Speaker 1: You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2: Mama Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
Speaker 2: that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3: I am pregnanty.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Hello Bump.
Speaker 2: We're making pregnancy less overwhelming and more hopefully manageable.
Speaker 1: I'm Grace Rouvey.
Speaker 2: I'm pregnant for the first time, and I'm wondering where
Speaker 2: all my empathy and patience has gone.
Speaker 3: And I'm out a pittman, former olympian. Don't have any
Speaker 3: patients because I have six children and training to be
Speaker 3: an obstetrician.
Speaker 2: Each week, Jana and I will be holding your hand,
Speaker 2: hopefully making you feel less alone, and we will talk
Speaker 2: you through the mysterious, perplexing and sometimes irritating miracle that
Speaker 2: is pregnancy.
Speaker 1: Week twenty four And what size are we at? A
Speaker 1: French press?
Speaker 3: I know, I don't really know where that came one week?
Speaker 3: Well let's go okay, what about a quacker A quaker?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Or like a large torch, A large torch?
Speaker 3: Yes, okay, that's probably better.
Speaker 1: Corcker is good, yeah, Corcker.
Speaker 3: I'm trying to go with Aussie animals now, so I've
Speaker 3: tried to.
Speaker 1: Find an animal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, every every week coming forward.
Speaker 1: Guys, and what is our quaker grown this week?
Speaker 3: So they're a full sized ruler thirty centimeters six hundred grams.
Speaker 3: The lungs are now starting to produce that sour fact
Speaker 3: and that we've already talked about, so they will increase
Speaker 3: quite considerably as they approach birth. It is why we
Speaker 3: give the steroids if we need it. But it's basically
Speaker 3: to reduce the surface tension in the alvola and allow
Speaker 3: that gas to exchange, and reducing is like respiratory distressing
Speaker 3: babies when they're born. The brain's growing rapidly, I think
Speaker 3: that's kind of a common theme now for the next
Speaker 3: few weeks, and they're laying down more and more and
Speaker 3: more fat, although their skin is still.
Speaker 1: Actually pretty thin, still quite red, quite thin and red.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so they're still still quite a bit to go there.
Speaker 1: What's happening to me and what's happening to the mum?
Speaker 3: Your uterus is well above your belly button now, so
Speaker 3: you might be finding it harder and harder to breathe
Speaker 3: and just just being generally more uncomfortable, especially if you're
Speaker 3: having twins. You might actually start feeling Braxton Hicks contractions.
Speaker 3: So they are those practice contractions that women often talk about.
Speaker 3: This is around the time that the earliest ones we
Speaker 3: would think, oh, yeah, it's okay, it's just that prior
Speaker 3: to this week, get a bit worried that it might
Speaker 3: be labor starting.
Speaker 1: What does that feel like?
Speaker 2: Because we hear Braxton Hicks thrown around, thrown around all
Speaker 2: the time, and the only kind of visualization I have
Speaker 2: for this is period pain.
Speaker 1: But I don't know. Can you just break down what
Speaker 1: the well.
Speaker 3: Again, it's different for everyone, but it's a contraction itself,
Speaker 3: is determined by the uterus making a contraction. It's big
Speaker 3: muscle basically, and it contracts down and then you know,
Speaker 3: in doing so, you hope at some point will end
Speaker 3: up pushing and helping deliver your baby. But brax and
Speaker 3: Hicks can be back pain, it can be period cramps,
Speaker 3: it can be a contraction of the uterus that happens
Speaker 3: and then goes away quite quickly. The difference from real
Speaker 3: contractions is real contracts is continuous, they're regular, they last
Speaker 3: about forty five seconds, and they don't go away when
Speaker 3: you have a drink of water or lie down or
Speaker 3: get distracted. So if you're having Braxton's one of the
Speaker 3: tricks to it is ring a friend, have a really
Speaker 3: engaging conversation, or turn your favorite movie on if you've forgotten,
Speaker 3: because you've got really invested in the thing you're talking about.
Speaker 3: Likely those contractions of Braxton's and it's just practice. It's
Speaker 3: practice for when the real deal comes.
Speaker 1: Caveat here.
Speaker 3: Remember, infections can cause contractions. So if you are having
Speaker 3: a lot of braxton Hicks and they are taking your
Speaker 3: breath away a little bit, take a paracetamol. But it's
Speaker 3: probably also worth mentioning it your next medical or midwif
Speaker 3: free appointment, just in case there's something like a urine
Speaker 3: retract infection in the background.
Speaker 2: Is this normal?
Speaker 3: Is it normal?
Speaker 2: There's a couple of things I want to actually ask
Speaker 2: about in Is this normal? One is about getting a
Speaker 2: pregnancy pillow and laying and everyone says stop.
Speaker 1: Laying on your back.
Speaker 3: True, it should be about now actually that you start
Speaker 3: rotating off and off to your left side.
Speaker 1: Do you know why though?
