So I’ve been meaning to write this post about Mummyhood for a while but kept on putting it off. Finding a quiet moment to myself is scarce these days, with almost all my time dedicated to the new man in my life.
Seeing as it is Women’s month and Breastfeeding Week, I thought it would be apt to finally share my “new mum” experience. The truth is, I really want to speak up in a society where silence is an acceptable form of communication.
I would like to share my Mummyhood story and hopefully encourage other mum’s and mum’s to be.
So here I am, a first time mum to a two-month-old, beautiful boy and wow what a rollercoaster it has been so far. Yes, it’s a short period of time however it’s been unbelievably rewarding and challenging at the same time.
When I found out I was pregnant I decided to adopt a traditional approach. I wanted to experience natural birth and to breastfeed my baby. I was blessed to deliver naturally and so began our beautiful journey.
At 12:05am on 25 May 2018, my water broke, after 38 weeks of pregnancy the time had finally come. Fourteen hours of labour later, my beautiful son was born. As soon as he entered the world, we had beautiful skin to skin time, he was then weighed and examined and handed back to me where I was told to begin to feed him. How difficult could that be right? I knew what to do from the pictures, videos and antenatal classes but actually breast feeding baby was something I couldn’t prepare for. It was amazing, my little boy’s natural instinct kicked in, he did it . . . the breast crawl. I had dreamed about this moment and it was finally happening. He latched on and it was magical indeed . . . I was feeding my son.
I spent two days in hospital and I thought I was getting the hang of things, until I got home and by day 6 my nipples were bruised and sore. My breasts were engorged, I had a temperature, I cringed and sometimes cried with pain everytime my baby latched.
I asked myself countless times, why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through this? Why is this happening to me? It’s so easy for everyone else! Breastfeeding should be the most natural thing in the world, why does it feel like this for me?
There were moments where I felt completely alone. No one I knew had gone through this (or so I thought). I decided to swallow my pride and be honest with one of my friend’s who had a baby a few months before me.
Thankfully she didn’t judge me, instead she shared her own experience with me and said “Just push on Rox, after two weeks it will get easier.” So I did, I dug deep and mustered up the strength to continue to breastfeed my baby despite everything I felt in that moment.
It did get easier, it became beautiful, it became rewarding and a very special time for my baby and I. Every time he now looks up at me while feeding, I am fulfilled.
Two months later, I feel a lot more confident. My body has adjusted and feeding my baby has become second nature but the journey was indeed a tough one. I have been pushed and pulled on every level, mentally, emotionally and physically. All I could do was search within myself, find the next gear and endure it because this little life was in the palm of my hands.
This got me thinking: Why don’t more women speak up? Why don’t we share our experiences? Why don’t more women talk about how they have overcome their intro to mummyhood challenges?
Surely I couldn’t have been the only new mum who got a ticket to this undulating ride?
As I began to share my own experience, I found that other mums had gone through a similar journey.
Mum’s and mum’s to be, breastfeeding is hard work and being a mother is even tougher. Lets share our experiences, offer help and support instead of enduring this in silence.
Let’s talk about it and empower each other. Please share this post and get more women talking. Would love to hear your own experiences of Mummyhood…
#SpeakUp #Womensmonth #WorldBreastfeedingWeek #BreastfeedingWeek #BreastfeedingMum #NewMum #NormaliseBreastfeeding #Breastisbest
Contributed by Roxanne Naicker – Thank you
You can reach Roxanne on the contact details below.