Dear Mama,

When you bring your little bundle of joy home you will experience an indescribable amount of joy. You will also experience a mountain of roller coaster emotions. Please know that you are not alone. Give yourself a break, mama. You just experienced an incredible miracle of bringing life into the world. Know that you are not alone. You will probably cry for no reason at all. Then you will probably cry for a valid reason. You will most likely feel like you are in over your head. Then you will think you are finally figuring some things out. Just wait – it will all change again.

Soak up every moment. Give yourself time to learn and adjust, most importantly give yourself time to heal. Accept all the help that comes your way. Also, accept all the food, trust me, you don’t ever want to turn down a hot meal that you don’t have to worry about cooking. Enjoy some cookies or cake if you want, don’t stress about looking like you didn’t just give birth right now. You have enough to worry about. If the dishes have to sit dirty on the counter so you can spend your only free moment watching a movie with your husband, then just leave them. It is okay if some things go undone for a little while. Remember give yourself some time.

I want you to know, every mother starts where you are starting now. Every mother has felt the things that you are feeling now. You are not alone. This is the time that you will see another mother in the grocery store pushing a cart with one hand, and holding a baby in the other, and you will smile because you know what it is like. You will understand what it is like to organize your entire day by feedings and naps. You will identify with other mothers because you share that one thing in common, that one incredible calling of being a mother. You can instantly bond and become best friends with someone on the basis that you are both mothers.

You will love like you have never loved before. You will soon realize things that you thought were important in life, really aren’t that important at all. Your eyes will be opened to all the things that really matter in life, and you will be filled to overflowing with joy. It doesn’t matter that you haven’t got it all figured out, that little child loves you. Don’t question yourself and most importantly don’t compare yourself. God chose you to mother the child in your arms trust that He chose you for a reason. Only you could bring that child into this world, and only you can raise them just the way God has intended. I promise you nothing good comes from trying to be the mom you aren’t meant to be. Trust in who you are.

Most importantly, remember who you are. You are beautiful. You are strong. You are loved. You will feel so many different things during those first couple weeks, and I guarantee those three things may be the furthest from your mind, but they are true. Even when you have no clue what you are doing, you are doing a great job. Even though you think you are insane for shedding so many tears, you are not going crazy. Even though you cannot remember the last time you showered, I promise you that you are absolutely beautiful.

Welcome to this amazing, thrilling, lifelong adventure of being a mother. I am so glad we get to journey together.