Brilliant Mum Feature Week 24
Hello and welcome to the Brilliant Mum Feature. Once a week I will be featuring one mum in a bid to find out more about them and their lives.
If you’d like to take part in this series, simply fill in this form.
This week our brilliant mum feature is Leigh-Ann who blogs at Fairleigh.
Leigh-Ann is a 25-year-old South African turned Brit. Leigh-Ann and her left sunny Cape Town two years ago, to be with their family in England. They now live in a quiet little village just outside of Peterborough and they say it’s a lovely change of pace.
They welcomed their first child, Seth, on the 1st of December 2016 and have been in that ‘newborn bubble’ ever since. Leigh-Ann says that she used to have a ‘proper job’, but due to her son’s health they’ve decided it’s better for her to be at home. Leigh-Ann says she’s very grateful that she can freelance and spend time with her cutie pie. She tries to blog when she gets the time, but there never really seems to be time anymore.
Thanks for taking part Leigh-Ann!
Have you always wanted to be a mum?
Honestly, I never gave it much thought. I was too busy to think about it – selling your house and everything in it to start your life over in a new country is all consuming. I had this horrible stomach bug for five weeks that wouldn’t ease up but it turned out to be a little wriggly baby in my tummy that was making me sick. Seth was the biggest, most epic surprise of our lives and we could not be happier.
We were incredibly thankful then, that pregnancy ‘just happened’ for us, but we are even more thankful now that we have him because we’ve since found out that any future pregnancies would require IVF. It also makes his name more fitting as it means ‘The Chosen One’.
How did you feel when your children were born?
Labour was very difficult for me because he was back to back but once I was able to (finally) get an epidural it was magical. Even though I had to be rushed into theater for a forceps delivery, I still had this complete sense of calm and serenity (probably all the meds). I had never felt such purpose before. It was like I was doing something I was always destined to do.
I was shaking quite violently from the epidural so I asked that my fiancé hold him first instead. I’m so glad I did this because seeing the doctor pass our beautiful little boy over to Charl is one of my most treasured memories. It was like a scene out of The Lion King… but then again, I was high as a kite.
What have been your most rewarding experiences so far as a mum?
He’s still a teeny-weeny baby but so far it’s been his first giggle. We were both pulling silly faces at him when it happened and I’m quite sure I wasn’t the only one fighting back the happy tears.
What are some of your funniest moments to have happened to you as a mum?
When he was two months old, he made the loudest, most smelly poop in the history of all poops. It would have been fine if we were at home but instead he waited until we popped into the tiny pharmacy in the village, which is notoriously slow. He stank up the small space in a matter of seconds and they have no changing facilities. Everyone heard it, and boy, did they smell it. The pharmacist made quick with his prescription though.
Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?
There are many, due to his health. Germs are a very big problem for him so whenever we go to the doctor we have to wait separately and make sure we don’t come into contact with too many ill people or dirty, germy surfaces.
Going into town is especially difficult, not only because of all the things he gets exposed to, but also because people don’t seem to understand that it’s not OK to touch a stranger’s child. He’s quite cute, if I do say so myself, and LOVES to smile at strangers so I don’t think they can really stop the urge to lean in and grab his cheek. It happens more often than I ever expected and I constantly have to do a backwards shuffle and tell people off.
What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
Above anything, I want him to lead a normal life despite the challenges that he’s going to face, health wise. I never want him to feel different, in a bad way, or special because of it. I don’t want it to define him or the way other people treat him.
You can find Leigh-Ann online here…
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