My Mantra

Entering the third trimester, I have taken a deep dive into the world of Birthing- podcasts, research, books, talks with friends… etc. I recently listened to a podcast where a woman stated her birth affirmation: “We can do hard things.” How true! We are made to prevail against difficulty, to rise up to the challenge, to be given the grace to go through situations we thought we could never endure. We CAN do hard things and we were made to walk through them to the other side; to look back and say “That was HARD, but I did it.”

The three words I hope to experience giving birth are: confident, peaceful, empowered. I want to sense the feeling: “YES, I CAN do this. My body is working perfectly the way it was designed for this very moment. I was made for this!”

I believe the birth experience is something to be lived into, not avoided. It is meant to be fully experienced, not numbed. Each woman who gives birth is my hero, however the baby comes. I support every woman who chooses her own Birth Story, wherever that might lead. For me, my sense of empowerment comes from working with my pain, knowing that there is a difference between pain and suffering.

I want to carry the birth experience into my life (uhhh parenting?!) -- knowing that if I made it through birth, I can truly make it through anything. There is a curiosity and a mystery here; one that I look almost look forward to.

We can do hard things!