May 5, 2025 • 34 mins
Hello,
Welcome to episode 3 of WYBA! Can I just say, I’m so excited to have you here & to be building a community of women at a similar life stage. In today’s episode you will hear about my wild pregnancy symptoms, with no stone left unturned. I’ve really left my dignity at the door for this one. Our community has also shared things they wish they knew before getting pregnant, as well as advice for when you are pregnant & after. I hope this helps in anyway, and I can't wait to talk to you next week.
All my love,
Anna xxx
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wanting to have kids is a huge life decision. But
once you're ready to embark on that journey, what do
you actually need to know? This podcast is the community
you never knew you needed from mums and mums to be.
We're about to embark on this learning journey together and
it's going to be real. It's going to be raw
and a completely non judgmental space. You're listening to Where's
(00:24):
your Bump Hat, and this is Ana Macavoy Staples. I'm
going to be interviewing experts in the field so that
all of our burning questions can be answered, from understanding
our cycle to knowing what is the best time to conceive,
and so much more. We'll get into the difference between
(00:46):
natural verse C section births, strange pregnancy symptoms and everything
in between. Hello and welcome back to another episode of
Where's Your Bump Hat. My name is Anna Macavoy Staples
and I am currently twenty seven weeks pregnant. I actually
(01:07):
can't believe that this pregnancy is going in so quickly.
So today I'm going to be revealing to you the
top five things I wish I knew before getting pregnant.
You can't always plan when you will fall pregnant, but
if you are currently trying to conceive, here are some
things that I wish that I knew beforehand.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
As well as the best advice for when you are
pregnant and your advice for me for after and for birth.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Okay, guys, so let's talk about this week. It's week
twenty seven of my pregnancy, and someone gave me some
really good advice and it was actually one of our listeners,
and she told me that two feelings can exist together
and it's okay to be both grateful and exhausted. And
I just feel like that really resembles my pregnancy. I'm
(02:04):
so grateful, but I'm exhausted. And it's so funny looking
back on pre pregnancy because I thought it was going
to be all sunshine and rainbows, and I think a
lot of us go into it with that mentality, and
sometimes pregnancy can be hard and that's completely fine and okay,
and we're all valid in feeling that way.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Okay, So this week.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I was actually meant to record this podcast last week,
but I had the gestational diabetes test, the infamous gestational
diabetes test, and to be honest, I've heard a lot
of negative reviews about it, and I thought it was
just to do with the sugary drink that you take.
I thought that the reason why people hated this test
(02:46):
so much was because the sugary drink.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Tastes so bad.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I didn't actually realize that it makes you feel horrendous.
So I was in for a bit of a shock.
Last week. I took two days off work. I was exhausted,
I had a headache, I just felt lethargic.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
We actually, my mum actually.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Stayed with me to do the test, which was super sweet,
and she took me to my warehouse to pick up
some samples for my business, and the lady at the
warehouse actually looked at me and I could feel my
eyes actually closing over and she looked at me and said,
oh my god, are you're okay? And my instant response
(03:27):
was no, not really, I don't know what's happened to me.
I've just done this gestational diabetes test and I feel wrecked.
I'm exhausted. So that really was a bit of a
shock for me. So something to look out for in
pregnancy that gestational diabetes tests. There are alternatives, which I
found out later from our listeners and from my social audience,
(03:49):
So you can actually do a blood sugar monitoring or
a hemoglobin a one C test. Had no idea about those,
but I think the gestational diabetes is the best, in
apparently quickest way to find out, so I've been told,
but it is worth noting that there are alternatives. So anyway,
I actually saw my OB today and found out that
(04:11):
I thankfully do not have gestational diabetes. I pass the test,
so yay, I don't have to do the three hour tests.
So just for context, there's the two hour tests where
you do three blood tests and have one glucose drink,
and if you don't pass that, you have to then
do the three hour blood tests where you do four
(04:32):
blood tests and the glucose drink. So I'm really glad
that I don't have to do that, And for anyone
who has to do that, I'm sending you all my
love and sending you all the positive vibes because that's
not a fun test to do. But in saying that,
I saw my OB today and he told me that
I am low in iron, which is apparently very common
(04:52):
in pregnancy because the baby just loves eating.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
All of your nutrients and all of your iron.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
It takes whatever it needs and we kind of get
left with I guess what's left. So for the next
two weeks, I am taking iron supplements. I've been told
to eat lots of red meat. Pork apparently is a
great source of iron. So I have two weeks and
if I can't get my iron up, then I'm going
to have to do an iron transfusion, so something that
(05:19):
wasn't on my pregnancy bingo card. But before we start
this episode, I want to run through my things that
I have found extremely strange from being pregnant. And this
is things that I have not heard anyone talk about
and kind of shocked me, to be honest, throughout all
trimesters of my pregnancy. So let's start strong with the
first one, and that's the pregnancy gingervitis. I know a
(05:43):
lot of pregnant women suffer from this. My dentists actually
pointed this out. But basically I would be having conversations
with people and my gums.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Would start bleeding. I had blood all over my teeth.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I even did a podcast with Matt four Where's your
head at?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
And he was like, are you okay? You're bleeding?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And I was like, oh, just my pregnancy ginger btis,
So that was the first one that was a bit
of a shock. The skin tags. This one I had
no idea about. I have skin tags on my neck,
in strange places, under my armpit. I even have the
most annoying skin tag ever on my bikini line. So
every time I try to shave, it literally starts bleeding,
(06:23):
which is not ideal. I have had laser hair removal,
but honestly, pregnancy, your hair just grows so quickly. And
I know it's so good on your head, but if
you've had laser hair removal down below or under your arms,
you don't want that hair growing quickly. And now that
I have a skin tag down there and I shave
maybe every second day, it's not ideal. So that needs
(06:46):
to be removed as soon as this baby comes out.
The next one, at sixteen weeks pregnant, my milk started
to come through and I didn't know what it was,
but my nipples started to get I hate using this word,
and it's my best friend Laura's most hated word on
the planet, but it's the only word I can use
(07:06):
to describe this. So I'm so sorry in advance, but
my nipples look crusty, like yellow crusty, and it's because
the milk has come through and the milk dries.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And I've read things saying you're not meant to pick.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
The crust or like clean it, and I don't know,
I just find it a little bit gross. Maybe I'm
not mature enough to have a baby, but honestly, it
was unexpected. I've never heard anyone mention it before. But yeah,
the milk has come through. Also, on a side note
to the milk coming through, now that I am in
(07:41):
the third trimester, my colostrum has come through. So when
you think about milk, you think it's going to be white,
right Like, if I'm going to Coal's, I'm buying the
milk that looks white, and if I'm having a coffee,
I want my milk to look white. Colostrum is bright yellow.
