Gratitude: Pregnant and parenting during a global pandemic

If someone had told me last year that I’d be spending the latter part of 2020 on maternity leave, I would never have believed them. I was certain that my body would not be able to take another round of medication or suffer another loss. But as if by magic, although a storm was brewing…

Pregnant after back to back loss

Having suffered two losses in the space a year, the thought of being pregnant again brought as much fear as it did excitement...

A working mum or a mum working? Which am I?

Being an expert in the field of energy and sustainability, making a positive contribution to the world and climbing the career ladder is something I have worked really hard to achieve. But, being a mother and starting a family of my own is something I have had to work even harder at. My fertility struggle…

A year of losses

As baby loss awareness week comes to a close, I sit here reflecting one of my toughest years yet. The week marks an opportunity for people across the UK to commemorate the lives of babies lost in pregnancy or during or soon after birth.  The truth is, for those that have suffered baby loss, every…

Engineering Motherhood

As someone who studied engineering, I have always been very aware of how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is at the heart of everything we do and rely on. The roads we travel, the food we eat and the buildings we live in to name a few. I never imagined that I would call…

5 lessons infertility has taught me

From an early age life’s path was laid out to be quite simple. Complete your education, get a well-paid job, marry a good partner and then start your own family. Luckily for me, three out of four of those were in fact quite simple, but it took us nearly three years of heartache to accomplish…

The honest truth about miscarriage

One in four women experience a miscarriage, the first thing we are told when it happens is 'it's very common'. So common to go through, yet so uncommon to share what it actually entails. So here it is, my raw, open and honest account. I hope it might help prepare the many couples who may…

8 transferable skills I mastered in my 8 months of maternity leave

My 8 months of maternity leave have absolutely flown by. Before embarking on motherhood, I was nervous that I’d be returning to work having forgotten everything. But, motherhood has given me a new set of transferable skills that I’ll be applying to the workplace as I begin to pursue my career once again. I feel…

My journey to Motherhood, the highs, the lows and the super lows – Part 4 Parenthood

Here it is, my final write up in a 4 part series of blogs; Getting Pregnant, Being Pregnant, Giving Birth & Parenthood. This has been a journey of self discovery, where I learned that I had a reservoir of strength and patience I never knew existed. I hope those on their own journey to parenthood…

My journey to Motherhood, the highs, the lows and the super lows – Part 3 Giving Birth

In Part 1 and 2 of my story, I focussed on just how long it took for us to fall pregnant and how challenging pregnancy was for me. In this the third in a 4 part series of blogs; Getting Pregnant, Being Pregnant, Giving Birth & Parenthood, I describe my labour – all 32 hours of…