Lessons from the new motherhood era
As I begin to reemerge from my maternity leave and open my business up again, I thought it would be beneficial to reflect on these last few months. They’re consisted of some of the happiest & some of the most challenging days. I’m extremely grateful to have been able to step away from the camera for professional purposes and focus entirely on my little family. But don’t worry, the camera is still getting quite a workout! Documenting the first few months of my son, Greyson's, life has been incredibly important to me. As my mind is still sleep deprived, the list below is in no particular order of thoughts I’ve had and lessons I’ve learned during this key time.
You go away for 3 months, and the pageant world goes crazy! During my time away, both Miss USA & Miss Teen USA resigned their titles. That was certainly a shocking update to see logging into Instagram for the first time in weeks.
Health is wealth. My surprise 5 & 1/2 week early delivery was just the tip of the recovery iceberg, as almost every health challenge I’ve ever had decided to reemerge during the first few months after welcoming my son into the world. Multiple medications, 2x a day blood pressure checks, 1 surgery, 1 procedure avoided thankfully, 3 specialty doctors, 1 painful injection, and weeks and weeks of monitoring were coinciding with learning how to be a new mom while being thoroughly sleep deprived. After about mid-April, each week brought me closer to feeling “normal” again, and I have never appreciated my health more.
Sometimes success for the day is just getting to bedtime. As someone who usually sets lofty goals for success and works tirelessly to meet them, it was a whole new challenge acknowledging some days just “doing the day” was the goal.
Running your own business means there isn’t a team to pick up the slack. Although I am incredibly supported by those in my life who touch my business (shoutout to my assistant, my editing team, my husband/tax person), I never realized just how many decisions I make until I tried to step away for a given time. I thank the directors who have been understanding & the clients who have been patient as I’ve needed this time to personally recover & focus on learning to “mom.” This time gave me a greater appreciation for all it takes to run my business and how much is done week to week!
Your village loves you. I’m so thankful for everyone who has supported me, my husband, our new little man, and even our fur babies during this time! From attending my baby shower to food drops to check-in texts to to dog walks to babysitting for date nights, family and friends stepped up to help. It was a change for me to be accepting help vs. the one giving it, but I learned how truly beautiful it is to see those who care about you show up.
I’m (trying) to learn to be patient. I’ve always said I’m patient with people, but not with process. Elderly woman needs more time to cross the street? I’m the first to wait as long as needed. But backup external hard drives taking a long time to transfer data? Drives me crazy. There is so much to newborn life that takes a long time—feedings, carseats, doctor appointments etc. I’ve tried to embrace living slow and tapping into patience. I haven’t gotten it right every time, but it’s been a challenge I’ve accepted. It’s opened time to enjoy smaller projects like painting and finding just the right piece to finish a room.
It’s taken all my self-control to keep Greyson’s privacy online and refrain from posting face photos on instagram. Plus, you know, the internet is crazy sometimes. His safety comes first, and honestly I’ve enjoyed ignoring the pressure to capture every “you should post this to Instagram” post and instead capture moments that are meaningful to us.
It’s shocking how you can still function on so little sleep. I’m someone who will sleep for 11 hours if you let me, so transitioning to broken sleep for months on end has me a bit loopy.
Morning smiles & stretches are the most wholesome, joyful moments. Baby coo’s and cuddles are the best. Even better, cat cuddles side by side with baby cuddles & your husband getting dog cuddles next to you is the best feeling in the world.
Babies grow so quickly! It’s been a joy to watch Greyson hit milestone after milestone. Especially as a baby in the NICU, it’s filled me with nothing but joy to watch him get bigger, chunkier, and more talkative. At 3 and a 1/2 months old now, he’s a little chatterbox and is so interested in what’s around him. I can’t wait to share this world with him!
Thanks for reading!
XOXO
Brittany