It's so yellow, like concerningly yellow. But I know that's
(08:05):
normal and it's perfect if it's bright yellow, because that
means it's the colostrum. But this is almost just like
a heads up. So yeah, another weird and wonderful thing
that pops up when you're pregnant. Speaking of the tatars,
I think this one is somewhat known, but my ariola nipples,
my ariola nipples, my nipples have gotten a lot darker.
(08:28):
Like they're not one shade darker, They're like three to
four shades darker at this point. Now that it's happened
to me and I've spoken about it with people who
are pregnant, apparently this is very common, but it's just
not something that I had ever personally heard of before. Okay,
strap yourself in for this one. This one might be
a little bit too much information, but I have to
(08:49):
tell you, guys, because no one told me there is
a lot of fluid downstairs. Like I'm talking, I'm changing
my underwear three to four times a day and there's
literally nothing I can do about it. It's completely normal.
I thought that there was something wrong, and I have
been assured that this is completely normal in pregnancy. And again,
(09:13):
pregnant women or mums who I have spoken to about
this have told me and assured me that this happened
to them. But I guess no one really wants to
talk about that publicly, which is totally fair enough. I
don't really want to talk about it publicly, but I
feel like this one you should definitely know about.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Okay, I have one last one.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
This one made me think that I was going into labor,
which I wasn't. And it's when you have sex when
you're pregnant, and after post sex you get this Braxton
Hicks contraction. The first ever Braxton Hicks contraction I got
during pregnancy was post sex, and basically, your whole tommy
(09:55):
just seizes up, gets so hard, and I just genuinely
was like, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We've intoed the babies.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
So Braksentik's contractions after sex are completely normal. And I
looked it up online and again completely normal, but not
something that I had.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Heard people talk about.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Okay, So with that being said, I have put all
of my very strange, crazy intense pregnancy symptoms out.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
On the table.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
So for those of you who aren't yet pregnant, I
thought we could start with you guys and jump into
the top five things that I wish I knew before
we started trying to get pregnant. Okay, So number one,
according to research, there is only about a fifteen percent
(10:43):
chance that you can get pregnant each month. So even
if you and your partner are in top shape to conceive,
a woman in her early twenties has twenty five to
thirty percent chance of getting pregnant every month, and fertility
generally slows down when a woman hits her early thirties,
so after the age of thirty five, that decline really
(11:07):
starts to speed up, and by age forty, the chance
of actually getting pregnant in any monthly cycle is around
five percent. So I know, for me, I felt very clueless.
I spoke a lot on the first episode about how
I had this huge learning curve and experience, and I
feel like, in the last six months of being pregnant,
(11:27):
I have learned so much.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And I think just knowing.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Those statistics before trying to conceive kind of puts things
a little bit more into perspective, because knowledge is power,
as we know. Okay, so number two, go ahead, plan
the trip, live your life regardless of whether you think
you will be pregnant at that time. You can always cancel,
you can always readbook. This one I think is very
(11:53):
personal to me because I feel like as soon as
Michael and I tried to conceive, I really put my
life on pause.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I was scared to do anything.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I was really treating myself after that first month of trying,
like I was pregnant and trying to manifest it and
positive vibes. But I think that there is something beautiful
in continuing to live your life, continuing to have a
few glasses of wine and just trying to take it easy.
It is actually super interesting because when on the month
(12:24):
that Michael and I actually conceived our baby boy, we
took a last minute trip to Thailand. It wasn't planned,
it was really last minute, and we went to Thailand
for a week, and.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We actually took the pressure off so much.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And I know that that doesn't work for everyone, and
I want to really make that clear, but for us,
it was nice to be in a different country, to
get some vitamin D, to get out of the cold
Melbourne weather, and to really just explore and divert our attention.
And then we just happened to full pregnant that month,
and bearing in mind, you just never know when you
(13:00):
are going to fall pregnant, so it is nice to
have those memories and to look back on that final
month before we got pregnant, and we have some really fun,
exciting memories because before that I was scared to do anything, honestly,
and I think it's totally normal so just want to
keep in mind. Number three, you are allowed to be
upset if you don't.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Get pregnant straight away.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So regardless of the time you're allowed to feel your emotions,
you are valid.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And we really want to make Where's your.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Bump at a really inclusive community where everyone feels seen
and heard and everyone's emotions are represented. And trust me
when I say I was no angel, I was the
queen of testing and overtesting.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I was testing well before.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
My period was even due, and I was super disappointed.
I think I cried pretty much every month when I
got a negative test. It didn't need to be this way,
but of course, hindsight is twenty twenty and now I'm
sitting here and I'm six months pregnant and super grateful
and give and that's not everyone's journey. You are allowed
to feel exactly how you want to feel and how
(14:05):
you do feel. Number four is health insurance. So this
one is a big one and you need to get
it a year before you become pregnant. We are going
to do a full in depth episode with an expert
talking about public versus private, so stay tuned for that one. Also,
the bills, I think whether you decide to go public
or private. The bills come in hard and fast, and
(14:28):
I never thought that pregnancy was going to be cheap,
but I definitely didn't expect some of the bills.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
For example, the NIPS.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Test, which is the blood test that you do to
find out if you're having a boy or a girl,
and the genetic testing to find out if they potentially
have any genetic abnormalities costs five hundred Australian dollars that
I was not expecting. But there's all these sneaky little extras.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
That you have to prepare for. So just a heads up.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
And last but not least, we have pregnancy ad in
So when I'm talking about pregnancy ADMIN, I'm talking about
your preenatles appointments with doctors. We're talking about vaccines being
up to date. Little side note, I actually didn't know
that you could go to the doctor. You probably should
go to the doctor and get a blood test to
see how your bloods are looking. And I actually found
(15:21):
out after I got pregnant that I was low on rebella.
I'm right on the cusp of being low, so I
think seven is low and I'm sitting at an eighth,
So my levels are right on the cusp and this
hasn't really impacted my pregnancy, but it does mean that
I have to be really careful where I travel to
(15:41):
I have opted not to travel internationally just because I
don't want any conditions to potentially affect our baby. And
other than the pregnancy admin, you can also start to
prepare your body for pregnancy, so eating healthy foods, fatty fish,
and lots of foods that are higher minerals. Okay, let's
(16:06):
get into the best advice for when you actually have
fullen pregnant. If you are pregnant, congratulations. The first one
is so simple, and it's take lots of photos. I
feel like I, in my mind was going to be
taking a photo every week. I was going to have
this collage of the growth of my stomach throughout month
(16:28):
zero to nine or ten months, and it's just not
always possible. Let's be real, it's hard being pregnant. Sometimes
you don't feel good a lot of the times. In
my case, I haven't been feeling good and I just
haven't been taking as many bump photos as I would
have liked, especially those growth photos. But try your best
to make some time for them and also do a
(16:50):
maternity shoot. I did a twenty week maternity shoot. It
was called a half baked shoot because the baby's half
baked at twenty weeks. I'm going to do another maternity
shoot at thirty five weeks, and then I'll at least
get to compare those. Next is book yourself in for
a massage or treat yourself. You're pregnant, You're growing a
(17:11):
whole human being, so make sure that you get those
pregnancy massages and really have some time aside to relax.
