Alisha Jimenez

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am 25, and now a mumma to our beautiful girl Maggie, who is now 9 weeks old. My partner Logan and I have been together 8 years this year and before Bub we had been renovating our house that we purchased early last year!  

Before I went on Mat leave, I worked as a registered nurse at the Canberra hospital full time, and plan to go back once my leave is up.

What were you doing before babies/children?

Work work work! Working in the healthcare system throughout the pandemic was a big challenge as we all know… due to the shortage of staff and demand of patients, unfortunately I didn’t get much opportunity to have leave over the past 3 years so spent most of my time working! I work in neurosurgery and trauma, which can be a pretty tough gig most of the time.. I don’t know why or what it is, but I do really love it. Outside of work, I love to be active and brunch with friends. Logan and I bought our house in February 2022, so once we settled in there we started fixing things in the house.. which turned into a complete house renovation!

How did you come to be a mum?

Logan and I have both always wanted to have a family, but had never really planned when that would be (Logan is the most relaxed person in the world).

Maggie was a beautiful, wonderfully welcomed surprise for us, which we are so extremely grateful for. She is the best thing to happen to us and we could not be happier that we were so lucky to be able to have her.

I pretty much had every pregnancy symptom there is.. and was vomiting until the day before I had Maggie. It really was a hard pregnancy and I struggled a lot, particularly mentally towards the end but once she was born it all went away.

Our labour was also quite eventful. After being induced at 39 weeks due to decreased baby movements which caused me extreme anxiety and fear, my labour went from zero to one hundred quickly. I was nervous about being induced but knew it was the best thing for Maggie and I both, and trusted the advice from my doctors. Once the induction started, I was feeling pretty good, contractions were very much bearable. I had my heat pack, combs and TENS machine and thought I was going really well. This lasted about 6 hours as my labour progressed and I was dilating well. Once the syntocin was at its max dose, the contractions became so strong and fast I was not having any relief. I remember saying to my midwife that it just felt like a constant pain and there was no peak or relief after. I then decided to try the gas and see if this would help, which it did although it made me really spaced out and out of it. They then were not able to get an accurate heart rate on Maggie, leading to an emergency where I was then consented to an emergency cesarean. It was pretty full on, the midwife threw scrubs across the room for Logan to change into, he didn’t have time to tie his shoelaces before we were about to leave until then all of a sudden, Maggie’s heart rate stabilised and we were in the clear. The team decided that it would be safe to continue to be monitored and try for a vaginal birth, but I had to stay laying in the bed and still. At that point, having to stay in the bed on my back throughout contractions was extremely painful and the TENS machine was not enough, I tried the gas and did not cope well with that. After a few hours and a lot of tears on my end, I opted for an epidural.

Things then started to progress really well and I was at 8cm and feeling really good.

Two hours later I was checked again and still at 8cm, another two hours past.. I was checked again, still at 8cm. I was then seen by the obstetrician who did an assessment and told us that Maggie’s head was tilted upwards, stuck and my labour was not going to progress. I then consented again to an emergency cesarean. Obviously it all happened very quickly after this, we were rushed to theatres and within minutes, Maggie was born. She was perfectly perfect and we were over the moon.

What has your feeding journey been like?

So far, I have been so lucky. Maggie latched beautifully and feeds like a dream. My milk supply is great, if not too great. I started leaking colostrum at 17 weeks pregnant, so didn’t worry too much about whether or not my milk would come in! I don’t take this for granted though, I am very aware of how hard feeding can be for lots of mums and am very grateful that this part has not been a challenge for us.

What has sleep been like in your house?

So far it’s been pretty good! I don’t really know what to expect but I was expecting to be VERY tired.. I think my work and regular night shifts have helped my transition as I feel like I am coping pretty well considering..

I try to remind myself that this time will pass, and be grateful that when Maggie wakes in the night and is upset, I am able to make her feel better.

The hardest bits…

Figuring it all out and having absolutely no clue.. The worry and sadness I feel when she isn’t 100% is more than I expected I would feel.. I am working on trying to not always beat myself up about it and remember that it is part of being a mumma.

And the comparing.. I constantly find myself comparing us to others and worrying I’m doing everything wrong, another tying I am trying to work on!

The best bits…

Omg all of it.. I really didn’t realise how much I would love her and having my own little family. The way she makes so many people so happy is so special, and I love watching her grow and be surrounded by so much love.

How do you make time for yourself?

I’m yet to master that, but I have been so supported in taking time to myself. My mum and sister are very good at spoiling me and taking me shopping or to the movies etc.

I am so excited to get back into exercising and being active without pain soon also!

What’s next for you and your family?

We just really want to enjoy this time of our lives and be as present as we can be! Now our house Reno’s are done and Maggie is here, we are looking forward to slowing down and just enjoying our lives as a family.

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

Yes your life will change like crazy, and you will feel really overwhelmed at times but it is so worth it. You are the person that is here to give your baby exactly what they need and you’re doing an amazing job!

Ask for help and advice whenever you need it, you don’t know what you don’t know and no questions are silly- but at the end of the day, you will do the right thing for you and your family, whatever that is!