Motherhood Pre-Motherhood: Introduction and the TMI edition
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| Illustration of Mother and Baby by Buddy Summer |
I am very much somebody who likes to know what's going to happen before I get to that certain situation. I often feel very anxious and so knowing what will happen tends to make me feel a bit better- not not anxious anymore but better. Who knows how the anxious brain works?
It's similar to what Emma Willis said in her second interview of the podcast: "I love unicorns and rainbows but I also like to learn about rain clouds and thunderstorms".
Reading Happy Mum Happy Baby by Giovanna Fletcher way before having children myself is not something I see as unusual. I would also like to state that reading this book before any parenting guide, I feel, is a great way of learning about the process of bringing humans into the world rather than being told what/ how to do so. Learning about the experience of one mother from afar.
I'm a fan of Giovanna's books and Mrs Fletcher as a person and I found myself listening to her world in which one of the many things Gi has achieved is birthing three boys. I'm also the youngest of my family meaning that I've always been surrounded by maturity. As well as always being around young children. Discussions of babies/toddlers/teens have been in my knowledge. I'm clued up on a little bit of what it's like to have children and what the pregnancy stage is like from watching the people around me become parents. Of course, the things that I've seen have always been lovely rainbows and smiles and a little bit of thunderstorms. I don't think you really know what the reality of being a parent is like until you are actually the protector/ caregiver/ feeder / runner-after/ cuddle giver/ nurse/ midnight buddy and so much more. Reading this book, talking to the people around me and listening to the podcasts has brought me closer to learning what this journey is like. I am very interested in the mother and what experiences they have in regards to growing a human. Aren't bodies incredible?
From reading the book I found myself making notes of all the thoughts I had- and there was a lot. I couldn't just read the book as I usually would I had to get out all the thoughts that were provoked- especially since I was reading before I went to sleep. After a while, I grew the courage to read the book whilst I was out and about as I'm not a parent but the book became something I wanted to get back to in my spare moments.
In my next few posts I'm going to be sharing with you the thoughts I, young women pre-pre-pre-children had whilst reading the book and what I have learnt about all the things women experience upon starting this journey. I have absolutely no idea how many posts I will make on this subject but surely that's something to be excited about.
I'm going to share what I'm learning about motherhood from being on the outside of the experience in the hopes that others who are in the same position as me will learn something too and look at women around them in a new light.
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| Illustration by Buddy Summer |
Let's begin by delving into the TMI stuff, there's going to be a bit of TMI but where better to discuss this than on a blog in a written format that can be read and cringed at (if that's how you roll) from the comfort of a chair whatever you choose to read this?
Blood clots. one of the many happenings that don't occur in the films but something I'm sure would be alarming to find. Blood clots occur as your bodies way of having a clear out. The clots can range in size and can mean different things depending on what day after the birth it arrives and the size. It's important to contact a doctor about this if it happens to you to work out what your body is communicating to you. Google can be a great pal when you need to know about the first person to land on the moon or how to boil an egg but when it comes to some medical situations good old Google has the tendency to give misinformation. We shall forgive it for its minor floor but simply keep it for finding out what else that actors been in rather than life-altering stuff.
I'm not sure if the fact that you haven't had a period for roughly nine months has anything to do with your period after birth but it's to be expected that there's a lot of blood.
I've learnt through reading and discussing that if anything doesn't feel right, you have a bad feeling or even if its the first time becoming a mum seek help from a professional. I've read about situations where the mum puts the pain or an excess of discomfort down to the process, thinking that it's occurring because it's a new situation. I feel that humans are brilliant at knowing when something's not right and sometimes not listening to that feeling.
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| Original GIF by Buddy Summer |
A show. This is something that again is not broadcast to viewers of movies but can occur. It is referred to as a mucus plug (or as Giovanna puts it, a giant bogie) that acts as a seal to your womb whilst your pregnant. This exits out of the birth canal before labour to mark the beginning of your cervix preparing for birth. It's also referred to as a jelly-like plug, which I'd say sounds a little bit nicer.
So, that's the end of my first Happy Mum Happy Baby inspired blog post and certainly isn't the last. Expect to find more lovely TMI stuff as we look at the reality of motherhood.
I hope you've enjoyed reading it!
Lots of love,
Buddy Summer xx
PS: here is my motherhood based blog post from May last year:
Bibliography:
- Fletcher, G. (2018). Emma Willis Happy Mum Happy Baby: The Podcast. [podcast] Happy Mum Happy Baby. Available at: https://www.giovannafletcher.com/podcast/series-three/emma-willis [accessed 5 Mar. 2019].
- Fletcher, G. (2017). Happy Mum Happy Baby. Croydon: Hodder & Stoughton, P.All.
- Fletcher, G. (2019). Mummy and baby, candid moment. [image] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuuDh4WBMt4 [Accessed 23 March. 2019}
- Fletcher, G. (2019). Giovanna Fletcher surprised expression. [image] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bma76OcF1Gf/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
