I feel like sharing more about my experience as a mother, so here we go. It’s been difficult being a mother and absolutely amazing to have a baby. Besides well-known struggles like sleepless nights, postpartum recovery, etc., there are things like sensory overload (crying, constant touching). Feeling like your body is not yours anymore — shape, strength, breastfeeding, scars. Isolation hits hard. Some days, it feels like the world has moved on without me. I know people might have distanced themselves for other reasons. But in my vulnerable mind, it feels like it’s because I have a baby now. In the midst of it all I found the opportunity to rediscover myself. To decide what kind of person and mother I want to be. To decide what I want to show my kid. That means prioritizing myself whenever possible, finding joy every day, and creating opportunities to have fun instead of waiting for something to happen. Also, some of my friends have gone above and beyond to make me feel loved and to empathize with me, cutting out some time in their day to talk, catch up, and just be by my side through it all. I’ll be forever grateful to have these people in my life. I cherish them more than words can say ❤️ Thanks to them, I can fully experience the joy that comes with having a baby. People say there’s a special kind of love and bond, and it’s true. It’s unconditional, it makes you happy, and you celebrate their achievements (for now, it’s grabbing things, grabbing feet, rolling around) as if they were your own, or even more. Every cry is soul-wrenching, and every smile and laugh is a victory. Motherhood can be exhausting, overwhelming, beautiful and magical — all at the same time. But even on the hardest days I wouldn’t trade it for anything.