Osho once said, "The moment a child is born the mother is also born". We love this quote as it talks about the monumental transition of Motherhood. It’s such a huge shift isn’t it, and something that you can't really ever prepare for. But once you give birth to that little one, the transition really hits.
There is the BB (before baby) you and the AB (after baby) you. You are the same but at the same time, you are completely different. There is a huge shift in your priorities, your time and how you feel as a person. It’s amazing that we put so much time and effort into thinking and planning how we will give birth to this little person and yet we don’t really spend much time learning about how we will actually look after them when they arrive or how our identity is about to shift and how our life is going to completely change.
Motherhood challenges
Looking back, I naively thought my life was going to be pretty much the same except for the addition of a gorgeous little baby. But from the moment I gave birth my life completely changed as I am sure it does for most mothers out there.
I will never forget that moment after a long and hard labour when I was given my beautiful little baby girl. I was completely exhausted, beyond sore and quite frankly a complete mess! I was laying in the birth suite and I had to get up to have a shower so another mum could be given the room. I remember the midwife showering me and holding me up as I couldn’t even stand by myself. My husband was sitting in a chair holding our daughter under a heat lamp, skin to skin trying to keep our little 2kg baby warm, doing his best to stay awake.
The midwife said, "OK you can go up to your room now, we need the room". She grabbed our baby girl, swaddled her and popped her into the bassinet with wheels. Super slowly and still trembling from giving birth, my husband and I pushed this little bundle to a room in the maternity ward. I climbed into the hospital bed, barely able to sit down from the pain and discomfort of my stitches. The midwife was about to leave when my husband said, “Wait! Don’t go! What do we do with her?”
It was at that moment that it hit us like a tonne of bricks. We were responsible for this little person for the rest of her life and we didn’t have a clue what we were supposed to do.
Welcome to Motherhood. Why had I spent all my time reading and learning about pregnancy and birth? Why hadn’t I been learning how to look after my baby? Why hadn't I learnt how to be a mum?
I’m sure my story is the story of many mums out there. The transition is huge and it continues throughout Parenthood. As your baby becomes a toddler and your toddler becomes a child and your child becomes a teenager, our role as the mother changes too.
Like all transitions, it takes time to get used to and we master the transition as it occurs. This was one of the reasons we created Parent You've Got This as we want to ease the transition for you and provide you with a supportive network and the knowledge you need to be the best Mama you can be.
Our online parenting classes connect you with other mums and the very best experts in the business to ensure Parents You’ve Got This! Visit our parenting portal for more information about our expert classes.
