Positive Birth Stories: Spilling the Milk with Courtney

FitNest Mama has workouts that are tired-mum friendly, achy-mum friendly and toddler friendly that you can do in the convenience of your home at the end of a long day whilst your bubba sleeps, or whilst your toddler is running around causing havoc. So I have the pleasure of chatting to Courtney today. And as I said, this is part of the spilling the milk series of birth stories for the FitNest Mama Podcast. So if you scroll back, you’ll find there are quite a few spilling the milk series with different everyday mums who share their beautiful stories.

So in this episode with Courtney, Courtney discusses being a first time mum, how she prepared for childbirth and how a doula helped her and her partner prepare for birth. She discussed her experiences with Hypno birthing, the TENS machine, water injections and a posterior baby. So I know you’ll love this episode, so stick around.

And before we dive in, I do invite you to come and join FitNest Mama. So if you’re pregnant or you’ve had a baby, FitNest Mama is your opportunity to have access to quality supports all created by physiotherapists to help you really care for your body feel confident during this pregnancy and motherhood phase of your life and to help support your body so that you can get back to doing what you love with a bubba by your side. So to join this beautiful community of other pregnant and new mums. Just simply head to www.fitnestmama.com and the link is in the show notes. Right. Let’s get into this episode.

So hello, Courtney, thank you for joining me today on the FitNest Mama Podcast.

COURTNEY

Thank you. I’m really glad to be here.

KATH BAQUIE

It’s so exciting to chat and I don’t know your story at all, really. So I’m always honoured to chat to amazing mums who got a story to share. And everyone does have a story to share no matter what their story is. So could you please let us know a little bit about you and your motherhood journey like what’s brought you to where you are today?

COURTNEY

Yeah, my name is Courtney. I’m a first time mum to a little three-month old Fletcher. Yeah, he is pretty good little baby to be quite honest. We were really lucky with our pregnancy journey or even trying to fall pregnant. We fell pregnant reasonably quickly, which we’re really happy with.

KATH BAQUIE

And where about you used to live?

COURTNEY

I live up in Tyndall. So that is about 15 minutes out of Catherine. And about three hours from Darwin out in the Northern Territory. So it’s nice and rural.

KATH BAQUIE

A beautiful area. And were you pregnant in that area? Or have you just recently moved?

COURTNEY

We recently moved from Adelaide. I fell pregnant down in Adelaide at the end of last year. And then once we moved up here had little Fletch up here.

KATH BAQUIE

How was the journey to becoming pregnant? Like did you just make a decision that okay, now’s the time, or was it? Yeah, what was your journey like?

COURTNEY

Yeah, so we had actually been sort of testing out whether or not we wanted to fall pregnant for about a year or so year and a half. And we kept saying, Oh, yes, we’ll do it or no, we won’t do it. It’s not the right time for our career. Or we’re moving. You know, there was just so many different factors. And then, at the end of last year, about October, actually, I said to Matt, you know, we can’t really control what comes next but what we can control is trying to fall pregnant. So do you want to just try. I said, um, I’m about the time of ovulating, do you want to try? And he said, Okay, yep, let’s do it. And we tried. And yeah, within about a couple of weeks, Matt looked at me and was like, “You’re pregnant.” And I’m like, what? And he’s like, look at your breast, Han. And I was like, Oh, yes. Well, we’ll see. We’ll see. And then, yeah, 26th of November last year, I took the test and found out that I was pregnant. So yeah.

KATH BAQUIE

So what was it just sort of overnight, she suddenly felt that, like, what made you suddenly have that conversation with Matt?

COURTNEY

I think I was getting to the point where I still wanted to be able to have my career. But I really wanted to start a family. Matt had been wanting to start a family. Like I said, we’ve been toying about it for about a year, year and a half. So it was just a, we can’t actually control what comes next. We can try our best with our careers, but we just don’t really have that much control over it. We just said let’s, let’s give it a go. That’s what we can control.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, amazing. So did you know you are going so you moved to Tyndall for work was that for your work or for Matt’s work?

COURTNEY

Both of us. We’re both due up for posting. So we tried to co locate over to Brisbane, but we couldn’t. So we the next best option was going to be Tyndall. So we wanted to come here anyway, it was just we didn’t want to come this early. But we’re here and we’re really enjoying it.

KATH BAQUIE

Okay, so when you found out you’re pregnant, what was the process? Then? What did you do?

COURTNEY

It’s quite funny. When I actually found out I was pregnant, I think I just went into shock straightaway. I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to be able to fall pregnant so quickly. I called Matt in and I said, I think I’m pregnant. And he was so excited. We went and got the blood tests and Gem confirmed that I was pregnant. So that was really lovely. We moved up here and started touching base with the hospital. And that was pretty much that it was really nice and simple.

KATH BAQUIE

Oh, brilliant. When you were pregnant, what were your thoughts about childbirth? Like, did you have any preconceived notions about how you wanted birth to go like had and how did you prepare for birth?

COURTNEY

Yeah, so, I think before as I as I fell pregnant, at the first childbirth, I heard a lot of negative stories I heard you know, tearing and C sections and everything that could possibly go. Not right. So I did hypnobirthing before going into childbirth. That was really, really good. It helped with my anxieties, my fears. I also had a doula. And she was absolutely incredible. She sat me down, and we just spoke about everything, all my fears, all my anxieties, and that just helped sort of clear that up. So working with her working with the hypnobirthing course, definitely helped me go into that a lot more calm. And now I’ve had no problems with going into childbirth. I felt that I was very aware of everything that could happen. I was aware of all the interventions, I had my birth preferences that I spoke with the midwives and doctors about and yeah, we everything went pretty smoothly, reasonably smoothly.

KATH BAQUIE

So I guess I’d love to know, or how did you decide on your birth preferences? How did you decide on a doula and what did you discuss with the doula?

COURTNEY

So we wanted a support person for Matt initially, it was we’re up in Tyndall. We have no family. We just had very little support from our family or no support from our family. So we wanted someone there mostly for Matt to be his support person during childbirth. We didn’t realize she was going to be so much more than that. So that’s why we reached out to our doula and said, you know, would you be happy to work with us? We sat down had a chat and we just connected like it was incredible. So that’s why we went with the doula.

KATH BAQUIE

Do you want to give your doula a shout out? What was her name?

COURTNEY

Oh, Megan Harrap. She’s amazing. Yes. My incredible doula. Thank you so much for everything.

KATH BAQUIE

She got an Instagram handle?

COURTNEY

Yes, I do believe she does. I have to find it.

KATH BAQUIE

I will link it below.

COURTNEY

Absolutely.

KATH BAQUIE

So that’s really interesting. You said you wanted a best support person for Matt. I’m impressed that you thought that. I wouldn’t have thought that for my husband. I would have thought you’ll be alright. Can you talk me through that a little bit more and how she supported meant?

COURTNEY

Yeah. So we just wanted someone where he could pull away and talk to them or she could jump in on our behalf his behalf to be able to talk to midwives and doctors, she was someone that he could just go to and have a break as well. You know, even during childbirth, she said, why don’t you go out and get a coffee, go and get some breakfast. And so he left the room went and got that. And I didn’t even know he had left, because then I had her too. So that was great. But we decided that we wanted that for him, because we didn’t know what to expect during childbirth. If anything was to go wrong, you know, again, he had someone there. He was my support. And I just wanted him to be able to have someone to support him as well.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, that’s and as a result, he was probably even more of a support to you.

COURTNEY

He was incredible.

KATH BAQUIE

Can you remember anything you didn’t particular that were really helpful that the listeners might find helpful?

COURTNEY

He was very, very supportive throughout all of the pregnancy and childbirth. You know, he said, “What don’t you want me to do during childbirth?” “What can I do during your pregnancy?” He was just there for me the whole time. He did the hypnobirthing course with me like the entire hypnobirthing course. So he would understand that. Yeah, he was just very there.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, lovely. You mentioned that the birth itself was a pretty good experience. Can you take me through from the moment you first realized you’re in labour?

COURTNEY

Well, I only really mentally prepared to go to about 38 to 39 weeks only because they kept saying, Yeah, your baby’s quite, quite big. And I was like, I don’t think I’m going to go to term here. But now I did. I went 40 plus three. But we were actually we started a Harry Potter marathon. We said what’s going to come first the end of the movies or the baby. And during the I think was the fourth movie was about nine o’clock at night. We were laying on the couch together. And I was like. Ohh, this is different. Okay, we’ll just leave it. It’s fine. It’s fine. And I started noting down the time and I was feeling these surges about every eight minutes apart. And I said to Matt, okay, I’ve had about four now. Maybe I’m in labour, I’m not too sure. And he said, Okay, let’s go to bed, just in case you are. I got up. And I couldn’t walk. And I was like, or I think I’m in labour, but I’m not sure. So he still didn’t call the hospital at this point. I went into the shower, had a bit of a shower, and then I lay down and everything was starting to get very, very intense. I had also gone to the toilet prior to that ends. Yeah. Notice my mucus plug had come out. And I was like, I’m maybe I’m still not I don’t know.

