Ivy’s birth story 👶

I also had this like vision of Black meeting Ivy and like bringing her into this world, and I said to her, I'm ready for you. Got you, We're here. We love you so much, I'm ready for you. It's time to come. Welcome back to the Rise and Conquer Podcast. I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson, former lawyer turned entrepreneur, social

Hey, a month today?

Yeah? So she was born on the twenty fourth of November at ten fifty nine. She weighed three point six kilos and is fifty six minutes long. She's a very long baby, and she definitely has your body, not mine.

She has a little lank dog.

She's so lanky. To put into perspective, guys, so I was the same weight as her as a newborn, but I was ten centimeter shorter. So yeah, she's gonna definitely have some height on her, which I love that for her. So, guys, what we're gonna do is we're just gonna run through the story the chain of events that happened. It ended up being like a twenty six.

Hour later, so it was a marathon.

It was a marathon, wasn't It definitely did not go to plan, but we had such an incredible experience. So we'll get into that. And then I put some questions on my Instagram, so we will do that after. So where do we start him? It was the Tuesday morning, so she was born. To put into perspective, she was born on Wednesday night at ten nearly eleven pm. So

That's not like me to snort with the biggest snore.

Well, I think it was just more because I was light sleeping. Usually it's not too bad. And I woke up and sneezed and my waters broke.

Water everywhere, Yeah, so I turned into a water.

I noosed right away and walked to the bathroom and I was like, damn, my waters have just broken.

And I got up literally and then doctor this big trail of water all the way to the bathroom. It looked like you just got out in the shaer and just like walked into the bedroom.

But it was the opposite way, yeah, from the bedroom to the bathroom, and it was like it was quite a bit of water. So I thought that was it. We then I was like to Tim, so I didn't have contractions or anything, so labor hadn't started, and so I was like to Tim, let's get up, let's go for a walk. Like I'm not in labor, but like, you know, let's get this going.

Get active. Yeah, get it happening.

So we went from a walk to the beach, no joke, We're at the beach, and I said to Tim almost so I had like period underwear on and stuff, and I said to Tim, oh, my god, my waters are breaking. Even more so by the time that we were like nearly home, my whole I was wearing like sports pants.

No, it was so what happened was we're at the beach. Yah, and then you were like, oh, you know, a little bit more water came out, and I remember, and then we like almost home. Yeah, and then I made that funny joke and then you literally cracked yourself and it was just like literally gushing it out, like you just pissed your pants in, literally pissed yourself up.

No, but it was water my whole. So I was wearing these brown pants and my whole, all my pants were wet, hey, and it was like water stream coming down. And I started basically running home because I was embarrassed.

It's embarrassed. Yeah, but I mean you couldn't even tell really like it was just but it was just been uncomfortable for you, wasn't it. Yeah.

So then I went upstairs, had a shower, put another pattern. So that whole day I was just like leaking water, but nothing else happened. I didn't we didn't call the hospital or anything because I was kind of super chill about it and I was like, oh, no, I'll go into labor in the next you know, twenty four or forty eight hours. I just need to rest and chill. We just had a super chill day. I think I tried to have like a nap and stuff. And then

Yeah.

So then at nine thirty on the Tuesday night, my contraction started, so they kind of just felt it just kind of feels like pretty intense period pain. And I would have one contraction every ten minutes, ten to fifteen minutes. They weren't regular two and then yeah, they just felt like intense period pain. But it was quite painful from the start. Lots of whom say they, you know, it's not that painful. Mine like, oh, because it was only you know, for a minute every ten or fifteen minutes.

Like five in the morning. Yeah, and then you're like fuck you came in and then we put the tens machine on.

So I woked him up and I was like, she's getten.

Serious, it's happened, and I was.

It was probably two contractions every ten minutes at this point, so every five minutes, and they were quite painful, sometimes for a minute and a half. And so I said to Tim, oh, also she was posterior. So when I went to my ob, he did a scan and she had moved from.

The perfect position to posteria.

And then I went into labor when she was posterio, and I knew she was posteria because my back not only could I fear it feel it in my uterus and it for like period pains, but my back was aching. It was really bad. And then yeah, so we did the tense.

Machine, pump that up.

