Q: What was one of the most surprising
things that you experienced during your
pregnancy?
Pure exhaustion! When I swam competitively,
my heaviest training weeks consisted of 40 hours
of training, including 10 swim sessions, three
weights sessions, three CrossFit sessions, two
cardio sessiona and a pilates class. But I was
never as tired as I was in pregnancy!
Q: Did you experience any weird food
cravings or any changes you weren’t
expecting?
I normally favour my sweet tooth, but I craved
salty food throughout the entire pregnancy. At one
point I just wanted to eat vegemite and cheese
sandwiches for a week straight after I saw a
toddler eating one.
Q: You are naturally a very disciplined person
when it comes to health and fitness. How
did you stay fit and healthy throughout your
pregnancy and did your routine have to
change during this time?
I tried my best to stay active, as I knew it was
important, but to be honest I couldn’t manage
to do much at all. I was sick dawn until dusk
for the first 20 weeks, and then I found myself
completely exhausted every day. In the end I
would mostly just go for walks with my dogs. It
was a huge and sudden change from my former
life.
Q: For athletes, preparation is vital. Are
there any similarities in preparing your mind
and your body for birth and preparing your
mind and body for major sporting events like
the Olympics?
Building my body up for birth was similar to
building my body up to race. I think the biggest
similarity was that I really had to listen to my
body. Rest when I needed to, exercise when I felt
ready to go and able to fuel it properly. These are
the same foundations of elite sport. Also, being
able to remind myself that it was ok to take it
easy sometimes and curl up on the couch to watch
a movie instead of getting my work done. This
is something I did as a swimmer sometimes as
well, to refresh myself mentally, albeit a little
more frequently in pregnancy! But I do think
it’s important that we all cut ourselves a break
sometimes and just take it easy.
Q: Can you describe your birth experience?
Birth was the hardest and best day of my life.
I went into labour at about 10pm on a Sunday
night, but was contracting every three minutes
or so for the first eight hours. Once my waters
broke the next morning the contractions actually
settled down for a while before ramping back up
again. I have always coped with exercise related
pain quite well, so I thought I’d do okay in labour.
I lasted about 14 hours total but then began
throwing up from the pain, so got an epidural. I
immediately wished I had asked for it sooner! I
then had a bit of trouble during the pushing phase
as Maddie had her hand under her chin and so
couldn’t tuck her head to get through the birth
canal, but before I knew it I was holding my
brand new healthy baby girl.
Q: In competitive swimming, support is
key to success - how were you supported
throughout your pregnancy and the birth of
Madison? How did your husband Chris go
with the pregnancy and birth experience?
I’m a big believer that no one can achieve
anything in life alone, and it’s so much more
enjoyable to share life experiences with others.
I was so fortunate to not only have Chris to
share the journey with, but also my close family
and friends around to help. Being a medical
student, my classmates were so fantastic during
pregnancy, bringing snacks and walking slower
so I could keep up! After Madison’s arrival, they
helped me to catch up on classes I had missed.
My university (Bond University) were also so
supportive of our pregnancy and birth, making
sure I could continue my studies without having
to defer. The staff and students there really are
wonderful! Maddie is such a happy and easygoing
baby. We really couldn’t have had better
support.
Q: Did you know you were having a little girl
or did you keep it a surprise?
I wanted to find out but Chris didn’t. We didn’t
think it would work if one of us knew and the
other didn’t so we kept it a surprise. For some
reason, throughout the pregnancy I was convinced
we were having a boy. When Maddie first arrived
and Chris told me she was a girl I didn’t believe
him. I got him to lift her up off my chest to see
for myself!
Q: How are you finding motherhood? What is
the best thing about becoming a mum?
To be honest, motherhood was strange at first.
It took me a couple of weeks to really feel like
a mum. I often found myself wondering where
the time went. It feels like I was only just a kid
myself and now all of a sudden, I have a child of
my own. But I’ve never loved something so much
in my life. It’s like a little piece of my heart exited
my body and morphed into the shape of this tiny
human. My favourite thing about being a mum is
seeing Maddie smile. When she giggled for the
first time my heart exploded!
TOP: Baby Madison
saying a cheeky hello.
OPPOSITE: Special
moments for Melanie,
Chris and Madison
pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 51