Dear newly pregnant mom,
"You have just found out that a new life is becoming within you. Isn’t it amazing how a miracle can seem so normal and ordinary.
No matter how this journey started or how it ends – you are now a mother. The membership fee to remain in this worldwide sorority, is this only, unconditional love – for yourself and your baby. The birth of your baby, however it happens whether at home or in the O.R. is the final initiation, a rite of passage into this immense power of women.
This is your training period. The choices whether easy or difficult start now. This new life depends on you to do your best. And there will be many days when it seems like your best is not good enough. It is.
Use this time to read. Those who love you will want to shower you with love and advice. In these moments, ask them a list of their favorite and least favorite books – read them all. As you read, try not to read as a scholar who tries to retain every word but instead as an adventurer looking for gems of knowledge and wisdom – a hidden treasure. Read to increase your personal wisdom that lay deep within you. It’s ok if the books that resonate with you are on the black list of the most popular parenting site or moms groups – this just means that you will need to use faith and wisdom to walk this journey. Remember that it’s ok to have your specific personal needs and limitations. These make you special.
The birth of your baby matters. For many this will be one of the biggest initiations they will ever experience. You will need:
courage
strength
resolve
sacrifice
time
patience
endurance
kindness
anger
fear
acceptance
excitement
surprise
doubt
pain
laughter
quietness
relief
softness
sadness
trust
WISDOM
You need to feel all of this and more because these are qualities you will need as a mother. You need to know that the birth of your baby may or may not go as you plan. How it ends is not really the important lesson, but what you learn about yourself from how it ends. Will you take the lessons from your birth and allow them to make you a stronger, wiser woman and mother?
I suspect you might feel like this initiation is too big for you. It’s not. We allow you to be surrounded by love and experience. Ask for help. It’s the responsible decision to bring a guide with you on this journey you have never been on before. Asking for help is often more courageous than trying to walk into the unknown unprepared.
As you welcome your baby into the world. Trust yourself. Believe that whatever you are feeling or not feeling is normal – if it wasn’t, it would be different."
Do your best. Trust yourself. Welcome.
With open arms,
Your birth mentor,
Mama Sayana
