For months I woke up congested, exhausted, and with that dull pressure behind my eyes - the kind that makes you feel like you never really slept.
I didn’t realise my blocked breathing was destroying my sleep… and slowly draining my patience as a mum.
It all came to a head one morning when I snapped at my 7-year-old for spilling a few drops of milk on the counter.
It wasn't even a big spill.
But I completely lost it.
"Can't you be more careful?! I don't have time to clean up your messes!"
The look on Emma's face... it crushed me.
She started crying, and I immediately felt like the worst mother in the world.
That's when it hit me: I wasn't the mum I wanted to be anymore.
I was exhausted, irritable, and constantly running on empty.
I had three alarms set every morning because I never heard the first two.
I'd drag myself out of bed, chug coffee just to function, and still feel like I'd been hit by a truck.
I snapped at my kids constantly.
I forgot things at work. I felt disconnected from my husband. I hated who I was becoming.
Looking back, it makes me angry - because no one tells mums this stuff.
We’re just expected to push through the exhaustion, keep smiling, and pretend we’re fine.
If we’re tired, people tell us it’s “normal.”
If we’re overwhelmed, we hear “that’s motherhood.”
But no one ever tells you your blocked breathing could be the real reason you’re waking up exhausted every morning…
or why your patience disappears over the smallest things.
I wasn’t broken.
I just wasn’t breathing properly - and nobody ever pointed it out.
But this is where everything finally started to make sense.