KATH BAQUIE

How much time had passed here?

COURTNEY

Only about an hour. Yeah. So I lay down in bed. And I was like, say getting really intense surges. So I said, yep. Okay, it’s time to call the hospital just to let them know. I had also been diagnosed with gestational thrombocytopenia. So my platelets were quite low, which meant if they were low during labour, then I will below 70, then I would need to be flown to Darwin to deliver. So I had to call up prior to get the blood tests done.

KATH BAQUIE

Okay. And so for those listening, that’s for risk in case of the risk of haemorrhage and bleeding.

COURTNEY

Yeah, yeah. So I wouldn’t be able to clot properly.

KATH BAQUIE

How did you feel with that diagnosis?

COURTNEY

Again, these are the things that we spoke about with the doula to help with those fear and anxiety. And I just said, you know, not my headspace was very much, everything’s going to be okay. My baby’s going to work with my body. My baby is the perfect size for my body. Everything’s going to be okay. So I didn’t necessarily focus on it. However, we did speak to the doctor about different birthing options. So I wanted a water birth, for instance, they were happy for me to labour in the water, but preferred that I didn’t give birth in the water, just so they could monitor how much I would bleed. So I decided, okay, I’m not going to birth in the water. While I was lying in bed, that was running around getting the last little bits and pieces done and packing up the car. I spoke to the midwife at the hospital, and she said, Yep, come in, don’t stress about when you come in, but come in, and we’ll do a blood test. So it’s about 1:30 in the morning. By the time we got into the hospital, they took the test by this stage. My surgeries were about four and a half minutes apart. And I’d spoken to my doula to let her know. Yep. Okay, things are happening. I’m in hospital. I’m just getting at the test. And then I’m going to go home to labour, but it’s all good. Just to let you know, though, but don’t come now. I got the test back at about 2:30. I was about three and a half, four minutes apart and they said, oh look, your platelets are quite low. We would prefer that you stay here. And I said, I really want to go home to labour. Matt and I decided that we would stay just in case I did have any type of concealed bleeding, as well as my contractions were quite close together and very intense. So we set up in our room and I think that that was a really, really good decision. Yeah, I put my TENS machine on. Thank you to my friend Amy, who let me borrow that it was great. And yeah, I just sat over in the corner in the chair while Matt had asleep. And then five o’clock, I said, Okay, you need to wake up. And we need to call me again. It’s let’s do this.

KATH BAQUIE

So, up until five o’clock, how are you managing with the surges?

COURTNEY

Probably not the best way. But I just sat down because I couldn’t lay down. I just I wasn’t comfortable in laying down. We were lucky at the hospital where we had a double bed. So I said to Matt, do you go on have a sleep, I’m just going to do my thing. I can get through this by myself right now. So I just sat in the corner with my blanket over me and my TENS machine. And every time they surges came on, I boosted it. I wish I had like, got up and sort of walked around a little bit, maybe tried to get into different positions, that sort of stuff. But at that time, they were pretty intense. So I wasn’t really thinking that clearly.

KATH BAQUIE

And when you put the TENS machine on pre-set button, did you try to do anything with your breathing or any of the hypnobirthing techniques that you’d learned?

COURTNEY

Yes, I just sort of sat there, close my eyes, breathe with it. I would, you know, breathe through my body. And just try and relax as best as possible breathing through my nose. Not through my mouth. That was definitely really helpful. And that that helped me through those intense urges.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, right. Amazing. Okay, so five o’clock, comes around, you give Matt a bit of a tap, you say it’s go to time, what happens then?

COURTNEY

So from that point, I went into the bathroom, and I did not realize how valuable the toilet would be during my labour. I spent a fair bit of time on the toilet because it just helped gravity I guess, in that position. I didn’t feel comfortable in any of the positions that I had actually practiced, which I found quite interesting. My body hated it. Prior to childbirth, I was practicing, you know, on all fours, I felt really comfortable there. I was doing all the spinning baby things to make sure the baby was in position. Yes. So that’s what I sort of expected. I would be in you know, leaning over the fit bowl. But my body absolutely hated that.

