Opinion A new life
How life changes once you become a mother!
My son was crying and I thought I should get him some fresh air that would soothe him. But the moment I stepped out into the balcony,I had to close my eyes as they could not withstand the bright sunlight. I realised I was coming out under the open sky after two long weeks.
How life changes once you become a mother! A person like me who never wanted to get up in the morning has been going without sleep for a month now; a person who hardly lifted her finger now wishes she had 48 hours in a day; a person who hated to sit at home has not seen the outside of her house for weeks. I will be lying if I say I am not complaining,but I understand these are some of the hundreds of sacrifices a woman has to make when she becomes a mother.
Postpartum depression happens when women cannot take these changes in their stride. I too initially went through a patch when I felt like crying all the time. Having been an outdoor person all my life,this ‘house arrest’ was depressing. Seeing my husband take out others in the house for shopping,even if for the baby or me,would only aggravate my baby blues and I would be left in a foul mood.
According to experts,the baby blues fade soon and mothers going through the blues should be allowed to cry and express their emotions,rather than being told to calm down. It is important that someone,particularly the husband,listens to her and she gets adequate rest. If the blues dont go away,she should be taken to doctor.
Thankfully,I did not need medical attention,but just when I was settling down with the weird feelings,a confrontation with high fever,accompanied by chills and cold,unsettled me. Severe body ache and sleeplessness were getting to me,but the duties of a mother were not allowing me any rest. Add to this the fear that my infection might affect the baby as I could not skip nursing.
Unwell or not,it is understood that you need to be a multi-tasker once you are a mother,irrespective of the fact that you have a cook,a maid and a houseful of people to help you out. You cannot skip a single task because all that you are doing is for your little loved one. At 7 am,when I finally succeed in putting my baby to sleep after an hours try,all I want is to go back to sleep at once. But I cant. Because a lactating mother cannot go without food for long. Hence,I have to get up,brush teeth,have my before-meal medicine and eat something. By the time I manage to get back to bed,it is almost time for my son to get up again. Though new mothers are advised rest whenever possible and sleep when the baby sleeps,it is rarely done. In my case,I find myself waiting for my son to sleep so that I can do unfinished chores like taking bath,snacking as advised (after every two hours),sterilising his bottles and other stuff. Since a visit to beauty parlour has to wait,with my venturing out becoming impossible,I had thought of using a face pack at home,but that has been is the planning stage for three weeks now. Forget pedicure,it has been months since my toe nails last saw the nail-cutter.
With feeding,potty cleaning,and taking care of the baby staking claim to most of my time,I am unable to steal any me-time. As a result,I am late in submitting this write-up. And if I dont pay the bills by tomorrow,I will have no internet for my laptop and my next credit card bill will include the interest amount.
My son turned a month old earlier this week and it seemed nothing short of an achievement for me given all the hard work I have put in since I brought him home. Yes,the life of a mother is difficult. But every bit of the pain is worth it when my son gives me his toothless smile and I watch him grow and see his newly acquired skills every day.
Share
