No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way (But I Will)

There is this cultural fairy tale about having a baby; you bring them home, everything feels soft and glowing, and somehow you just... figure it out. Like a sitcom montage where the baby finally sleeps, the house is clean, and everyone looks hot in their pajamas.

Except a lot of people do not. And no one really tells you that part.

They do not tell you how lonely the early days can feel, How your body might hurt in places you did not know existed. How you can love your baby with your whole heart and still think "what have I done?" at 3AM while you are eating cold toast over the sink.

Early parenthood is intense. It is beautiful and tender and also wildly overwhelming. You are learning a brand new job while sleep-deprived, emotionally raw, and physically recovering. Doing that without real support is like trying to run a marathon on two hours of sleep and a granola bar while someone yells "you got this!" from the sidelines, Cute. Not super helpful.

Here is a secret: you were never supposed to do this alone.

Support is not a luxury; it is the infrastructure that keeps families from burning out. Support looks like meals showing up without you having to ask. It looks like answers to your panicked "is this normal?" texts that don't make you feel stupid. It looks like someone who knows what you have been through and how to take care of you.

Support is someone who can sit with you while you cry and not rush you to feel better. Support is someone who can remind you that this phase is brutal, but it is not forever. Support is someone who sees you, not just the tiny human currently running your whole life.

A lot of parents think they should be able to handle this on their own. That if they just try harder or love their baby enough, they will magically cope. Like grit snd devotion somehow replace food, sleep, and emotional care.

That is bullshit.

Humans have always raised babies in community. We have just done a really impressive job of blowing up the village and then acting shocked when everyone feels isolated and overwhelmed. The result is parents who feel like they are failing when what they are actually missing is help.

Real help changes everything,

It does not mean you will never struggle, It does not mean every day will be easy.

It means that you do not hve to white-knuckle your way through one of the most vulnerable seasons of your life while pretending you are fine.

If you are pregnant and telling yourself "we will just see how it goes," I want to lovingly say this: Most people do not regret having too much support. They regret waiting until they are already drowning to ask for it.

You deserve to be held through this season, You deserve to have someone looking out for you, not just your baby.

No one told you life was gonna be this way. But now you know. And you do not have to do it alone.