Editorial

What It Means To Be A Mother

By Brandy Ham

Motherhood is one of the most powerful experiences a woman can have. What exactly is motherhood? What does it mean to be a mother? At first, it may seem like a simple question. However, it can take on a different meaning for each mother. It is a sacred journey that is difficult to put into words. It can involve carrying a child in your belly, giving birth, fostering, or adopting. Yet, being a mother entails much more than that. It is a role that requires love, care, and sacrifice. For those of you who know me, you know the journey was not easy to get here. I married my highschool sweetheart at 18 and, then, we quickly started life right after. We battled infertility for seven years and lost our first baby at seven weeks with an ectopic pregnancy. In one doctor’s appointment, I was told I was pregnant- my baby had a heartbeat- but I had to have emergency surgery, and had to lose my baby. That is a moment no one should ever have to experience, and my heart truly goes out to those who have ever experienced it or are currently experiencing it. Losing my baby nearly broke me. It tested my faith. It tested my mental health. I battled months of depression and was in such a dark place. I told myself maybe I was just never meant to become a mother; I guess that’s just not God’s plan. Then, six months later, after taking a break from seeing the fertility specialist, we were surprised with our rainbow baby, Everly Grace.

What is a rainbow baby? A rainbow baby is a child born following a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, termination for medical reasons, stillbirth, or neonatal death. The rainbow symbol has been adopted by members of the baby loss community for many years. Although the arrival of a rainbow baby brings joy and hope, it does not diminish the grief and pain felt by parents who have suffered a loss. For some parents, the rainbow symbol may seem too simplistic to represent the complexity of the emotions surrounding their loss. But for many parents, rainbows symbolize hope and light after a dark time.

Everly is my light. Her smile is contiguous and she truly saved my life. From the moment I found out I was going to be a mother, I thought what a privilege this is.

I appreciate everything so much, every single little moment. I know what it’s like to struggle, so I try to never take a day for granted, even the hard days. Every toddler tantrum, every sleepless night, every messy meal, every new word she learns, every time she holds my hand, gives me a kiss, learns something new, every tear, every laugh, it’s all beautiful. I would do anything for her. Motherhood is an exhausting but very rewarding job, Motherhood is an incredible blessing and a privilege that I treasure deeply. Being a mother means being brave, being a positive role model, supporting my child through every achievement she accomplishes, breaking generational curses, demonstrating the boundless love that knows no bounds, and cherishing countless irreplaceable memories.

So for me, what does it mean to be a mother? Being a mother is a privilege, and I thank God for her every single day. I am so grateful for her. If you have the privilege of being a mother, however that looks, enjoy it, cherish it, and embrace it.

Brandy Ham

What It Means To Be A Mother

By Robyn Woodside

Being a mother is a personal experience for every woman; however, it is also something so many of us have in common and can relate with one another. I became a mother almost two and half years ago on November 13th, 2021 to a wonderful little girl, Reagan. She was 15 days early, and I thought I was so ready. I grew up in a divorced household. I’ve spent a majority of my home life with my mom. I watched my mother raise twins and help to raise a step-daughter, and I knew I wanted children for myself. I couldn’t wait to be a mom. I heard a quote recently that talked about as a first time parent, you really spend that time growing up with your first child, and I really resonate with it. Reagan has already taught me so much about myself and about being a parent: love, patience, reasoning, growth, forgiveness. To me, being a mother means love: loving unconditionally, loving when your two-year-old is trying to figure out how to express what she wants, but is only screaming and crying, loving when you are physically and mentally drained from your day job, but your toddler still needs you. To me, being a mother means patience: patience with a human being learning everything about herself, her emotions, and how to express them, patience with myself when I feel like yelling or spending an extra few minutes in the bathroom for a minute of peace, patience with my partner as we are both learning how to parent together. To me, being a mother means reasoning: learning to reason with a toddler who only understands what they want, reasoning within myself if I should stick to the boundaries I set or give in just this once, reasoning back-and-forth with my husband on our parenting styles and rules we want for our child. To me, being a mother means growth: growth milestones with our child- bringing along happiness that she’s learned something new, and sadness that she will never have that first milestone again- growth of our love and patience, growth of myself as a parent, growth of my relationship with my husband as first time parents.

To me, being a mother means forgiveness: the biggest one being forgiveness of myself and my partner. We are going to mess up and make mistakes. This is a learning journey, and we are going to have some trials and errors in figuring out what works best for us as parents and for our child. Being forgiving of myself as I learn how to be a parent at all the new stages my child meets has been one of the most important pieces of being a mother. Being a parent has been the most challenging journey of my life.

I am a full-time elementary school teacher, a part-time event planner, and a full-time mom. Being an elementary school teacher is a challenging and rewarding career. Being an event planner is such a fun and hard-working job. Being a mom, though, is a challenging, rewarding, fun, hard-working job. Being an event planner is such a fun and hard working job. Being a mom, though, is a challenging, rewarding, fun, hard-working job. It’s the one job that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, though. It’s been my favorite thing to do, and I look forward to every new day with my little one. To me, being a mother means everything.