Growing Up Raising Us

• Postnatal anxiety, depression & OCD, Mother Baby Unit, intrusive thoughts – Cleo’s story

  Today’s episode is a playback episode from the early days of the podcast – when it was run solely by Chelsea. In this important conversation, Chels was joined by Cleo (she/her), who is now a mother to two beautiful boys. Cleo spoke with Chels back in 2023, just after her first son had turned one. Before becoming parents, Cleo and her husband lived busy lives socialising, DJing, and wining and dining their way around Geelong. Having always struggled with her mental health, she thought postnatal depression may be likely, so Cleo put plans in place for pregnancy and postpartum support. She was in the Midwife Group Program, had a planned c-section organised to ease her anxiety, great support from family and friends, a freezer full of food, regular appointments with a psychologist and a baby that mostly slept at night but, Cleo says that even then her mental health still declined.In our chat, she speaks candidly about her experiences with postnatal depression, anxiety and OCD, and intrusive thoughts. She also speaks openly on her positive and life changing experience of being admitted to the Mother Baby Unit, where things started to gently improve. This is such an important topic – thank you so much, Cleo, for sharing your story with us.CW: Postnatal Depression, Anxiety and OCD, Intrusive thoughts, Admission to Mother Baby Unit (MBU).*Please note that the episode involves mention of specific intrusive thoughts from 41.50-43.56*If the contents of the episode bring anything up for you, we encourage you to visit the support services listed below:Beyond Blue: ⁠https://www.beyondblue.org.au⁠PANDA: ⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠Lifeline: https://www.lifeline.org.au/Join our community on instagram ⁠⁠⁠@growingupraisinguspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see photos of our weekly guests, behind the scenes moments, and keep up to date with episode releases.The podcast theme music was written by Hagan Mathews and produced at ⁠⁠⁠@sleeplessfootscray⁠⁠⁠.This podcast was recorded on the unceded lands of the Taungurung, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge that sovereignty of the lands on which this podcast was recorded was never ceded and pay our respects to the original storytellers of this land. 

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• Egg retrieval, fertility planning, PCOS and ovarian hyperstimulation with Zoe

  In today’s episode we are joined by the incredible Zoe, who shares her experience with egg freezing here in Naarm/Melbourne. Zoe shares her experience from the perspective of a single woman in her 30s living with PCOS. She talks us through the decision to undertake egg retrieval, the process itself, practicalities of the procedure and how she was feeling along the way. Zoe also discusses her experience with ovarian hyperstimulation, a complication that can occur following egg retrieval. Zoe is so open and thoughtful in this episode, and we hope you enjoy listening. You can’t really know the ins and outs of an experience like this unless you’ve gone through it, and we’re so grateful to Zoe for sharing her own journey. You can also find Zoe @orgpsych.adventures.Please note this episode cannot be considered as medical advice and only represents Zoe’s views and experiences. Please know Zoe does also mention the number of eggs collected if this is a sensitive topic for you.Resources mentioned:Knocked Up podcastMonash IVF free fertility nurse on call service*We recorded this episode before the recent event involving an incorrect embryo transfer occurred in QLD, Australia. We are sending you so much love and care if this news impacts you*Join our community on instagram ⁠⁠⁠@growingupraisinguspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see photos of our weekly guests, behind the scenes moments, and keep up to date with episode releases.This podcast was recorded on the unceded lands of the Taungurung, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge that sovereignty of the lands on which this podcast was recorded was never ceded and pay our respects to the original storytellers of this land. 

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• Prioritising yourself in motherhood, feeding journeys & returning to work with Mikaela Ladocki

  We are so excited to bring you this episode with Mikaela Ladocki. We had a beautiful chat with Mikaela all about her motherhood story. She speaks on her births and postpartum experiences with her two children, postpartum during covid, navigating breastfeeding challenges and choosing to formula feed, navigating the return to work after parental leave, showing up authentically on social media, and how she prioritises herself in motherhood even when it’s hard.  It’s a beautiful chatty episode – Mikaela is a joy to listen to and shares the ins and outs, ups and downs of her story. We hope you love listening. Please be aware towards the middle to end of this chat, we do discuss weight loss and weight loss in postpartum. Mikaela's instagram is @mikaelaladocki.Mikaela's Tik Tok is @mikaelaladocki. Join our community on instagram ⁠⁠⁠@growingupraisinguspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see photos of our weekly guests, behind the scenes moments, and keep up to date with episode releases.This podcast was recorded on the unceded lands of the Taungurung, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge that sovereignty of the lands on which this podcast was recorded was never ceded and pay our respects to the original storytellers of this land. 

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  54:27
• Seven types of rest that matter in motherhood

  In today’s snappy ep we are discussing the “7 types of rest” through the lens of motherhood. Have you heard of them?This is such an important conversation for mothers and new parents, when our most obvious form of rest (AKA sleep) goes out the window. We chat through the 7 types and how they can show up in motherhood.The 7 types of rest were identified by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a US physician. She describes ways to incorporate rest and restoration in these 7 different aspects of our lives: physical, mental, emotional, social, sensory, creative, and spiritual. Join our community on instagram ⁠⁠⁠@growingupraisinguspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see photos of our weekly guests, behind the scenes moments, and keep up to date with episode releases.This podcast was recorded on the unceded lands of the Taungurung, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge that sovereignty of the lands on which this podcast was recorded was never ceded and pay our respects to the original storytellers of this land. Take the 7 types of rest quiz: https://www.restquiz.com/quiz/rest-quiz-test/More information on Dr Dalton-Smith and the 7 types of rest.*when we say 133 days, we mean 133 nights - the sleep deprivation is bad but not that bad!

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• Feeling confident, competent and regulated as a mother with Jane, an occupational therapist

  Today's ep is with Jane of @doingmotherhood. Jane is a mother of two and a mental health occupational therapist specialising in matrescence and the perinatal period, currently working at @themindfulbirthmovement. Jane joins us to discuss:Matrescence from an occupational therapist’s POV and why it can be such a challenging time for our sense of self, confidence and functioning What a mental health perinatal occupational therapist does and how they can help mothers navigate changes in their functioning or achieve their specific goals (whether that’s related to your pelvic floor, returning to work, your identity, or more)Nervous system regulation, both daily strategies to build your capacity and things to do in times of dysregulation in you or your children How understanding our values can help us to navigate transitions and shifting identities This is such an insightful episode. Jane describes how motherhood is unique because most of us are really thrown into parenthood without any real opportunity to learn or practice the skills and tasks that come with mothering. It makes sense then, that our sense of self and confidence may be rocked through the experience, and that this can have flow-on impacts to our functioning. Jane shares why this all occurs and what we can do about it. Jane offers the newly launched ‘Birth of Us’ antenatal program - a program designed to help parents step into parenthood with confidence and practical knowledge. Resources, counselling and support are also available at The Mindful Birth Movement.Join our community on instagram ⁠⁠⁠@growingupraisinguspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see photos of our weekly guests, behind the scenes moments, and keep up to date with episode releases.This podcast was recorded on the unceded lands of the Taungurung, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong peoples of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge that sovereignty of the lands on which this podcast was recorded was never ceded and pay our respects to the original storytellers of this land. 

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