Today was my first Mother’s Day as a mother. Poor Baby A was sick, sneezy, coughy, snotty with a hoarse voice and not feeling well. My husband was at work for a long 12 hour shift. Motherhood is not a glamourous affair. It is challenging, it takes all that I have.

My intention is not to come across as being ungrateful for the gift that I have, I know I am lucky to have a baby, to have a husband, to have a family. I just think that all too often, people gloss over the hardships that also go with having a baby. The sleepless nights, the sleep deprivation that becomes the new normal, the constant laundry due to slobber, vomit, pee, poo, for both bub and us. The necessity of always looking after someone else and having them be completely dependent upon you. The comforting of a bub when all you really want to do is crawl into bed and sleep yourself, but you cannot, you will not because someone else is counting on you. There are so many sacrifices that happen and I think we just jump to “well at least you have a healthy baby” comment or the half hearted threat that if you don’t enjoy this time now then you’ve missed out on the supposed glory days that you create by having a child, a baby.

There are so many really sweet quiet times. There are moments when I just hold baby and marvel at how perfect he is. There are times when his smile just melts my heart. There are times when we are looking into the mirror and I see him see himself and see him smile at himself because he’s now discovering who he is apart from me. The new discoveries he makes regularly keep it so interesting and precious. All of it is so precious.

So even though my husband was away and my baby was sick and I was at home all day with him, it was still a good Mother’s Day because I am a mother and this is how life is now. <3