So recently I announced some news on social media, but there are some who subscribe to my website that may not have seen this latest update....
Why the absences in recent months?
Some of you may or may not have been aware that before being struck down with covid (yep, it finally caught up with me after over two years! and boy was it a pleasure.... not!) and consecutively making a trip to France after three to five years not of not seeing my parents and brother, that there had been times I'd been away from the salon during my usual four day week... there was very good reason for this.
It came to my attention that there were murmurings as to why this may be, despite some people knowing my whereabouts during these periods of absence and it lead to clients existing, new and potential to question my absence and my commitment to my business.
So I felt I had to address my reasons for this despite never intending to share this information on media platforms. I can assure you all it was not through reducing my hours, not because I don't love what I do or the clients I have the pleasure of treating, it also wasn't down to a lull in business as many of you will know (including those who sadly haven't been able to get an appointment) I have been booked up to weeks in advance. So why was I in and out of the salon....
Something new is coming to
By the Shaw in 2023...
By the Shaw, the 'Mr' and Ruby are expecting our first precious baby.
Our road to becoming parents hasn't been an easy one, and this latest adventure hasn't been without stress (some entirely unnecessary) or worry and although I am not a 'sharer' of my personal life on media platforms, I also wonder whether an insight into our experience may put any wrong assumptions aside.
Baby N is our little miracle baby after suffering a fair few losses, some extremely traumatic and requiring emergency care. It's safe to say 2022 has been one of the most difficult years of my life.
"You never know what someone is dealing with behind closed doors. You only know what you see, or what you think you see." (or what others lead you to believe..)
Those losses will always leave a void in my heart, and was also the reason for keeping our pregnancy private. It left us fearful, anxious and nervous of the complications we may face again. We were under the care of specialist consultants rather than a midwife and advised that I rested as frequently as possible to protect our precious cargo and was also extremely poorly for the entire first (and part of the second) trimester, not being able to eat or drink, THIS was the reason for my absence at the Salon, it meant going home to reacquaint myself with the toilet the second I could get away from finishing a clients treatment (because being ill all night clearly wasn't enough) and then sleeping to regain some energy.
...Maybe this sheds a little light on the reason for keeping our pregnancy private until now....
On one hand it's a relief to share our exciting news despite it not being something we wanted to publicly announce, but I had to put any unnecessary chatter and wrong assumptions to bed. I hope now that you'll all understand that during such a personal and private time it was something that needed to remain private until we felt it were safe to do so.
So whats next..?
I Know this will raise a few questions as to what this means for the future of By the Shaw as maternity leave will soon come around, but rest assured By the Shaw is putting plans in place to secure its future and your treatments... Life is going to change, but it is only just beginning... 20 weeks down, 20 to go...
Lots of Love
Jess (& Bump)
xxx