Last January was not a good month for me. I was a brand new mum with a tiny newborn trying to get to grips with this huge change to my life.
Trying and failing.
Failing and drowning.
I’ve blogged many times about my experience of feeling completely overwhelmed, suffering with some form of Post Natal Depression and untimely hitting rock bottom.
Gradually, things improved. The light returned and with the help of my family, through writing this blog and through accepting that I wasn’t the same person anymore, the fog began to clear slowly.
There’s a sagely quote out there somewhere, that says something to the effect of ‘once a baby is born, a mother is also born.’
Before I gave birth I would have dismissed that as complete poppycock, but now being on the other side of the coin, I wholehearted agree with it. There really can often be a loss of identity when a women becomes a mum for the first time, and in my case this certainly fed into my own feelings of begin overwhelmed.
Thankfully, this January is miles away from where I was last year. I’m feeling better and I’m finding out who I am! That said I’m still very much a novice when it comes to this mammy business… there’s still plenty of tough days, but I’m trying.
Writing has been a huge part of my recovery, but this year I’m also branching out and finding my voice, so to speak with my new Podcast and indeed a couple of turns on the radio. It’s been a real confidence booster and I’m surprised to learn that it’s just as cathartic for me as the writing has been.
I was delighted to head over to East Coast FM's Morning Show to chat with the lovely Declan Meehan on Wednesday to chinwag about my new podcast, the blog and all things motherhood.
In fact we chatted… (er ranted!) about everything from post-natal depression, to my ire over those who misuse the parent and child car parking spaces, to dog poop and pram wheels!
It was great fun and if you missed it live you can listen back here.
I’ll be popping in again in the coming weeks, so keep your ears peeled. In the meantime you can catch my weekly podcast over on iTunes and Soundcloud.