This week’s podcast episode is the final part of the pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood series that I’ve been releasing over the last few weeks! In this episode, I reflect on one year of motherhood. The last year has been a rollercoaster ride with the highest highs and the lowest lows. I share what I’ve learned over the last year of motherhood, how I feel emotionally and physcially, how my relationship with my husband has changed and shifted, what it’s been like to find a balance between who I am as a mom and who I am in my career, and much more. Enjoy!
In this Episode:
- A rollercoaster ride with high highs and low lows
- The most rewarding and hardest job I’ve done
- I felt a soul connection with the baby early on, but it still took me months to step into my power as a mother
- I feel like a snake that has shed its skin a million times over the last year
- Grieving who I was while stepping into who I am
- Trying to find the balance of being Lou’s mom but also being Amanda
- Takes a while to get comfortable being a mom and being with the baby – it took us a good 3-6 months to find our flow! And now I feel super comfortable with Lou
Emotional Mental:
- Nothing can really prepare you for motherhood and the feelings that come with it
- Love, happiness, and joy
- Stress, anxiety, and worry
- You want them to sleep and then when they’re sleeping, you miss them
- Craving space but also not wanting to miss even a moment
- It truly goes by so quickly
- Mother bear energy
Physical:
- Healing from postpartum while also having a tiny human to take care of is hard!
- Tired! Even though I have a baby that sleeps well, I’m tired constantly
- Making milk is tiring
- 24/7 job is tiring
- Doing a lot of paperwork
Relationships & Support:
- Having a good relationship with your partner is key, and finding time to still have quality time together
- Communication breakdowns happen faster and easier so make sure to talk about that stuff when it comes up
- Be able to talk things through and make decisions together
- Delegate responsibilities
- Ask for help with the baby even if not working
- Finding me time when someone else can watch your baby
- Having trusted people in your life that you can talk to and be vulnerable with, especially when things are hard
- Good friends in the same life stage
- Other moms that you can spend time with
- Mother’s Circle
- Bringing in additional people to help and support me – cleaning, nanny, etc.
Finding Balance:
- In the hard phases, I like knowing that they won’t last forever, but it also feels like when I get my groove, everything changes
- Finding time to take care of myself on top of the baby has been hard – once she’s asleep I’m just so tired
- Stepping back into work but then taking on too much and taking a step back
- Mom guilt around wanting to work
- Balancing being on all the time
- And much more… Here’s the episode!
Part 3: Postpartum