My biggest parenting success comes from the fact that my baby was born in the middle of a pandemic, in a country whose borders were shut for international and domestic travel, and it was just my husband and me to hold the fort. Being a first-time mother is scary, right from the time you see the heart flickering on your first ultrasound. It became scarier as my partner wasn’t allowed to be present in any of the prenatal appointments.
Come my due date and bub arrived healthily, and we were back home in no time. Then reality hit hard, and bam, you are in your 4th trimester, where you don’t know how to cope up most of the time. Parenting advice started to flow on countless video calls between bub, me, and extended family members overseas. These bits of advice were of no help, as these were at a conflict of not being present in the scenario. So when every third persons’ advice failed, I started paying attention to myself and my baby.
That was the turning point; I listened and paid attention to my daughter; she led the way for me like a torchbearer. She led me on setting up her bedtime routine, she led me through her nap times, and she led me through her awake and feed times as well. Listening to her empowered me more. I was able to take a stand for myself and my parenting methods in front of everyone.
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Usually, elders think of first-time mums as inexperienced, but they forget that the same baby resided in that “first-time mum’s” womb for a whole lot of time, and they know each other better than anyone else. It may sound more like my baby parenting me, but honestly, it is a big success for both of us. My daughter taught me to take a break and listen to her and myself, as she was born from my rib, and she is more like me and me like her than anybody else in this world. I still have bad days, but every time they happen, I tell myself, I will quit if it happens for 3 days in a row.
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And here I am. Bub will be 6 months old, about to start solids soon (she led me to this as well), exclusively breastfed, and brought up by just her mum and dad. I am proud of her and myself that we have come so far.
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