I read a thing on Facebook the other day. It was all about if you were born in the 80s you’ve lived in 4 decades, 2 centuries, and your not even 40. Well not yet anyway. I felt a little old reading that I’ll tell ya.

It got me thinking about the past decade though. The past 10 years. It’s funny how the turn of a brand new year or decade makes you reflect.

A Decade Ago

I started the Decade a Newlywed. Married to my childhood crush. Boy were we starting out on one epic adventure.

Infertility

In 2010 we were facing continued struggles with infertility and thought we may never have kids of our own.

2011 came and we continued our fertility Journey and headed for IUI but it was cancelled due to too many eggs “popping”.

Little did we know that 2 of those eggs had already fertilised. We were due with our first set of twins in January of the following year.

Becoming Mum

Unfortunately the babies had become breech and c section was booked for the halfway through the December and finally I became a mum.

Then again for the second time with our second twins in 2017

Becoming a mum has had some amazing moments but it’s also been hard work. Especially since battling with mental illness.

Hitting Dark Days

During the past 10 years I have battled with mental illness in the form of pnd, anxiety, depression and health anxiety and more.

I’ve faced some really dark days. Ringing my mum for help, crying on the kitchen floor with a baby in each arm who were also crying. I had a panic attack on Christmas Day one year and thought I was going to die. I’ve woke feeling fearful of each day and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve rang my mum or Spencersarc Daddy to tell him “I can’t do this, I don’t know how to be a mum”

Triggers

My mental Health battles have come from a number of reasons from hormonal balance, to being involved in a fire as well as losing loved ones.

As a family we have lost some truly loved and well missed family members, friends and work colleagues over the past

10 years.

Getting Better?

I’ve been through talking therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, I’ve had medication to deal with my suicidal thoughts and dark days.

I’ve come out of the other side of my mental health blips yet still feel that mental illness is very much something I learn to live with each and every day.

It always Gets Worse Before It Gets Better.

In 2017 we found out I was pregnant with our second set of twins. I felt quite ill for most of the pregnancy. Towards the end of the pregnancy though is where our life was changed for ever when I was diagnosed with placenta percreta.

What Matters in Life.

Having placenta Percreta, facing that life threatening complication and a few more medical issues since made me realise what’s important in life, the things that truly matter.

What really matters in life is the people you spend it with and the memories you make with them.

Friends

It’s funny to think that at the beginning of the past decade we didn’t even know some of our very best friends. Now it feels like we’ve known them a lifetime.

I have met some amazing people over the past decade. Friends that we see almost daily, friends that I’ve met through the internet but may never meet in person and those that I’ve met at conferences that I now speak to almost daily.

There is people I’ve met that I may never see again but who have had a huge impact on my life. Some that have made me think about how I want to live and who I want to be. People that guided me through my toughest time. People I’ve met and thought that’s “who I will be when I grow up”

We have as a family and with friends made so many memories.

Camping in a field of 500 women, finding an island we one day hope to call home, exploring the country we live in. We have been lucky enough to go on many holidays, mini breaks and day trips.

The past 10 years have really seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

The Next 10.

I’m so looking forward to seeing what the next 10 years have in store.

The memories we are going to make with friends old and new. The places we will explore and the adventures we will have.

I hope that whatever the past 10 years have given you that you have some happy moments to remember and that the next year or 10 years are kind to us all and if troubles hit we can find courage and strength to get through it.

Nina x

I’d love to have you along with us for our daily adventures. I’m generally hanging around on Instagram with a cuppa in hand. Discussing what Netflix shows to watch, things the kids have got upto and showing the good the bad and the ugly of our lives.