We owe it to one another to be honest about the crazy mess that motherhood is!
When I found out that I was pregnant, my husband and I could barely contain our excitement. We had just bought a new house and both had managed to be in the same city after a long distance of around a year. All felt perfect! Friends, family and strangers all seemed to be happy for us. I would hear words like these constantly - "Oh, what a joy it is to be a mom!", "Such an awesome experience", "You are so going to love it!".
As I advanced into pregnancy, I over-prepared for the labor and under-prepared for being a mum. No one had warned me that becoming a mother would be a mind blowing yet identity-shattering and life-altering kind of change (at least initially). I struggled in my early postpartum days and often wondered what's wrong with me. Everyone had told me that I was going to love it and here I was sitting overwhelmed, anxious and teary eyed most times.. didn't I love my baby enough!!! I surely did, then why I am not feeling as excited and happy as everyone was talking about.
I look back and think that I really could have used the sage words of mothers speaking to me from the other side of this transition. I wish people would have been more honest. I wish a mum friend would have shook me out of my birth trance and had told me "Of course there will be joy, but there will also be a lot of responsibility. You will be pushed in new ways, and you will be forever changed by this experience."
Although nothing or nobody can fully prepare you and each postpartum journey is unique too, but i think we mothers owe it to each other to at least try & be more honest and set realistic expectations for a new mama. ❤
By the way, if you are new mama, "Congratulations" and know "You are not alone!"