Thoughts on Motherhood
I’ve been reflecting a lot on my motherhood journey recently, and thought I would get some of my thoughts down here. I think the first thing that’s worth mentioning is that my motherhood journey (and my husband’s fatherhood journey for that matter) is not anything like what I was expecting it to be.
Both of my twins have lots of needs that means they don’t meet milestones in the way a typical child might. I think we all know by now that milestones are to be taken with an enormous pinch of salt, but sometimes it’s very hard not to look at what other children the same age are up to and to compare. This being said, my children have totally different milestones that we celebrate and sometimes I just need to remind myself that we are on a very different journey to other families!
Something that has saddened me over the past year is the amount I have needed to fight for support. Both twins have some needs that mean our family really benefits from having some extra support at times. I’ve lost count of the number of teary conversations I’ve had with various agencies and our GP, trying to get help and advice. I’ve had days where I’ve felt completely powerless – despite having nursery and Health Visitor backing, I wasn’t listened to until one of my twins started physically hurting herself. Now, I am very happy to say that we have support from a few different agencies who help us navigate the world of parenting kids with additional needs, but getting to this stage wasn’t an easy process!
I have felt completely and utterly blessed to have twins since the moment I saw them both on my first pregnancy scan, but that doesn’t mean that having twins is always easy! My twins are polar opposites of each other and they both have needs beyond those of a typical child. Sometimes parenting feels like a bit of a juggling act, as I’m sure my husband would agree!
Every evening after the twins have gone to bed, I’m able to have a little time to reflect on the day. Even on the days when everything feels hard, I am overjoyed to be mummy to my two beautiful children. I love watching their little personalities grow, seeing what they like, and the relationships they are starting to build with the people around them. I would do it all again in a heartbeat, and could never imagine my life to be any different!