Behind the Capes Podcast
We’re two longtime friends turned medical moms sharing what life really looks like behind the capes — real talk, raw moments, and big joy. Because raising a medically complex child takes more than strength — it takes community, connection, and honesty.

Parenthood changes everything - but when your child has medical complexities, it can feel like you've been handed a whole new rulebook you never asked for. Behind the Capes is a space for those parents, the friends and family who love them, and anyone curious about the untold side of raising a medically complex child.
Hosted by Kayla and Kari, two moms who've lived the late night hospital stays, juggled, countless appointments, and learn to advocate fiercely for their kids, this podcast shares, honest conversations about the highs, lows and everything in between. You'll hear personal stories, expert insights, and the little wins that keep families going - because sometimes the smallest victories are the biggest milestones
Whether you're deep in the medical world or simply want to better understand the journey, Behind the Capes invites you to listen, learn, and know you're not alone.
Episodes

Mar 11, 2026
Mar 11, 2026
1hr 21 min
In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, we sit down with a fellow mom who shares her motherhood journey raising medical kids and the path that eventually led her to realize she was living with CPTSD. As she navigated the constant stress, fear, and responsibility that can come with caring for medically complex children, she began to recognize how past trauma was also shaping her experiences, reactions, and emotional world.
Together, we talk about the invisible weight many mothers carry — the memories, triggers, and emotional layers that often live quietly beneath the surface while we continue showing up for our children every day.
Through vulnerability and courage, she shares what it looks like to parent while navigating trauma, how medical motherhood can intersect with past experiences, and the ways she is learning to heal while still holding space for her family. This conversation is a reminder that strength doesn’t mean having it all together — sometimes it means acknowledging the weight we carry and choosing to keep going anyway.
We hope this episode helps other moms feel seen, understood, and less alone. If you are walking a similar path, please know your story matters, your healing matters, and there is room for both the hard and the hopeful in this journey.

Mar 4, 2026
Mar 4, 2026
55 min
In this deeply personal episode, we open our hearts about raising children with congenital heart disease. From the moment of diagnosis to hospital stays, surgeries, waiting rooms, and the quiet strength it takes to walk this road every day — becoming a heart mom changes you forever.
We talk about the fear that sits beside you, the courage you didn’t know you had, and the fierce love that grows stronger with every heartbeat. We share what it’s like to hand your child over for surgery, to memorize monitor numbers, and to live in the space between gratitude and anxiety.
We also reflect on what it means to have a digital community — a space where heart moms from across the country (and the world) find each other in the middle of the night, celebrate good echo results, ask questions no one else understands, and hold each other through setbacks. This community becomes more than followers or listeners… it becomes family.
In this episode, we honor and mourn the loss of one precious child from our digital community. We speak their name with love, hold their family close, and acknowledge the unique grief that comes when a loss touches a space that has carried so much shared hope. In medical motherhood, joy and sorrow often live side by side — and when one heart stops beating, we all feel it.
This episode is for the heart moms who carry both hope and heaviness. For the ones who celebrate scars as symbols of survival. And for anyone who has learned that when your child’s heart fights, your love fights even harder.
Because this journey may test us — but it also reveals a love that truly beats stronger. 🤍

Feb 25, 2026
Feb 25, 2026
1hr 6 min
In this special episode, we step in his shoes.
For the first time, two medical moms sit down with a medical dad to hear the journey from his perspective — the fears he carries quietly, the strength he shows differently, and the love that fuels him through hospital stays, surgeries, and the unknowns.
We talk about what it’s like to support a medically complex child as a father, how dads process grief and hope, how partnership shifts under pressure, and the ways they show up when everything feels heavy. This conversation is honest, tender, and eye-opening — because while the roles may look different, the love runs just as deep.
He also shares uplifting words directly to other medical dads — encouragement for the ones who feel unseen, strength for the ones carrying it silently, and a reminder that their presence matters more than they know.
Whether you're a medical mom, a medical dad, or someone who loves a medically complex family, this episode reminds us that every parent walks this road in their own shoes… but none of us walk it alone. 💛

Feb 4, 2026
Feb 4, 2026
42 min
Loving a medical child is a love unlike any other—deeper, heavier, fiercer, and more tender than we ever imagined. In this episode, we talk honestly about what it means to love our children through diagnoses, uncertainty, and the everyday realities of medical motherhood.
We share how our love shows up even when we are scared—loving through long nights, whispered prayers, and the weight of waiting rooms. We talk about loving during surgeries, when our hearts are outside our bodies and all we can do is trust, hope, and hold on.
This is a conversation about the depth of connection that grows when care, protection, and unconditional love become woven into every part of parenting. It’s about advocating, enduring, and choosing love again and again, even in the hardest seasons.
If you are a medical mom—or love one—this episode is a reminder that even in fear and uncertainty, love is what carries us, grounds us, and keeps us moving forward.

