Hello every one, here’s the second post of the blog series – The ‘Un’-common Tales of common people. This post is shared by a very good friend of mine, Megha Arora. I truly appreciate her for being real and talk about her struggles. She has shared her secret of being a happy mother. And I am sure her tips to ‘rediscover yourself after having a baby’ will help a lot of new mothers out there.

You may also read – Being happy or successful, what would you choose?

Now, a little something about this blog series. I strongly believe that each one of us has a ‘voice’ that can make an impact, the ‘power’ to inspire others and the ‘experience’ that could help someone else. But not everyone has a platform to reach out to others and share their experiences with them. Hence, this series, where you will get to read the ‘Un’- common tales of common people who have the power to inspire and bring the change. This series is a small token of thanks to those people who have always supported me in my journey.

You may read the first post of the series here – Take professional help!

If you, too, have been a part of our blog’s journey and wish to be a part of this series, you can reach out to me on Instagram. No bloggers, please!

Now, let’s read Megha’s post.

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How to rediscover yourself after having a baby?

Having a baby through c-section was not easy for me. I was taking prenatal yoga sessions to prepare myself mentally and physically for the delivery. But I was shocked to know that it will be a cesarean delivery. I was 26 years old when I had my son. I was a happy, nervous, and physically weak mom. As I belong to a joint family, I had a lot of pressure as a daughter in law, wife, and most importantly, as a mother.

You may also read – 5 reasons I am happy & proud of being a housewife!

Those 45 days were the toughest days of my life as I was going through a lot of physical changes. I was suffering from backache, acidity, anxiety, sleepless nights, and mood swings. And, I started missing my old carefree life. But these four things helped me to rediscover myself.

4 Ways to Rediscover Yourself after having a Baby

1 – Start giving time to yourself

Picture by Megha Arora

Taking care of kids, 24/7 is not an easy job for any mother. There was that feeling of getting trapped inside a black hole; I was losing myself. But I had to do something for my well being. So, I started pampering myself with DIY masks, weekly massages, visiting the salon, cooking healthy meals to recover what was lost.

2 – Workout and Exercise to rediscover yourself

Picture by Megha Arora

I started feeling conscious about my body, belly pouch, stretch marks, and sagging breasts. It seemed impossible to get back to my pre-pregnancy body. So, I decided to hit the gym, and I started with light workout and yoga sessions. I completely cut out the sugar from my diet and started eating more protein and Vitamin B complex. Soon my efforts started showing results that motivated me further to take care of myself.

3 – Spend time with your spouse

Picture by Megha Arora

It was the time when the long talks at night with my husband would turn into arguments and fights. I don’t know the exact reason, but maybe it was the frustration due to change in routine or sleepless nights. And that’s when my husband and I decided to give quality time to each other and our baby. Also, giving dad-son exclusive time helped my husband to connect better with the baby.

4 – Plan a weekly outing with family and spend time with friends

Picture by Megha Arora

We used to plan an outing every Wednesday either for a movie, picnic, or dinner. Getting dressed up and putting on makeup made me feel alive. We also organized monthly get together with friends, spending time with them was like insurance towards the best emotional and mental health.

There is something remarkable about each one of us. Seize the opportunity to look within and rediscover yourself. – Dr. Roopleen

Now, my son is 5 years old. I don’t know if I am a good mother or a good wife, but I always try my best to keep my family happy by giving them my time. But I also keep in mind that my life is equally important, and that’s how ‘me time’ keeps me happy.

Megha Arora

Hi, I am Megha Arora, 31 years old (Delhi based). I am a fulltime homemaker, a wife, mother, and a daughter in law. Also, a fashion lover, shopaholic, makeup lover, and a big-time foodie. I love cooking for my family, and traveling is what excites me a lot.

Thank you, Megha, for sharing your experience of rediscovering the new ”you”. I could totally relate to your struggles; even I have been through the same emotional & mental state. And, I am sure the new mothers out there will find your ideas helpful.

Please help spread this post by clicking the below icons. You may use the hashtag #TheUncommonTales while sharing. Thanks for reading.

The post How to rediscover yourself after having a baby? – ‘The ‘Un’-common Tales’ appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

“Successful mothers are not the ones who have never struggled. They are the ones who never give up, despite the struggles” – Sharon Jaynes

Hello to all my lovely readers and friends, I am sure you will agree with the above statement. I haven’t met a mother whose motherhood journey had been a smooth road, there are difficulties, challenges as well as lots of struggles that we face every day starting from Day 1 of our pregnancy, the day when a new life takes its place inside us and connects with our soul.

And today in our MAA – The Mom Series, I am bringing to you the stories of mothers who despite having many roadblocks in their journey did not give up and are getting strong and positive with each coming day. They are the true inspiration to many in the world who think that their motherhood journey is most difficult and are struggling to find their way through it.

A Survival Story

– By Richa Kaushik

Those two pink lines brought us immense pleasure as it would have to any other couple planning to bring those two little hands and two little feet and a cute smile in their lives. We were on cloud nine and wanted to hold our baby in our arms.

This good news was followed by a series of tests, ultrasounds, diet plans and lots of wishes & advises from friends and family members. Everything was fine until 14^th week (I was getting accustomed to needles, the sight of which once used to faint me!!) when I got my reports for the double marker test.

