that this happened to that they had a C-section or vaginal, but they were on so many drugs. They have no memory of like the first three hours of the baby's birth. And so we asked the nurses like, can we put a phone? You know, we won't have it toward the doctors or anything. Like it'll just be facing toward Leah. And they're like, yeah, sure, that's fine. And so I have like a second iPhone that I basically just use for filming stuff,

charged it to 100%, propped it perfectly facing her. The labor was four hours. I checked the two hours in. It was still going. Babies born were like experiencing it. It feels surreal. I look at the phone. The phone died three hours in.

So we have three of the four hours. And then like, you know, the magic moment is just like, not. Now, I keep replaying that in my head because I was very upset about it. The way I, like, try to keep spinning it is, like, I would rather it be that and I was fully in the moment with her versus, like, me dealing with the phone and I miss it or something like that. Yes, 100%. But it was just very ironic. The guy whose, like, whole life is making sure microphones and cameras are working. The one thing that I was like, this is easy. I like, it completely died. But like you said, you make a plan and it completely goes out the window. Yeah, that is like a great metaphor to start

parenting. Like, yeah. And none of it matters. You know, like at the end of the day, how many times you'd go back and watch that is probably minimal compared to being with the kid, you know. Yeah, experiencing it. I have no memory and I still remember like the minute. at Briar came out. Yeah. You know, those things you don't forget. No, I remember them holding Elliot's face up to me

and looking and being like, those are Jeff's eyes. Like, I just remember being like, whoa, that's wild. Yeah. Briar's eyes were wide open. That's weird. Yeah, she was like, wide away,

like, I'm here. It's weird, right? I know. I was so mad, though, that night, I think I've told you to do the guys this before that like I could finally get some sleep after the epidural like whatever

and Hayden left the TV on and fell asleep and I was like like saving because like the TV was keeping me up but I couldn't do anything to turn it off why couldn't you do anything to turn it on? I couldn't get up I was like all attached and you know oh and you didn't want to yell and wake him up

because you'd wake up the baby the baby was in me still oh the baby was in you still, then why don't you wake him up? Because I am a people pleaser. Oh, fuck, man. I was like, he's sleeping. I can't wake him up. Oh, I would have woken his ass up. I wake up Jeff every five minutes because of his snoring. I know. Well, that's another story. If he was a snorer, when I was trying to sleep, I would have woken him up. Yeah. So how has your summer been, Rachel? I have been very far away, and I still am.

the whole time. Been traveling like what? What have you been doing? We have been traveling a lot. We've been in England. We went to Paris. We went to Spain. I know.

Crazy. Crazy. I will tell you guys. I'm going to tell you something. Might be controversial. Went to the Louvre for the first time. I will never step foot into that museum again. That is the most.

chaotic, hot, crowded, and I had never done it and I'm like, that's kind of weird, I've been to Paris so many times and you know, you're with kids, so you have to go see the Mona Lisa and see the things.

Yeah, do the things with the kids. You guys. Too crazy. Oh my God, but I will say the kids. You know how everyone's like, you can't even see the Mona Lisa, there's so many people, you're so far behind, whatever. Yeah. The kids somehow

worked their way, wound up In front, right in front, like the closest you can get to the Mona Lisa. And I was like, all right, well, at least that's worth it. I'm like, you guys, we're going to find the Mona Lisa. We saw the Venus de Milit. We were like, we're out. It was, oh, my God. Oh, my God.

It was chaos. I was going to say, is it because of the summer? But I bet it's just always like that. I know it's like the most visited art museum in the world or whatever. Or maybe it's just the painting that's the most visit, whatever it is. And I know that they were on strike, too, because it's so. overcrowded with tourism that the workers of the Louvre were like on strike because of tourism. It's just so crowded.

Yeah. It was. So where was your favorite place you've been so far this summer and why? You know, it's different traveling with kids. And we've been with multiple kids, like families and whatever. So like seeing these things with kids is a lot different than like you just going and traveling. You know, it's just a different experience because. Sure.

I don't know. How is Spain? My worker was awesome. That was great. The beach, it was beautiful. That was good. Everything's been great. I'm very lucky. We're very lucky that we've been traveling all over and that she's been able to see more of the world, which is like my thing I like want most for her. I've thought about that like cheeseburger picture you sent us more than I would like to admit. We ate it three times. Amazing. Great. Did you really? Oh yeah. Briar now is like that that's. my favorite cheeseburger. Like she, it's her favorite cheeseburger.

I'm like, this was the coolest part. This is what I will say. The original place that we had it in Paris, 16 years ago, or whatever it was, I can't do the math. Seeing her there,

you know, and having it the first place, like her parents had it, you know, 16 years before, and then she was in the same exact place eating that cheeseburger. That was a cool moment.

