Mommy T's adventures; bringing up Baby T

WeAreRealMoms – Nourish, Nurture & Flourish

I love the Monsoon season. I love the thunder showers and the endless downpour and then the lush green of the Earth that springs up. Much like our theme for this month’s We Are Real Moms challenge: Nourish, Nurture & Flourish. 

A few months ago when Nikita of Being Mamma Bear asked me if I would like to co-host the We Are Real Moms (WARM) challenge with her in August 2017 I was overjoyed. And when she told me she chose me for this particular month because the dates for WARM coincide with World Breastfeeding Week I was more than over the moon.

My journey of motherhood has been most unexpected. From an unexpected, almost miracle pregnancy to the unexpected joys of breastfeeding I have been surprised and thrilled at the little marvels I see every day. That’s why I love talking about these experiences! I love sharing the joys I was able to experience, hoping that I would inspire just one more mother to feel the same.

mother and son, we are real moms, babys first outing

I will be honest and tell you, I did not believe I would be able to breastfeed. But I did and I still do breastfeed. I chose to have faith in my body and that if I trusted my body and my baby, I would be able to let the two build their own breastfeeding rhythm.  But I also did not know that something as simple as breastfeeding would be hard on me, physically and emotionally. There are days when I am at my wit’s end and constantly seeming to only feed my now toddler son at the breast. I want to scream, tear my hair out and yell at someone on such days. But then I do see my son recover almost overnight from mild colds and virals, gain valuable nourishment from breast milk even when his body refuses to eat any solids and I know I have a special gift and I must treasure it. My gift has been being able to Nourish his body and I believe both our hearts by way of breastfeeding.

My wonder with the term Nourish did not end there. BabyT turned 6 months & I was a little sad that he would need more than just my milk to nourish him. I wrote about my feelings in this very early post on my blog here. We chose to follow baby led weaning and luckily it went smooth sailing for us from there. BLW is messy. It is a time-consuming process. It is scary most of all. However what it is not – effort intensive (no separate food cooked for baby), inconveniencing (no purees in mixers, blenders or grinders) and definitely not location binding (best for travelling with babies.)

Nourishing the spirit & soul is as important as the body and here comes Nurture.  While I did not babywear my newborn, I waited eagerly till he turned the right weight and height so that I could wear him in my full buckled carrier. Here we are in our Tara Turquoise from Anmol Baby Carriers in one of our first outings.

baby wearing, baby carrier, anmol baby carriers, tara, full buckle, we are real moms

The joy I experienced in having my baby close to me, him feeling comforted in new surroundings and the bonding we felt together has been a blessing. I am really glad I found babywearing.

Nurture has also taken us beyond just babywearing. One of the greatest joys of being a mother has been seeing my baby develop from not knowing that he is a separate entity to him learning the ability of his hands, legs and five senses. His first moments are recorded in my mind & heart (and phone, of course, hahah) for ever. As we grow up we tend to take simple every day things for granted. But watching a little baby struggle, understand, try and then perfect a new skill is a wonder.

mommyingbabyT, BabyT, family, we are real moms, real family, family photo, cake smash. first birthday, sanya sunder, looking glass photography

BabyT’s family

I also learned that babies are hard on relationships. Surprised? Yes, I certainly was. It strains relationships and distances people. Not out of spite, but just out of not having time or energy to nurture and nourish anything else apart from BABY.  Sometimes it seems like you and your spouse are living on two different planets or maybe even galaxies. You may be the best parents together, but are you coupling? Keepin’ it very real here. Now that babyT is approaching 2 swiftly, I felt it is now time to look out on the world and retouch base with all those relationships relegated to the background – my own parents (and in-laws), friends (married, married with kids, single et al.) and above all MY OWN SELF. I choose to now flourish.

Nourish | Nurture | Flourish

So all through this month’s WARM challenge, Nikita and I are going to talk about and push you to Nourish, Nurture & Flourish. You’ve read my interpretation of these 3 prompt categories. You can read what Nikita has to say about the theme on her blog: BeingMammaBear

I now look forward to hearing about yours. How has your journey with Nourish been? Was breastfeeding hard? Did you choose to give your child formula milk? Did you follow traditional weaning or BLW just like me? What were the joys you experienced? I want to hear it all. If you have a new baby, are you finding personal relationships hard right now? And if you have gone past this stage, how did you rebuild your connections and your own self. 🙂

I am super excited to begin this journey with you. Do follow me on my Instagram account: Mommyingbabyt to be a part of #WeAreRealMoms’ August challenge.

17 Comments

  1. Vidhi

    Loved reading your experiences. Being a mother and choosing to breastfeed can be very challenging. Breastfeeding however easy it sounds is not so easy and only a woman can understand it. You are doing a great job.

  2. Zainab

    I know what you mean when you felt that Baby T wouldn’t need milk only! Been there done that!
    Loved all pics specially the last one!

  3. Jiya B

    I loved reading the post. Pictures are precious. I breast feed both my kids for 2 + years and have faced challenges evryday mostly when i am out of my home. You are doing your best. and Its inspiring.

  4. udita Saklani

    Loved reading this post! You give motherhood and it nuances a new definition altogether!I had to switch to formula milk as I had to join back work 🙁

  5. Preetjyot Kaur

    Yours in a really inspiring story.. i have breasted my elder one for over two years and intend to do the same with my younger one.. breastfeeding comes with a lot of challenges and what’s important is to not give up..

  6. Anchal

    Following you everywhere and so excited for your posts. Your journey is inspiring for many women.

  7. Saakshi

    Wow I love how you have described the theme. This should be an interesting photo challenge on Instagram

  8. Rupali

    Love the theme for this months photo challenge. Will surely join in and ask my friends too

  9. Vaidehi

    I am following you everywhere.Lovely pic of the family. My breatfeeding journey was hard as well. My baby was not able to latch properly and after a while he and me both became comfortable and he is 19 months old and I am still breastfeeding him.

  10. Afsha Galar

    I’m really looking forward to this month contest also yes breastfeeding holds a very special place in my life too and your stories and your post are super inspiring

  11. Prisha Lalwani

    i agree with you on the straining relationship part – depression and the overwhelming experience of bringing up my twins were too much for us. Thank god we survived through that.

  12. Charu Sareen Gujjal

    Wonderful take on the prompt. Loved all the pics too. Like you, even I felt I would never be able to breastfeed my twins but I managed decently that too for a good 1.5 years.

  13. priyadarshani Panda

    I relate to your whole blog so much ..i never thought i would be able to breastfeed honestly but here i am doing it and loving it…Loved the last pic all three of you are looking so beautiful a frame worthy pic

  14. Pranita

    I am sure this contest is going to be super fun. Looking forward to it.

  15. Geethica Mehra

    A new baby takes all our attention and our personal relationship with husband takes a back seat. Our takes a little while to take up all relations along and move ahead. ?

  16. Vatsala

    Wow! Wonderfully written! You have so vividly described your journey of motherhood so far. While it is nostalgic to some, it would be inspiring to many too. Keep writing your experiences. All of us can relate to it in one way or other.

  17. Richa

    Wow I was so happy too seeing you as the Co – host for warm and World Breastfeeding week.
    You are doing an awesome job as a mom… Keep inspiring.

    Allthatsmom

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2024 Mommying BabyT

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