Your Pregnancy: 0 to 14 weeks
Vika: She gave me a call at work and she said she was pregnant. It was hard to take it all in. I got really emotional knowing that I've got a baby. My name's Vika Tauala. I have eight brothers, one sister. My family originally comes from Samoa. Hi. I'm Chrissy. I'm Cook Island Māori. I have seven sisters, one brother. I have two children – Rico is eight, Mila is two. When I found out I was pregnant, I was so excited and happy and full of a lot of different emotions at the same time.
Because I am coming on to four months and I can see it growing, it's real. It's more real now. Hi Chrissy, how are you? Ngaire: I'm Ngaire Va'a. I'm a midwife out in the community. I've been practising for ten years. Today I'm visiting Chrissy and we're touching base. Making sure that she's well. With this being my third pregnancy, I knew it was important to find a midwife early. I wanted a midwife who was going to be with me through the whole pregnancy. The main things I was looking for from a midwife was someone I could relate to. When I found out that Chrissy was pregnant, I got excited. I went online every night – watching the birth of a baby, watching the transition from where it starts until birth.
It's given me a lot of insight into what a female is going through through the whole nine months. Ngaire: We also offer mum various tests – scans, screening tests, blood tests – just to make sure that mum is fit and well, and is providing the best possible environment for her baby. Christine: My first scan was at twelve weeks. It had everything. You could see fingers and toes. It rolled. I hadn't seen that before.
They tested for Down syndrome, looking at the baby's neck and nose. When I first saw the scan, we were able to see the heartbeat. It was just so surreal to see that we've created another human being. Ngaire: It's important to look after yourself – make sure that you're eating well, keeping yourself active, avoiding the things that you shouldn't have, like smoking, alcohol and drugs. Since finding out that we're expecting, we've both given up alcohol. We're living a lot healthier, eating better. Lots of fruit and vegetables. It's important to start taking supplements in early pregnancy. We offer folic acid. Folic acid helps prevent spine deformities. The other supplement is iodine. Iodine helps with brain development in the baby. It was important to me to take these supplements just to make sure baby is getting everything they need to grow. I'd like to share with the guys out there, that if you're having your first baby, make sure you support your wife or your partner – they pretty much need all your energy. Christine: It's a good experience and the end is perfect.