That was good. I'm glad. Yeah, we did that for a lot of the pre labor and that was really good. And basically just a tens machine, it's just like a yeah.

So it just sends for whoever doesn't know what a tens machine is, it just sends like electric shocks. So you just basically put it on. It's more, is it for more if your posterior or no, No, it's it's just for pain. So you put like there's four little like sticky things. You put it on like the middle of the back on those two main muscles that run down yeah, and then down the bottom near the tower bone hay.

Yeah.

And then so you sort of just stick it on stick pad. They stay stick on. Put Andy's back on, and then it's like.

You have this controller and so you press it every time you're about.

To get a contrave extracsion.

Yeah, and it kind of just feels like tingling, And basically it's to confuse your brain and get you to focus on a different sensation to the contraction. Yes, you can definitely still feel contractions and pain, but.

It is just less.

Yeah, So we used that the whole way till we got to the hospital. But basically then it was probably around nine. It was probably around eight thirty, and my contractions were still a regular and then I said to Tim, let's just start getting ready to go to the hospital. Also, I kind of wasn't comfortable and I wanted to. It was getting pretty intense, and I was like, I want

And then the last thing we sort of wanted was now if you're sort of doing contractions every like it, or just you know, if you imagine like if it happened in the car, or we just wanted to get there, yeah, but we didn't want to get there too early. Was they go, oh, just go back home. There's no way you get there, and you want to go back home forget it, you know.

Right, And I almost felt like I couldn't relax here because I knew that we had to do the car ride. We had to get in there get the assessment. So I was like, let's just start getting ready. So it probably took an hour to actually leave, and then so we you know, had everything pat put the dogs outside, all that sort of thing, and headed to the hospital. I still had the tens machine in the car, and I also wore my eye mask and had the music going so I could kind of be in the.

Zone because what were the contractions when we did leave to go to the hospital.

It was three every ten minutes.

Three every ten minutes, so that's like pretty much generally when they say to go. So we just sort of as soon as that happened, we're like bo b lined it straight up. The m one.

Were very fast things to dom. It was also a rainy day, which I kind of loved.

Yeah, kind set the mood and it wasn't like it was yeah, it was kind of nice, wasn't it.

Yeah, loved it. And then so we got to the hospital. We went to the assessment. It's called like MAC, which is the maternity Assessment I hated this part because I was in so much pain, and you have to get admitted and they have to fill out paperwork and you're like in these little rooms with everyone else, like just curtains between you, and I was having like mad contractions, like compared to the other women in there.

Did she do an internal exam?

No?

No, that was in the other that was in the sweet wasn't. Yeah, yep.

So we got in there and I so the big thing was my waters had already broken to by this point it was Wednesday morning, so my waters broke Tuesday morning, so it had been over twenty four hours. So basically they said, look, you can either. They did try and do. There was this other test to see how dilated I was. That you can do that's not internal, but they did it and they said there was too much water in

In the Yeah, just in that the waiting bait basically.

Yeah, and Tim was like, oh, we're not going home.

Listen. And so I can't remember worse memory, But did you have to get the an aesthetic in the waiting bay or did you get that? We did gm in any botics, any biotics, that was it.

Yes, because my waters had broken. We had to get the antibotics for IVY.

Because they've been broken for twenty four hours and basically you can.

Have there's high risk of infection.

Yeah, yeah, there is risk of infection. It's just you don't really want to take the risk of not you know what I mean, Like you just you just want to Yeah.

So that was fine. So, yeah, I also had to get any bodics for her anyway. So then we went to the berth suite and she did an internal. The midwife there. Our birth suite was lovely, hey, so it was you have your own room, there's like a pool, there was this beautiful aboriginal painting, like on the wall in front of me. You have like all the stuff. So we got in there and that was good. She did an internal and I was only three centimeters. Ye,

Yeah, got the shine right, and then we also got the gas looked up in.

You not at this point. Not at this point, so we just we were still doing the tense machine for a little bit in the room.

Oh yeah, but then that didn't last very long.

No, And then so then we started. She asked if I wanted the gas, and I was always up for gas, and I was like, definitely get the gas. That was some good shit, guys. So yeah, I got on the gas, and I don't know, I liked the gas. It definitely helps with the pain, but it does like you're so out of it, you're completely Like I said to Tim, for the four hours that I had gas.

