survey of the year - 2008

December 30, 2008

survey of the year - 2008

As is now traditional, i'm going to use the last couple of days left this year to look back on 2008 with a review and survey of the year, then decide which of my new year's resolutions i kept and make more for next year. So here's the first part of that - a survey of 2008 in 2o questions: 1. What did you do this year that you've never done before? Gave birth and breastfed! i know they're not glamorous things, but they were both new for me and i think i did (and do) both pretty well. 2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? i'm going to do a separate post on this, but i have a feeling i didn't manage to keep all of them from this year... 3. Did anyone close to you give birth this year? i did! Also Victoria, who i met through the preggie mum's club - she gave birth to Ella a few days before i gave birth to Poppy. 4. Did anyone close to you die? avid did, and i was very sad. Also recently i was sad again when i found out that caitlin had died even though i wasn't 'close' to her. 5. What countries did you visit this year? None, cos i spent the year being preggie or with a new baby. 6. What would you like to have in the next year that you lacked this year? Proper contentment and peace with the family i've got, without the guilty sad feeling which has been hovering over me this year accompanying that. 7. What date from this year will remain etched upon your memory and why? 25th May - the day i gave birth to our little baby girl :) 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Giving birth to a healthy baby, and doing so well with the breastfeeding and looking after her - i'm really proud of myself for that. Also i think i've done well to balance my mummy role with my slave one, and to incorporate both into my daily routine without one outweighing the other. 9. Did you suffer illness or injury? i've had postnatal depression for a few months now, which i guess is an illness. 10. What did you get really, really, really excited about this year? Giving birth to our first little girl (though i was also scared about it too). 11. What song will always remind you of this year? 'Black and gold' by Sam Sparro because we used to do exercises to it at aquanatal classes, also all the lullabies and stuff that me and Sir sing to Poppy. 12. Compared to this time last year, are you:- happier or sadder? - richer or poorer? - thinner or fatter? Probably sadder due to the pnd because this time last year i was preggie and soooooo happy about it, and though i am happy with Sir and Poppy now it's still overshadowed by the Joshua thing; a bit poorer because i'm not working and we have Poppy to care for now, and everything is so much more expensive than it was even a year ago (but we're doing ok so far); thinner because i was pregnant this time last year! 13. What do you wish you'd done more of? Laugh - it seems a while since i had a proper laugh about something; also (and i say this every year) spent more quality time with flame. 14. What do you wish you'd done less of? Cry and be sad, but i'm working on that. 15. Did you fall in love this year? Yes, with Poppy :) 16. What was your favourite TV program for the year? i enjoyed Big Brother this year, and also series 3 of Lost, though i watched that on DVD. 17. What was the best book you read this year? i can't actually remember any fiction books i read, so i'm going to have to be boring and say 'what to expect when you're expecting' which is the best pregnancy book ever and answered so many of my questions and worries. 18. What was your favourite film of the year? i can't remember watching many films...... oh, i do recall liking 'WALL-E', sorry if that's a rubbish choice. 19. Who was the best new person you met this year? Poppy obviously :) 20. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned for this year. i have learned just how important family and friends are, especially during the difficult times. And i've learned not to try to struggle through everything by myself, but to go to my family (especially Sir and flame) with my problems and ask for their help, because it really is a lot easier with their support than trying to do it on my own. That's something that i want to remember for the future. So it seems that having a baby has changed me a lot, and it comes through in lots of my answers - i guess that 2008 was dominated by my experiences of being pregnant, giving birth and being a mummy, and also the end of it was overshadowed by my pnd, but i think it's been a good year and i wouldn't swap Poppy for the world! i'm looking forward to next year and seeing Poppy grow and develop and hopefully getting rid of the pnd so i can enjoy her more. Oh, and if anyone's interested, here's my answers to the same questions for 2007 and 2006.