You’ve just spent nine months growing a baby, but the journey doesn’t end the moment you give birth. When the baby is out, you might be tempted to think that everything - your body, your emotions, your life - will go back to normal. But for both new mothers and their babies, there’s an adjustment period popularly known as the Fourth Trimester. Kim and Leila unpack what’s going on, and how it can leave you feeling.

In this episode:

• How the fourth trimester sits alongside the three other trimesters of pregnancy
• What baby is experiencing
• What emotional changes you can expect and why
• How your experience might differ if you’re breastfeeding
• What physical changes you can expect
• Should you expect to bounce back during the fourth trimester, or even afterwards?

When both of our children were newborns, both Kim and Leila were told, repeatedly, that they looked just like their dads. Which, to be honest, wasn't always what we wanted to hear. We explore why it might be a good idea to look like your dad, what the science actually says, and how sometimes resemblance is all in the eye of the beholder.

In this episode:

• We talk about our own babies' features, and how often they were compared to their dads.
• Why it might be a good idea to look like the father, from an animal evolution perspective
• Do babies actually look like their dads?
• The science says its all in our heads
• Why not looking like dad might be a good idea
• How dad's investment can change how similar he thinks they are
• The future of our babies' features

You can find more Science Baby at...

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And if you like what you see, consider supporting our work with a one-off or recurring tip: https://ko-fi.com/leilabattison

Last episode, we talked about the practical side of IVF - who is eligible, what testing there is beforehand, and what the procedure actually entails. But we didn’t talk about any of the squishy human stuff: the ups and downs of being an IVF patient and parent. So this time around, we tackle the physical and psychological impacts of IVF, and some of the things you might want to consider before starting treatment.

In this episode:

• The idea that IVF might have some lasting impacts, something which Leila didn’t really consider while she was undergoing treatment
• The additional benefits of IVF, including genetic testing and bespoke medication
• How long the process takes, and how that feels when you’re in it
• How the treatment might change within and between IVF cycles
• The emotions you feel while undergoing treatment
• The emotions you feel after treatment
• How you feel physically during and after treatment
• How IVF mothers are treated as high-risk pregnancies, and the pressure for birth intervention
• The effects you feel after an IVF birth
• The possibility of longer lasting medical risks
• The likelihood of success with IVF treatment
• How you can support yourself throughout your IVF journey