Was it six six hours?

Six hours? See, I don't even know what time it was. I was on a different planet.

Hey, Like I was trying to talk to her, like, you know, talk her through the contractions and stuff, and she's like, you were a bit unresponsive. Yeah hearing I could.

So that's the things like with the gas. But also to put it in perspective, I was in that much pain that the gas was better. But on the gas, like I couldn't tell you who was in the room, what was like, I could hear Tim talking, I could hear mom there. So my mum came also and she met us at the assessment unit, so she was in the birth suite with us Ye Debster and basically, yeah, I was pretty much in a different planet, let's say. But it was better because the pain at that point

Was just sort of like with the whole gassing, you sort of just take the gas when the contraction starts, and then you meant to get off it. Georgia's is literally sucking on this scene for fucking six hours straight. That's why she was so at the midwif. We had like multiple midwives come in and she was like, darling, you got to stop sucking on the gas, all right.

It was like death staring. She would say, stop sacking on the gas and I'd like take it away for a bit and they'd be like put it back. Well, it was I don't know, it was I kind of even like really remember that part of the day, to be honest. And then so what were you and mum doing during that time because I couldn't tell you.

Yeah, well, we were sort of just trying to assist because obviously, like to get get her out as quickly as possible, you're gonna try different positions, right, yeah, so we had like so.

Yeah, so we were thinking of having a water berth, but because I.

Am, because Georgia's waters broke, yeah, twenty four hours before. Basically the water birth was out of option at that point because they wouldn't let me. Yeah, because if water got up there and the water has already broken, it could be more risk for infection.

So that was so remember like the midwife was like, do you want to get in the shower, and I didn't want to.

I didn't want to get with water water, so maybe.

The thought of going in the bath, I wasn't even.

Interested, and it was like a meant to be sort of thing.

Yeah.

Yeah, So anyway, so basically we were on the bed, but then we would try and get George in different positions. We had the peanut ball there, which is basically like a Peanuts shaped shaped and.

So before that, the best position that I was doing at home was on all hands and knees, hands and knees, and that's really good for posterior because that pushes the baby off your spine, because when you're posterior, it's spine on spine and that's what's so painful. So I was on my hands.

On knees, hanging down any position.

Or I would be hanging off the bed or the ball and so like anything where I'm yeah, thought and that was that was really good. And I also had a canula in for my antibotics, and I was still like on my hands and knees, so that was like so painful.

It's a bit of a weird spot to put the canula. I sort of asked if you could put it up a bit higher, but it's.

Like yeah, she said it was weird or something. Anyway, So I was doing those positions.

And then we had the other the big ball there, exercise exercise ball. So we had the big exercise ball there because sitting on the exercise ball and bouncing up and down. It was obviously good for gravity, and then good pushing the baby down sort of thing. Trying different and then like sort of like moving around on the ball a bit too.

Yeah, we were trying to be active. We were trying a lot of different positions. Even like at one point, I remember I was on the bed on all fours and that was really comfortable, and then the midwife was like, let's try a different position, and I was like, no.

Happy just staying here. Also, what else is a good like a slow dance, because obviously, like like George was so like just exhausted, like it's like it's hard to even like stand up, and then like staying all these positions, so even just like a slow dance when she just like had her arms like around my neck and just like sort of just swaying from side to side.

Yeah, yeah, I've got video footage of that. Yeah, and see that's the thing with the gas. So mum took quite a few videos of the birth, and I don't remember. So then what time, Hello, Missy I is next to us as we're recording.

She's just like she's like she's yawning waking up.

So so what time was it that I had that second internal done.

Well, that second internal was about six o'clock, basically six pm, six pm.

Yeah, so we put we got in the birth suite around.

Midday, eleven met midday. Okay, yeah, so it was pretty much six hours in that birth week. But honestly, like even for me, it just went like that because you're like you're constantly moving around and like trying to do different positions and midwife's coming in and out and just let yeah do it in different assessments. Hey, yeah, so it went super quick, even for me and your mum.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So then it was six pm and we did in the second internal, and I had the whole birth plan of don't tell me, but tell Tim, just because I'd heard so many stories of people saying, you know, then they heard they had only progressed a centimeter, and it was like, no, it's a.

