Browsing Category: Parenting

Exclusively breast feeding, without nursing yet – a premature beginning

Entering this world when I was only 32 weeks pregnant, not much about Harley’s birth went to plan. Eclampsia, an emergency C-section and extensive recovery were not what I wanted, and it made me worried about an important plan of mine. I really wanted to breast feed my baby; not just breast feed, but I was hoping to exclusively breast feed. It wasn’t set in stone – I’d known enough moms who had struggled and I would never judge anyone (including myself) about this stuff, but I really wanted to be able to feed my little munchkin. After everything that happened, I was worried that I might not be able to.

While still in the ICU, the physio came to see me, and she was so helpful about a range of things, one of which was the breast feeding. She pushed down on my (incredibly sore) boobs, and out came the tiniest bit of milk. My milk had come in, and I was raring to start using it. Of course, it wasn’t quite so easy. Continue Reading

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

If you like these words, please check out more of what I say on twitter and Facebook, and pics I take on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Pinterest.
Also, please be sure to sign up to my carefully curated, crafted and infrequent newsletter.

5 Comments Parenting, Premie

A day of reconciliation about my staggered entry into motherhood

Today, South Africa marks its Day of Reconciliation. It’s all about reconciling differences and working towards national unity. However, for me, I’ve been more consumed with trying to reconcile different aspects of myself, of what I’ve gone through, and of what this all means for the future. I knew that parenthood would mean that nothing goes according to plan, but it feels like something more than that at the moment.

Thus far, being a good mother has meant different things than I thought it would. At this point, I should still be pregnant, with being a good mom pretty much meaning that I would be taking care of myself, maybe playing music for Harley or talking to her, and getting all my things in order to prepare for her arrival – stuff like buying a cot and a car seat and all the rest. Instead, she is already out of my body but not in my home, and my role as her mother is a bit different than I’d planned. Continue Reading

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

If you like these words, please check out more of what I say on twitter and Facebook, and pics I take on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Pinterest.
Also, please be sure to sign up to my carefully curated, crafted and infrequent newsletter.

5 Comments Parenting, Premie, South Africa

The hardest thing I’ve done so far? Coming home…

So, I was obviously really sick when I had Harley. I could have died, it was really dire and incredibly scary. Eventually, though, they were ready to release me and send me home to continue my recovery. I was so excited to get out of the hospital, to come home and be with my wonderful husband. I wanted to see my cats, to sleep in my own bed, to have my own TV and internet, to watch Netflix and play games.

I was ready to get out of the hospital, despite not being 100% better yet. It was time to leave that room in the maternity ward, escape from the less than fantastic hospital food and all the rest. Unfortunately, there was one other thing that I’d be leaving behind, and that part was rather hard – I would be coming home from the hospital, but Harley wouldn’t be yet. Continue Reading

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

If you like these words, please check out more of what I say on twitter and Facebook, and pics I take on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Pinterest.
Also, please be sure to sign up to my carefully curated, crafted and infrequent newsletter.

10 Comments Parenting, Premie

Self-censorship, podcasts and personas

Self-censorship is an intriguing thing. It’s not the same as being told that you aren’t allowed to say something, but it’s realizing that what you are about to say or do could have some unpleasant implications and therefore changing what you were going to say or do. It’s sort of different to tact in a way, but it raises some interesting follow up questions.

It’s all well and good to say that people should be honest and true to themselves, but when this can have personal and professional implications, self-censorship is often imposed. Just how much of my work life will I share here? And even though I’m sharing some of my most intimate moments with all of you as I go through pregnancy, marriage and eventual parenthood, I do sometimes wonder exactly how much I want to share and which parts of my life are better kept private. Continue Reading

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

If you like these words, please check out more of what I say on twitter and Facebook, and pics I take on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Pinterest.
Also, please be sure to sign up to my carefully curated, crafted and infrequent newsletter.

2 Comments Parenting

Is “be the bigger person” always the best lesson?

Like most people, I learned the lesson growing up that sometimes life wasn’t going to be fair. Things don’t always work out the way that we feel they should, but that it’s more about behaving as a good person that will hopefully make a difference in this world. If we all gave up on being good people, the world would go into decline – someone has to set a good example.

When I was little, my mom used to refer to this as “taking the higher path”. There are always options in life, we can behave in a myriad ways, but it’s by choosing to be a better human that we can do good and hopefully move other people to do the same. It’s important to me that I raise Harley to be a good person, but I’m wondering what that actually means. Continue Reading

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

If you like these words, please check out more of what I say on twitter and Facebook, and pics I take on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Pinterest.
Also, please be sure to sign up to my carefully curated, crafted and infrequent newsletter.

2 Comments Parenting, Rambling