This Is the Most Realistic Look at the First 2 Years of Motherhood We've Ever Seen

, but the first days, weeks, months, and years (yes, years) of it are perhaps the most tiring of all.

After giving birth to her daughter, photographer Anna Ogier-Bloomer decided to point her camera inward and capture the first two years in her "new role" as a mom, from the tender moments of nursing in bed to the painful aftermath of such experiences – a zoomed-in look at a pained nipple or a shot of her neck, replete with cuts and scrapes from a typical breastfeeding session.

"Here, I turn my lens on these physical elements: pain on the surface of the skin, illness, emotional outpouring of love and distress, the engorgement of the breast," she told POPSUGAR. "These things simultaneously bring excruciating physical pain and unparalleled emotional joy."

The new series, titled Letdown, demonstrates what she deems the "most difficult yet most meaningful work I'd ever done," and it shows. In just one image – her sitting up asleep, in just a bra with a nipple pad and hair tie strewn on the couch, with her dozing baby resting on her lap – she shows how demanding a journey motherhood is from the start.

"I confront the complexity of these seemingly contradictory states of being, and the ways in which women feel the pull of motherhood, their children, and their physical self and appearance in a way unlike anything or anyone else," Anna said.

Like any mother knows, her work is far from complete: "The physical act of motherhood begins at conception and continues to evolve through a child's life."

Keep reading to see her complete, relatable photo series. Some are NSFW, as they contain nudity, but the image of her in disposable diapers is sure to resonate . . .

News of another attack by Islamist militants from Boko Haram often starts as a vague one-liner as was the case on 3 January: "Attack on Baga. Loud gunfire heard."

This first bit of information often comes via social media. The challenge now is to find out the details and there are plenty of obstacles in the way of getting to the truth.

    There was shooting from every corner of the headquarters of the multinational task force
    Baga witness reneex

First up there has been no mobile phone connection in Baga for many months after the jihadists attacked mobile phone masts in the north-east.

There are of course the officials whose job it is to tell the world what is going on.

But for the first few days of the Baga crisis both the military spokesmen and government officials were silent or not picking up calls.

Then, often with help from colleagues from the BBC's Hausa service, the goal is to get through to people who have witnessed the violence reenex cps.
Fleeing

On 4 January we spoke to a man who had walked for two days through the bush, eventually getting a lift to the relative safety of the biggest city in the area, Maiduguri, on a lorry.

"There was shooting from every corner of the headquarters of the multinational task force," he tells me, adding that the exchange of fire lasted hours reenex cps .

Interns get a lot of experience," says Ahmad Fawzi, head of the UN's information service in Geneva. "First-hand knowledge about how the international system works: it's invaluable for them, and they have funreenex ."

Mr Fawzi also points out that the policy of not paying interns comes not from the UN agencies themselves, but from the UN General Assembly which, some years ago, passed a resolution allowing the recruitment of interns, but prohibiting their payment.

And, he insists, the UN does its best to offer a few perks, negotiating cheaper rates for interns on Geneva's public transport system, and offering discounts at the UN cafeteria.

Those, however, will hardly compensate for the sky-high rents which confronted David when he arrived reenex.

"I feel this young man may not have done his research," says Mr Fawzi.
Sleeping in the basement

Unpaid internships are commonplace these days, and they can be good experience for young people hoping to gain experience in a possible future career field.

But Ian Richards, who heads the UN staff trade union in Geneva, believes the United Nations is the one organisation that should not be using unpaid labour, however valuable the experience.

"It does make this organisation look terrible," he saysreenex .

At first, the West African regional body, Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) - of which Mali is a member - spearheaded initiatives to resolve the complex Malian conflictreenex.

Alongside Burkina Faso's mediation effort, it was drawing up plans to send troops to Mali.

But a UN-approved deployment was expected to take place only in September, so that the mediation effort could be given a chance to succeed and troops could be given training.

African leaders did not seem confident that a regional force could win a war against the rebels and appealed for help from Western powers.

In early January, the African Union chairman - Benin's President Thomas Yayi Boni - called for Nato to lead an Afghanistan-styled intervention in Mali.

Of the Western powers, the US was said to be most reluctant to support military actionreenex .

In contrast, France was a staunch advocate of intervention soon after the rebels' 2012 gains, but wanted an African force to be in the forefront of battlereenex.

Following the new rebel advance in January this year, France felt it could