Missta Mums

My goodness we loved recording this episode!!

We were lucky enough to sit down with Ash Pollard, aka the Queen of Reality TV.... You may know her from My Kitchen Rules, Dancing with the Stars, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here or The Traitors.

You will leave this episode feeling as though you know Ash on a deep level as she calls it how it is and dives into each topic honestly and openly. We chatted about her career pre kids, her 2 surprise pregnancies, her severe post natal depression that followed, life as a Mum with 2 under 2 (Irish Twins)

Ash calls a spade a spade, we loved her animation and explanations on all things Mum life.

We hope you absolutely love this relatable and raw ep! 

In our first episode back, we're joined by the lovely Kellie who at the tender age of 25 was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bowel Cancer. Kellie was a first time mum to her 3 month old Daughter Sophia at the time. We talk about the unfortunate events that led to her devastating diagnosis. Kellie grieves the loss of her first year as a mother as she was unable to parent Sophia whilst undergoing Chemotherapy and Radiation. Kellie spoke about how it took a village to raise Sophia in her first year of life and that Sophia didn't know who her own Mother was. After 6 months of treatment, Kellie was able to get away on a much needed holiday with her partner Jeremy however started having shortness of breath and soon found out the cancer was back but this time in her lungs. 

We also chat to Kellie about how she gets through her days while living with a terminal illness, what the unknown future looks like and her devastating news about becoming infertile post treatment therefore knowing she won't be able to give her daughter a sibling. 

Kellie now advocates for early detection and to speak up when you notice something abnormal about your bowel movements or health in general. 

A very grounding and eye opening chat!! 

In today's mini ep, we touch on the busy time in December leading into Christmas with Christmas parties, school break ups, kinder break ups, organising presents, moving the Elf of the Shelf plus how big of a day Christmas Day is and Demi wanting to start her own family traditions without moving her kids around! We talk about the weird time between Christmas and New Year when we don't know what day it is or what's going on, how parents do it when they work full time over January with kids at home, Demi's family trip to Echuca, Mel losing hair from stress!!A light chin wag and an excuse for us to debrief on what's been going on, we hope you enjoy it!! Love Demi & Melinda x

And that's a wrap for 2023!

In today's episode we wrap up what has been a big year for us! We answer a couple of our most frequently asked questions, Demi gives an in depth pregnancy update and Mel explains why she is moving house the week before Christmas! 

Of course you get a Missta BTS update and we explain the plan for 2024!

Our final ep for this year and we cant thank you enough for your support to keep our podcast growing. We have loved our Missta community getting to know us on a deeper level through our pod and look forward to our future in this space!

Today's ep was like a coffee catch up with girlfriends!!

Demi and Mel had the pleasure of chatting to Amy Finch, wife to Aussie cricket star, Aaron Finch who has travelled the world playing International Cricket.

We learnt about the extended period of time Aaron is away for work and the logistical challenges they face running (and creating) a family around his work extensive work schedule. 

Amy disclosed the horrific cyber bullying they can endure with Aaron’s job being in front of a global audience, which included death threats to Aaron’s loved ones. 

Amy openly discussed their decision to not have children, as the life they lived had it's challenges to create stability and routine however to their surprise, Amy fell pregnant shortly after a life saving surgery and now has a beautiful 2 year old named Esther! 

Amy is down to earth, honest and so easy to chat to... We hope you love this ep!

Did you know in Australia you can advertise gambling, alcohol, viagra and even extra marital affairs? I bet you didn’t know you weren’t allowed to advertise infant formula?!?!

Consumers aren’t made aware that there are rules in place from an agreement here in Australia that was put in place to stop baby formula companies from advertising Infant Formula.... WILD!

Today we sat down with the lovely Miriam who is a co-founder of Mumamoo, an Australian owned & made baby and child formula. Miriam openly shares how and why Mumamoo was created and the daily issues they face with trying to spread the word about their infant formula while having to abide by the MAIF: Marketing Advertising of Infant Formula. 

We dive deep into the ‘warning labels' they have to put across their website and their formula tins. In addition, all formula companies must put a disclaimer on their website to ensure everyone entering the site understands "breast is best".  As a result of the regulations, Mumamoo is bombarded with heartbroken customers feeling ashamed and triggered while they are trying to do their best to feed their baby. 

Demi & Mel were both completely gobsmacked by the 'rules' around advertising infant formula when there is no other way to feed your baby if breastfeeding doesn't work out!