KATH BAQUIE

And that’s so great that you practice in there in your toolkit, but at the time you decided not for me.

COURTNEY

Yeah, absolutely. I tried to get down on the floor. And as soon as I sort of leant forward with my hands on the floor said not get me up, get me up. I’m not doing this.

KATH BAQUIE

Okay, so you chose the toilet. And you felt that gravity was helpful. That’s really interesting.

COURTNEY

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, like I said, everything was just so intense. So quickly. Megan arrived, and she said, you know, you can put your fingers out what can you feel? And I was like, ah, something soft is there. And so that was when they were like, right, let’s get her over to the birthing suite. Oh sorry. And before that, my waters had actually broken in that bathroom too. So I was still in my room. And yeah, my water just broke. Everything was sort of it happened quickly, but also is not happening quickly, if that makes sense. And I guess we’ll go through that as we go on. But they had brought in all of the machines and everything ready for this baby to come out in that bathroom.

KATH BAQUIE

So is that where you went through transition?

COURTNEY

No, I still wasn’t in transition at that stage. Everything was still no, it was just intense. I don’t know at what point the baby rotated. But he ended up going posterior. And I found that out later once I was actually in the birthing suites. Yeah, once my waters are broken, they said, Okay, can we get to the birthing suite? I went, we walked to the birthing suite. And I think that was probably around eight o’clock or so. And the baby wasn’t born until 2:59 that afternoon, so it was quite long.

KATH BAQUIE

And how much of that was pushing phase?

COURTNEY

I don’t know the timings exactly. I felt like there were the times where I actually zoned out. I don’t remember a lot like even in that bathroom in our room. I remember sitting on the toilet and then next thing you know, there’s about four or five people in the room. And I was like where did all these people come from? How long have I been here for had been a couple of hours? So there was a lot of time where I just sort of wasn’t there. I think I just zoned out so much. Yeah, yeah. Which was great. But then I think once I hit that transition, it was very, very difficult to zone out and when I found out that the baby was posterior. Yes, that was very intense.

KATH BAQUIE

Can you explain that a little bit more like, why was it intense?

COURTNEY

So with posterior, baby spine and your spine is together, I didn’t know that that’s where he was. I kept saying, you know, I’m exhausted. I feel like, I’m just trying to bear down and nothing is happening. My hips were just aching. Megan kept coming in behind me holding on to my hips. I said, you know, when is this going to be over? I was absolutely exhausted. I haven’t slept since about 9am, the, the morning before. Through my birth preferences. I was, I didn’t want any vaginal exams. I didn’t feel like knowing how dilated I was going to help me. I didn’t know what I would do with that information. Because you just don’t know. You know, you could dilate quite quickly, it could take you quite a while to get to 10 centimetres. So I didn’t feel like it was going to do anything for me. Because I was so exhausted. I said to them, I need to know what’s happening. I need to know where I’m at, I guess. So they said, you know, you don’t want any VEs you show this is what you want. And I said yes. But please just tell me something. So they did a VE said you’re at eight centimetres, and your baby is posterior. And I was like, ah, yeah, that’s why this is taking so long. Got you. I kept trying to turn the baby. So I straddled the toilet, my arms were up on the top part of it with a pillow and was trying to turn it, turn him. And then I was walking around, you know, trying to get onto all force again. Again, like I said, my body didn’t like that I was in the shower on the football. I was just trying absolutely everything. I was getting no relief, my surges, were starting to compact. So I was having two really intense surges, and then that were quite long, and then a smaller surge. And I just wasn’t getting any relief. Again, through my birth preferences. I didn’t want any type of pain relief. But at that stage, I ended up saying I needed something. So they gave me a little bit more time to make sure that that was definitely what I wanted. And I said yes, please just give me something. I ended up having the gas sterilized water injections, and a small dose of fentanyl.

KATH BAQUIE

And tell me about each of those three, what did you think?

