The Two-Month Turnaround

Secret Mum Club with Sophiena

The episode features hosts Safina and Emma sharing listener stories about unexpected family expansions through IVF and the emotional journey

Key takeaways

• Emma from Perth shared how she moved from being 'done' with kids to undergoing IVF for her son Archie.
• Safina discussed the unexpected arrival of Renly and the health complications that prevented further pregnancies.

Main topics

• IVF and family expansion
• Childhood nostalgia

Notable quotes

He was the missing piece we didn't even know we were looking for.

Conclusion

A supportive episode that balances emotional storytelling with actiona

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Our children's big feelings don't wait for a good time to show up. They turn up at bedtime, on the walk to school, or right in the middle of an ordinary afternoon. I'm Evie Pickerel, and my podcast, Evie Asks, is here to help. With gentle stories, mindful breathing, and positive affirmations, each episode helps children process their emotions and feel safe and supported. Whether they need help calming down for bedtime, finding confidence for school or handling those really big feelings. Listen to Evie Asks wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, and you can watch on YouTube too. Speaker 4 (0:47) This is The Secret Mum Club. I'm Safina. And I'm Emma. And welcome to your Thursday's episode. Where we get to squeeze in all the extra bits and bobs Speaker 3 (0:55) from the week. Speaker 4 (0:56) Still not squeezing your bits. But next week. Next time. Ooh, get squeezed up some boobies. Speaker 3 (1:03) I won't without her permission, obviously. No. All Speaker 4 (1:07) of your comments, thoughts, questions and fun stories. To keep you going through the weekend. Shall we jump on in? Speaker 4 (1:18) Right, try and get this in sync. It's time for another Speaker 2 (1:22) Correspondence Call. Speaker 3 (1:30) That sounded quite good. Did it? Every time I say that, though, it's fucked. So I'm going to stop Speaker 4 (1:34) saying it now. We shouldn't put it out there because it sounds fucking awful every time we listen back. And we think, oh, we've cracked it. No, no, we haven't. Still fucking shit. Well, let's jump on in, shall we? Speaker 3 (1:46) Yes, this one comes from Emma. Speaker 3 (1:49) in Perth, Australia. Speaker 4 (1:51) Oh, I thought you'd written into our own podcast. Not me. No, not you. Speaker 3 (1:56) It says, hi, Safina and Emma. I just wanted to write in after hearing the lady who said she didn't know when she was done having babies because I could relate to her so much. I had my first baby girl, Olivia, in 2016 and my second baby girl, Charlotte, in 2018. We were absolutely convinced we were done. So I had my tubes tied during my C-section. And in June 2019, my husband had the snip. We had well and truly double locked the door on having any more babies. Then. In August 2023, I happened to be reading about IVF and suddenly thought, wait, we could still have another baby. I turned to my husband and said, should we try IVF and have one more? Let's just say he was very shocked. We started IVF in October 2023. I love that the follow on is August, September, October. Two months later, they were doing it. IVF, here we come. What? Oh my God. So they already had like a seven-year-old and a five-year-old. Yeah. So we started IVF in October, 2023. And after four egg collections and four embryo transfers, we finally fell pregnant with our beautiful little boy, Archie. And honestly, he was worth every single hurdle we had to go through. He was the missing piece we didn't even know we were looking for. Looking back, I think the biggest thing I've learned is that you don't always have to know. Do whatever feels right for you at that moment. Your feelings can change and that's okay. For us, we now have our three beautiful babies and I can confidently say we are very, very done. And then there's a picture. Oh, look. Okay, Olivia, nine, Charlotte, eight, and Archie, 13 months. Look at them. They're in a Speaker 4 (3:32) shopping trolley. They're in a shopping trolley. Is it Tesco? Oh my goodness. Oh, so they've got the two big girls and then Archie, Speaker 3 (3:42) look. Speaker 4 (3:44) And his baby grow. And it just said the missing. And do you know what? When I say that to people, people think I'm mad. Like we didn't plan all three babies. Obviously Renly was a massive, massive shock. to us didn't never ever a doubt of not you know not having him it but I just didn't know how much not just me and Chris needed him like how much the babies needed him like and not even that as well extending that out how much my sister needed him my brother-in-law my brother my cousin their cousins you know my nieces and my nephew he has been such a blessing to everybody in the family. Like he has got my niece who's 17 through some of her hardest days, like the hardest of hardest days. And he is her saviour without even knowing it. And that's mad, isn't it? To Speaker 3 (4:37) think that you, did you think you were done after? Speaker 4 (4:39) Yeah, after Colby and Dottie. Yeah. Only because obviously I'd had lots of complications with Dott's right at the end of the pregnancy. And I'd had one of each and, you know, we were the perfect 2.4 family, you know, as on paper, if that's even really a thing. But I'd felt so lucky that I'd even had the two of them. And I thought that was us. I thought that was us done. We'd got one of each. We'd been blessed, so incredibly blessed, not only to have children, but to have one of each. And then, yeah, to fall pregnant with Renly was such a massive, massive, massive shock, like huge shock. but couldn't, never would. And I even sit now and I think, just one more, Speaker 3 (5:19) just one more. But I Speaker 4 (5:22) just, you know, I just, how do you ever know? I don't know if there's ever anything that says no. Obviously my health is, my health is the one thing that is, unfortunately, I