Mama Lessons

I got to spend time talking with a best friend today on the topic of what we learn from our babies... It is such an amazing time of personal growth! These have been my major areas of personal development since Lucy.

1. Mom guts. I did not know how hard it would be to stand up for myself on some of my parenting choices so far. I know some people are super secure in their decisions, but I've always been a people-pleaser and with babies...you just can't please everyone! It has been challenging for me to be confident in my decisions and just to trust what I believe is best without getting a gold star from anyone else. My mom guts have grown a ton since Lucy came along.

2. Giving up control (of my schedule). My life is not so much about me anymore. And that is so strange. It is odd to go from being the boss of my time 100% of the time to having so much of my time revolve around tiny person and her needs and nap schedules. It is strange to have to leave a party early because she will need to go to sleep. It is still weird to me sometimes that I must account for her naps and cannot just go out all day with no regard for this.

3. Body Image. In the immediate post-partum phase, I was amazed at how quickly my body recovered. That was not what I had expected. Not that I put a lot of stock in the scale, but I actually weighed less than I did pre-pregnancy. As nursing ramped up, I was STARVING, and I ate EVERYTHING. My body set-point adjusted up and I'm now the heaviest I've ever been in life. My sister says I look very earthy. Haha! Anyway, it is such a cliche that breastfeeding makes the weight fall right off...but the exact opposite has been my experience! So once again, expectations play a huge role. It has been a really wonderful time to examine my thoughts and feelings surrounding my body image and self-worth. I have found Maddy Moon, Summer Innamen, and a whole bunch of other body-positive ladies that are so awesome and inspiring and helping me to love my body and all the amazing things it does for me. It's an area of growth that I'm really enjoying exploring and letting go in. Maddy Moon says we are not put on this earth to be skinny! How true...I am fuller of love than I've ever been in my entire life and just having a blast with all this stuff.

Alright. The end for today!