Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am first and most importantly, new to the mama scene, welcoming my twin boys Alfie & Finn in 2020, smack bang in the middle of COVID, what a time to be not only pregnant but expanding a family. I am also a working mum, my career in Early Childhood Education & Care started when I was 15, I am now proud to say I am the Manager at a local Canberra Education & Care centre where I work alongside some incredible educators, teachers and support team. As it seems, I wasn't already busy enough, I also chose to start studying my Bachelor of Early Childhood Education, a decision made while in the baby/ pregnancy love bubble of positivity! No turning back, my life and love is in Early Childhood Education & Care, I live and breathe this even more so now having two 19-month-old children, watching as they thrive, grow and develop into energetic, sweet and fabulous little people.

What were you doing before babies?

Before babies, I lived and breathed work and study life, this is still somewhat true, however with way more free time on my hands. I would spend time indulging in the finer things, spending time with my fiancé exploring Canberra, food and developing our backyard & gardens, a side project if you will which is documented on Instagram. My weekend would comprise of designing, creating and building gardens, crafted to support the growth of a variety of veggies, also to feed my little girl gang of chickens. In a second life I also studied vet nursing, this was tied closely into my home not-for-profit animal rescue business, I supported the safe re-homing of about 45 kittens and cats while ensuring they received their health home-care needs, I can't explain in words how rewarding it was to come home to a kitten or sometimes kittens who greeted you with the most loving & fluffy welcome possible, heaven.

How did you come to be a mum?

I became a mum, quickly, after having many health issues, including a variety of cysts and tumours on and around my ovaries, the largest being the size of a football!! There was always a big dark grey cloud above my fertility, turns out the effects of this drama worked in my favour, with the dramatic releasing of two eggs! Enter - TWINS! as a first pregnancy, twins was a lot to wrap my head around, picture this - laying on a hospital bed, at 5 weeks pregnant because I had incredible pain in my side, convinced it was due to the pregnancy being ectopic, I was preparing for bad news, so when my bloods came back askew, they ordered a scan, its past midnight, we're tired and scared, they started to scan and the Sonographer proceeded to say "has anyone told you there are two?" I'm sorry WHAT? I felt the blood leave my face, my skin went numb, I looked at my partner who looked at the floor, I then proceeded to burst out in some sort of bizarre hysterical laugh/crying watching her point and explain what we were looking at, the laugh/crying continued for...a while, it also turns out that the pain a burst ovarian cyst, nothing in comparison to the wave of cold that washed over me with the first announcement! And that...was only the beginning.

Pregnancy was also, not my scene! It was horrible actually, I suffered terribly from Hyperemesis from week 5 to 14ish, throughout which I was hospitalised about a dozen times for fluids and anti-emetics, for those who haven't heard of this, it is an incredibly horrible and extreme morning sickness which really cannot be alleviated by medication or hospitalisation, I had to just cry my way through the hospitalisations, being a needle phobe - was not a good start! Trying to get the meds down every day was no small task, often resulting in them coming right back up. Shortly after this began to alleviate, I suffered a blood clot in my leg, ah, enter more needles! fabulous Clexane injections for the rest of my pregnancy, into a huge belly! Me being a huge sook, I called on my mum to help with this. All this, then followed by the big belly, oh I couldn't wait for the scheduled c-section date!

I do gently warn those around me, if you want a great and positive pregnancy story, I may not be your person, however, I will be real, raw and honest if you do ask, after all, I made it & they're gorgeous.

What has your feeding journey been like?

My breast-feeding journey was short and sweet, to develop and maintain a supply for two there was feeding and pumping around the clock, I had a drastic over supply! Pumping every 4 hours or so in between feeds, led to a half litre supply each time I pumped, I absolutely could not keep up the pumping life, so to save my sanity & nipples, we started to work our way onto mixed feeding and formula bottles at about 4/5 months, if I had my time again, I would start with bottles, the demand on my body, the toll it took on my mental health was a big one, once I committed to formula feeding the guilt kicked in, however shortly left when I was able to sleep better, they slept better and we could function better as a family; absolutely no regrets.

What has sleep been like in your house?

Where breast feeding didn’t work out, sleep did! From about 4 months they have slept 7pm to 7am, with minimal wakes, really only if they are sick. We worked on consistency and routine early but promised to stay responsive. Having a tiny house, we had no option but to have them in their own room from birth, in hindsight I think this really helped to not have to later face the separation if they did start in our room, mind you I had cameras on them at every angle, checked their breathing every second of the day and tried really hard not to let the mum fear and anxiety drive me to want to sleep on the floor next to them. Now, at 19 months, they still sleep 7pm-7am, like clockwork; I know how beyond lucky we are to have this piece work in our favour.

The hardest bits…

One of the things I struggled most with was the anxiety, about whether they’re ok, if I was ok, if everything was ok, having two tiny babies to love & care for was huge! But along with it was some serious worries, sometimes it would consume moments that had the potential to be beautiful moments; the early days of no sleep certainly didn't help kick things off so positively.

The best bits…

Watching my partner become a dad, for someone who had not really experienced small children, it’s been so amazing watching him grow to be a dad, a loving, engaged & hands on dad, more mum than me! Then there's watching each of them grow and learn to love the world around them, the people around them, saying words, seeing what they love, what they enjoy, watching them become individual little people who view the world so differently.

How do you make time for yourself?

With a little or a lot of help from extended family. We find moments for ourselves and remember to laugh with each other, it really can be a juggle with time to try and find a minute to even go to the toilet! But we make it work.

What’s next for you and your family?

Growing and learning together, showing them the world, being a part of the world and just trying to take our time as they enjoy life. At this stage, given that pregnancy was not so awesome, there are no plans for more children, lucky we got 2 for 1!

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

You will ok, it will all be ok, it will be better than ok, it will be incredible.