When Lara was born, motherhood had the wonderful side effect of calming me down, making me happier, less stressed, more relaxed and more spontaneous. I know a lot of this was to do with hormones and to do with the happy chemicals that Lara and I shared when we were together because when we were away from one another and, when I went back to work after maternity leave, the mellowness did begin to wear off a little.
During the later stages of pregnancy with Holly I could feel the 'yeah... whatever' feeling of mellowness descend again but childbirth does strange things to a woman and I was worried that this time I might benefit the same mellow side effect.
I certainly haven't had the 'nice hair and nails' side effect this time around but my 'totally random dry skin' side effect has come back since giving birth to Holly. Damn.
And the mellowness? Yes it is definitely back. Perhaps even stronger than last time. As a first time mum it is unusual for someone to be as laid back as me and to be so happy to just go with the flow and with your instincts. For a second time mum it is not so out of the ordinary. There are lots of happy and relaxed faces among my new second-time-mummy friends but then there are also still worriers - I'd love to be able to pass on some of the mellow vibes to them.
So yes, motherhood is great fun and I'm looking forward to the challenges that life has to throw at us together. If I can cope with toddler tantrums and two daughters with chicken pox in the first three weeks of Holly's life then what else does life have in store for us?
