By Casey Neill
Finding out she was pregnant with son Thomas was “such a happy day” for Meaghan Young.
“I couldn’t believe it. I went for a swim down at Williamstown,” the Footscray West mum said.
“It was September so it wasn’t that warm.
“It was such a momentous day and I just wanted to be in the water.
“I’ve always loved families, I’ve always loved being part of a family.
“But I don’t think I have always wanted to be a mum.
“It’s been such a pleasure to take that chance and be like ‘I think this is an identity that I’d like to have’.”
Meaghan’s pregnancy was “pretty smooth, aside from a bout of Covid” but made her think about the invisible work going on around her.
“It made me think about being kind to others,” she said.
When her waters broke at 40 weeks plus five days, Meaghan called the hospital and was advised to call back in the morning.
She had some mild contractions overnight and went in for a check-up in the morning.
“The hospital system, I feel so much for them. It was just frantic,” she said.
“We ended up being in emergency for eight hours, which was a long time and really stressful.”
She finally went in for a scan and was told she’d be induced.
“That was something that I was really hoping to not have happen,” Meaghan said.
“I just burst into tears.
“I asked ‘would you consider giving me a window to go home and relax and see if it happens?’.
“I felt really listened to.
“I went home, tired and stressed, and really relaxed for the night.
She got Hungry Jacks, watched trash TV and went on a walk.
“We used to do a waddle every night over to the local station,” she said.
By 10pm her contractions started in earnest, and she laboured in her living room and kitchen.
“I did a lot of walking and groaning,” she said.
“My contractions were really regular but not very strong.”
Pete was calling the hospital for advice as her labour progressed.
“I remember they got quite regular and I thought we should be heading in, and they said to labour at home as long as possible,” she said.
“Within an hour of that I felt like I needed to push.
“They told us to pull over and call an ambulance if we needed to.
“I was just in the zone.
“Poor Pete, every stop light he was panicking.”
When she arrived she was fully dilated and immediately sent to a birthing suite.
“It was a dream I got to labour pretty well at home and then go in and go into birth mode,” she said.
“I feel like this part went really quickly, but it was probably three hours of pushing.
“He was nearly coming the whole time.
“I felt like I could do it.”
But it took an episiotomy and vacuum to bring Tom into the world.
“And it was sweet relief and joy,” Meaghan said.
She felt amazing support from the women in her life during her early days of motherhood, as well as pregnancy.
“It was a very empowering experience,” she said.
Recovery was “a lot” and breastfeeding was “a little bit of a challenge”.
She was grateful to have Pete by her side and support from her church.
“We were really cared for, and it was a good little lesson in saying ‘yes’,” she said.
“Having received all that help, it really has inspired me to be that person for other people.”
A history teacher, Meaghan had been working at Victoria’s youth justice centres before going on maternity leave.
“So far I’ve been really pleasantly surprised by how much I’m just enjoying this time,” she said.
“I was worried I might find it isolating or boring or just tiring, really laborious.
“But it feels like such a privilege to be able to have this time taking care of him.
“When I think about work, I think initially I imagined I wanted to be back after a year, but now I’m like ‘will I?’.
“It blows my mind a little bit.
“At the moment I’m just really enjoying this.
“I feel like stepping back from paid work has also given me the chance to think about how I am in different roles.
“I’m learning more about myself and what things I find energising.
“I’ve learnt a lot more about myself than I expected.
“I’m hoping that when I go back into paid work that I’ll be able to keep some of the learning from this time.”
One of her best pieces of advice for other new mums came from her sister, Jess: “strike while the iron’s asleep”.
When your baby is sleeping, prioritise. It can be tempting to put on the washing but grab that snack.
“You need that snack,” she said.
“We’re so addicted to being productive.
“I’m feeding Tom from my body at the moment, so that takes a lot of work.
“You can feel tired at the end of the day if all you did was feed him and bop him and help him sleep.
“It’s about reframing the to-do list.”
