Nicole Beudeker
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a 27 year old mama of two boys (Colton and Wyatt), married to my best friend for the last three years but together for eight, I have two crazy border collies (Fergus and Callie) who were our first babies. I’m a qualified hairdresser but am taking a break from that part of my life to work at night doing nightfill at Woolworths so I can spend the days with my babies.
What were you doing before babies?
Before having my boys I was extremely social and active. I was out and about nearly every night whether it was out for dinner and drinks, going to the gym, playing Oztag, attending my husbands football games or simply taking our dogs for a walk.
How did you come to be a mum?
I always knew I wanted kids but I was never entirely sure when I would want that chapter to start. My husband and I endured a couple of losses before we were married and one only two months after our wedding so when we found out we were pregnant with Colton only four months later. To say we were shocked is an understatement. Then that shock was quickly over shadowed by the news that we were pregnant again only ten months later with Wyatt.
What has your feeding journey been like?
I have been extremely lucky and my feeding journey has been fairly easy… I have breastfed both my boys, Colton until he was ten months because my milk supply dropped when I fell pregnant again so I put him straight onto cows milk with no issues. Wyatt is a milk monster, if I would let him feed all day everyday, he would. So to give myself a bit of sanity and freedom we have decided to mix feed him formula and breast and he is thriving.
What has sleep been like in your house?
Once again I have been extremely lucky and both of our boys have slept through from day one with only the occasional 3am wake up from Wyatt in the first eight weeks.
The hardest bits…
There has been a couple of hard bits starting with Colton, he was classed as a premmie baby at birth due to his size even though it was a full term pregnancy because doctors estimated he had stopped growing at 35 weeks. At four months old he started not being able to keep food or even milk down and was throwing up every time he ate and deemed a failure to thrive as he was severely underweight and this went on for another five months. While dealing with Colton's health, I was diagnosed with Post Natal Depression and anxiety and had a couple of moments where I seriously questioned my place in life and if it was worth it. My experience with Wyatt has been easier but still has had its challenges with him having severe reflux and being extremely unsettled for the first few months which he has since grown out of and is one of the happiest/smiliest babies you could ever meet. Since starting medication for my PND and seeing a psychiatrist I have also been diagnosed with moderate ADHD.
The best bits…
The best bits go without saying, having these two beautiful, loving and crazy boys in my life on a daily basis makes it all worth it.
How do you make time for you?
That’s easy, I do not make time for myself at all and that’s one of my biggest character flaws. I have endless amounts of help around me from my family, my in-laws, extended family and close friends but I am yet to take the help like I should and it’s something I am trying to work on.
What’s next for you and your family?
The next chapter for our family is enjoying watching our boys continue to grow and thrive. We are starting to talk about and explore the idea of buying a bigger house as we are expecting our final piece of our family, a little girl to be joining us in July! And somewhere in the mix of all of that we would desperately love to get to the beach for a much needed holiday.
A piece of advice for our readers?
The days are so incredibly hard and tiresome but that one goofy smile or infectious giggle makes it all so worth it, so don’t hesitate to take the plunge into parenthood.