Parents assume that bonding happens immediately at birth, and whilst it can, for many, birth, particularly the first time round is a rollercoaster of emotion oscillating between shock, elation, worry and love.
Close mates of mine are considering trying for bambinos soon and they've been asking me questions, a lot of questions, so this post is for them, and for you, if you're worried that having babies might take over your brain and warp who you are.
For me becoming a mum was a wonderful thing - all of my other achievements paled into insignificance. I felt I’d found purpose in my life, my new baby daughter became the reason I wanted to succeed and everything was hunky dorky until… I lost myself.
I'm going to start this post with a warning as there are some SERIOUSLY cute baby pictures coming up and if you're feeling broody, your clock is gonna go into overdrive! Ouch, there goes my ovaries!
So tonight as I cut my eldest, Oliver's hair (he's currently hairdresser-phobic) I realised that as parents we seem to take on many, MANY roles or jobs from wannabee Nicky Clarke's (more like Edward Scissorhands in my case although Oliver's locks are still long enough to pass for an American kid in a Gap advert-phew) to full time therapists for our kids and more...