So my family consists of 5 little people, ranging from 5 months to 11 years old, and my husband.  My eldest child is my 11 year old daughter Miss Craft, my eldest son Mr. Reader is 9 years old, then come three more boys- Mr Biryani, aged 7, Mr Smiley aged 4 and Little Mr Cuddles, a very small nearly 6 months old.  I try live through each day, with a smile on my face.  I keep the above philosophy as my mantra (Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up and Never Give Up!) along with this:

My life changed, transformed, I would say when I had my first-born and then again with my fifth-born.  Just when you think you know what life has in store for you, something miraculous happens.  I would say there are people on one side of a fence who have never had children, those who adore them and have had experience taking care of them I hold in high esteem because it’s not an easy job.  But labour itself…well, let’s say I know why it got its name!

Thankfully all 5 births were ‘normal’. When I first heard that phrase after Miss Craft was born I was so surprised they were referring to me.  Was it ‘normal’ to feel like I’ve just been run over by a truck? Goodness me, I remember the end stage, they were going to use a ventouse and birth was imminent and then it felt like there were about 6-7 extra people in the room.  There must have been students, midwives, paediatricians and the consultant.  They didn’t shy away from watching the contractions and shouting ‘Push!!’.  Oh, it was so humiliating.  I remember a part of me sitting up and gaining strength from the sheer desire of wanting it all to be over!  Then a few minutes later, I couldn’t believe it.  I was looking in the deep dark eyes of my tiny new baby daughter.  And it’s true, what they say, that you forget all the pain- it’s all worth it but part of me did feel that surely it didn’t have to be so hard, or last so long (approx 20 hours from entering the hospital).

After that, I read ‘Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth’ and things just got better at each birth,  so much that I considered changing profession from a teacher to a doula.  See Natural Birth.

Anyway what I actually wanted to say in this post is: ‘Never underestimate the power of a shower!’.  First thing in the morning, in the afternoon, a quiet spare moment or just before bed- whenever you get a chance- you get the idea.  A hot shower, an ice shower (if you’re an Ice Man kinda girl), wash your hair or don’t, but get in there and I’m telling ya, you’ll feel a whole lot better for having done so. Now there will be those of you who already do this, I take my hat off to you (or hijab in this case :-)), well done!  But as a mother, I know that this simple thing is not so easy to do, so my advice is to prioritise it.

That and try to get out at least once a day…Self-care is SO important…but we’ll come to that soon xx

Peace and love ❤

Sidra Ansari

Note: I linked in an article to do wth Nadiya Hussain’s reasons for wearing hijab as these are the coincidentally same as mine. And of course she’s fab.

Since you’re here I have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the the7ofus.blog than ever but advertising revenues are non-existent. And unlike many lifestyle magazines, I haven’t put up a paywall – I want to keep my writing as open as I can. So you can see why I need to ask for your help. These posts take a lot of time and hard work to produce. It would be amazing if you could help fund me by donating a coffee a two to keep me going! Please press here to give.