Bit of a mind game, isn't it.

Yeah. So she did an eternal and then spoke to Tim like at the back of the room, all right, guys, we've just had to pick up Ivy. So if you hear some little grunts, it's just it might be Wolf or Ivy. Yes. So it was six pm and we got the second internal and I actually I heard her talking to Tim even in my state, and I heard her say I heard her say she's six and a half to seven centimeters. And so that was six pm, and so in my head I was like, I've just

Your body just does it automatic.

Yeah, and it's like this primal thing you have no control and you just start pushing.

You can't like you can't you can't control it.

And so I started bearing down and I thought, oh my god, you know, I'm so high on this gas. This time's gone so quick. I'm fully dilated, and it's time to push. But then I saw everyone else's faces in the room and the midwife was like it was oh no. She was like, oh no, darling, it is not time to push, Like you have to stop pushing.

But George couldn't like control the pushing, and it was just it was just sort of happened.

Well, so, and so I just said to her like I can't, like I can't control it. I'm I'm pushing, and she was like, you're not fully dilated, like when you need to just text you maybe seven centimeters. It's not time to push. You need to really lacks. You need to calm down and stop pushing. Anyway, So each contraction, I would be pushing in that contraction and I was trying not to push. I was like, yeah, trying to

Yeah, So each contraction, like obviously we were there sort of trying to like assist clean up. It was just it was all out on the TABLET was like, it's just there's no going back.

Tim seen it all.

I have literally fucking seen it all. And it's not pretty. No, It's just what you do, isn't it. So each contraction George, it was quite a lot of blood coming out at this point, at each contraction when I was bearing down, when George was bearing down, Yeah, and it was an So we're just like, I don't think this is quite normal. No, So the midwife basically.

Had a convo with Tea.

Yeah, she's she because when she did the internal assessment, she could also feel this what it was. And the reason why George was bleeding is because so basically she was pushing down while she was pushing Ivy out because she was posterior, her head was getting stuck on George's cervix.

So I had a cervical lip.

Yeah. So it's basically called a cervical lip is where the part of the cervix is swollen.

Because the head was not in the proper position, she was posterious.

So basically, each contraction, George's pushing Ivy down onto the part of the cervix and she's just hitting the cervix and it's just it's not working. And then she's sort of gone back up again.

And it's so then the cervix started swelling even.

More, Yes, swelling up, and that's why I was bleeding. This is what the bleeding was.

So basically what I remember is I started bearing down. Everyone looked for concerned, and it was you know, communicated to me, I need to stop bearing down because I had a cervical lip because of her head being posterior. And so cervical lips is just like a swelling of the cervix, and if the baby's not posterior, it's usually fine and it just slows labor. But because I was bearing down and I was basically pushing her head onto the cervix and it wasn't open, it was swelling even

Well, it was not only that. She said, if you keep bearing down and you keep like the service keeps swelling up, the whole cervix will swell up, and then you won't be able to give birth naturally, and that's when you'll have to go into it an emergency section. Yeah.

And then she also said also and in distress because her little head and guys, when she was born, you could see like this full bruise on her head, this red mark where her head was pushing on the service, like smashing down on the services anyway. Anyway, So and then I remember having a conversation with Tim and he was like.

Well, because when I talked to the midwife basically when she said that, I said, all right, so I guess what's the option our other options? She said, all right, so we've got two options. She said. The first option will be morphine, which can just basically take the pain away, not necessarily.

So the whole thing with morphine, well, the whole thing with the options was I needed to calm down and stop bearing down to stop the swelling.

Yeah, basically stopped the swelling of the cervix so that could swell and then we could actually give birth naturally.

Yeah. So the two options she said, we can do morphine or we can do an EPI DURL. So I personally have had more thine before and it makes me really sick and nauseous and also a bit depressed after I've had it, Like I just don't do well with it.

When you had your boobs taken out, yeah, not good.

So basically Tim had a convo with me and he was like, look, I know it's not what we planned, but this is what we need to do to get her out safely, you know, for you and baby girl. And as soon as he kind of said that to me, I was like, yeap, whatever we need.

