May 15, 2025 · 36 minutes · Episode 459
About this episode
New dad John Pearce got his start on Australia’s Got Talent. The Sydney-born dancer and performer best known as the Purple Wiggle joins the podcast to discuss his latest role: the adventure of fatherhood.
Connect with the guest:
Informed Pregnancy Media and Mahmee present an all new podcast! One Way or a Mother is a new narrative podcast from Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC. Each season is an intimate story of one woman, one pregnancy, and all of the preparations, emotions, and personal history leading up to the birth. Episodes feature the expectant mother along with her family, doctors, and birth work team.
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Key quotes
“Yes, it's been life-changing ever since and I've loved every moment of this whole journey and it's a privilege to be able to Wear the skivvy this iconic skivvy. So that's kind of how I ended up”
“I think that was the hardest part was being told frustrating. You just got to keep doing it You always want them to be like, oh, this is the problem. Here's the solution”
“But you know, thank God for letresol and help from the fertility clinic that you know It kind of just gave her that extra boost a little medical technology boost”
“To obviously come out and he got stuck and it just felt like a dream when they pulled him out and you could just hear The cry for the first time so it's such a memorable experience and we're glad we've got a video footage of this whole thing”
“I'm helping just as much as she's helping me and we're both new to this and it's been such a wild experience and Wouldn't change it for the world But you know changing nappies and and burping the babies on a daily is just part of my life now and I love it”
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Transcript
AI-generated transcript with speaker labels — may contain errors, especially names and medical terms. Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC appears in blue; John Pearce in orange.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [0:00] My guest today is a dancer performer and new dad from Australia who got his big break on Australia's Got Talent Became a pop star and now is perhaps best known as the purple wiggle I'm pregnancy focus chiropractor. Dr. Elliot Berlin and you're listening to the informed pregnancy podcast John Pierce, welcome to the podcast. Good morning. Thanks for having me. This is great
John Pearce [0:37] I'm very excited to chat all things pregnancy in my life
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [0:40] I Bet that has consumed quite a bit of your life over the recent times But let's start at the beginning you're from Sydney originally
John Pearce [0:50] Yeah, so I was born in Sydney, Australia. I am an identical twin So growing up was very interesting, but I guess I had a different life to most people I'm growing up to learn to share everything and having someone that looks identical to you So great great time growing up in Sydney. Who's older? Apparently I'm older look my mom's detail is a bit questionable when I ask her it's always different but I'm That's all I've known is I'm 30 minutes older than my brother. Okay, so you have rank senior But you know what? He does say that he was developed first for some reason So I don't know how he knows that but
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [1:26] You know we have twins where the one who came out first is actually younger than the one who came out second Oh, why is that it happened soon after midnight and the first baby came out and then we changed the clock back an hour And the second baby came I saw on paper the one who came out Actually happened it probably happens, you know once in a while Yeah, what a story Did you love being a twin hated or both?
John Pearce [2:00] You know, I had a great time growing up I guess I've always had a best friend there and like most brothers and twins you fight all the time But I guess I had that friendly competition and he was my best man at my wedding So we've we've been best friends ever since going to school, you know people like Kids would fight over who get to play with the twins and things like that So I guess we had a great time growing up and I don't know Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to compare it to not being a twin. So I wouldn't do about their siblings Yep, I've got a younger brother younger sister and four older half brothers. Oh, it's a nice-sized clan Yeah, it's quite extended. But um, the main family we grew up around around the same age was me and my twin brother and my
[2:39] Younger brother and younger sister sister nice. Okay. So how'd you get into dance by accident? I think growing up. I never really wanted to dance my older brother who was full Filipina descent Which was on my mom's side used to make me and my twin brother learn his dance routines I'm at home so he'd be obsessed with writing rap songs and learning dance and would get us to teach us look to learn the dance and We kind of were introduced to it when we were about maybe 10 10 11 years old I didn't really like it until about 2005 we were about 15 years old when we watched a movie called you got served Which I'm not sure if you're familiar with that movie
[3:18] It's heavily involved with breakdancing and hip-hop pop and lock and stuff like that We fell in love with that movie and want to learn every dance move from that movie So we copied everything and taught our friends at school. Yeah, that's how we got into the dance
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [3:30] How did you make a career out of it?
