Amy Ciminelli
Tell us a bit about yourself?
Hey I’m Amy, mumma to a wild little boy named Tyson.
I’m a small business owner - my small business actually came about because of my little Tyson.
I loved being pregnant and miss it so much after having Tyson I had a bit of post natal anxiety and to be honest I was absolutely in awe of this beautiful little creature I had created I would breast feed him and just stare at him for hours on end, and watch lots of cake decorating videos and thus “Suga Mummas Cakes” was born anyways enough about the business.
What were you doing before babies/children?
Nothing really I mean me and my partner were kinda just stagnant just doing the same old stuff with no real goals we lived in a tiny apartment and just working jobs we didn’t particularly like, all we knew is we both wanted a baby more than anything.
How did you come to be a mum?
After a few (8) months of disappointment at the negative tests two days before Christmas I just knew I took a test and there he was and just like that we gave up all our bad habits and kicked into gear to what we wanted for our lives.
What has your feeding journey been like?
AMAZING Tyson latched perfectly and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED breastfeeding. I felt so connected to him, we did mix feed for a while to give me a break sometimes and so I could still have a life away from Tyson and it worked great for us. I did have one bad experience with breastfeeding, which was mastitis and omg …worst pain ever! I was crying so much and my poor partner couldn’t really do anything. We called the hotline and I gritted my teeth and cried while Tyson helped unblock it. We breastfeed right up til one week before his 1st birthday when we were doing the usual breastfeed to sleep one night and I went to out my boob in his mouth and he goes “yuck” and spat it out and turned over. I tried the next night same reaction, and just like that he weaned himself much to my devastation. This mumma was not ready!!
What has sleep been like in your house?
Tyson was pretty good sleeper, we’ve had bad nights (or weeks) and we’ve had good nights. Overall he has been pretty good thankfully! Otherwise I think I would have lost my mind.
How do you make time for yourself?
I make sure I have baths. Those are my chill moments and making time for Brad is so important.
For the first few months Brad and I were zombies. Luckily for us we aren’t married, so I guess in a way we’ve always made time for each other and our relationship. We’re extremely lucky to have an amazing support network, so we’ve always gone on date nights and kept the spark there. I’d be lost without our mum and dad time and I always joke we are selfish parents because we go away for a night here and there, but realistically if our relationship is rocky, so is our home life and how we parent. So if it’s an option for you to why wouldn’t you- we are so lucky and grateful for our family who are there for us at the drop of a hat.
What’s next for you and your family?
We are getting married in 2 months and then more babies… well one more baby. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows for us though. Brad will need dialysis and kidney transplant in the near future so basically just preparing for that and getting ourselves financially and emotionally ready for that. It’s a grim thought for most people but I’m a planner and I want all babies out of the way and for our family to be ready for whatever happens in this next chapter.
If you could talk to your pre baby/kid self, what advice would you give?
Make time for yourself and your partner
When you get caught up on the little things e.g expressing milk, feeding - tell yourself “this too shall pass”
It’s okay for your kid to be an asshole- they all are
Everything will fall into place… eventually
You are everything your little one needs - YOU ARE ENOUGH