I wish someone told me the truth about being a new mum – why doesn’t anyone mention how freaking hard it is?
The hardest thing about being a new mum for me is the lack of time and the way I doubt and second guess everything I do – it drives me crazy! My mind is always foggy and I can’t handle it if you throw too many things my way.
Hercule is now 5 months old, and despite being the centre of my universe he takes up all my time and attention – and so he should. However, this means to cope; I have had to drop everything else.
I don’t want Hercule to change who I am – even being called a ‘mum’ feels strange. Another thing that bothers me is the fact that I haven’t lost my pregnancy weight. I feel huge and can’t believe how different my fitness levels are now compared to when I wasn’t pregnant. I have so much work ahead of me if I want to get back to feeling and looking hot. Of course, I realise the way I feel right now is temporary, so I keep reminding myself just how lucky I am to have such a healthy, happy and cheeky baby boy.
Besides these struggles, I’m also always thinking about what am I going to do next in my life? Being a new mum isn’t enough for me, so I need to decide if I’m going have another baby, will I still go ahead with the plans to redesign my blog or do I work full-time on Capriess? At this stage, everything is up in the air, and I’m okay with that as I’ve given myself until the end of the year to decide.
An upside to this new shift in my life is that I’ve found myself an accountability buddy. After a business event, I attended last month, I met someone who is full of life and energy and who has agreed to make me accountable to the things I set out to achieve both personally and professionally.
Here are some things that I’ve done to cope during this very challenging time in my life:
– Treat myself – Even if it’s only a massage once a month, or a 10-minute meditation session at home. It’s important to get that time for myself without Hercule so I can reset and reflect.
– Exercise – I’m trying to stretch and walk as much as I can, but it’s difficult as Hercule doesn’t sleep during the day. I must get my discipline back and make sure I do something for my fitness every week.
– Simplify everything – I’ve cut all the unnecessary clutter to create a more peaceful and calm environment. Some of the things I’ve done include unsubscribed to unimportant emails, turned off notifications on my phone, got an Apple watch and have started to say no to things that are not important like social events.
– Minimising my social media – I’m not making money from the content I post on social media now, so why should I be on it any more than I should? The worse thing I can do, when feeling a bit down, is to scroll through other people’s lives.
What are some of the hardest challenges you faced when you had your first baby?
