Muhaini Mahmud and Mateen Maliq

he house is quiet when we arrive for Muhaini’s photo shoot. Her son Mateen was still asleep as the team gathered to discuss on her outfit and makeup. Just then, a sudden cry pierced the silence, which made Muhaini perk up and immediately rush upstairs. “He’s a very regimented child,” Muhaini explained when she came back downstairs, without Mateen, “he has to have his bath before coming downstairs or else he’ll be cranky.” It’s clear that Mateen Maliq is very attached to his mum, looking for assurance and approval from her no matter where he is or what he’s doing in the room. “My pregnancy was tough. I was throwing up for the first 22 weeks. I didn’t just have morning sickness, I had all-day sickness. I was sensitive to a lot of smells. I lost weight during the first part of my pregnancy. I had low-blood pressure and fainted a couple of times. Most women are lucky, but it was really tough for me. The first two trimesters I was mostly bedridden and couldn’t do much,” confesses Muhaini; but it was all worth the pain, including the emergency C-section, the moment Mateen was placed in her arms. Having had a tough first and second trimester opened her eyes to all the hardships her own mum had to go through while carrying her. One of the lessons she learnt from her mum, Muhaini shares, “was to be kind to myself, and to let go of my perfectionist nature when it came to doing things the ‘right’ way, or according to ‘plan’. She taught me to finally find enough confidence in simply doing the best I can and that you are never, ever too old to hug your mother. Every day I make it a point to have ‘the cuddle period’ with my son.” Out of all the new adventures and stresses that motherhood brings, Muhaini found the physical changes the most surprising. “I had wider hips, a stretched out tummy and even bigger feet,” she laughs ruefully, but her trim figure belies her words. Although motherhood has kept her on her toes, she still finds time to devote to herself. “Your own time becomes limited and you learn to prioritise. You can’t do everything you used to, so you do what you can, and what you really want to do. It’s a great way of learning what is really important to you, and which relationships are the ones worth pursuing. You’ll also become more realistic. You realise what you can achieve and that there’s only so much that you can do. “My me-time is usually early in the morning. That’s when I go for my workouts. It’s important to take care of your appearance after you give birth, plus exercise makes me feel good,” she adds.