My first pregnancy was fairly standard. I was sick for the first trimester, on top of the world for the second and getting tired in the third. The birth was, well, everything I could have hoped for. Isn’t that exactly how it is meant to be?
With my second pregnancy I was constantly sick, day in and day out. That was ok; I had desperately awaited this pregnancy and was not going to complain. This birth was a deal more, what is the word? Intense, than my first. But I held my healthy bub and all was well.
Establishing breast feeding was a little tricky with both but we got there and continued on smoothly. Why am I telling you all of this? Because many of my friends have recently entered Motherhood, or they are soon to be bringing another baby into their family. This has raised the question, would we like a third child? I am ok with another pregnancy, I could even do IVF again, and while the birth itself does scare me; I could do it. Breast feeding and I are not great friends but I’d be ok with that too. What frightens me the most is the sleep deprivation! We do not have family around, it is my husband, who works long days, and I. Our families are a state away.
When my kids were born they were the sweetest little things, they smelt divine, they curled up on my chest, grasped my finger and made my heart melt. But they did not sleep. Apparently some do, from day one I have heard, not mine. The fatigue is hard! I remember days of being happy one minute and crying the next; rocking a baby at midnight thinking I cannot possibly survive another 24 hours, and everyone snapping simply because everyone needed sleep! Thankfully I didn’t have it half as bad as some Mothers. Firstly, I had spent years living with insomnia and had adjusted quite nicely to functioning on little sleep. Furthermore my kids weren’t in the ‘we need sleep school’ category, they were in the ‘normal but not great’ group. During this time, one of my greatest sources of energy, strength and happiness was cookies. Cookies I could make mindlessly with a baby in my arms; cookies I could over indulge in without feeling too guilty. Cookies I was happy for my oldest daughter to eat daily, cookies I could grab at 4am or 11pm and feel fine about. Most importantly, cookies I thoroughly enjoyed!
I love chewy cookies! I also like them to be rich, dense and full of flavour. Our Chewy Chocolate Cookies tick all of my boxes and make my family and friends very happy. If you are a sleep deprived mum, if you know a sleep deprived mum, or if you are soon to be sleep deprived mum, I strongly suggest you get onto these. May they help you as they have helped me.
Chewy Chocolate Cookies
- 1 cup macadamias
- 1 cup medjool dates, seeds removed
- 1 tablespoon cacao or cocoa
- Preheat oven to 180°C or 350°F. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
- Place the ingredients into you food processor and blend at high speed until the mixture is well combined and sticking together.
- Roll the mixture into small balls, place on the oven tray and flatten slightly.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely prior to touching.
- Eat and enjoy.
Photo credit – Rose Hewartson Photography
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