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Congratulations, Mom!  Welcome to motherhood and the wonderful experience ahead of you.  Becoming a mom is an extraordinary privilege, and you will soon realize that having a baby engenders a feeling like no other feeling in the world.  Enjoy this moment for all that it is.  Kiss your baby’s face, welcome him or her to the world, and be grateful for the opportunity and journey of a lifetime.  Your life will be filled with unimaginable moments that spark laughter, deep joy, overwhelming love, and pride.  Without question, being a mom is the best experience of my life and my children provide unparalleled happiness.  As I like to tell them, they are my “peeps,” and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  In a nutshell, I think motherhood is a blessing beyond words, a blessing that inspires maturity, encourages wisdom, deepens your understanding of love, and changes you in ways you never saw coming. Motherhood is simply amazing, and you will no doubt revel in the many pleasures that only motherhood provides.    

 

However, (eek) motherhood is also a lot of work; that’s the truth.  Motherhood demands a 24/7 commitment, a commitment women are expected to meet with unwavering—and abundant—endurance, patience, and sacrifice whether working outside the home as well, or not.  And although there’s nothing in the world that compares to the first two years with your baby, known as the “honeymoon period,” you will more than likely, someday, find yourself standing in the middle of overwhelm wondering how you got there, and more precisely, who you are.  This is because motherhood requires you to give of yourself; it requires a certain degree of selflessness and obligation to engage.  Women, by nature, are social beings, love to engage, and are very willing to give, especially to their babies. So the trick becomes how to give and engage enough to meet the needs of your children without giving so much that the proverbial well runs dry and there’s nothing left for you, or nothing left of you.  To be honest, this balance is delicate, but it can be achieved. 

 

I wrote Becoming Mom so that you would know ahead of time some of the personal issues that surround motherhood and the related strategies that can help you avoid the crisis many of us experienced (but almost never talked about); the crisis associated with losing your sense of self—and losing your way—along the demanding journey that motherhood tends to travel.  I wrote Becoming Mom to help you prepare for this journey in ways that will build and strengthen your sense of self as the years pass and the challenges mount. I believe the best way to prepare yourself is by truly understanding this major transition in your life, including how you may change, how your life may change, and what strategies you can use to offset the undesirable changes or challenges that will impact you in one way or another.  Finally, I wrote Becoming Mom because I wish I had this book when I became a mom.  I know it would have made a tremendous difference to the woman who took a blind leap of faith into the unknown world that had called her to come.  That said, I hope to make a discernible difference in your life as you enter the awesome, exhilarating, nerve-wracking, spine-tingling, overwhelming, and fiercely consuming world of motherhood.