John Pearce [3:32] Another another accident. I think I really believe in the parent universe and because we were so passionate and we enjoyed Dancing we didn't take it too. Seriously. We did it as a hobby during lunchtimes at school So we did it with our mates and then we took it to a dance competition outside of school because we thought we were that cool And we met another dance group which essentially formed Justice Crew Which we entered Australia's Got Talent with and it all kind of happened organically We didn't really think you know We're gonna break the internet or try to become dancers or backup dancers or musicians in the future We just did something because we loved it and stuck to it and I think it just you know
[4:11] I'm knowing we're in the purple skivvy today touring entertaining children. So yeah
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [4:15] I mean sometimes I feel like in my life also sometimes a little sign pops up and just says go this way go This way and it works out like probably when I'm assuming when people ask you when you're a kid What do you want to do when you grow up? You didn't say I want to be the purple wiggle
John Pearce [4:30] No, I've actually got a recording of myself in kindergarten Which is when I was six years old saying I wanted to be a construction worker And that's what I wanted to be I want to build houses and I'm far from that Taking a different direction
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [4:44] Dances hard on the body. Did you have any injuries along the way?
John Pearce [4:48] No, there are a few injuries I guess breakdancing and trying to learn flips in your backyard does come with its own risks and I did break my hand once That's about it. I'm pretty safe. You know when I broke my hand, I was trying to learn this 360 It's called a corkscrew in breakdancing world when you do a backflip a running backflip and you do a twist in The air and because I'm learning off YouTube and trying to copy the moves I didn't really understand the technique correctly and just threw my body and landed on my hand and alert really fast Yeah The wrong way to do it
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [5:21] That's why they call it breakdancing Well Australia's got talent what was that like for you is that your first time on a bigger stage like that
John Pearce [5:31] Yeah, a hundred percent. It was totally new. Look as justice crew. We used to busk in the streets of Sydney We used to you know get together and practice in Pitt Street Mall Which is you know One of the main strips of shopping in Sydney and we used to busk and make a few cents here And that was a good experience and essentially going from that and taking it onto a global platform like Australia's got talent Oh not a global platform now just being a national TV was something different and we didn't think we wanted to win the show We just wanted to try something different because we had a routine and then again I feel like it's just an organic thing that happened and we didn't prepare for the consequences of winning the show
[6:04] It just happened again, and I just finished school was 19 years old I didn't know what I wanted to do, but we did love dance. We did love performing So that's just something that just happened and we all stuck with it and we became pop stars overnight literally
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [6:16] Wow, I don't know if it's better the acts that are like solo acts or the acts that are group You know if it's more comforting to have other people in your group or if you know You have to worry about more people than just yourself
John Pearce [6:28] Yeah, I think it kind of kept us grounded having a group group of guys around and it's having your mates They kind of keeps you kind of you know keeps you with it I feel like if you're on your own You don't know you know people are talking in your ear and you've got no one to kind of enjoy that journey with Like I wouldn't really know I've never done it by myself I've always been in a group and I've loved it every single part of the way and it's been fun Especially having my twin brother involved in that process too. So it's always having that person to share with it I think that's the most important thing. It sounds really cool. What was the aftermath like after Australia's got talent?