COURTNEY

So the gas more than anything, just was trying to take my mind off what was happening, I guess, trying to give me that distraction. I tried to find anything to distract me. And I just I couldn’t say I think the gas was just there to try and help with that. The sterilized water injections. They’re very quick, but quite painful going in. My friends told me about them. And she said, you know, if you have back pain, I highly recommend these. And I also highly recommend them because if you have back pain, they were almost instantaneously they hurt going in and they go in as you have that surge, but highly effective. And then the fentanyl so the small dose of fentanyl. I was a little bit against bots. Like I said, I was just so exhausted. And the pressure was just really intense. I said, Yeah, let’s do this. It didn’t affect my baby in any way which was fantastic. And I think that definitely helped me to get through to that end. So after that, it was okay, I came out of the bathroom. And I was like, yeah, the baby’s coming. I’ve been able to rotate him in different positions, which was fantastic. And I was just like, Yep, the babies, the babies coming, the baby’s coming.

KATH BAQUIE

Amazing. And how did you know the baby had rotated?

COURTNEY

I could just feel the baby starting to move through my body. And actually, yeah, as I was bearing down, I could feel the baby moving through. So that that was pretty incredible. One thing that I didn’t want to do those I did not want to birth my baby on my back on the bed. Because I had a fair bit of pelvic pain and low back pain. I just felt like that wasn’t going to be for me. But I did end up getting on the bed. I was on all force, which was fantastic. I was also monitored. I had to have the CTG on me throughout my birthing because the meconium had come through in those early stages. So they just needed to monitor the baby’s heart rate. But he was fine at all stages, not in distress at all. So I was up on all fours and they said look, we can’t find the baby’s heart rate. We need to put the screw heart rate monitor on it on his head. And I said No, I definitely don’t want that. And they said, Look, we cannot find into the baby’s heart, right? We need to do this. And there’s Megan up with me. And she’s like, the baby is right there, you will push, you can do this. Just bear down the next search that you get bear down. And as soon as she said that the next surge came, I bear down and I hear my midwife go. I’ve got the head. And I’m like, so yeah, we could see the baby or they could see the baby crowning.

KATH BAQUIE

Wow. So what did you feel inside you when you thought this is it? It’s got to happen.

COURTNEY

Yeah, at this stage, I was like, this is where the baby’s coming. The babies. You know, right there. Just control your breathing. You’ve got Megan up with you. You’ve got Matt, Matt decided he wanted to be down the business end. So he was down with our midwife back. And I said, you know, just concentrate on your breathing. Just bear down work with your body. Everything’s happening okay, like, everything’s happy, healthy. Let’s do this. So, yeah, I could feel that ring of fire, which I heard you talking about in that five days of labour? I think it was preparing for birth.

KATH BAQUIE

Yes. For those that are listening every few months is a free three-day workshop. And that’s all inside the membership too in the childbirth module. Do you feel that that’s a good description, because I don’t love that description, the Ring of Fire?

COURTNEY

Absolutely. And the strange thing was, as I was going, I was like, ah, that’s the Ring of Fire. It was quite funny. Yes. And I did have time to think about that. I feel like the bearing downstage was so much easier than everything else. It was the easiest part of childbirth. I can’t believe I’m saying that. But it really was. baby’s head popped out, and the shoulders got stuck. So they said to me, you need to rotate. And I knew that his head was out. And I said, No, I’m not. I’m not rotating I, how am I meant to rotate? And they said, you need to flip over. So the doctor was like, you must flip over. And I said, No, I’m not flipping and then again, Megan got in and was like, No, you have to. And I was like what? Okay, all right. I have to. She’s really getting her mum voice on with me at this point.

KATH BAQUIE

Isn’t that amazing? That trust?

COURTNEY

Yes.

KATH BAQUIE

Like having that doctor say you didn’t really pay attention. And then Megan says it and you’re like, okay.

COURTNEY

Yeah, yeah, I think it wasn’t that I wasn’t listening to the doctor. It was just like Megan could have said to me, you know, I think that yeah, okay, you need you need to flip or you need to do this. And I would have at first probably gone. I don’t think I can, you know, the thought of having the baby’s head out. And then flipping, I didn’t want to squish him. I think I was worried about that. Yes, I rotated, I just flipped my leg up. I feel like I absolutely threw myself over. The midwives, mat, all helped in making sure I didn’t, you know, land off the bed. And as soon as I did that, his shoulder came out. I think it took still a couple more surges for me to be able to push the rest of him out. And he finally popped out, which was incredible. I don’t even think I have words for what I felt when I knew he was out. Matt and I decided that we’d have a surprise baby too. So we didn’t actually know his gender.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah. Amazing. So that feeling when he came out? Can you remember what you’re feeling?

