Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

May was Mental Health Awareness Month, so I wanted to talk about something that I’ve been struggling with over the course of my pregnancy and postpartum experience. I’ve been working on this post for a while since I’ve been trying to find ways to cope, which is why it’s a little late. I was also a little hesitant to share as part of what I’m going to talk about. This has a way of isolating you, making you think you’re crazy. It’s something that I don’t think is talked about enough. Trigger warning- I talk about postpartum OCD, anxiety and depression.

Your body is changing, your clothes might not fit, how could anyone possibly recommend that having someone take your pictures right now is a good idea?! Well I’m here to tell you that it is an AMAZING idea, and one you should definitely consider. I almost cancelled my photoshoot, but I’m so glad I didn’t. If you’ve read my posts, you know that I struggled with my pregnancy, from my mental health to my body image, but even going through those struggles I would do a maternity shoot all over again. Read on to find the reasons why, plus see some of my favorites from my shoot!

Everyone is super excited when a family announces that they are pregnant. A lot of parents talk about how fun it is to be a parent and how life gets so much better when you add a baby to the mix. BUT sometimes in everyone’s excitement, people can say things that they don’t realize are stressing the mama-to-be out!

I’m going to blame the hormones for this, but when I was pregnant, with everything that a lot of people told me, I was pretty nervous my life was going to suck after I had Max. I thought I’d be like 500 pounds, a sleepless zombie, and that being a mom was going to be the hardest thing in the world in the worst way possible. I’m happy to report that none of these things happened. Being a mom is actually awesome, despite what everyone had me believing while I was pregnant. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows, but it’s not the hell that some people will lead you to believe. So I put together this list of things to stop saying to pregnant mamas, because even with good intentions or saying these things light heartedly, you could be really scaring them! Here are the top six things to stop saying: