The Joy And Sacrifice of Motherhood

Motherhood is something that is inexplicable and the joy of motherhood even more so.

Forget the stretch marks. The girl’s nights out you plan but never actually do. The way you pee your pants a little with even the slightest sneeze.

Forget the sleepless nights. The fact that you’ve reached double digits in days since you’ve showered.

These are just some of the sacrifices you made to have your babies.

But these are nothing. Nothing compared with the other thing you gave up.

Your peace of mind.

The quote goes something like… to be a mother means forever having your heart live outside of your body.

From the moment the second line turned pink on that stick or flashed with a big “yes,” worry is never gone.

It’s more like terror than worry half the time. Why?

Because just before the terror and worry set in, something even more mind blowing and earth shattering came.

The Joy.

The joy of knowing that something the size of a poppy seed is growing in your belly, and will one day be a living breathing human.

The joy of hearing their first cry. The joy of that first big gummy smile. The joy of being called “mama” for the first time. The joy of those first steps. The joy of actually seeing that little poppy seed bloom.

Our biggest fear? That we lose that joy.

So we hold them tight.

We worry that our words were too harsh. We kiss them goodnight and pray their smiling face greets us in the morning. We worry if they poop too much, or not enough. We kiss them and we hold them tight some more.

And in the midst of all the chaos of motherhood we find those moments of joy.

Those times that you wish could last forever.

The precious minutes where nothing else matters in the world but the feel of their little breath on your neck and their hair tickling your cheek.

This is what we sacrifice for. This is why we became a mom.

We traded a tiny piece of our sanity for the greatest joy a person can know.

self-care? Balance? Personal hygiene?

Luxuries we threw out with the wrapper to that pregnancy test.

We sacrificed the who we were for who we’ve become.

A mom.

And nothing could make us happier.

The joy of motherhood is worth the sacrifice of motherhood every single time.

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:28-29