As a part of the annual Mother & Baby Magazine Awards, our search for Mum of the Year recognises women who have gone above and beyond for their family and community. Many exceptional mums have been nominated and we’ve sifted through their stories to find the most inspiring. Meet our five fabulous finalists for this year below.
Monique Kinerson
Early this year, Monique’s lifelong dream came true when she became a mum to a healthy baby boy named Jack. However, the journey to get there was tough, with Monique suffering five miscarriages. As a way of dealing with her losses and helping other women, Monique began writing a book, now in its final draft stage.
“I wanted the book to be a positive and uplifting experience from the perspective of a woman who was not yet successful in having a child,” Monique says. “It was difficult to hear from others that I should just keep trying. It is a gift to be able to fall pregnant, but it doesn’t acknowledge the loss of what could have been.
“Writing the book has been cathartic. It is basically an account of the discussions I had with friends who had also experienced loss. If I have learnt anything, it is that we are all different in how we manage the loss and how we recover.
“I have always tried to find the silver lining and humour has helped. I found that when I discussed raw emotion with others, my humour helped them breathe through the pain. We would sometimes just call each other to vent. Sometimes one of us would be crying on the end of the phone and the other would be quietly saying positive words to help them get back up again. It was amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. I hope our stories can help the many others out there who have experienced loss.”
Sweety Makwana
Two years after migrating to Australia from India, Sweety gave birth to her daughter, Twisha, who was born without part of her oesophagus, a rare birth defect called long-gap oesophageal atresia. Because her oesophagus was not attached to her stomach, Twisha needed to be fed directly into her stomach.
After 20 surgeries in Australia attempting to fix Twisha’s condition, Sweety learnt of a highly successful treatment, the Foker process, which is performed at Boston Children’s Hospital in the US. The treatment, not available in Australia, aims to stimulate the two oesophageal ends to grow longer and eventually grow closer together.
After being quoted a total cost of US$1.2 million for the entire process, Sweety decided to begin Mission Twisha, a fundraiser with the aim of saving her daughter’s life, and eventually helping other children and families who find themselves in similar situations.
“Twisha’s medical condition was critical,” says Sweety. “She was in and out of the hospital during that first year. My days are fully occupied by providing her with daily home medical care, and carrying out fundraising activities.
“It took almost three years to raise US$785,000 and with that amount, Boston Children’s Hospital agreed to start Twisha’s treatment. Twisha had her oesophagus connected in June this year, and was then put into an induced coma. She is stable and on the road to recovery. With Mission Twisha, we intend to help other similar kids after the successful completion of Twisha’s treatment.”
Jaime Bell
Just three weeks after birth, Jaime’s daughter, Lily, developed a large, bright red birthmark called a haemangioma on the top of her head. Blood vessels within it burst, causing it to ulcerate. With doctors in her hometown of Kununurra not being familiar with Lily’s condition, Jaime and Lily were referred to specialists at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth, more than 3000km from home.
Lily required two laser treatments for the ulceration and is taking medication twice a day to stop its growth. She and her mum fly to Perth every three to four months for follow-up appointments and laser treatment for two lighter birthmarks on Lily’s face.
“Watching Lily have the laser treatment isn’t fun and she looks battered and bruised afterwards,” says Jaime. “The cost of flights for Lily and I is covered by WA Health under the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme, but my partner Anthony’s flights aren’t covered, so he isn’t able to come. It’s hard not having Anthony come with us, as it would be nice to have the extra pair of hands as well as his support at the appointment.
“It can also be hard dealing with rude people staring and not being thoughtful when asking what the marks are. However, I know she will thank me one day.
“We don’t have family living here and it’s tough not having a support system on hand 24/7, especially on the more challenging days when it would be handy to pop into Mum’s for a coffee and a chat. I am envious of people that have their families close by but, in saying that, it definitely makes me appreciate family time when we do get it.”
Rachael Petrak
Rachael and her husband Jacob experienced a whirlwind romance, going from being best friends to becoming engaged and then married all in under a year. Three months after the wedding, Rachael discovered she was pregnant. After the birth of their first son, she suffered from postnatal depression for a year and a half.
Two years later she gave birth to another son and three months after that, found out she was pregnant with twins. However, shortly before the arrival of the twins, Rachael’s husband, Jacob, was made redundant. Rachael has since been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a type of arthritis that affects the spine.
Despite these financial and health issues, Rachael has managed to look after her four boys under four, holding the family together through the hard times with help from family and friends.
“We found out that my husband was being made redundant about a week before the twins were due to be delivered,” Rachael says. “You can imagine how much stress this created, increased by the fact that we had recently moved house and I was also battling the symptoms of AS. These have included headaches, exhaustion, aching joints and a very painful back, making it difficult to carry the children or change nappies. Sometimes the pain is excruciating, and it’s hard to get through the day, as I cannot stand for prolonged periods nor sit for an extended time either.
“Some days I feel like I’m going completely mad and I’m sure I sound like a broken record with the amount of times I say, ‘Don’t do that’ or ‘Leave your brother alone’.
“But I love being a mum, and my favourite thing is getting cheeky smiles, hearing them laugh, getting cuddles and kisses and all the sweet little things that kids do for their mums.”
Jacob nominated his wife for the award saying, “Rachael has had a hard five years, but has done an awesome job of caring for our four boys and deserves some recognition of that fact.”
Veronica Mashinge
After suffering two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy, Veronica, already mum to son Ryan, was worried she would not be able to have a successful pregnancy again. But within a year, she fell pregnant with Rhys. Then, just 10 days after Rhys was born, Veronica was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of the face.
“I was always fatigued, had facial pain and constant headaches,” Veronica says. “The worst and most upsetting part was not being able to smile at my miracle baby. I was worried about terrifying my newborn. I was so self-conscious that I didn’t leave the house. I just couldn’t face people with the way I looked.”
Although Veronica is still suffering the effects of Bell’s palsy, her husband, Tich, who nominated her for Mum of the Year, says he’s in awe of her bravery.
“Being a mum has been the best highlight of my life and having my efforts as a mum appreciated by my family brings a tear to my eye,” Veronica says.
The winner of the 2015 Mother and Baby Awards Mum of the Year will be announced on the 24th of September in the October/November issue.
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