So more advice for when you're pregnant is that the
growth scans are not overly accurate. Don't let them stress
you out.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
If your baby is a little bit smaller or a
little bit bigger, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Everyone's pregnancies are different, but obviously utilize the professionals that
you have surrounding you during your pregnancy.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But no, it's not the end of the world.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
This one's an interesting one, and it's be careful with
joints and joint stability, even in the first trimester. So
if anyone's waking up with sore hips like me, then
you know exactly what my audience is talking about. When
they're talking about joints and joint stability. I think a
pregnancy goes on, I think things just start to get
(18:03):
more painful and there's a lot more pressure on our body.
So give yourself grace and note that that's completely normal.
Onto the next one. Read up on all different types
of birth. Someone said this to me and I went, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I probably should do that.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
A lot of my birth knowledge has actually come from
one born every minute. I don't know if anyone has
watched that show, but there's lots of different types of
births and it is really interesting seeing how different everyone's
births can actually be. So whether you think you're going
to try to have a natural birth or a cesarean
birth or a water birth, read up on all different
(18:42):
types of births so that you're mentally prepared. And that's
something that I will be doing as well. This one
has come straight from my osteo, my pregnancy osteo, and
that is pelvic floor exercises. So Mega is going to
take us through a guided kegel exercise right now, because
who doesn't like a reminder to activate your pelvic floor.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So we're all going to.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Take a deep breath in and we're just going to
really relax. So some people are not. It's not gonna
feel like there's much happening. But this is where visualization
mindfulness is awesome. So everyone, just imagine, do a bit
of a body scan. Relax that jaw, relax the traps
and the bar. Make sure you're breathing through your belly.
It's not a force breath, but just imagine that those
(19:24):
peblic floor muscles.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
It's all relaxing.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
So that's on the in house, so big breathing and
we all relax and then on the exhale, even if
you personally it, sometimes that can help. And think of
drawing the pelvic floor up. Imagine urine is coming back
up your urethra, or imagine the pelvic floors grabbing a
kidney bean and drawing it up.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I think that's the best pelvic floor exercise I've done,
because I think it's the only one I've ever done.
Right from them, Yeah, okay, this is from one of
our mammas. She says meal prep before you give birth,
and stock up your freezer. I've heard this through the
grapevine and I I will definitely be stocking up, maybe
even getting some meals from my mum delivered she said
(20:07):
she's gonna make me some. So anything you can do,
always say yes when people want to help, especially if
they're bringing you food. I feel like that is such
a love language and such a nice thing to do.
So if anyone's listening and wants to bring me some
food when I give birth, I'm open and willing to
receive it.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Okay, moving on.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I haven't heard of this one, but this one has
come in very recommended, and it is to take a
breast feeding course if you're planning on breastfeeding. Apparently breastfeeding
is not as easy as we think and can be
a struggle. They also remind us not to give up.
I'm definitely going to try to breastfeed, but I think
I'm gonna definitely potentially look into a breastfeeding cause. But actually,
(20:49):
speaking of at my parenting class that I went to,
they recommended seeing a lactation consultant, so that has definitely
been on my radar, and I've also been told the
midwives at the hospital are super helpful with helping you
breastfeed and giving you tips and tricks. So definitely going
to be taking all of that information on board. This
(21:10):
one's a simple one, but.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Always go with your gut.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So two weeks ago, I actually had some bleeding and
I was having really bad pain in my lower tummy
and had really severely itchy skin, and I just felt
like something was wrong, and I ended up going into
the hospital had some monitoring done. Relieved all of my
anxiety because they told me that everything was fine with
the baby, and honestly, even though there was nothing serious
(21:36):
going on, it was just nice to get that relief
that all was going well and I'm just having some
crazy pregnancy symptoms. Okay, This one I have found out
also recently, and I found it out about it when
it happened to me, and I was absolutely shook.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
To my call.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
And that is lightning crotch, something that no one really
spoke to me about before I got pregnant. But if
you know what I'm talking about, those sharp electric pains
in the crotch region are no fun and be prepared. Basically,
That's all I have to say, and good luck and
(22:13):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Another one I didn't expect but makes complete sense is
that walking every day for at least thirty minutes is
super helpful and after pregnancy you will recover faster. I
know that not everyone has an easy pregnancy, and if
you're like me and you've had a little bit of
a rougher time, that maybe walking for thirty minutes just
(22:35):
isn't possible, but if you can do any form of exercise.
I've recently joined Bump, which is a pregnancy pilates class,
and I have been loving it, and honestly, my body
has been feeling a lot better.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
And it's also nice.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Being around other mums, being around other bumps and just
feeling that community. Okay, this is a last piece of
advice for when you're pregnant, and that is go to
couples counseling before the baby is born.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
This was recommended by one of my.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Followers and she said it did her relationship wonders. As
we're told, relationships do change a lot after a baby
is born, so getting in some couple's counseling can be
very helpful. And it makes complete sense to get on
the same page before your world is turned upside down.
So that one was a goody. Okay, let's move straight
(23:33):
into advice forgiving birth. So obviously I have never given birth,
so I have been eating these up. And let's start
strong with be prepared to have your plan go out
the window and go with the flow. We've heard it
a million times, but I just feel like we have
to bring it up again because.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Birth and labor and kids.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And all of the above is so unpredictable, so sometimes
we just need to relinquish control. Also, even with a caesarean,
you still experience bleeding and issues with your vagina in
relation to sex. So I just found this one out recently.
I thought that you only bled if you have a
(24:14):
natural birth, but apparently after a cesarean you also bleed,
So regardless of the type of birth, bring those pads,
bring those adult nappies, and get prepared because.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
There can be a lot of bleeding.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Okay, someone has said take Cleary sage to the hospital.
It helps you dilate, so I obviously know what sage is,
but have never heard of Cleary sage or Clarie sage.
Apologies if I'm pronouncing that wrong, but apparently it's a
type of oil. It's good for stress relief and has
properties with antidepressant effects. So really good little tip there.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Thank you for that one.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Okay, so moving on, you don't get a metal for
going all natural during birth. If you need the pain relief,
please take it. Get that epidural, or if you need
a c section, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
I love this one.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
I love taking the pressure off ourselves of women in general.
I feel like carrying a child for nine months is
hard enough and if you can get some pain relief,
I'm so on board with that. And also, mothers are
really and truly superheroes, so any sort of pain relief
takes away nothing from how strong and powerful you really are.
