There is a thought among the ignorant, that being a mother
is not an accomplishment. I know I have touched on this before, but now that I
am a mom of two, going on three little ones, I can’t help but to shine some
light on the topic again.
A person who isn’t around a mother being a mother, seeing
all she does throughout a single day, can easily think that being a mother is
not an accomplishment. Simply having a mother doesn’t mean you understand what
went into raising you. I think the two people who appreciate me the most are my
mother and my husband. They know what I sacrifice, and they know how hard I
work to do what is most important to me.
It not only takes a LOT to keep a child alive, well-fed,
healthy, happy, and teach them to use the potty, sleep, meet their milestones,
tame their tempers, teach them to read, and keep them active. You must also
teach yourself patience, NONE of which I had before kids.
And before all of that, there is the simple act of giving
birth. If you haven’t been through it, you have no idea how hard it is for a
woman to give birth the way she should in this country we call free. Doctors
and MEDwives all but put a gun to your head and tell you to be induced and have
a c-section. Then there are the insurance companies and hospital lawyers (who
are mostly men) who load those guns. So if you give birth naturally in this
world without pumping yourself and your baby full of chemicals and radiation,
you accomplished something HUGE.
Now after giving birth, there’s feeding the kid.
Breastfeeding is incredibly hard, especially when you don’t have the best
support system. My husband was great support, but he didn’t know a single thing
about how nutrition plays into nursing, especially when one has Celiac Disease.
Heck, not even Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultants (ICBLCs)
knew anything that could help me. And if you want to use formula, it’s nearly
impossible to find a formula on the market that is actually good for that baby.
So, you do some research and do a concoction of your own, a mixture of goat’s
milk, coconut milk, oils, molasses, probiotics, and vitamins, and doctors look
at you like you don’t know what you’re talking about, when they’re the ones who
have had ONE basic nutrition class throughout their entire medical education.
Now, there are people who say you can’t accomplish anything
else once you have kids. Your body is ruined, you are bogged down with babies,
and you don’t have time unless you put them in daycare. Sure, I guess that’s
true if you just give up, and use your kids as excuses. Your kids aren’t
excuses, however. Your kids can be the best motivation one can possibly have.
After my first, I competed in bodybuilding 8 months after birth. I was the
leanest I had ever been in my life. While pregnant with my second, I started on
my M.S. in Holistic Nutrition. After giving birth to my second at home because
I was finally enlightened, I competed in my first Crossfit competition 3 months
postpartum. I competed again at 6 months postpartum. I am now 5 months pregnant
with my third, and I am 4 classes away from obtaining my Master’s Degree. With
two kids and one on the way, not only have I accomplished being a decent mother
raising sweet, smart kids, I am also continuing to achieve successes in my
professional and personal life. I am currently training for a half ironman that
will happen around two months after giving birth. My goal is to beat my time
from 6 years ago. As for my marriage… I now love my husband more than the day I
married him 6 years ago. I have a job that I absolutely LOVE where I help make
people feel great and only during the hours I want to be available. I am a Mom.
I am living the dream.
