Maybe you are married, and you and your partner have planned for years to have a child. Maybe you aren't married and the baby was a surprise. Maybe you've undergone IVF or adopted. Whether you've had an unmedicated, assisted, or hospital birth. Read 100 books or none: nothing quite prepares you for this.
You are a Mother.
I was so grateful for the different nurses that told me things I had not heard or read before immediately after the birth of my first born daughter. Like how in the first few weeks as your milk is arriving, and your hormones are dancing, you will wake up some nights covered in sweat. Breastfeeding can be easy, natural. It can also be really fucking hard and even painful in the beginning. Your breasts will wake you every 3 hours even if your baby doesn't, begging painfully to be emptied. Some days all you'll be able to do is feed your child, and I am here to remind you that is good enough.
I've heard so many women say after birth, I don't know who I am anymore. To which I reply, you've always carried traits of the Mother deep inside of you. The very existence of your womb space marks you as the createtress you are. Now your body shows the signs too: you are softer, fuller. But you've always been her.
The Maiden is wild, free. She skips down the public sidewalk, stops to admire the beauty in the world. She's the one you can blame for getting you pregnant, the one who dreamt of having a family. She is still an integral part of you, and has never left. She just might look and move a little different now. Take this as your reminder to nourish every single part of you. We teach our son's and daughter's the most by simply how we choose to show up in the world.
How are you showing up today?