(25:27):
This one's an interesting one and one that I found
out recently.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Again, but once.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
You actually give birth to your child, there is something
else that you give birth to. It's not another baby,
it's the placenta. So after birth, you have to give
birth to your placenta. So this one is for all
of the mamas out there who are going to have
a natural birth. This is some advice to say, just
(25:52):
do the pooh if it's.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Going to happen, it's going to happen. So a lot
of women who.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Are delivery their babies are afraid to pooh because they're
pushing and trying to get that baby out, and sometimes
they might accidentally do a pooh, and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Do the pooh, no one's gonna talk about it.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
If you're with a partner or a support person, tell
them not to bring it up and let's just pretend
it didn't happen, or you can talk about it whatever
you feel most comfortable with. Okay, we have the last two.
The next one is that you can get shakes in labor.
If you've seen videos of people in labor, you might
have seen them shaking uncontrollably. This one's a good one,
(26:33):
just to remember to know that it's normal. And finally,
if you're having a sea section, I love this one,
buy a pickup stick as you cannot bend down or
even pull up your undies.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I got this one in and I didn't even know
what a pickup stick was, so I looked it up
and basically, it's one of those sticks and they've got
kind of like tongs at the end of them and
you press it and it picks things up.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Hilarious. And if I have a C section, you know what,
maybe I will get a pickup stick.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Okay, So we are into the part of the podcast
where we get advice from the mums for the mums,
and this is for our listeners.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Once they have their baby.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
So once your baby is here, the best advice that
mums have for us, and make sure to listen up
to these.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I've been eating these up.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I'm so excited for our baby boy to ride and
getting all of this info.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Just makes me so excited.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
So the first one is you don't necessarily bond with
the baby straight away. And we actually have one of
our listeners who has sent us in a voice note.
Her name was Julia, and we're going to listen to
that now, Hianna.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I just wanted to share the best pregnancy advice that
I ever received was that it's okay to not enjoy it.
I had a really difficult pregnancy and I was feeling
like a really bad mother for not enjoying the process,
and somebody set me down, and just hearing it from
somebody else that it's okay to not enjoy every step
of this made me feel a lot better and not
(28:13):
so alone. And the best advice that I ever received
after she was born is they are not giving you
a hard time. They're having a hard time. And it's
been my Mashra through every touch stage and helps keep
me grounded when things get.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
A little electic. Julia, thank you so much. Definitely something
that we can all keep in mind, or if you're
a mama right now in the trenches, to know that
it's okay. And I also love that point that you
said where you said they aren't giving you a hard time,
they're having a hard time. Such valuable insight, and I
think it's really important to remember as a new mum.
(28:50):
Obviously I have no idea what I'm talking about because
I've never had a baby, but in a few months,
I think it will be really good for me to
listen back to this podcast and to hear that piece
of advice, and I think it's going to be really valuable. Okay,
next one, we have a mum saying I wish I
had collected more milk as my milk took time to
(29:11):
come in and this was hard with a very hungry newborn.
Really good advice, and definitely I'm going to start trying
to collect my colostrum at thirty six weeks. I did
a parenting course and they said that you can start
collecting from then, So definitely going to try my best
to do that and try and collect as much milk
(29:33):
as possible. Okay, our next mom says that postpartum anxiety
was a real thing, and fearing that my husband or
baby would die daily wasn't uncommon. It's really important to
note that as a mum, sometimes our brains are going
to go to the worst possible scenarios and that's okay.
(29:53):
And dealing with post pardon anxiety or depression is very
normal and a lot of people go go through it
and to seek help if you are in that situation.
There really is so much help out there, so please
take the right steps and do what you need to
do to survive and get through okay. This next mom
(30:14):
says always have both baby neurothan and baby panadol because
you can use them together for a sick baby. I
think this is some really good advice and definitely something
that I'm going to be keeping in the house for
when the baby's here.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Next we have read the book baby Wise.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
It's about establishing a routine of sleep, feed, and play,
So I can't vouch for that one this mum has,
but I'm currently reading a book called The First Six
Weeks and I am thoroughly enjoying it. And I think
just reading any book really that gives you amazing advice
and gives you information and knowledge and helps you on
(30:54):
your journey in becoming a mum is super useful. Okay,
next one, find a mum tribe, meet up with friends,
meet new people who are at the same stage and
great for during and after the baby. So this one
is a big one for me. I have one friend
who's pregnant, but that's it. All of my closest girlfriends
are very much still single or not at that stage
(31:17):
in their life yet. So I think meeting new mums
is something that I'm really looking to do as soon
as the baby gets here. I've even started meeting friends
at my pregnancy pilates class.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
So yeah, getting a little tribe together of mums.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Who know what you're going through, know how you're feeling,
I think is so important. This mum says breastfeeding is
really hard. Make sure you buy nipple cream and silvererettes.
Funnily enough, I only just found out about what silverettes are.
I'm sure that if you're already a mum or a
mum to be, you've now heard of them. But for
(31:53):
those of you who don't know, their little silver cup
things that go over your nipples and it helps calm
down and cool down on your nipples to make breastfeeding
a lot easier, as well as nipple cream.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
But yeah, breastfeeding.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I have heard people talk a lot about how difficult
it is, and I think it's worth being prepared for that.
I'm gonna go into breastfeeding as open mindedly as I
possibly can and take on all of the advice from
the midwives, but I am not under any false illusion
that it's going to be easy. And also, we are
(32:27):
doing an episode on all things breastfeeding, so stay tuned
for that coming soon. Okay, this one as a new
mum excites me and it's just that there's so much
more joy and it outweighs all of the bad.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
So I think it's.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Common when you're pregnant for people to go just you wait,
it's going to be really hard. It's going to be
really tricky and challenging, and your whole life's going to
change and your relationship's going to change. Can you tell
how stressed out I am started talking very fast. But
I think it's really important to look at the positives,
look at the jaw that's going to come into your life.
(33:01):
You're going to have a beautiful little baby, that's going
to be a part of you forever and how beautiful
is that? So I think it's also important to look
at the positives. I'm not saying it's going to be
a walk in the park. I know it's not going
to be, but I am also trying to stay as
positive as possible. And maybe that's because I'm a first
time mum and I have heard people say that that
(33:22):
first time mums go into birth with maybe a false
sense of what's coming. And I'm okay with that for now,
but we'll soon see when the baby arrives.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
And this is the final one that I have received,
and that is that no book, no course, or no
podcast interesting that we're listening to a podcast right now
will ever be able to fully prepare you for motherhood.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
And I truly believe that.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I think that actually being with your baby and learning
your baby and following those motherly instincts and intuition trumps.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
All of that.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
But it is still nice to have you guys here,
and it's still nice to learn, and I think information
is power, and we're doing this together as a team. Guys,
thank you so much for joining me on this episode
of Where's Your bump Hat again, thank you for all
of the helpful advice. It's honestly been so eye opening
(34:20):
and so interesting learning all about this.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
The advice that you guys.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Have given me, and also all of our listeners listening
today is incredible and we love hearing from you. Also,
please keep the voice notes coming in. I want to
keep adding them to our episodes and help you guys
as much as you're helping me. Until next time, Bye,
Wanting to have kids is a huge life decision. But
once you're ready to embark on that journey, what do
you actually need to know? This podcast is the community
you never knew you needed from mums and mums to be.
