Happy Mother's Day

Out of all the roles I've played in my 20-something years of existence and that includes (but not limited to) being a daughter, a friend, a girlfriend, a wife, and an employee, by far the hardest among the lot is being a mother. I don't think there is any other role out there that could even come close to it.


When I became one, I must admit that I wasn't prepared. I read a lot of literature on it, the pregnancy, giving birth, attending lamaze classes, how to breastfeed but only up to that point. What happens afterward, for some reason, I failed to prepare for and just thought I'd wing it. I knew I was in for something big and life-changing and I had an idea, well more than because I read first hand accounts and stories but the depth of the change, the demands, and the sacrifices all caught me by surprise. It just was so much more.

To begin with, I had my life upside-down. I had my life all planned out. I wanted to travel, do risque and risky things, put my life in danger (haha! adrenaline junkie!), experience everything that this world has to offer but that had to change when I knew that I was expecting. For starters, I had to cancel my trip to Palawan (there goes my ticket which I've paid for already) because I was afraid not of having a miscarriage but that something might happen during the trip and I might cause deformities/abnormalities to my unborn child. Can you imagine subjecting your child to something like that for a lifetime? I know I couldn't.

Not to mention the hundreds of little things along the way that changed and I had to adjust to: like a bulging tummy, not being able to sleep on your chest for 7 months, enduring vomiting and heartburn, adjusting to the extra weight, the back pains... Ahhh, I could go on and on and that's just before the baby came. And when she did come out, that meant enduring nights with a maximum of 2 hours sleep, going through fever, engorged breasts and nearly having mastitis (great news is that I'm still breastfeeding her and I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to mix milk), suffer from depression during and after pregnancy, significantly less "me" time, and the list just goes on and on.

And so now I understand and could empathize with the other mothers out there. I now have an idea what my own mother went through. I now have an appreciation of what they are doing. It is no easy job (the hardest for me anyway) and yet they carry on day after day because this job is 24/7 and there's no quitting.

Happy Mothers day to my Mama whose sacrifices are different than mine and to which extent I could never comprehend (but I could empathize with now that I am one).


Happy Mothers day to my MIL whose apparent love and devotion for her granddaughters surpasses everyone I know.


Happy Mothers day to my SIL who just recently joined the club and is now enjoying the time with her 1-month old now that the critical days are over.


And Happy Mothers Day to all MOTHERS out there! This is a day for us to be celebrated and appreciated. Each and every one of you are heroes!