Speaker 1: You're listening to Amma Mia podcast. Mama Maya acknowledges the
Speaker 1: traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast is
Speaker 1: recorded on.
Speaker 2: Hello Producer Courtney here coming into your ears with a
Speaker 2: special treat because we have launched a brand new season
Speaker 2: of our pregnancy podcast, Hello Bump. This season is a
Speaker 2: week by week guide to pregnancy, holding your hand as
Speaker 2: your baby grows from the size of a tiny poppy
Speaker 2: seed all the way to the size of a pumpkin.
Speaker 2: And in this new season, it's hosted by Olympian mother
Speaker 2: of six and training obstetrician Yanna Pittman, as well as writer, podcaster,
Speaker 2: and first time mum Grace rope Ray. So if you
Speaker 2: or someone you know is pregnant were just interested in
Speaker 2: learning about pregnancy, then this podcast is for you. We'll
Speaker 2: leave a link in the show notes so you can
Speaker 2: listen to every single episode of Hello Bump wherever you
Speaker 2: get your podcasts, and for now enjoy. We hope you
Speaker 2: love this episode of Hello Bump.
Speaker 3: I am pregnant.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Hello Bump. We're making pregnancy less overwhelming and
Speaker 1: more manageable, hopefully. I'm Grace Rifrey, a writer, actor, podcaster,
Speaker 1: and I am also pregnant for the very first time, and.
Speaker 3: I'm Yana Pittman. I am a former Olympian mother of six,
Speaker 3: an obstetric and gania registrar, which basically means I deliver
Speaker 3: babies for a living, and.
Speaker 1: With our experience combined, each episode will be holding your
Speaker 1: hand week by week through the mysterious, perplexing, and sometimes
Speaker 1: scary miracle that is pregnancy, all the way from a
Speaker 1: poppy seed to a pumpkin.
Speaker 2: Week four.
Speaker 1: So we're starting this podcast series at week four because
Speaker 1: that's usually when you've found out that you are pregnant.
Speaker 1: There's not a lot that happens between week one and three,
Speaker 1: and they will backdate it from your last period. So, Yana,
Speaker 1: how big is the baby at this point?
Speaker 3: Ah? Well, your baby's about the size of a poppy seed.
Speaker 1: At this point, or just like a speck of dust
Speaker 1: or glitter.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a little cheer seat or something very small. It's
Speaker 3: basically a small clump of cells that's just embedded into
Speaker 3: the lining of your uterus by two point five millimeters.
Speaker 3: It's tiny.
Speaker 2: What's happening to me?
Speaker 1: So tell me what's going on in our bodies this week?
Speaker 3: Well, implantation has just occurred. So your sperm has met
Speaker 3: your sperm, your partner sperm hopefully has met the egg,
Speaker 3: and then it's made its way down the fulopin and
Speaker 3: you've embedded into the uterine wall. So it's just now
Speaker 3: that you'll be starting to get a positive pregnancy test
Speaker 3: because you're making that beta hCG hormone that's the hallmark
Speaker 3: of pregnancy. The placenta itself is actually starting to grow.
Speaker 3: Your baby comes from different cells from the placenter, so
Speaker 3: they grow at the same time, but independently. And right
Speaker 3: now your baby's actually only the size we actually call it, well,
Speaker 3: it's not even quite an embryo yet, but it's two
Speaker 3: layers at this point, and it'll slowly start differentiating into
Speaker 3: all the organs and the heart and the lungs and
Speaker 3: things over the next few weeks.
Speaker 1: When does that placenta actually start to take over? Because
Speaker 1: at the moment, our body is just feeding everything and
Speaker 1: giving it all of its life. When does that placenta
Speaker 1: actually take over.
Speaker 3: Well, it's funnily enough, it's actually not for several weeks,
Speaker 3: around between nine and ten weeks that at this point,
Speaker 3: the baby has what's called a yolk sack, that's actually
Speaker 3: feeding it. So when you go for an early ultrasound,
Speaker 3: but guys way too early, do not make an ultrasound
Speaker 3: booking yet, because that is one of the biggest problems.
Speaker 3: Women go now and they can't see anything, and then
Speaker 3: they freak out that they're already having a miscarriage and
Speaker 3: it's just simply too early. But there is a yolk
Speaker 3: sac which will be one of the first signs on
Speaker 3: ultrasound that there's a baby inside your belly, and that
Speaker 3: is what feeds the baby for the first couple of
Speaker 3: weeks of pregnancy.
