The First Year
My breasts were huge, rock hard and holy s*** did they hurt! What was happening! My breasts had grown a few cup sizes through pregnancy (that was nice) but within an hour it felt like they had doubled (again) in size. Just a few days after Liana was born, I was bleeding and sore, I couldn’t sit down, it stung when I peed and now this! I found myself desperately searching the internet for an explanation. I had not prepared for this.
I prepared for labor: I read books, took a class, watch videos, talked to other mothers. I thought I had prepared for being a mother to an infant- I knew how to diaper her, bathe her, I had her room setup. But I didn’t consider what I would go through physically, mentally or emotionally after the birth itself.
The First Year is a candid journey through the first year of motherhood, focusing on the mother’s needs and experiences, not the baby. It is told through a collection of personal stories and reflections from a diverse group of women. This book will dig into the topics that don’t get talked about but we all (at some point) experience as new mothers. The stories begin the moment mothers hold their babies for the first time and journeys through the entire first year of motherhood with a strong focus on the fourth trimester (the first three months after the baby is born).
Stay tuned by subscribing to our email list! We'll be looking for these stories soon.
Here are some of the topics we are looking to explore With you:
- What are you experiencing that you didn’t expect?
- How do you feel about and how are you adjusting to the changes in your body: postpartum changes (breast, vagina, healing from birth. etc.), loving your body, getting your pre-baby body back, etc.?
- How did you make decisions around nursing and bottle feeding?
- What experiences (and emotions) have you have around nursing and bottle feeding (challenges and successes)?
- How have you been navigating parenting with your partner?
- What has your experience with sex and intimacy been as a new mother?
- What types of stress and tension have come up in your relationship with your partner? How have you dealt with it?
- Have you had success or trouble connecting with your baby?
- Have you experienced postpartum depression?
- Has your partner experienced postpartum depression?
- What are you doing for your own self care? Is this a challenge for you?
- How are you feeling about getting away (guilt, joy, whatever!) and leaving baby?
- How has your own sleep been? How are you doing with lack of sleep?
If this sounds interesting to you, read more about our interview process OR subscribe to our email list to be the first to know about our call for interviews.