The Tale of Lisa Wipfli

“Before Ted was born Mike and I decided to create a word, this was just one word either of us would use if we felt things were getting on top of us and we weren’t coping,” says the glamorous Lisa Wipfli, mother to Theodore, one this month, and wife of Nova radio presenter Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli. Their word was ‘Yokle’, which is a Swiss word for ‘little munchkin’...

As it turned out, they only needed to use it once. “It was at 10pm on a Tuesday night when Ted was crying because I wasn’t producing enough milk and the poor little guy was starving, so amongst his and my tears I said ‘Yokle’ and Mike hugged me and said, ‘it’s ok, we’ve got this’. Mike had to drive around trying to find a chemist that was open and had formula. The only chemist open was in Kings Cross, so amongst drunk, carefree singles, Mike runs out of the chemist with his formula (how life had changed).” Their son who they affectionately nicknamed ‘Ted’ turns one in a couple of days and the couple have just announced they are pregnant with their second child. We caught up with the beautiful brunette at her Sydney home to talk about everything from morning sickness to interior design to fashion essentials to what she puts in her morning smoothie… Photography: Sarah Wood Words: Georgie Abay

I start the day by being woken with the chatter of my little man (Ted that is, the big man is already out the door at 4.30am)…

Greeting him with a big cuddle and then we go downstairs for milk (for Ted) and a smoothie (for me). My Nutribullet smoothie includes banana, blueberries, strawberries, kale or spinach, almonds, chia seeds and coconut water. I couldn’t start the day without it, oh and a green tea for a hit of caffeine. I end the day by feeding Ted his milk in his cot, then enjoying some ‘Ted free time’ with hubby. We chat on the couch about his day at work and I show him the many photos or videos I have taken of Ted. He usually has a red wine in hand and I have a cup of dandelion tea.

Motherhood has taught me so many things…

Mainly how the things I used to stress about or focus on were so trivial and meaningless. It has taught me selflessness and love. It has taught me how to let go of everything being perfect and focus on enjoying the little things in life, like having a laugh with Ted. I think the most important thing it has taught me is patience. I am a very impatient person and Ted has forced me to change this very quickly.

My advice to first time mothers is to…

Enjoy every minute, laugh when you get frustrated or times get tough, and if you can’t laugh at least take a deep breath. Take every day as it comes and try not to be the ‘perfect’ mother and wife. This was probably my biggest mistake at the start. I tried to be the ultimate wife and mother – I tried to have the washing, ironing and house always looking its best instead of just slowing down and getting some much needed additional sleep. I think I was running on adrenaline for the first eight weeks. I also made my placenta into pills, which I truly think helped me a lot. I thought I was ‘super mum’ and couldn’t believe how I had everything under control, then the wheels started to fall off and I got sick for weeks and hit a bit of a low point. Once all the visitors and adrenalin wore off I suddenly came to the realisation that this was my new life full of dirty nappies, breast pumps, house duties, dirty hair and no makeup. Very different from my old life of client wining and dining, wearing heels and having so much ‘me’ time. Obviously I snapped out of this negative mindset after a couple of weeks, and now everyday I appreciate how lucky I am to have the life I do.

We have been living in our home a little over a year and we love it…

It’s not a big house but it reflects our personalities and meets our needs (for now). The interior is classic and very neutral. One store that Mike and I fell in love with when we came to Sydney was The Country Trader, so we have purchased a number of pieces from this store, combined with a few pieces from Coco Republic. I’m a very neutral coloured person – both in what I wear and decor – so I’m always attracted to creams, browns, terracotta and all neutral tones. We are so lucky to live in a beautiful street where we know and like our neighbours, and the best thing about our street is that it’s less than 100 meters from Centennial Park (which Mike and I are proud ambassadors of). Ted and I do a lap of the park at least three times a week and then often on the weekend, Mike, Ted and I will lay in the park and feed the ducks.

Ted wears Pappe bloomers, $74.95, and romper, $29.95. 

We wanted to create an African wonderland in the nursery…

When we first found out we were pregnant, Mike was so excited and one night after a couple of glasses of red wine, he went online and purchased a very nice piece of artwork for the nursery. This was the first purchase and then we just added things slowly from there. The final purchase was the beautiful balloons hanging from the ceiling that Ted just finds absolutely fascinating.

NURSERY STYLE: “Mike purchased this beautiful painting from a site called Saatchi online which is a great website showcasing the beautiful work of up and coming artists. The other elephant sketch was done by my very talented cousin. The fabulous tree mural on the wall was purchased from Etsy and was a lot of fun for the two of us to put up. Soft furnishings were purchased from Pottery Barn and all the furniture is Boori.“

I would love to try and get up at 5am and do an hour of work before Ted wakes but I just can’t do it…

So for me, I just make sure that Ted’s two naps during the day are used very efficiently. I know I have a window of 1.5 to 2 hours at a time and I write myself a list and try and churn out as much as I can in that time. It’s amazing how efficient and organised you become as a mum. I also try and do some work after Ted is asleep.

