Rediscovering You in Motherhood

The moment you find out you are pregnant is one of the most exciting moments in a women’s life. It’s also the beginning of a new you. You feel scared, worried, and anxious about the idea of keeping a tiny human alive and raising them to be good people. You don’t for one moment worry about yourself or how any of this will change you. You’ve just taken on a new identity where you take a backseat and you’re only along for the ride.

You happily became a mother but you didn’t walk into that role knowing all the things. You feel like you’re expected to and you certainly try your hardest, but it is so easy to get lost in all the things and lose sight of the most important thing — You!

I’m not here to sugarcoat the rewards and benefits of being a mother, I’m here to normalize that it isn’t always rainbows and unicorns and allow for that to be an open and acceptable discussion. I’m certainly not discounting the beautifulness of it all, however, it’s equally important to share about the challenges. Our well-being shouldn’t be tucked away because the picture history has painted of motherhood doesn’t include the struggles. Society doesn’t openly share that it’s ok to not love this role every minute of every day. You feel alone because some days you can hardly go on, but you think you see everyone else enjoying every moment of it and you feel guilty that that isn’t you. I want you to know that all feelings are valid. The good days, the bad days, the struggles, and the joys are all valid. The more we address all the feels the better chance you have to be an amazing happy mother and the best version of yourself.

I’m here for that. I believe that. I also believe that your cup needs to be full to be the best you (mother or not). This means you need to take care of yourself first — just like they teach you on the airplane to put your own oxygen mask on first.

The weight of feeling depleted, drained, the burden of the infamous invisible load, or the responsibilities of being the default parent slowly strip away at the women you once knew. You also gain a whole new understanding of yourself and what you’re capable of and for some of you, this might be the first time you realize how badass you are!

You might also realize this was not the picture you imagined of yourself in said badass state. BUT all hope is not lost.

Start bringing things back into your life that you once loved.

The pieces of your former identity that you once watched float away are not gone forever.

Well some of them are probably better left behind (*wink *wink) but let those be part of your past.

Give yourself permission to do what fills your cup. When your cup is full you are impacting others so differently. Look at this as an opportunity to step into being the woman you want to be and start to open up to all the possibilities that are available to you.

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