Mommy Brain Be Like...

There are some funny mom terms you hear before kids and chuckle unknowingly over but never truly understand until you've experienced them first-hand as a new parent. The one that comes to mind (no pun intended) the most lately is mommy-brain. We all had an idea of what this was before pregnancy or motherhood; being slightly forgetful because you suddenly have a baby running around!  We just didn't know we were barely scratching the surface on this one. Not even close.
I feel like every day there is a strong display of mommy-brain at work in me. And it's not just forgetfulness to the EXTREME (ie forgetting you have kids for a fleeting moment) and it's also not entirely a negative thing. I'd give you my list of examples but unfortunately, you guessed it, I HAVE MOMMYBRAIN. Sometimes it strikes mid-thought, like a ninja in the...what am I doing here again? What am I supposed to get?
Oh yeah. So one thing mommybrain has done for me personally and most moms with newborns have is SUPER FREAKING HUMAN HEARING. Oh no, I am not exaggerating. They say you're really tuned into your newborn so you hear them cry. But they don't explain that you'll be able to hear them over the dryer, dishwasher, tv, and on the other side of the house, all at once. We will be watching a movie and my ears will prick up like a fox and I'm halfway down the stairs long before John (or I) realize I pushed pause.
Mommy-brain is also truly a dump of information. How do you think you got that superhuman hearing? Something had to go! Remember College Algebra? ME EITHER. Along with large chunks of my life. Unused or non-vital information dump! Goodbye, all college classes I took within the past 3 years! Maybe see you on the flipside? Meet up?
You'll also forget simple words mid-sentence. For things you are RIGHT IN FRONT OF, STARING AT. I've forgotten names of people I've spent the day with or my closest friends. To their faces.
Then there's all the physical craziness. We won't even cover most of it but this post-partum hair loss and now turned baby hair regrowth has me seriously feeling like I am now Skrillex. Except...a mom and not famous. I remember a little bit with Penelope but this time it was like my body was like, "It's ON." Picture a fistful of hair. Now multiply that by about 5 and that was just one day (not counting at night). Seriously. Scary.
They say you gain all this hair and your nails are super strong during pregnancy nand then you lose it all after you have the baby. I literally got a head full of split ends overnight and had a ripple in ALL of my nails marking when Sabine was born.
And this, my friend, this post here is barely scratching the surface. It's all crazy stuff and annoys me at times but it also reminds me of the impossibility of pregnancy and birth and how our bodies should not be capable of this amazing thing. But they are and it's all God.
My labor with Sabine was insane and intense and fast at the end as I shared about previously. But I brushed over the rest of my labor which was 100% natural. My doula Glynis and John were my labor team and I truly needed both of them; if one was missing, the contraction just felt OFF and I had trouble focusing. Each contraction was similar; I'd fall into a breathing pattern and John would hold me or rub my shoulders or support my arms while Glynis applied counter pressure to my hips (amazing, btw). With Penelope I had been very vocal but with Sabine it was more about breathing and falling into a pattern and rhythm. I was impressed by how well I knew what I needed and when. I remember getting to a point where I was at a loss as what to do next or even what anyone else could do to help when laboring with Penelope. It was scary and discouraging. But with Sabine, I didn't feel that until the very end and that was right before it was over. And having Glynis there, I never felt totally discouraged. She was always the calm voice of reason or hand of support. You knew everything was going to be okay because she had done this so many times...herself and for others. God put her in my life for a reason and this birth had so much healing in it from previous fears and confusion. John was absolutely amazing as a birth coach and when delivering BOTH our daughters. I could not be prouder of anyone.