Speaker 1: What I found interesting about this stage is that everything,
Speaker 1: all signs kind of led to it being my period. Yes,
Speaker 1: I was very bloated and I had cramps, and so
Speaker 1: I assumed that it was my period until it kind
Speaker 1: of got to like maybe two more days that I
Speaker 1: normally maybe my period would have come, and it didn't.
Speaker 1: So I took a test. But why do all signs
Speaker 1: lead to it being your period?
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, they're pretty similar to the hormones of pregnancy. Obviously,
Speaker 3: issugu and progester are our main two big wammies changed
Speaker 3: quite considerably. Breast tenderness. I don't know if you got
Speaker 3: that at all, But that was my first sign. I
Speaker 3: remember walking outside in the cold of my nipples killing
Speaker 3: me and thinking what is going on? So all of
Speaker 3: those signs that can often, as you say, indicate pregnancy
Speaker 3: are unfortunately fluctuating hormones, which happened the same when your
Speaker 3: period is due.
Speaker 1: So is that why they're backdate when you are technically
Speaker 1: your pregnancy starts, because it's all sort of part of
Speaker 1: the same journey, you know how Like when you find
Speaker 1: out you're pregnant already four weeks, you're already four weeks by.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we go gestational age or pregnancy age, so
Speaker 3: the age of the fetus is only like two weeks
Speaker 3: by the time you actually find out you're pregnant, But
Speaker 3: the pregnancy age, the whole lot of pregnancy starts from
Speaker 3: the first day of your last period. So theoretically, every
Speaker 3: month we're two weeks pregnant until our period comes and
Speaker 3: then we're not.
Speaker 1: It's I just find this fascinating about how much I
Speaker 1: didn't know about my body until I got to this
Speaker 1: stage and exciting, yeah, or like embarrassing.
Speaker 3: And for some daunting because obviously not all of us
Speaker 3: want to be pregnant and some of us get a
Speaker 3: little scared and find out that we are so, and
Speaker 3: that's when it is tricky to sort of think, well,
Speaker 3: do I want to continue with the pregnancy? Is this
Speaker 3: something I planned? What is it going to do to
Speaker 3: my life? And I can tell you as a mother
Speaker 3: of six, it does a lot. So it's a hard
Speaker 3: conversation to have with yourself when you first get those
Speaker 3: positive lines. And most of us, like yourself.
Speaker 1: For I don't know whether you were you excited or no,
Speaker 1: not at all, like even though it was like wanted
Speaker 1: and I was aware of what unprotected sex could do. Yes,
Speaker 1: there was no contraception, I think for anyone listening. I
Speaker 1: had had my account tested and it was on the
Speaker 1: lower side in the high nines, which I'm thirty five,
Speaker 1: So it was a maybe start thinking about it. So
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people who have struggled for years.
Speaker 1: So we did start, and then it just happened very quickly,
Speaker 1: so I wasn't prepared.
Speaker 3: But I do think it's a really good point to discuss,
Speaker 3: because you know, some people do have the desire and really,
Speaker 3: you know, really want to get pregnant, and then all
Speaker 3: of a sudden it's happened, and I know a lot
Speaker 3: of women, certainly some of my patients have discussed with
Speaker 3: me then in those first few weeks with all the
Speaker 3: hormonal changes and started to feel pretty crappy that they think, well,
Speaker 3: this is not really what I signed up for and
Speaker 3: do I even want to continue even though it was
Speaker 3: a planned pregnancy, And I think we need to honor
Speaker 3: that that's a normal part of this process. A huge
Speaker 3: life change is on the up. So please don't feel
Speaker 3: if you're listening to this, if that was you, that
Speaker 3: it doesn't mean later you won't bond with your baby
Speaker 3: or love the pregnancy and you know, and it's also
Speaker 3: okay if you actually do change your mind, Like I
Speaker 3: think that's a conversation that we're very lucky in Australia
Speaker 3: we can have, and we need to highlight that all
Speaker 3: women feel very differently through this period of gestation.
Speaker 2: What's happening to me?
Speaker 1: Well, that leads us into what is actually happening and
Speaker 1: what might be feel like. What are some common symptoms
Speaker 1: that could happen around this time.
Speaker 3: Well, I think you highlighted them pretty well, thanks unfortunately
Speaker 3: to you experiencing them all. Breast tenderness, bloated, feeling around
Speaker 3: your tummy, twingy pains, even some spotting. So sometimes we
Speaker 3: get what's called an implantation bleed, and that's actually as
Speaker 3: that little we care than parasites. A little parasite is
Speaker 3: basically nesting into your indimritual lining of your uterus, so
Speaker 3: eventually you know you'll make your little spiral arteries as
Speaker 3: part of your makeup, anatomically will join the supply so
Speaker 3: that you'll start eventually feeding your baby. But at this
Speaker 3: point they're pretty robust. Many people get pregnant very easily,
Speaker 3: particularly not wanting to earlier on in life.