Dec 31, 2025
Dec 31, 2025
1hr 5 min
This year asked more of us than we ever imagined—and somehow, we made it. In this episode, we pause to reflect on the highs, the heartbreaks, the moments of pure survival, and the quiet strength it took to keep going as medical parents.
We talk openly about what this year taught us, what we’re choosing to release, and how we’re stepping into 2026 with intention, hope, and open arms. Not with unrealistic resolutions or pressure to “do more,” but with a desire for peace, presence, and space to breathe.
If this year felt heavy, relentless, or simply exhausting, this conversation is for you. You’re not alone—and making it here matters. As we welcome a new year, we do so carrying resilience, honesty, and the reminder that survival itself is something worth honoring.
We will be forever grateful for this podcast and for each of you who listens, follows, and walks alongside us on this journey. Your presence has helped make one of our dreams come true, and we don’t take that lightly as we step into the year ahead.

Dec 25, 2025
Dec 25, 2025
1hr 3 min
The holidays don’t look the same when you’re a medical mom — and that’s okay. In this episode, we talk about what it really means to prepare for Christmas and the holidays while juggling the needs of our kids, the safe foods they can eat, shifting expectations, and the emotional weight that comes with caring for a medically complex child.
We share how traditions are adjusted, expectations are lowered (sometimes lovingly, sometimes painfully), and how flexibility becomes the most important holiday skill. From planning around health needs and energy limits to finding meaningful moments that don’t require perfection, this conversation is about honoring what is instead of mourning what was.
And in the midst of caring for everyone else, we remind ourselves — and you — to look for your own sparkle too. To notice the small joys, protect moments of light, and remember that your joy matters just as much during this season.

Dec 17, 2025
Dec 17, 2025
1hr 11 min
The holidays are approaching, and before the rush fully takes over, we’re pressing pause to check in—honestly and openly—on how we’re really doing. In this episode, we talk about the big transitions and heavy moments happening behind the scenes: starting special preschool, preparing for upcoming holidays while juggling medical needs, navigating the emotions around a child’s surgery, and the intense process of training a service dog.
We also step into one of the hardest conversations medical moms face—planning for our children’s futures and what happens when we’re no longer here, and the deep worry of not wanting our children or their care to ever feel like a burden to others. It’s a tender, real discussion filled with love, worry, strength, and the deep devotion that comes with raising medical kids.
This episode isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about being present, holding space for each other, and reminding medical moms everywhere that they’re not alone this season.

Nov 26, 2025
Nov 26, 2025
52 min
In this episode, we’re going purple and going deep. Epilepsy Awareness Month isn’t just about statistics or social posts—it’s about the families who live in the unpredictable rhythm of seizures, the parents who become experts overnight, and the kids who fight battles most people never see.
From emergency plans taped to the fridge to navigating medications, side effects, sleepless nights, and the emotional roller coaster in between, we’re sharing what epilepsy truly looks like in the life of a medical family. We talk about the fear, the strength, the routine that’s anything but routine, and the fierce love that keeps us moving forward.
We’ll break down common misconceptions, share real stories from moms in the trenches, and shine a much-needed light on the resilience of our children—the warriors we’re raising and advocating for every single day.
Whether you’re an epilepsy parent, walking alongside one, or learning how to better support this community, this episode brings honesty, solidarity, and a whole lot of heart.

Nov 19, 2025
Nov 19, 2025
58 min
In this episode, we’re shining a big light on our tiniest warriors. Prematurity Awareness Month is more than a date on the calendar — it’s a reminder of the NICU nights, the monitors beeping like a techno concert no one asked for, the first breaths, the fierce hope, and the incredible strength packed into babies who arrived long before anyone expected.
We’ll talk about what prematurity really looks like for families, how it impacts parents emotionally and physically, and the unexpected ways it reshapes life long after leaving the NICU. From celebrating inch-stones or milestones that others take for granted to carrying the weight of fear, love, and resilience all at once, this episode honors every parent who has walked the early-arrival journey.
Whether you’re a preemie parent, know one, or just want to understand the world behind those tiny but mighty fighters, join us as we share stories, support, and solidarity—all in the spirit of awareness, advocacy, and love.

Nov 5, 2025
Nov 5, 2025
1hr 58 sec
It’s Halloween — which means it’s time for costumes, candy… and pivoting like pros. 🎃 In this episode, we laugh our way through all the ways our “perfect plans” turned into last-minute reroutes. The itchy costume that didn’t make it out of the house? The meltdown halfway to trick-or-treating? The spontaneous candy swap in the living room? Been there, done that, ate the chocolate. We’re talking about how special needs moms become masters of the Halloween pivot — finding magic in the mayhem and joy in the detours.







