1y11m : Siblings aren't all that

As we approach the 2-year mark, I find that I am getting more and more comfortable and content with MJ being an only child.  My new pet peeve is that it seems culturally fine to talk about how great siblings are and everything you 'get' from a sibling relationship, but it's not really okay to talk about how it may not always be so great.  I guess what happens, is those on the cultural norm side suddenly feel the way I feel all the time on this topic, and decide to jump in and be defensive.

So a friend of mine posted this article on Facebook today and I thought it was really interesting.  I will also add this is a friend with two siblings, neither of which he gets on with, and that family politics are a continual annoyance for him (he's in his 40's).  Part of the issue in his family is that his parents don't necessarily treat their children the same, or give them the same benefits.  Then some of the children ask for more from the parents than others, which when given, causes resentment.  What a minefield!

I was recently reading another thread on a solo mom Facebook group about someone trying to work out if they should have a second child or not.  So many people posted about not wanting their child to be alone, and especially to care for them in old age on their own.  I thought there were two excellent responses to this worth repeating here.  First, although I am a single parent who didn't find someone to create a family with, I hope with all my heart that MJ finds someone for her.  Frankly, I don't expect her to be 'alone' the way I am alone.  And even if she is, it's not that big a deal- I'm an adult single parent whose parents are divorced so I have two elderly parents to be on the hook for.  And I'm okay. It will be easier for me to deal with things if I don't have to discuss it with, or worse, argue with, someone else about what should be done when the time comes.  To be honest, I feel a bit like this about parenting as well most of the time. Thank god I don't have to discuss my parenting decisions and choices and my own life choices with anyone else.  That would be much harder!!

But as for this 'taking care of parents' comment that seems to pop up all the time, that's my other point worth noting.  Most women are shit at preparing for their futures. Historically, men in families have worried about things like pensions and savings. Women, historically, have been shit at it. This trend continues today with many men saving more for retirement and being more prepared than women.  If you don't want your child to be 'stuck taking care of you' in old age, then it is your responsibility to prepare for your own care! If you blow all of your money on a second child and put yourself into debt and have zero savings at the end, you are almost guaranteeing that your child will be responsible for you because who else will?

Forgive me for thinking that you need to be a little bit responsible before deciding to have a child. If you can't afford one financially or emotionally, then please do not have one! Yes, people get by with little and it doesn't necessarily need to cost a lot to have a child. But if you are not taking care of yourself and are unable to prepare for your end of life needs because you sacrifice everything for a child, then I think that's really irresponsible.

I can't possibly talk about this on pretty much any of the single mom forums I'm on because it is guaranteed to offend someone.  God forbid you talk about why having additional children could be irresponsible or may not be the best thing you could ever possibly do for your existing child.  Yet somehow, it's completely fine to talk about having additional child in a similar fashion.  I'm also keenly aware that for some women, they have put themselves into debt for their one child and that this would come across as judgmental to them and they would get upset and feel defensive.  So I'll just have to keep my thoughts here.

In my opinion (this is my blog after all), the only reason you should have a child be it your first or your fifth, is because you want the experience of parenting that child, and you are able (financially and emotionally) to do so.  That's it!

I love MJ to pieces and I love our life together and I think it would be interesting to see her have a sibling or for me to have another child. But, I actually really don't feel any desire to PARENT another child. I think of it more as an interesting thought experiment. I like to toy with the idea of it, but the reality of moving ahead leaves me cold. So having another child is simply not for me, and our life together will be much better for it, because I will be the best me, and therefore, the best parent, I can be.

1y7m : Somethings gotta give (Part 2?)

I'm sure I wrote about a similar topic before. Your life simply can't stay the same after a child. The first thing I noticed was my eating habits and ability to keep my already messy house in any sort of order. So the first thing that was very obvious to me was that.

But it's been a while now and as everything else settles into a day to day routine of regular life, I notice the next thing that's gone by the wayside is my ability to keep up with friends. I think about my friends a lot. But I don't drop them texts or have a chat like I used to. It's not even that most of my friends are local. Maybe that's part of the problem. I already have to use various technologies to keep up with them. I'm not going to see them by accident.

