A Week In The Capricorn Coast, Queensland, On Maternity Leave

Occupation: General Insurance Assistant / Maternity Leave
Industry: Insurance
Age: 26
Location: Keppel Bay, Capricorn Coast, Queensland
Salary: $44,850
Net Worth: $7,000 ($2,000 in my partner and I's joint saving account, and a car worth $5,000. In 2021, my partner had $20,000 saved, but we ended up using that money to have a baby and visit my family in New Zealand. I've never had savings as I've just finished paying off $20,000 of debt.)
Debt: $32,000 (NZD) in student loans.
Paycheque Amount: $1,300 in maternity leave every fortnight. My partner, L., is currently not working as he had to leave his job so we could move off Norfolk Island. He's starting a carpentry apprenticeship next month, so that should help turn our finances around.
Pronouns: She/Her

Rent: My partner and I live with my parents. They have been incredibly supportive with our newborn and we are not required to pay any rent or expenses. We help with groceries each week to say thanks.
Debt: My student loan debt is $3,000 a year. I pay that in two $1,500 lump sums.
After Work Drinks Podcast Patreon: $5
Spotify: $25 (I pay for our family account, which my siblings also use)
Petrol: $160
Partner's Gym Membership: $60
My Hustl Membership: $20
Phone: $60 (for my partner and I) 
Baby Expenses (nappies, wipes etc.): $200

Anything Else To Add?: I felt a lot of shame when writing about having a baby with little to no savings and only having one income stream. Our situation isn’t ideal and we would have preferred to be less dependent on my parents and more financially stable before having a child, but that isn’t our reality. My partner and I share all expenses. He is currently unemployed as he had to leave his job when we relocated to have our baby, hence the one income stream. I am enjoying the extra pair of hands and support, however, he's looking for another job in the area. I don't know how Australian nuclear families cope with only two weeks of Dad and Partner Pay.

Yes, I have a Diploma in Christian Ministries and am 2/3 of the way through a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Studies. I paid for these through the New Zealand Studylink Student Loan system.

My parents have never been financially savvy and this has influenced the way my four siblings and I spend and save. We're all terrible savers, but all of our partners are great savers and really good with money. This has been our saving grace. Growing up, we were never materialistic and very poor. My dad worked for minimum wage and supported my mum and five kids.

Over the years, my parents have earned more and made money with property investments. It's the ideal place for my parent's money as they can't spend it. The best thing they've done is taught us to not let money control our lives or hold onto it too tight. When my partner and I got pregnant, we weren't in a stable financial place. However, we didn't let that determine if we were 'ready' to have a child.

My first job was in a small family-owned honey factory. I was 14 and refused to go to school most days (I was quite mentally ill with major clinical depression at the time), so a local farmer asked my parents if I wanted to come work at their factory. I did a few shifts here and there.

My parents were incredibly generous with the little that they had, so I never realised how poor we were until I was older. They sheltered us a lot from fear and anxiety about money and we always just believed that God would provide everything we would need.

I do worry about money, as I want to provide our son with a great future and opportunities. However, since becoming credit card debt-free, I have felt lighter and more in control of my finances.

I became financially responsible at 14 as I was able to earn an income. However, I still rely heavily on my parents for support. Right now, they're putting a roof over my head — we'd be up a creek without a paddle if we didn't have them. I would love to be able to pay them back one day and not have to rely on them anymore.

I have received occasional handouts from my parents — a maximum of $500 each time.

2:30am — I'm jolted awake by the sound of crying from the room next door. My newborn son, B., is very hangry. My partner, L., lies peacefully asleep next to me. I push down all feelings of resentment (that sh*t is real!) and go give our bubba some loving. Whilst B. is feeding, I log in to Binge and stream Just Like That, which in my humble opinion is not all that. Seriously, the shower scene with Big — call the bloody ambo, Carrie! B. is fussy tonight, so there's a bit of back and forth on the boob, diaper changing, and cleaning up spit. I snack on a cookie dough protein bar — the GOAT of protein bars (and worth all the consequential gas).  

