I’ve heard the phrase ‘doesn’t time fly’ more often than I care to remember, but it seems appropriate to use it now. Boxing Day 2011 feels like only yesterday.

The day I became a mother. The day my life changed forever.

I want to begin by saying a massive thanks to all the staff at Kingston Hospital’s maternity unit. They were amazing. I never thought I’d be so comfortable with people who have seen more of me than my own husband.

Maybe I should apologise.

So far, it’s been an incredible rollercoaster ride – from sleep deprivation (if someone else asks me if my baby is sleeping through the night, I may explode), back to back nights of takeaway food (I’m never going to get rid of my pot belly at this rate) and bickering with the other half (he thinks he knows best, I have to remind him he doesn’t). As I write, my son is recovering from the shock of having his four-month injections. One needle is bad enough, but today he had to deal with three. He was lulled into a false sense of security by the lovely smiley nurse, only to be taught one of life’s harsh lessons, “never judge a book by its cover”.

The tears that rolled down his cute little face were probably less to do with the pain and more to do with the fact he’d been tricked. He quickly got over it because like his dad, when the going gets tough, the tough eat.

All I had to do was give him his favourite meal of expressed milk and everything was forgotten. I was so proud, he didn’t scream for too long and I walked out of the surgery knowing the occupants of the waiting room weren’t tutting.

I’m excited about being a columnist for the Surrey Comet and am looking forward to sharing all the highs and the occasional lows of being a new mum.

www.angellicabell.com.