Olivia Peters

Tell us a bit about yourself…

My name is Liv. I have two babies 14 months apart, a little boy, Louie (17 months), and a little girl, Billie (10 weeks). I’m 24 and was 22 when I found out I was pregnant, which was a massive shock. I have always wanted to be a mum and have loved every second of it.

I’ve had two completely different births. Louie’s birth was very traumatic with a lot of intervention, and Billie’s birth was amazing and completely unmedicated.

What were you doing before motherhood?

Before motherhood, I did a bit of travel, was working full time, and was starting to think about a career change.

How did you become a mum?

My partner Caleb and I have been together for nearly seven years. We started dating right after high school. I always wanted to be a mum, but being so young, I thought I had years to go before we would start thinking about starting a family.

Birth of Louie

In December 2023, we moved into our first home. At 11:30pm on Christmas Eve, we were unpacking boxes when I felt off and decided to take a test. Two bright pink lines showed up straight away - we were pregnant!! We were in shock and couldn’t believe it. I was 22 at the time and felt so excited but also so terrified. We were babies about to have a baby.

We kept it a secret for weeks, not telling a single soul, terrified of what everyone would think (I know, silly, right!). When we started telling people, everyone was so excited for us. The shock started to wear off, and we could start to enjoy the journey.

I was very morning sick until about 18 weeks. The whole pregnancy I felt run down, lethargic, and extremely exhausted. I was told it was low iron and that it was pretty normal (turns out it wasn’t normal).

Around 36+5, I started to feel super sick, vomiting all night and unable to keep anything down. I called the hospital the next day and was told to rest and that it was most likely a stomach bug. I continued vomiting all the next day and decided to call again because I knew something wasn’t right and this wasn’t a stomach bug.

I called Caleb to come home from work and take me to the hospital, thinking I’d just need fluids and be on my way. As soon as Caleb got home, I started having contractions, and they became very strong and very close together really fast. Within an hour, I was in full-blown labour.

After vomiting nonstop for nearly 24 hours, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. I honestly don’t remember much from arriving at the hospital to getting to the delivery room.

The contractions were so hard and fast that I needed pain relief. I first got into the shower, as I wanted a low-intervention birth, but shortly after had to get out because my blood pressure kept spiking and they struggled to keep Louie’s heart rate on the monitor. I opted for an epidural as I was so exhausted and dehydrated I could hardly stand. It took three tries to get the epidural in, and it was horrible trying to sit still through back-to-back contractions for that long.

They continued to struggle to keep Louie’s heart rate on the monitor and had to put an FSE on. My blood pressure kept spiking, and again, I was in and out of it. After five hours of labour, it was time to start pushing. We didn’t know what we were having, so I was so excited to meet our baby at this point.

Everything turned from bad to worse.

I was told I needed to push Louie out ASAP or I’d be taken for an emergency caesarean. With a forceps delivery and episiotomy, Louie was born, but he wasn’t breathing as he had swallowed meconium. His cord was cut, and he was taken straight away for assessment. I didn’t even get to see his face. My partner yelled, “It’s a boy,” and I was so happy.

Louie was taken straight to NICU while I was being stitched up. I told Caleb to go with Louie, so he did, and my student midwife stayed with me, she was absolutely incredible.

While being stitched up, I lost over 2 litres of blood due to a postpartum haemorrhage. The room swarmed with doctors and nurses trying to stop the bleeding. I was taken to theatre to assess whether a balloon was needed to stop the bleeding (it wasn’t). While all this was happening, my baby was taken one way and I was taken another, and as expected, poor Caleb was absolutely terrified.

I was in recovery for a full day and in hospital for a week. I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and acute renal failure. Louie was in NICU for three days and special care for two, as he swallowed meconium and needed monitoring for his breathing.

I didn’t get to meet my baby until around 37 hours after I gave birth.

My student midwife stayed with me the entire time and was the most amazing support for both me and Caleb. I can’t thank her enough.

