At exactly 4:34 am this morning, my first daughter knocked on my door; she wanted to pee. I usually take them out every night between 2:00 am and 4:00 am to pee so they won’t go on their beds. Last night after prayers, I had gone to my room and slept off, phone in hand. I was trying to catch up with social media updates but mom duties and work have been very greedy.
My husband had come in and carried our two-month old to the living room because the little one was crying persistently. Hubby does this all the time. As soon as he catches the whiff that I really need to be left alone, he would usually dismiss the kids and take the baby with him. How can I not appreciate a husband like that? Postpartum period can be excruciatingly tough for many women but when the men do everything in their power to support them, this stage can be navigated peacefully. I am thankful that I found such blessing in Eche my husband.
As the knock sounded on my door, I grudgingly asked, “who is it?” Praise answered, “mummy it’s me, I want to pee”. I came out and accompanied her to their toilet and also woke my second daughter to go as well. My two-year old was sleeping so peacefully in her diaper. I usually don’t have problems potty-training my children as they always seem to know when to start peeing in the toilet. For my two-year old daughter, we were at this stage where she goes to bed with a diaper but wears panty during the day. I encourage you too, if you find that you are exerting too much effort trying to potty-train your kids, maybe you cant try letting them be for a few months and see if they’d decide on their own to start using the toilet.
After they’d gone back to bed at around 4:41 am, I came back to my room; hubby was snoring away so I sat at the edge of the bed and all kinds of thoughts started flooding my mind. I thought of my new life as a mom of four, the sleepless nights I have had so far trying to calm baby Divine whenever he decides to have his crying episodes in the middle of the night. I also thought of the tasks that I had to complete today, which I had previously noted the night before in my planner. Some of them (like making breakfast) needed to be completed before I leave the house for work. I then thought of going back to sleep but that thought was immediately replaced with, “why not do your quiet time while expressing breastmilk for baby Divine?” Guess who was speaking? Yes, the Lord! He saved me from spiraling into streams of endless thoughts that would have ended up causing me to hastily and grumpily get ready for work.
By God’s grace, I did exactly what I heard. I set up my Spectra s2 double breast pump immediately. I was wearing a nursing bra so my hands were free. Thank God for those! I took my Bible and notebook out, opened the devotional application that I use on my phone, and started studying God’s word. I learned that God is ever ready to give us our needs. He is waiting to hear us ask:
Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?”
Having expressed 260 ml of breastmilk, I finished my devotion, asked God for three things and got up with renewed energy. I had about two bottles of previously expressed milk in the small fridge I use for storing baby’s milk. I added the freshly expressed milk to the collection making it a total of four bottles, enough to last tilI I come back. Then, I quickly went to the kitchen and washed off the materials I used to express. I believe that expressing breastmilk is a very good option for moms who want to keep nursing exclusively and still be able to leave the house whether for work or any other stuff.
After washing the things I used for expressing milk, I began making breakfast; the menu included pork patties, scrambled eggs (boiled eggs for my kids who would be going to the kindergarten later on), garden salad and orange juice. Since everyone was still sleeping, I had enough time to shuttle from my small kitchen to the refrigerator in the living room to pick stuff. This shuttling is no thanks to Hong Kong tiny style kitchens. I don’t have enough space in my kitchen for my large fridge so it was kept it in the living room. Shortly after I started, my domestic assistant came out and helped me juice the oranges.
I finished the breakfast quickly, served everyone (they were all awake by then), and went back to my room to feed baby Divine who was already up and howling. Now, what I did was really funny, I put my baby boy to my left breast, and while he fed, I took a quick pee in the toilet then washed my hands one after the other (hence using too much hand wash). The things babies make us do! I am always confident in the cleanliness of my toilet though. With the baby still suckling, I brushed my teeth, brought out all my work outfit for the day including a shape wear to pack in my mummy belly, oops! Well, after having four children within 6 years, I discovered that my tummy is now everywhere, and my centre of gravity seem to have shifted forward. Seeing these children still gives me a whole new level of confidence and joy that the my postpartum body would never be able to dampen.
I went ahead and did a last minute editing on a video that I was going to upload to my YouTube channel after work. By the time I finished, my baby was also done and was smiling so sweetly at me. All the pressure I felt doing all I had to do that morning simply melted away at that smile! I wanted more smiles so, I put him down on the bed and we cooed together for around two minutes. Remembering that I had to go to work, I quickly took him to my hubby who is working from home this week. I then showered and got ready. My daughter came and helped me tie my scarf around my neck and I came out to the living room, placed my hand on each of my daughters” forehead and prayed for them (I do this every morning). I then kissed hubby goodbye and walked out the door feeling very confident and beautiful!
I had intended to leave at 7:45 am but I left at 7:55 am; I was still very much on time and I was really very happy. My joy I think came from talking to God earlier. I had written the tasks I had to do on my planner so, it was quite easy for me to take them on. I multi-tasked when I needed to but also took a little time to watch my newborn smile at me. I don’t know your family setting but I do know that God’s joy and peace are available for those who need them. While you may not always get to finish or do everything you want to do each day as a going-out-to work mom or a working-at-home home mom or wife, or husband or dad, you can never go wrong with starting your day with God.
Always listen when He nudges you. Never ignore his nudges. When you feel weary, ask the Holy Spirit for grace, and help, and wisdom. He is always waiting for us ask. I am writing this blog on the bus going to work, but I actually forgot to eat the breakfast I made because I was so happy to have completed my tasks for the morning. Well, isn’t that something? I plan to grab a nice breakfast at a nice little restaurant near my workplace as a treat to myself.
This is Rhoda’s mom musings. Thanks for reading. Drop me a comment about some of the weird/crazy things you have done as a mom or how God has helped through some periods of pressure in your parenting or homemaking life.
