Renske

Tell us about your career?

With great pleasure but a lot of wasted energy, I worked at the most prominent Dutch transport company for a long time. I had a lot of responsibility and an excellent salary. I worked seven days a week, and even during my holidays, this continued working until one day I woke up and couldn’t do anything anymore. That what I had feard became truth, I had a burnout. Burnout, ultimately, was one of the good things in my life that happened to me. I learned to choose better for myself, although this is still a big pitfall. I still tend to put myself in last place.

I have been working for the government (UWV) medical affairs for some time now. What actually nobody on Instagram knows is that I work as a civil servant. Three years ago, I started 1 or 2 days a week at a fabulous fashion boutique, and that’s where my passion lies. I used to go to fashion school but life took a different path. It feels good to follow my heart again.

Tell us about marriage and motherhood?

My husband and I were in class together at primary school. My first memory of him is not very nice. He unbuttoned my denim skirt (which my mother had made on sewing lessons) so that I was standing in my underpants in the schoolyard. A while later, when we were at a pub, there was that click and courtship.

I got pregnant, and we were overjoyed until I no longer felt life in my belly until eight months of pregnancy. When we arrived at the hospital, we were told that our baby was no longer alive. We were sent home by the gynecologist (with the intention that this would settle in with us) the next day I was due to give birth. It was the worst day of our lives.

After the baby was delivered, it was still placed on my stomach, which was a tough choice, but afterward, it was the best choice to accept the sad reality. The same gynecologist was present at the birth of my other two children. When I became pregnant with our daughter, we decided not to have any more children. Then unexpectedly, I got pregnant again and gave birth to a healthy son. Due to the loss of our first child, I have always been and still am an overprotective mother, which is quite (very) difficult for my children. I think they don’t understand why I am like this until they have children of their own.

My youngest left home last June, and now it’s just my husband and me. The most challenging thing for me is losing control over my children, and perhaps even more difficult is finding a new life with your partner after the children leave home. My husband is my rock, and we love each other a lot, so I think we’ll be fine together.