Speaker 2: No, your blood something about your blood circulation and so
Speaker 2: you're big.
Speaker 3: You know, have your area water that carries blood to
Speaker 3: the pregnance into the rest of your body, and you
Speaker 3: have your VC. So your actual vessels that take all
Speaker 3: the blood away from the placenter get squashed by your pregnancy,
Speaker 3: so they lie on the back. They basically run up
Speaker 3: the back of your body, and when the pregnancy is
Speaker 3: lying on top of it, you actually stop venus return
Speaker 3: into the heart, and so kind of important to get
Speaker 3: off that.
Speaker 2: Is this one of those things of whatever's happening to
Speaker 2: you is also happening to the baby situations? Or is
Speaker 2: it worse for the baby than it is for you?
Speaker 3: Ah, A bit of both in that ultimately it's taking
Speaker 3: all the blood from your legs, so all the waste
Speaker 3: product that your body has used it. It's dropped off
Speaker 3: all the oxygen and it's trying to come back with
Speaker 3: deoxygenated blood. So you get problems with swelling, you get
Speaker 3: problems with pain, and then ultimately it's still all the
Speaker 3: blood volumes. So if it doesn't get across to the
Speaker 3: other side of the heart reoxygenate through the lungs and
Speaker 3: to the baby, you can, you know, theoretically, reduce the
Speaker 3: oxygen flow to baby. But please be reassured, ninety percent
Speaker 3: of women do the right thing and start on their
Speaker 3: left hand side and then wake up on their back
Speaker 3: freak out and say to me, have.
Speaker 1: I killed my baby because I've been sleeping on my back?
Speaker 1: I can't stop rolling. You do the best you can.
Speaker 3: So that's where the pregnancy pillows can help, because they
Speaker 3: can kind of help you propped up a little bit
Speaker 3: on that rotation. But please be reassured that you know
Speaker 3: people have been unfortunately sleeping on their backs, not on
Speaker 3: your tummies. Guys, I think it is time to try
Speaker 3: and get off your tummy. I did have that question
Speaker 3: a few weeks ago that the woman was still sleeping
Speaker 3: on her tummy.
Speaker 1: Cow yeah, would just be more uncomfortable.
Speaker 3: She propped pillows around her belly apparently, so I was like, Okay,
Speaker 3: that's interesting.
Speaker 1: Sure, good for her, great, but yes, is this normal?
Speaker 3: Is it normal?
Speaker 2: The other thing that I want to know if there's
Speaker 2: and I really hope there's a scientific reason for this,
Speaker 2: Please tell me there is, Jana, Why I am a jerk?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I can probably speak to your husband
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't actually don't don't speak to him.
Speaker 2: I think there's something about my empathy or when people
Speaker 2: talk it and I should be very careful because I'm
Speaker 2: speaking about a workplace that I work inside of is
Speaker 2: when people I don't know faff around with things that
Speaker 2: I feel it unnecessary, Like my whole body is just
Speaker 2: like everything you're doing is irrelevant against it?
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so what is this?
Speaker 2: Nothing matters? Everyone is pointless. What is happening to my personality?
Speaker 3: I think it's multi factor all. I think, particularly for
Speaker 3: someone like yourself, because you and I have talked off
Speaker 3: air as well. You're still nauseous, Like, let's be honest,
Speaker 3: you're now almost approaching the third trimester and you're still
Speaker 3: more vomiting occasionally, and you're still naues. You're exhausted, you're
Speaker 3: not sleeping well enough. Like you've got a factor in
Speaker 3: that you're growing a whole human being and you're gonna
Speaker 3: have days where your emotions run wild because of the hormones.
Speaker 3: But you're also fatigued and tired. Baby's going to accelerate
Speaker 3: its growth, You're not going to catch up with the
Speaker 3: food you're taking in, and you just feel crappy. Back
Speaker 3: to that in with a husband who's not going through
Speaker 3: it and not understanding and who you think, come on,
Speaker 3: you could message my feet right now, but you're watching
Speaker 3: the football. It just doesn't quite go right, you know,
Speaker 3: So communication is key in that space, and again outsourcing
Speaker 3: if it's getting a bit overwhelming. It's just being aware
Speaker 3: of those triggers. We're all human, but having a fight
Speaker 3: with your partner's not going to help. So it's kind
Speaker 3: of one of those I don't know, go and be
Speaker 3: an asshole in a boxing bag rather than in your relationship.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he wouldn't drive me to work yesterday because it's
Speaker 2: not that right cool because it was raining.
Speaker 1: It was raining. He drove me to the station and
Speaker 1: I said, can you drive me to work? And he wouldn't.
Speaker 2: And then I like, like, such a good question. You
Speaker 2: are it, And I'm glad that this is recorded because
Speaker 2: I'll be playing it back to him. But I sat
Speaker 2: on the train and I just.
Speaker 1: Got really teary about it too, though, because I don't.