6:30am — B. is up and roaring again, so I'm back into his room for a feed. I move a little less stealthily out of the bedroom and wake up L. Seeing as he is up, I hint that I’d kill for a coffee. He obliges, gets out of bed, and makes me one. Decaf Almond Breeze Barista, stirred on the stove — no Breville coffee machine here. I change B., then I get into some exercise gear. L. packs the car with all we need and off we pop for our morning trot. We try to have a strict morning and night routine with B. and go with the flow for the rest of the day.  

7:30am — We head to our local cafe and I call up to order us some coffees — a medium oat milk flat white for me, and a large iced oat latte for L. It's easier to just call and pick it up, so it;'s hot and ready to go by the time we get there. Waiting with a baby is not a vibe. L. gets out and pays for the coffees ($11.50). Now we are ready for our walk. $11.50

7:45am — There's a great walking trail a few minutes away from our house. It used to be an old pineapple train trail, but they converted it into a footpath. L. listens to music and I have a podcast going (Shameless have dropped a new ep!). We walk almost 5km and are sweating buckets at the end — gotta love the Northern Queensland hotbox.

9:00am — Our local emergency hospital has a drop-in clinic for midwives. We bundle up our (still happy!) baby in the car and head over. We haven’t had him weighed since his 6-week immunisations and as he's now 10 weeks old, I want to make sure he's still on track with his weight gain. 

10:00am — All done! B. is growing like a little champ and all looks A-OK. He screamed like a maniac during the appointment but has settled down now. We decide to quickly pop to the shops to nab more baby items and stuff for dinner.

10:15am — We head into BIG W and stock up on diaper bags (sorry landfill, eeep!), baby ‘just water’ wipes, a bottle brush to clean my Haaka pump, a baby toothbrush (he has a glorious new tooth — yes, it’s as horrendous as it sounds) and we also buy a weight scale because we want to start just tracking his weight at home. $48.40

10:30am — Next stop is Woolies. We pick up everything we need to make veggie patty burgers for dinner tonight. I also grab some salted caramel Keto iceblocks — a recent naughty discovery and I am hooked. $72.97

11:00am — Back home. The silence has been short-lived and we now have a very hungry baby on our hands. I give B. a feed, change and put him down for his first proper bed nap. 

11:30am — I’ve started to get back into more intense workouts postpartum and I'm loving the fitness platform, Hustl. After every workout, I have a sore tooshie for days — but it's so worth it. I definitely wouldn't feel cool enough to ever enter their studio, but I'm loving myself sick in the garage.

12:10pm — Sweet baby Jeebus, that was killer. My legs are shaking and I'm hungry. I grab some leftover chicken from last night's dinner and chuck it into a wrap for lunch.

12:30pm — B. is still asleep, thank the lord! I settle in to read a book on my Kindle — The Lady’s Mine by Francine Rivers. She's one of my favourite authors and hasn’t released a book in three years, so it’s a long-awaited number. I share a Kindle account with my mum and sister (our best friends also use the account), so the book expenses go to mum. 

1:30pm — B. is awake and you guessed it — hungry. I can already tell how repetitive this diary is going to sound — mum life is such joy. I feed him with a side of Food TV on SBS — cathartic.

2:00pm — I chuck B. on his playmat, nudie rudie. I wipe up a pee and get back to my book. He’s learnt how to kick the mobile so the toys jingle, keeping him entertained for a hot minute. He has a feed and another nap. He feeds every two hours during the daytime, but I'll spare you the details because TL;DR.

4:00pm — My parents own another home in a gated community that has a shared pool. It's just around the corner from where we live, so it's a quick and easy spot to pop over to for a swim. Around this time of the day, the pool is shaded so we can take B. for a splash and dash. 

5:00pm — Back home and B. has a feed. I try to put him down for a quick nap before his big league bedtime, but he's not having a bar of it. I give up and plop him down on his playmat while I make dinner. The veggie burgers are a hit and I'm feeling very Mastercheffy. I do the dishes and start B.'s bedtime routine — shower with L., baby massage with me, and one final feed. 

