Bump with Steph & Laura

Maggie Chretien, also known as 'The Peninsula Mumma' on Instagram is an actress, writer, presenter, podcast host, and the biggest job of all... a mum of two!

Maggie is incredibly open about her motherhood journey, her experience with prolapse, mental health, confidence and a bunch of other things, but in today's KICBUMP episode we wanted to focus particularly on her experience with sleep training her children, which came with an absurd amount of backlash from people when she opened up about it online.

Sleep training may not be for every parent and that is totally okay, but in today's episode we discuss what options there are, what worked for Steph and what worked for Maggie, how to block out the noise of everyone else's unhelpful opinions and much more.

Check out Maggie's podcast 'MA15 Plus' with Alex Nation.

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We all fell in love with Martha when she appeared on MAFS back in 2015, and since then we've been following her wonderful and very entertaining relationship with Michael Brunelli on social media where Martha has gained quite a significant following.

Martha and Michael have just welcomed their beautiful baby boy Lucius, and for the first time publicly, Martha shares in today's KICBUMP episode her birth story and how Michael was throughout the whole process! She also opens up about the debilitating illness hyperemesis gravidarum that she had during her whole pregnancy, explaining it as one of the darkest times of her life.

Kic UPDATE:

We launched our halfway hustle challenge last month and if you missed out we're offering you a VERY special offer - you can get one month of our all inclusive wellness app for FREE! That means access to over 700 workouts, 700 recipes and 100 meditations, plus 7 different programs including run, strength and HIIT, equipment free and pre & post natal. Sign ups must be through our website kicapp.com on a monthly subscription, hit ‘GET STARTED FREE’ and complete the promo code KICPOD1MONTH

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Usually you'd only hear Steph and her guest for our KICBUMP episodes, but today is a little different! Laura has recently begun her fertility journey and is assessing her options such as egg freezing. In today's KICBUMP episode, you'll hear where Laura is currently at plus her experience so far, along with some very informative answers from Dr Sneha Wadhwani; the Clinical Director & Head of GP for Wellbeing and Women’s Health at a clinic in Sydney.

If you're someone who has every wondered how to go about checking your fertility, in today's episode you'll find out what you need to ask for when you go to the doctors, which tests are actually done and what they're testing for, when you should consider egg freezing and the process involved, and what happens to your egg quality as you get older.

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Leonie is a mum of 2 toddlers, a podcast host, and a Relationship & Parenting Coach. Through the work she does with her own podcast 'Parenthood' speaking to mums and dads about all of the challenges parenthood brings, along with her work as a coach for many of these parents, she's gathered some extremely wise tips and advice on what to do when your relationship looks different to how it did pre-kids.

In today's KICBUMP episode, Leonie covers how to best communicate with your partner, why point scoring / tit for tat in a relationship can be problematic, how to better juggle the mental load that comes with parenting, how to celebrate the joys of parenting, what to do if you find yourself in a sexless marriage, why self care is so important and so much more.

Check out Leonie's podcast 'Parenthood' here.

Hear Steph & her husband Josh's episode on the 'Dr Golly and the Experts' podcast here.

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* TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses abortion. For support, contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 *

If you've been a KICPOD listener for a while, you may have heard the unbelievable story of two sisters Rachel & Hannah who escaped attempted human trafficking back in 2016. In today's KICBUMP episode, Hannah shares her incredible story of how her frightening pregnancy diagnoses ended up giving her the beautiful gift of her now 3 year old daughter Vienna.

During her pregnancy, Hannah's baby was diagnosed with Amniotic Band Sydnrome, and despite doctors suggesting multiple times that she shouldn't follow through with the pregnancy, Hannah stuck to what she knew was right. In this episode, she speaks about what it was like hearing the news that her baby would be born without her right arm, how she came to the decision to go ahead with her pregnancy, and how she wants to raise her daughter to feel empowered rather than limited by her disability.

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Em Rusciano wears just about every hat - she's a comedian, podcast host, writer, TV presenter, singer and former radio host, but on top of all of that she's also a mum of 3. All of her children happen to be neurodiverse, and she herself was recently diagnosed with ADHD and Autism.

Em has shockingly faced public criticism for opening up about her diagnosis, with people claiming that it's for attention. In today's episode, we discuss why this is ludicrous and why we should be normalising the topic, helping mums of neurodiverse children feel more supported and also feel more comfortable getting tested themselves.

For more of Em Rusciano, check out her podcast Emsolation.

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Steph became friends with Tracey through their mother's group - you may remember her from a previous KICBUMP episode titled "Postpartum, poop and prams" with another friend  Emma. In today's episode, Steph wanted to chat to Tracey about something that almost none of us have experienced but so many of us are curious about or at the very least fascinated by - home births.

Tracey's story is just incredible. She birthed her 4 month old son Airlie at home (which was planned), but without any midwives present (which was definitely unplanned)! Hear how she educated herself on home births, what she equipped herself with in the lead up, how she attained her midwives and her advice for any mums looking at this as an option for their birth plan.

And on another note, we love hearing your 'Toddler Tantrum Tales'! If your toddler has cracked it over something hilarious (like not being allowed to eat the dog food or crying over some broken eggs that they sat on) please send yours in to us @kicpod on Instagram. Voice notes and written messages welcome! 🥰

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What an incredible story Lisa Messenger and her bestie Sarah Megginson share - one that initially started with heartache, where Lisa tried for a baby for 8 years and did 16 unsuccessful rounds of IVF, then becoming a magical story where during a discussion about Lisa's struggles, Sarah offered the most selfless thing a person could offer - to carry Lisa's baby for her!

With Sarah now nearly 6 months pregnant, she and Lisa share in today's episode everything that we're curious to know - the process of surrogacy, how it all came about, how it feels being pregnant with someone else's baby, and what Lisa is going to tell her unborn son when he's older. Their friendship and pregnancy journey truly is something special, and you can follow it all on their shared Instagram page @mummyatlast.

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Today's KICBUMP episode kicks off with a Harvey update from Steph, where you will not BELIEVE what he was holding in his hand. It left producer Mandy gobsmacked and Steph face palming!

We then hear from the amazing Mel Wells - an Embodied Leadership and Intimacy Coach trained in Holistic Sex, Love and Relationships, Eating Psychology and Holistic Health.

When pregnant with her now 7 month old baby Sky, Mel's plan was to have a home birth with no intervention. But when he arrived at just 30 weeks, Mel's plan had to quickly pivot to something she initially wanted to avoid completely. In today's episode, she explains how giving birth means surrendering completely and trusting western medicine even when it may not always be your first preference.

She also shares her wisdom about the importance of sex and intimacy in a relationship when becoming a parent.

Check out Mel's book ‘The Goddess Revolution; Make Peace with Food, Love your Body, Reclaim Your Life’, her podcast 'Love, Sex & Magic', and her sacred space to nurture women traversing the spiritual portal of matrescence, 'Maiden to Mother'.

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* TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses miscarriage and graphic themes associated with infertility *

Thankfully for Brooke Hogan, her pregnancy dreams have now come true - expecting her first bub in July this year! But it was a rocky start for the former Australia's Next Top Model star and good friend of Steph.

In this KICBUMP episode, Brooke shares her heart wrenching story of unexplained infertility for 2 years as she and her husband tried to start a family, including unsuccessful rounds of IUI and IVF. We are taken on the emotional rollercoaster of her journey and shed tears of sadness and joy along the way. This episode gives hope to anyone struggling with their own fertility journey, and offers some advice to help support you through this time.

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