The First Time Mum

There are a few strange things that happen to you whilst you’re pregnant and some random things certainly pop out of the woodwork once you’ve given birth too.

I didn’t have many cravings whilst I was pregnant, but I did suddenly go off coffee, which was a bit sad! I reverted to a good old builder’s tea in the morning to satisfy the caffeine fix. I would get full so quickly and need a wee every five minutes, which probably won’t come as a surprise to most people. I also had the worst heartburn. But considering I was growing a human, I think I got off pretty lightly with only this and no nausea or sickness. Now she is out in the fresh air and not squashing my organs, the heartburn, full bladder and stomach have disappeared.

There have been a few other changes to my skin and hair too. Whilst I was pregnant with Peggy my hair got a bit thicker, which seems to be quite common. But my skin was also so nice! I don’t wish to go back to the feeling of constantly feeling full and bloated but I would like to go back to those days of nice smooth skin. When Peggy was a few weeks old the skin on my face started to get really dry, spots started to appear, and my lips were as dry as the Sahara Desert. I hadn’t changed anything, I was moisturising every morning and night but suddenly, bam, I felt like a teenager again.

I went into our local pharmacy and they gave me some samples of moisturiser and other cream to try for my cracked lips and dry skin. Luckily it worked an absolute treat, and I would definitely recommend! The cream is called XeraCalm by Avene. I have quite sensitive skin, but I have had no problems with this, it’s just been great. They also gave me Crystaderm for my cracked lips and that cleared them up within a day.

Buy Avene XeraCalm A.D Lipid-Replenishing Cream 400ml Online at Chemist Warehouse®

Buy Crystaderm Cream 15g Online at Chemist Warehouse®

I would also love to lose some weight and if only this was as easy as fixing some dry skin! I put on around 12kg whilst I was pregnant and now four months after giving birth, I am just a few kilo’s off my previous weight. I am pretty proud of this, but God, what a slog it is! Hayden is such an amazing cook and we both love food, which makes it hard, but we try to eat as healthy as we can and it still seems to be the hardest thing. All our meat is home-kill, and I’d like to say we grow our own veggies, but unfortunately, we don’t seem to have a green finger between us. But we’re working on it!

So, mums, I just want to reassure you that all those funny things you are feeling is normal. All that extra fat that has appeared, it’s normal. Those stretch marks, they’re normal. That baby brain, it’s normal! Don’t beat yourself up, we are all in the same boat.