MATERNOLOGY.

A life-changing event is something that changes the direction of your life. It can be positive or negative, but it has a profound impact on your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Some examples of life-changing events include getting married, having a child, losing a loved one, overcoming an illness, or starting a new job. These events can challenge us, teach us, and shape our identities. Whatever the event may be, it has the power to change us forever. It's important to take time to reflect on these events, learn from them, and grow as individuals.

I'm fairly certain that most mothers will agree with me when I say, having a child is a life-changing event. I've seen and heard of cases of women who used to be wayward getting straight after having their kid (s).

That moment when you are handed your cute, little, bundle of joy, there's a sort of emotion that tugs at your heartstrings. I'm not sure I can describe it or if it's the same for everyone, but that moment for me was life-changing. At that moment, I vowed to myself that I would never let my son down.

The most surprising thing is that after several hours of labour in excruciating pain, one is supposed to hate the little human responsible for it, and trust me, I don't speak for everyone when I say this, but the reaction is the complete opposite, you fall in love immediately.

I should share my own experience and my perspective in the interest of not generalizing. The first time I laid my eyes on my baby, I was finished. I had labored for hours before finally having a cesarean section done, and I was tired, but I didn't mind, I had to see what I labored for.

The first question I asked my Mom in our local dialect, Yoruba, after I opened my eyes and saw her seated close to my bed was,

"se omo mi fine?" meaning, "Is my baby cute?"

She shook her head and said,

"Se oro pe o fine leleyi? O ni ironu, iwo to ye ko maa dupe lowo olorun pe Iwo ati e jo wa laye," translated to mean,

"Should you be concerned about beauty right now? You are not being sensible, you should be thanking God that you are both alive."

And so, I thanked God, beheld my baby and he was hella cute.

Ever since then, the outgoing me became an introvert, I used to like partying and attending functions, but the switch turned off in me. I would rather stay at home admiring him all day than go out for any function.

I began to think about two people, it dawned on me that I couldn't afford to be irresponsible, I was responsible for someone else. Whatever plan I wanted to make, I had to consider him first.

I used to drink, a few shots here and there, but I stopped without rehabilitation, I couldn't afford to take anything that would affect my baby through breast milk or make me lose control of my faculties where my baby was involved.

I used to love sleeping late and waking up late, even in the afternoon sometimes, but guess who straightened me up? My son. He turned into my alarm clock, waking me up whenever he felt like in the middle of the night with his authoritatively loud wails, making an impatient demand to be fed. He was my boss, and his tears were law as opposed to his word, he was still a baby and couldn't speak yet. I couldn't even stand to see him cry.

I gave up so many habits cause I had to step up to fit in the role of being a mother, I'm not perfect, but I am currently doing a good job if I do say so myself.

Having my first child and then his brother, years after made me reprioritize so many things, the way I manage my finances, the food I cook, I hardly ever indulge in a meal at the restaurant, something I used to be notorious for. Whenever I'm craving for an expensive meal at the restaurant, I would consider the costs and let it be cause it's better to use the money to cook for my family than waste it on a meal that's not even guaranteed to fill me up. The things we do for the ones we love. Even my screen time is affected, the things I watch on TV, I can't watch my favorite programs and movies anymore. I mean I surely can't be watching a romantic movie when my son's with me. I suddenly took a liking to cartoons, you can't blame me, it was the best among the other options of TV programs.

Motherhood was and it still is a life-changing event for me, it's had it's ups and downs but it's more positive and I would never change it for anything else. It has brought with it, a satisfying sense of fulfilment and a major feeling of pride that I now have two kids, for two and I always have to put them first in all I do. Like I said, I'm not perfect and since there's no manual for it, I'm getting better on my own everyday.

IMAGE CREDITS BY ME.