It Takes A Village

Any mother knows what it’s like to receive parenting advice. Any parent for that matter! From the time you announce to the world that you’re expecting a little one, literally everyone you know will be filling your head with their experiences, their knowledge, their opinions, etc.

For me, as an expecting first time mother this was completely overwhelming! People I didn’t even know were constantly telling me all of their experiences and what I should and shouldn’t be doing while pregnant. Whether it was at the grocery store, a restaurant, a friendly neighbor, or friends and family, I was always getting advice! Some of it, actually a lot of it, was conflicting too!

Something about being pregnant really makes people lose all of their boundaries. Strangers suddenly want to touch your belly and tell you about things that sometimes seemed very personal… And not just pregnancy advice. Parenting advice, opinions on vaccines, breastfeeding, baby food, medical care, how to care for a newborn. Not to mention the overabundance of information we now have in today’s world via the internet! I could google a pregnancy or newborn question that I had and literally get several different conflicting answers.

Needless to say, this overload of information made being a mom look very daunting…as if it wasn’t already. I knew that I could only do the best that I could do and that my husband and I had to make these decisions based on what was best for our family. However, sometimes it felt as if the world was against me. Did people feel like I wasn’t capable of doing this or that I really needed that much help? Did I just look like I had no idea what I was doing?? (Probably but that’s beside the point…)

But now that I have my sweet baby boy, I realize just how special and amazing having a baby is. I mean you carry around this human INSIDE your body while it grows for nine months. Your body provides the baby with everything it needs to grow organs, bones, skin, facial features, etc.  Your skin, muscles, and even bones expand while pushing other organs out of the way to provide a safe room for this little (although it doesn’t always feel little) human! And then after nine months or so, a fully formed tiny human comes out!!! How amazing?!? God gave us the ability to witness a true miracle through pregnancy and child birth! No wonder everyone wants to have at least a tiny part in that!!!

Now that I have my little man I know just how lucky I am to have so many people that are interested and care about me and my son!  Because there are times when I legitimately have no idea what I am doing. Not everybody has tons of family members, friends, church members, and even strangers that care about their family so much. These people are our village. I am so grateful that I have so many amazing women in my life that I can look to as examples on how to be a great mother and who are so willing to share their experiences and opinions. Brian and I are so lucky to have so many capable and godly couples in our lives who have raised and are raising their children that can offer us support and advice when we need it! I could never do this alone and I am glad that I don’t have to!

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)