Folgen
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A whole month (and sixteen failed attempts) later, I finally found some time to record the follow up to our birth story episode and answer all your questions. Thank you so much to everyone who sent lovely DMs and feedback after the first episode hosted by the wonderful Sophie of Australian Birth Stories and for submitting such interesting follow up questions that give me the loveliest excuse to reflect on things in a way I probably wouldn't otherwise make time for.
It's never lost on me what a privilege it is for this yayborhood to be so engaged and excited about each season of our life (and to be so patient with a very inconsistent schedule for releasing episodes!) I can't promise my answers are any less incoherent than they were in the last episode - the postpartum haze is still going strong - but I did my very best and can't actually believe we got through it before the little bear demanded my full attention back.
My only disclaimer is that parenthood is like no other area in life for the diversity of opinions, volume of conflicting information, intensity of judgment (both from ourselves and others) and depth of emotion. If I have one piece of advice, it's that NO advice will suit every parent or every baby so please take everything I say as the personal anecdote it is - I'm not a medical expert and am still very early in our journey, so my answers are purely from our experience so far.
Having said that, I've tried to be as helpful as I can (amidst the rambling and tangents of this new Mum brain) and the questions are listed below so you can skip forward to what's relevant to you. There are some links where relevant too and, as always, if you have any other questions feel free to DM any time.
DELIVERY
Did you feel any warning going into labour?
Why did you choose private health vs public health? (AUBS public vs private episode)
Hospital bag recommendations (The Memo's hospital bag list and if you want my personal list just send me an email)
What did you wear post op? (the disposable undies, the pads, the nightie)
Did you go straight back to a normal diet after gestational diabetes?
C SECTION
What would you take in your hospital bag for a C section?
Were you panicky or anxious going into C section?
C section recovery – how long?
Tips for recovery?
Incision care? Mental health?
Immediately after, how were you – could you get up?
What recovery shorts or items did you wear? (the briefs, the shorts, the compression socks)
FEEDING
How was the beginning of breastfeeding? (the silverettes, the lanolin, the compresses, the Qiara probiotics)
Are you doing mixed feeding? Bottles? Expressing? (the ladybug milk collectors)
GETTING HOME
Did you feel overwhelmed when you got home?
Biggest challenge in the first few days?
First few weeks post-partum, how were they?
Top 3 tips for new parents in first few weeks
Most difficult part of recovery generally?
Is it worth having both the Snoo and Cocoona baby?
How is Teddy’s sleep?
How much time are you taking off?
Have you grieved your work identity vs being a Mum?
How have you made time for you as a couple?
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Welcome to the first episode since the arrival of our little Teddy! It’s been four very special weeks today since he rushed into the world a few weeks early - even as a tiny little newborn he just couldn’t wait to seize his yay!
So it makes sense for this first one back to cover our birth story and the postpartum journey so far, snippets of which you may have seen on socials but this is the first time I’ve articulated his actual delivery - it actually felt really weird to open my laptop again and interact with the outside world again but so lovely to look back on the past month with a bit more lucidity. We only recorded a few days ago and I already can’t really remember most of what I said in the haze of the newborn bubble (so apologies in advance for my incoherence - it’s a huge achievement if I shower these days let alone produce a sentence that makes sense) but it’s all been the most magical few weeks and I now can’t imagine our life without him.
As Ang is away but also, as I now know, only a parent can truly understand the chaos of the first few weeks postpartum to know what questions to ask, I thought I’d bring in the big guns and we’re so lucky to have Sophie from Australian Birth Stories on the other side of the mic today hosting the interview (you may remember we interviewed her last year and she’s been a guiding light through pregnancy and birth). This will be shared on her incredible podcast too so it’s structured in her style and includes a bit of background at the start about our conception and earlier loss which you have already heard so feel free to skip through to get to the details of birth.
I’m still technically on mat leave but Teddy’s one month anniversary and also April being Caesarean Awareness Month made it feel right to emerge momentarily for this. But again, I can already think of so many things I left out or didn’t get to between my verbal diarrhoea and rambling plus you also submitted some questions online that we didn’t get to in Teddy’s nap window so I’ll do a follow up episode next (whenever that may be). I hope it all makes sense and thank you so much for sharing in our excitement and joy in this chapter of our pathYAY.
