A whole lot has changed since I went quiet in this space. Since I last wrote, which I’m not even sure when that was, I’ve undergone a significant amount of life change. The most profound being motherhood. But I can also throw in an engagement and marriage before motherhood. Lots of change in two years.

I didn’t mention the craziness of the pandemic. Don’t we all wish that was behind us?

My motherhood journey the past 13 months has been crazy. Add in the 9 months of pregnancy during early pandemic life, and you could say we were insane. I could even argue that we are more insane today than back then. I digress.

Over the course of the coming months, I am going to unpack some unpopular opinions here. Women talking about hard topics related to motherhood is taboo. There are a lot of things nobody tells you until your baby is earth-side, and then you are just lost in a sea of new and ever-changing factors trying to recover from childbirth and keep your newborn alive and thriving.

The vulnerability of sharing all this is scary, but the pros outweigh the cons. If I can help one other person see that their experience is normal and valid, then sharing my story is worth it. It’s super messy, sometimes ugly. It wasn’t the sunshine and rainbows I had pictured in my head. It wasn’t the quintessential family photo hanging over mantels across American living rooms. But it’s real and raw and full of hope for being a better person, a better wife and a better mother.

If I can help one other person see that their experience is normal and valid, then sharing my story is worth it.

My son is 13 months old today. He’s the light of my life. The littlest love I never knew I needed until I felt his first kicks and held him in my arms for the first time. There is no better snuggle partner than my sweet boy.

But the journey to get to this place, this perspective was the road of unknown travel. The one you walk alone, yet with many.

The expectation could be this space becomes the typical mommy blog. But I am not the typical mommy because my introduction to motherhood was during a pandemic. This will not be a how-to guide for moms. I plan to unpack the hard things, the beautiful things, the ever-changing things to give perspective to the rollercoaster that is parenthood. Stay along for the ride, if that’s your thing. Exit when you wish. Rude comments about my perspective and experiences will 100 percent not be tolerated.

This is a space to help people. To help women normalize the things that happen to them in motherhood. To help find someone “like you.”

Let’s go. Together.