Speaker 2: Know if my brain has started to go in the
Speaker 2: end of thal s of like, well, now I'm in
Speaker 2: the cave and you need to protect me from the bears.
Speaker 2: And in the twenty first century, that is driving me
Speaker 2: to work, building me up hard. He still is just like,
Speaker 2: I don't think I need to drive you to work.
Speaker 2: I was like, well, you're not pregnant and.
Speaker 3: Look, you know there will be people who listen tos
Speaker 3: and go, oh, that's ridiculous. It's just you know, I
Speaker 3: dropped to work. But I think it's also we need
Speaker 3: to teach our men to be dads. And so there's
Speaker 3: a whole chapter that's coming in the head they're not
Speaker 3: ready for yet. And so we can choose cheeky ways
Speaker 3: like this podcast to sort of remind our women that
Speaker 3: this is the start of a big, long process ahead.
Speaker 3: And so it's a training process. And let's be honest,
Speaker 3: we have to train men in most things.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, this is such a good like leave
Speaker 2: it a pool. Now, what can we do on our
Speaker 2: to do list or the checklist this week?
Speaker 3: Well, we've kind of discussed it already, which is GDM,
Speaker 3: so diabetes in pregnancy. It affects about twelve to fourteen
Speaker 3: percent of pregnancies and twenty percent in Indigenous women. It's
Speaker 3: time to book it that horrible, yucky glucost test. But
Speaker 3: it's really important, so ideally somewhere between twenty four and
Speaker 3: twenty eight weeks. Again, a lot of pathology centers don't
Speaker 3: do it because quite a long test. You need two
Speaker 3: and a half hours and you need to be fasting
Speaker 3: when you go. So some centers, for example, only do
Speaker 3: them on a Friday, so un I need a book
Speaker 3: now in case they're booked out next week, rather than
Speaker 3: you find your midwife's having a go at you because
Speaker 3: you're thirty weeks pregnant, you're still have a done it.
Speaker 2: I have a tip on that actually is that if
Speaker 2: you are nauxious to call ahead and see if it's
Speaker 2: refrigerated the drink because it's yep, because it's easy to
Speaker 2: tolerate when it's cold.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look at some people love it. I can
Speaker 3: tell you, as I said, it's the why really really
Speaker 3: hate that drink?
Speaker 1: I know how good for you is it? It's not nice.
Speaker 2: My tool kit is to stop following some pregnancy Instagram accounts.
Speaker 1: Oh I love you, just totally agree.
Speaker 2: Some people who have started to there's a lot of
Speaker 2: sleep advice that is being targeted to me at the
Speaker 2: moment already, like baby sleep advice or things like don't
Speaker 2: do this, don't do this.
Speaker 3: Or I'm doing push ups in pregnancy and I'm amazing
Speaker 3: and you're not.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, a lot of look how fit I stay
Speaker 1: in pregnancy?
Speaker 2: As someone who used to go to the gym five
Speaker 2: days a week and has gone down to well only
Speaker 2: just started going back to the gym, doing very soft
Speaker 2: pilarates and doing walks. I did get comparities disheartening, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and so it's unfollowing or just not looking at that content.
Speaker 3: Totally agree because we do enough comparing in life as
Speaker 3: it is, and I think every woman's journey is so different.
Speaker 3: And I mean, look, I am also an advocate though,
Speaker 3: to share your own warts and all kinds of pregnancies
Speaker 3: because there's not enough of us doing it, so you
Speaker 3: can if you want to go. And I'm not am
Speaker 3: I my pregnancy page because I talk about veins and
Speaker 3: everything that's come out of me is very authentic on Instagram.
Speaker 3: And I made that decision collectively a few years ago
Speaker 3: because I'd seen too many of the accounts you were
Speaker 3: talking about too many people and looked at me wrong.
Speaker 3: I'm a full advocate for women, you know. I am
Speaker 3: a powerhouse woman myself. I'm working as a doctor and
Speaker 3: I have so many children, so I'm all about propping
Speaker 3: women up and inspiring them. So sometimes you might be
Speaker 3: one of those persons who really enjoys looking at someone
Speaker 3: else doing amazing on Instagram, but there might be times
Speaker 3: you do to turn it.
Speaker 1: Off as well.
Speaker 3: So it's trying to find that happy medium, and that's
Speaker 3: the hard part is when is it enough.
Speaker 2: We hope you enjoyed this episode of Hello Bump. We
Speaker 2: have so many episodes of this series filled with tips
Speaker 2: and stories from women and experts who've been through it
Speaker 2: all before.
Speaker 3: You can go back and listen to everything else Hello
Speaker 3: Bump related in this podcast feed.
Speaker 2: And while you're there, we'd love if you could give
Speaker 2: us a five star rating and maybe leave us a
Speaker 2: 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 2: This episode of Hello Bump was made in partnership with Huggies.
Speaker 1: Bye Bye.