COURTNEY

Ah, Matt actually pulled him out as well with my midwife back. He put him on my chest. And I just remember holding on to this baby on my chest and I just cried. I was like, Oh, my goodness, I Matt was there. I looked at Matt. I was just so in all. I’d never felt love like this before. I was trying to look at him, but I couldn’t quite see him. And there was a lot still going on. Down below there. That. Yeah, I was just so and all.

KATH BAQUIE

Amazing. And how was Matt feeling?

COURTNEY

Yeah, I think he might have shed a tear as well, which is beautiful. But we looked at each other. We kissed each other. And after a few minutes, I was like, ah, what do we have? And he was like, oh, quick, and like looked under the blankets. And he was like a boy. A boy we have we have a son and I was that. Oh my gosh, we have a little son. Oh my goodness.

KATH BAQUIE

Wow. So it was a few that’s amazing. You like just relishing the moment before we even found out the sex.

COURTNEY

Yeah, we you know, we just want an unhealthy baby. That’s all we wanted. So yeah, after a few minutes, when we found out was pretty amazing.

KATH BAQUIE

That’s so lovely. Were there any issues with the bleeding afterwards?

COURTNEY

No. So I had, again decided that I would have a manage third stage. I didn’t want to risk bleeding with a physiological third stage. So prior to me going into labour, we said that yeah, I would. I would have managed thirds Ah, I wanted to make that decision as I went into labour. So once I found out my platelets, but once I did find out my platelets, I was like, yeah, no, I’m happy with the manage. So they put a drip in my hand in early labour.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah. And how did they manage that third stage of labour for those listening?

COURTNEY

So I had some syntocin. And then they just helped get that placenta out. So they came in rubbing my belly. And it wasn’t too much longer before the placenta came out. I’m not exactly sure of the timings. But yeah, it yeah, it all came out really well.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah. Great. Were you in hospital like at what stage? Did you go home?

COURTNEY

Fletcher was born on a Wednesday and we ended up going home Friday night. We didn’t need to stay. But we just wanted that little bit more support, I guess, at the hospital. They helped with breastfeeding. It was just a little bit easier for us. And we were planning on going home on the Saturday but on Friday morning, I said, you know, would you guys like to go home? And we said, Ah, can we? Is that okay? And they said, Yeah, you guys can go home tonight. We’ll just do all of his tests that he needs today. And then you can go home tonight. So yeah, we were quite happy with that.

KATH BAQUIE

How was that feeling taking your baby home for the first time?

COURTNEY

We walked out with this baby. I walked in with the belly and I walked out with the baby and I was like, oh my goodness, you put him in his car seat. My lap. Oh my goodness. So pass. It’s been in here for weeks now. We’re filling it with a baby. And I don’t think Matt’s ever driven so slowly. So it took a little bit longer to get home. And then we came inside. Like when we got home. We came inside. I sat on the couch and I breastfed Fletch and I was like, Oh, this is our life. Cool. We have a baby. Okay, I think I was just again, taking it in like, just soaking in a lot.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, beautiful. And did the hormones kick in, you know, the baby blues, those four day hormones?

COURTNEY

I must admit, I feel I was pretty lucky. I don’t think that I really went through any of that. I feel like I almost feel like my post birth shower was the most intense that I felt like, emotionally. I felt empty. I felt lost. Almost I think everything happened for me then

KATH BAQUIE

Where was it, sorry, you’re?

COURTNEY

At the hospital. So after I’d actually given birth, and I went in and had my shower. So that very first shower after you’ve just given birth, I think that’s where everything happened. For me. I don’t feel like I went through the four-day blues. Even Matt said, you know, I was I was ready to be here for you. And you didn’t really need it. And that’s a bit. You’ve been doing so much more around the place, I think between having a really good baby, which we’re really lucky with. And then Matt being so supportive. I don’t know. I didn’t really feel it.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, amazing. And how’s your breastfeeding journey been?

COURTNEY

Yeah, it’s been really good. I’ve been, again, really fortunate to not have any issues with breastfeeding. I’ve had a couple of block ducks here and there. But other than that, you know, everything’s been going really well. Fletcher has been growing like a champion. So yeah, really lucky.

KATH BAQUIE

Oh gorgeous! And you’re after birth recovery in terms of your pelvic floor, your perineum? Has all that going?

