When I first had my daughter, I remember feeling like everyone else had it so much easier than I did. I would see so many posts on social media of moms with their kids and I thought “gosh, why are they handling this so much better than I am?”. In reality, I highly doubt it was all sunshine and rainbows for any of those moms as, but at the time it felt like I was all alone in my struggles.

It wasn’t until I started really looking into what I was going through and talking with some of my friends who are moms as well that I realized I am not alone. I started listening to some podcasts that are super relatable and reading books about how other moms are struggling just like me. The 2 podcasts that are my favorite that I find very relatable are “Herself” and “The Mom Room”. They both talk openly about the daily life of motherhood and how difficult it can be. There have been times where I have cried while listening to episodes of “Herself” because they are saying things that I have always felt but always thought I was alone in feeling.

A book that I found super helpful was “Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma” by Molly Millwood. I truly wish I would have found this book sooner when I was still in the beginning of motherhood. The topics that are covered felt like they were written specifically for me, even though I know there are thousands of women out there that feel the same.

But truthfully, the main thing that has been absolutely LIFE CHANGING for me was going on an antidepressant. I tried therapy after my son was born and it did help a little (I thought that was enough at the time) but I didn’t realize how good I could actually feel. I lived with this crippling anxiety for so long that I truly didn’t even recognize how much it was affecting my every day life and my relationships with everyone – including my kids. Postpartum is such a tough period of life for me, but then I got to a point where I wasn’t technically still in that period of life anymore so I didn’t think about getting on medicine for it. Looking back, I always suffered from anxiety and maybe a little depression but having kids is what really was the tipping point.

I am just SO thankful to be out of that dark period in my life, and my hope is that anyone who feels even slightly off during their postpartum period is that they do not hesitate to ask for help. I am not saying that everyone needs to go on antidepressants, but I am saying that knowing that what you are feeling as a new mom is normal and that even though you are struggling that you are still a good mom and that will give you a peace of mind that I was never able to gain in early motherhood.