Ready or Not

Picture this: you're a mother of one, you're newly pregnant and you're at your dating scan. The sonographer goes a little quiet. There's not one baby in your tummy, there's not even just the two. You're pregnant with triplets.

This is what happened to now mother of four and litigation lawyer Silje Andersen-Cooke.

I can physically feel the shock and worry of it all: wondering what this means for your babies, what this means for your body, what recovery might look like, and how on earth you return to work after triplets.

Here, Silje walks us through it all: the delightful and the demanding, the exhausting and exhilarating life that is raising triplets while making work, work.

Please note that this is Silje's story and that this episode is not to be taken as medical advice.

Follow Silje on Instagram here.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alison Rice is a mother and a journalist turned career and business mentor. She cut her teeth at The Walkley Foundation for Excellence in Journalism before going on to lead and launch some of the world's largest digital women's media titles into the Australian market.

To some, she had it all.

But, a realisation that her work was perpetuating a kind of desire culture and leading women to question themselves would ultimately change the course of her career.

It was then during those early days of motherhood that another monumental shift would occur, and this time, a heartbreaking one: just as Alison was learning how to navigate motherhood, she lost her own mum.

Here, she generously shares some of her most intimate moments, from navigating multiple pregnancy losses alongside work and how the fear of never meeting her daughter has influenced the way she shows up as a mother today. to what it means to redefine success and what it's like to lose your mum during such a tender life phase.

Follow her business and podcast here.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.

You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tina Randello is the Chief Commercial Officer of global skincare brand Alpha-H. She’s also a mother of two and the founder of The Encoreship — a return-to-work program providing opportunities for women and mothers who have been out of the workforce for an extended period.

She’s held down massive roles, she’s worked both full time and part time alongside her parenting journey, and she’s learned a lot from navigating it all for thirteen years.

What seems to make her a great leader is that she believes in women. She wants to see each and every woman find their own version of success and until that happens, she considers her work unfinished.

Here, we talk about redefining ourselves post motherhood, why ‘selfish’ needn’t be a dirty word, and why, sometimes, we just need to give it a go and see what makes sense when it comes to making work, work.

This episode of Ready or Not is brought to you by Portier, made by busy parents for busy parents.

Thanks to Portier, listeners of Ready or Not can receive a $20 voucher by using the code RON20 upon checkout at portier.com.au.

This voucher is valid until June 12.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.

You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elise Addlem is a feminism and philosophy educator for mothers and parents.

She's also a mother herself, and through her work, she breaks down complex topics into digestible bites. She makes the daunting interesting and she is deeply passionate about educating others on the intersection of motherhood, feminism, patriarchal parenting, and neoliberal capitalism.

Here, we talk about the perfect motherhood myth, how our sense of self can change for the better in motherhood, the power of knowledge, and being tired all the time.

This episode of Ready or Not is brought to you by Portier, made by busy parents for busy parents.

Thanks to Portier, listeners of Ready or Not can receive a $20 voucher by using the code RON20 upon checkout at portier.com.au.

This voucher is valid until June 12.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.

You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Publicly, a burgeoning business that led her to New York for a meeting with Anna Wintour and to sharing the stage with Richard Branson on multiple occasions.

And privately: eight years, 18 rounds of IVF, and a friend willing to carry her baby, all in pursuit of becoming a mother.

This is an incredible story of how Collective Hub founder Lisa Messenger has made work alongside her challenging journey to parenthood work.

Here, we talk staying open, how she got through sixteen phone calls telling her the news she didn't want to hear, and what the surrogacy journey has looked like.

In this episode, Lisa also generously shares a discount code for Ready or Not listeners: use code READYORNOT20 for 20% off all Collective Hub products.

[CW: This episodes discusses needles, pregnancy loss, IVF and surrogacy.]

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sophie Walker is the host of hit podcast, Australian Birth Stories. She's also a published author, the creator of the birth class, and a mother of three boys.

It was Sophie's traumatic first birth that inspired the podcast, which at the time of the interview had over 11 million downloads, but at the time of publishing, she's up to 12 million. That's nearly half of Australia.

The expansion of her business has led to some really exciting projects such as her new book, and it's also led to her becoming the key breadwinner at home, bringing with it an extra layer of pressure.

Here, she takes us back to the start: through her varied and colourful career, how she built Australian Birth Stories to be the brand it is today, the birth that inspired it all, and what her husband is learning from being at home with the kids.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Listen to Australian Birth Stories or buy the amazing new book here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vomiting 30 times a day while trying to run a shop. No parental leave after the birth of her son Remy. Owning a retail business in Melbourne during a pandemic. Navigating her husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.

And then, after falling pregnant with the baby that the doctors said would be nearly impossible to conceive without assistance, a pregnancy loss.

Navigating motherhood and career for Think Thornbury owner Maggie May Moshe has not been linear.

Here, she walks us through it all: from navigating managing the shop alongside hyperemesis in pregnancy and later a four-month-old while her husband was on tour to how they adapted during lockdowns, a cancer diagnosis and a pregnancy loss.

We laugh and we cry, and we could’ve talked for hours.

Maggie May has generously offered a 15% Think Thornbury discount code for all Ready or Not listeners. Simply use Readyornot15 at checkout.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When I tell you that journalist and mother of two Melanie Dimmitt’s son has cerebral palsy, what kind of life do you imagine? Do you imagine someone that’s a bit angry at the world, do you picture their life at home to be a little sad?

If your answer is a shameful yes that you don't really want to admit to, you're not alone. Melanie would've said the same once upon a time. But, her life is actually pretty sweet.

You're about to hear her incredible story: how she found out about her son Arlo's diagnosis, the traumatic birth that came six months prior to that, how she's navigated her career as a mother of two, and all the peaks and troughs that came in between.

And trust me, there are plenty of peaks.

This is the uplifting and hopeful story of editor, broadcaster, and author of Special, Melanie Dimmitt.

I highly recommend you buy her book here. You won't be disappointed.

Content warning: this topic discusses illness, hospitals, birth trauma, and disability.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erin Phibbs is a midwife, childbirth educator, and mother of four. She has a twin sister who seemed to fall pregnant at the drop of a hat while it took her years, and she's had some very different births and maternity leave experiences.

From a traumatic first birth and an intense and lonely first postpartum, to a healing second birth and her husband taking six months of parental leave, she's experienced it all.

Here, she shares what her husband learned from becoming the primary caregiver for a period, how she navigated birth trauma as a midwife, and what transition she's found the most challenging.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land. I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This episode of Ready or Not is sponsored by Her Werk, an Australian website where you can rate and review your current or previous employer on metrics such as pay opportunities for development, flexibility, parental leave, support, culture, and diversity. Find out at herwerk.com.au

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alexandra Collier is a writer, mother, and the author of Inconceivable: a newly released memoir about her journey into solo parenthood.

In a former life, she lived in a light-filled Brooklyn brownstone in New York with the man she loved. But when she woke up to a ravenous hunger to have a baby that her partner didn't share, her life took a sharp turn.

She found herself back home in Melbourne at 37, single, heartbroken and living with her parents. Her reproductive timeline was rapidly outpacing her romantic life, and after a period of dating like it was a sport, she began to explore a controversial option: conceiving a baby with donor sperm.

Here, she shares this journey. From Brooklyn to Melbourne. From shacked up to single. From maiden to mother.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.

You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land. I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

This month, Ready or Not is proudly brought to you by Yoto. Use our discount Code: READYORNOT15 for 15% off your Yoto device [not to be used with any other offer, valid from 1st May - 5th June.]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.