I have been in press and digital media for the past 10 years working on the commercial side...

I started my career at Courier Mail back in Brisbane, before moving to London to work at the Financial Times and The Daily Mail and MailOnline. I then moved to Sydney where I was given the wonderful opportunity to scope out the Australian market and start monetizing the MailOnline Australia. I was then head hunted to run the sales team at VOLT Media. This was an incredible experience working in a very small environment (we started in a top floor apartment in Surry Hills), then growing into a large team and creating one of the most successful digital networks at the time. I can’t take the credit, the team I had under me were some of the best sales people I had worked with. I then went on maternity leave and after I got over the three-month sleep deprivation of having a newborn, my best friend and I started working on a business idea in the online peer-to-peer marketplace. Since then both of us have fallen pregnant again and have been suffering from terrible morning sickness, so unfortunately the business project has been pushed to the side. I have finally popped my head out of the morning sickness clouds and have started working on our idea again.

I can understand why there has been such a rise in the number of mumtrepreneurs…

You really want to start using your brain. It’s amazing how spending hours feeding a baby and walking the streets to get your child to sleep really is a great time to get the brain ticking. The ultimate goal for me as a mum is to find a balance between a working life (hopefully working for myself) and being a mum who is around to witness all those special moments. It sounds like I want to have my cake and eat it to, but I think the two can co-exist. I’ll let you know when I have achieved it.

At first I wasn’t into a routine…

However once he was four months old, I knew it was important to have some structure. Adults love routine so I’m a big believer that children also appreciate knowing when they are having their nap, their bottle, their lunch etc. We had some help from a baby whisperer to get Ted into a routine, and it did take eight days of hard work but now he is like clockwork. He goes straight to sleep at his scheduled time and is an extremely content baby. Every week is different in terms of appointments we have but I try to map out my weeks to some extent on a Sunday night. I try and find a balance of things I want to do (i.e. get a spray tan, go to pilates, meet a friend for a coffee or lunch) and then things that will stimulate and develop Ted such as Gymbaroo, Einstein Music school and swimming lessons.

I want to encourage our children to find what they love and what makes them happy…

Mike and I both struggled in the early years after leaving school to find what we really wanted to do, and we both learnt a lot from this stage of our lives that can help us guide our own children. Not every child knows exactly what they want to do when they leave school. I envied my friends who knew they wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, journalist etc. They enrolled in that course and off they went. I on the other hand felt like I wasn’t smart enough and didn’t have a strong passion for any particular career path. It’s a really stressful time, so I want to be able to reassure our children that you need to immerse yourself in lots of activities to find out what you really love. If you are not an A+ student this doesn’t mean you won’t have a fabulous career, you just need to have passion and drive and this is what Mike and I will really focus on teaching our children as they grow up.

I enjoyed the first 7.5 months of pregnancy…

I found the last six weeks really hard, I’m quite a small frame and Ted was a big baby, so by the end I had terrible hip and back pain and my stomach felt like it physically couldn’t stretch anymore. It was also the middle of summer (Ted was born on the 6th February) so my feet and ankles blew up like balloons and I couldn’t wear any of my shoes except for one pair of sandals. It was by no means the most glamorous time of my life but I had a friend who spent the last five weeks on crutches and another friend who was still vomiting until the day of her labor so I should really count myself lucky. So far, my second pregnancy has been a bit more of a struggle through the first three months. My nausea has been terrible and the tiredness is indescribable, but luckily at the 11-week mark I started turning a corner and now I feel like a functioning human again.

I had not dilated at all at the 41-week mark…

Ted was showing no signs of wanting to come out, so I was induced. During the labor Ted’s heart rate started to drop and I had only dilated two centimeters so my obstetrician made the decision to take me to theatre for a cesarean. In my gas haze and extreme labor pains I was very happy with this result and have booked in for a caesarian for our second child in June 2016.

When it comes to fashion, my two uniforms are...

If it’s a sporty day where I have taken Ted for a walk or I am doing Pilates, I spend all day in my Vie Active leggings and The Upside tops with trainers. If it’s a more ‘formal day’ which means I wear makeup and actually have to look respectable, I wear skinny jeans, a T-shirt and a pair of sandals, sneakers or ballet flats. My favourite brands are: Vie Active, The Upside, Maya McQueen espadrilles, Jac + Jack T-shirts.

Lisa's little list of loves:

Brunch on a Sunday as a family. My own coffee that I make (because a barista would laugh if I tried to place this order). It contains coffee, coconut oil, turmeric, cinnamon and manuka honey with almond milk. Now that I’m pregnant, I make a decaf version. Going for a walk in Centennial Park with Ted and Mike. Getting a massage. Making Ted laugh. Pilates