Taking care of my baby while he was inside me was a breeze compared to caring for him once he’d left my body.
During my pregnancy it was quite easy to find out information I needed concerning issues I wasn’t sure about.
As a first time mom Google became my best friend. It helped me find, just about, everything I needed to know, from why wearing heels was not such a great idea while pregnant to what foods were best for the little guy growing inside me. I also registered with babycentre.co.uk which proved to be a tremendous resource.
When my baby finally arrived, the regular emails I’d received from babycentre stopped. Google continued to provide some helpful information but it was a chore going through yards of different opinions and suggestions and know which to apply to my situations.
It was then I decided to start blogging about my experiences. And I’m loving it!
Ideally I'd love Mommy24 to be a platform where moms meet other moms and share experiences. Imagine this site as a place for us to meet and have "cyber coffee (or tea)" discussing both the interesting and sometimes seemingly mundane aspects of mommyhood.
We can chat about whatever matters to us from bragging about our kids to discussing entrepreneurship ideas.
So instead of scouring the net for information (or paying tons of money to get information from medical (and other) practitioners you might just find here for free) I thought it'd be great for us to ask each other what we needed to know.
I'm by NO MEANS SUGGESTING WE EXCLUDE HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ALTOGEHER. Not at all.
But for instance, when my son Luke was born, I was told he should have regular paed visits - I wasn't told how long this was to go on for just that he needed regular check ups.
At almost R600 (almost $100 US) a visit my husband didn't think it was neccessary considering what the visits entailed.
I didn't agree with him but I decided that before I argued it'd be best to ask my fellow moms what they thought.
One of my friends told me that at first she'd been religious about the paed visits then realised that they really were quite pointless. She advised me to be pedantic about the vaccines but felt the pead visits every 5-6 weeks were unneccessary.
Our second paed visit, after the 6 week visit (which I still think is necessary,) was at three months. We went - and only because we needed documents signed by the doctor. She had been present at my son's birth and I needed her signature to apply for my maternity leave benefits. Just that visit to get the doccies signed would have cost us R350. So we decided she might as well examine our son for the recommended 3 month check-up.
She weighed him - checked his body strength - eye movement etc - then told us our son was fine - something we already knew but paid almost R600 to be told!
In short we've decided on paed visits only if Luke's sick. We find no reason to take a perfectly healthy child to the doctor. In fact the first time Luke went for his paed visit he caught a cold from the other sick babies that were there.
His nurse, who administers his vaccines, examines all the things the paeds did for 75 bucks! Plus he receives his vaccines!
Anyway it's these kinds of scenarios I'd love for us moms to discuss.
Again I'm not saying ignore professional advice but it's good to hear from other moms too.
Mommy24 includes some of the highlights of my pregnancy – my insane labour and some of the hurdles and joys of raising my son.
I’ve chosen to share my stories, some in candid detail, in the hope of starting open and honest discussion about the calling that has been placed on our lives as moms.
I have received many accolades, achieved some pretty impressive feats, attained some really cool academic qualifications but nothing I have EVER achieved beats being a mom.
In my mother tongue Bemba (from Zambia) and just about every other language I know of from my country, women and men are called by the names of their children, mostly the first born child. So my name changed when Luke was born. After his birth I became banaLuke, meaning Luke's mom.
I think this is because so few things define us more than the presence of our children. My son's existence has, and continues to, transform me.
This is not to say I as Hannah have ceased to exist. On the contrary. In fact nothing has inspired me to reach for higher levels than my son coming into my life. His presence dares me to do more.
Should you enjoy my blog and fall in love with its vision please feel free to join it and spread the word of its existence. Just click on the follow this blog icon on the right hand side right at the top of this page.
You're most welcome to send me pics and your own mommy stories you feel would enhance this site. They really can be about anything.
For more experienced moms please don't think you can't join us - in fact our community needs all of you who have travelled this road already to help us new arrivals.
It’s my hope that our numbers would grow and we would create a community of moms that would help us navigate through this spectacular part of our lives.
- Luke’s Mom
This blog has moved to our new home mommy24.com. Please join us there. DISCLAIMER: This blog is based on my opinion and should not replace advice from your health care providers and/or qualified medical practitioners.
I’m not a doctor or medical practitioner of any sort.
In some of my blogs I include research, references and recommendations to various sources – I provide this information without any warranty of any kind, express or implied and I’m not liable for its accuracy nor for any loss or damage caused by anyone who uses this information.
I strongly encourage moms to do their own research on any and every subject I blog about.
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