High Five: Motherhood Myths

As a mom of four, I feel like I can speak a little bit on the topic of motherhood, and possibly shed some light on myths that most mothers or future mothers have encountered.  Here's my 'high five' common misconceptions on mommyhood.

Myth 1:  The more babies you have, the larger they get....resulting in pushing out huge sumo babies at the end of the game.
Truth:  My third (below) was my largest and thankfully the only one I did not have to push out.  I do think that generally speaking, the first born is the smallest.  Mine was tiny.

Myth 2:  Nursing is a sure fire way to lose the baby weight.
Truth:  For many women this is true.  Nursing can not only burn up to 500 calories per day, but can also affect a woman's metabolism in a positive way after weaning.  My body, however, tends to be in fear of a future famine and holds onto a good 10 pounds until I'm finished nursing.  I know several other moms whose bodies behave in this manner as well....Conversely, I know a few moms that look like sticks with boobs when they have a nursing baby.  Not fair.

Myth 3:  Pregnancy makes your skin glow and look just lovely.
Truth:  Pregnancy can suck the life out of you appearance-wise.  Hormones are all over the board from the time you get pregnant,  to delivering the baby, breastfeeding (or not), and resuming your menstruation.  If your skin does well or has that "glowing" appearance, it does not last for long.  Hormones love to manifest themselves through acne, front and center.  I'm dealing with this currently....my skin and I are not on speaking terms.

Myth 4:  You can do it all as a mother if you just manage your time wisely.
Truth:  No you cannot.  I don't care what feminists say about being able to juggle multiple kids, a husband, a job, school, crafting, cooking from scratch, and sewing their own clothes....it just doesn't happen people.  And it's totally fine not to do it all.  At the end of the day, a mother should be able to reflect upon and be satisfied that she did her very best giving the most love, attention, time, and support to her children that she possibly could.

Myth 5:  If you work hard enough, you can get your same pre-baby body back.
Truth:  This. Is. A. Lie.  Look at examples of woman (who even have personal trainers kicking their butts to get back in shape after pregnancy) such as Kelly Ripa and Heidi Klum....their bodies are awesome, but you can still tell they've born children.  Less than perky boobs, wider hips, thinner hair, and outie belly buttons are all what I consider to be battle scars of the wonderful experience of child bearing.  It is possible, however, to have an even better body for some women afterwards, but still, it will never be the same....and that's alright in my book.

If you think of more motherhood myths, feel free add them on!