EP 28 | Caitlin – Mothering Without Your Mum, Finding Your Village, Returning to Paid Work & Trusting Your Instincts

<p>In this episode, Caitlin shares her experience of becoming a mother while living overseas without family nearby, mothering without her own mum, and how motherhood has changed her perspective as a NICU nurse.</p><p>We discuss:</p><ul><li>Finding out she was pregnant with Maeve</li><li>Caitlin’s experience of pregnancy as a NICU nurse and feeling that sometimes she “knows too much”</li><li>The balance between being informed and becoming overwhelmed by everything that could go wrong</li><li>Preparing practically for postpartum without fully understanding the emotional transition ahead</li><li>Grieving the end of life as just Caitlin and Stefano before becoming parents</li><li>Preparing to raise a baby in New Zealand while their families lived overseas</li><li>Maeve’s labour progressing quickly from three to eight centimetres</li><li>Maeve’s heart rate dropping during pushing and being taken into theatre</li><li>An episiotomy and vacuum-assisted birth</li><li>Meeting their daughter for the first time</li><li>Establishing breastfeeding and Caitlin’s experience of colostrum harvesting</li><li>Staying at Birthcare after Maeve’s birth</li><li>The unexpected pain of recovering from an episiotomy</li><li>Realising how much physical recovery required her to slow down</li><li>Planning a wedding during pregnancy and getting married in Italy when Maeve was four months old</li><li>Travelling overseas with a young baby and having Caitlin and Stefano’s families and friends finally meet Maeve</li><li>Becoming a mother after losing her own mum at 23</li><li>The bittersweet experience of joy and grief existing at the same time</li><li>Missing the experience of being mothered while learning to mother your own child</li><li>Grieving the grandparent relationship Caitlin wishes her children could have had with her parents</li><li>Celebrating Maeve’s relationship with Stefano’s parents</li><li>The ways Caitlin’s mum continues to influence how she wants to mother her own children</li><li>Returning to NICU after becoming a mother</li><li>How motherhood has deepened Caitlin’s empathy for NICU parents</li><li>The emotional impact of caring for babies and families after having a child herself</li><li>Caitlin’s passion for supporting and educating parents in NICU</li><li>Returning to paid work and wanting to continue a career she deeply loves</li><li>The challenges of balancing paid work and motherhood</li><li>Preparing to welcome a second baby without family support nearby</li><li>T