Confessions of a New Mum - Guest Post by Holly | Motherhood


This is the sixth guest post from other bloggers about their memories of being a new Mum. If you would like to write a post for this series let me know in the comments or send me an email to kylie(@)kyliepurtell(dot)com

This is a guest post by former blogger Good Golly Miss Holly, otherwise known as Holly Bicknell.

Everyone told me the second baby was a breeze.

They lied.

By Amelia's first birthday, I was newly pregnant with our second baby.

Since hindsight is a bitch of a thing, I now realise that aside from wanting to rock and roll all night and party every day, Amelia was a pretty cruisy baby. However, being a first time mum, I thought anything less than 7 hours sleep was horrendous and the fact that my baby wouldn't follow that feed-play-sleep routine meant I was doing it tough - and I pretty much complained to all and sundry about it.

It seems to be a general consensus among the masses that if your first baby was tricky then your second would be a breeze, and people often consoled me with that fact when I was pregnant with Oscar.

"Oh don't worry, babe. You've had your bad sleeper, your colic baby. This new baby will be an absolute walk in the park!"

I took that myth on and wrapped myself up in, like a big fluffy blanket of LIES AND NONSENSE! I was going to make second time motherhood my bitch!!!

When Oscar was born, he quickly settled into a rhythm of catnapping around the clock, frequent feeding and screaming in pain for hours on end after 5pm every. single. day. I checked us into sleep school when he was a mere 6 weeks old. Second babies were a cinch so obviously I must have been doing something wrong? Seems second time motherhood was intent on making me its bitch and not the other way around like I had planned. Not cool.

Turns out Oscar suffered from terrible bad silent reflux as well having a dairy and gluten intolerance. Since dairy and gluten are like my favourite food groups, Oscar was getting a steady stream of it through my breastmilk and experiencing a steady stream of discomfort and pain. Awesome.

Assuming once we had my diet and his reflux sorted, I pictured myself settling into the role of the calm second time mother goddess that had been promised to me. All zen and cucumber cool. Yup, didn't happen.

It was at that point I realised the second baby was not guaranteed to be a breeze.

I would not have changed him for the world but those ridiculous expectations I'd nurtured throughout my entire pregnancy and a big chunk of his first year meant I was constantly convinced we weren't doing it right - and I didn't enjoy that amazing time like I should have.

So my friends, if anyone ever promises you that your next baby is going to be the easiest that ever eased, you best be giving them a kick in the shins.
motherhood second time around
There's three of them now, and what they lack in ease they make up for in cuteness!
Motherhood is never guaranteed to be a breeze, but well, at least you know it's worth it!

Previous Confessions...
Confessions of a New Mum Part One - Learning Curves and 'Un'Enjoyment
Confessions of a New Mum Part Two - Stitched Up
Confessions of a New Mum Part Three - The Part-time SAHM
Confessions of a New Mum Part Four - Mum Appreciation
Confessions of a New Mum Part Five - Losing My Confidence
Confessions of a New Mum - Kelly from Handmade Tears and Triumphs (Guest Post)
Confessions of a New Mum - Bron from Big Brother, Little Sister & the Baby (Guest Post)
Confessions of a New Mum - Jenn from Mountains & Musings (Guest Post)



Comments

Amy Wells said…
Ah, how love thee Holly.... I love your honesty, your frankness and your sense of humour, even with the struggles!
Kelly HTandT said…
Oh honey, I feel your pain! A gluten and dairy intolerance would have been a NIGHTMARE! But you got through it my dear, and you're using it to warn the rest of us - bless you! My 2nd child was a silent refluxer too. Oh.My.God. Wasn't fun, but he grew so fast, and now I figure that one day he'll come crying to me about his own shit of a child and I'll be all "Karma baby boy! KARMA!" xxx
Robyn (Mrs D) said…
Great post! I'm nodding my head in agree as I'm trying to read this and settle a "she's not my best friend anymore!!!" argument between my 3 year old madam and her little friend! Gotta love 'em!! Otherwise we'll loose our sanity. (Popping over from 'With some Grace FYBF')
shari said…
They have the cuteness thing all sewn up Holly!! I'm thinking it's only ever easy yeeeeeears down the track when your memory starts to go ...
Kirsty @ My Home Truths said…
Yep, I get this. I was pregnant with number 2 before number 1 turned a year old and wasn't that fun! My number 2 was also my "problem" child with feeding issues initially and ongoing sleep issues as well. But that didn't stop me having number 3 and we're finally getting there. Although after nearly 9 years of broken sleep I would like a couple of full nights' sleep a week...that would be rather pleasant!
Emily @ Have a laugh on me said…
My 3rd is probably the hardest yet, mine have had reflux, kidney problems, minor surgeries etc etc. but thankfully nothing major or life threatening, just bloody hard work :)
Grace Titioka said…
They used to say to me, "It gets easier when they're 6 months". Then they'd say the same thing for 12 months, then 2 years...and I'm still bloody waiting!!! And funnily enough, not one of these people ever had twins!
Kylie Purtell said…
Oh I am just reading this now. I didn't know you had a baby with dairy intolerance Holly! I would have bombarded you with questions when we were working out Lior's!
And stories like this is why I only want to have one kid. I can't imagine doing it all again and having the same difficulties as with Lior, or worse, having a MORE difficult baby!

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