For me, being a mother means I have the complete privilege of raising the children that have been given and entrusted to me. I fully believe that children are a gift and I don't take that honour lightly. I get to inspire them, I get to encourage them, but most importantly, being a mother means that I get to be the person that they will run to when they are hurt, I get to be the person that answers their questions, and I get to love them unconditionally. For the first part of their lives, I am their whole world and that is a big responsibility. I get to share all my dreams and aspirations that I have for my family and guide them into being the best people that they can be.
I pray for my children every day and I want them to grow up being very aware of their surroundings and responding in kindness, empathy and love. I want them to grow up knowing that they have incredible privilege and to be thankful for even the smallest of things.
Myself, I had a wonderful family upbringing growing up in a Christian home and I grew up seeing the role of a mother to be admirable. We ate every night around the family table, were taught to save our money, went to church every Sunday and were all encouraged to pursue a higher education - all of which are things I intend to instil into my family in my role as a mother.
My mother taught me a lot about sacrifice but it wasn't until I became a mother myself that I truly realised the sacrifices she made for me and my sisters growing up. My mother gave up a lot of things to raise us at home and taught me the value of family and the value of a strong family. My mother for as long as I can remember has been very quick to help others and that is still something I admire in her.
My pregnancy had various complications being a twin pregnancy but regardless of that I loved being pregnant (95% of the time!). I absolutely loved the feeling of them moving around and it never ceased to amaze me just how amazing pregnancy really is and how precious life is. I felt like my birth was quite traumatic and it was not what I had envisioned for the 9 months leading up to it, but the moment my first baby was placed on my chest I knew that what I been through had been worth it and it gave me some momentum and empowerment to start pushing again! I felt the most bonded with my babies after I started breastfeeding them and it is a bond that is incomparable with any other relationship.
The first time that I held my babies, I knew a love that I can't explain! For the whole 9 months you feel your babies moving around, you talk to them, you touch them, they kick you back and they go everywhere with you. So when you first meet them its almost like a sense of familiarity like "oh hello its you". You already feel so connected to them so that 'motherly love' upon first seeing their face is just quite overwhelming. There are no words.
Motherhood has definitely made me more instinctive and more aware of my surroundings. My days are now planned around feeds and naps, and play time and cleaning up little messes, but I honestly wouldn't change it for anything. I love this new season in my life and I love that I have the privilege of taking care and nurturing my babies. My husband and I have tried not to stop our lives - we try to still do the things we previously enjoyed before they came along such as camping and going on trips away as I believe it is so important to make wonderful memories as a family early on. There are obviously difficult days/nights and when I feel tired and the babies are sick or unsettled, I just think to myself, "they are never going to be this little again. Tomorrow they will just be that little bit bigger, that little bit older, and because of that I will cherish this moment regardless of how I'm feeling".
