Erin Molan opens up about juggling work and motherhood
She returned to the Footy Show just six weeks after giving birth to her first child, and now Erin Molan has opened up about juggling modern motherhood with work.
The 35-year-old, who gave birth to a daughter named Eliza in June this year, said that although people tried to explain to her what motherhood was like, it’s only now that she truly understands.
"It's bizarre,” she tells 9Honey. “You have like a physical yearning. When I'm not with [Eliza], you feel unwell sometimes just thinking of her and how terrified you are of anything ever going wrong.”
"Even talking to people about her, I can feel a physical shift inside me and I would never have fathomed it before,” she adds.
Erin says her daughter is growing quickly and has already outgrown newborn nappies.
"In fact on the steps we've got six of her little onesies that she's grown out of. These were big on her when she was born,” she recalls, adding, "How quickly they change and grow is terrifying.”
Erin also couldn’t praise her fiancé Sean Oglivy enough.
"Seeing someone as a father, it's just love on a whole new level," she says. "He's such a good dad."
But she admitted that they’re both exhausted.
"We were sitting on the lounge and I was patting his back and he was patting my bum like we were burping each other, because that's all we've been doing,” she says.
"We looked at each other and said, 'Who are we?' It definitely changes your relationship but it makes it stronger and your whole existence isn't about each other or yourselves, it's about this little human being. It's an incredible journey."
Speaking of her return to work after only six weeks of maternity leave, Erin says that although it's been difficult she has no regrets about the decision.
"It's definitely hard," she says. "It's really, really hard and I wouldn't try and sugar-coat that in any way because it would be hard for thousands of other mums in Australia going back.
"Particularly those who have gone back as quickly as I have. I know that's not 'normal' to go back so quickly.
"It's hard but then also I feel good doing both, and she doesn't miss out on any level or else I wouldn't be back at work," Erin says. "She's always with me or with her dad, except for a couple of afternoons a week."
"I get upset still every time I leave her and it's getting a little bit easier – I'm into week three now – but I miss her terribly and I deal with all the feelings and emotions that I'm sure all new mums feel," she continues.
"I question myself and I feel guilty, I think that's just a permanent emotion now that I'm a mum."
But Erin knows that she’s doing it for her and for their family.
"We're just juggling it and we're making it work and we're doing our best, and that's all you can hope to do."