[7:00] Like I just finished school didn't know what I want to do $250,000 and split it between nine of us. So just finishing school and we all had a big chunk of money to go Hey, what do we buy shoes and cars? That's kind of We didn't really have a plan afterwards we didn't know what that would look like, you know winning as a breakdancing group a TV show and people telling us You know, you're gonna go on tour and you're gonna travel and do all these things and I was still working at a supermarket Called Aldi it's equivalent to Woolworths or Coles here and I actually resigned two weeks before we won the show But I still had two weeks to you know, finish up my duties there and after winning the show
[7:40] Did a few shifts at the till and people were asking for my autograph while I was scanning their groceries It's really cool. You kept your word on the two weeks notice. Yeah. Yeah, exactly
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [7:51] Don't you got to keep that you know in my mind? We told that all the managers will be back in a year and I'm pretty sure that job still waiting for us
John Pearce [7:59] Did that turn into touring with dance? Yeah. Look we won as a breakdancing group so initially we recorded a documentary with Sony music and Because our background in writing music and singing and rapping and things like that was quite foreign to us We only danced to our music the opportunity to record our own songs came up through Sony music and they asked us You know if we'd be open to doing that and getting the studio with a few writers and things like that and making a Video clip and being able to tour those songs. So essentially we had nothing to really tool other than just dance So we went from being a breakdancing group that used to busking the streets of Sydney to recording
[8:35] our first single with Sony music and became recording artists and we kind of learned you know the tricks of the trade and how to write music and all that sort of stuff and it gave us a Foundation to tour from and we ended up, you know taking it on the road and touring and performing You know on different stages around Australia and the US it kind of opened up another opportunity and another avenue for just this group. Yeah, I mean would she like better song or dance? Look dancing is always fun. But now I'm getting a bit older like I'm 30 35 But I feel like I'm becoming more efficient and dancing feels like so much such an effort. Yeah
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [9:11] Okay I mean look I just eat pizza and that feels like an effort but Alright I'm excited to learn how your career then kind of folded into the wiggles and also Your new full-time job fatherhood. Let's take a little break when we come back. We'll learn more
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [9:41] Welcome back. We're talking to John Pierce. Okay, Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy. So Thank you here you were born, you know 30 minutes later a carbon copy of you comes out allegedly and you grew up with best friends and fighting in between being best friends and Get into dance YouTube video break dance Get together with another crew break dance more end up on Australia's Got Talent and make enough money to buy a lot of shoes and stuff like that But then it turns into a singing career and traveling around and now the wiggles. How did that transformation happen?
John Pearce [10:19] Yeah, I think you know Being injustice crew. We got to perform in some amazing events around Australia. You know, we have different concerts The carousel domain which is like a you know Jingle bell ball like things like that way all the main acts around Australia perform and during my time in justice crew I got to meet the Wiggles and you know growing up watching the Wiggles I was always big fans and we were all big fans of the Wiggles and you know I kind of connected with a few of the guys here and there throughout time and nine years later Justice crew everyone grew up and kind of took different paths and different passions and you know in a group
[10:52] It's hard to kind of stick together for long term if everyone's got different visions and different ways I want to like take our music and things like that So there was a time just before COVID-19 kind of struck and the music industry was really halted and everyone had to kind of decide, you know We couldn't tool we couldn't do too much We had to find other means of making a living and that was a good turning point for me You know, I became a personal trainer something that I can control I started nutrition and I actually bumped into Anthony the blue we go the founder of the Wiggles who lived down the street From me so he lived in the same neighborhood and because in Australia in Sydney
[11:24] Especially you couldn't leave your neighborhood in COVID you were locked down to your neighborhood and that was it So I bumped into Anthony quite a lot during that period and you know We got to chatting and he was telling me about you know The touring industry I was affected and all that sort of stuff and you know What are we up to and all that and he actually invited me shortly after to Once we were able to return to work to go check out Wiggles HQ and come and have a look and we worked On a project which didn't involve the Wiggles But the Wiggles kind of looking after and it was a TV show that you know I could feature on and I was a mime. I was a pantomime. It was a fun little thing and I thought you know
[11:58] I didn't really think much of it It was just something you know, I just give it a go and this is Anthony my childhood hero That's just you know asking me to try this and he told me then you know There's a big future in this industry for you and I thought to myself Wonder what he meant by that, you know, I went home told my wife You know He said this and it was really fun and I really enjoyed it was a really good team there and you know And a few months later it kind of went a bit quiet after that The Wiggles went back on tour and I went back to my personal training out of my home garage gym and you know Anthony would message me here and they're saying, you know, hey good news on that show