That's amazing. That's sweet. That's really cute. That was sweet. and yes um what other food like have you been on a food adventure have you been cooking if you've been going out what cooking when we were in a house a lot uh what's been the best food really good indian in london yep um that's where i had for the first time indian that's really what yeah isn't that crazy i mean talk about like a midwest upbringing it was it was like 20 years of like

we're going to have pasta again. And then Lee and I went to London with some friends that live there and they took us to an amazing Indian place. And then I said, very embarrassing. embarrassingly, I was like, man, this is the first time I've had Indian food. And they were like, brough, come on. That is crazy. And it was amazing.

And now I have it like twice a month. Yeah. Because there's a lot of good options for you there. Yep. Totally. What about you, Lou? What have you been up to? I mean, we did three.

weeks back to back travel we went to Portland to visit friends and then came home and the next day Jeff and I went to France alone which was fun wild you guys I've never had I don't think I've ever had such bad panic attacks no yeah leaving them I was not okay I and especially because there was like you know bombs dropped the day before And I was like, I don't know if it's like rational to leave them or rational to stay. And I couldn't get a grip on what was real and what wasn't. And I was in so much fear that it was to the point where I was at the airport still being like, I'm not sure I'm getting on the plane.

And then Jeff was like giving me an out and just being kind of like, look, you don't have to go. I get it. And so then I'd be like, oh, he agrees. This is, you know. So I was not well, it wasn't until we landed in France that I was okay. I was so scared. I was not okay. And I think it's because that was the first time we did it together alone.

We went to Boston once alone for a wedding, but, or to mean. But it just felt so far. And everyone kept being like, they're going to be fine. I'm like, I'm not really worried that anything. things can happen to them. I knew they were in good care. I was like, but what if something happens to us? Sure. Yeah. And then they have no parents. I was fucking unhinged, to be honest. And then finally, once we got to France, then I let it go and we had the most amazing time. It was awesome. Good. It's fascinating how like leading up to travel creates so much anxiety and stress. And then I feel like when

you're actually at the place, it feels fine, but I get the most amount of, like, panic attacks, like the day before a flight or the morning of a flight. Or it's just, like, creating every possible scenario. Yeah, 100%. I had it on the Eurostar, you know, like the train that goes from London to Paris, because you did. You go under the channel, the English channel, right? So in my mind, I'm like, we're underwater.

Like, it's how it's constructed. Totally, yeah. But, like, it messed with my mind. And I almost, I hardly ever have panic attacks. It's been a very long time, but I was sitting on the train. But my friend, Julie, was sitting next to me. And I started, like, I felt because it got, it went dark. Because when you're in the ton, you know.

Yeah, yeah. The channel, it's dark. And I was like, I think I'm going to have panic attack. Like, I started, you know. Anyway, but she talked to me. I was fine. And I can talk myself out of them really quickly, usually. But just the thought.

It's just all of, like, when you have to. to relinquish control. It's just challenging. It is challenging. And especially like once your brain kind of like, I don't know, for me it was really hard to like get present and to be like, no, everything's going to be okay. Because it just didn't feel available. Well, the world doesn't feel super okay.

That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Well, and then we went to Pittsburgh and then when we got to Pittsburgh, that was awesome. but even the flying, like normally I can talk myself into like, everything's going to be fine. It's going to be good. You're going to be great. But then when you hear of like a summer camp disappearing,

you're just like, is it? Is it going to be okay? Because I don't know. And that is really challenging. It's too much. I can't. I know. It's.

Yeah. So then you're like, which, like, I don't know if you guys experience this, but you're like, which is. rational. Mm-hmm. Right? But I will say this. Pittsburgh was a

fricking blast. Hell yeah. It was so fun. Represent. Leah. Woo-hoo. Yep. Yeah.

Absolutely. Kenny Wood was great. We did that. Someone that listens, I have to look up her name. She was such a doll. Wrote me and was like, I know you're in Pittsburgh,

and I want to give you all the recommendations for the best food and the best place. And I didn't get to go to them because I got it at the last day of my trip. But I'm definitely going to do that the next time and just kind of try all the new places. And then we came back and we'd been summer camping and having a good time. Oh, summer camping, right. If I meant camping, you don't mean camping.

Breyer tried snails. Whoa. And in Paris. She was like, well, you're fine. Actually, it was the first time I had ever tried them. I don't think I've never had a I don't I was not a fan

they kind of tasted fishy for some reason I don't know why we climbed up the Eiffel Tower that was exhausting Rachel she's like the Louvre

overrated climbed up the Eiffel towel Exhausting awful one thing I loved about France that really inspired me I love the fact the fact that no matter what we went to where did we go can santropay oh how is santropay amazing we went to monaco um

anyways nobody is slouchy like from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed these people are dressed dialed in i didn't see a sweat pant a leggings a pair of jeans not one it's like you wake up in the morning, everyone's like dressed and ready and a game. Great. And it actually woke me up a bit. I'm like, I walk around half of my life like a Muppet, like an actual Muppet. You know, I'm like... Well, it's the same thing if you see kids in France.