Recovery was hard and took months, and the newborn stage was a massive blur.

Louie was born at 37+1 on August 2nd, weighing 2.9kg. Labour was six hours.

But I guess I forgot all about the traumatic experience, because I fell pregnant five months later.

Birth of Billie

Surprise.. we were pregnant again and Caleb and I were both in shock… again. But this time, I knew what could happen and was determined to do everything in my power to have the birth I wanted and deserved.

I read every book, listened to every podcast, did so much research, and became confident in my ability to birth this baby.

This pregnancy was completely different. No morning sickness, and I just went about my days, sometimes forgetting I was pregnant because I felt amazing.

The pregnancy was so smooth. I reached 40 weeks and bub was still comfy in there. We didn’t know the gender this time either.

At 39+5, I opted for a stretch and sweep as I was mentally exhausted and ready to meet this baby. I had another one at 40+2 because the first didn’t do anything, but the second definitely kick-started things. That night, I started getting strong surges on and off. I tried to rest, but I was so uncomfortable lying down that I had to keep moving.

Around midnight, we called my mum to come and look after Louie. The surges were consistently around four minutes apart, but as soon as the sun came up, they slowed right down.

I decided to put my TENS machine on and get into the zone to try and speed things up a little. I laboured all day at home, breathing through surges and using the TENS machine, with inconsistent but strong contractions.

Around 3pm, I got into the shower to see if that would help. As soon as I got out, my surges became 3–4 minutes apart, lasting about a minute each. We decided to head to the hospital around 5:30pm.

I was clinging to the back of the car seat because I couldn’t bear to sit down as the surges were coming on strong and close together.

At triage, I had a cervical check and was 7cm. I also had bloods taken and a cannula inserted as a precaution, given what I went through with my last birth.

We got to the delivery suite, and I wanted to get into the shower or pool. I remember Caleb saying, “They won’t let you birth in the pool, but you can labour in it.” I was so relaxed and said, “Yeah, no worries, I’ll jump in later,” thinking I had hours to go.

I walked over to the bed and had two massive surges. My waters broke, and I could feel bub’s head right there. I got onto the bed on my knees, arms over the bed - there was no way I was birthing on my back again.

Two more surges, and she was out.

Our Billie girl entered the world exactly one hour after arriving at the hospital and 12 minutes after arriving in the delivery suite. My amazing student midwife made it just in time, and we were all in shock at how fast it happened.

I was in shock and amazement all at once.

I had a second-degree tear, but recovery was a breeze, and the newborn bubble was pure bliss. We were all home the next day.

Billie was born at 40+3 on October 29, weighing 3.4kg. Labour was 21 hours.

This truly shows that every pregnancy and birth is different, and not to compare your journey to someone else’s.

What has your feeding journey been like?

I was unable to breastfeed Louie. I lost so much blood that my milk never came in, and while I was recovering, we decided formula was the best option for all of us. I was very sad about this, as I wanted to breastfeed so badly and assumed it would be easy.

Billie came along and made it all possible. I was able to breastfeed her straight away and have been ever since. What an amazing experience that is in itself.

Every feeding journey is different, but I truly believe fed is best, it’s not just for bub, but for the parents as well.

What has sleep been like in your house?

I can’t complain, both my babies have been pretty good sleepers since they were born.

The hardest bits…

Definitely navigating the emotions that came with not having the birth I wanted with my first, and feeling guilt that my body failed me — even though I know it wasn’t my fault and these things are sometimes out of our control.

The best bits…

Being able to experience all ends of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, recovery, and feeding and knowing it all works out in the end. I now have two beautiful, healthy babies.

How do you make time for yourself?

Still working on this one.

What’s next for you and your family?

Enjoying parenthood and learning what life is like as a family of four.

If you could talk to your pre-motherhood self, what advice would you give?

Everything works out, and this is only a season of life and we need to embrace it. 💛