We're about to embark on this learning journey together and
it's going to be real. It's going to be raw
and a completely non judgmental space. You're listening to Where's
(00:24):
your Bump Hat, and this is Ana Macavoy Staples. I'm
going to be interviewing experts in the field so that
all of our burning questions can be answered, from understanding
our cycle to knowing what is the best time to conceive,
and so much more. We'll get into the difference between
(00:46):
natural verse C section births, strange pregnancy symptoms and everything
in between. Hello and welcome back to another episode of
Where's Your Bump Hat. My name is Anna Macavoy Staples
and I am currently twenty seven weeks pregnant. I actually
(01:07):
can't believe that this pregnancy is going in so quickly.
So today I'm going to be revealing to you the
top five things I wish I knew before getting pregnant.
You can't always plan when you will fall pregnant, but
if you are currently trying to conceive, here are some
things that I wish that I knew beforehand.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
As well as the best advice for when you are
pregnant and your advice for me for after and for birth.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Okay, guys, so let's talk about this week. It's week
twenty seven of my pregnancy, and someone gave me some
really good advice and it was actually one of our listeners,
and she told me that two feelings can exist together
and it's okay to be both grateful and exhausted. And
I just feel like that really resembles my pregnancy. I'm
(02:04):
so grateful, but I'm exhausted. And it's so funny looking
back on pre pregnancy because I thought it was going
to be all sunshine and rainbows, and I think a
lot of us go into it with that mentality, and
sometimes pregnancy can be hard and that's completely fine and okay,
and we're all valid in feeling that way.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Okay, So this week.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I was actually meant to record this podcast last week,
but I had the gestational diabetes test, the infamous gestational
diabetes test, and to be honest, I've heard a lot
of negative reviews about it, and I thought it was
just to do with the sugary drink that you take.
I thought that the reason why people hated this test
(02:46):
so much was because the sugary drink.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Tastes so bad.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I didn't actually realize that it makes you feel horrendous.
So I was in for a bit of a shock.
Last week. I took two days off work. I was exhausted,
I had a headache, I just felt lethargic.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
We actually, my mum actually.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Stayed with me to do the test, which was super sweet,
and she took me to my warehouse to pick up
some samples for my business, and the lady at the
warehouse actually looked at me and I could feel my
eyes actually closing over and she looked at me and said,
oh my god, are you're okay? And my instant response
(03:27):
was no, not really, I don't know what's happened to me.
I've just done this gestational diabetes test and I feel wrecked.
I'm exhausted. So that really was a bit of a
shock for me. So something to look out for in
pregnancy that gestational diabetes tests. There are alternatives, which I
found out later from our listeners and from my social audience,
(03:49):
So you can actually do a blood sugar monitoring or
a hemoglobin a one C test. Had no idea about those,
but I think the gestational diabetes is the best, in
apparently quickest way to find out, so I've been told,
but it is worth noting that there are alternatives. So anyway,
I actually saw my OB today and found out that
(04:11):
I thankfully do not have gestational diabetes. I pass the test,
so yay, I don't have to do the three hour tests.
So just for context, there's the two hour tests where
you do three blood tests and have one glucose drink,
and if you don't pass that, you have to then
do the three hour blood tests where you do four
(04:32):
blood tests and the glucose drink. So I'm really glad
that I don't have to do that, And for anyone
who has to do that, I'm sending you all my
love and sending you all the positive vibes because that's
not a fun test to do. But in saying that,
I saw my OB today and he told me that
I am low in iron, which is apparently very common
(04:52):
in pregnancy because the baby just loves eating.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
All of your nutrients and all of your iron.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
It takes whatever it needs and we kind of get
left with I guess what's left. So for the next
two weeks, I am taking iron supplements. I've been told
to eat lots of red meat. Pork apparently is a
great source of iron. So I have two weeks and
if I can't get my iron up, then I'm going
to have to do an iron transfusion, so something that
(05:19):
wasn't on my pregnancy bingo card. But before we start
this episode, I want to run through my things that
I have found extremely strange from being pregnant. And this
is things that I have not heard anyone talk about
and kind of shocked me, to be honest, throughout all
trimesters of my pregnancy. So let's start strong with the
first one, and that's the pregnancy gingervitis. I know a
(05:43):
lot of pregnant women suffer from this. My dentists actually
pointed this out. But basically I would be having conversations
with people and my gums.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Would start bleeding. I had blood all over my teeth.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I even did a podcast with Matt four Where's your
head at?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
And he was like, are you okay? You're bleeding?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And I was like, oh, just my pregnancy ginger btis,
So that was the first one that was a bit
of a shock. The skin tags. This one I had
no idea about. I have skin tags on my neck,
in strange places, under my armpit. I even have the
most annoying skin tag ever on my bikini line. So
every time I try to shave, it literally starts bleeding,
(06:23):
which is not ideal. I have had laser hair removal,
but honestly, pregnancy, your hair just grows so quickly. And
I know it's so good on your head, but if
you've had laser hair removal down below or under your arms,
you don't want that hair growing quickly. And now that
I have a skin tag down there and I shave
maybe every second day, it's not ideal. So that needs
(06:46):
to be removed as soon as this baby comes out.
The next one, at sixteen weeks pregnant, my milk started
to come through and I didn't know what it was,
but my nipples started to get I hate using this word,
and it's my best friend Laura's most hated word on
the planet, but it's the only word I can use
(07:06):
to describe this. So I'm so sorry in advance, but
my nipples look crusty, like yellow crusty, and it's because
the milk has come through and the milk dries.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And I've read things saying you're not meant to pick.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
The crust or like clean it, and I don't know,
I just find it a little bit gross. Maybe I'm
not mature enough to have a baby, but honestly, it
was unexpected. I've never heard anyone mention it before. But yeah,
the milk has come through. Also, on a side note
to the milk coming through, now that I am in
(07:41):
the third trimester, my colostrum has come through. So when
you think about milk, you think it's going to be white,
right Like, if I'm going to Coal's, I'm buying the
milk that looks white, and if I'm having a coffee,
I want my milk to look white. Colostrum is bright yellow.
It's so yellow, like concerningly yellow. But I know that's
(08:05):
normal and it's perfect if it's bright yellow, because that
means it's the colostrum. But this is almost just like
a heads up. So yeah, another weird and wonderful thing
that pops up when you're pregnant. Speaking of the tatars,
I think this one is somewhat known, but my ariola nipples,
my ariola nipples, my nipples have gotten a lot darker.
