Olivia Hesketh

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a married mama to two beautiful girls Ruby 8 and Melody 4. My husband and I are high school sweethearts and my family is quite literally my whole world. This year I’ve ventured into a new career as a mortgage broker and I’m so excited to see where it takes me!

What were you doing before babies?

Before babies I was in school. I had my first daughter with my husband at 18 years old. I was pregnant at my year 12 formal with our now beautiful miss Ruby.

How did you come to be a mum?

My husband and I had discussed babies and that we wanted one and then bam we were pregnant! We were very lucky that it happened so quickly but I was in shock that it happened that quickly too!

What has your feeding journey been like?

My first feeding journey with my daughter was hard. I battled post natal depression and I just couldn’t ever give her enough. We fed until 6 weeks, I struggled to move get to formula and my midwife helped transition her over.

My second feeding journey was a lot nicer and I fed until 4 months before weening to return to work.

What has sleep been like in your house?

Sleep has been up and down. Ruby was a co-sleep baby until 6 months which took a massive toll on my relationship with my husband. I knew she had to move into her own bed before we ended up separated.

Melody has been a different baby sleep wise. We hardly ever co-slept and I’ve made sure she was always in her own bassinet/cot or bed.

Melody has had her own sleep issues related to health issues which has been a battle in itself. Lots of late night temperatures and having to worry even when she dozed back off.

The hardest bits…

This can be such a broad subject.

Our Ruby girl has suffered from anxiety for quite some time now. We have done a lot of programs and therapy with her and we have seen massive improvements in her!

Melody our youngest daughter has battled with health issues since she was born. She has had 20 urine tract infections in her short life and was diagnosed with bilateral vesicoureteral reflux at around age 2.5. It’s been a lot of antibiotics, hospital trips, admissions, tests, a surgery and a 1 week hospital admission most recently. We are back to square one with more tests, appointments and ultimately another surgery on the cards but nothing our little miss can’t handle!

Melody was also diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia earlier on but we were very lucky that it corrected itself without any treatment. Our orthopaedic surgeon was at Randwick Sydney children’s hospital so there was a lot of day trips to Sydney.

The best bits…

Watching my girls bond. Watching them love each other and care for each other. Knowing they will always have each other really makes my heart smile. I can’t put it into words how important their relationship with each other is to me.

How do you make time for you?

Time for me right now isn’t really a thing for me. Battling with a sick Bub, work and school drop offs and pick ups plus all the extra curricula's BUT when I do have a spare hour I see the girls at cosmetic skin therapies Kingston for a treatment and a pick me up.

What’s next for you and your family?

We just want to enjoy each other. I want to see the girls loving life, school and all the rest!

We want to take a family holiday.

And I want to excel in my new career.

A piece of advice for our readers?

Take it day by day and don’t worship your feed. No one has it together even if it seems like it through their feed. Also to trust your gut with your babies, don’t let people dismiss you even if it seems like nothing. Push the point your mum gut is always right.