Oh, that Newborn Smell!
I'm pregnant with my second but I'm not a "baby person." I've never really liked the newborn baby smell that most people seem to find so delicious. For me, this smell is tied to postpartum depression, which I know I could experience again.
Accepting My Pregnant Body
From a young age, I have needed to control my body. I was heavily influenced by the media that said we could never be thin enough. As a yoga teacher, I told myself I had to be thin. This thinking infiltrated my first pregnancy. With my second I am determined to be more accepting of my growing body.
Expectations vs Reality
In this piece from 2018, I reflect on my impossible expectations of motherhood negatively impacting my mental health. While I don't believe you can control whether or not you will go through postpartum depression, I do believe that unrealistic expectations set us up for disappointment and despair.