Brilliant Mum Feature Week 25
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 Tessa who blogs at Grumpy Mum.
Tessa lives in Swindon with her beautiful baby girl, partner and step-son. After maternity leave she decided to take a year out and is currently trying to make a living from home so that she can spend more time with her family. Before being a mum, Tessa tried everything from Medieval Reenactment, to music festivals, to aerial acrobatics, but she’s now happy living a quiet life writing and looking after her baby.
Thanks for taking part Tessa!
Have you always wanted to be a mum?
Yes, although I’ve never been very maternal. Before having my own baby I wouldn’t coo over other peoples babies as I thought they were a bit noisy and drooly. Now I have my own baby and she is noisy and drooly but she’s also the most beautiful, wonderful creature in the world.
How did you feel when your children were born?
The lead up to the birth of my daughter was a little stressful. I had been in and out of observation for per-eclamsia for a couple of weeks and my blood pressure was all over the place however to begin with we thought everything would be normal.
I started having contractions in the afternoon and by the early hours of the morning they were strong enough that we decided to go to hospital. While we were there the contractions slowed but they were a little concerned about my blood pressure and took a blood test before sending me home.
We were back by midday the following day when they told me I hadn’t progressed but as both my blood pressure and bloods were a concern they were going to induce me. The plan was to break my waters, get me to walk around for a couple of hours and then start a drip… That was the plan, however after they broke my waters things started within about 10 minutes.
I only had gas and air although apparently I kept asking for a epidural and then changing my mind. After about 3 hours of labor things started to go wrong. My body started to push but the junior midwife decided that I wasn’t far enough along. They gave me an injection to slow things down but then my blood pressure went through the roof and my baby started to get distressed. After I was given something to reduce my blood pressure a senior midwife was brought in and immediately overturned the decision to stop me pushing and my baby was born practically straight away.
My first feeling when Baby was born was absolute terror. She didn’t cry immediately and as the junior midwife had been shouting at me that I was going to hurt my baby for the past hour, I was terrified that I had done exactly that. But she very quickly found her voice and was unceremoniously plonked on my chest. The next few hours went by in a blur of exhaustion, dizziness (because of all the blood pressure medication they had given me) and fear that I had no idea how to take care of this small wiggly creature. Luckily, by morning all of that had passed and I finally relaxed into being a mum.
What have been your most rewarding experiences so far as a mum?
Watching every tiny developmental leap Baby makes. For example, yesterday Baby rolled from back to front intentionally for the first time. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen!
What are some of your funniest moments to have happened to you as a mum?
I didn’t find it funny at the time but on our first trip out baby decided to poop while I was changing her nappy, it went everywhere, so I cleaned it up and changed her nappy again but as soon as the clean nappy was under her she did it again. We carried on like that for about half an hour, she got through about 10 nappies and 3 changes of clothes and I was seriously starting to panic. It was like a comedy sketch and to this day I still have no idea how one baby can create that much poop!
Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?
The most challenging situation has been when I had flu but still had to look after Baby. I was so ill, achy and tired but I still had to do everything I normally would and that was a real struggle.
What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
That’s a hard question. Mostly I want her to be happy and have the opportunity to go out into the world and do something she really enjoys. Because of my family circumstances I feel that I didn’t have the support to do this and I often find myself wondering what I might have achieved had I had more support and encouragement.
You can find Tessa online here…
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