They were both in disbelief at the depths of regulations surrounding formula feeding, especially when some mothers have no other option. While we can appreciate and agree with why it is an industry that needs to be regulated, it has now come to a point where there needs to be a revision of the language, as a mothers mental health is proven to be imperative for a healthy happy baby. 

In today's Ep of Missta Mums, we hear from Demi chatting about her family holiday in Noosa and what she recommends while away with young kids.

Mel dives into why and how she removed TV from her son's day to help improve his attitude and we meet Kirsty, the newest Missta employee who you will see regularly across our socials. 

Trigger Warning - Miscarriage 

HERE WE ARE - Back recording with Mitch which we didn't think we would be so quickly but there's only really ONE reason we'd get him back.... The Duncan's are having another baby! Baby #4 is on the way, due in April 2024 - YAY!!!!!

We hear about the day Demi found out she was pregnant and then her telling Mitch (it was all recorded 😆) and the emotions from complete shock to "WTF" to "ok we're doing this" to "we're so excited"!! We get the in's & out's of it all so be prepared!!

********TRIGGER WARNING********

If you are struggling with infertility, we advise not listening to this episode as there are a lot of details on how it happened which can be quite traumatic and triggering for someone listening who is struggling to fall pregnant 💛

Wow the weeks really to fly around so quickly, here we are again with a new guest!

Local Geelong gal, Renee Enright; arguably the coolest mum ever... describes herself as curious with a large thirst for knowledge about so many things to do with the earth, spirits, healing & trauma and so many other aspects of life.

We dive into the big change it was for her and her kids from having her hubby be 15 minutes up the road for work for 21 years to changing jobs, commuting to the other side of Melbourne almost daily. We also chat about why Renee makes the time to do the things she loves, making the effort to fulfil her cup when she can as that helps her be the best version of herself.

She shares some her techniques to being more present in life and stresses the importance of trying to work towards a balance in life.

We also touch on one of Renee’s best friends, who tragically died from Breast Cancer last year, and how that impacted Renee’s life!

A chat we took lots from and hope that you can too!

In today's episode, we sat down with Demi's good friend Brit Selwood to talk openly, for the first time about her infertility journey and the struggles she went through before finally falling pregnant and giving birth to darling Joey in Feb 2023.

It was a very raw ep, Brit gave us her honest thoughts on her own experiences and talked in depth about why she doesn't like to share much about it all online.  We also learnt about who Brit was before she was 'Brit Selwood' and how passionate she was and still is about her job as a Special Needs Teacher. 

Joel Selwood, Brit's husband, has recently released a book called "All In" which is an open story about his career at the Geelong Cats with a chapter dedicated to their IVF journey. 

Brit describes herself as a private person who usually refrains from emotion and surprised herself as she became emotional during our chat.

We know you will love this episode!

Our last Ep for the term and yes, we decided to work in school terms, it makes sense to us and also make it easier for us with mum life! 

Today's mini Ep is another life and business update - there is always so much to chat about.

We recap our first ever hosting gig, Catwalk for Cancer. Nerves were sky high and we spoke SO fast to begin with however it eased as we went back on stage more and more... we are so glad its under our belt now. It was a great night and we raised the $48,000 goal we were aiming for which goes towards a new endoscope video tower for the radiotherapy department at the Andrew Love Centre here in Geelong.

We also dive into how devastated we are to sell out of our famous Missta Bottle and how we feel like we have let parents who need us, down. It was something we tried to avoid but unfortunately it has happened and there's literally NOTHING we can do about it - which is just beyond frustrating.

Demi discusses her youngest two kids new fighting phase which she didn’t experience with her older two kids, not that anyone has any answers for this stage but it's relevant to our Mum life and we love to share what's going on behind closed doors. This catch up resulted in a bit of a vent about what grinds our gears at the moment with our children... there's always something haha

Enjoy - and if you could please leave a Rating or a Review, that would be greatly appreciated.

Love Demi and Mel x 

Our guest today Daisy Pearce, once a midwife, now a Channel 7 media football commentator and also in the coach's box at Geelong Cats but best known for her stella AFLW career, chats to us about how she had to navigate her own way through a high risk pregnancy with twins in the height of her AFLW career.

During pregnancy her and her partner Ben, discovered that one twin had heart issues, making her pregnancy in the public eye incredibly difficult, not knowing the fate of one of one twins. 

Daisy describes herself as an “open book” as she talks us through her “fast paced” relationship with Ben and chats how they found out they were having twins!

