Jodie Pears

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Jodie, mumma of two beautiful babies; Lennox (23months) and Hazel (6 weeks). My fiancé, Brett, and I live here in Canberra with our little family but are originally from the Sunshine Coast in QLD.

What were you doing before babies?

Before having Lennox we actually lived in Newcastle and I worked for the City of Newcastle as an Executive Assistant and in Customer Service. I also have a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education so have worked in school settings, childcare settings and a Not for Profit organisation working with young adults with disabilities.

How did you come to be a mum?

I always knew I wanted to be a Mum and after Brett and I got engaged we started ‘trying’. I fell pregnant and unfortunately, we lost our first bubba at 14weeks. It was a hard time, as we had lots of pregnant people around us, but we got through it together and after a few months and lots of conversation we decided we were ready to try again. With that, our beautiful baby boy Lennox was born and now we have just welcomed Hazel our baby girl into our family.

Both pregnancies went smoothly, I have type 1 Diabetes, so I was closely monitored by my doctors to ensure myself and our babies were healthy and safe. I went into labour with Lennox at 36.5 weeks and as he did not progress in the labour he was born via caesarean section. At birth he has a low blood sugar and was whisked away to the NICU with Brett by his side and was there for a few days before moving to Special Care. It was a scary and overwhelming experience, but the staff at both the Canberra Hospital (where we birthed) and the Calvary (where we were transferred for Special Care) were absolutely amazing. We had an almost identical experience with Hazel although she was born via elective caesarean as she was measuring quite big.

What has your feeding journey been like?

Breastfeeding was harder than I expected it to be. I just assumed because I was now a mother it would all just happen. Both Lennox and Hazel had tongue and lip ties which were discovered and corrected by the amazing Lactation Consultants and Doctor at the Mothers Hub. This helped my feeding journey with Lennox and allowed me to mix feed for 12 months before we moved to formula only. With Hazel I am currently breastfeeding and it is going really well, although I do know that if she does require formula feeds and or top ups that this is absolutely ok and is what will be best for her and our journey.

What has sleep been like in your house?

Okay sleep…even from the early days Lennox decided sleep was not for him, he was fed and rocked to sleep and was waking every 1-2hours overnight and at around the 4month mark of being that sleep deprived I ended up with shingles and in turn, Lennox with chicken pox. We went to QEII to try and learn some strategies other than feeding to sleep and managed to gain a few but it didn’t necessarily help us get any more sleep. When Lennox was 7months we finally decided it was time to talk to someone and get help with sleep, so we worked with a beautiful woman by the name of Katie from Bub2Sleep who helped us teach Lennox the skills of sleep and self-settling. After working with her, I became obsessed with sleep and decided to study. I am now a Sleep Specialist at Bub2Sleep myself and am a consultant alongside our own Sleep Specialist, Katie and two other amazing women, Donna and Tayla. Hazel so far is a different story. I have the confidence and knowledge behind me to create positive sleep foundations and know that because of this sleep will be a whole lot easier this time around.

The hardest bits…

The constant second guessing yourself and comparing yourself to other Mothers and your child/children against their peers. Also asking for help! This doesn’t come easy for me; I have always just gotten on with things and have found it easier to just do things myself. With no family in Canberra this made things very difficult in the early days.

The best bits…

I honestly love being a Mum and I am so grateful for all of it. On reflection I would say watching Lennox and now Hazel grow and develop, seeing their personalities shine and getting to experience the beauty and excitement in the things that we take for granted as adults. Even though being a Mum is tough, it is so worth it.

How do you make time for you?

I wish I had a really good answer for this but in short, it’s not something that I do well. Now that I have two children and a good network of friends it is something I will be working on. Although I must say, I do make sure I take time for a shower at the start of each day, for me, it’s those little things that help you start off your day well and set you up for success.

What’s next for you and your family?

Honestly, who knows! Brett and I love exploring and adventures and we hope to instil that in our children, so we hope to be doing as much of this as we can now that we can. We are feeling very content within our family dynamic and feel as though our family is complete with two children. I will be back to work in the coming months hoping to help more families with sleep and for now we will stay in Canberra and enjoy what we have been able to create for ourselves here.

A piece of advice for our readers?

Run your own race! It’s ok to not know everything and ask for help! The days might feel long but the years are so short so try enjoy the ride that is parenthood.