parenting

Fortnightly Photos VI

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

Hey,

I am backdating a couple of posts because my manic life has meant that I completely lost track of time and space, and my dedication to myself and this blog has been at a level 0. I have been taking photos, of my son, my husband and clients, but finding the time to write hasn’t been a priority, and so I have let is slide.

My last post was in the middle of October, and so now, these are my top photos from the end of October.

It was a busy month, after Theo Prana’s sickness bug, H’s friend Charley came up to visit, and H had a few surprise days off work so we had a few really good days out. He went away for a few days afterwards, and since we were preparing for his sea time, I decided to try to do a “See you soon Daddy” photoshoot with bubba – I even made DIY bunting!

The end of month has zoomed round and now we are over halfway through November, which has also been a busy month for photos – but that is for my next post.

Thanks for sticking with me,

xoxo

R

Student Motherhood & Me: Guest Post by The MummyBou Chronicles

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

Hello,

I am collecting stories of student motherhood, to normalise the experience and to help new student mums (whether at school, college, university or later in life), feel that the struggles they go through are normal; something I think I’d have benefited from in my own experiences. Therefore, I am reaching out and asking for help – if you are/were a student mum – or dad! – then please contact me, I would love to hear your story, and share it if you’ll let me.

A huge thank you to Michaela, my first guest in this venture. Michaela has a fantastic blog called The MummyBou Chronicles where she blogs about motherhood, student motherhood, travel and much more. Once you’re done here, go check out her blog!

Without further ado, here is her Q&A about student mum life: 

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Introduce yourself :

I’m Michaela, I’m a 28-year-old mum to Mayarna and wife to be to OJ. I live in a little town called Huddersfield and I have my own Events Management business called MJM Events Management. I have recently become an Independent Usborne Organiser and run Michaela’s Magical World of Tales.

How did you feel finding out you were pregnant? What were the circumstances?

I was over the moon to find out I was pregnant! Me and OJ had thought about trying, not realising I was already pregnant when we started (haha!). I had been out for a couples dinner and something told me the next morning to do a test. It was positive but I didn’t believe it until I went to the Doctors 2 weeks later. I had wanted to be a mum for as long as I can remember, so finding out I was pregnant was amazing news not just for me but OJ and both our families.

What was your pregnancy like? Were there any highlight moments or struggles? How did you cope?

My pregnancy was straightforward until roughly 6 months. I got pelvic girdle pain which was where my nerves were getting trapped from the pressure of my baby and my bones were pushing against each other. Some days I would seize up and couldn’t get out of bed. I was given a crutch to help me walk in the end of my pregnancy as it started to get bad. Plus it was winter time so the cold did not help.

But I loved my bump and I loved feeling my princess growing inside me and her kicks getting stronger each day. I also loved seeing her on the scans. That was awesome! Me and OJ were amazed every time to see just how active she was.

The first weeks of motherhood, what were they like?

The first weeks of motherhood were overwhelmingly emotional.

I knew I’d be tired but I felt like I’d been hit by a truck! I was absolutely drained, loss of appetite and felt very tender. Plus I was breastfeeding and my breast were super tender. I felt like I wasn’t coping at all and cried for nearly every day in the first month. I was overwhelmed by everything; my birth was long and tiring and I didn’t sleep for a week afterwards as I kept thinking about it and crying. But I had excellent support from OJ, my parents and my siblings and also my health visitor who was fantastic.

Going back to study; did you want to? How did you feel? How did you juggle everything?

In regards to studying, I decided I wanted to get my degree in Events Management so I could gain more experience in Events and open my own business. I started a distant learning online Access course whilst I was pregnant and took a 2 month break when I had my little girl. But it was overwhelming! The course was super hard and it was stressing me out. I recently realised that I don’t  need a degree to open my own business (the main reason I was going to university). I gave up my access course and I am now studying an online Start Your Own Business course which is perfect. I study for 2 hours a day when Mayarna sleeps and it’s so much more relaxed. Once I complete that I will do an online Events course instead which will be so much more suitable for me. Studying with a baby is difficult and I recommend having a good support system or time management skills because it is very easy to fall behind, as I know too well!

Where are you now in your life/studies? Do you have any plans for the future?

My future plans are to complete my studies and focus on building my business up. It’s not easy but I do it for my family and to carry out my dream.

Thank’s for reading – please reach out if you have a story you’d like to share! 

Xox

R

Fortnightly Photos II

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

Round 2 of posting my favourite photos from the fortnight; I have some others but haven’t managed to process them yet so these are my top 10 from what I’ve got:

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This one is my favourite

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I am loving using my DSLR and learning each time I use it.

I also feel myself noticing how I take photos and what I want in them, more than snapping away blindly. This project is one I am glad I’ve given myself.

Will post round 3 in a couple of weeks.

xoxox

R

Surviving the First Year of Parenthood; Long-distance

| Rohana Aisha Dewfall

This week Theo Prana and I had a beautiful week with H. He visited Gibraltar to celebrate our baby boy’s first birthday, and though we didn’t really do a very big party

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or even get him any gifts, the fact that we were together was enough. We decided that since Theo doesn’t really know what birthday celebrations are yet, and he has so many clothes and toys, that just spending time together and making memories was more important. My dad had his camera on him, and I have recently picked mine up too, so the days have definitely not gone undocumented.

H and I spoke about lots this week, and before he left, I asked him to send me something small about his first year, and how, despite the distance, he’s managed it. It’s the first time he’s ever had an input into this blog, but hopefully not the last! The content is his, but the words are mine… he was in Scotland while Theo and I were in Portsmouth.

Here are the 4 ways H survived the first year of fatherhood:

1. Video Calls! Lots of them, through Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype or any other form of social media. Video calling made a big difference, even when there wasn’t a lot to say. Sometimes it was just nice to be able to have the line open and watch, but other times, just watching was harder than having no contact.

2. Photos. Having a wife that doesn’t put her camera down helps. Getting bombarded with photos meant seeing what they (baby and R) had been up to. It allowed me to be involved and included even though I wasn’t physically there. *

*Or when we are together, we get snaps like these!

3. Being busy. This meant doing anything that kept my mind ticking; diving in head first to things that allowed me to forget about reality. Often this was games (much to the annoyance of my wife!) because they kept me sane.

4. Being with people who get it. My job allowed me to be surrounded by other people who understand the harsh reality of long distance relationships, and the difficulty that comes with being away from family. The situation was still not completely normal, but having some of it understood helped.

My lack of understanding about the reality of long-distance parenthood has proved a topic of contention between H and I, but this week, I feel like after many many conversations, I feel like we are on a new level. I am in Gibraltar for a few more weeks while I work, but will soon head home, closing the distance once and for all.

Thank you H for allowing me to feature you on this post, and thank you to all of our family, friends and extended village, for the continued support.

Xoxo