It took Alexandra Kilmurray 18 months to feel comfortable. To not cry when she looked in the mirror. 18 months to finally feel beautiful in her own skin. She is a mother of two sons, one 18-months old and one five-months old.
“No one warns you about the dark sides of motherhood and pregnancy,” Kilmurray posted to Instagram.
“No one gives you a heads up on how much you change physically and mentally after you become a mother. It’s been a long and hard postpartum ride for me.”
The accompanying picture is powerful. Even though that word seems naff, too-often-used, it’s lost it’s impact. But the picture, really is, incredibly moving.
Her littlest son is by her side.
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Her stomach, loose and slack and nothing-like-you-would-see-in-a-magazine, but most of all real.
“Cheers to you mamas who still cry about the marks on your skin from birthing your perfect babies,” she wrote.
“Cheers to motherhood, cheers to knowing that this too shall pass! And things will get better.”
It’s an honest and rarely-seen reflection on motherhood.
That the changes and the sacrifices and the hardships your body go through to produce that perfect little bundle do take their toll.
That adjusting to a newborn doesn’t always have to be smiles and joy and pretty pictures on social media. It can be hard, and hurtful and, in the end, worth it.
Top Comments
I am always gobsmacked that these kinds of things are described as "what they never tell you about motherhood". As someone who is child-free, all the mental, physical and personal "challenging" aspects seem plainly evident to me. Do these things truly take people by surprise, or are these articles just suggesting drama and shock where there is none?