To do, it just goes just fucking give me the effie durl, Give me the effie dirrel.

Because also at that point I was I could feel that something was wrong and I was starting to get distressed myself, and I was like, there's no way I'm calming down because I couldn't stop bearing down. I was bleeding. I could feel something was wrong, and so I was like, let's get at the epidural and just go from there because she she's I could still hear conversations in the room and I still remember someone going, you know, this might not work and she might still have to have

Hey yeah, yeah yeah, because I had to like when because I didn't really do it when the midwiser in there. So the midwife left the room and it was this was my opportunity to try the gas. So I was like, babe, babe, let me try some gas.

Meanwhile, I'm like literally in pain having contractions.

She's like all right, So I was just like grab the gas. Looked at the mouthpiece mouth piece of the gas thing was like literally tuned in half.

I was biting down the whole.

Part of our birthplane. Was like for me to be like, Babe, relaxes your because if you relax your you're your pelvis relaxes as well because it's all joined. Your jaw was definitely not relaxed. No, I wonder why she wasn't covered out.

Baby. You don't understand how much can start imagine you and labor. So anyway, okay, rn C fam, We're taking a quick break and I want to ask you, guys, are you getting your daily recommended intake of three fruits and five veggies?

No?

Sometimes maybe I feel you on this.

Wow.

So, in a perfect world, we are getting all our vitamin, minerals and needs from our food directly. But because we live such hectic lives and our soil is often lacking from so much farming done, that doesn't always happen. And that's why supplements are so popular, and that's why Naked Harvest was born just to be very transparent with you.

Three time to do it, but we got him pretty quick with a bit.

Butts of people asked if the epi durol was painful, and honestly, compared to contractions, it's not painful at all. Like I didn't feel it.

I do it three times three times. I didn't actually like watch how big the needle? Was there anything to see or anything like that, because I was sort of on the other side assisting you. Because George was actually still getting contractions while he was doing the EPI and had he had to like stop each time she would have a contraction because you have to get it in

Of like happened my contractions were coming so often.

Yeah, it was. It was such a it was fucking hectic.

It was pretty hectic.

Oh man. Everyone there was like six seven people in there, and it was just like, oh man.

Well because also when the whole thing was happening of me bearing down, I could tell something was wrong because there was like more midwives and there was like more people in there, and I was like, oh no, yeah, fit. So we got the EPI and that started working, and honestly, within twenty minutes that like was that worked and I stopped bearing down like slowly in each contraction, Like this feeling is just oh god, it's so good after being in labor and in that much pain, because I had been.

Hey, yeah, so George, I'm just about laughing basical because George was basically dosed up on fent yl.

I was so I was out of it, guys.

I was like high as.

I was so present and I was there in the room, but I was like cracking jokes at.

One point, Yeah, cracking that funny. Is Like, it was just so much It was so much of a It was so much much of a better mood when George got the EPI, because it like everyone started to relax because George was relaxed, Like it was so like the tension was high and everyone was freaking out. And then yeah, and then once you get the API, it was just like, oh yeah.

Because I want to comment on this because obviously I got to experience both sides of natural labor, very intense, and then also the e pie and I'm so glad we got to experience both sides, like both me and Tim. But the difference with the EPI was I could be present, I could communicate with Tim. I could still feel the contractions, and I was still using my hypno birthing breathing techniques to breathe through them more to like, you know, breathe

Just for everyone, because it's doing this, doing that.

And also seeing me in so much pain, yes.

In your pain, and then it's just like freaking hell and yeah, So basically we got the e pie and then and then yeah, and we could all just relax a bit.

Yeah, and they even said, oh, like you know, I got to eat for the first time that day because I wasn't eating beforehand. And then she did an eternal and within an hour two hours, within two hours, she went.

From six and a half to fully dilate.

It fully dilated and then no push.

Yep, no no swollen cervix, so the swelling had gone down. And then within two yeah, two hours, she was ready to go.

Not only was I fully dilated, but Ivy's head had fully come down. It was like sitting there ready to push.

She was good to go.

Yeah, and I think that was and within those two hours, like me and Tim were talking, we had a bit of food. It was quite like nice. And then they're like, yeah, you're ready to go, You're ready to push, and it was just like we were like, awesome.

