Brilliant Mum Feature: Week 3
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 Hayley. Hayley is a 30 year old (gulp) mum of one living in Devon with her husband, son and dog. She started blogging in 2016 when her son was born and it kept her sane through maternity leave. In January 2017 Hayley went back to work part-time as Content Marketing Director for a local company. Hayley saying it’s taken some adjusting to going back to work and being part-time! In the limited spare time she has, Hayley likes to drag the dog around the countryside, attempt to cook and watch trashy TV shows. Hayley blogs at Devon Mama.
Thanks for taking part Hayley!
Have you always wanted to be a mum?
Yes. There’s no part of my forward imagining that didn’t include having children in it. I’ve never had a specific number or age gap in mind, or even known what I would like to have, just that I want to be a mum at some stage in my life. Now look at me!
How did you feel when your children were born?
My labour was very late (10 days overdue) and very quick, we only just made it to the hospital on time. I actually found it quite overwhelming at the time to go from believing he would never arrive to being faced with a baby just a couple of hours later. When I first held him, I remember thinking that it didn’t seem real. I was knelt in the birth pool, the water was bright red from a small tear and I had this purple skinned, dark haired, cone-head of a creature in my arms. I was just completely in shock! It took me a couple of minutes to get my head around it, I got out of the pool and lay on the bed holding him. The rest of the night my husband fell asleep and I just stayed there, perfectly still taking in every little moment of this new being that I’d made. It was overwhelming and incredible all at once.
What have been your most rewarding experiences so far as a mum?
The look of pride on his face when he achieves something. When he first sat, first crawled, first stood, even his first steps… the look that he has is just incredible. I feel so proud of him in those moments, it’s an amazing feeling to see someone do those things for the first time and to be the face that he seeks out to share it with.
What are some of your funniest moments to have happened to you as a mum?
Like most parents, they’re normally related to unfortunate incidents that have happened to us. The most recent being a projectile vomit situation right at the end of his swimming lesson. My husband was holding him one minute and the next thing I know people are scrabbling for the side and the teacher’s shouting about safe evacuations. Thirty seconds later in the changing room he was laughing and crawling around like nothing had happened. I look back now and laugh about it but it was anything BUT funny in the moment!
Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?
When my son was two weeks old, he fell ill with an infection. He was crying all night and wouldn’t settle, a quick check told us his temperature was over 40 degrees. 111 were wonderful but the doctor who eventually came to us told us we were overreacting and it was colic. The next morning he still wasn’t right so we went to hospital and waited 2 hours to be seen. Within a couple of minutes of seeing the doctor we had an blue light ambulance ride to the larger hospital and ended up in Paediatric ICU. It was the worst week of my life. I have never felt so helpless in any situation before or after. Thankfully he recovered and we were supported by the brilliant staff there but it’s made me nervous every time he’s unwell now. Like any parent, my biggest fear is losing him and I’m well aware that we were close to that at one point.
What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
It’s a cliche but I want him to be happy. I don’t care if he’s a doctor or unemployed, I want him to be happy with his life and feel loved. I think if you can have that then you’re a pretty lucky person
You can find Hayley online here…
If you’ve been featured as a brilliant mum and would like to share this badge on your blog, please do!
