Postpartum Shook Me. Community Saved Me.

I wish I could say I floated into motherhood on a cloud of oxytocin and soft lullabies. That I adjusted naturally. That I felt instantly bonded, blissful, and deeply whole.

But that’s not my story.

What really happened was this:

Postpartum hit me like a wave I didn’t see coming. It pulled me under fast—and quietly.

I was the “strong one.”

A therapist. A planner. The kind of mom who read all the books, organized the drawers, made freezer meals. I thought I was ready.

But nothing prepared me for the way the walls closed in at 3 a.m., with a baby screaming, my body aching, and my thoughts spiraling. I didn’t feel like myself. I didn’t feel like I even had a self anymore.

And yet…I smiled through it.

Because that’s what we’re taught to do, right? I’ve seen it from my older cousins, and hear this message from aunts, my mom, even my grandma.

“Grin and bear it.”

“Be grateful.”

“Other moms have it worse.”

So I buried the panic. The rage. The loneliness that crept in like a fog. I told myself it was just hormones. A rough patch. Something I’d handle alone.

But the truth?

I was slowly being erased.

And silence was part of the reason why.

It wasn’t until I cracked—really cracked—that I reached for something different. Not a fix. Not a self-help hack. But a hand. A voice. A space where I could say out loud:

“I’m not okay.”

I told a friend. Then a postpartum therapist. Then a local mom group.

And it was in that messy, vulnerable opening that healing began.

Not all at once.

Not with a magic solution.

But slowly—with people. With permission. With support.

I share this because I see too many moms trying to hold it all together alone. White-knuckling their way through the fourth trimester and beyond, thinking that if they were just stronger, more organized, more grateful, it would feel better.

But here’s the deal—

It’s not about being stronger.

It’s about being seen.

It’s about being supported.

You’re not failing.

You’re carrying too much alone.

And you don’t have to.

There’s a village waiting. Sometimes you just have to take that first brave step and say, “I need more.”

This community was born from this truth.

We don’t believe in perfect moms.

We believe in supported ones.

So if you’re somewhere in the in-between—coping, but barely…

Managing, but not really…

Please know: you’re not alone.

You were never meant to do this without a village.

Let us be part of yours.

Reach out. Come home to support.