Speaker 1: It's funny I call it a parasite, but for different reasons,
Speaker 1: which we'll get to.
Speaker 3: Is this normal?
Speaker 2: Is it normal?
Speaker 1: A couple of things about is it normal at this time?
Speaker 1: There's the symptoms that are the ones we spoke about,
Speaker 1: the implantation pain or potentially bleeding. What you do think
Speaker 1: it's your period. But one of the first things I
Speaker 1: noticed was an aversion to alcohol. Okay it was I
Speaker 1: hadn't taken a test yet, and now looking back, it
Speaker 1: feels like that was a potential signing. Is that quite
Speaker 1: early for avergins to come in now?
Speaker 3: Look, I mean, I think you guys were trying so
Speaker 3: psychologically each month you are preparing it's possible. So there
Speaker 3: is that psychological factor that we avert foods we know
Speaker 3: will consider to be something we should avoid. In pregnancy,
Speaker 3: you're starting that whole monal change already, so your body's
Speaker 3: doing remarkable things. And for some women I've even had that,
Speaker 3: they've said they are starting to feel nauseous already at
Speaker 3: that four to five week mark. It's not even though
Speaker 3: the BEATA hat CG hormones are not really high, which
Speaker 3: is obviously what triggers a lot of the nausea, it's
Speaker 3: not impossible. So if you're already feeling yucky, the last
Speaker 3: thing you want to go is, you know's neck a
Speaker 3: bottle of wine. So I mean, hopefully it's a good thing.
Speaker 3: You know, it is something we're trying to continue to
Speaker 3: have the discussion around. Lots of people, by the way,
Speaker 3: don't know they're pregnant yet though, and are drinking and
Speaker 3: doing fun things in life, because you know, we need
Speaker 3: to live. I think it's so it's also important there
Speaker 3: to highlight that if you don't know you're pregnant yet,
Speaker 3: that we don't beat yourself up for the things that
Speaker 3: did happen prior to that. Yes, I think that's more
Speaker 3: common than not, you know, because I think there are
Speaker 3: a large number of pregnancies that are unplanned and people
Speaker 3: don't find out sometimes, so there are nine or ten
Speaker 3: weeks pregnant, so they've made lots of decisions during that
Speaker 3: time that weren't you know, pregnancy related. You know. Ideally,
Speaker 3: I think let's be medical here for a seconds. I
Speaker 3: put my little doctors had on you have had prenatal
Speaker 3: discussions with your with your GP. Ideally have had some serology,
Speaker 3: which is blood tests looking at you know, in antiinatal markers,
Speaker 3: infection markers, even things like your fole eight level. Your
Speaker 3: blood group's really important in pregnancy to know whether your
Speaker 3: H negative, which do you have a negative or a
Speaker 3: positive blood group?
Speaker 1: Is that where they test whether my blood is attacking
Speaker 1: the baby. Yes, okay, And it's kind of a little.
Speaker 3: Important because it's not at this four weeks pregnant. It
Speaker 3: doesn't matter because we wouldn't do anything. So if you
Speaker 3: came in it matters, if you come in bleeding, it
Speaker 3: matters if you've had a car accident or something like that,
Speaker 3: because it's basically where your baby makes a different blood
Speaker 3: group to you, and your own body will make antibodies
Speaker 3: against your baby's blood group. Now it doesn't matter in
Speaker 3: this pregnancy at all. It's actually about subsequent pregnancy. So
Speaker 3: you don't want your body to make those antibodies against
Speaker 3: the positive blood group because you're negative. So what that
Speaker 3: means though, is if you find out you are what
Speaker 3: we call RH negative, if you have an inciting event
Speaker 3: like a miscarriage or an accident where there could be
Speaker 3: some fetal cells that crossover, we need to give you
Speaker 3: an anti d So it's basically a medication that stops
Speaker 3: that from happening, and we consider that after sort of
Speaker 3: twelve weeks. So you just basically talk to your doctor
Speaker 3: about it and now make a plan. But it's important
Speaker 3: to know it so you can at least raise the question, Hey,
Speaker 3: I'm RGE negative. Do I need to do anything different
Speaker 3: from an rh positive mum?
Speaker 1: Which leads me into the important things that we should
Speaker 1: be doing at this stage. You mentioned fall a. A
Speaker 1: lot of people say folic acid and you should be
Speaker 1: on it if you're trying to conceive.
