Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am Canberra born and breed, grew up in the deep south (Gilmore) and have spent my life here. I am one of four daughters to a hard-working family; my mother has been a RN for over 50 years at TCH and dad in the public service. Family means a lot to me but so does growth and being able to admit and move on.

I am an avid reader, currently obtaining my Bachelor of Arts (majoring in creative writing) however, I was going down the path of Journalism at one point but did not realise I loved it like I love reading and writing stories.

I am now a Mumma to my daughter, Athena who is 19 months but more like going on 19 years and work part time as a medical receptionist and accountant for my husband’s business. Did I mention, on top of uni? I am sleep deprived but not from my child.

What were you doing before babies/children?

Before babies/children, I was just working, having fun and growing in my marriage really. I was working full time with side hustles and doing uni at my own pace.

How did you come to be a mum?

I became a mum first to my animals (I am a pet lover) but found out I was pregnant at a time when I was thinking I couldn’t have children. I was going through the investigations for PCOS, Endo and any other issues that may have affected my ability to have children. I remember going to lunch with one of my close friends and her son (he’s adorable) and ordering my favourite lunch which is a chicken Caesar salad and thinking something was off and I didn’t feel right. I thought, no way but I am going to just check and sure enough, two bold blue lines appeared in no more than seconds and I messaged my friend straight away asking, ‘Is this a false positive?’. Only for her to tell me that’s incredibly rare. Five tests later and a blood test – it was confirmed I was pregnant.

Over the course of the weekend, my partner and I had serious discussions about our future, were we ready, could we afford a baby, and would we have support? On the Monday, we rang our families and told them and decided we were ready.

Fast forward 10 months and I had a beautiful baby girl with vibrant red hair.

What has your feeding journey been like?

My feeding journey – wow, it’s a lot to unpack but I was absolutely determined to try my hardest to breast feed and I did well for 6 months. Sure, there was cluster feedings, there was times I was done, I questioned my ability, I wondered if she had enough – there wasn’t a ton of education available to me during my pregnancy or post if I am honest. Athena was born during a pandemic so certain resources weren’t available to me.

I was lucky to have supportive sisters, my mother, my friends and my mother-in-law who encouraged and tried their best to help when I needed it.

Athena and I made it to 6 months of breast feeding but if I am honest, I was scared out of it by information that was relayed to me that was unnecessary and more of a scare tactic. If I could go back now, I would listen to my gut instinct and I would persevere. I was able to breastfeed from birth and was lucky Athena did not have any tongue ties or latch issues. She was an excellent feeder who just fell asleep at the boob and would continue to sleep. She was a lanky baby however (dad is 6ft and so is majority of her family) and so she didn’t put on weight as per the charts and so then it came down to my breastmilk wasn’t enough which wasn’t true. She was gaining, she was feeding, and she was doing everything she needed to do.

From this, I’ve learnt that listening to your mum gut instinct is key to surviving your breastfeeding journey but also knowing when your mental health can’t take it anymore.

What has sleep been like in your house?

We have been extremely lucky, like hands down unbelievably lucky and anyone who knows us will tell you the same. When we brought Athena home, she was clock work. Slept for four hours, would feed, change and go back to bed for another four unless she was cluster feeding – then it was hourly.

The older she got the more routine was instilled. She did struggle with daytime naps but otherwise, from as early as 3/4 months she has slept through the night. Now at 19 months old she is asleep from 7-7:30 to 7am the next morning unless I am working, in that case we wake her up at 630 to get ready for the day.

So luckily, sleep has been good for us – thankfully. I do not do well on no sleep in general.

The hardest bits…

The hardest bits for me is the overload of information and worry put on young mums. Even from when I was pregnant, I was overloaded with old school science that because of my weight, my baby would be still born if I went too long and so I needed to be induced at 32 weeks, 34 weeks and so on. This was the hardest for me because I work in the medical field and so I queried everything. I trusted the decisions by the professionals, but it did not make sense to me.

Then it was bringing her home and again this overload of information and not listening to my mum guts and the wisdom of those around me. I was so determined to listen to the professionals who I felt were telling me I failed that I forgot to listen to my voice and how I know I was doing the right things.

That was the worst thing for me.

The best bits…

The best bit? Athena – she makes it all worth it, her laugh, her individuality, her character, her love and her as a little person is what makes it worth it. The days we spend as a family, and I just see how happy she is no matter what.

How do you make time for yourself?

Covid has made that hard, when Athena was born my in laws moved heaven and hell to be here, but I wasn’t ready to leave her yet. With the lockdowns and the restrictions, we haven’t really been able to do time as a couple, so we just try and spend time together when she’s asleep. It’s only now that I am starting to do more things for myself – get my hair done, my nails or simply on my days off and she’s at care reading a book. It’s hard but you do eventually get there.

What’s next for you and your family?

Up next for us, is me finishing my degree and maybe another baby in the future? First we need to make our house bigger – a two bedroom with a lot of toys for a special girl means we have barely any room.

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

Have fun, live in the moment, money isn’t everything and remember to always listen and trust in yourself first and foremost.