Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Marianne, I’m 37, I’ve been with my husband for almost 9 years and married for 6 of those, and a mum of 2 beautiful kids. 

What were you doing before babies/children?

Working in the public service, and had much more time for hobbies including going to movies, travel and writing and performing my own music (I’m a singer songwriter, somewhat “in hiatus” since having babies). 

How did you come to be a mum?

My husband and I always wanted a family. We hit a few roadblocks along the way but helped by the miracle of modern science we have been incredibly fortunate to successfully have our two gorgeous children. I absolutely loved being pregnant both times and was lucky to have smooth pregnancies and fast, empowering labours. 

What has your feeding journey been like?

I always wanted to breastfeed and so when my son was born and it wasn’t working well, got him assessed by a wonderful IBCLC who diagnosed tongue and lip ties. After they were revised at 3 weeks old, he become a real boob monster and pretty much only completely weaned himself at 3 years old after his sister arrived. While I never thought I’d be feeding so long, it provided a lot of comfort over the years to him and was a great settling tool for me, so I’m happy to let his 7month old sister follow suit and wean herself when she wants to. She’s much more into solid foods though than he was at her age so who knows if it’ll be a totally different length of journey.

I carry the BRCA1 genetic fault which means a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer is in my near future, so I don’t take for granted the ability to use them to nourish and grow my babies before they’re gone! 

What has sleep been like in your house?

Hahahaha. Let’s just say we never used the cot for my son and embraced co-sleeping by necessity. My daughter slept well for the first couple of months and then hasn’t really recovered from that first sleep “regression” so there are a lot of wake ups. Thankfully I know that this time of sleep deprivation is temporary! 

The hardest bits…

Being tired all the time is the hardest bit, and the ridiculous amount of mum guilt. 

The best bits…

Sharing the experience of motherhood with family members and close friends, and watching my kids grow and develop as humans. Seeing how much I’ve grown and developed as a person from becoming a mum. 

How do you make time for yourself?

It’s really hard. I think both my hubby and I need to get better at this over the next few months and years. 

What’s next for you and your family?

I’m enjoying maternity leave at the moment and my husband is going to take some leave later in the year when I go back to work, so I think balancing our work life balances and settling the youngest into daycare will be our challenge in the near future. 

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

Don’t try to pre empt what kind of parent you’ll be, because it can be surprisingly different to how you imagined it.