Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Bri, I am 29 years old and I am a first time mum.

What were you doing before babies?

Before having babies I was working at my full time job in the public service and enjoying coastal getaways with my family as much as possible (before COVID of course)

How did you come to be a mum?

My partner and I were very fortunate to fall pregnant quite quickly. I wished to get pregnant straight after our wedding that was in Jan 2021 and thought it would take a while to fall pregnant due to some health concerns so we started trying a few months before. Low and behold it happened a lot faster than expected so ended up 13 weeks pregnant at my wedding! Luckily I hadn’t gone to my last dress appointment to have my dress taken in!

My pregnancy was awful up until about 21 weeks vomiting all day everyday (yes, even on the wedding day). But after that it was all pretty cruisey. My son Lenny was due on 18 July but decided to keep us waiting as long as possible (41+6) and made his grand entrance on 31July 2021. Although it was a very long wait, at least he was born on Harry Potter’s birthday!

My birth was quite fast paced just under 5 hrs start to finish and was pretty traumatic towards the end. Lenny was a big baby, with a big head. He had the cord wrapped around his neck, his head was stuck and each time I tried to push him out his heart rate was rapidly dropping. Because of this there were about 8 different people in the room to be on hand just in case things went downhill which was quite overwhelming for my husband and I . After a lot of pushing I managed to get him out unscathed. When he was put on my chest I expected to have this magical moment of love and connection where I cried and everyone was so emotional but I think because of how tired, scared and in shock I was my connection with Lenny was a little slow to start. I felt a lot of guilt about this but soon realised that it didn’t matter that it didn’t happen for us straight away as it grew very quickly!

What has your feeding journey been like?

I am very blessed to have a great feeding journey so far. Apart from a few blocked ducts and a bout of mastitis I have loved it!

What has sleep been like in your house?

Lenny has been a pretty good sleeper. I found that although he would wake 3 times during the night he was very consistent with timing so I knew what I was in for each night which I found easier to handle. He has just started this week to sleep in bigger chucks overnight which has been amazing but I’m not holding my breath that it will continue just yet.

The hardest bits…

I found the first few weeks after birth the hardest due to the recovery. Unable to sit down, drive etc. made it pretty tough but by the third week my wounds healed and I was a lot more comfortable.

Due to being vacuumed out Lenny also had some issues with his skull which they were concerned was putting pressure on his brain. Those few days until we got the results were probably the toughest. Luckily it seemed it would just be a cosmetic issue of the depressed skull which should resolve itself in a few months.

The best bits…

It’s hard to pinpoint the best bits as I have loved my time as a mother with our little family so much. I would have to say Lenny’s laughs, smiles, expressions and seeing the small daily changes and developments and being able to enjoy them with my husband! Pretty damn special!

How do you make time for you?

Purchasing a LOT of skincare, getting outside in the sunshine, working out at home and spending time with my best friend who lives up the road!

What’s next for you and your family?

Just enjoying our time together for now and hopefully getting to see the rest of our family who we haven’t been able to see yet due to lockdown.

A piece of advice for our readers?

Period undies postpartum are a must! Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, do what works for you. Communicate to your support network what you need, don’t expect them to read your mind and don’t sweat the small stuff