Jules Robinson's Pre-Eclampsia Struggle

I'd been there for like seven hours and Cam actually said that I was starting to drift underwater, like in between the surges. But after the birth she had to deal with a form of one of the scariest pregnancy conditions. It's super super rare, but it was really scary because they're like, if we don't control this, like you could actually have a stroke. But her story works out beautifully and then at the end my husband was like, you are incredible and I've had enough energy. It would have

been like I fucking know. So let's get into it and meet today's mum.

I'm a little bit older than him. But a honeymoon, we started trying and two months later I was pregnant. You know, all those tests that I did, lived in fear for five years. I really shouldn't have wasted so much energy on thinking that maybe it wasn't going to happen. Because a chart telling me that I had low count and all that, I just put my hand up. I did my head in for no reason, and within two months I was very fortunate and manifested that little baby

into my life. My birth with Olli, my first son, was like my birth wish came completely true. It was a four hour berth. All the effort I put into my hypno birthing, it really was amazing. My husband was amazing, and I couldn't have asked for a better birth wish that really did happen for me.

let's give it a go. So it took two years really for it to happen. I really discovered the aa aadic medicine and went down that route, and when I had my first consultation, it just the penny dropped. There was no way my body was going to make a baby. It was on fire. So I really had to tap into my calm, my meditation. I stopped doing any adrenaline kind of exercise, and I really believe all this contributed

to me falling pregnant again. As I said, it took nearly two years to even when it actually happened, I was like, oh my god, is this actually real? Like the line was so faint and I had it on every angle possible, and I'm like, is it there is it just because I wanted to be there, and yeah, it happened, it just didn't feel real because I've been waiting so long for.

shit done. Like I actually really enjoyed that about being pregnant. And then as I got bigger Ideah, it was a little bit debilitating but absolutely healthy.

as well. On the Saturday, I had a thing about it falling on exactly the same day because my first child was on d Day, and I was like, this one's going to come to it, So anything's in time in my life is my children. So I had the acupunture and I got off the bed and my stomach had dropped so much. It was quite painful having that acupuncture, and I'm quite sensitive to things, so by that evening

I was really starting to get the feels. And my parents came because they were going to stay with us for a week when we brought this child into the world, so that was fantastic. And then on the Monday it

didn't come all the fields. And then on the Monday two days later, I went into water aerobics and in the pool there was a midwife who funnily enough, ended up seeing in hospital at Northern Beaches a couple of days later, and I was like, Oh, I've had all the chili, I've had the pineapple, I've done this, and I've done that and done this. She said, look, the only thing that's going to work is semen. And I

was like, really, where's out? And she's explaining how it's got something in it that helps open up be a pelvic floor. And I was like, she because it's almost like being in juice, Like it's the same. There's something in it that's the same. Anyway, So I was like okay. So I got home, had the most comical sex you've ever could imagine, Like it was hilarious. But then within two hours later, my water broke. So there's got to be something in that. There you go, an old wives

tale proven true. Later in this episode, you'll hear the science behind this from doctor Gollye and what other tricks you can do at home that are proven to bring on labor. Right, So, Jules's water had broken, and it broke like the movies, not like a little trickle. It was like, oh my god, this is like the movies, which genuinely doesn't happen like that. So and I was lying on the couch and I have my son in

my hands and I was bringing on the oxytocin. I was just stroking him and feeling all the love and he fell asleep and I actually was getting up to go to bed, which was actually not great then going into labor, because I was like so knackered by you know, eight o'clock at night, as you do in the last Droe mister Yeah. And I got up and it was like, oh my god, Wow, Okay, we're on and because of my last birth being in four hours, ring the hospital and they're like you get in here quick, girl, because

it's gonna happen. So packed our bags and off we went, coming up. And then I was on the floor and they're like, you got to get up to the bed, and I just was like this mountain goat. I was like, oh my god, it's just so far away. So after a quick drive to the hospital, Jewels and camp pulled

up around a quarter to nine that night. I was definitely starting to get the surges and feeling it, and I used a tennis machine on my first burd and hands up, I will tell anyone that will listen, if you're wanting to give birth or you're tougher with any kind of pain, this machine basically tricks your brain of where the pain is and it takes your mind off what's happening, and it honestly is a game changer, especially because I was going in with the ambition to have