And I have to say, my friends have, in general, been great about keeping up with me, with one or two glaring exceptions which are another story entirely.  But even that has a limit. I noticed more recently that I haven't heard from people who made an effort to keep in touch with me, and I have to admit with some chagrin that I have not been good at keeping up with them either.  The burden can't be entirely theirs.

But it's hard! When it's the morning, or the immediate evening after work, my life is all about MJ. Her new toddler status means she can be particularly volatile and challenging to get changed, get fed, and get out the door. I can't sit idly by and hope she gets things done. I have to do everything for her. That's fine, but there's little time there to communicate with others.

After she goes to bed, I have to feed myself (generally) and I have about an hour to myself. Now, I could spend that hour texting all my friends far away, or I could sit on my sofa and watch the next episode of Jessica Jones (or whatever else I happen to be watching). And then it's time for bed. Get up and repeat.

It's not that I'm unhappy, but I think I'm being a shitty friend. My friends are great, and I don't want them to drift because I'm being an asshole.  And at some point when MJ is older, I will have more time to reach out to others. If I don't nurture those relationships, those friends may be gone.

So really I know what I need to do- I need to make more of an effort, even if it's just to cycle through my far away friends on a rota and send them a 'What's up?' message occasionally.  Because currently that's slipping. In the long run, I don't think it's a good idea. And in the short run, I could inadvertently be messing up some great friendships.

1y5m15d : One or Two?

I wrote this as a response to someone else on the SMC forum. This comes up a lot for me, this idea of one child or two.  I liked what I wrote so I thought I'd put it here as part of this story.

I went into becoming a single mother thinking I would only have one. My 'dream Plan A' of finding a partner included having 2, but when I reduced that dream to the Plan B just me, I also reduced the child count to account for it. Not that this makes sense to anyone else necessarily, but I sort of felt like, two parents to two kids is a replacement one for one in an overpopulated world, and so one to one just made sense to me.

I'm an only child, and I really don't remember minding being an only child and now as an independent adult, I really don't mind being an only child at all. I think every individual person is so different, you can't know what a person will feel or want in terms of their relationships or 'how they'll feel about things' that they have or don't have. You also don't know if two children will have a great sibling bond, or a horrid sibling bond. I know people with both, and as I don't have any myself, I don't romanticize it either way. I think it's a crap shoot be honest.

So with me being so sure I wanted one, why have I felt conflicted? The online SMC forums. Peer pressure. That's it. I've posted about it before in other places. It never occurred to me to want another child, until I was suddenly faced with lots of people both here and in real life from my mum and baby groups that do. Suddenly, oh the pressure!!! The doubt!! I can afford my one child and we can have a good life together where I can give her enriching experiences and we can enjoy travel and other such things together. I do not have the capacity to live that life with two children. I would need to live an entirely different life with two children, simply for the sake of having two children. And when I think very hard about the type of life -I- want to live, it is very much the one with one child, not two.

But I still feel pressure. It's very real and tangible. It doesn't mean I actually want 2. I'm not sure what it means exactly. But I know when I take MJ to swim class, that there would be no way I could take another child to swim class. So she'd have to give up hers, and I couldn't offer that to another child. I know I can just about afford nursery fees for one, but I'd be stretched and either sucking down my savings or going in to debt to pay for nursery for 2. The knock on effect would be, I couldn't jaunt off to Denmark next week to see a friend if I had two. I couldn't afford it, and probably couldn't manage it (I'm taking a travel cot for one, but two??). I look ahead and think about maybe private school and music lessons and other classes/lessons and more travel and whatever else and I know that lifestyle is predicated on my one child.

And when I think about her, and me and her together, my heart is so full and I think our relationship is so special, I am actually satisfied. And I think that's important- that I am actually satisfied with what I have.

Because it means when I feel that pressure, and nagging guilt, that I really have to think about why I'm feeling it. It's not because I'm not fulfilled. And as I said, I don't have strong feelings about siblings either way, so I don't think MJ is going to have a worse life without a sibling. So what is it? It's just this other thing of expectation and pressure and external society and a bit of 'keeping up with the Jonses' and it's not really about what I actually want at all. It's more about what I somewhere in some part of my head think I should be doing. Except I really don't.