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Fehlende Folgen?
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Kind of weird to release this now he's already here, but this is the last episode of #yaysofourlives that we recorded while I was still pregnant just reflecting on how it felt, what we were excited about and what we hoped for the next little while. Will have to do a follow up with what ended up happening in between!!
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Hello lovely yayborhood, hope you’re having a wonderful week! I think we were originally scheduled for a #yaysofourlives episode after last week’s guest (which Ang and I have actually recorded) but as that’s probably our sign off for a short break while we wait for Baby Yay-vidson to arrive, it made more sense to pop this week’s guest in first particularly as she has CARRIED us through the past few weeks.
I’m talking, of course, about the incredible co-founder of The Memo and founder of The Blow, Phoebe Simmonds, who I have been fangirling for many years and am so excited to share with you. If you’ve been anywhere near my socials, you’ll know how heavily I’ve leaned on Phoebe and The Memo during our pregnancy and how much they’ve taken the stress and overwhelm out of preparing for a little one leaving room to fully enjoy and get excited about what’s to come.
We’ll cover, of course, how The Memo has absolutely revolutionised an industry that has traditionally and somewhat inexplicably been pretty functional and daggy, making it beautifully aesthetic, carefully curated and user friendly with lifesaving lists – it feels like the Mecca of the baby world! Which makes sense given that’s where Phoebe started off on her incredible pathway to living and breathing brand building which you’ll also hear about taking her from Mecca to LVMH around the world to Benefit Cosmetics and then her own two businesses.
The second part is then a Q&A based on yours (and my) questions about some of the biggest decisions when preparing for a new baby – Phoebe gives SUCH valuable advice I was mainly asking questions for myself haha (you might also notice a bit of a sound change – her AirPods died at the perfect interval). We will definitely be needing a follow up part 2 (if not a full series) as we just scratched the surface so stay tuned for that but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.
FOLLOW PHOEBE HERE
SHOP THE MEMO HERE
THE MEMO SHOPPING LISTS
FIND OUT ABOUT THE BLOW HERE
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Happy International Women’s Day, one of my favourite days of the year! While of course, we deserve to be celebrated every day of the year, I always love the way this day encourages amazing conversations, displays of support for each other and even just telling someone in your close circle that you love and appreciate having them in your life. This year, it’s meant even more to me as I tippy toe right on the doorstep of motherhood - I’ve always been a raging feminist but I’ve never had more appreciation for the strength and resilience of women than experiencing pregnancy. We are fierce, powerful and even more so when we unite together so happy IWD to you all and to the allies who love and support the women in their lives.
Even though we dropped a chaotic #yaysofourlives ep just a few days ago, I’ve got a special guest for the occasion patching in from stateside! As you know, we’ve been lucky to partner with Sunpower and have had the most amazing transition to solar energy, so today we have their Chief Legal & Sustainability Officer on the show, Lindsey Wiedmann. Not only does she have a fascinating, unpredictable way to yay as you know we love from a Bachelor of Science to a postgrad in Law to project finance at a law firm before her current role, she also has fascinating insights on life as a woman in the traditionally male dominated energy sector. I’ll let her tell you the rest herself, but hope you enjoy!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOWER HERE
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We spontaneously went live to record this one and what a BLAST! Absolutely no structure or plan whatsoever, but as always, chaotic fun with Ang!
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Again, later than planned but as joyful as ever, Part II of our first episode for 2024...
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After 2487 false starts, we are finally back and possibly more chaotic than ever.... Part I of our first episode for 2024 with Part II coming next week!
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MORE ON FOUND SPACE HERE
MORE ON ALEX TYSON HERE
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Another wonderful guest episode in your ears so we could squeeze in the legendary Nick Afoa! Ang and I will be back with our last few #yaysofourlives episodes for the year from next week (and will be answering more of your questions so if you have any, don't forget to DM them to us!)