Speaker 3: Ideally, what does that? But what are you.
Speaker 1: Actually trying to do and is it bad if you
Speaker 1: haven't been taking again.
Speaker 3: A lot of us don't know we're pregnant, but ideally
Speaker 3: you start taking a women's multivib for about three months
Speaker 3: before pregnancy starts, or as soon as you find out
Speaker 3: you are pregnant, because so follo is actually to do
Speaker 3: with neural tube defects, So it's the way your baby's
Speaker 3: brain and spinal cord form prevents things like spiner befitter
Speaker 3: from occurring. So you know, many many years ago, so
Speaker 3: our mums and grandma's had much higher rates of that
Speaker 3: before they found out that follit can make a difference.
Speaker 3: So for most of it, you know, between four hundred
Speaker 3: and eight hundred milligrams is enough, but you need to
Speaker 3: triple check if you're at higher risks. So people with
Speaker 3: a high BMI, people who have are on antiepolectic medication,
Speaker 3: people have had previous miscarriages or spina bifitter may need
Speaker 3: a higher dose. So I think it's a conversation to have.
Speaker 3: But the best thing you can do is just get
Speaker 3: started as soon as you find out, so you'll plan.
Speaker 3: It's never too late, never too absolutely no correct, never
Speaker 3: too late.
Speaker 1: And what are some like nice to do things, things
Speaker 1: to think about, maybe not necessarily about our body, but
Speaker 1: things to start having a think about in the future.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Great, A look, it's very early, but I would actually
Speaker 3: say start thinking about what model of care you want
Speaker 3: to do, because you have obstetric which is what I'm
Speaker 3: training to be, so coming with the doctor's program. You
Speaker 3: have what I love and I went with my last pregnancy,
Speaker 3: which was actually my second last pregnancy MGP. So whether
Speaker 3: you want to be MIDWI Free Group Practice low risk
Speaker 3: pregnancies lovely holistic care, and I know my midwives out
Speaker 3: there will love me for saying this day. I'm much
Speaker 3: better at counseling around birth and making it normal, you know,
Speaker 3: making normalizing what birth and pregnancy is. But you do
Speaker 3: an unfortunately to be relatively low risk in that program,
Speaker 3: and they fill up so fast. So they're the ones
Speaker 3: that you get a positive pregnancy test and you're like
Speaker 3: contact your local hospital and say I'd love to go
Speaker 3: on the MIDWI Free Group Practice program and getting early.
Speaker 3: So that's why it's important now, even this early in gestation,
Speaker 3: to have a think about what you want to do.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're gonna need a lot of help along this pregnancy.
Speaker 1: It's only week four, so what can we put in
Speaker 1: our toolkit for this week?
Speaker 3: Did you pick an app? Because I think having an app,
Speaker 3: particularly for first time mums, can be really helpful to
Speaker 3: sort of track babies development and some of the things
Speaker 3: you might be experiencing.
Speaker 1: Have you, Oh, yes, I have the flow out. Yes
Speaker 1: I like it, but I was using it to track
Speaker 1: my period, so I had it already. And then once
Speaker 1: you log that you're pregnant, it's which is into this
Speaker 1: whole new mode.
Speaker 3: Ye.
Speaker 1: What I like about this is it gives you, like
Speaker 1: the stats, Yes, what week you are, here's the size
Speaker 1: of your baby, Here's what's happening to them, and then
Speaker 1: here's what's happening to your body. So you're kind of
Speaker 1: covering these sort of major things which I like.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean you can also use it in
Speaker 3: pregnancy too, and as you're trying to get pregnant. What
Speaker 3: I liked about flow Pregnancy Plus is another really good one.
Speaker 3: I have both. I have to say I liked both
Speaker 3: of the checks between them to see if there was differences.
Speaker 3: And Baby Centers another good one as well.
Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Hello Bump. We
Speaker 1: have so many episodes of this series filled with tips
Speaker 1: and stories from women and experts who've been through it
Speaker 1: all before.
Speaker 3: You can go back and listen to everything else Hello
Speaker 3: bumb related in this podcast.
Speaker 1: Feed, and while you're there, we'd love if you could
Speaker 1: give us a flying star rating and maybe leave us
Speaker 1: a review or even shared this episode with a friend.
Speaker 3: This episode was produced by Courtney Ammenhauser with audio production
Speaker 3: by Tom Lyon We'll catch you next time.
Speaker 1: This episode of Hello Bump was made in partnership with
Speaker 1: Huggy's Bye Bye