My body Grew Humans and I am Still Figuring That Out

My body has grown three humans.

Three. Humans.

That's miraculous. It's also completely weird. And for years, I punished it instead of thanking it.

Here's what nobody told me about becoming a mom:

You don't get time to meet your new body.

I had my daughter, dealt with postpartum anxiety and depression, and then my IUD failed. Pregnant again at three months postpartum. Two babies, multiple jobs, and a body I barely recognized in the mirror.

So instead of listening to it? I resented it.

I deprived it of food. I pushed through exhaustion. I lost three pregnancies and blamed my body for every single one. (Not my circumstances. Not the chaos. My BODY. Like it had personally betrayed me.)

That's what happens when you're doing motherhood alone. No village. No one looking you in the eyes and saying, "Hey. You need to eat. You need to rest. You need to grieve."

I needed real community. Not advice from the internet. Not a perfectly curated playgroup where everyone pretends they're fine. I needed people who would sit with me in the mess and just say, "Yeah. This is both beautiful and brutal."

That's actually why The Village exists.

Because motherhood will put you in awe of your body AND absolutely at odds with it. Sometimes in the same hour. You shouldn't have to sort that out alone.

I'm still in it, honestly. Still reconciling myself, my body, my motherhood. Still learning to move it, feed it, actually listen to it.

But I'm not doing it alone anymore.

And that has made all the difference.

What's your relationship with your body since becoming a parent? I'd genuinely love to hear.