It doesn't make it less real however. And it means I'm never entirely comfortable even though from the start I really only wanted one. I still pay storage on my 3 embryos, 7 eggs, and 3 vials of sperm and I honestly don't know what I want to do with them. I may try to donate the eggs and embryos in the future. But I also probably hold on to them a little bit to make the decision a little less final. Even though I'm 98% sure I'm a one and done mom.

1y3m27d : Communicating

So very little time has passed and my newborn baby girl is really just morphing rapidly into a little person.  MJ's communication efficiency is breathtaking. She doesn't have all the words, but we use sign language and she has distinct sounds. I know what she means. She can clearly indicate yes and no, and when offered choices make preferential selections. She shows she understands things that I don't always think she's going to.

For example, we're currently working on getting her to wear her helmet when in the bicycle bucket. This is mostly in preparation for moving to a front sitting bench position, as I don't want her sitting on the bench without a helmet.  Of course, like most children, she has hated things on her head from the beginning. I had all these lovely little newborn caps that she flat out refused to wear.  The other day after nursery pick-up I was loading her into the bike and she of course did not want to wear her helmet.  I said something along the lines of, "Please, MJ, mommy would really like you to wear your helmet, please." and I made the sign for 'please' to go with it. And she sort of looked at me, stopped yelling, and let me put the helmet on her head. It was amazing!!

Of course, I also think she understands when I say, it's time to do bedtime soon and we need to upstairs and she hustles away from me. Or just frowns and shakes her head.  So this isn't all smiles and rose petals!  Toddler attitude is real!

When I think about how short a time span it's been, and I look at pictures of my little baby from a  year ago, it's really mind blowing to think about how far we've come. And I know how much more she's going to continue to gain in the upcoming months.  It's so hard to capture these little moments of wonder. They all fly by so quickly.

1y3m13d : I rarely think about being a solo mom except...

Sometimes I wonder what to write here about being a single mother as opposed to just being a mother.  Honestly, most of my thoughts, hopes, dreams, concerns, etc. are about being a parent. It really doesn't matter what sort of parent you are.  But there are occasionally points where I think, "Oh yeah, this is where being a single mother makes it particularly tough."

One of those things is when I have any event to attend that is outside of work/nursery hours. My job doesn't require much travel, but there are occasional opportunities to take part in events that would require me to be away from Cambridge in the 'nursery window'. If I had an obliged partner, I could just have them take care of MJ when those events come up.  As it stands, I have to think very carefully about whether I want to pay for  a babysitter, lean on my boyfriend, or turn the opportunity down.  And I find that a lot of time I turn opportunities down. Because there are too many sometimes. I have to be choosy. And that's just business opportunities. Then there are personal opportunities- drinks after work, dinner with friends.  All of those are pretty much off my radar.  Again, if there was a guaranteed second supporter of MJ, we would negotiate these things.  But as it's all me, my default position is that taking care of her is my number one priority and other stuff comes second.  This will hopefully become a bit easier as she gets a little older and the people I can lean on to watch her expands (some people aren't overly keen or able to watch a small baby, and she is also at an age where she needs to really know the person I leave her with- it's not good enough if I know the person really well).  So there's that.

The other thing I think about is how this impacts my decision about more than likely only having one child. I'm not upset about only having one child, in fact I'm perfectly happy with one child. But my 'Plan A' of life included getting married to someone and having 2 children.  I can tell that I'm not really in a place to seriously think about a second child, because I'm still going through some of the tough stages with number 1 and when I think 'Would I want to do this all over again while still watching an older MJ?' the answer in my head is a resounding 'NO'. Aside from the fact that I often feel I'm at capacity taking care of just the two of us, I also think about things like how much I enjoy taking MJ to swim lessons. Well, if I had another child, aside from it being questionable if I could afford swim lessons for a second child, what would I do with MJ while taking the new child swimming?  This is where another set of hands would again make the decision much easier. I can do a lot with me and her. And I suppose if I had twins, where the children are of the same age and could do the same things, I would find a way to manage two. But two of a different age? With different needs and requirements? I can't be present for one and just leave the other dangling. So this reinforces my other feelings about having a second child. I can see how I could manage with another parent and live the life I want to live with my children, but I can't quite see how it works with just me.