Daisy had no predecessors to get advice on about returning to work as a professional athlete and looks forward to hopefully streamlining a path for women wanting to have a baby in AFLW and other codes on this difficult transition! 

Our guest today is (another) friend of Demi’s, Hannah Jenkins who Demi knows through the Geelong Cats.

Hannah talks to us about her high risk pregnancy with her twin girls and how her waters ruptured at 23 weeks resulting in weeks of bed rest in a Melbourne hospital, while her toddler and husband were up and down the highway to and from Geelong almost everyday. Her twin girlies Piper and Willa were born at 30 weeks and spent a period of time in NICU before being able to move back to the Epworth Geelong Maternity Ward for another period of time.

Speaking in depth publicly for the first time, Hannah goes into detail on how she noticed differences with the twins' progression and followed her gut to ultimately discover one twin has Cerebral palsy. 

Hannah explains the challenges they face on a daily basis and how their life has changed. She gave us an insight into her hardest days and darkest thoughts and we know our listeners will appreciate the honesty. 

Beautiful Piper is so lucky to be born into such a loving family that would go to every length imaginable for her.

We cant thank Hannah enough for the vulnerable chat! 

Our co-host (Demi’s) bestie, Emma Hawkins is in the hot seat today and no stone was left unturned in this honest chat! Emma is a Mum of 3 and married to Geelong Cats player Tom Hawkins, a business owner, content creator and marketing genius who has years of experience behind her.

She dives into her three pregnancies in which she suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum and talks us through how isolating it really is with this diagnosis. From “bum sweat” to haemorrhoids, you will get to see a glimpse of Emma that we don’t get to see on her social media!

We are confident you will love this episode as much as we do... Expect a few good belly laughs along the way! 

You asked and we listened!!

By popular request, Demi and Melinda dive headfirst into their birth stories and feeding journeys and there's no holding back to ensure they describe every last detail for you!!

Demi explains her feelings towards her 3 'elective' caesareans and you will be surprised to find out what happened to Demi the night before her caesar was booked for her second baby, Ollie. And also the fact her body went into natural labour with her 3rd baby 10 days early.

Mel explains what it was like finding out her baby had a cyst on his lung at her 21 week scan for her firstborn, Leo which lead to a long series of events PLUS how she nearly didn't make it to the hospital for her daughter Penelope's birth.

Missta Mums discuss in depth their feeding journeys for all 6 babies and give encouragement for you to “do what’s best for you and your family”.

Mel had a "don't care" factor for any external opinions about her introducing formula and Demi chats about the poo diaries she kept for her son Ollie as he had a cows milk allergy.

You wont want to miss this ep!! 

In today's ep we sit down with celeb make up artist and business owner Tess Holmes.

Tess opens up about her birth story with Hardy for the first time publicly, the struggles with her eldest starting school and her passion towards make up.

The birth of her second born is an incredible story that involves her husband catching their baby, in their bed at home while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Tess also touches on the difficult transition her daughter Lara had this year starting Prep and how shocked she was that it was her daughter that struggled and we also dive deep into her Make Up career and what it looks like with baby #3 on the way!

In this Ep, you feel like you are in the same room, catching up with the girls listening along while they have their Missta Mums chin wag.

Demi chats about her failed weekend away with the family and Melinda reveals how she got over her fear of being judged at the gym! 

The girls also chat about a few things that have been happing behind the scenes that they hadn’t mentioned publicly before, they touch on the impact their Missta community makes on their business and describe why they think they have such a loyal customer base! 

What did Sophie Cachia say to us for the first time EVER publicly?

If you haven't lived under a rock, you'll know who Sophie Cachia is! Young Mummy blogger turned business woman, entrepreneur, book author, public speaker... the list goes on!

You won't want to miss her exclusive chat with us about juggling mum life and work life as a single parent PLUS she discloses something she has never said publicly before!

Welcome back!!

We thought it would be a great idea to get our husbands on the Pod but we immediately regretted that decision haha

Meet Mitch Duncan and Aaron Baxter - the Missta Dads, our other half. Aaron is our Missta Warehouse Manager as well as a stay at home Dad (by choice) and Mitch is a professional athlete.

We chat to them about Dad life, their career's and what they find hard about being Dad's of 3.

Meet Demi and Melinda; Missta Mums.

We're the founder's of a small business called Missta, we invented the Missta Bottle which helps parents on their formula feeding journey.

We both have 3 kids each (2017 babies, 2019 babies and 2021 babies)

Topics

• How we got here
• Getting to know us
• Having a growing family while growing our business
• Mum Life