[12:28] We filmed like it's we're taking it. We're gonna try to turn it into like a series and I said, okay, cool This is exciting. Okay, and then another few months went quiet and then all of a sudden say Anthony messages me Hey, let's catch up for a coffee Awesome. Well down the road. I'll come up Let's chat and then he presents me with a slideshow of you know The Wiggles and what it means to wear the skivvy and all this sort of stuff and then I started thinking at that point Is he gonna ask me to join the Wiggles? What is going? You know, it was in a nutshell at the bottom of this slideshow We went through, you know, who wore the skivvy, you know Jeff was in the wake up Jeff was the purple skivvy and this is what it means and this is what it represents
[13:05] And at the bottom of this slideshow was four new faces and I was one of those faces And and become eight members and have two of every color and include, you know More diversity and gender equality and I was gonna be part of that So he asked if I would do it and initially I was so excited deep down. I don't show much emotion Play cool and I go. Yeah, cool. Yeah, this is great. Yeah, why not? Of course, I'd love to and you know I just went home and called my wife and I said, you know I think Anthony just asked me to be that the new purple wiggle Yes, it's been life-changing ever since and I've loved every moment of this whole journey and it's a privilege to be able to
[13:41] Wear the skivvy this iconic skivvy. So that's kind of how I ended up What a great story. How long have you been doing it? It's been about four years now So it's coming to four years 20 21 when I first came into record and yet 20 25 now and counting
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [13:55] Your world is full of purple
John Pearce [13:57] Exactly. It's um, what my my wardrobe is slowly getting more purple and purple and I think it's it helped when the fashion industry
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [14:05] Includes purple lately. So it was in fact good time Maybe you set a trend you mentioned your wife a couple of times. How did you guys meet?
John Pearce [14:13] I met my wife in high school. So we've been together for over 13 years and married for six and you know She's been my best friend ever since and we started dating shortly after high school I knew her from high school, but we met early days and yeah It feels like I've known her known her for a long time now, but you know every day feels like it's our first day
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [14:31] Really? Were you people that discussed like we're gonna have a family one day
John Pearce [14:36] Like I'm pretty spontaneous the first maybe the first week we met and hang out hung out I was always kind of joking like let's let's just have a baby. Let's just do this You know a bit spontaneous I don't think too much of consequences I just you know go with it if I really love somebody I really like somebody I'm just I'm all there straightaway and you know, we're young we're 20 years old Okay, a bit of a ridiculous thing to do and some people do it's just totally fine But you know at the time Jess is still young and you know We're still working trying to figure our lives out and like we did put it off But you know when we did start trying it was a lot more complicated than we thought so
[15:12] Yeah, but we did speak about it early days and you know Once we got married and and moved in together and bought our first place and I think the foundations are correct And yeah, the time was right Yeah, it sounds like it took you by surprise that it wasn't just one plus one equals two to make the baby
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [15:27] What was the journey like for you guys?
John Pearce [15:29] It was confusing, you know at the start you think it's so easy you just try you'll just do it and you'll Pregnant straightaway you'll walk past somebody in the street or you're gonna be careful dancing next to somebody you get them pregnant It is and that can happen too, but you know our journey was a little bit more on complex It's not not as complicated and it's I'm sure it's more common than not, you know We started trying a few years ago three and a half years ago It was the first time we you know actively like, you know checking ovulation and we tried to line it up with You know the menstrual cycle and and the ovulation window and and it didn't happen the first time
[16:04] I'm like far out. Okay, you know, we tried again the next month and we tried again the next month and you just kind Of keep trying hearing then it took about a year of kind of doing that until we kind of started asking the question Or maybe we should get some professional help or get some fertility advice I'm gonna speak to somebody and see what's going on Jessie always knew she had extended periods that she got high levels of testosterone So she used to control that with the pill when she was younger and things like that and she had PCOS So she found out she had post-hystic ovarian syndrome, which can you know ultimately, you know Affected your ovulation and fertility and it can make conceiving a little bit more difficult
[16:39] And we knew that it was still possible to fall pregnant, but we just kept trying and then I checked myself Maybe it's me. I was okay. Everything looked okay. And every time we went and got checked everything was fine I think that was the hardest part was being told frustrating. You just got to keep doing it You always want them to be like, oh, this is the problem. Here's the solution