(08:28):
Like they're not one shade darker, They're like three to
four shades darker at this point. Now that it's happened
to me and I've spoken about it with people who
are pregnant, apparently this is very common, but it's just
not something that I had ever personally heard of before. Okay,
strap yourself in for this one. This one might be
a little bit too much information, but I have to
(08:49):
tell you, guys, because no one told me there is
a lot of fluid downstairs. Like I'm talking, I'm changing
my underwear three to four times a day and there's
literally nothing I can do about it. It's completely normal.
I thought that there was something wrong, and I have
been assured that this is completely normal in pregnancy. And again,
(09:13):
pregnant women or mums who I have spoken to about
this have told me and assured me that this happened
to them. But I guess no one really wants to
talk about that publicly, which is totally fair enough. I
don't really want to talk about it publicly, but I
feel like this one you should definitely know about.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Okay, I have one last one.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
This one made me think that I was going into labor,
which I wasn't. And it's when you have sex when
you're pregnant, and after post sex you get this Braxton
Hicks contraction. The first ever Braxton Hicks contraction I got
during pregnancy was post sex, and basically, your whole tommy
(09:55):
just seizes up, gets so hard, and I just genuinely
was like, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We've intoed the babies.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
So Braksentik's contractions after sex are completely normal. And I
looked it up online and again completely normal, but not
something that I had.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Heard people talk about.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Okay, So with that being said, I have put all
of my very strange, crazy intense pregnancy symptoms out.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
On the table.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
So for those of you who aren't yet pregnant, I
thought we could start with you guys and jump into
the top five things that I wish I knew before
we started trying to get pregnant. Okay, So number one,
according to research, there is only about a fifteen percent
(10:43):
chance that you can get pregnant each month. So even
if you and your partner are in top shape to conceive,
a woman in her early twenties has twenty five to
thirty percent chance of getting pregnant every month, and fertility
generally slows down when a woman hits her early thirties,
so after the age of thirty five, that decline really
(11:07):
starts to speed up, and by age forty, the chance
of actually getting pregnant in any monthly cycle is around
five percent. So I know, for me, I felt very clueless.
I spoke a lot on the first episode about how
I had this huge learning curve and experience, and I
feel like, in the last six months of being pregnant,
(11:27):
I have learned so much.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And I think just knowing.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Those statistics before trying to conceive kind of puts things
a little bit more into perspective, because knowledge is power,
as we know. Okay, so number two, go ahead, plan
the trip, live your life regardless of whether you think
you will be pregnant at that time. You can always cancel,
you can always readbook. This one I think is very
(11:53):
personal to me because I feel like as soon as
Michael and I tried to conceive, I really put my
life on pause.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I was scared to do anything.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I was really treating myself after that first month of trying,
like I was pregnant and trying to manifest it and
positive vibes. But I think that there is something beautiful
in continuing to live your life, continuing to have a
few glasses of wine and just trying to take it easy.
It is actually super interesting because when on the month
(12:24):
that Michael and I actually conceived our baby boy, we
took a last minute trip to Thailand. It wasn't planned,
it was really last minute, and we went to Thailand
for a week, and.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We actually took the pressure off so much.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And I know that that doesn't work for everyone, and
I want to really make that clear, but for us,
it was nice to be in a different country, to
get some vitamin D, to get out of the cold
Melbourne weather, and to really just explore and divert our attention.
And then we just happened to full pregnant that month,
and bearing in mind, you just never know when you
(13:00):
are going to fall pregnant, so it is nice to
have those memories and to look back on that final
month before we got pregnant, and we have some really fun,
exciting memories because before that I was scared to do anything, honestly,
and I think it's totally normal so just want to
keep in mind. Number three, you are allowed to be
upset if you don't.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Get pregnant straight away.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So regardless of the time you're allowed to feel your emotions,
you are valid.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
And we really want to make Where's your.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Bump at a really inclusive community where everyone feels seen
and heard and everyone's emotions are represented. And trust me
when I say I was no angel, I was the
queen of testing and overtesting.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I was testing well before.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
My period was even due, and I was super disappointed.
I think I cried pretty much every month when I
got a negative test. It didn't need to be this way,
but of course, hindsight is twenty twenty and now I'm
sitting here and I'm six months pregnant and super grateful
and give and that's not everyone's journey. You are allowed
to feel exactly how you want to feel and how
(14:05):
you do feel. Number four is health insurance. So this
one is a big one and you need to get
it a year before you become pregnant. We are going
to do a full in depth episode with an expert
talking about public versus private, so stay tuned for that one. Also,
the bills, I think whether you decide to go public
or private. The bills come in hard and fast, and
(14:28):
I never thought that pregnancy was going to be cheap,
but I definitely didn't expect some of the bills.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
For example, the NIPS.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Test, which is the blood test that you do to
find out if you're having a boy or a girl,
and the genetic testing to find out if they potentially
have any genetic abnormalities costs five hundred Australian dollars that
I was not expecting. But there's all these sneaky little extras.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
That you have to prepare for. So just a heads up.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
And last but not least, we have pregnancy ad in
So when I'm talking about pregnancy ADMIN, I'm talking about
your preenatles appointments with doctors. We're talking about vaccines being
up to date. Little side note, I actually didn't know
that you could go to the doctor. You probably should
go to the doctor and get a blood test to
see how your bloods are looking. And I actually found
(15:21):
out after I got pregnant that I was low on rebella.
I'm right on the cusp of being low, so I
think seven is low and I'm sitting at an eighth,
So my levels are right on the cusp and this
hasn't really impacted my pregnancy, but it does mean that
I have to be really careful where I travel to
(15:41):
I have opted not to travel internationally just because I
don't want any conditions to potentially affect our baby. And
other than the pregnancy admin, you can also start to
prepare your body for pregnancy, so eating healthy foods, fatty fish,
and lots of foods that are higher minerals. Okay, let's
(16:06):
get into the best advice for when you actually have
fullen pregnant. If you are pregnant, congratulations. The first one
is so simple, and it's take lots of photos. I
feel like I, in my mind was going to be
taking a photo every week. I was going to have
this collage of the growth of my stomach throughout month
(16:28):
zero to nine or ten months, and it's just not
always possible. Let's be real, it's hard being pregnant. Sometimes
you don't feel good a lot of the times. In
my case, I haven't been feeling good and I just
haven't been taking as many bump photos as I would
have liked, especially those growth photos. But try your best
to make some time for them and also do a
(16:50):
maternity shoot. I did a twenty week maternity shoot. It
was called a half baked shoot because the baby's half
baked at twenty weeks. I'm going to do another maternity
shoot at thirty five weeks, and then I'll at least
get to compare those. Next is book yourself in for
a massage or treat yourself. You're pregnant, You're growing a
(17:11):
whole human being, so make sure that you get those
pregnancy massages and really have some time aside to relax.
