When Courtney thought her family was complete with two beautiful children, she was finally ready to focus on herself. After her doctor found pre-cancerous cervical cells following her first birth, she'd been advised to have a completion hysterectomy once her family was finished—and at 38, with a four-year-old and almost two-year-old, that time had finally come. Her hysterectomy was booked for March of that year.

But in February, just weeks before her scheduled surgery, Courtney discovered she was pregnant with her third child. The culprit? Her two-year-old daughter Margo, who had been secretly chewing on condoms thinking they were chocolates, making tiny holes that rendered them useless.

In today's candid episode, Courtney vulnerably shares her initial shock upon discovering the pregnancy, her fear about making the "wrong" decision, and how seeing her baby healthy at 17 weeks felt like a sign. She reflects on navigating a high-risk pregnancy with a shortened cervix, enduring three weeks of prodromal labour, and the dramatic 12-minute birth that caught everyone off guard—including herself.

Diary Of A Birth will be taking a break for now, the show features mums sharing their heartfelt stories of bringing life into the world. Please continue to share your birth stories at podcast@mamamia.com.au or send a voice note here.

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Mamamia has a podcast for every stage of parenthood.

Check out our hilarious and seriously unhelpful podcast The Baby Bubble hosted by Clare and Jessie Stephens.

If you’re pregnant, listen to The Delivery Room and Hello Bump.
And if you’re trying or preg-curious, Get Me Pregnant and Before The Bump are for you.

CREDITS:

Host: Ksenija Lukich

Birth Story: Courtney Ayre

Producers: Ksenija Lukich & Ella Maitland

Audio Producer: Tina Matolov

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

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