Allison

“Do you love her yet?”
I had a really traumatic, scary, high intervention birth and I found that at the end of it, I didn’t feel that surge of love and connection so many had promised me. I didn’t tell anyone that because it made me feel like a trash mom. Then, a friend asked me this question casually, as if yes or no were equally valid and acceptable answers, and it was so comforting and normalizing that I cried. When I admitted I didn’t, she said something like “yeah, mine didn’t happen for a couple months either, hang in there” as if we were talking about a delayed shoe delivery or something. She gave me a casserole and the names of a few good therapists and remains one of the most impactful people in my postpartum period.
And she was right! 3 months in my heart was absolutely exploding for my baby.