It was such a nice more of a nice experience basically getting the EPI.

It really was Yeah, well yeah, of course, because yeah, I could not be in screaming paint. But yeah, so then it was time to push, and I for an hour.

I think it was an hour.

Yeah, about an hour, and I think and then because I had the ePIE, I was obviously on my back on the bed, I could still feel the contraction, so I could still tell them, Hey, I'm about to have a contraction, and then we would push and then so what we ended up doing is there was a midwife and a student midwife. So it was Ash and she had a student midwife with her, and they were so good, they were like so professional, so lovely. They made the

It was she was coming out, wasn't she.

Yeah, so she's coming you know, down and up and doing that.

But then for ages, her head got to this point and George had about fok and four to five contractions and then she would just sort of in and then out, in and out. So she basically didn't want to come past this point.

Yeah. So yeah, because it's usual for the head to go up and down at the start to stretch the paranal skin. But then her head was just sitting there. So the midwife got the head midwife and basically they decided they were like, her head is right there, you're not big enough. Like the whole just I just was not big enough. The head is not going to fit. She was a pretty big baby, and they're like, we we want to just do a really small cut and honestly she'll come out like the next pushy.

And I was like, listen at this point, fucking you, do anything you want.

Literally, do anything you want. Let's get this baby out. And also the pushing stage is so exhausting.

So because by then this it was like twenty this was twenty five hours. Yeah, twenty five and a half hours, basically a full day, and like we'd both been up, we're both just like slapt.

And yeah, so anyway, they did the snip, didn't feel it. Did the snip. Literally the next push she came out.

Yeah, well the next push her, the next traction, her head came out, and then she was sitting there for ages with the little head out and I was like, oh my god, there's a fucking head out, Tim, and I was literally saw the whole thing. I was just like, oh, the grad and then it was like for a minute, and then the next contraction after that, which was about a minute later, push push, push, push push, and then

And then the midwife picked her up put her on my chest, and me and Tim were just so emotional, emotional,

Explain it away. And it was we just like could not believe, like she was finally like out.

She looks like a little alien.

She's all purple.

She was all you know, they have all like the grow stuff on them. But it was just such an incredible experience, hey, babe, Like I can't even explain it.

Yeah, and because we did. The reason why I was so perfect because we gave each section of the whole experience our best. Yeah, and that's why it was just like we did as most as we basically called the whole time.

And I felt very empowered through everything. So like through you know, the natural labor. It's it was painful, but I felt like I could do it. I felt empowered. I was like in a positive mindset. As soon as we had to change gears and get the EP, I was like, Okay, this is what we're doing. I still felt, you know, empowered. I think it's so much about mindset.

Yeah.

Yeah, So we had such an incredible, incredible experience. We had skin to skin for about two hours, and we did delayed cord clamping. I also got my placenta encapsulated, so like we had to like box up the placenter.

I've got to cut the cord.

Tim cut the cord and then the midwives like they full show you the placenta. Hey, and they're like, so, my placenta was over eight hundred grams.

It was almost sequilo.

It was almost sequillo. So they said it's one of the biggest placentas they've seen. No wonder why people kept asking if I've got twins.

So basically is almost the same size as the baby.

Yeah, So then we did that. Tim had some skin to skin and then she said everything was good with Ivy. They did the check, but there was just something wrong with her breathing and she wasn't too worried, but she just said, I just want to get the pede surgeon down just to double check to be safe, and so he came down.

So the pediatrician.

Pediatrician came down and basically, long story short, Ivy did have some breathing issue. She was breathing too fast.

Yeah, so she was fine, Harpy, it was fine. She was just breathing because obviously in the room they haven't had to breathe. She comes out and yeah, she was just breathing too quick, so regular. Yeah, so she wasn't too bad, but yeah, it was just yeah.

So basically we had to take her to Nick you and by this point it was like two thirty am, and they just said, look, we want to be safe. We'd rather be safe than sorry. We want to put her on an oxygen machine just to make sure her breathing's regular. You guys, go get some sleep and like come see her in the morning.

Yeah.

So we didn't actually get to spend the first night together, but to be completely honest, me and Tim were so exhausted. We went back to the room and we both slept for like six hours.