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [16:59] Exactly. And then sometimes you want to hear an answer. It's just as bad to hear. They don't know or it's fine You just got to keep trying as only 30% chance of falling pregnant in the best-case scenario or something like that
John Pearce [17:09] And then we kind of had a while. Yeah explained infertility is hard Yeah, and it's a bit frustrating and it's upsetting at times but we persevere and just you know stuck with each other and just you know kept going through and just kept trying and Just was saying positive and trying to fix our health and and better everything else in our lives But the time came when we conceived Henry, so I guess that was you know, a long story short
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [17:32] Yeah, so you ended up holding off on doing any kind of interventions
John Pearce [17:37] Yeah, so we spoke to a fertility doctor. We did a few checks and everything looked okay So we continued for another year and then we went back and said, you know What what we're doing is something is not right. Something's not happening Are there any other alternatives, you know before we head to IVF or things like that because we really want to have a child Now we don't want to every day It's getting longer and longer and we really want to capitalize on you know The momentum now and we're young and we want to be young as possible with our babies But you know, they mentioned letresol was a tablet that you can take which can induce ovulation Which is you know, it's an oral tablet you take and we did a just did ovulation tracking with blood tests
[18:15] so, you know they sell the next period take this tablet on the second day period and For five days straight and we'll come in and do a blood test every two to three days to see what your hormones are doing and They told us by text message when to try much actively try and that was the first time we felt pregnant So we did that The tablet it was that first try the first cycle of it and literally that first time we felt pregnant So that was yeah when we heard that message we thought how quick because Just the cycles are normally six to seven weeks as opposed to 28 days So you waiting so long to try again We would be waiting five weeks to the next cycle and then you know two weeks plus and this time was literally like
[18:57] Ten days and they said, you know from your last period try now try today and come back for a pregnancy test next week Well, is it that quick? Something must not be right But you know, thank God for letresol and help from the fertility clinic that you know It kind of just gave her that extra boost a little medical technology boost Yeah
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [19:15] Must have been a big relief finding out like a happy surprise that it were
John Pearce [19:20] Yeah, and I think we've been documenting this whole thing because we wanted to get our reactions when we found out We're pregnant each time. So I was kind of filming each time We checked, you know And it's nice now to look back and you had this journey that you didn't think you were gonna kind of be able To put it all into one video Each time was you know a failure another failure another failure and this time, you know I was filming in the car just waited to pick me up from work because the doctor was calling her during the day to give Her the results from you know, the pregnancy tests and she waited to pick me up so we'd hear it together And that's that I posted a video online that you can see, you know actual genuine responses and that was the first time
[19:56] We heard it. Oh Wow, I can't wait to check it out. What was the pregnancy like I can see was really good Just didn't get too sick. She was okay. She didn't get much morning sickness You know everything was as we've been reading up on it because we've been trying for a long time We looked up everything of detail and what it'd be like to be pregnant and all that stuff So all those things Jess was okay, you know, she had energy. She's a bit tired She had high risk of preeclampsia her mom had preeclampsia With diagnosed with preeclampsia and she was a preterm baby So she was already a kind of high risk and there was a marker early days that she also could be at risk
[20:33] So she was taking aspirin to kind of help, you know alleviate that through the journey other than that Everything was good healthy scans baby was tracking pretty big. It was about a week in front each time big baby We're worried. It's not gonna come out of my tiny wife
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:51] Were you traveling like for work during the pregnancy
John Pearce [20:54] Yeah, not too much Look, I've read stories about people missing the birth of their babies and that's something that I didn't want to miss out on We were due for a tour when baby was due. So baby was due December and we were on to our November and December So I'm thinking I'm already thinking this is in June. Oh my gosh, okay, so we've got an important tour You know, I'm one of the Wiggles, you know, I've got to be on stage How am I gonna kind of navigate and kind of navigate this and not risk missing? You know the birth of my babe my firstborn and just having that risk of preeclampsia too and having that risk of also coming Early if something was to go wrong and I didn't want to be away somewhere where I had to rush home
[21:35] So there was a few days shows that I missed and thank God for a good team here They're all really supportive and they allowed me to kind of miss these last few shows Especially the last few weeks of pregnancy from 36 weeks on was I'm just to be there and also to help help my wife Which is that big and struggling to get out of the bed and just you know Just to go for walks and things like that. So yeah, very great
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [21:55] Did they do anything specific to care for her preeclampsia or to try to prevent it?
