I was 24 when I got pregnant. I lived with [then-boyfriend] Jonathon in New York. I worked as an event planner, and he was a chef. What I saw for myself never included being a mom and having a family.
But when it happened, we immediately knew this was what we were supposed to do. The second I felt him kick, I knew for certain I was meant to be a mother. This was my life now. I didn't want to go back to that life. I had started a new life that I never realized I wanted.
I liked to go out, big time, before I had kids. Maybe I was burnt out from that lifestyle. But being a new mom was awesome. I stayed home. I was nursing. It wasn't hard. It was pretty joyful, actually.
Even though I was being induced, my doctor decided to go on vacation. She was supposed to come back that day. When things started happening, we're all like, "Where's the doctor?"
Jonathon and one nurse literally delivered my baby. The doctor walked in after, white pants on and all tan from Florida, like "Congratulations!"
It was a very explosive birth. But Jonathon was totally awesome about it. He rocked it.
I liked going into motherhood blindsided. I got to define who I would be as a parent. The type of people my husband and I are, we make our own paths. I don't think a book or a person's advice should teach me how to raise my child.
I nursed both my children: one for two years and the other for one. I had to pump in the bathroom at Cedar Point once. My husband is so proud of that moment.
Mothering is natural, and it comes naturally. It's easy to let the books and the advice and the mothers-in-law overwhelm you, but it shouldn't. It should be just you and your baby.
My whole parenting mantra is to embrace every aspect of it: the good, the bad and the ugly. Take each day as it comes.
And don't buy the most expensive stroller. It's not worth it.