It was a normal day, I went to the school (by the way am a teacher), came home, finished my house chores and then I got a call from my gynecologist about my reports. She wanted to meet us immediately which was unusual on her part. We went there just to realize that our world was going to fall apart. The reports were bad.

It showed a high risk of Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome). I was asked to make a choice. A choice?  A mom was told to either keep the child or abort it. I had no words. I cried my heart out and I was asking the God…Why me? I wanted to run away from there as my heart sunk and mind stopped working.

Down syndrome (DS or DNS), also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder which is typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features and mild to moderate intellectual disability. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, equivalent to the mental ability of an 8- or 9-year-old child, but this can vary widely.

Source – Wikipedia

Finally, I made a tough choice to go for “Amniocentesis”. We went for a counseling first and came to know that there were 1% chances of miscarriage as the baby could attack the needle or the needle might hurt the baby.

I felt as if I was the most unfortunate woman who had done so many sins. Was I going to pay off like this? But the mother inside me decided to stay strong and I was there for the process the very next day.

A needle was inserted into my uterus through my tummy. Throughout the whole procedure, I was talking to my baby as I could see her on the ultrasound screen, I was telling her to stay calm and not to attack the needle while this unwanted invasion was going on. Everything was done and I was advised to take a week’s bed rest.

Amniocentesis (also referred to as amniotic fluid test) is a medical procedure used in prenatal diagnosis of genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome and fetal infections in which a small amount of amniotic fluid, is sampled from the amniotic sac surrounding a developing fetus, and then the fetal DNA is examined for genetic abnormalities.

Source – Wikipedia

Two weeks till the reports came were the most difficult days for me as I went into depression, my appetite, thirst, sleep everything was gone. I lost 2 kg weight and I just couldn’t express my feelings to anyone. My hubby was equally tensed but I wanted to show him that I was strong.

After 2 weeks, when we got the reports, we were the happiest to-be parents as by God’s grace reports came out to be fine. I just could not thank God enough from my heart and soul. All the wishes and blessings I had ever got were bestowed on me.

My baby is a strong girl as she had to go a lot while inside my womb, which is a long story to tell some other time. But this survival story might inspire those who are going through a similar situation. I regained my health and my smiles.

She is a brave child. My strong survivor!

Dealing with Tantrums

– By Arushi Arora

Ahh!! My kid is having a tantrum and I want to scream…

Yessss I really want to scream when I find that my 20 months old baby becomes very fussy for each and everything. And I guess most parents experience it, those moments when their kids have a full-blown temper tantrum, which may involve screaming, crying, stomping feet, dropping to the ground or all of the above.

Same thing happened to me last month when we were out for a visit to the mall and suddenly my baby became fussy and stubborn and he lied down on the floor for no reason. Seriously this was too stressful for me, no matter where it happens but when it’s in a public place you feel as if everyone is looking at you and judging “what kind of a mother she is, can’t even control her kid”. And at that time you just want to curl up in a ball and scream.

Well, NO, I didn’t scream neither did I run somewhere to hide, in fact, I handled the whole situation patiently and without panicking, I asked my little one in the softest possible voice to cool down and promised him to buy his favorite cake and took him for rides to distract his mind. Because I knew, if I started yelling or screaming at him, the situation would have got even worse.

“THINK IN THE FUTURE, ACT IN THE PRESENT”

It may sound hard to do but we need to forget about other people who may be watching us during those cringe-inducing moments when our children are in the throes of a tantrum.

SHOUTING back to the child is not helpful for anyone because that’s more sensory information that is going to make them go into a NUCLEUS.

When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not to join their chaos – L.R Knost

Think of yourself as a “TUNING FORK”, the calmer and clearer you can be, the better things will become”

We can not avoid or guess when a tantrum will hit but we can surely take beforehand measures to handle them on the spot. Here are few tips that help me in such a situation –

• Always carry their favorite toys or food while going out.
• Give them choices while in the middle of a tantrum.
• Give lots of cuddly hugs to calm them down.
• Get down to their level of understanding to control the situation.

I must say remember that strangers are just the strangers, they don’t really matter. Anyone who actually has kids would be saying a silent prayer in such a situation, that it’s you in the hot seat today. And the judgemental ones? Who needs them? Put them out of your mind and concentrate only on your kid.

These two stories will always remain close to my heart as I could connect with both on a personal level, Richa’s story is somewhat a reflection of what I had gone through, similar situations, same fears and then the moments of happiness and feeling blessed. Similarly, I can understand what Arushi wants to say through her story, my son has also entered that phase where sometimes his emotions take control of his mind.

There is so much positiveness in both the stories, how these mothers approached the difficult situations, fought the struggles and finally were able to win the battle with their faith and perseverance. Thanks, Richa and Arushi for sharing your inspirational stories with us!

This post was supposed to be the last post for The Mom Series but as we are getting so much love and huge response from you all, I may share some bonus posts in December as well though will not be able to continue the weekly motherhood stories. Why?

To know that, you will have to visit my Instagram page by clicking on this link – Growing with Nemit and check the latest post where I have mentioned my reasons. Do check that out!

And if you liked this post then don’t forget to share it! I would really appreciate that.

The post Motherhood Struggles Are Real – Success Stories of Strong Mothers appeared first on Growing With Nemit.