John Pearce [22:01] Yeah, we had a good obstetrician We were going for checks every two weeks and taking that aspirin just kept their blood pressure low and I think they were just Staying on top of that and any rise or anything like that. They were kind of intervene early, but it stayed pretty well It was good the whole time She should stop taking aspirin from 36 weeks and her blood pressure kind of stayed the same until birth Which we went full term so it was okay. So everything was fine
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [22:25] Yeah, there's a brand new test for testing for markers for preeclampsia and it seems to be pretty accurate that you can find out early in the pregnancy if You're gonna have a significant risk. So people who are already high risk for it Don't don't really need that test because they already know but just random people can find out and be prepared Well, let's take a little break. We come back. We'll find out how your birth went. Don't go anywhere Welcome back we are talking to John Pierce. I closed my eyes for one second and all I can see is purple They I think it's not just the outfit like you're starting to exude purple in your energy. Can you see it? Yeah, there it is
[23:16] Okay, so here's my question for you like in my mind I'm like what happens when a wiggle is missing during a show. Is there an understudy or they just know I think now
John Pearce [23:25] Because there are eight wiggles. There's two of every color each color is represented if one's missing So some shows we can get away with that and it's okay and especially You know that they make an announcement the only shows parents understand that You know I'm there for my wife and waiting for my baby to be born and no one really complains or says anything Which is yeah, thank God for a good good understand audience Yeah, it's great. We can just jump straight back on stage and and children see the colors and the music is all there And and you know, you've got seven other wiggles to keep you entertained
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [23:53] Yeah, it's actually three more wiggles than I used to get so how could we get you getting extra? All right birth. So did you guys have a plan? I know you said you're spontaneous Did you have a plan for or a vision for who you wanted the birth to go?
John Pearce [24:09] Like we wanted to go natural So we want to as natural as possible just really wanted to experience labor and really pushing the baby out and all that I don't know if she was a bit naive You know once we got there we did a stretch and sweep a day before Because we passed our due date and we thought, you know, you can do a little stretch and sweep and just try to Yeah encourage a bit of the water to break Yeah membrane sweep yet we wanted to experience the water breaking at home and rushing like in the movies I think that day before baby was due Well, we just passed the due date actually and I had a show in Sydney and and just came with me So I actually performed in a Sydney show knowing the hospitals ten minutes up the road and my wife is right next to me
[24:55] I still performed at the Wiggles show and just actually got up on stage because Anthony the blue We go dictates the show and he's more spontaneous than I am He decides to bring Jess up which is 40 weeks pregnant and we sang baby shark together on There's a video of this too and I was just thinking how ironic how funny would this be if a water broke on Stage and we rushed off to the hospital. They didn't it didn't that would have been Ultimate It was a fun story, but there's a fun footage there in the next that afternoon. We literally went straight to hospital Yeah, so water didn't break we went there to get induced. So we stayed overnight, you know, the membrane sweep didn't do too much
[25:35] I'm sure lots of mucus plug at home, which we thought yes This is a first stage of labor coming we stayed the night in the birthing suite the next morning and you know I was in there with her so I said that brought a bed out for the husband Which is great enough to sleep on the couch You know, we're sleeping in we're thinking this is the holiday this is like how exciting we're gonna meet our baby tomorrow She's in her bed. I mean that seven in the morning obstetrician walks in with four midwives lights come on and they go All right, we're gonna break your water and we're still sleep. We kind of woke up like this is gonna happen right now She said yes, she goes every need now. I'm gonna go to the toilet
[26:10] I gotta go do this stuff But yeah, they came in and broke the water and they said you can still do you have to do go the bathroom Water will start to come out. So that was a pretty interesting process I stood there and I watched him break the water and you know Once you see all this liquid start coming out you something and this is for real. This is all happening This is starting now and it was all pretty smooth sailing at that point Just started feeling a bit of contractions. She went to the bathroom We were just kind of walking around the hospital ward just to kind of keep moving and she started getting you know I don't know if that brought on the earliest ages of labor. It started cramping. It started getting those