a natural birth again as in meaning nothing no chemicals, like you know, no needles or anything like that. So I got into hospital and my husband is useless on no sleep, so I knew that I had a little bit to go until I was going to get to the place. I was like, you go to sleep and I'll be here. So I had my meditation tape some on really got in the zone, bouncing up and down, and then I just kind of got a bit over the hypno voice, like it gets a little bit after

a couple of hours, I'm done with you. And I spent about six months making a birth wish playlist on Spotify, and every midwife's like, oh my god, your music's amazing. And it really was like Belses that you can sing just songs that you know, a little bit of romance, a little bit of cheese, like just a really good playlist that is just perfect in that setting. I know what you're gonna ask, which bangers does Jules Robinson have on her birthday playlist? Well, let's take a dive in to listen.

I was just channeling through it. So she came in and she said, look, my intuition tells me that your water hasn't fully broken. I'm like, really, oh my god, you should have seen what happened on the floor in my hallway. So she got out this thing that I can only explain as like a big knitting needle, and she then inserted it to break my water. And she

was right. It was basically I'd done four or five hours of the head just hitting on this little puddle of water in a sack, which is why after birth I then got pubist symphonius disorder, which is basically just that belting on the pelvic floor. Like I just reallyok that bone was so painful, like I couldn't walk about a week afterwards, like it was sliding. There was no lifting of the feet at all. So once she did that, and also but in that moment, I was like, Okay,

I'm bored of this. I'm bored of this scenario. And I wanted also to have a different berth than last time, just to experience something new. So I got into the bath and within like honestly three minutes like not to one thousand from her then piersing the water. So in the bath I enjoyed it. It wasn't for me though. I did a couple of hours and eventually like I was knacked. It was like a two day bender, you

know why. I'd been there for like seven hours, and Cam actually said that I was starting to drift underwater like in between the surges because I was so tired, like I really gave it my all. But I also think that I wasn't letting myself get to the next stage. I don't know, I just wasn't sold on the whole water thing. I enjoyed. It was different. It was good

to do something different. So anyway, I got out and I was having a little bit gas by that point, and they were like, okay, let's get you back to the bed, and oh my god, like from the bath to the bed was like a million miles away, and I was like, okay, I can do it. Anyway, I got there, and of course they must put like towels in ovens or something in the hospital because I was freezing, and also the fact of having to get out of the water and get over there was quite you know,

not the most pleasant thing. So I got out and there wrapped me up in the sheet and got me warm really quickly before the next contraction was coming. And I just was like, give me gas, give me my tens and everything. So I finally got it on and then I was on the floor and they're like, you gotta get up to the bed, and I just was like this mountain goat. I was like, oh my god, it's just so far away. And by this time I was on a bit of gas, so everything was just

like airy fairy. And then Cam and I looked at each other in the eye and if by this time it was like oh six am, you know, I'd been at it like and I'd been giving at my all and we looked at each other and when you know your partner inside it out, our eyes just basically said, if I'm not fully dilated, I don't care, like to get this baby out of me, I do not care

what happens like because I'm done anyway. So of course checked and they're like, you're fully dilated, this is it, And I just was like, I just had to dig so deep. And yeah, the gas was great. Gas highly recommend giving birth and a tens machine and I remember clicking the tens machine so far that my stomach was

contracting at the same time. And then I remember thinking, oh my god, what if I've gone to the end, because I knew there was still more that was going to more pain was going to come, so then I had to retract it back and then go again. And yeah,

and you know what's really amazing. On my birth wish playlist in my home, I have for my first son a beautiful big artwork that has like Northern Beach's Hospital or the date that he was born in the time and his birth song, which was Rise Up and it has the music the sound notes of it printed and to my son Carter, I actually gave birth to that song. It was actually really really amazing and I was like, oh, that's so special because it's such a beautiful, empowering song.