7:30pm — A lot of tears are involved, but the little weasel is in bed and I'm finally back to my book. I fall asleep around 9. 

1:30am — B. wakes up for a feed and goes back to sleep.

3:00am — I’m still awake. Send help. 

5:00am — I must have nodded off at some point as I'm awoken by B. spitting bricks. I grab him and bring him into mine and L.’s bed. I give him a feed and let him fall back to sleep on me. I doze until he farts and poos through his suit onto the bed. Love that for us. 

6:30am — Cute family time is well and truly over, so we get up and get ready for a walk.

7:00am — I call ahead for our coffees. We pick them up, pay for them with shrapnel from L.'s wallet ($12), head off for our walk. $12

8:00am — Home for a shower and brekkie. I have a hair appointment today, so I pull some breastmilk out of the freezer to defrost. After a while, I give it a sniff and a quick taste test. The milk seems funkier than normal and we quickly realise it is off. Don’t ask me how that happened. I'm now in turbo mode and start squeezing milk from my breasts with my hands into a bottle as it's faster than a pump. As I lean over B.’s changing table, boobs in hands, squeezing like a maniac. I truly understand how f'd motherhood can be. 

9:30am — My hair appointment was a 4.5-hour success, costing me $294. I even treated myself with a shampoo and conditioner. I'm feeling myself and the new do, so I snap a selfie for the gram. $294

2:00pm — It's as hot as the devil's armpit and I'm sweating buckets, waiting for L. to pick me up. The pizza shop near the salon is open, so I duck inside and grab a Coke Zero can ($3). L. picks me up and explains that B. was hysterical the whole time I was gone. Mum guilt hits hard and I give the sad-sack a ton of cuddles and a big feed. $3

3:00pm — I haven’t eaten since breakfast, so I send L. to go buy Subway for us both ($35) and to have some baby-free time. $35  

4:00pm — I finally get B. down for a sleep. To celebrate, I do some household chores and have a quick lie down. After a power nap, B. wakes up, so we head for a swim with L. and my mum. 

5:45pm — Home for showers. We start B.’s nighttime routine.

6:30pm —  I put B. on his playmat and we settle down to eat some dinner that my mum has cooked — coleslaw, corn and chicken skewers. 

7:00pm — I give B. another feed and put him down to bed. We listen to him cry for half an hour, so we have to pick him up for cuddles and put him down every ten minutes.

8:00pm — Sweet, sweet silence. I take advantage of the quiet and read my book for a bit. Lately, I've been getting so anxious about nighttimes with B. I stress about the number of times he wakes up during the night, worrying if I'll get enough sleep. I think that's normal for a first-time mum, but it drives me insane.

8:40pm — L. and. I are craving something sweet. L.'s an absolute hero and nips down to the petty station to pick up some Tim Tams ($4). I fall asleep soon after. $4

1:15am — B. wakes up. I feed him and snack on a piece of fruit simultaneously. Burp him, and back down he goes. 

4:45am — B. wakes up. This time I feed him and listen to a podcast from After Work Drinks. They're discussing the legendary Julia Fox and her relationship with Kanye. I snack on another piece of fruit — breastfeeding has turned me into a bottomless pit. 

5:20am — Back to bed for B. and I.

6:30am — I manage to sneak in an extra bit of snooze time, but B. is now awake for a feed.

7:00am — L. makes me a decaf almond flat white. I want toast for brekkie but we have no bread. Every Saturday, the local bakery makes a special sourdough, so I'm holding out for that. We get B. ready for a walk and out the door we go. 

7:45am — You know the drill — I call the cafe and order our coffees. We listen to B. cry in the car — he isn’t as stoked as we are about the morning routine. 

8:00am — We grab two loaves of sourdough from our bakery. $11

8:10am — We pick up our coffees. $11.50

8:20am — We both realise we need to pee, so we drive to the main street in town to use the public toilets. I see that a building in town is hosting a garage sale. While L. stays with B., I quickly pop in to see if there are any bargains. I end up getting a big bag of baby clothes for $3 (there are 45 items in there — wild!). I also find a brand new coffee table for $20. My sister and her husband are moving from New Zealand into my parent’s other house, so the coffee table will be a great furniture piece for them. $23

9:00am — We walk the pineapple trail — 4.8km.

