Roxanne's story

What  didn't you know/or wish you knew about motherhood?

I would say that I didn’t know that my child would have their own schedule as they got older. When you think of children, you are thinking that this little person will be following you around and going with your schedule. As they get older, they have interests! Art class! Soccer! Swimming can go from 6 months! I didn’t think about the new person having their own schedule.

I also didn’t expect the different ways my body would change. I had my child at 27, a lot of  my friends had had their children earlier. My teeth were sensitive from nursing for years, foot grew a half of size. Body never goes back. Thought I’d go back to my “medium” after giving birth. In the movies when the water comes out, the stomach goes back down. A lot of women don’t know they have to birth the placenta.

A parenting hack

I like to wear my daughter out. Every day I take her to the park to get out some of the energy that she had before she gets to the house. Children’s attention span goes by age. 1 you have one min; 2 you have 2 mins. Looking at developmental stages helped me be less frustrated. Another parenting hack is using examples, like “when I take off my shoes, we will do this,” or “when I go upstairs, we will do this.” These hacks help with attention span.

Postpartum self to pregnant self

I would have told my pregnant self to keep working out, keep exercising. Previous generation pushed “take it easy” Now pregnant women are lifting and jogging. I was so active prior to. I was a laid off a month after having my daughter, then separated from my husband when she turned a year. I would have told myself something about self-care. Things start shifting towards the baby and your mind starts shifting to the baby. Keep taking excellent care of yourself. Reinforce those self-care habits before the baby comes. No sleep is real! Enjoy the sleep!

3 words to describe experience

Vulnerability. Joyous. Epiphany.

Epiphany is actually my daughter’s middle name. Epiphany means sudden realization.  The moment you fully understand something or something new clicks in your mind is an epiphany.

Advice to new moms

Accept help always! Seek help. There is a lot of pressure on how your supposed to feel and there are a lot of different emotions.  Traditionally, New moms, mothers, women are looked at for how we take care of our kids, house, and how we look. Those first few months it’s a lot to deal with by yourself, there might be people who want to help, and we might not accept help because we aren’t maintaining the things that are what are supposed as a woman. Go back to that first appointment for yourself. The baby becomes so important; you don’t think about it. Check your insurance if there is a visiting nurse or lactation consultant that can come visit you.

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