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My Stylish Weekend Escape to The Lake District

16/01/17 ᛫ 12 Comments

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Jess is an an award-winning travel blogger based in Yorkshire, navigating the world as a new Mum to baby Theo. Blogging about adventures both local and global.

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Let’s talk about wild swimming! This was my seco

Let’s talk about wild swimming! This was my second swim and the effects after were even more intense than the first.

The moment you enter the water you can focus on nothing but the present, which is why there are so many mental health benefits to it.

It’s a mental and physical challenge but after doing it, you realise how strong your mind and body can be. It feels so empowering!

The endorphins I feel from doing this are like nothing I’ve experienced. It’s the strongest natural high and I can definitely see why people get addicted.

Grateful to my friend @naomipsychotherapy for introducing me to this crazy activity.

This is Miller Ground on Lake Windermere, which is a great beginners spot for wild swimming. The water was 10 degrees 🌿

Would you ever try wild swimming?

Disclaimer: I hate the cold and before trying wild swimming I was truly baffled why anyone would ever do this. The only way you can understand it is to give it a go for yourself 🤍

Just want to big HELLO to new followers and a huge

Just want to big HELLO to new followers and a huge THANK YOU to long time followers. Collectively you have helped me to raise £5,498 for the neonatal unit at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. I am so grateful to have such a caring and supportive community on here. You are all amazing!

This money will be donated on our behalf by @johnsonsbabyuk as part of the very special #FirstMomentsMatter campaign (see previous post for details).

So whether you’re old or new here, here are 5 things you may not know about me;

🤍 I run an award-winning travel blog and have visited 50 countries
🤍 I am one quarter Dutch
🤍 I speak French. I studied at A Level and took extra modules at University
🤍 I have lived in York, Newcastle, London and Leeds
🤍 Pepperoni Passion from Dominos is my jam

Tell me something not everyone knows about you?

New hair by the brilliant @hairbykierenkennedy

TRIGGER WARNING 🤍 Ad - Having to be separated f

TRIGGER WARNING 🤍 Ad - Having to be separated from your tiny, fragile, premature baby goes against every natural instinct you feel when becoming a Mum / Dad. Every goodbye hurt. Every drive home stung.

I’d call the nurses at 3am for an update whilst I expressed alone. The separation is a part of the neonatal journey that people don’t always consider.

I am so happy to share that JOHNSON’S® & Alder Hey Children’s Charity are partnering to raise money that will help to fund Family Integrated Care Rooms in the new surgical neonatal unit at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool.

These new rooms will enable families to stay overnight with their premature baby from birth, whilst ensuring they also receive the best neonatal care. The unit will be the first of its kind in the UK, which is why it’s so special.

This is an official campaign post, which means that for each ‘like’ this post gets, JOHNSON’S® will donate £1. I'm hoping to reach 1000 likes to raise £1000.

Please like this post to donate £1 and to make an additional donation, please share a post to your grid with the hashtag #FirstMomentsMatter.

JOHNSON’S® are also donating 5p of every limited edition pack produced, which are available in Superdrug. Available whilst stock lasts.* @johnsonsbabyuk

Swipe to see how much Theo’s little hand has grown. Our marvelous miracle boy.

*Johnson & Johnson Limited will donate the following to Alder Hey Children’s Charity (Registered Charity Number 1160661): £1 for each “like” of this post and for each grid post that includes a photo and #FirstMomentsMatter made by 30.05.21, up to a maximum donation of £10,000 in relation to the #FirstMomentsMatter Campaign; and 5p for each Alder Hey Limited Edition product produced (£60,000) @alderhey_inspired

“Your brain still thinks he died that day”, ex

“Your brain still thinks he died that day”, explained my therapist as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Yesterday, as I retold the painful story of the day we nearly lost Theo, I used the phrase “the day he died”. My therapist noticed my phrasing but didn’t mention it til the end of the session. I had no idea I had used this phrase until she highlighted it.

She explained how the brain stores trauma. It can’t be stored away. It gets stuck so you keep reliving it as if it were the present moment. Hence my phrasing.

It shocked me, but it also made so much sense. I felt a wave of relief wash over me; a bit of a penny drop moment.

Two years on, I still have residing trauma that needs processing. PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is very real and not only something that happens to war veterans.

I want to help others and be an advocate for maternal mental health. So if you feel like you are struggling with flashbacks and reoccurring memories for any reason, you are very welcome to slide into my DMs for a chat. Brilliant, impactful help is available and I can also recommend a wonderful therapist who I meet with via Zoom.

The trauma work in these therapy sessions is emotionally draining but, investing in myself and my mind is one of the best decisions I’ve made so far this year 🤍 #mentalhealthmatters

Post nap relaxation. My son is a vibe #BeMoreTheo

Post nap relaxation. My son is a vibe #BeMoreTheo 💫

“Are you going to have another?”, asked a well

“Are you going to have another?”, asked a well-meaning family member, out of the blue. Another cup of coffee? Another what? It could have been anything, but I knew exactly what they meant. Another baby. The question that fills me with dread.

It seems like when your first child enters toddlerhood, there is a societal expectation, or assumption, that all mothers are yearning for the next one. For me, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Why assume there will be a next one? For many, one is enough.

After extreme prematurity, neonatal surgeries, a 3.5 month NICU stay, post natal anxiety, PTSD and a global pandemic, motherhood has well and truly consumed me, challenged me and changed me.

I feel like there is so much we still have to experience with Theo. He is a healthy and happy little boy ready to see the world. But it’s not just about Theo.

I am working hard on my own personal development and having further therapy for my trauma. I am healing and reconnecting with parts of old myself. I want to write a book! I am unapologetically making myself a priority again.

Having another baby is not a priority right now, and perhaps it never will be. All I know is that this little boy and his Daddy complete me and they are all I need.

Now that restrictions are slowly lifting, we are ready to start living our best life and making memories that go beyond the local playground, as a family of 3.

Female adult life isn’t all about having babies. There is so much more available to us now.

Please always be careful when asking people about their family plans. You don’t always know what they’ve been through, or are going through.

Have you ever been asked a similar question and how did you deal with it? I’d love to know 💭🌿

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