And yeah, so anyway, it was thirteen hours in the end and it was oh and then at the end my husband was like, you are incredible, and I've had enough energy. It would have been like I fucking know. So Jules had finally done it. I wondered if she'd

change anything if she could. It was amazing. It was really hard, like if I go again, like I think I might do an epidural, like it was like the four hours the first time, Like oh my god, that was amazing, Like just going in and out and have a baby like this was this took every bit of energy from me. And as I said, like, it does hit different in your forties, like I just my body. It feels different having a baby this time round. Maybe because it's the second one. I don't know, but yeah,

I mean I love the process of giving birth. I think, you know, as a woman, it's the most amazing thing you can go through. Jules had done the incredible birthed a beautiful baby boy. But unfortunately the health concerns didn't stop when Carter came out. So I was in hospital only for the two days, which was great, but I could start to feel I had really bad mistitis the first time round, like so badly that I had to

go back to hospital for five days. So I was very on the fence of like, oh, should I breastfeed again because I was so sick last time. I couldn't actually look after my baby like I'm talking like my scalp hurt my skin her like, I was so ill. So I thought, nah, give it a go, give it a go. And I did try, and then I came home forty eight. I was in the hospital for two days. I came home and the midwife came out and my blood pressure was so high that they then said, look,

you have to go back to hospital. And I was like, all right, find the positive. I got back to hospital, but at least I can use their fantastic pump and I can, you know, really get going on that while I'm sitting in there waiting for the doctors and the tests and everything. So I went back in there and I think I pumped like ten meals or something, you know like that. And yeah, unfortunately, my blood pressure just

kept on rising like super super high. I had I'd had had a headache for two days, but I just didn't really think about it. And it turns out I had pre eclempsia, which is something that you generally get when you are pregnant towards the end. So this is like it's super super rare. But it was really scary because they're like, if we don't control this, like you could actually have a stroke or you could you know. And I'm there just go, oh my god. All I'm trying to do is get some milk out of me

in here. I've been told that. So yeah, that wasn't fun. Wasn't That wasn't fun at all? And then so then I was in hospital for another three days with that. And then my boobs, oh my god, my boobs. I had four frozen Huggies nappies on me because they were just like you never see anything like it. And then I just had to because I was like, I just made the decision. I was like, you know what, it's

not for me. I could I could start to feel that feeling and the PTSD of what I went through that I just had to shut it down, which meant two sports bras the ice and just no stimulation, like do not touch your boobs at all, and it worked. I did three days of doing that and it went away. But with the pre ACCLEMSA, I had to They eventually found the medication that suited me that it wasn't making it go away and then come back again to the same level. But yeah, that was a bit sad, like

I was. I had a bit of a bit of a cry and a bit of a sob for myself. And the midwives were amazing, like they came and took him one night and just walked around the hallway and that just because I just needed to sleep and I'd got I just was so emotionally hormonally, and then that on top and I just was like, oh, this wasn't in the plan, you know, But that's what happens, isn't it. You never know what actually is going to happen when

it comes to giving birth coming up. But the seriousness of it was if I didn't get it under control, like I could have had a stroke, so you know, which is just devastating to think, like, here you are with this beautiful thing that's just happened, and then there's this side effect.

could be I'm taking blood pressure tablets. I'm like, I don't want to do that, Like I'm healthy, I've never had I've never had a blood pressure problem in my whole life. So no one knows why it happened. It's just something we had to find a solution there. And then I'm pretty impressed that Jewels was able to manage some self care and stay in tune with herself during this tricky time, which is really really hard but so crucial. I think, you know, being in tune with your body

is so important. But you know, hands up in that moment, like I didn't care about me, Like I just was like, oh no, I'll be fine. I don't want to get back to hospital, like I just wanted to be at home and nesting. But the seriousness of what it was, if I didn't get it under control, like I could have had a stroke, so, you know, which is just devastating to think, like here you are with this beautiful thing that's just happened, and then there's this side effect.

So I think, you know, it is really important as moms, like we don't sometimes put ourselves first or heal and we think, oh, yeah, I'll get that checked eventually, and you don't, but you do have to. You know, the best place for me was in hospital in that moment, I just had to surrender to it because I really didn't want to be there.

But yeah, the placenter thing. But one thing I learned second time around is that I watched the video back actually of me giving birth to my first son, because they then come around and they just put a needle in my leg, which brings on the birth of the placenta, and it's basically just like being induced, but a smaller and I was like, oh my god, really, so I've gone all this effort to try and not have any chemicals in me. Then I did that without even really knowing.