10:00am — B. is being an absolute angel, so I quickly pop into the mall to pick up a shirt and belt for L.’s first day of work. I also pick up a couple of claw clips for my fresh cut. $109.80

10:30am — We get home and I feed B. L. puts the table together and I watch. I put all of B.’s new clothes in the washing machine. B. won’t sleep (groundbreaking), so I bring him out to play on his mat (the real MVP here!). We eat lunch — leftover veggie patties in a sourdough sandwich. Chef's kiss!

12:00pm — The weasel finally gets sleepy and goes down, so L. and I hang the washing out and pump out a HIIT workout. I'm feeling fit, fun and flirty. We have an outside shower to cool off. 

1:30pm — I am reminded by my dad to get B. some baby sunglasses as the Queensland sun takes no prisoners. I purchase from an online specialised baby sunglasses store — $70 (including express shipping). They have a strap on them, so should be good for him to wear until he's two, justifying the hefty price tag. B. is still asleep, so L. and I lie on our bed and scroll the gram. Insta is a great distraction, but I find myself comparing my body to other new mums that I follow. It makes me feel awful about my postpartum bod — I stop appreciating the fact that I was B.'s home for nine months. I think I'm due for a social media detox. $70

2:00pm — B. is up, so I get a nipple in his mouth. The washing is well and truly dry so I bring it in. We go for a swim and I put B. back down for a nap. 

4:45pm — I quickly pop to Woolies to get some more protein bars for night feeds. I also grab some collagen because that three-month postpartum hair loss is no joke. I also grab some tampons, peaches and sugar-free maple syrup ($51.50). I've got my first period back postpartum and it feels so foreign. I don't miss being pregnant whatsoever, but I do miss not getting my period. $51.50

5:20pm — I get an email notification from Lululemon — they’ve just added a new Ebb to Street Crop in green and I’m in love. I don’t hesitate and add to cart ($69). I justify the purchase by telling myself that I won’t buy any coffees this week. Good luck to me and L.’s bank account. $69

5:23pm — A massive pee wakes B. — the silence was short-lived. 

5:30pm — Mum's on dinner and she's making homemade pizzas — yum! We pop B. in the front pack, and L. and I go off to trot around the neighbourhood.

6:00pm — Back home for dinner — I inhale the pizza! We start B.'s nighttime routine.

8:00pm — Book and bed.

1:30am — B. wakes up for a feed. I change his sheets because he's spit up all over them. I listen to another After Work Drinks podcast whilst I sort the cherub out.

5:00am — B. wakes up, so I drag myself back out of bed. B. is still awake when I put him back down, but I shut the door to his room and hope for the best. 

7:30am — L. is awake and I'm scrolling Insta when B. wakes up (a great start to the detox!). I feed him and drink a coffee that L. has made for me. Then we're out the door for our walk.

8:30am — I call to order our coffee, but the wait is so long. As Queensland's sun is so brutal, we have to be ruthless with the timing of our walk, so I call the café back and cancel the order. 

8:45am — I need to pee, so I drop L. and B. at the start of the trail and hunt down a public toilet. I'm feeling really cranky as I haven’t had a real coffee or food yet.

9:00am — Back to the trail walk and I pop on another After Work Drinks Patreon episode. They chat more about Fox and Kanye. It's so juicy, we love to hear it. Contrary to popular belief, Fox is an icon. Kanye is questionable, however.

10:00am — We get back home and mum has left blueberry waffle batter on the counter — what a hun! I'm starving, so I wolf down a waffle while L. sorts B. Then we switch, L. gets waffles and I get the crying baby. 

10:30am — B. finally goes down for a nap after a good feed and lots of cuddles. I have a shower to wash the sweat off and lie down in bed. I have a little headache and just want to be horizontal. 

1.10pm — I must have fallen asleep because I wake to the sound of B. chatting away. I feed him, then get us ready to go to our local lap pool.

