Brilliant Mum Feature Week 38
Hello and welcome to the Brilliant Mum Feature. Once a week I will be featuring one mum in a bid to find out more about them and their lives.
If you’d like to take part in this series, simply fill in this form.
This week our brilliant mum feature is Nikki who blogs at Glam and Geeky Mum.
Nikki is a 34 year old married mum of three. She has a very busy life at home juggling children with a range of medical conditions, from Cerebral Palsy to dislocated hips. In her spare time Nikki loves to binge watch tv boxsets, eat pizza, play video games and enter lots of competitions! By lots she means LOTS, up to 1000 or more a month!
Thanks for taking part Nikki!
Have you always wanted to be a mum?
I can still remember vehemently telling my Mum and Nan that I was never ever definitely not having children. Then something in my mid twenties shifted. After years of drunken weekends and horrific hangovers I felt like I had no purpose to my life. I decided that purpose would be having children.
How did you feel when your children were born?
Having three children means I have three birth stories. Two of my birth stories I have been told a classed as traumatic births – but only one of them has ever felt traumatic. My first born Chase pregnancy was uneventful other than a hell of a lot of sickness. I wanted to do things as naturally as possible and opted for a midwife led unit. As a low risk healthy first time mum what could go wrong? Well quite a lot it seemed. Chase was born with an apgar score of 1, he was rushed away from me and taking straight to intensive care. Something had happened during the birth that had caused him to be starved of oxygen, not a little but a huge amount. At the time I didn’t even panic, I was just glad the pain was over and I put total trust in the thought that he would have a bit of oxygen and be right as rain. Instead Chase ended up in intensive care and it was confirmed the next day that he had suffered brain damage as a result of the oxygen loss. Needless to say I was devastated and it took me years to mentally recover. I felt like I must have done something wrong or it was my fault!
It took me years to pluck up the courage to had a second child. Investigations had proved fruitless as to what caused Chase’s oxygen deprivation. Not taking any risks I opted for a planned c-section. The c-section experience was wonderful, I was handed my new baby girl Brooke in the theatre immediately and was able to have skin to skin contact whilst the surgeon sewed me back together again. I still fondly look back on this experience as that moment of being handed my baby is my favourite birthing memory of all time.
During my c-section the surgeon told me he could see no reasons as to why I couldn’t have any future babies naturally as my anatomy was – and I quote ‘textbook perfect’. The recovery from the section was harsh and I really struggled already having a child who required constant lifting due to his disabilities. For this reason I opted to have a hypnobirth for my third. I loved hypnobirthing, my 1st stage of labour was amazing and over so quickly. A bit too quickly… My third child gother shoulder stuck on my pelvis, as everything was happening so fast there was no time for a section,dozens of people rushed into the room at the end of the birth and literally pulled my new daughter Harper out of me. She was taken away for oxygen as she had started to turn blue. Luckily she did just need a little bit of oxygen and perked up really quickly! I on the other hand was taken away from her for emergency reconstructive surgery – she’d been delivered causing me a 4th degree tear ( of your eyes aren’t watering they should be!)
What have been your most rewarding experiences so far as a mum?
Seeing my kids achievements makes me feel so proud. My eldest has achieved things that I or the professionals never thought he’d would do or get to experience. He was never expected to go from lying on the floor to a sitting position. He can now even crawl. That might not sound that useful but at the age of 7 it means at home he has the ability to get from point A to B independently which is a huge achievement.
What are some of your funniest moments to have happened to you as a mum?
Most of my funny Mum stories involve poop in some manner or another. One of my favourites recently was me forgetting that I hadn’t wrapped up a dirty nappy. Harper managed to get hold of it and fling it everywhere – even on me!
Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?
I find it very hard some days to keep the balance of dealing with 3 children and making sure they all get fair and equal attention. This is further complicated by the eldest needing a lot more physical attention than the others. I sometimes feel guilty that I’m not doing a good enough job of making sure everyone’s emotional needs are met equally.
What are your dreams and hopes for your children?
I just want all three of them to be happy, self confident and free from anxiety. I wish that when they’re adults we all still have a close bond together. I’d love for all of them to have a purpose in life that they love.
You can find Nikki online here…
If you’ve been featured as a brilliant mum and would like to share this badge on your blog, please do!
