I thought of all the times that I'd felt left out. I could still feel that hollowness settling in my stomach and that heaviness pressing against my chest when I'd find out that friends were doing something I wasn't a part of.
Now that I'm a tired mama with a baby on her hip and a toddler by her side I'm learning you can never say no too many times. No to extra stressors, no to unrealistic expectations, no to too many commitments on the family calendar.
Moms are entitled to feel exhausted or overwhelmed or defeated, and they're allowed to express those feelings. We should never shame them for doing so.
"I wasn't ready," she told USA Today. "I don't think anyone is ever ready. I definitely knew I wanted kids, but the decision, it was not something that I had, like, planned."
This life is wonderful. So wonderful in fact that I would go back and live it again and again, which is why it is with bittersweet envy that I celebrate expecting moms and the amazing moments ahead of them.
When I looked at it a third time, I realized this was a beautiful photo of us. Honest, intimate and real, this photo perfectly captured all the feelings in the room that night, and the reality of motherhood, which is as complex as this photo.
We've had a deep passion and conviction driving our every decision that women and mothers deserve better—we exist to change the world on her behalf. And, we've got this, together.
