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Day 10 - Sink or Swim 

Today is that day. The day after you have a baby that is sent to test your true strength. Today, Arthur is ten days old and this Is the day that is throwing everything at me, goading me, trying to break me. Well, its midday and I haven’t reached for the gin.  Instead I’m laying in bed with my beautiful daughter watching trolls, enjoying a (hot) coffee and writing my blog. So guess what!?  You didn’t beat me!! I’m made of stronger stuff than that!! It started at 2am this morning. I woke up and popped to the loo, only to be greeted by the sight of a mouse running across the bathroom floor. I screamed at Mike but he seemed to deem his sleep more important than dealing with little Jerry in the bathroom. The mouse had dissappeared anyway so that had to wait till the morning to sort out. Then at 4am George (our 20 month old) wakes up. The poor mite had been been sick in his cot. He came in and snuggled in between Mike and I, then continued to be sick every ten minutes until 9am. Obviously I made sure it was aimed on mikes side of the bed,  resulting in him crashing Charlies room. At 4.15am Arthur woke up for a feed. Ninja style, I managed to catch sick with a towel whilst breastfeeding AJ and making sure at no point I cross contaminated. At 6am I went downstairs to make a coffee and let the dogs out. Through bleary eyes I saw one of the dogs had escaped and was high-tailing it across the field without a care in the world. I chucked on the nearest shoes (mikes size 11 work boots) and dragged my feet out, into the garden and across the field to chase the Bullmastiff, who I’m pretty sure would have been waving a middle finger at me if she had one!

Once she was safely indoors I went upstairs with my coffee and settled back into bed to feed again. Arthur had just  latched on when libby ran into the bathroom chucking her guts up. This is when I had a word with myself. I had two choices. I could crumple into the bed, crying into my sick smelling sheets. Just give up, admit defeat, open a bottle of prosecco and after 10 years of being a non smoker….spark up. Or Pull myself together and work out what needs to be done. Stay calm, realise I can only do what I can do and If I start the day like this there might be a glimmer of hope. So, I finished feeding Arthur, ran a warm bubble bath, stripped the beds and chucked the sheets in the washing machine. I explained to my three older boys that I really needed there help and asked them to make their breakfast, tidy the kitchen and fed the animals. Usually this would be met with a moan but because they saw George was unwell,  they jumped to attention and helped without any questions. George is like a little celebrity in our house. The kids adore him and put him on a very high pedestal.  In fact,  if Mike or I tell him off we usually have to explain ourselves to the older kids.

Libby and George jumped in the bath and I washed Libby’s hair and rinse the smell of sick off birth of them. I put George back in his cot for a nap / play / whatever he wanted to do to buy me an hour or so.   As it happens, the early start was staying to affect him and he went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Libby sat on my bed watching Game Shakers (one of the most irritating programmes ever)  but if it keept her happy it would make my morning easier. Then I managed to clear all my washing away,  bleech the bathroom,  vacuum and freshen up my bedroom and make poached eggs on toast!  WTF! Even I didn’t expect to get all that done! By now the sheets are ready and I took them out of the tumble anf make the bed. I had a shower and washed my hair. I cuddled up with Libby with another coffee and I sat back and watched Trolls!

By now Arthur is due another feed and George is just waking up. All this before midday! Now I feel on top of the day,  nothing can bring me down. Now, I don’t like to show off,  parenting can be hard,  especially with a newborn. But today I rocked motherhood, today didn’t beat me! Today,  I’m winning 🏆 If you enjoy reading my blog please share the love amongst your friends. Through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email or word of mouth, sharing is caring 😘 Love Kate 

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