Aleia Smith

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Aleia, I am 20 years old, and I’m a mum of 2 boys, aged 4 years and 5 months old. I was born in Canberra, however, being from a broken home, I grew up in Jerrabomberra and Murrumbateman. I met my partner in Yass when we were 14 years old. We have now lived in Belconnen for 3 years, and are now engaged, taking further steps into our future. Growing up I was a performance kind of girl, I danced for many many years, and also sung. From primary school choirs to high school band, and many solo performances around Yass and surrounding areas.

What were you doing before babies and children?

Although it sounds cliché, I really wasn’t doing anything. I’d just quit dance, I’d stopped performing, I’d stopped showing high performance in school, my life just revolved around friends and my boyfriend and trying to find myself. I left school in year 10, and went on to join TAFE instead to become an early childhood educator, which I cut short within the first term due to falling pregnant.

How did you come to be a mum?

At the ripe age of 15, I was absolutely clueless. I had the mentality of “teen pregnancy would never happen to me”, because of this, it never crossed my mind. We missed many pregnancy signs due to my oblivion. One night I noticed my breasts “leaking”, I was so confused, so I messaged my sister (who already had children) and she knew immediately what was going on. The next day she came over with a test and made me take it… instantly. 2 of the darkest lines you could picture appeared IMMEDIATELY. It was a weird feeling, I didn’t feel scared, I didn’t feel confused, I wasn’t upset, it’s like something just snapped over my head that said this is it, this is my life now and we’ve got this. We went to our first dating scan the next week, where we found out I was actually 19 weeks along with a healthy baby boy (Ted.)

My second bubba was a rainbow, we’d had an early miscarriage in February 2021. We found out about our now 5 month old (Harvey) really early, 3 weeks and 1 day to be precise. Once again I honestly wasn’t expecting it. I took a test randomly because I just had one laying around, I was still 6 days out from being due for my period too so knew nothing would come up even if I was pregnant. I was wrong, oh so wrong! 2 lines once again, instantly. It was incredible. All my friends knew first, but I kept the circle small as I was anxious from our previous loss.

What has your feeding journey been like?

My feeding journey with Ted was rough. In my mind I knew I didn’t want to breastfeed, it had never been role modelled to me, I didn’t know the benefits, and I didn’t know what I was doing. Despite my adamant decision, once I saw him for the first time it just instinctually happened. We struggled a lot though, his latch was difficult, the pain was excruciating, no matter what I did it just hurt so much. We switched to formula around 8 weeks and he just began to thrive.

My second time around with Harvey has been incredible. My partners family have always been incredible with breastfeeding, and I’d even become surrounded by mum friends that breastfed, so I felt familiar with it. Also being my second baby, I was a lot more educated and aware of what was expected. The beginning was still rough as he had a tongue tie (which we had revised at 6 weeks), and he wasn’t putting weight on for quite a while (3 months), however once I stopped worrying, things just fell into place and have been perfect since. I have an incredible supply, and was able to make 2 breastmilk donations to a lovely lady in need!

How has sleep been in your house?

Sleep now compared to after I had Ted back in 2018, has been wild. Harvey is an amazing sleeper, he’s the calmest baby I’ve ever met, he sleeps perfectly, and just does his own thing. Ted has struggled his entire life with sleep, he was really bad for waking up hourly at night and needing to sleep with mum or dad. However! In the last 2 weeks, we’ve finally made progress and he’s been working on sleeping by himself!! 10 days in a row now and we’re so proud.

The hardest bits?

The hardest parts of being a mum for me is just not being able to catch a break whenever you need. No matter how you’re feeling, you’ve got to push through. Although there are times you’re able to stop and just find a moment for you, you can’t always just stop everything suddenly. The resilience that comes along with being a mum is something I could never put in words.

The best bits?

Watching my children smile, grow, play and laugh is incredible. I look at them and I feel complete, my life that had no direction, flipped and has so much purpose now. Every night I look at them sleeping, and ask myself how I got so lucky. I love watching them grow into the young gentlemen they are, Ted’s bursting at the seams with compassion and is just the most gentle soul ever.

How do you make time for yourself?

I have an incredible group of mum friends, they’re the most amazing women I’ve ever met. We attend a mums and bubs fitness session on Mondays and Tuesdays which is extremely refreshing, and good on my body, mind, and soul. I really don’t do much alone, now more than ever before as Harvey is so young, but I am okay with that. I really enjoy being with my children. I know that if I ever need a break, I have an incredible partner who will watch the boys for a while.

What’s next for you and your family?

A wedding!! Our wedding planning is full speed ahead ready for 2024! Ted moves to a new preschool next year, in preparation for Kindergarten in 2024 too!! In the meantime we are praying we find a bigger house amidst everyone else struggling at the moment too, but we’re grateful to have a place currently!

If you could talk to your pre baby/kid self, what advice would you give?

You’re not invincible, teen pregnancy can happen to anyone lol