You're Welcome with Hilary Rushford

You asked for help choosing joy now and in the new year, after a hard year or season.

Can you relate to any of these?

• You’re wishing time would go faster to get to something good or past something heavy?

• Feeling a case of the winter blues?

The closer we get to a due date, the more I’m overthinking the name we have picked.

Here’s my advice on naming, plus what I’m looking for in case you have ideas?

Share this one with anyone working on their baby names.

Or to spark some conversation this holiday if you’re done with naming in your family. 

Links in this episode:

Sadly, much of a surrogacy journey is bracing for disappointment. However the positive side of that, is when things are easy you feel so incredibly lucky.

This week Jeremy, myself, and my mom all flew out to meet our surrogate’s family, our doctor, do a hospital tour, and have our 20-week anatomy scan.

All in a whirlwind 6 hours!

It was hilarious (y’all, our doctor is both a...

A breakdown of my last 24 hours and the choices I made when there was too much on my plate.

Things are a lot right now. 

Today I’m sharing exactly what I’m preaching, practicing, and sending in voice memos to my girlfriends.

We’re talking about:

• How to avoid triggering people and *being* “that person” when...

I’m watching friends navigate life from a place of burnout vs healing, and the difference is astounding.

Comparison (their grass is greener) keeps us chasing goals harder than we should.

Yet, the opposite of envy is even more destructive to our burnout, and far less talked about.

Today we’re healing the crippling mindset that keeps us chasing a dream until it nearly kills us...

What if some of the biggest choices in your life actually came from outside your head, not inside your heart?

That’s the hard truth I’ve been grappling with.

I’ve been coming up for air a bit after a season of grief (with my book story) that (I see now) was followed by a season of hustle and determination to put life back together again.

I’m remembering how it felt in my bod...

So many are struggling lately, both personal friends and members of our community. 

I had a different episode planned for today when a friend called with hard, hard news and I wanted to share part of what we discussed.

Listen in to hear:

• What to text a friend when you want to help, or need it yourself

What advice would you give? Would you want? 

The last two weeks while in Italy, I was swept away in the best romantic story.

A dear friend unexpectedly met someone while traveling internationally far from home and texted, “I might have met my husband.”

The wrinkle is that a life with him means a major fork in the road, leaving possibly ...

Join us on the road from Tuscany to the Italian Riviera via Rome on:

• My 3 biggest takeaways from the 1st trimester of our pregnancy and surrogacy journey 

• Who we’ve shared the gender of the baby with and why/why not 

• The 2 ext...

Ciao from Rome! When we’re in a bad mood, we know so much we could do to make ourselves feel better.

Yet how often do we not do it in the moment when we’re rushing, flooded, frustrated? 

Recently I’ve found a new self-coaching prompt I’m actually remembering to use.

I’ve asked it to myself in those little moments in the day:

A girlfriend chat going back to the future, around the world, and ending with more ease. (Don’t miss the PS!)

In today’s episode we’re talking about how to live in the flow of love.

That sounds hard to pin down, but I’ll tell you exactly what to do and it’s so simple.

The people you love most will thank you the deepest for listening. 

Links in this episode:

A few months ago I got messages from 2 women in one week who were both hiding, on opposite ends of the same spectrum, each thinking they had the most to be ashamed of.

As I sat with their stories I realized: we all think we’re hiding the most, or more than others. When the truth is everyone is either hiding in some way, or has healed from hiding but used to be there so they can relate.

Tod...

I went back to the site of past shame and was so grounded in myself, it was noteworthy.

How did I stay more present than self-analytical, despite being in a room of wealthy people I had once felt so much smaller than?

This is a different experience of confidence and freedom (of time, money, energy) than I’ve felt before.

And I’m sharing exactly what I did to get there!

How often do you double shame yourself? Part of the shame is warranted: we’re imperfect and insecure. 

Yet from that place how often do we also take on a double helping of guilt, instead of being able to see that the people or circumstances around us were also flawed and problematic?

Sharing a story about a chance meeting that left me with so many insights about myself 20 years ago, and my...

I had my first experience with mom shame, and I couldn’t believe I caved so quickly!

I knew what was and was not a priority for me, but one little sentence… and I took an action purely out of shame and fear. #PalmToFace

I was genuinely flabbergasted that I could feel pressured so easily on a decision I’d made very clearly over a year ago.

I came home determined to shore up m...

We got a call from our surrogate that she was spotting, shaken, and headed to the hospital.

I’ve been sharing how much I’m confused by the peace I’m feeling around surrogacy and pregnancy.

As someone who’s always been prone to anxiety, how the heck am I SO CALM?!

I’m thrilled I am! But I literally don’t recognize this feeling of living ...

For years I’ve been endlessly making big decisions.

Did we want to have kids or not? 

Were we supposed to leave NYC, and if so to go where?

These decisions were the two longest and hardest I’ve ever had to make, but I’m so grateful for this process that eventually lead me to peace.

As I wrestled with these decisions over the years, I took notes for you. Listen...

I’ve had 5 years of being asked this question. #PalmToFace

It’s one I asked others over the years! It seemed innocuous and I didn’t realize how triggering, personal, or just awkward it can be.

This question is asked whether someone is pregnant, using IVF or conceiving naturally, or even had children years ago.

Please note this isn’t to shame any of us who have asked (or answ...

How did surrogacy get on our hearts? What are the misconceptions about surrogates?

Bigger picture, how do you make big decisions (especially when you have no one to ask) and look for clues in the seeds God/the universe has planted around your life?

We’re covering all of that plus the 4 reasons to NOT do surrogacy, why we turned down our 1st two matches, and more.