I never imagined motherhood would take every single part of me, every last bit of myself I didn’t even know I possessed

Mothering is such a blessing. It’s also so exhausting.

I never imagined that motherhood would take every single part of me, every last bit of myself that I didn’t even know I possessed.

I never imagined I would need to dig deeper and deeper still to find reservoirs of patience.

I never imagined I would need to wake up every 30 minutes of the five hours I spent in bed and call that my “night’s sleep.”

I never imagined the impossibly challenging struggle of very difficult pregnancies. It was odd to have words like “traumatic,” “horrendous,” and “dreadful” become deeply connected to blessings I was so grateful for... but then again, I never imagined I’d have HG, had never even known it existed.

I never imagined the intensity of what it would be like to give birth to my babies, naturally and with no interventions.

I never imagined what it would be like to nurse, hold a baby close, and nurse again. And again. And again.

I never imagined what my house would look like on a regular afternoon, just a few hours after I’d straightened up. In fact, I never knew my house could look like that.