Like, they're so well behaved. Like, they can sit at a restaurant. No problem. So interesting. It's outstanding. Yeah. Another thing I noticed, which I loved, is we'd go out to dinner at, like 11 o'clock at night, walk down,

there would be a restaurant full of 20-something-year-olds at a table, 80-year-olds at a table, everybody, all different ages, all at once, and the music they'd all be singing and interacting. And I'm like, where is our culture like that in America? It's like everything closes, everybody goes to bed. Yeah. 80-year-olds are not out at dinner at 11 o'clock at night, having as much fun as the 20-year-olds.

Like, what's going on? Yeah, I wonder if it's like, yeah, we have to move to Europe. I wonder if it's like certain cities. Like I could picture places in maybe like New York or like Texas or I was thinking about what Patty Stanger said about like Miami popping off and stuff. So maybe it's just like certain cities really have that. But unfortunately, I feel like L.A. really does not. And, well, it definitely has culture, but the, like, hard curfew stuff, I think really dampens, like, the liveliness of, like, what you are describing.

I also think it has something to do with, like, aside from culture, I think America's, and I'm not putting down America. I obviously love America, but I do think that we do something that is pretty sad, which is ageism. And we don't see that kind of reverence for our elders. And there's not that incorporation of like, I'm going out with friends and someone's like, there isn't that as much here. And in Europe, it's like three home generations in one home. It's just different. Different.

I did love living in London, though, this summer. Did you? Yeah, I really did. I did. Was it, what was the weather like? Was it gray? Was it raining? No, that's the thing.

Now this last week it's been raining a lot, but it was, we had heat waves, which was really hot and like there's not a lot of air conditioning going on. So it was very hot, but it was sunny and like so nice. It was really nice. I really enjoyed it. I sound really negative, you guys, and about what I was talking about all the stuff. I'm just a little tired. That's all.

But, you know. You know, it has all, it all been amazing. Yeah, really, really enjoy. We saw Matilda twice on stage. That was so cool. Oh, I love that. We saw Hamilton, Breyer was not, didn't love it. No, I loved Hamilton.

I did too, but also, you know, she's 10 and it's, sure. She didn't like the violence is what she said, but, you know, such a fun show. Well, she saw Wicked in New York. Oh, yeah, we started in New York. Oh, my God. I've been gone so long. We saw Wicked. You hung out with Olivia Rodriguez.

I saw. Oh my God. Yeah. We went to her concert in Hyde Park, which was amazing. That's really cool. The sun was setting and we were watching her in Hyde Park. That was so cool. Like, we've had so many amazing special experiences.

And we've loved them all super grateful. It was like amazing. But it's also like that amount of travel. Like it's so exhausting. That's a lot. Yeah. Are you homesick? I haven't been homesick.

But now that we're like in a hotel and not like our quote unquote house that we were staying in for the summer, you know, you don't have a kitchen like things like that. Then I'm, you know, starting to feel a little like, okay. Sure. You know, I can go home now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Someone said to me like after three weeks of travel, they're like, you must be so homesick. I'm like, actually I'm not.

Yeah. Like I could keep going. Yeah. It's a lot of packing and unpacking. And we have a lot. It is. We have collected a lot of things. Like we've got a lot of suitcases.

We've got a lot of baggage. So that part's hard. But, you know, it's an adventure. We're having a very adventurous summer. Very cool. Good times. Good. Yeah.

Collecting memories. I like it. For sure. I don't, I don't love it for me. What? It's just, I don't like not having access. to you at the times that I want it. You know what I mean?

Me? Like, yeah, you being gone is like, it was fine when I was gone because then we were on the same time zone for a minute. I know, that was easy. But then when I'm like, I want to ask a question or what I'm like, where is she? It's like, yeah, I know.

Because like right now, what is it? 125 for you guys? Yeah, and it's 925 for me at night. Yeah, and I have like questions. I've got to ask. I know. I'm sorry. I'm going to be on East Coast time come this weekend, though. They'll be easier.

Get out, get, come home. Well, we're having a great summer. I hope the listeners are having a good summer, too. Thanks for all the love for the parenting advice. I really appreciate it. I told Leah, I was really looking forward to chatting with both of you. So this was a blast. I don't think we gave you any advice, though.

We didn't, but we're here for you. You know you can text us. It was great. I love it. Yeah. Super helpful. Aw, and if Leah, I hope, yeah, well, we can't wait to meet the baby and see you guys and all of that. When you're back in town, you guys definitely will.

For sure. It's amazing. We're so happy for you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Please send our love to Leah as well. And send us more pictures. I will.

I have a million. Cool. Thanks everybody. Thanks everybody. Thanks. Bye. That was a hate gum podcast.