Welcome to Motherhood in Bloom

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Hi Mamas! I’m Gretchen, a doula and perinatal coach with a masters degree in developmental psychology and the founder of PeriBloom Wellness. I am so excited that you’re here with me because it means that you’re ready to take the lead in your motherhood journey by learning to trust your instincts, work with Mother Nature, and bloom into the kind of mother you were always meant to be. This post is for any mother who wants to feel grounded, guided, and emotionally supported through her first year after birth. Welcome to the Motherhood In Bloom blog.

When I was pregnant with my first son I was so excited to be a mother. I had wanted to be a mother my entire life and as each day passed I felt more and more ready! But in reality I wasn’t ready. Motherhood threw me through the ringer. Almost everything I thought I knew about being a mom got turned on its head. In all honesty, I really just focused on the “keeping the kid alive and happy” aspect, and while that’s a huge part of motherhood, it’s far from the whole picture.

If I had to pick one thing that I wish I knew before my son was born, I would say that I wish I knew how important it is to prioritize myself and be okay with having help. Not just being okay with having help though, but actively asking for help and accepting help when it was offered. I just had no idea how much my life was going to change. I quickly learned that prioritizing myself and my mental health looked like finally being decisive for once. I had a baby to raise and I was going to need to decide how to do that. My husband and I spent a lot of time talking about how we wanted to parent and luckily we agreed on pretty much everything. The tough part was learning to parent in a way that was very different from what I grew up with. And this is what I work on the most with my moms. 

Trusting your instincts doesn’t mean you know everything—it means knowing when you do, and when you don’t. Like when I thought I could just hop in the tub with my baby—forgetting that my normal bath temp is basically lava. Let’s just say, if it’s too hot for your husband, it’s too hot for your baby. I don’t know if that stereotype is accurate for everyone, but it's definitely accurate in my house. 

It’s okay to mess up and be wrong as a parent. It’s healthy in fact. What we want to do is limit the severity of our mistakes by being active learners about parenting. Sure you can absolutely go with the flow in the first year and just react as challenges come your way, but I like to teach my moms to at least have some semblance of a plan for their postpartum year. This plan is not set in stone, it just written down in your notes app. We can easily edit it any moment when things aren’t working out how we had hoped. 

So what should you expect out of this blog you ask? I am going to take you on a journey through postpartum motherhood. We are going to start right at the beginning, just after birth and I will cover every topic up until that first birthday. We'll talk about the hormones no one warns you about, the emotional weight of newborn days, the unexpected joy of rediscovering your voice, and everything in between. Some of my posts will be heavily based on empirical research, while others will draw from anecdotal ancestral knowledge. I firmly believe that a mix of both is essential for postpartum harmony. Whether you're a first-time mama or already have little ones at home, this podcast will give you the support and insight I wish I had during that first intense year. If you’re looking for more of an easy listening method of learning, check out the Motherhood in Bloom Podcast! 

You were never meant to bloom alone. So buckle up, because it's a long road ahead, but we’re in it together!