My Very First Mother's Day...
Hi I’m Sage, and I’m a mum.
I’m only 8 weeks into my parenthood journey and so it still feels so odd to say that. I’m a mum. To a beautiful little boy Louie.
Adventure is the most apt way to explain it. Every day is a learning, and it’s been that way ever since that little blue stick showed 2 black lines instead of one. Well actually, I think it really begun much before that, back when my mind started thinking about children.
Firstly, like many of us, I was very uneducated and unaware of just how difficult it can be to fall pregnant. For so long I’d been told to avoid pregnancy, with contraception prescribed during my teenage years. I had naively never considered the difficultly that can be experienced. I am the youngest of 6 children, so my perception of the experience from my own mother didn’t involve any struggles.
After seeing my sister and best friend, really struggle to fall pregnant, and then to keep a pregnancy, I was shocked. It took her years of trying, heartbreak, and sadness, to finally conceive her beautiful little girl through IVF. My eyes had been opened. As had my husband’s.
And so, we made the decision to try our luck at becoming parents very shortly after we were married. We were one of the lucky ones. So incredibly fortunate to fall pregnant without intervention, and within only a few months of trying.
Our good fortune continued, with a low-risk pregnancy, and now, a healthy, beautiful baby boy.
Although becoming a mum certainly hasn’t come without its challenges; emotional, physical and mental. It’s all-encompassing, it’s adventure, it’s pushed me, whilst also every day, filling my cup so much it’s overflowing.
The exhaustion is real. These early weeks of finding our way, working out what our little boy needs and doesn’t, finding tops that conceal(ish) my milk leaking everywhere, and tops that allow me to whack out my boob in public without feeling totally exposed. Working out how to settle him at 3am when I’m so tired my eyes are burning. There’s So. Much. To. Learn.
The concept of time has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Some days I get to the coffee shop for my morning coffee, only to be told the machine has been turned off for the day. My tired eyes and disappointed face is usually enough to convince the poor barista to turn it back on for me. Thankfully my disappointed face is hydrated, thanks to my Cinch pump + glow, which has been a lifesaver as I get 2 whole minutes to myself in the bathroom each day. So good in fact someone actually commented on how good my tired skin was looking the other day. What a win!
Mother’s Day means more to me this year than ever. I have so much respect and appreciation for my own mother (who raised 6 children on her own. I mean seriously, how!?!?!), and for all the mothers around the world. Motherhood is a role like no other, a feat like no other, and a privilege like no other.
Here’s to the mums! (now for a nice glass of wine to take the edge off another witching hour).