Nick is definitely our first professional rugby player turned musical theatre star going from winning the Junior World Cup to ending up on London's coveted West End not just in the Lion King... but in the lead role as SIMBA! We were lucky enough to witness him in action recently in the incredible new production of Miss Saigon and even luckier to sit down with him this week to cover his twisting and turning pathyay, taking a chance on yourself and everything in between...
FOLLOW NICK HERE
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I am SO excited about this week’s guest and how wild that it coincides with the very weekend I landed in Antarctica exactly a year ago! I still can’t believe that actually happened but how amazing to relive it all in this episode.
I’m PUMPED to have David Knoff with us this week, you’ll be able to hear in my voice how fascinating I found his pathYAY not only in his Antarctic journey but all the crazy dots that connected to get him there. Think a career as an officer in the Army commanding a whole platoon with the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands turned diplomat at the Australian High Commission in Pakistan which then became Frist Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Iraq with a side of professional photography in Turkey, medals for formation skydiving in Dubai and even splitboarding records – a hybrid snowboard that can be separated into cross country skis for ascent…
And that’s all before he became an Antarctic Station leader at Davis Station which is not only already a uniquely intense and challenging role to fill let alone when you get STUCK THERE DURING AN UNPRECEDENT PANDEMIC for 537 days!!! You can only imagine how interesting THAT story is such that he has written it into an incredible book with more exciting projects on the horizon. I’ll let him tell you more about it himself but I hope you find it as captivating and invigorating as I did!!
FOLLOW DAVID HERE
BUY HIS BOOK HERE
BOOK HIM FOR SPEAKING HERE
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As promised, Ang and I dedicated this #yaysofourlives episode to your wonderful questions about our excitement baby announcement! Thank you, always, for being so supportive and interested - you always ask the nicest, most considered questions and I never take that for granted.
For ease, these are the questions we covered in order. I feel like I was a bit overexcited and didn't give details as clearly as I meant to with some of them, so please send a follow up DM if that's the case with your question.
PRE-TRYING
How long were you off hormonal contraceptive before trying?
MISCARRIAGE
Did you do acupuncture post miscarriage?
How long between miscarriage and pregnancy?
Can you tell us more about ovulation induction?
Did you consider IVF or conceive naturally? Did you consider IUI?
Did you do anything differently this time?
PREGNANCY
How have you dealt with anxiety during pregnancy after loss?
First symptoms of pregnancy?
When are you due?
How did you keep us with all travel appearances etc?
How is your relationship with Nic? I feel useless sometimes with no energy and the partner shoulders the load?
Why are you only eating bread, crackers pizzas? How was morning sickness?
Other than David Davidson, what other names can you think of to go with Davidson?
Pregnancy safe make up, lotions etc?
Preference on natural or C section birth?
Anything hard about being a pregnant adoptee?
ADOPTION
Would you ever foster a child?
How easy or hard is it for Aussie to adopt a child?
Will your Mum ever share her story? -
Lovely yayborhood, back to our regular programming after the Seoul Diaries last week with a ripper guest to kickstart November. I am so thrilled to have Verve Money CEO and Co-Founder, Christina Hobbs, in your ears this week whose pathyay BLEW me away.
Christina is not your average financial CEO although she did happen to found Australia’s first ethical super fund by women for women. By investing in Verve Super, members have ensured over $270million in super is not directly invested fossil fuels and other harmful industries, which is already a cool enough industry disruptor… BUT to hear she came up with the idea in a shipping container in Baghdad, Iraq during her work with the United Nations World Food Programme where she eventually became head of operations!? I MEAN, TELL ME MORE RIGHT!?
So, I will do just that and let her tell you the wild and wonderful story herself but she is just such a fascinating women doing incredible things in a pathyay that continues tot take amazing twists and turns - I hope she inspires you as much as she does me.
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As promised, here are our daily diaries from our recent trip to Seoul, South Korea! It's not often I can rope Nic into recording an episode but what perfect timing the week of fourth anniversary.
We're chaotic, unhinged and probably reveal too much about the inner workings of our relationship but it was so much fun to reflect on our adventures each day and to listen back while editing. I hope it convinces some of you to book a trip in yourselves, it's SUCH an incredible city!!!
If you do, Jetstar always has the cheapest fares and flies direct from Sydney to Seoul (as well as from Brisbane to Seoul from February next year!)