On balance though, I have a great job that I love, and I don't mind that I can't go to as many evening events as I used to. And as I said, I feel reasonably sure I only want one child on my own anyway, so my thoughts on managing a second solo simply reinforces what I already think, which is fine. But otherwise, my days are filled with waiting for MJ to walk on her own, dealing with sleep issues, fighting over brushing teeth and wearing bicycle helmets, my heart melting when she says mama and gives me cuddles, and all the other things that just come with regular parenting and have nothing to do with being a single mom at all.  Which I guess I'm glad for- how little being a 'single' mom actually matters in my parenthood practice, as much as it is at the core of my parenthood identity.

1y1m18d : When do you feel like a mom?

One thing that I have noticed since MJ has arrived, is how much I still feel very much like myself.  I am somewhat intrigued by people who say things like, 'Motherhood completes me.' or 'I've always wanted to be a mom'. I mean, I've always thought I would have a child (and now I do) but what does that mean to BE a mom?

I had MJ later in life, when I was already 42 (my Douglas Adam year). In preparation for MJ and just in general, I had shaped my life into something that made me pretty happy.  I have a job I love, I am solvent, I own a home (although I currently rent it out and live in another, but hey ho). I've dealt with a lot of my demons and baggage.  I am probably one of the best versions of myself now, then I have ever been.  But if MJ had not come along, this would still be true. My life, and who I am, is very independent of MJ.  I am a whole and fulfilled person who happens to have wanted, and then had, a child.  But if MJ had not happened, then I would have found something else meaningful to fill that spot.

So then what does it mean to feel like a mom? I am a mom for sure.  I put MJ's needs first (for the most part, when reasonable, I mean, her needs can't ALWAYS be first, mommy needs to pee). I have merged my caring for her into my life and routine, without giving up or particularly changing who I am. I have changed what I DO, because I have had to. You can't suddenly add a child to the mix and do everything like you used to do it.  But that was part of what I signed up to. It's no hardship, because I expected my life to change to accommodate this little person.  I just do it. And so I just AM a mother, but I'm not sure I FEEL like a mother.

I honestly am not even sure what that means. I love her in a way that is unique. But is that enough, does love make a parent?  Recently I had to travel to London for work which is about an hour by train away from Cambridge. MJ was at nursery for the day and so that was all taken care of. Yet as the train got further and further away from Cambridge I felt this pull on my heart, I could literally feel the distance between us. That if she needed me, I couldn't be there quickly for her. This felt extremely uncomfortable.  The closest thing I could think of what it felt like was the description of the connection to soul daemons in the Phillip Pullman books. I didn't like it. I then went on to think about how although I have had to come home late on occasion, we have never spent a night apart. And the thought of doing so, is equally uncomfortable.

I'm still not sure though that this feeling is, can, or should be the definition of feeling like a mother? Or maybe I'm looking for something that just isn't there. What I feel like is myself. A good version of myself. And I happen to be a mother.  Maybe that's just it.

1y0m25d : Weaning

I'm not sure that I had very strong opinions about breastfeeding or bottle feeding before I had a baby. Sure I thought, "I'll give breastfeeding a go. If it doesn't work I'll bottle feed. It doesn't matter." And the reality is, when it comes to feeding your baby, it DOESN'T matter. But I was able to breastfeed, and I enjoyed it, so that's what we've done.

I'm not sure that I had very strong opinions about how long a woman should breastfeed before I had a baby that I was breastfeeding. But I do know that I sort of had the idea that once they were on food and more mobile, it was probably time to stop breastfeeding. Well, that thinking is pretty much out the window. MJ is almost 13 months and although I am very much limiting our breastfeeding time now, I am not giving it up.

Basically, I'm moving us to a position where I do not breastfeed during the day. Up until this week, when I arrived at nurser, the first thing I would do was to get MJ, sit in the chair in the corner specifically for this purpose and breastfeed her.  But I'm a little bit tired of doing this, and I realize that she's not going to give it up voluntarily. She doesn't NEED that feed, she just enjoys it whereas I find it makes our going home journey just that much longer and move involved. I can leave nurser quicker if we are not feeding.

