Tegan Heddington

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am 25 years old and not only a new mum but also a fur mum to 3 (previously 4) fur babes. I am loving my new life as a mum and for anyone that knows me, the slower pace was something I really thought I would struggle with but I have really managed to take it slow since my birth. Other than hanging out with my new little human, I can also be found whipping up some kind of baked treat in the kitchen with my business @snacksister__

What were you doing before babies?

Before babies, I was living the corporate life. For the past 6 years I have worked in the APS and in the last 12 months I had just landed my dream job as an Executive Officer. Prior to landing the job of my dreams I had thrown myself into a pretty dire job at Parliament House working 12+ hour days during sitting weeks and sometimes just as many hours in non-sitting weeks. I was super active and always going on camping adventures with my fiancé, taking the dogs when we could.

How did you come to be a mum?

Prior to taking my job in the Minister’s Office at Parliament House I had found myself in a bit of an odd spot where I thought that I was putting the idea of starting a family on the backburner for a little while so that I could really establish my career. While working up there, I realised that putting my career before a family was quite the opposite of what I actually wanted. Once I realised that, I finished up the job I was working in and had a good conversation with my fiancé about securing my position at work, and then coming off birth control (mainly because my hormones were wild) but also with the intention of (very loosely) trying to starting a family. After coming off birth control in April (the same month of finishing the APH position) and really not tracking anything I found myself taking tests the day after my period was due every single month. I realised then that I really did want to become a mum, and just a short 3 months later I found myself 2 days late for my period. As per usual I just knicked off to take the test (without telling my fiancé) and just started balling my eyes out because it was positive. My fiancé was absolutely stoked.

What has your feeding journey been like?

When I first fell pregnant, breast feeding was a real worry of mine. Not because I was worried about if I could or not, but more about the stupid things like how I would feed in front of my family or in public. I really was a prude little girl prior to having a baby. Since having my baby, I really have had a great time breast feeding with no issues right from the beginning. However at about two months we got to a point where I was not able to keep up with how much our little baby needed, she was born in the 80th percentile and has only been going up higher since then. We would be topping up almost every feed and by the end of the day she was really getting frustrated, and let me tell you so was I! I made the decision to switch to formula which was a really, really good decision for my mental health, and we have been really lucky that Matilda has not been fussy with types or formula or types of bottles.

What has sleep been like in your house?

Honestly, I have been blessed with an absolute angel. We have not had difficulty with sleep at all. From birth she was sleeping about 3 hour stints through the night which was just enough for me to get to sleep and get some sleep before waking again to change and feed. From about 2.5-3 months until now we have had great success with getting her to sleep through the night. She normally goes down between 6 and 7pm, wakes between 5 and 6am for a quick bottle and chat with Dad before he goes off to work and then goes straight back to sleep for another 1-2 hours. I do know that this is such a blessing and as everyone has told me, the next baby will be a total disaster.

The hardest bits…

Honestly the hardest part has been finding my new normal. Living the busy corporate life prior to becoming a mum meant it was always a hustle and I was able to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Now having a little human that I am at the beck and call of every single day is really hard. Some days I struggle with the fact that I try to start a simple task like having a shower or eating my dinner or just getting myself a glass of water and I am interrupted because she wakes and cries. I have learnt that there is no point stressing the small things, like not being able to eat a warm dinner, or not being able to shower before bed because there is all the time in the world for that, but there is only a limited amount of time to spend with my baby.

The best bits…

The way that Matilda looks at me. I am her world, whether her Dad likes it or not. It does not matter what mood she might be in or how upset she might be, I really can crack a smile out of her at any point.

How do you make time for yourself?

Honestly I take advantage of the facilities that are around to let me get back to my somewhat normal. I am lucky enough that my local gym has a creche so that has allowed me to go back to the gym and not stress too much. Also the fact that she is normally asleep for the night by 7pm really allows me to have my me time (and time with my Fiancé) after dinner. I am also really lucky that she really just fits into my routine, I am a big believer that to get her used to our normal I just have to keep living my life and make it work for the both of us!

What’s next for you and your family?

We recently got engaged and are planning on eloping on a holiday in New Zealand next year (which was planned before I knew about the engagement anyway). We will have a little celebration once we are back home for all of our friends and family. So planning for that will be one thing. We have also moved into our beautiful family home in December last year so we are starting a few little renovations around the place so once Matilda is old enough to hang out with her Dad we don’t have anything keeping us at home! We also are hoping to have another baby as soon as we can now that we have Matilda. The fact that Matilda entered the world through the sunroof as opposed to naturally, we are on a bit of a longer schedule but all things going well we hope to have another baby next year.

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

Honestly, I would just tell myself that there is nothing to worry about. Everyone tells you their own stories (generally the worst bits) but you really need to just take in the information that you want to and shut out the information you don’t want to hear. For me, the only thing that I ever thought about when giving birth was that I didn’t want a C-Section to be the way she came into the world. For what reason I had such strong views on that I really don’t know, potentially the recovery time but I am not sure. Everyone has their own experience in birth and your own story is really what you make of it. There is no point being negative about the best day (or days for some lucky ones) of your life. If I had my time over again with my birth I would do it the same way every single time.