From as early as Rachel Clarke can remember, she’s wanted kids.
“As much as I would imagine what it would be like, there was no way I would truly know how incredible, tiring, and life-changing it would turn out to be,” says the doting mum to nine-month-old Emma.
Rachel who works part-time for Chevron Traffic Services, a business owned by her husband’s family says, “Emma joined us 12 days late at the end of July last year and over these past several months we’ve had some of the most amazing moments.
A friend of mine described it so well by stating that we were prepared, mostly, for the lows—the sleepless nights, the inability to decide whether to shower, eat, clean or sleep, but what we weren’t prepared for was how high the highs would be. That moment your child burps (hooray!), gives their first smile, rolls over for the first time. It is such an overwhelming feeling of pride, joy and wonder!”
Though Rachel had heard about the rush of love that new mums experience when they hold their baby for the first time she doesn’t recall feeling it, at the time. “Maybe due to the 26 hour labour and the two nights of no sleep leading up to that,” she reflects, on the exhaustion during the birthing process.
“The love that grew was magical as I got to know Emma, and she casually slid into our lives like she was always there to begin with,” she says.
“Now I find I’ve experienced a level of patience, I’ve never needed before, which can be hard when you have a screaming child at 2 am!”
About the things her baby taught her, Rachel says, “Through watching Emma I’ve learned to appreciate the smaller things in life. The feel of grass on our feet, the airplane gliding through the clouds, the joy of seeing one of our cats come through the cat door. Life is a little slower and a little more hectic all at once and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings with our little wonder.”
