The truth behind the identity shift, the invisible labor, and why you’re not doing it wrong.
People tell you about the nappies. They tell you about the feeding schedules. They tell you how fast it all goes.
But no one really tells you what it feels like to become a mother.
Not the physical stretch, but the emotional unraveling.
Not the sweetness of holding your baby, but the sudden silence when everyone else goes home.
Not how much you’ll love them — but how easily you’ll lose yourself.
Let’s Talk About the Parts That Don’t Make It to Instagram:
No one tells you that you’ll mourn your freedom and feel guilty about it.
That you might want help — but not want anyone else to hold your baby.
That you’ll question if you’re doing enough, even when you haven’t sat down in 10 hours.
That your relationship might shift. That your body might ache in places your heart doesn’t have words for yet.
The Emotional Labor Is Real
You are managing feedings, hormones, recovery, lack of sleep — and still trying to text people back, smile at visitors, or remember where you left the damn car keys.
You are the glue, the anchor, the soft landing.
But who’s holding you?
If no one told you this before:
You are not weak for feeling overwhelmed.
You are not broken for missing who you used to be.
You are not selfish for wanting space.
This Is What I Wish I Knew…
You don’t have to do this alone.
You’re allowed to ask for what you need — even if you don’t quite know how to say it yet.
You can be both fully in love with your child and deeply in need of your own care.
And no — this isn’t forever. But right now, it matters.
You’re Still in There, Mama.
Your dreams. Your spirit. Your softness.
Your wild. Your voice. Your joy.
They might feel far away — but they’re not gone.
They’re just waiting for you to come back and claim them again, in a new way.
You Don’t Need a Plan. You Just Need a Place to Start.
If this spoke to something inside you — even a whisper —
this is your invitation to start reclaiming yourself.
You don’t have to wait until things “settle.”
You are the thing that gets to be tended to now.
Let me walk with you.