And so the past few days this week, when I've gone to nursery, I've grabbed her stuff, talked to her key worker about how her day was, and we've left. We get home, we do dinner, and then we do her bedtime which now involves a slightly longer feed then she's been getting- because I let her feed off both breasts (she only ever did one at a time) for up to 10 minutes each and then I put her in her crib.

At night, I'm trying to get her to give up wake ups and night feeds, so I'm reducing the 10 minute feed to 8 minutes (and when she gets used to that, it will drop to 7, then 6, etc.). But in the morning, provided she wakes up at a semi-reasonable time, I give her both breasts again for a nice feed. My goal would be for us to do morning and night, and for her to drop those of her own accord.

Although this is all thought through in a logical sort of way, I haven't been prepared for this twang I get about reducing the breastfeeding. We're not even giving it up!! But it makes me feel sad and wistful. It's interesting, because if you bottle feed your baby, you can keep doing that. You form a bond around a bottle which could become a cup, which makes that special relationship perhaps last longer. When we're done with breast, then we're going to be done and that's just over. If MJ sits on my lap for a cuddle in the future and drinks from a cup, it won't be the same or even close to the same.

It will be lovely of course, but different.  Ah, growing babies. It goes so fast!!

1y0m23d : Ignoring milestones

It is impossible not to compare your child to other children.  MJ is completely developmentally normal. She has not excelled in any particular area, but she is also not behind. She pulls to stand and cruises, but she is not walking yet. She makes an assortment of noises, and some are very close to being words for things (pretty sure we have 'quack quack' going for ducks and birds) but doesn't really have words or sounds that are clearly specific. And she is otherwise an engaging, curious, and regular toddler.

Of course then I see on some forum that someone's doctor said that by one year their child should have 3-4 words. And on this bog standard site that if your child isn't standing independently by 11 months they'll perform worse at age 4 than those that do. It's hard not to let little concerns creep in, although I'm generally good at ignoring them. I get why we need milestones, but maybe they should be 'if your child hasn't done x,y,z by this date, you need to see your doctor' which would remove the average from the discussion. Because an average is exactly that, an average!

Of course then there's research like this which suggests its the later social-emotional skills of your 4 year old that have a greater impact on their adult well being.

In my NCT of 8, where all the babies were born within 6 weeks of each other, we currently have 3 walkers. None of which are the oldest two (of which MJ is one) and I think only one with clear words, although I could be wrong there. So, as I said, developmentally normal. Not ahead, not behind. Sometimes for your own sanity, I think it's important to ignore the milestones.

1y0m12d : Nursery germs are real

Oh my god. Why so many germs? How can we have so many colds? It's relentless! One after the other after the other. I know it could be worse- that MJ could have had ear infections or chest infections or things that require greater intervention. Mostly she just pours snot out of her nose and occasionally squeezes some out of her eyes if it's particularly bad.

But why do I have to get all the colds as well? I'm a socialized human adult who has interacted with any number of germs in my lifetime. It seems tremendously unfair. I am currently suffering from one of the worse colds so far in that my sinuses are completely stuffed up.  Because I'm still breast feeding, you aren't really supposed to take decongestants.  Although I've been told this is because it can dry up milk, and I'm not actually so worried about that at this point.

But honestly. It's just dreadful.  I'm trying to be thankful for the small things- like, how glad I am that when I leave work it's still daylight, and when I leave nursery, it's not pitch black. These things make me happy.

But so does breathing.  Spring and warm weather really can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned!!

T minus 4 Days Until First Birthday

Can you believe it? I certainly can't. Where does the time go??!!

I am in some ways incredibly sad that I have been unable to keep up with this blog to document MJ's first year of life. It's been an incredible whirlwind. So much has happened. Now it all seems like a beautiful blur.

I do say that overall I find I handle motherhood and life well, but the reality is that something has got to give. For me it's been my home (which is a tip), and things like this blog- things that used to fill my personal time. Also in this category are knitting, reading, cooking, tidying, and shopping.

I wouldn't change it for anything.

So what can I say that could in any way cover the gap from my last post? MJ will officially be a toddler on Saturday, although she is not yet toddling. She does want to stand up all the time. She's getting much better at pulling herself up to it, and has take a few tentative shuffles but is not yet confidently cruising.

