I'm so honored to be included in this, thank you Emma for prompting me to think through my responses to these questions. The exercise alone was valuable to me, but even better if it encourages and resonates with other women!
Real love grows over time. So relatable! Literally just shared an article earlier this week about not being in love with my son when he was born. Yes I cared for and felt responsible for him but that was it in the beginning. Now he's almost two and I adore him, same with my daughter.
Jemima, welcome and thank you for sharing your experience. I would love to have you share your Unspoken Words if you ever feel called.
I totally agree, two years in with my son, and the love has grown so much over time: and it is okay if that is not what we felt from the start. Love grows in every other relationship, of course it should with our kids too.
Now my daughter is 17 months and our relationship has grown so much. Reading your words about having conversations with your 9-year-old makes me so excited for the future! Love really does grow overtime.
I agree. Love at first sight it’s a total myth, I was honestly too exhausted from 36 hours labor of labor to even enjoy the moment of meeting my son for the first time.
Loving growing resonates with me as well! When they laid my daughter on my chest, I felt almost nothing. Not even relief that the job was done. (This could be because I had no meds and was hyperventilating. But we didn’t realize that until later.) I felt like such a failure. It took me over two years to realize what everyone else could see: I loved my kids. I loved my kids. I sobbed and sobbed when I finally felt it deep in my bones. The love has only grown since. 💗
I'm so honored to be included in this, thank you Emma for prompting me to think through my responses to these questions. The exercise alone was valuable to me, but even better if it encourages and resonates with other women!
You are so welcome! Thank you for sharing so honestly.
Real love grows over time. So relatable! Literally just shared an article earlier this week about not being in love with my son when he was born. Yes I cared for and felt responsible for him but that was it in the beginning. Now he's almost two and I adore him, same with my daughter.
You can check out the article if you like! https://open.substack.com/pub/newmumsroom/p/my-pregnancy-labour-delivery-and?r=3htknk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Some women do fall in love immediately and that's great, it just wasn't me and it's always nice to see that I wasn't alone in my experience.
Thank you so much for sharing Emily and thank you Emma for thisUnspoken Words series. I'm new on Substack and absolutely loving it!
Jemima, welcome and thank you for sharing your experience. I would love to have you share your Unspoken Words if you ever feel called.
I totally agree, two years in with my son, and the love has grown so much over time: and it is okay if that is not what we felt from the start. Love grows in every other relationship, of course it should with our kids too.
"Real love grows over time." YES. I wrote a piece about my experience when my daughter was first born, in which I discuss how "love at first sight" is a total myth. You can read it on my substack here: https://livelearnlauren.substack.com/p/do-you-believe-in-love-at-first-sight
Now my daughter is 17 months and our relationship has grown so much. Reading your words about having conversations with your 9-year-old makes me so excited for the future! Love really does grow overtime.
I agree. Love at first sight it’s a total myth, I was honestly too exhausted from 36 hours labor of labor to even enjoy the moment of meeting my son for the first time.
Loving growing resonates with me as well! When they laid my daughter on my chest, I felt almost nothing. Not even relief that the job was done. (This could be because I had no meds and was hyperventilating. But we didn’t realize that until later.) I felt like such a failure. It took me over two years to realize what everyone else could see: I loved my kids. I loved my kids. I sobbed and sobbed when I finally felt it deep in my bones. The love has only grown since. 💗