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Why welcoming my beautiful daughter into the world was the most terrifying day of my life
I almost died when my sweet baby girl was born at 27 weeks. It’s a miracle we both survived. My friends and family have always said: “Lucy, you were born to be a mum.” I wholeheartedly believe that to be true. But it’s astonishing to me, to think that the very thing I was born to do almost killed me. The most magical moment of my life was when I became a mum, in November 2019. As I held my beautiful son in my arms, breathing in his gorgeous newborn scent, his tiny fingers wrapped tightly around mine, I felt a love like never before. In that moment, in my…
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Mind Your Own T*ts
When Theo was born via caesarean, I felt like a failure. The terminology thrown around whilst I tried to “push” didn’t help. I was told I’d “failed to progress” in labour, and that I’d “failed” to push the half a centimetre of cervix back to allow Theo to be born (after almost twenty hours of labour, I’d dilated to nine and a half centimetres – so close yet so far from the birthing experience I’d envisioned). So, the distinct feeling of failure was instilled in me before I was even taken to theatre. Then came breastfeeding. Two hours after Theo was born, he was finally placed on my bare chest…
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Talking Point: Why Do Men Feel Pushed Out By Their Children?
I recently read this article, about how former Corrie star Ryan Thomas feels less of a priority in fiancée Lucy Mecklenburgh’s life since they welcomed their gorgeous little boy Roman into the world. Ryan said: “I want the old Lucy back sometimes. It’s not that she’s not there – it’s just I’m not the main priority any more. Roman comes first. I just miss that. I said to her the other day: ‘Shall we just go away, the two of us? Let’s go away for like a long weekend or something’, and she’s going: ‘Oh I can’t because I’m feeding.’ I’m like, I just want to escape our parenting for…
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Talking Point: Smear Tests
In January last year, I received the letter. You know, the one all women dread landing on their doorstep when they hit the grand old age of 25? I’d given birth six weeks earlier, so the thought of anybody poking around made me feel incredibly anxious. I was still ridiculously sore from my caesarean, and if I’m being totally honest, it was a bit of a mess down there. It was an enormous relief to me when I called to book an appointment, and was told by my doctor that my smear was being delayed for a couple of months, to allow me more time to physically recover from childbirth.…
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Mum Guilt & Why You Should ALWAYS Trust That You’re Doing An Incredible Job
From the moment I found out I was pregnant with Theo, he was at the very heart of absolutely everything I did. On the same day that I got my first positive pregnancy test result (and I was so early on in my pregnancy that I’d had negatives up until the day before) I climbed into a bath full of bubbles and caressed my tummy, imagining my little poppyseed sized baby growing inside me. From that moment until my 12 week scan, it took EVERY bit of restraint I had to avoid making baby related purchases. I IMMEDIATELY ordered wallpaper samples for the nursery. And I couldn’t even finish a…
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DIY: Mermaid/Galactic rice for messy play
I will always be a mum who likes to get stuck right into messy play with Theo, and I am always looking for new, creative ideas to keep him entertained. Juggling a full-time job and also finding time to be a cool, fun mum is not without its challenges, particularly when you’re living through a global pandemic. So, I was incredibly excited when a five-minute experiment whilst making a cuppa in between virtual client meetings turned out brilliantly. To begin with, I spooned uncooked basmati rice into a clean ice cube tray. Quantity doesn’t really matter – use as much or as little as you like! I bought this multipack…
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The Loneliness of Being a New Mum
Motherhood is wonderful, beautiful, magical. Every time I look at Theo’s happy little face, I feel so overwhelmed with joy that I could cry. I am so blessed. Every day, I ask him: “How did I get so lucky to be your mummy, Theo?” But it’s irresponsible to say every second of motherhood is easy, or even enjoyable. Amongst many challenges new mums face, motherhood can be incredibly isolating – which is something nobody ever prepared me for. But in hindsight, I wish I’d embraced those early, intense, lonely days more. And if you’re a new or expectant mummy, I’m here to tell you that those overwhelmingly lonely early days…
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How I lost Weight After Giving Birth
I feel it’s important that I start this post by making it clear that I never had the intention of losing weight quickly after having Theo. It just wasn’t on my agenda. I have spent so much of my adult life trying to slim down, and have tried everything from detox teas (which I strongly advise against), laxatives (so dangerous) and of course the traditional and ONLY safe and effective methods – healthy eating and regular exercise. But I’m human. I love chocolate and I certainly don’t want to spend every single second of my free time in the gym. So, like most women, my weight has fluctuated in a…
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My Pregnancy: Labour and Baby Bear’s Arrival
Throughout my pregnancy, I attended hypnobirthing workshops and repeated positive affirmations as if by ritual in the hopes these would help me to have the most natural birthing experience I possibly could. But from the moment it was decided that I would be induced, I knew this textbook natural birth I’d hoped for might not (and probably wouldn’t) go to plan. And although I was, admittedly, a little bit disappointed, I was too excited to meet my little boy to worry too much about how he would get here, and vowed to stay positive regardless. I knew that being induced would mean I’d be hooked up to monitors and –…
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My Pregnancy: Being Induced
When I discovered I was pregnant, I was absolutely overjoyed. I pictured gorgeous little shopping trips for baby essentials with my mum and sister, pushing my swaddled little cherub around the park in his pram, and snuggling up together for some precious skin-to-skin contact at nap time. But it wasn’t just the sweet, cookie-cutter parts of new motherhood that I daydreamed about. What if I pooped during the ‘pushing’ stage? What if I tore front-to-back and was left walking like John Wayne? What if, what if, what if. There are so many unknowns when it comes to pregnancy and labour, and so much of it is totally out of our…
