MOTHER OF THE MONTH

February edition

Rhiana was nominated by her lovely sister Emma for being an amazing mother, her words touched my heart and knew she had to be our Mother of the Month- here is what Emma had to say about her sister.

-Definitely nominating my amazing sister! She is the most amazing mum to my niece and nephew! With my nephew, he has had huge food intolerances and my sister has given up so many foods and has completely changed the entire way she eats, so that she can feed my nephew exactly what he needs. It's been a long 6 months but never once has she given up and has stuck by it to give her son the best start he can get! She's an awesome mum to her 3 year old and now 7 month old and I think she deserves every mum award under the sun! 💕

After reading that nomination I just had to learn more about Rhiana! here is her story.

Name: Rhiana Pearce

How Many Children: 2 - Miss 3.5yrs and Mr 8 months

Best Advice Given: My mum always reminds me to breathe and that inside when times are tough you are strong and can handle whats thrown at you. Although sometimes it does not feel like this, at times I always think come on, you can do this just think of mum.

What is one of your goals this year: This one is a tough one because I have too many… I think the most important one is Answers and Progress for Mr 8 months. From the beginning when he was born we knew something wasn’t right. After successfully feeding my daughter for 18 months I was keen on being a second time mum and feeding. But feeding him was a struggle from the beginning. We had to use shields and top up with express milk through a supply line into the shields just so he would gain enough weight to leave the hospital. From then on although he grew in length, his weight was slow and feeding wasn’t great. At 4 weeks he had his tongue and lip ties cut without much improvement. It wasn’t until at 8 weeks a LC (lactation consultant) listened to the things that were happening and then seeing his nappy diagnosed him with CMPI (Cows Milk Protein Intolerance) from there the only option is to take dairy out of my diet for 6 weeks and then trial with dairy if unsure. Within one night of no dairy we noticed a difference and from there we went soy free (next common intolerance). It spiralled to becoming also free of gluten, bananas and beef and tomatoes before we went to a dietician to get more answers. Going on the elimination diet to the point where now I only have ten foods I can eat and only drink water has been a very hard journey especially when Mr 8 months still isn’t settled with tummy pains and mucous filled nappies. Not the easiest journey when our regular GP looks at him and states he’s fat, he’s growing, he’s happy so there must be nothing wrong with him everytime we visit which hurts (clearly he needs to visit at night & during bad days). The next step is a paediatric Gastroenterologist at the end of this month and next month we have to consider whether we have his now four ties lasered. So I guess my biggest goals is to get clearer answers and some progress for our little man.

What is a weakness and a strength of yours: My weakness is my quick emotions - when I found out about Mr 8 months being CMPI I cried for two days thinking I can’t do this, its too hard, I can’t handle this.
My Strength is my determination - Once I have made the decision like with changing my diet completely, my determination really has helped me get through this experience. Not sure if its determination or called stubbornness. A positive with doing this diet to help Mr 8 months is slimming from a size 20+ down to a size 16 and although it wasn’t a focus throughout this journey it has certainly helped me keep up with these two kids.

What are you passionate about: Family - without the support of my husband and my mum I think that this journey would have been so much harder. Family is a huge passion of mine and in my opinion comes above all.

What is your most treasured memory: Miss 3.5yrs meeting her new baby brother and being absolutely smitten with her new role.

Best Mummy moment: When my lil man was a tiny bub and I was changing his nappy, his big sister came up while he was crying and said “hey hey hey its a wonderful kind of day” and continued to say this in a calm voice until he calmed. Made me so teary as they are so loving towards each other - they are worth everything in the world to me.

I want to say a massive thank you to Rhiana for allowing us to hear your story! what an amazing mother you are. So much strength and love for your family and I hope these gifts just show how special and appreciated you are. Also to thank Emma, thank you for nominating! its because of you that we can all celebrate in the love you show for your sister and not letting her hard work go unnoticed.

Thank you for taking the time to read our 7th edition Mother of the Month. Tomorrow our gift pack to Rhiana will be uploaded and wow its a good one so be sure to check back in to have a peek.

Bronwyn

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