I'm back at work full-time which also means my personal time is limited. Although I'm writing this at work, so what does that tell you?  The adjustment wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. MJ was 7 months old when I returned to work half time for one month and 8 months old when I returned to work full time.  I think it was a very good time for this to happen as she was becoming an inquisitive, busy and active baby as opposed to a snuggly stay put newborn. So nursery was a great environment for her to explore new people, new toys, new things. I could not be happier with our nursery arrangement.

As an interesting side note, one thing I'm very thankful for is that in MJ's nursery class of 14 in total, there are 2 children (including MJ) with only a mom (and a donor) and 1 child with two moms. How cool is that? That means all of these children will grow up thinking that alternate families are just normal, and no child is isolated in that way.

And work is very stimulating and accommodating. I loved maternity leave. But I also love my job. I love that I am proud of what I do and feel I will be a good role model for my daughter.  I also love that for the most part, my job has a very good work life balance, which my previous career path did not. It feels like many things have fallen into place, and I'm happy to just focus on being a mother and doing my job. Things are set up to allow me to just... thrive in the environment I've created. I think that's just a fantastic gift that I've given myself. The space to just be and experience the life I've shaped.  I never want to take that for granted.

So maybe I should just post this now, so there is some sort of update. Work is busy, but maybe I can have this as a little procrastination thing, and update a little more often.

3 months 24 days - So many changes

First, I am sad that I haven't been keeping track of things here. I can't believe how quickly a baby grows and changes. People say to treasure the moments but before you know it, your sleepy delicate little newborn is much more of a baby and somehow got twice as big before you noticed!

MJ and I are doing great. Maternity leave is awesome. I mean really awesome. I love that my only responsibility is to take care of her. We have three more months of this and then I'll be going back to work when she is just about 7 months. To the Europeans among the readers this will seem early and to the Americans it will seem extravagant. I"m lucky to have both perspectives- so I can feel lucky to have this amazing amount of time with my daughter. But I also have the other perspective and I am not looking forward to handing her over to daycare and getting back to work.

On the upside, I have been offered a place at one of the University nurseries which is great. It's subsidized, so there's that, but it's actually just an awesome nursery with an 'outstanding' Ofsted rating. I went to visit it and I was actually looking forward to MJ being old enough that I could bring her for real. So that's good.

It's really hard for me to understand that I am a mother and what that means. Right now I just sort of exist, happily, day to day. I don't know that I can identify the ways in which I feel any different. Instead, it's been a rather seamless transition from not being a mother, to being one. I suppose these are matters for the future. I don't have to think about it much right now, because I exist in this pleasant limbo of time off of my 'real' life. I suspect things will change when I try to balance work with motherhood, but right now I don't have to worry about it.

Okay. I'll try to delve into topics of specific interest in the future, but just thought I'd update. Out of curiosity, and if any reader has an opinion, this bog was titled 'attempting' single motherhood before I knew it was going to happen. Should I start a new blog about being a mother or is that silly?

1 month 5 days - Settling in to the whirlwind

** I just noticed I put this post on the wrong blog!! So I've moved it to here. I am going to try and do some occasional posting and get back into it... motherhood really is a crazy whirlwind!!
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I don't get much time to type on the computer so updates are unfortunately going to be a bit slow. I've been working on my 'birth story' post in chunks. It's going to be a very long post, so I thought in the meantime I'd post an update here.

Motherhood is excellent. MJ is a relatively easy going baby at almost 5 weeks old. She changes so fast though! In the hospital I was already missing being pregnant and incredibly conscious of how precious each day was with her because she is growing so quickly! Newborn babies don't do very much. They're so little and delicate and lovely. And you are swimming with hormones that make it all the more intense.

The hormones have somewhat abated now and MJ is entering into her first 'wonder week' meaning she is more awake, more alert, and more of a growing person. It's also lovely and fascinating, but it's different. And all of it is passing in a strange haze of endless days at home, of breast feeding, diaper changes, sleep, and a bit of television.

My mom has been here for 3 weeks, so there is one more week to go. It's been okay with her here for the most part. Although she's changed all of one diaper....

Ah, see how this works- MJ is crying, and the boob bar needs to open. More later when I get a chance!

Welcome MJ!

Born 10 Feb 2017 - 8 lb 6 oz, 21 inches