So more advice for when you're pregnant is that the
growth scans are not overly accurate. Don't let them stress
you out.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
If your baby is a little bit smaller or a
little bit bigger, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Everyone's pregnancies are different, but obviously utilize the professionals that
you have surrounding you during your pregnancy.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But no, it's not the end of the world.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
This one's an interesting one, and it's be careful with
joints and joint stability, even in the first trimester. So
if anyone's waking up with sore hips like me, then
you know exactly what my audience is talking about. When
they're talking about joints and joint stability. I think a
pregnancy goes on, I think things just start to get
(18:03):
more painful and there's a lot more pressure on our body.
So give yourself grace and note that that's completely normal.
Onto the next one. Read up on all different types
of birth. Someone said this to me and I went, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I probably should do that.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
A lot of my birth knowledge has actually come from
one born every minute. I don't know if anyone has
watched that show, but there's lots of different types of
births and it is really interesting seeing how different everyone's
births can actually be. So whether you think you're going
to try to have a natural birth or a cesarean
birth or a water birth, read up on all different
(18:42):
types of births so that you're mentally prepared. And that's
something that I will be doing as well. This one
has come straight from my osteo, my pregnancy osteo, and
that is pelvic floor exercises. So Mega is going to
take us through a guided kegel exercise right now, because
who doesn't like a reminder to activate your pelvic floor.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So we're all going to.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Take a deep breath in and we're just going to
really relax. So some people are not. It's not gonna
feel like there's much happening. But this is where visualization
mindfulness is awesome. So everyone, just imagine, do a bit
of a body scan. Relax that jaw, relax the traps
and the bar. Make sure you're breathing through your belly.
It's not a force breath, but just imagine that those
(19:24):
peblic floor muscles.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
It's all relaxing.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
So that's on the in house, so big breathing and
we all relax and then on the exhale, even if
you personally it, sometimes that can help. And think of
drawing the pelvic floor up. Imagine urine is coming back
up your urethra, or imagine the pelvic floors grabbing a
kidney bean and drawing it up.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
I think that's the best pelvic floor exercise I've done,
because I think it's the only one I've ever done.
Right from them, Yeah, okay, this is from one of
our mammas. She says meal prep before you give birth,
and stock up your freezer. I've heard this through the
grapevine and I I will definitely be stocking up, maybe
even getting some meals from my mum delivered she said
(20:07):
she's gonna make me some. So anything you can do,
always say yes when people want to help, especially if
they're bringing you food. I feel like that is such
a love language and such a nice thing to do.
So if anyone's listening and wants to bring me some
food when I give birth, I'm open and willing to
receive it.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Okay, moving on.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I haven't heard of this one, but this one has
come in very recommended, and it is to take a
breast feeding course if you're planning on breastfeeding. Apparently breastfeeding
is not as easy as we think and can be
a struggle. They also remind us not to give up.
I'm definitely going to try to breastfeed, but I think
I'm gonna definitely potentially look into a breastfeeding cause. But actually,
(20:49):
speaking of at my parenting class that I went to,
they recommended seeing a lactation consultant, so that has definitely
been on my radar, and I've also been told the
midwives at the hospital are super helpful with helping you
breastfeed and giving you tips and tricks. So definitely going
to be taking all of that information on board. This
(21:10):
one's a simple one, but.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Always go with your gut.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
So two weeks ago, I actually had some bleeding and
I was having really bad pain in my lower tummy
and had really severely itchy skin, and I just felt
like something was wrong, and I ended up going into
the hospital had some monitoring done. Relieved all of my
anxiety because they told me that everything was fine with
the baby, and honestly, even though there was nothing serious
(21:36):
going on, it was just nice to get that relief
that all was going well and I'm just having some
crazy pregnancy symptoms. Okay, This one I have found out
also recently, and I found it out about it when
it happened to me, and I was absolutely shook.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
To my call.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
And that is lightning crotch, something that no one really
spoke to me about before I got pregnant. But if
you know what I'm talking about, those sharp electric pains
in the crotch region are no fun and be prepared. Basically,
That's all I have to say, and good luck and
(22:13):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Another one I didn't expect but makes complete sense is
that walking every day for at least thirty minutes is
super helpful and after pregnancy you will recover faster. I
know that not everyone has an easy pregnancy, and if
you're like me and you've had a little bit of
a rougher time, that maybe walking for thirty minutes just
(22:35):
isn't possible, but if you can do any form of exercise.
I've recently joined Bump, which is a pregnancy pilates class,
and I have been loving it, and honestly, my body
has been feeling a lot better.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
And it's also nice.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Being around other mums, being around other bumps and just
feeling that community. Okay, this is a last piece of
advice for when you're pregnant, and that is go to
couples counseling before the baby is born.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
This was recommended by one of my.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Followers and she said it did her relationship wonders. As
we're told, relationships do change a lot after a baby
is born, so getting in some couple's counseling can be
very helpful. And it makes complete sense to get on
the same page before your world is turned upside down.
So that one was a goody. Okay, let's move straight
(23:33):
into advice forgiving birth. So obviously I have never given birth,
so I have been eating these up. And let's start
strong with be prepared to have your plan go out
the window and go with the flow. We've heard it
a million times, but I just feel like we have
to bring it up again because.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Birth and labor and kids.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And all of the above is so unpredictable, so sometimes
we just need to relinquish control. Also, even with a caesarean,
you still experience bleeding and issues with your vagina in
relation to sex. So I just found this one out recently.
I thought that you only bled if you have a
(24:14):
natural birth, but apparently after a cesarean you also bleed,
So regardless of the type of birth, bring those pads,
bring those adult nappies, and get prepared because.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
There can be a lot of bleeding.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Okay, someone has said take Cleary sage to the hospital.
It helps you dilate, so I obviously know what sage is,
but have never heard of Cleary sage or Clarie sage.
Apologies if I'm pronouncing that wrong, but apparently it's a
type of oil. It's good for stress relief and has
properties with antidepressant effects. So really good little tip there.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Thank you for that one.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Okay, so moving on, you don't get a metal for
going all natural during birth. If you need the pain relief,
please take it. Get that epidural, or if you need
a c section, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
I love this one.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
I love taking the pressure off ourselves of women in general.
I feel like carrying a child for nine months is
hard enough and if you can get some pain relief,
I'm so on board with that. And also, mothers are
really and truly superheroes, so any sort of pain relief
takes away nothing from how strong and powerful you really are.
