Becoming a mum has been the greatest blessing of my life.
I had my first child when I was just 18. I fully stepped into the role of motherhood. I did everything I needed to do, and it all came naturally to me. I think I am just naturally maternal, so it didn’t feel difficult at all. I enjoyed every single bit of it. At that young age, I was living with a husband, looking after a baby and running a household. I felt happy. That was the very beginning of my journey into motherhood.
I always knew I wanted more children. But when it came time to try for my second, it didn’t happen as easily. We tried for two years. Month after month, I waited and hoped. Eventually, we saw a general practitioner who ran checks on both of us, including a sperm count for my husband. Everything came back fine, but it just took time. Five years after my first son, I gave birth to my second. That’s when I made a decision. I didn’t want to return to work. I wanted to be present. So I became a home-based childcare provider, still earning, still contributing, but never far from my baby.
Less than two years later, I had my third son. That was when things started to feel more challenging. Life felt fuller, a bit more chaotic, and keeping the house in order became harder. It wasn’t bad, just different, the reality of raising three children and holding everything together.
And although I was full of love for all my boys, deep down, I longed for a little girl.
Still, I was happy. Life was full, noisy, and busy in the best kind of way.
Five years passed, and then I had my fourth. He wasn’t planned. That pregnancy was tough. I became very sick and had to give up work early on. I stayed home and raised him, and through the exhaustion, I still felt thankful.
Then came the moment I had been hoping for. Five years after my fourth, I gave birth to my daughter. She arrived nine weeks early, small and fragile, and I had to deliver her through an emergency C-section. She was my only baby born this way, as all four of my boys were natural births.
My little girl.
She brought something extra into my world, something light and soft and sparkly. I love all my children deeply, but there’s something about having a daughter after so many years of wishing. She completed a piece of me.
From raising one baby at eighteen to now being a mum of five, my journey into motherhood has been anything but easy. There were moments of struggle, exhaustion, and loneliness. But also joy. So much joy.
I would do it all again.
Motherhood has been my purpose. My peace. My biggest joy.
