Kelly donnelly

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a born and raised Canberran in a public service job. Been with my partner Matthew for a few years and we welcomed our wonderful baby girl Francesca in to the world almost nine months ago.

Currently on maternity leave, soaking up every moment with her and very much enjoying watching her progress through each milestone. Also love a good coffee catch up with friends.

What were you doing before babies?

I feel like a really boring person but pretty much working, going to the gym, odd jobs around the house and getting stuck in to my vegetable garden. I was already living my stay at home mum life, just without having the baby to give me excuses to leave events. Ha

I use to love partying, going to festivals and getting out of Canberra but slowly I just really loved being at home and not drinking! I will add that I love my sport, predominately watching it but I did for many years play soccer and AFL until my body just kept getting injured.

How did you come to be a mum?

My partner and I began having the serious conversations of starting a family. The more we talked about it the more I became obsessed with having my little human. A few months later we were looking down at the pregnancy test seeing the positive sign.

Pregnancy for me went well, I was able to remain active, continue to gym and go for big walks. I was really fortunate and was picked up on the continuity midwifery program and had a lovely midwife and student midwife through my journey. I definitely think every woman deserves this level of care throughout pregnancy and onto motherhood.

Personally during my pregnancy the biggest challenge was getting gestational diabetes (GDM). I love my sweet foods so was hoping to just binge eat for nine months. But instead it made me extremely healthy but I definitely couldn’t wait to stop pricking my finger 4x a day. I couldn’t completely control it with diet (like I said I love sweets) and was therefore on the fasting insulin. Due to the GDM I had extra ultrasounds and many discussions about the potential to be induced if I didn’t go into spontaneous labour.

I trusted my body to go into spontaneous labour but then being the impatient person I am I agreed at 39+2 to be induced, and from advice I assumed I might be in hospital for a few days before I met my baby. Tuesday evening a balloon catheter was put in which didn’t sit completely in the right spot and was removed but instantly began cramps to my lower back and glutes. From then on I had a new balloon catheter inserted and same thing (probably because baby was low and posterior). Then I had the tape inserted which was to stay in overnight and I was meant to get some rest. My midwife left late that night and said ‘Kelly I’ll see you at 6am and we’ll have your baby’. Being the literal person I am I watched the clock all night, counting down the hours unable to sleep just waiting for 6am to arrive so I could meet my baby. The pain was constant and the only thing that helped was my massage gun. My biggest regret was not having two of them so I didn’t have to wait for it to charge again.

Wednesday morning came and the beautiful nightshift midwife ran me a bath to try ease the pain I had and it was almost instant relief as my body just melted into the warm water. Soon enough my continuity midwife returned and I had my birth team (my mum and partner) ready when things began to ramp up. Between each surge my mum would read me affirmations, and during a surge my partner helped me control my breathing and let me almost break his hand while I was on my knees leaning over the bath edge. I felt the ring of fire as the head was born and with one last push at 7:10am I reached down and pulled my beautiful baby girl up and on to my chest. My baby who made me a mum.

What has your feeding journey been like?

Surprisingly really good. I definitely had no expectations of my body and breastfeeding, was honest that it would be ok if it didn’t work out. After Francesca was born she had to commence on formula top ups while I waited for my milk to come in due to the GDM and her low sugar levels. By day four she was exclusively breastfed and she’s still my boobie girl. She did have a tongue tie which we corrected around two weeks old. I look back and laugh now that when she began to cluster feed I thought I must have had a supply issue, yet if during the night she slept longer than a few hours I would get the worst letdown and need to completely change my saturated clothes. I’m so thankful for our journey so far.

What has sleep been like in your house?

Like most newborn babies they’re still learning the new skill of sleeping so I co-slept until she was ready to sleep in her bassinet. She’s been relatively good at sleeping on her own but that hasn’t stopped many occasions of me being nap trapped from feeding her to sleep. I’ve also spent way too much time giving her assisted naps in the carrier, pram or car trips. Otherwise during the night she’s been really good at having a feed and going straight back to sleep. Still waiting for her to sleep through the night but I’m sure she’ll figure it out soon. My biggest lesson is trying to tell myself to go to bed early..

The hardest bits..

For me, figuring out her sleep and the anxiety I get to make sure she has a good nap. Either trying to follow a routine, watch her awake windows or check for signs that she’s tired. I spent weeks trying to help her to self settle so she lasted longer than 40 minutes during the day. Now my sweet girl happily gets herself to sleep on her own. I’ve had to really be patient and take each day as it comes, no two days are the same and I now have a few methods if the day doesn’t go to plan.

The best bits..

Looking at her, thinking about how wonderful my body is for making her and she just loves me so unconditionally. She smiles or has this adorable little giggle and you think how could I love anything more than I love you. I really am obsessed with her, mainly watching her sleep all sweet and peaceful. I will regularly check her monitor just to look at her more, or even go through old photos. But by far the best thing for me is watching my wonderful partner become a dad and just be so obsessed and in love with her.

How do you make time for yourself?

Making sure Francesca maintains her bedtime! No matter how the day goes she’ll always be in bed for between 6-7pm which gives me time to unwind and relax. My biggest sanity has been the great help from my partner who is always willing to do his dad duties, and even better when he works from home which if timings work out I can duck out to the shops or gym. My friends and family have also been fantastic at doing mini baby sitting duties.

What’s next for you and your family?

No plans, just soaking up our little girl while we work out this crazy stage of our lives as parents.

A piece of advice for our readers?

Just be kind to yourself you’ve just done the most miraculous thing by birthing a human. You are all your baby needs and know your baby better than anyone else.