Caring For You-Mom Edition

When I was a young mom of 24 years old caring for my tiny little baby human of a daughter I looked at her and said “I promise I will always take care of myself so I can take the best care of you.” See, I hadn’t felt good for some time now but I didn’t know what was going on inside of me, I just thought that’s the way I was made, hardwired, whatever you want to call it. In fact, when I went to the doctor to finally figure out why I was so tired &  anxiety ridden I was told “Oh you’re just a tired, stressed out mom.” And I was sent on my way with a prescription for Paxil and out the door I went with zero answers to my questions. 

So I made a decision that day that I would not stop finding answers to why I felt so bad until I felt better. In society’s eyes that probably appeared to be a little bit selfish but when your “why” to something is so you can be the BEST mom to your babies it’s in fact not selfish but heroic in every way. 

Mom culture is weird. You have one side telling us to make sure we spend time on ourselves or else we aren’t being a good enough mom and then there’s another side who says we are taking away from our children and their foundational years if we do spend time on ourselves. There really doesn’t seems to be an in between. 

It was probably several years ago that I stopped listening to what everyone else had to say about EVERYTHING and really started to listen to what I personally needed and wanted for my own life. I have spent the last decade doing everything I can possibly do to be the best for that little tiny baby I held in my arms 10 years ago. Not knowing anything about how to be a good mom, how to feel better and how to do both at the same time but somehow I did it all while adding two more tiny babies into the mix. 

It’s funny what us moms can accomplish. Looking back on the last 10 years of motherhood it’s kind of insane to reflect on really. Birthing, nursing, quite literally just merely surviving some days, to now entering a season of healing, growth, teaching my girls the same things I learned as they were growing right along side of me. Moms are bad ass! But I will tell you, I took care of myself even in those darker days because I knew if I took care of me, I was also taking care of those 3 baby girls that needed me day in and day out. Some days that meant merely feeding them and myself and going back to laying on the couch. Some days that meant taking them to the park so we could be in the warm sunlight and nature. Lots of highs and lows but we did it and continue to do so. Not all of your days will you be thriving. Not all of your days will you get the award for doing it all as a mom. Rarely would I ever receive that. We have to learned to that we must ride the wave that is called life. 

Not all of your days, even months or years will win you any Pinterest worthy pats on the back. Some days maybe they do! It’s not always so black and white but there is BEAUTY in all of the chaos that is being a mother. You are quite literally being molded into the best version of you. Highs, lows and everything else in between. 

We must decide that taking charge of our health for our babies is a must. You were not meant to lay on a couch all day because you are so tired 24/7. You were not meant to feel the chronic symptoms that you feel. Taking charge of YOUR health is something that will not only change your life but those that call you mama too. ❤️