The question of what to do on what was supposed to be the birth date of the baby you miscarried is a tough one.
Firstly, there is no right answer. Maybe you completely ignore it and go about your day, shutting out those difficult emotions. Maybe you grieve, or memorialise your loss, your child, somehow. Maybe you have a good cry with your partner.
Or maybe you just want to drink gin and watch trashy movies with your closest girlfriends. That’s what comedian and radio presenter Em Rusciano is doing.
"I was supposed to give birth tomorrow," she told listeners on Wednesday. "When you lose a baby . . . no one really tells you what to do when the due date comes around. There's no manual. I was just gonna try to power through it [but] it's been looming on the horizon like a dark cloud."
Instead Rusciano is taking a very short break, with comedian Celeste Barber filling in until she resumes on Monday the 27th of November.
"What I'm going to do is, my bestfriend Michael Lucas is coming over and he's bringing a bottle of gin, and Barbara Streisand is releasing her Netflix special, so we're going to watch [that] and drink gin. And that's how I'm spending the day that I was supposed to be giving birth," she said.
Talking to co-host Harley Bree, Rusciano expressed her confusion and sadness.
LISTEN: Libby Trickett on miscarriage, and why the Olympic swimmer is grateful for her miscarriage.
"I don't know what to do with myself..." she confessed on her radio show.
"I just want to let any woman know who's listening ... I don't know how you did it. I don't know how I'm going to do it. This week's been hard."
Announcing her miscarriage at 14 weeks earlier this year, Rusciano has been nothing but blatantly honest about her struggles. Sharing the news in a very emotional Facebook post, there was one line in particular that stood out.
Top Comments
Plant a tree, buy a pot plant, plan your day and try and do something that the two of you would enjoy doing together.
You know, I've been through this twice, and I can't even remember what I did. It feels a bit weird to say that, actually, it feels like something I should remember. But it also makes me realise that the hard, hurting part doesn't last forever. I still remember so much of the rest of it - doctor's visits, scans and tests, waiting rooms, hospital rooms, the brilliant Scottish midwife from the Royal Women's, the nurse who stroked my hand as I was waiting for the anaesthetic... all still there. Stories like this bring a lot of it back, but I'm so proud of Em for being so honest and dealing with it so publicly. There are women out there going through it all right now, looking at Em saying, 'God, that's exactly how I feel!', and knowing that you're not the only one is such a relief. I still have moments where it makes me sad, but it's not as raw as it used to be.