Olivia Siegl - Bonkers - A Real Mum's Hilariously Honest tales of Motherhood, Mayhem and Mental Health

OLIVIA SIEGLis the proud owner of two tiny humans and creator of popular parenting blog, The Baby Bible; a funny, honest and straight talking blog covering everything from post-baby vaginas to Postnatal Depression, uniting mums worldwide to be able to talk about ALL areas of motherhood – NO judgement!

After suffering with severe Postnatal Depression and Postpartum Psychosis following the birth of her two daughters, Olivia set up The Every Mum Movement, a global movement that empowers mums to take care of their maternal mental health and speak more openly and honestly about motherhood. The movement has gone from strength to strength, gaining support from the NHS HEE, NCT, Netmums and high profile celebrity parents, as well as invitations to speak at the Department of Health and the Houses of Parliament. Olivia also speaks at events and in the media on her experiences of maternal mental health to help raise awareness.

She loves writing and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post , The Metro and leading parenting sites.

Copyright Copyright Dedication Introduction A Quick HELLO (as I know you’re busy keeping your tiny human alive) Foreword A Tiny Word from my Tiny Humans Chapter 1 Bulls*** Chapter 2 It’s Time to Go Back… Waaay Back Chapter 3 Pregnant and Blooming – (aka Blooming Demonic, Starving and Willing to Kill for a Cheese Burger and a Full-Fat Coke) Chapter 4 Childbirth, aka Trying to Push a Tiny Human Out of your Vagina Chapter 5 Becoming Mum – The Early Days Chapter 6 The Every Mum Guide to Postnatal Depression Chapter 7 Popping your Motherhood Cherry Chapter 8 After the After (Birth) Party – Celebrating Our Post-Baby Vaginas Chapter 9 Going from One to Two Chapter 10 In Charge of Two Tiny Humans Chapter 11 Postpartum Psychosis – The Danger of the Unknown Chapter 12 Feeding Your Tiny Human Chapter 13 The Every Mum Guide to Weaning Chapter 14 Snapping Back into You, Post-Baby Chapter 15 Post-Baby Body Chapter 16 The Every Mum Guide to Being a Dad Chapter 17 What Does Motherhood Mean to Me? Endnote Au Revoir For Now Acknowledgements Useful resources Glossary

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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018

Copyright © Olivia Siegl 2018

Olivia Siegl asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © January 2018 ISBN: 9780008214869

For my amazing little girls, Éva Loren and Isla-Mai, and my

awesome husband, Jamie, for always believing I could do this. And

to every Mum who has ever doubted themselves – this is for you

Me, Jamie and our awesome tiny humans

KEEP IN TOUCH

One of the best parts about writing my blog has been hearing from

other mums and sharing our tales of motherhood. I would love to

hear from you.

Share and tag your photos of BONKERS: A Real Mum’s HilariouslyHonest Tales of Motherhood, Mayhem & Mental Health using the #BONKERS hashtag

Visit The Baby BibleBlog www.the-baby-bible.com Facebook.com/theoliviasiegl Instagram.com/oliviasiegl Twitter.com/oliviasieglJoin the secret Facebook Group hello@everymummovement.com

Join The Every Mum Movement www.everymummovement.com Facebook.com/everymummovement Instagram.com/everymummovement Twitter.com/theeverymum

CONTENTS

Cover

About the Author OLIVIA SIEGL is the proud owner of two tiny humans and creator of popular parenting blog, The Baby Bible; a funny, honest and straight talking blog covering everything from post-baby vaginas to Postnatal Depression, uniting mums worldwide to be able to talk about ALL areas of motherhood – NO judgement! After suffering with severe Postnatal Depression and Postpartum Psychosis following the birth of her two daughters, Olivia set up The Every Mum Movement, a global movement that empowers mums to take care of their maternal mental health and speak more openly and honestly about motherhood. The movement has gone from strength to strength, gaining support from the NHS HEE, NCT, Netmums and high profile celebrity parents, as well as invitations to speak at the Department of Health and the Houses of Parliament. Olivia also speaks at events and in the media on her experiences of maternal mental health to help raise awareness. She loves writing and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post , The Metro and leading parenting sites.

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

IntroductionA Quick HELLO (as I know you’re busy keeping your tiny human alive)

ForewordA Tiny Word from my Tiny Humans

Chapter 1Bulls***

Chapter 2It’s Time to Go Back… Waaay Back

Chapter 3Pregnant and Blooming – (aka Blooming Demonic, Starving and Willing to Kill for a Cheese Burger and a Full-Fat Coke)

Chapter 4Childbirth, aka Trying to Push a Tiny Human Out of your Vagina

Chapter 5Becoming Mum – The Early Days

Chapter 6The Every Mum Guide to Postnatal Depression

Chapter 7Popping your Motherhood Cherry

Chapter 8After the After (Birth) Party – Celebrating Our Post-Baby Vaginas

Chapter 9Going from One to Two

Chapter 10In Charge of Two Tiny Humans

Chapter 11Postpartum Psychosis – The Danger of the Unknown

Chapter 12Feeding Your Tiny Human

Chapter 13The Every Mum Guide to Weaning

Chapter 14Snapping Back into You, Post-Baby

Chapter 15Post-Baby Body

Chapter 16The Every Mum Guide to Being a Dad

Chapter 17What Does Motherhood Mean to Me?

EndnoteAu Revoir For Now

Acknowledgements

Useful resources

Glossary

INTRODUCTION

A QUICK HELLO (AS I KNOW YOU’RE BUSY KEEPING YOUR TINY HUMAN ALIVE)

Dear Every Mum ,

No matter how you give birth; no matter how you feed your tiny human; no matter if you are a co-sleeper, a breast-feeder, a baby sling wearer, a baby-led weaner, a home-grown organic mum, a home-opened fish finger mum, a gentle parenting mum, a ‘Get your shoes on RIGHT NOW before I turn into the Hulk’ mum, a stay-at-home mum, a back-to-work mum, an ‘I’m not getting dressed today’ mum, a mum struggling with her mental health, a mum feeling judged, or a mum feeling on top of the world …