(25:27):
This one's an interesting one and one that I found
out recently.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Again, but once.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
You actually give birth to your child, there is something
else that you give birth to. It's not another baby,
it's the placenta. So after birth, you have to give
birth to your placenta. So this one is for all
of the mamas out there who are going to have
a natural birth. This is some advice to say, just
(25:52):
do the pooh if it's.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Going to happen, it's going to happen. So a lot
of women who.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Are delivery their babies are afraid to pooh because they're
pushing and trying to get that baby out, and sometimes
they might accidentally do a pooh, and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Do the pooh, no one's gonna talk about it.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
If you're with a partner or a support person, tell
them not to bring it up and let's just pretend
it didn't happen, or you can talk about it whatever
you feel most comfortable with. Okay, we have the last two.
The next one is that you can get shakes in labor.
If you've seen videos of people in labor, you might
have seen them shaking uncontrollably. This one's a good one,
(26:33):
just to remember to know that it's normal. And finally,
if you're having a sea section, I love this one,
buy a pickup stick as you cannot bend down or
even pull up your undies.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I got this one in and I didn't even know
what a pickup stick was, so I looked it up
and basically, it's one of those sticks and they've got
kind of like tongs at the end of them and
you press it and it picks things up.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Hilarious. And if I have a C section, you know what,
maybe I will get a pickup stick.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Okay, So we are into the part of the podcast
where we get advice from the mums for the mums,
and this is for our listeners.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Once they have their baby.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
So once your baby is here, the best advice that
mums have for us, and make sure to listen up
to these.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I've been eating these up.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I'm so excited for our baby boy to ride and
getting all of this info.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Just makes me so excited.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
So the first one is you don't necessarily bond with
the baby straight away. And we actually have one of
our listeners who has sent us in a voice note.
Her name was Julia, and we're going to listen to
that now, Hianna.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I just wanted to share the best pregnancy advice that
I ever received was that it's okay to not enjoy it.
I had a really difficult pregnancy and I was feeling
like a really bad mother for not enjoying the process,
and somebody set me down, and just hearing it from
somebody else that it's okay to not enjoy every step
of this made me feel a lot better and not
(28:13):
so alone. And the best advice that I ever received
after she was born is they are not giving you
a hard time. They're having a hard time. And it's
been my Mashra through every touch stage and helps keep
me grounded when things get.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
A little electic. Julia, thank you so much. Definitely something
that we can all keep in mind, or if you're
a mama right now in the trenches, to know that
it's okay. And I also love that point that you
said where you said they aren't giving you a hard time,
they're having a hard time. Such valuable insight, and I
think it's really important to remember as a new mum.
(28:50):
Obviously I have no idea what I'm talking about because
I've never had a baby, but in a few months,
I think it will be really good for me to
listen back to this podcast and to hear that piece
of advice, and I think it's going to be really valuable. Okay,
next one, we have a mum saying I wish I
had collected more milk as my milk took time to
(29:11):
come in and this was hard with a very hungry newborn.
Really good advice, and definitely I'm going to start trying
to collect my colostrum at thirty six weeks. I did
a parenting course and they said that you can start
collecting from then, So definitely going to try my best
to do that and try and collect as much milk
(29:33):
as possible. Okay, our next mom says that postpartum anxiety
was a real thing, and fearing that my husband or
baby would die daily wasn't uncommon. It's really important to
note that as a mum, sometimes our brains are going
to go to the worst possible scenarios and that's okay.
(29:53):
And dealing with post pardon anxiety or depression is very
normal and a lot of people go go through it
and to seek help if you are in that situation.
There really is so much help out there, so please
take the right steps and do what you need to
do to survive and get through okay. This next mom
(30:14):
says always have both baby neurothan and baby panadol because
you can use them together for a sick baby. I
think this is some really good advice and definitely something
that I'm going to be keeping in the house for
when the baby's here.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Next we have read the book baby Wise.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
It's about establishing a routine of sleep, feed, and play,
So I can't vouch for that one this mum has,
but I'm currently reading a book called The First Six
Weeks and I am thoroughly enjoying it. And I think
just reading any book really that gives you amazing advice
and gives you information and knowledge and helps you on
(30:54):
your journey in becoming a mum is super useful. Okay,
next one, find a mum tribe, meet up with friends,
meet new people who are at the same stage and
great for during and after the baby. So this one
is a big one for me. I have one friend
who's pregnant, but that's it. All of my closest girlfriends
are very much still single or not at that stage
(31:17):
in their life yet. So I think meeting new mums
is something that I'm really looking to do as soon
as the baby gets here. I've even started meeting friends
at my pregnancy pilates class.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
So yeah, getting a little tribe together of mums.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Who know what you're going through, know how you're feeling,
I think is so important. This mum says breastfeeding is
really hard. Make sure you buy nipple cream and silvererettes.
Funnily enough, I only just found out about what silverettes are.
I'm sure that if you're already a mum or a
mum to be, you've now heard of them. But for
(31:53):
those of you who don't know, their little silver cup
things that go over your nipples and it helps calm
down and cool down on your nipples to make breastfeeding
a lot easier, as well as nipple cream.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
But yeah, breastfeeding.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I have heard people talk a lot about how difficult
it is, and I think it's worth being prepared for that.
I'm gonna go into breastfeeding as open mindedly as I
possibly can and take on all of the advice from
the midwives, but I am not under any false illusion
that it's going to be easy. And also, we are
(32:27):
doing an episode on all things breastfeeding, so stay tuned
for that coming soon. Okay, this one as a new
mum excites me and it's just that there's so much
more joy and it outweighs all of the bad.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
So I think it's.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Common when you're pregnant for people to go just you wait,
it's going to be really hard. It's going to be
really tricky and challenging, and your whole life's going to
change and your relationship's going to change. Can you tell
how stressed out I am started talking very fast. But
I think it's really important to look at the positives,
look at the jaw that's going to come into your life.
(33:01):
You're going to have a beautiful little baby, that's going
to be a part of you forever and how beautiful
is that? So I think it's also important to look
at the positives. I'm not saying it's going to be
a walk in the park. I know it's not going
to be, but I am also trying to stay as
positive as possible. And maybe that's because I'm a first
time mum and I have heard people say that that
(33:22):
first time mums go into birth with maybe a false
sense of what's coming. And I'm okay with that for now,
but we'll soon see when the baby arrives.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
And this is the final one that I have received,
and that is that no book, no course, or no
podcast interesting that we're listening to a podcast right now
will ever be able to fully prepare you for motherhood.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
And I truly believe that.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
I think that actually being with your baby and learning
your baby and following those motherly instincts and intuition trumps.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
All of that.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
But it is still nice to have you guys here,
and it's still nice to learn, and I think information
is power, and we're doing this together as a team. Guys,
thank you so much for joining me on this episode
of Where's Your bump Hat again, thank you for all
of the helpful advice. It's honestly been so eye opening
(34:20):
and so interesting learning all about this.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
The advice that you guys.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Have given me, and also all of our listeners listening
today is incredible and we love hearing from you. Also,
please keep the voice notes coming in. I want to
keep adding them to our episodes and help you guys
as much as you're helping me. Until next time, Bye,
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