Suzy Williams
Moderator
I'm Suzy (April '65 - pretty old eh!), I live in Brighton with my partner
Vinnie (Feb '75- yep a toy boy!) and our two children, Kira (May 02) and Jamie
(July 03). I work full time as a nurse specialising in HIV & Sexual Health.
Vinnie is also a nurse, but he's a Children's Nurse (very handy at times!) and
since my return to work when Kira was 4 months old he has worked part-time in
order to look after our children when I am in work, so he's very much a "hands
on" Dad.
I've been a member of Babyworld since a few days after finding out I was pregnant
with Kira and found the May 02 Antenatal group a great place to chat to other
expecting mothers as I personally didn't know anyone else who was pregnant at
the time and very few of my friends have children . Once all our babies had
been born we were asked if anyone wanted to become the group's moderator and
a couple of people nominated me - probably because I always had something to
say about everything! - and there you go, my first moderator job for a baby-related
group - previously I have moderated a pet rat keepers group - oh didn't I tell
you we love pet rats in our house? When Kira was born we had 12 and they we
very well behaved throughout her birth! Since then, they have all died of old
age and we are waiting until the children are a bit older before getting anymore
- not that they don't make excellent pets for young children, it's just finding
the time to look after them with two very small children in the house is hard
and not fair on the rats. With Jamie I joined the August 03 Antenatal group
but just like his sister, he didn't make me wait 40 weeks, so was born in the
July. I decided to stay with the August group though as I had spent 8 months
there and had got to know that other women.
Very early on in my pregnancy with Kira I decided that a homebirth was the best
option for us, shame the Homebirth Forum
didn't come into existence until after she was born but you can often find me
hanging out there now offering to support anyone thinking about a homebirth.
I had a wonderful homebirth with Kira and then another one with Jamie and think
it's a shame that more mothers don't consider homebirth as an option for them
or are discouraged from planning one because of lack of information and support.
I am also a member of my local NCT Homebirth Support Group, offering support
and advice via email or face to face to parents thinking about a homebirth.
While pregnant with Kira I was determined to breastfeed her, and after a slow
start, we continued until she was 10 months old and I was 5 months pregnant
with Jamie, only stopping then because of problems with the breastfeeding caused
by the pregnancy. This time around with Jamie I have been determined to breastfeed
him till he's at least 12 months and then let him self-wean when he is ready.
With only 15 days more to go now as I write this, you can take it that we have
made it to 12 months! I have been going to my local Breastfeeding Support Group
since Kira was a couple of months old and I now act as a peer supporter to other
breastfeeding mothers.
To say I have flung myself into everything baby-related since finding out I
was pregnant with Kira is probably not far from the truth, and that's more than
likely why, when she was looking for someone to take over moderating the Product
Talk Forum, Christine thought to ask me. I am also the type of person who if
she doesn't know the answer to something will go off and find the answer, so
I think that helps too.
Here's a link to my Babyworld
Homepage whichs links to Kira and Jamie's homepages, their birth stories
and a not very good pregnancy diary from when I was pregnant with Jamie!
Luv Suzy
