It’s been a year of much writing, but not so much on my blog. Gone are the days of churning out one post a week. Partly because time is scarce, partly because there’s less emotional turmoil to digest and spit out in black and white. It’s a cliche to talk about my journey as a single…
Birth
What Pregnant Women Really Need To Know
Trigger warning – this post talks about baby loss. With so many advice posts, pregnancy columns and antenatal classes out there you’d assume that all the ‘need to know’ points for pregnant women are covered. The thing is though, they often stick to the fluffy bits, or the stuff that ‘sells’, with a light touch…
Recovering From A Breakdown
Trigger warning, talks about mental ill-health, baby loss, separation and the struggles of motherhood. Recently I saw an incredible piece of performance art by Bryony Kimmings; I’m a Phoenix, Bitch. It had me in tears almost from the first second I walked through the door (which admittedly was about fifteen minutes after the show had…
17 Things Parents of Big Babies Understand
Having a big baby is both a blessing and a curse. If you’ve had one, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. 1. You’re fed up with the comments and questions. Does it really matter how tall his dad is*? No, I’m not over feeding him. If you look a little closer you will tell…
14 Real Life Tips For Bonding with Baby
Trigger warning: traumatic birth and baby bonding. It’s rare that I write an advice peace, I’m no expert after all. However, there’s a few experiences I’ve gone through which, when I’ve turned to google or others, I’ve found the advice severely lacking, or unhelpful. Experts who haven’t experienced the challenges they write about, often don’t…
My Writing In Review: 2018
2018 hasn’t been quite as busy writing wise as 2017 was; thirty posts, not including this one. I did make a baby though, so it’s not too bad going. The year started with a post about new years resolutions – a promise to myself to be a little more selfish when it came to who…
A Family of Three: Six Months On
Somehow, my baby is six months already. Six months. Six months of parenting two and I’m not sure what to say. I read other posts about such milestones. They focus on the ups and downs of the baby and child bonding, of the conflicts of loving two littles, and of the exhaustion of doing it…
Adjusting to life with two children
Adjusting to two children as a one parent family is like fighting to reach the end of one of those bungee jump runs; with the tension running both ways. I could analyse the whys and wherefores of my struggle to bond with the baby. How thinking my baby was taken at birth placed a barrier between…
Birth – the untold story
Content warning. This post talks openly about a traumatic birth and some readers may find this triggering. There are some support links at the end of the post. I want to talk about birth. Not the airbrushed, publicised, perfect birth. The un-sanitised, unspoken, unseen. I want to unleash the truth of my son’s birth; expel it…
Bonding with my newborn: A story backwards
When you see that new mum rocking it – multitasking and then some – fulfilling every need of their newborn and other children to boot, don’t be fooled. Going through the motions says nothing about what’s going on inside our hearts and heads. Here’s a small snapshot into the bonding process of me and my…