CHECK OUT JETSTAR'S FARES TO SEOUL HERE
I've also shared our itinerary in list form on social media if that's more useful for you guys - OUR ITINERARY IS HERE.
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OUR NEW SEIZE THE YAY x EL&RO JEWELLERY IS LIVE
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OUR NEW SEIZE THE YAY x EL&RO JEWELLERY IS LIVE
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As promised, part two with Dr Brandi!!!
If you haven't yet, go back to listen to part one first where we cover Dr Brandi's INCREDIBLY impressive journey up until her chapter as Team Doctor for The Matilda's. In this episode, we dive behind the scenes at the FIFA World Cup camp, the Tokyo Olympics and much more!
FOLLOW DR BRANDI HERE
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Guys I know I get excited about every single guest we’re lucky to have on the show, but this week’s is particularly special for so many reasons
- we’ve all had Matilda’s fever
- before we even get to the Tilly’s, this guest's journey is absolutely incredible
- she’s basically Ang’s ultimate idol so Ang actually joined in on this interview
- and she has barely done any other interviews and we are SO grateful that she said yes to the yayborhood because this is genuinely one of my favourite episodes in a long time!
In fact, we enjoyed it so much and it was so jam packed with pearls of wisdom that we went longer than usual AND are coming back for part two because there’s so much more we wanted to cover. I can’t quite believe we’re saying this but we are thrilled to welcome to seize the yay, the Matilda’s team doctor, Dr Brandi Cole.
She tells the story best herself so I won’t go on too long in this intro but just quickly, there are few things Dr Brandi hasn’t excelled in! Early in life, she began as an athlete herself being the former captain of the Australian Women’s Oztag team, playing both touch and hockey for NSW in the past and being an Australian and World gold medalist in beach sprint relay in Surf Life Saving. She then did her undergrad in Physio at Sydney Uni in 2003, which is enough for many, but went on to then do Medicine in 2008 and become a Specialist Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician having gained fellowship of the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians in 2019. Dr Brandi completed a PhD on optimising the management of rotator cuff dysfunction through the University of New South Wales in 2018. And all this before she became the team doctor for the Matilda’s INCLUDING at this recent captivating World Cup tournament (as well as working with Sydney FC and numerous mens and womens rugby teams). AND she’s a Mum of two and has her own practice… like WHAT A WOMAN!!!
I could rave about this woman for hours, which I kind of did in this episode, so I’ll stop myself there and let you enjoy. I hope you guys are as inspired by this one as we were!!!
FOLLOW DR BRANDI HERE
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**** Re-releasing this one in honour of its FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEK!!!! As you know, we had to say goodbye to our little Paul a few weeks ago which has pushed back our recording schedule, so I figured there may be some new ears who haven't heard this one yet. We'll be back next week with a very exciting guest, so stay tuned!!! ****
I mean, what words really are there to do this week’s guest justice and adequately explain the feelings you can only imagine I felt being lucky enough to sit down with him for a chat about seizing the yay. As I’ve been bombarding you about on socials, I’m sure most of you already know I met the inimitable Gary Vaynerchuck last week when he was briefly in Melbourne to launch the epic collaboration between his new company, Empathy Wines, and Aussie wine legends, Vinomofo, thanks to another amazing Seize the Yay guest and Vinomofo founder, Justin Dry.
Ahead of every curve with his astonishing intuition, Gary Vee has gone from former Soviet Union migrant to worldwide entrepreneurial sensation embracing e-commerce before the term was coined taking his family wine business from a $3million to $60million turnover when he took over the reins and producing content prolifically since YouTube was just four months old. The accolades and achievements since then are too many to list, but most importantly not as relevant to list as you might expect despite him having since founded VaynerMedia as well as investing early in many of the world’s biggest beasts a la Facebook, Snapchat, Venmo etc. Not having been quite sure what to expect, it was so delightful to be met with an incredibly humble, hardworking and honest person focused more on redefining success away from financial metrics and external approval and towards happiness and love – he is definitely seizing his yay and I’m SO grateful he shared some of it on the show. Full video will follow shortly too! Ladies and gentleman, Gary Vee…
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