2.15pm — We arrive at the pools and pay for entry ($7). The sun is scorching and we are the only ones here. The pools close at 3pm, so I get in a lane and start motoring. L. takes B. into the warmer pool under a roof for sun protection. $7

3:00pm — I feel like a treat, so we head to Hungry Jack's drive-thru for a frozen Coke and iced chocolate. $7.50

3:15pm — Time for my Sunday self-care ritual. I shave my bits and pop a hair and face mask on. Bliss.

4:00pm — My dad is completing his PhD and likes to have a second pair of eyes on his work. So I spend the next couple of hours editing his copy. I take brief breaks to give the baby some cuddles and boob time. L. heads to Woolies to get some more almond and oat milk for our morning coffees, as well as some instant coffee. He also gets a sneaky block of chocolate. $37.50

6:30pm — Mum makes dinner — scrambled eggs on toast. We start B.'s nighttime routine and then settle into watching Married At First Sight. I've enjoyed this season so far, but each year, the cast is more and more fame-hungry so it doesn’t feel as authentic. Makes for great TV, though. 

7:45pm — I'm feeling peckish so I make an almond decaf coffee with a dash of collagen. 

8:40pm — I head to bed with my book, starting my wind down in anticipation of the night ahead.

1:45am — B. wakes for a feed and back down he goes.

5:10am — B. wakes, I give him another feed and pop him back in his cot. When I put him back down around this time of the morning, it really is just to see if he'll take the bait and go back to sleep.

7:20am — The baby is awake. This time, we'll have to get moving. I send L. in to grab him and we feed and burp him, then get ready for our walk.

8:30am — I call through to order coffees — two iced lattes and a flat white. L. also gets two cookies as a treat ($24). Yes, I know I said no more coffee because of the Lulu top, but really who was going to believe me?! I have the willpower of a limp fish. $24

9:00am — We walk the pineapple trail — 6KM under our belts with a chill baby. Monday is looking good!

10:00am — Back home for a feed, before giving the baby to L. for a play. I continue helping Dad with the final touches of his assignment.

11:10am — L. puts bub down for a nap so we give our room a quick tidy.

11:30am — I feel like I have energy to burn, so L. and I smash out a HIIT workout on Hustl.

12:40pm — B. is awake, so I feed him and make some waffles with the leftover batter.

1:00pm — Dad's new laptop arrives, so I set it up for him. He's a bit of a technologically challenged boomer, but I like to help my parents out whenever they need me. Especially as they do so much for us.

3:00pm — B. wakes up, so after a feed, I convince L. that we should drive to the nearest Officeworks to buy a desk, chair, pens and organisation pads ($382). I need this gear as I start back at university full-time in two weeks — it's a great way to optimise my maternity leave. $382

5:30pm — We get back home and start cooking dinner. Tonight's menu is steak from the freezer with a green bean and rice salad.

8:00pm — B.'s asleep so I go through my uni courses. After reading through the course guide, I end up dropping one of the units that I had originally enrolled in — Gothic Imagination. It's just not my cup of tea. I pick up another unit instead — Oceanic Literature. It looks challenging, but I know it would be super beneficial for my white privilege. I quickly log in to Booktopia and cancel a couple of books I had ordered for the gothic course, scoring a refund of $45. I then go to a different site and spend $35 on a textbook for my new unit. After all that admin, I fall asleep. $35

1:00am — The baby is awake.

4:30am — The baby is awake... again.

5:30am — I manage to get B. to have a cheeky power nap, but he's now up and roaring to go. He definitely didn’t get the memo to sleep in. Seriously, the day that I can sleep in will be a holy experience. 

7:00am — It's raining, but we are religious about our morning walk so we set off for a wet and wild time. It's awful. I hated it and now I have wet shoes. 

8:00am — A feed for B. and he's off to sleep.

