The last time John Farnham performed in Brisbane, he was backed by hundreds of singers.
Choirs in perfect harmony singing back up in a powerful rendition of You’re the Voice.

I was in the audience and it was goosebumpy to witness his energy and emotion.
Get well soon Johnny.

The vocal arrangement for the choirs was done by Emma Dean. A super talented singer and songwriter who’s been involved with many stunning music events in Queensland. Think Commonwealth Games, Qld Music Festival, Cheep Trill Choir and of course her solo shows. She’s a musical unicorn.

The last time I saw Emma, it was a very different creative production she was working on with her partner Lucas. They were trying to make a baby.

It’s taken years and many many rounds of IVF and now Emma is 30 weeks pregnant. With twins!

In a world where there’s so much tragic news, I picked up the phone to Emma this week, so that you and I can share her joyous, sometimes nauseous, but ultimately precious path to pregnancy.

“It’s crazy,” Emma says.

“I still can’t quite believe it, even though I’m enormous.”.

You can hear the delight and disbelief in her voice.

Everything has been so planned and scientific through the process of IVF so the parents-to-be have decided not to find out the gender of their babies. They want the “magic” of not knowing. But Emma says she’s sure she keeps seeing little willies on the ultrasound scan.

They’re fraternal twins, so each bub has their own sack and placenta. They took a chance and had two embryos transferred because Emma had recurrent implantation failure. So she was given a double shot and it worked much to the shock of everyone.

Emma was so sure they wouldn’t stick, she was planning on going to the pub after a visit to the doctor. It was 10 days after the February floods and she’d been moving furniture out of murky floodwater. She and Lucas were so used to disappointment, this time Emma hadn’t even done a pregnancy test at home.

Then the phone rang and a nurse said “Well congratulations, your HCG is 288!”

Translation: Emma was pregnant, with twins.

“I was just shaking. I said to Lucas, this doesn’t happen to us, this happens to other people,”

Then came an unusual thought.

“I need to pee on a stick.”

She wanted to see that bloody pregnancy line, that had been missing for years.

Needless to say, Emma didn’t go to the pub.

She did however, start to throw up. Almost daily. Emma has hyperemesis gravidarum which is severe nausea and vomiting. It’s brought up complicated emotions for the mum-to-be.

“Coming out of IVF, I felt guilty for feeling miserable because I was so unwell.”

“There’s a lot of pressure to feel happy, but I also felt shame.”

One in six Australian couples will struggle with infertility and one in twenty Australian babies are born using in vitro fertilisation.

Fortunately Emma has reached out for help through the rollercoaster of emotions.

A psychologist has also gently helped her to navigate the sensitive sharing of baby news with her IVF community. Emma knows the pain of pregnancy announcements when you’re desperately trying to conceive. She’d often weep.

“When others got pregnant, I dealt with my emotions privately. Often I’d have a big cry. Holding sorrow and sadness for yourself and immense joy for someone else… it’s so hard and I remember that feeling.”

One friend stopped speaking to Emma when she shared that she was pregnant.

“It was painful. Emotional pain and physical pain. Going through IVF you’re pumping yourself with hormones. And it was pretty unromantic having Lucas give me needles in the belly.”

“So many times I wanted to give up.”

But now Emma is allowing herself to feel happy and joyous if a little anxious.

Two bubs already so loved. They kick when she plays them opera. The Blobbies (as they call them) are due to arrive on Emma’s 39th birthday.

“When I saw the due date, I couldn’t believe it.”

Not long now, for babies so longed for.

Emma and Lucas have a shortlist of baby names and a birthing soundtrack to think about. As musicians, they won’t need any help choosing songs. As parents they’ve have all the help they’ll need from first time grandparents on both sides. They’ll all be singing when these magical, musical babes arrive.

I reckon John Farnham might suggest “Two Strong Hearts”.