Yeah, I think it was a little bit less than that. It was four hours, but it felt like the best four hours of my life.

You know, when you go to sleep and you wake up in the exact same position because you're so tired.

So you go from we didn't go back into the bust. They take you up to the next level and they give you like a room. Basically, you're just just a room you stay in after birth. Yeah, so that's where there was. George had her own bed and I didn't. I just was the past. Yeah.

So then we went and saw Ivy the next morning, and she got off that machine the next day and she was all good and we could. We stayed for two nights just to check up everything.

Yeah, I just wanted to look over and make sure she was all good.

And that was actually good because then we saw like the lactation uh person after and you know, got all our checks. So we did stay in hospital for two nights. But yeah, that's our birth story. What So we're just going to answer a couple more questions just that Instagram asked sure, and then yeah, that's about it. Let's have a quick.

Clok And actually I'll give a props to the coffee shop at the Gold Coast Union Hospital. They do hands down the best coffee frappe I've ever had in my life. Got us, that got us through the extra couple of nights.

We had to say that, hey yeah both, Yeah, we were so like I would get a hospital meal and then Tim would get a meal from the cafe and we would share both. So the question is how did hypno birthing play a role in the birth. So me and Tim did hypno birthing. We did it with Shari from Belly to Birth, who are link in the show notes.

Yeah, because you know, as as all blokes pretty much have no idea about anything about birth, so it was it was super informative. I really enjoyed it. I just got you could learn all the terms, you know what, basically how it's all going to roll, and yeah, it was just I felt very educated after it.

Yeah. And I think also even when I had the EPI drill, I was still using the hypno birthing breathing techniques and that's like, that's what the midwife said, she came down so farst is because I was still like breathing through it. I was still using all the techniques. So yeah, I think that was such a catalyst in the berth for it being such a positive experience for sure.

Yeah, for both of us.

Yeah. Next question of Tim, this is a lovely one. How has Ivy strengthened your bond as a couple. So we were in the shower when the night we got home from the hospital, and Tim said to me, like, because we were both it was just such an intention experience. And he actually said to me, he's like, Babe, after that, I feel like, no matter what happens in our relationship, we.

Just get through any anything, because it's just like you can't I can't even describe just what happens. It just makes you, like the bond so much stronger.

And I think also like having so much respect for each other.

Yeah, it was such like a team effort that what we had to go through, and it was just such a hectic, amazing, beautiful experience. It's just like it's life tanging.

It's like nothing else I have ever experienced. And then to go through it with Tim, him being so involved, him being a part of it, you know, and then us birthing this human like I just I can't even explain to you crazy. And it is like what Tim said about like, if we can get through that, we can get through anything. Oh like, if we were ever to like fight or have problems in the future, I will literally think, if we can get through that labor.

We can do anything.

We can do anything. Someone said, now that you're a mum, what is your number one tip you'd pass on to the first time mums about birth.

See. I think this is a great question because people don't really people like you were saying, people are so fixed on the birth part, right, but not what happens after birth.

Yeah. So we were actually discussing this last night and I said to my parents, I said, you know, for the whole pregnancy, the eight months, I was so focused on the birth, which is you know, was twenty four hours, and I didn't do any research or prep for the newborn stage, which Ivy is a month old, and we've we've had an experience, to say the least, which we won't get into that way. We've just learnt so much

Oh definitely, yeah, but yeah, I mean, and at the same time, it's sort of like you just got to take it as it comes as well, because obviously every baby is different. You can't like plan for what's going to happen after birth, but you can definitely educate yourself.

So next question this is for you Tim. So someone asked, would love to know how Tim went with the birth. My husband really struggled, not being able to help me.

So this comes back to probably doing the hypno, like starting off doing hypno birthing classes, learning all the terms, the tricks of the trade.

Can I quickly say, like Tim was so involved and so invested, and you were just so present and there and even though you know I'm there in pain, Tim was like do you need water? Do you want fruit?

Yeah? Just being super hands on, being super just like just just getting it, getting it happen, and really getting involved, helping the midwives out as well, because it's like you only got one midwife and she's trying to do this, run around and do this. It's like, yeah, being involved is like such an important part, not just for you, it's just it was more for George. Basically just didn't make it as easy as possible for the whole process to go as smoothly as possible.

