Ep 90 Losing Yourself in Motherhood

Hi lady! This episode has lived a long time in my heart, but I waited to speak until I had something coherent to say. :) Here, I talk (at length!) about the idea of losing yourself in motherhood or not feeling like yourself after baby.

On a practical level, I share how many hours of consecutive sleep I've found I need bare minimum in order to not feel like a zombie.

But then I ask you to go deeper, to consider the question: what does it mean to you to 'lose yourself' or 'not feel like yourself' during postpartum? 

The three themes that have emerged at different times, sometimes all at once, over my various postpartums are: 

-being needed all*the*time 

-fear of failing my child or children, failing to meet their needs, "ruining" them by not choosing the right parenting technique, etc. 

-being unable to do the things I once enjoyed, either due to lack of time or lack of energy/creativity

I close with three specific things you can do to feel more like yourself, to regain your sense of self in motherhood. 

The resources I quoted are: This Substack post by Emily Stimpson Chapman, this book by Leah Libresco Sargeant, and this book by Emily Wilson Hussem.

Relevant past episodes:

www.postpartumonpurpose.com

How to Ask for Help (and what to do when your family can't help you)

In this interview with Lisa Canning for the Guiding Star Project's Fearless Future podcast, I shared the #1 way I get help during postpartum: by building a Grandma Tribe.

The #1 way I get the help I need during postpartum