Mother’s Day is right round the corner. mDhil is celebrating motherhood by bringing to you the joyful experiences of being a mother, as told by mothers at different stages of motherhood. Today, Neha Sarda, mother to a one-year-old ‘cute little monster’, shares her amazing journey into motherhood.
Being mommy
All those corny dialogues in the movies that exemplify a mother’s view of her child such as “You are my world” and “Your smile makes my world go round”, might seem like an exaggerated description of what being a mother feels like — but the truth is — that’s pretty much how I feel about my one-year-old, cute monster and perhaps how most other mothers feel too.
It has been a little over a year since my son Siddharth was born. When I look back at the year gone by, the experience has been an amazing journey filled with excitement, anxiety, intense emotions, sleepless nights and lots of giggles.
Siddharth comes into the world
I delivered Siddharth 20 days before the due date. I had a C-section, and the post operation pain was so intense, that I hardly felt any strong motherly emotions the first couple of days. The first month after delivery can easily be counted as the craziest phase of my life. The pain, sleepless nights, random feeding cycles and all those bodily changes simply got to me. Thankfully, I had my mom around, who was a tremendous support. I’d suggest all mothers-to-be to try and have their mothers by their side, as it’s the best thing you can do to cope better during this phase of intense changes.
After the first two months, Siddharth got into a more predictable cycle and I also became more confident about being able to handle him, and this is where things eased up. I must add here, that I found breastfeeding to be a great way to strengthen my bond with my son. Another big learning was using visual signs for things like diaper change, sleeping, etc. helps calm the baby and aids communication.
Even though I had read a bunch of books during pregnancy to prepare myself, I found it very hard to manage and adapt with the changes. For a while, it seemed as if everything in my world had changed completely (my food, looks, work-life, friends, social life and my priorities). My entire day revolved around this one tiny creature – my son.
However, this phase lasts only for the first 6 months. I came to terms with the fact that it was the first time I had a relationship with another, where the other was completely dependent on me. And that’s perhaps the best way for all new mothers to bring in understanding and cope with the many changes that come about. I remember our paediatrician mentioning that children think that they have the same identity as their mother till 6 months of age.
A year later
My son is now just over a year old, and in the last six months I’ve watched him develop a personality of his own, likes and dislikes. He has become more expressive and we have enjoyed some great ‘first time’ moments like ‘the first word’, ‘first step’ etc.. Each one of them has been memorable and we’ve luckily managed to capture them all on film. My advice to all mothers is to try and capture these precious little moments, which will be great for future viewing.
So, like I said it’s been an amazing journey so far and I know we have just got started.
I hope my thoughts help all the mothers-to-be and new mothers prepare for this amazing journey called motherhood. It’s most likely that you’d find this to be the best change you’ve experience so far. Wishing you all a happy motherhood!
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