8:30am — Since B. is out like a light, I pop out to Woolies to get stuff for dinner — peanut butter and steak stew ($35). When I get back home, I get it all prepped and throw it all in the slow cooker, feeling very Martha Stewart. L. puts together the office furniture. $35

10:00am — B. wakes up and we go to Bunnings. I swear this place is throbbing with activity 24/7. We buy B. a paddling pool and hooks so that I can hang a whiteboard above my desk. $18

11:00am — I put B. to sleep and help my dad finish setting up his new laptop.

2:00pm — B. is awake, so I give him a feed and we have a play. Having a newborn and exclusively breastfeeding feels like there is an invisible chain from me to my baby sometimes (well, all the time). L. has so much more freedom and at times I can get super envious. The reality is that we could move B. to formula, but that sh*t is expensive. 

4:00pm — We go for another walk as the weather has chilled out a bit. I listen to a podcast from Beyond the Bump. This episode is an interview with George Fowler. My internalised misogyny cranks into gear and listening to her talk makes me feel agitated. I don’t have anything against the supermodel personally — I don’t know her from a bar of soap. But I'm jealous of how she looks post-baby, and jealous of her privilege and her seemingly easy fourth trimester. I message my friend who is also a new mum and listens to this podcast, explaining my thoughts. 

5:00pm — I come home, feed B., whip up an easy dinner, play with B., and get home to bed. Phew.

8:30pm — I finally finish my Francine Rivers novel, so I tuck into a new book — Josie Silver’s new number, One Night On An Island. I purchase this on Kindle but as it's linked to my parent's card, they pick up the cost. I'm beyond grateful for this as I have an insatiable appetite for books.

9:30pm — Sleep.

1:00am — Wake up to B. whinging away next door. I pop on another podcast — Back Porch Theology with Lisa Harper. I'm obsessed with this new poddy. The hosts just have such a warm and hopeful demeanour. I learn so much from every episode, even if I'm half asleep in the middle of the night. B. goes back to sleep soon after his feed, but I get bit by the insomnia bug, so I spend the next hour tossing and turning. I end up reading my book for half an hour before finally nodding off. 

5:00am — B.'s awake, so I give him a quick feed and diaper change.

7:00am — I wake up to the sounds of Dad unloading the dishwasher — joy! We sleep with our door open to hear B., which also means we get to hear everyone else as well. We faff around with brekkie (avo on toast), I feed bub, and we get ready for our walk.

8:30am — We get coffees from a really cool café called Lure ($12) — they have the friendliest staff which helps keep our morning nice and sunny. L. resists the almond croissants — good lad. As you can see, my no coffees this week has really gone out the window. I justify it by simply being a sleep-deprived new mum. $12

9:00am — Off we trot with more Lisa Harper in my ears. We also use the walk to debrief on life. It's nice to just chat and be together. Soon, L. will be going back to work full-time so our little love bubble will pop.

9:50am — Home for a feed. If you’re tired from reading this, imagine how tired my breasts are. 

10:30am — B. is down for a nap and I smash out another Hustl. workout. L. pops to the shop for groceries — more baby wipes, shower soap, spaghetti, protein bars, bread & milk. $73

11:30am — I have a shower and spend some time with my skincare. I've been loving the new Kate Somerville blemish cleanser and serum. My hormonal acne has settled down heaps since using it. I've struggled with acne since I was a teenager and I'm praying for the day when I can kiss the angry pimples goodbye. 

12:30pm — B. wakes up, so I give him a feed and we have a play. 

1:00pm — I make dinner in the slow cooker — spaghetti mince sauce. L. vacuums and looks after B so I can have a break.

2:00pm — I read B. a book and give him another feed.

2:30pm — He's down for a nap. I sort out my uni papers and create a week-by-week timeline.

3:15pm — My brain is tired. I try and have a nap, but end up just farting around and being silly with L. 

4:00pm — B. wakes up so we take him for a swim.

5:00pm — Dinner is ready to go from the slow cooker, so we eat that whilst we watch the news. Bedtime routine for B., then more MAFS for me. 

9:00pm — I'm shattered. Becoming a mum has been the most incredible experience of my life, but also the most uncomfortable and hardest experience of my life. To any other new mums out there — I see you, I am with you, please have a wine.