Becoming a mum is one heck of a shock to the order of your world! So much has to adjust and realign with the priority that comes with having a baby. Before the baby arrives you know things will need to adjust and change but the reality is quite different to what you imagine. Yes the adjustment is well worth it and so rewarding… but it’s still a serious shock to the system. Freedoms like going to the toilet or shower suddenly become a task that is either delayed until disaster nearly strikes or you find yourself longing for the sanctuary of the toilet or shower to simply be on your own for a few minutes.
Oh but the newborn snuggles… when the baby snuggles against your chest and falls asleep… those moments are beautiful. I recall one night when my daughter, Mia, was a couple of months old I wore a high necked t-shirt to bed. During the night after I fed her she rubbed her head back and forth against my chest for several minutes. I wondered what she was doing. She managed to move my t-shirt down far enough that she could rest her cheek on my chest by my heart and then she fell asleep. How babies love the feel of a heartbeat against them.
Becoming a mum means taking on a new identity that will last a lifetime. But that does not mean you should lose who you were. Passions, talents, hobbies, interests and so on still remain, but are often just untouched for awhile while we adjust to the new life balance of being a mum. It is important they only remain untouched for a while, not for the rest of our lives as often it’s these things that give us enjoyment. After Mia was born I had days where I felt so lost by this new identity of being a mum. I had to (and still am on the journey of doing this) make time for me and for the things that brought me joy, aside from my family. If we do not do that it is easy to be consumed by being a mum, which is in fact not all we are but part of who we are.
We often have a vision of what our journey into parenthood will look like… how the birth might go, what the first few months will be like, breastfeeding and so on. I have come to realise, through my journey and other’s, that often that vision is not how things pan out. It is okay to have hopes but not to hold our joy ransom to those hopes. Otherwise that just leaves a massive space for disappointment to come in. One of my visions had been to breastfeed. Everyone made it sound so easy… that is a blog for another time.
What did you find challenging about becoming a mum? What would advice would you give mums to be or new mums about becoming a mum?
Oh but the newborn snuggles… when the baby snuggles against your chest and falls asleep… those moments are beautiful. I recall one night when my daughter, Mia, was a couple of months old I wore a high necked t-shirt to bed. During the night after I fed her she rubbed her head back and forth against my chest for several minutes. I wondered what she was doing. She managed to move my t-shirt down far enough that she could rest her cheek on my chest by my heart and then she fell asleep. How babies love the feel of a heartbeat against them.
Becoming a mum means taking on a new identity that will last a lifetime. But that does not mean you should lose who you were. Passions, talents, hobbies, interests and so on still remain, but are often just untouched for awhile while we adjust to the new life balance of being a mum. It is important they only remain untouched for a while, not for the rest of our lives as often it’s these things that give us enjoyment. After Mia was born I had days where I felt so lost by this new identity of being a mum. I had to (and still am on the journey of doing this) make time for me and for the things that brought me joy, aside from my family. If we do not do that it is easy to be consumed by being a mum, which is in fact not all we are but part of who we are.
We often have a vision of what our journey into parenthood will look like… how the birth might go, what the first few months will be like, breastfeeding and so on. I have come to realise, through my journey and other’s, that often that vision is not how things pan out. It is okay to have hopes but not to hold our joy ransom to those hopes. Otherwise that just leaves a massive space for disappointment to come in. One of my visions had been to breastfeed. Everyone made it sound so easy… that is a blog for another time.
What did you find challenging about becoming a mum? What would advice would you give mums to be or new mums about becoming a mum?