My First Baby Oliver Turns 15!

The one who made me a mum, Oliver, turns 15 years old today! It snowed uncharacteristically in West London at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital on the day he was born on the auspicious date of 10.01.10, when it felt as if time stood still not just for me as a new mum but also for the whole of the city. Today, in Harrogate, fittingly, we’re also covered in a thick blanket of beautiful snow.

I felt shell-shocked after Oliver’s birth and it took a while to heal from the traumatic experience of an emergency c-section but therapy and moving back to Leeds close to family helped. History repeated itself when my daughter was born in 2021. 15 years as a parent seems such a long time on the one hand yet on the other, I feel that so much of my life and identity has been dedicated to mothering, that I can’t remember a lot of life before Oliver was born. Not lucidly. I was desperate for a baby boy as my first child having seen my husband Peter’s adorable baby photos. He really was the most beautiful baby and child I’d ever seen (and man)! Oliver was cherubic with his dark brown eyes and chubby cheeks, I loved dressing him like a teddy bear. It’s wonderful to reflect on the young man he’s become since then.

Born old;  frighteningly cerebral, funny as hell, camera-shy (hence the use of a younger, childhood photo), a second dad to his much wanted baby sister, Florence, and a great friend to his younger brother, Alexander, Oliver, really is my best friend.

We share the exact same sense of humour and all of the same interests from drawing to piano, tennis and basketball. We watch box sets together, mostly millennial ones like Inbetweeners and Friday Night Dinner and he (thankfully) forces me to hit the gym or head out for runs together most nights!

We’ve grown up side by side and I I feel deeply proud of what we’ve achieved because parenting really is a baptism of fire when it comes to your first kid and one of the biggest challenges in life. Raising kids can be tough, joyful, frustrating but always undoubtedly worth it, even if they end up towering over you like Oliver does! I’ll need a step ladder soon as he’s already 6 ft 1! Help!

I often can’t quite believe that I’m a mum to a teen, tween and three year old! Life is rarely calm and always busy but my heart really is full!