Yeah. Well, and I guess maybe this person saying like, did you struggle a bit just like seeing me in pain?

Oh of course I thought, Man, it was horrible, but it's like, you know, it's only going to be temporary. Yeah, so it's you just got a.

Sort of and you have a baby at the end, so it's like it that's it. So someone asks what got you through the contractions? Did you feel empowered in control or like you had to surrender to the pain. What external things helped? So I found music was really helpful.

We had we had the Wonder Boom in there, yeah, pumping. We had the birth playlist that.

We had lots of comments that everyone loved up playlist.

Yeah, the Midwives will loved the playlist, so it was it's sort of a special It was sort of a special playlist because it was sort of all our favorite song.

Yeah. So the song that played as we as she came out was a song that Means and Tim had done like the Hypno birthing meditation together, and it was really special.

It was a very intimate song, so it was quite fitting for us to choose that as the birth song. As She came out.

Yeah, it was beautiful. So in regards to contractions, honestly, the biggest thing is just surrendering. There's no way you can be in control of contractions and Also what got me through is going, you know, this will finish in a minute, and just looking the little bit a head. Like when I found out I was six centimeters. It's not like I thought, oh my god, that took six hours and that was fucked. It was I've done so

Sorry, Oh, like, I don't know. I didn't really have an expectation because we had never experienced it before. But I guess it was sort of something like it. Hey, Like I thought maybe it might run a little bit smoother than what it did. Well other than that.

Yeah, because my mum had four natural births that went pretty smooth to plan, I kind of thought I would be the same. Yeah, And so when these things kept coming up, I did think, surely, not another thing yeah, but in saying that, it's all about mindset, and like I said, I truly believe the birth you have is perfect for you and like your baby and your partner, and we just fully embraced it.

Yeah, because it's also like because we've got something out of our experience. Yes, it's like it's brought us closer. Yeah, So it's almost like.

It was it was worth it. It was worth it because yeah, like like Tim said, like the experience we went through, the bond we have now, it's just like, yeah, definitely worth it. So another person said, did you use everything you packed for hospital? So I fully packed like fairy lights and like all these things. And to be honest, when we got on the birth suite, I was in so much pain that I like didn't use that. I didn't use my diffuser. It was just kind of like.

It happened basically, So the speaker and the music, that's probably the biggest thing important, super important.

And also like what was good is like Tim went and bought some mum when and bought some like fruit, cut up fruit, and I was having that.

And then tell them about the when you had it. So when Joey had the EPI and she was pretty much high in life. We packed basically a goodies a goodies bag and she's like, give me the killers.

Yeah, I needed sugar, I needed energy. And I was like, get out the killer pythons and I was just like munging.

On them and that was the best hilarious.

So another thing post birth when you're still in the hospital is I definitely had those like full like nappies and they were good because you've got so much bleeding and then after that have period undies or pads. Ready, I'm trying to think if there's anything else like pajamas, comfy clothes.

But then make sure you've got all the stuff for the baby as well. Yeah, so blank stuff like yeah, heaps and nappies. Yeah, baby could get to do a few changes.

Also, what was really good in the hospital is I had one of those hauker self expressing things, which was really good to get colossroom out for her instead of hand expressing with a syringe, which is just a bit crazy. Definitely get one of those Haukka expressing things. Okay, last question, Okay, so last question, what was your most memorable moment highlight

And we're like we did it, Like we did it.

We Yeah, it's.

Such something like nine months of like this leader one event is just like it's so hectic, you know, and then like we finally got home from it all, it's just like.

Yeah, yeah, well, I think that's the biggest thing is I think I'm just so proud of us.

Yeah, I'm super proud of us.

We did it. It was marathon, but it was the most incredible experience. And yeah, we've got this beautiful little baby girl. Ivy is just like the best baby and I just.

We're in all.

I'm obsessed with that submitted. I would die for her just you know, you can't even explain the love you feel. But yeah, that's our first story. Guys. Thank you so much for listening in. And obviously you guys know I'm on Matt leave, so we're just doing the replay episodes of our best little snippets. So really hope you're enjoying that too. Gym's on Matt leave and loving life. We love golfs every Thursday. But yeah, no, it's we're you know,