Having a baby at a very young age was quite an experience…I had left home and had studied my first year at university, in which I did rather well in, (everything except mathsjust passed this…phew!) and then voila! I had a baby.

My son entered our lives with a bang (he still does this, he is a very “HERE I AM!!! LOOK AT ME!” type of person). He was early, he wasn’t as healthy as he could have been and I found the whole experience painful and stressful. I did not cope well.

calm

New mothers in general seem to always receive an abundance of advice (because let’s face it, NONE of us ever really know what we’re doing) from, I suspect, mostly well-meaning people…and because I was so young, I received so many barrels of advice. It began to feel like whenever I talked to someone I’d get flattened as the heavy barrel rolled over the top of me. Being so unsure of myself I tried most of it, and now I must apologise to my first-born for some of it!

I am sure that I suffered from undiagnosed postnatal depression and how on earth I came out of that season is quite a long, clouded, winding story. I strongly believe a key element of my journey was friendship. I attended a playgroup, I was, by a lot of years, the youngest mother there. I look back and am amazed at the women there who befriended and encouraged this teenage mum.

What a beautiful bunch of women! They were the shining lights in the midst of my darkness. They made me laugh, they were gracious, they put up with my teenage-ness, they inspired me and sometimes gave me an encouraging kick-up-the-backside to move me on to a better place! I appreciate them and am so grateful for the part they have played in my life.

These girls will always have a special place in my heart.