Real Motherhood Truths

​In my first year as a mother, I experienced a lot that made me question whether I was really fit to be a mom. When reality doesn't meet your expectations you really start to doubt yourself. My daughters bring me a lot of joy and they are most definitely worth it. However, there has been a lot of this motherhood journey that has been hard and unpleasant. 

My oldest turned 4 recently. She’s my firecracker. She is sweet, affectionate and really lights up a room when she is in it. People see it and say it all of the time. I’m not just saying it because I’m her mama. I promise.

She is also the baby I struggled with the most. She didn’t sleep through the night until she was 1. That meant I never got more than 4 hours of consecutive sleep for almost an entire year. My husband stepped in and began sleep training. I had always been so against the idea of sleep training. However, this was one of many moments where our parenting decisions took a different route than we had ever anticipated because our baby guided us in a different direction.

I struggled with breastfeeding for 4 months before it became “natural and easy.” I went onto nurse her for 11 months and I am happy I stuck with it. Looking back it made me really hate the newborn phase. The emotional and physical pain was unhealthy for me. 

We dealt with the witching hour, when like clockwork she would be extra fussy and cry nonstop in the evening. I feared being away from my home during these hours because I worried so much about what others would think when I couldn't calm my own baby.

I experienced disturbing intrusive thoughts that made me feel like a horrible mother.
 
The first year can be easy for some. For me, both times around it was the hardest and for different reasons. I felt rage and a loss of control when my second daughter was about 4 months old. She was calm, slept well and didn't fuss a lot. However, dealing with my 2-year-olds tantrums and cries for attention were really hard. Juggling both was challenging. I was taking my anger out on her. All I could think and fear was that this was my new normal. I had been a child therapist for almost 10 years and I felt like a fraud for not being able to manage my reactions and behaviors.

I remember reading this article on postpartum rage and feeling a sense of relief that someone out there had felt this too. Her words described exactly how I was feeling. This is what prompted me to reach out and talk to a professional.  
 
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week started this past Monday. The Blue Dot Project, which was created to increase awareness around maternal mental health disorders, is having their #RealMotherhood #NoShame social media campaign.

I was inspired to gather #RealMotherhood truths from mothers I know. Here is what they have to say about the struggles they face and the feelings they wish they had been more prepared for:

"Something I struggled with in motherhood that I was not expecting was breastfeeding. I was only able to breastfeed for 2 weeks. Then I had to pump for 2-3 months. It was a very unpleasant experience for me. I couldn't wait to stop. I felt very strange, like an object." -Liz

"We tried so hard to have a baby. Now that she is here I feel so guilty for not always enjoying it" - Ana

“Dreading waking up and dealing with the same things I did yesterday and the day before. Some days it feels like Groundhog Day being a stay at home mom. I find no joy in breastfeeding. I just do it for the kids but I don’t swoon over it. Also, [the] anxiety…feeling like I can never get anything done and having constant thoughts of what needs to get done. Much of this gets better as the months go on and some days are better than other but when I try to vent to someone they just kinda look at me like I’m crazy.” -Angela
 
“Selfishness still comes easier than selflessness sometimes. As much as I love my child, I don’t want to be with him 24/7.” -Arianna
 
“I want motherhood to be enough but I don’t always feel that it is.” -Heather
 
“I always feel like I should be doing better, like I’m never a good enough mom. I also get tired of talking and feeling guilty when I don’t continuously communicate verbally with my kids because you know, the more words they hear...” -Monica
 
"I thought I would be a lot better at this. But I'm not. I feel like I'm failing a lot of the time." -Sara

“All boobs are not created equal. Don’t beat yourself up if breastfeeding doesn’t work or if you are mentally and physically not able to.” –Brenda
 
“Motherhood…it sucks every last inch of me. I didn’t know I would lose myself as a woman. I struggle to keep a balance of mother, wife and woman. How do I switch from 'mother' to 'sexy wife' after a long day? I look at myself and I wonder 'where did I go'?” -Iliana
 
“I wish more working mothers were honest about their experience of bonding. My baby bonded with her daddy so much it heightened my fears of inadequacy and my fear of failing my baby. I often thought ‘maybe I wasn’t born to be a mom.' I felt alone in my experience. Very alone." -Sandra
 
“When things get so hard, I think to myself ‘I wish I didn’t have them’ and then the guilt I feel for thinking that” -Michelle

"Keeping it together. Sometimes I feel like such a mess and a failure." -Kelly

"When I finally feel like I'm doing well at balancing things, life throws me a curveball. One thing I've learned, and it was a hard lesson to learn, is that being a mommy is all about mindset. Sometimes you just have to let things be and go with the flow." -Becky
 
Thank you to all of the mothers who shared their truth.

I think one of the things that would have made it better during those earlier days for me was if I had known that this side of motherhood exists. If we are more honest about all of our experiences maybe the next generation of mothers won't have to struggle so hard. 

Add your #RealMotherhood feelings and moments in the comments below!

For more information on maternal mental health disorders and how you can get involved in spreading awareness please visit:
www.thebluedotproject.org
www.2020Mom.org
www.postpartumstress.com
www.postpartum.net

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