An ode to all new mothers
“Dear Mom,
There you are… Just gave birth, with a tiny human on your belly. You are suddenly a mother. Often our feelings run a bit behind you during this period. You need time to process what has happened. You can still feel the birth all over your body.
After a magical shower where you take care of your tired, battled body, you step to the freshly made bed. Daily routines such as brushing your hair and brushing your teeth take their place again, as if they were daily. But the days are completely different now. You realize it when you see your baby lying on your partner’s chest, when you come back from such a shower. You realize it when you see that carefully selected outfit for the first time. But especially after that car ride, with the maxi-cosi in use for the first time, and you step into your house as a mother, you realize it.
That evening your baby is sleeping in your bedroom, for the first time after 9 months, it was stored in your belly. “Why didn’t anyone tell you there are so many sounds coming out of a baby?” you think, staring wide-eyed at that little creature. Thoughts tumble over each other: “Shouldn’t he drink again?”, Is that spit normal?, “How do you actually make a bottle?”, “Would maternity care be nice?”, “Oh I really need to sleep, they said it was very important’.
The maternity week starts, and then it really starts! You’ve got everything you need, and you’re all set. You are going through a huge learning curve in caring for your baby. You are recovering, and at the same time you may be kicking off breastfeeding which is a full time job. Meanwhile, the hormones are racing through your body, adrenaline makes you feel like you can take on the whole world and oxytocin makes you madly in love. Or: adrenaline puts you on edge and that feeling of love is not really there yet, that is also possible. It is clear that it is an emotional (and physical) rollercoaster.
It is the most intense transition you will go through in your life. Gray showers full of misery and great waves of love and euphoria alternate. Our message to you is therefore: Give yourself the time and all the care and attention. give yourself the space to become a woman from a woman, with all the emotions that go with it. In your moment, in your way. The rest is just noise.”
In our online course: “The fourth trimester” we prepare expectant parents for the period after the birth”