[26:43] Contractions still quite far apart and we thought at this point and what we just did she said, you know, this is fine I'm still walking around like I'm in labor. Like this is great. This is all good Yeah, and it didn't take long until she was sitting down the bed and she couldn't get back up off the bed I think you know, it's getting a lot worse and you know, they check the cervix and they say oh you're three Centimeters dilated and this is after three hours of those contractions Only seven to go. Yeah, I know we need to get to ten So, you know, it's another four hours would go by and it's getting pretty bad She's on the gas and she's really she kind of do a dangerous oxide
[27:19] Yeah, so she's you know, just every time it gets bad just suck on this it teaches you to breathe And so she's got that didn't really do too much and she was getting really bad and as an observer and her husband Just standing there I can kind of see that she's really in pain and she said she wants to go through this So I'm just gonna you know respect that and I'm just gonna kind of intervene if I need to You know, they'd come in a few hours later and check the cervix and it was only three and a half centimeters dilated and this Is me that's a bit slow to progress and it hasn't really hit active labor and that's when it gets really bad We're thinking oh my gosh, I can see that Jess is really fun
[27:54] It's difficult and I actually said to her do you need the epidural because it takes a while to get once you Request it and I said to her, you know, just get the epidural There's no point of pushing yourself through this and I can say that you know This is tough and most people get through it. My mom got through pregnancy without a pejoral, but we're not in that age anymore Yeah, so we got the epidural that was good. You know what? I didn't realize how graphic the epidural is The placement. Yeah, just getting it in I just you know, you think that like she's going through contractions She's gonna sit up. I'm holding her legs in my lap and they're putting you know that into I'm not looking at the spine
[28:29] But I can see the glove of the doctor's shoulder as he's trying to straighten her back And it's just like, you know, there's blood on the hands and I'm just like what are they doing back there pretty intense You got to be careful right and getting that epidural into the spine, but just the red spot You know after that kicked in she was totally fine. She could fall asleep She was relaxing and you can still see the contractions on the screen and it was progressing and you know This was another five hours would go by and they said, you know, you've only died out to four centimeters So it found to progress and just she started getting a bit of a fever at this point
[29:00] So we started getting a bit worried, you know, the doctors coming the OB came in and said, you know We're not sure if there's an infection baby's healthy heart rates great blood pressure is fine. We're not sure what's happening So that's when they recommended getting an emergency Caesar And this is about you know, 730 at night time after about 12 hours of labor just so, you know opt for Emergency Caesar just to be sure and you were at the point where I'm exhausted You know, Jesse who knows what she's feeling and and she says she made the call and she said let's just get him out Let's just play the safest part We don't want to push through something that we're not really sure the experts are recommending to take him out now
[29:36] And let's just do that. So we went down and baby was born in like 30 minutes
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [29:42] Yeah, what was that like for the two of you together just going into surgery room for the caesarean, you know
John Pearce [29:48] I get a bit clammy with blood tests So when I get a blood test and I'm one of those guys I have to lie down and you know I feel a bit funny and it takes me a while So being in that real clean sterile environment I was worried that I was gonna pass out or I was gonna feel sick or and I'm thinking out of everyone here Why would I feel something healthy is here? This has got these wires hanging out of her she did 12 hours of labor She hasn't eaten she hasn't done anything and I just have to like, you know Just push through this but it was a really beautiful experience and just being able to sit there. The anesthetist was really nice It was really caring and reassuring and our OB was there and you know, the midwives are so nice
[30:24] They grab your phone and they can take photos and film for you while you're just there and just focusing You know, I just want to be there for Jess I want to make sure she was healthy and she was feeling okay And you know the first moment they pulled a baby out and I'm just watching I think it felt a bit like a dream I'm just watching when they pull the screen down and you can kind of look over and you see the baby Kind of getting pulled out, you know just covered in blood and They're connected by the umbilical cord and they look like an alien and his head was a bit cone-shaped because he tried To obviously come out and he got stuck and it just felt like a dream when they pulled him out and you could just hear
[30:57] The cry for the first time so it's such a memorable experience and we're glad we've got a video footage of this whole thing
