Crossing the 1year mark as a mother

With G turning 1 in exactly 2weeks, I shall blog about my reflection as a young mum so far for this past year.

The first 2 months after giving birth to G was tortoruous. Having to travel back and forth to the hospital and not having my baby at home with me. I still wonder how I made it through. But I guess her stay at at the hospital let me recuperate from my c sect well and I could also establish my milk supply. I had too much milk in fact.

Having a newborn was tiring. Everything was tiny and fragile. She had lungs of steel though. She cried so loudly in the wee hours of the night. And thankfully my dogs got used to her quite quickly. Though Bullet used to bark whenever G cried.

So I spent 7months at home. Then in December I took the plunge on getting a job which took a toll on me. I missed my baby and the odd hours were horrible. So I quit after 2months and quickly enrolled into a Masters program.

Looking back I am really privileged to be able to watch G grow and witness her milestones. I was there when she could flip from back to tummy.. When she uttered her first babbles... When she could sit up... Crawl... Stand.. When she first fell off the bed...Take her swimming... Take her to play at playgrounds... Take her out almost virtually anywhere... Breastfeed her for almost a year; transitting from bottles to fully latch... Ate her first solids... Hear her first laugh. I am so lucky!

Surprisingly being a young mum I don't attract a lot of judgemental stares (or maybe I do but I don't notice it) but what I realize is people always look at G first and say how cute she is. Being 22years old and having a daughter has its advantage: at least I have graduated from university. Am currently pursuing my Masters at a young age. I can afford not to hold a full time job and witness my child grow up. Because even if I do need to have a full time job, I am just starting my career and being a junior, work responsibilities aren't as heavy. But when you are older and have a child, by then you are probably at the peak of your career and having a lot lesser time to be a mother. So I'm starting to appreciate being a full time mum.

I'm so close to G that it annoys my family sometimes cause there are times she only wants me. But all I want as a mother is to be close to my child. I want her to know she can always come to me and I will ALWAYS be there for her. Like my mum and I. Because I'm so free now, I spend so much time with my mum and its awesome! Even when I'm at my husband's house I don't miss my mum because she comes over or we go out for lunch still. I want G to have this strong close relationship too.

I was never brought up by a maid. My mum took care of my sister and I. So naturally I want my child to be brought up by her own mother too. So while I still can afford to, I'm going to make every second count.

My baby is no longer a baby but transitioning into a toddler. Oh how fast time flies... And I thank God she is healthy and growing so well. She has already achieved so much in a year. I can't wait to see what other amazing stuff she will do. Mummy and daddy loves you G. Our precious Lil angel...