So this time around, I actually on my birth wish I was that person everyone on the door and the midwife's like, no, we love people that do this. I'm like, yeah, right, they're probably out in the hall way going, oh god, she's a been and the ass isn't g But it was one of my things that I wanted to hold the baby first. I wanted Cam and I to say what the sex was because I'm like, we waited ten months for this, so we're going to see that first.

And also it was to naturally birth the placenta and to not have that injection and to not you know, have those chemicals put in me. So it did take a little bit longer. But yeah, Bert like, people go, you what, like, yeah, I don't think we talk about that enough.

does release oxytocin in women, which increases the strength of contractions. Also, while we're on the topic, nipple stimulation, which is usually done by babies with feeding but can be done by partners, it certainly also releases oxytocin. So the answer is probably yes. Just don't do this stuff if there's a history of pre term labor. All of the other old wives tales, I'm sorry, Curry, long walks and stands.

through the placenta and the umbilical cord. If the cord and the placenta, which are only designed to last for nine months, if they happen to fail, if they start failing earlier than that, what's going to happen is that the fetus is getting less blood flow and so the feat to send a message quite intelligently back to the mum through the blood circulation. Would you mind sending some more blood please, because my supply is dropping and it's not an issue of volume. It's an issue of pressure.

You've got to squeeze the blood through the placenta and then through the cord into the baby. So baby is sending messages to mum, please increase the pressure in the blood because I'm not getting enough. Now we know that the reason the baby's not getting enough is because, for example, we might have a failing placenta or one that's running out of juice. But the baby continues to not get enough,

so continues to send these messages to the mum. And so she just increases her blood pressure again and again and again and again to try to fuel and feed that fetus. And that's where we have problems because while it does supply more blood pressure to the fetus, it also causes potential problems for mum. So preclaim it can happen anytime from twenty weeks onwards. It can even last for days and weeks after a baby's delivered. It's one

thing I remember from my medical training during university. The only cure for preclampsia is delivery. So it accounts for actually fifteen percent of pre term deliveries because of maternal preclampsia, and it is quite a common condition we're talking about

five to ten percent of pregnancies worldwide. So in terms of the dangers to mum, there is obviously the risk of pre term delivery, which is more of a danger to the baby, but then it also leads to high blood pressure and the mum protein in the urine and ultimately organ involvement, specifically brain, which is why we talked about seizures, but also the liver and the system that

takes care of blood clotting. So it can happen anytime from twenty weeks of pregnancy, which is halfway, and it can last for days and even weeks after birth, as was the case with jewels. Look, the key is just good prenatal health, general health, and blood pressure. The list is quite predictable. You know, quit smoking, get a good

amount of sleep, exercise. But really the most important thing is is understanding and appreciating that you can be the healthiest person on the planet and still get pre clamsy because it has to do with the health of the

placenta and the cord and mirroad other reasons. The key is regular blood pressure checks during pregnancy, and in that case, some women will be commenced on different types of medicines, for example, low dose aspirin, but you've got to be checking that blood pressure quite frequently.

Obviously it's super happy because you've got this beautiful baby, but just that hormonal rollercoaster that you're on, Like I cried eighteen days straight this time, like just over little things, over big things. But you're just gonna give yourself that grace to know that like it's okay, and everyone is feeling the same way generally when you're in that stage.

I think my best advice would be that, like you literally are a magician and you're a wizard like trush your instinct, Like I just think that superpower of a mother is that you just know, like you just learn those little noises and you know what they want and like that's when you're like, oh my god, I'm fucking awesome,

Like I'm magic right now. So that to me, I think, trust your instincts and also like don't be hard on yourself, like you know, I said, like having little cries over nothing, like you know what, You're so allowed to just do whatever you need to do. And this time around, like I had my baby attached to me for like five weeks, like I slept with him, I you know, did everything like in my pillar, had it sitting up and in my arms, like I really again because I was like

is this going to be the last time? I don't know, And I just wanted to suck in every little bit of him. And in a way it was like really in my first because they looked so identical, I was like, I'm living it again. Yeah, it was really. I did it a little bit differently this time, just because I think I'm in a different place than I was first time, as in you know, workwise, and that that I had the space to be able to go, Okay, everything can stop and then I'm just gonna be with this baby.

And it was just beautiful. But yeah, I think that would be my number one thing to be, like, just trust your instincts and know that you know what that little person needs, and that's like such an amazing thing about being a mum.