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [31:03] That's incredible. It's always amazing But I think even more so when you have to work for the pregnancy when you put so much into it Emotionally and physically and that's a roller coaster It's a tough roller coaster to go on either by yourself or with a partner It can really be straining on the relationship and straining on your faith and then all of a sudden Here you are and there's a baby a bloody little baby
John Pearce [31:28] Cut the umbilical cord and parent hold starts Congratulations, yeah, thank you. How has father been for you? It's been really good, you know from a dad's perspective like most new dads It's confusing as well. I was surprised at the beginning the first two weeks. I was running off minimal sleep It's probably adrenaline the excitement that you think, you know, I don't get sleep deprived This is not as bad as I imagined or you know We're sleeping in chunks of hours or two hours and you might only get two three hours of good sleep a night I felt okay and I think it was a few weeks after and it kind of catches up when you it kind of repetitive every day is
[32:04] The same you're kind of you're chasing after your sleep But you know, we're embracing it and this is something we've always wanted and we've got such a beautiful boy And we're both there for him You know I'm helping just as much as she's helping me and we're both new to this and it's been such a wild experience and Wouldn't change it for the world But you know changing nappies and and burping the babies on a daily is just part of my life now and I love it
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [32:26] How old does he know?
John Pearce [32:27] His nearly four months. He'll be four months next week. So he's got four months sleep regression. I think that's what it's called Yeah, do you feel like it's going fast or slow? Oh, it's going super fast I think even the days go super fast when you're waiting just to settle in for an hour And the next you realize there's very lunchtime and it's dinner time and then it's the next day and then I'm back At work and then you know, he's four months now I just remember the birth yesterday and it's four months old and by the end of this year, he'd be walking
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [32:55] That's really fast. I remember holding my little guy in a hand like he's a football just one hand No, he's turning 21. Oh wow. So it's like a blink, you know, it happened so fast Sometimes it's not slow it down, but you can't so yeah
John Pearce [33:10] That's what I was just to just to you know live in the moment if his contact napping just really just embrace that moment because that won't be there much longer and you'll Look back and you'll just remember this is just you want to go back to this stage. Yeah
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [33:23] Absolutely. You guys are getting ready to go on tour again. How does that work with the wife and kid?
John Pearce [33:27] Well, my wife and kid are gonna come on the road as well. So they're gonna be living the rock star last They're gonna tag along to the UK to US Canada. It'd be great You know, he'll be five months five six seven months He'll age two months on the trip and he'll come back and he'll be crawling So that's something that you know, I didn't want to miss out on, you know, leaving my family for a few months Of course, they're not gonna remember any of the trip at all But you know for us it's just those memories that me and my wife create with our son and being able to experience all This together as a family. Yeah, it sounds like you document things really well. So that memory will be there for him, too
[34:00] Yeah, 100% and we always look back on it and yeah, you know He's possible have more stamps than I ever did until I turned 18 Does he have a lot of purple clothing? He gets sent a lot of purple things I don't know if you'll like purple. Let's hope he likes the wiggles
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [34:15] I know who'll love one wiggle. Oh, that's not sure Dorothy the dinosaur Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story with a great story and you know Especially when you have a difficult time conceiving and work all the way through It's just when you have that triumphant moment and you get to hold your baby for the first time It's so so powerful. It's really cool that you documented everything Where can people go find you online and see some of these cool videos?
John Pearce [34:45] It's on my social media. So John Pierce is my Instagram and tick tock as well. So John and Dharma Pierce It's all linked together check out the wiggles too It's all kind of you can't find my name go through the wiggles and you can find it through there We try to document everything there's just lives on and you look back You don't realize how fast they grow and you just take photos every day
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [35:03] Absolutely gonna go check it out some of those videos sound incredible John
John Pearce [35:07] Thank you so much for joining me and who knows maybe we'll spot you while you're moving through the US. Yeah, awesome
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [35:13] That'd be great. Thanks. Oh, yeah. Thanks for your time. My pleasure at home Thanks for listening to the informed pregnancy podcast for more pregnancy and parenting information just like this visit us online at informed pregnancy
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