COURTNEY

So Flecther was four and a half kilo baby, I did not tear. And I think again, that was being able to work with my body when he came out, as well as back had put a warm compress on my parry. Which, as soon as she did that, I was like, Oh, my goodness, I’m so glad that that’s there. So that that helped. And I did some perineal massage as well prior to birth, so I didn’t tear but I did have internal stitches, because he came out with his hands up at his chest. So he called me internally. So I was still recovering from that that took a few weeks. But then after that everything was pretty good working on my pelvic floor. I will admit, I probably need to work a lot more on it.

KATH BAQUIE

So why did you join FitNest Mama?

COURTNEY

So I joined FitNest Mama because I wanted that community prior to birth and post birth as well. Being my first I didn’t know what to expect at all. I also had a lot of pelvic pain during my pregnancy. So yeah, being able to do some exercises chatting to you about you know, what I can do really helped as well because, you know, I got to the point where I was going, I can’t even walk very well with this. So doing some floor work and things like that really helped. Then yeah, after birth, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know what I was meant to do. So I really wanted that support there as well.

KATH BAQUIE

Did you learn the perineal massage from FitNest Mama?

COURTNEY

Yes, I did. I heard you talk about it through the workshop. I heard about it there and then once I joined I went in and I actually watched the class that you have there.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, okay, amazing. So for those listening from 36 weeks onwards has been found that perineal massage can help to reduce your risk of perineal tears and episiotomy. So it’s something that, yeah, can be really helpful for some women to help reduce their risk. And that’s something we teach inside our childbirth module. Amazing. So moving forwards, what do you hope to get back to doing like, physically? What are your goals?

COURTNEY

Yeah, so I’d really like to be able to get back into running, which I’ve started doing this week, which has been great. I thought that it would take a little bit longer, but now, starting my getting back into running is has been awesome. So being able to run my 5k in 12 months would be great, but I think I’ll be on track to getting that done a little bit earlier. Yeah, and hoping that my pelvic floor, I have to do my pelvic floor a lot more regularly. I must admit, I’ve only been doing them about once a day and I need to do them more.

KATH BAQUIE

Once a day is a great start. Did you have a pelvic floor assessment? Have you been able to access that from Tyndall?

COURTNEY

No, no, I haven’t done anything like that. After my six-week postpartum review, they said everything was going well, I just need to make sure I’m doing my pelvic floor.

KATH BAQUIE

Okay, that’s what FitNest Mama is all about. I need to jump into the Facebook group a bit more regularly, don’t know, is that when you do them?

COURTNEY

I’ve been doing them when I do my Pilates classes. Like I love those online Pilates classes. I’ve been trying to put a sticker up as well on my bathroom window, bathroom mirror. So when I’m on the toilet might right let’s get this done.

KATH BAQUIE

Love it. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story about birth of Fletcher. Do you have any final words of wisdom for pregnant mums or new mums that are listening today?

COURTNEY

Yeah, I think if you go in and talk to your midwives and your doctors be informed about your choices, feel empowered that this is your choice your body what you want. So please, like go in and talk to those healthcare professionals. Because honestly, like if I didn’t go in and talk to them, I wouldn’t have known what I wanted. I don’t think that I would have had the choices that I had. So yeah, definitely go and be informed and know that you’re strong enough to get through this.

KATH BAQUIE

Oh, it’s so lovely. We’ll leave it there. Thank you so much, Courtney, for joining me today on the FitNest Mama Podcast.

COURTNEY

Thanks Kath.

And before I sign off, remember my team and I will be putting together the show notes for this episode with all the links, including how to connect with Megan, the doula and myself at www.fitnestmama.com/podcast and if you enjoyed this episode, come and send me a DM on Instagram, @fitnestmama. Have a fabulous day everyone and I look forward to you joining me next week for another episode of the FitNest Mama Podcast.

Thanks for listening to the FitNest Mama Podcast brought to you by the FitNest Mama Freebies found at www.fitnestmama.com/free. So please take a few seconds to leave a review, subscribe, so you don’t miss an episode. And be sure to take a screenshot of this podcast, upload it to your social media and tag me, @fitnestmama, so I can give you a shout out too. Until next time! Remember, an active pregnancy, confident childbirth, and strong postnatal recovery is something that you deserve. Remember, our disclaimer, materials, and contents in this podcast are intended as general information only and shouldn’t substitute any medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. I’ll see you soon!