I’ve been handling the challenges of pregnancy much better this time than I did when I was pregnant with my first daughter (P.S. we’re having another girl!). I’m not sure if I’m feeling better physically, and that’s helping me mentally, or I’m feeling and managing better mentally, and that’s helping me feel better physically. Probably a combination of both.
I’m historically kind of a weepy person, and I’ve been crying a lot less over the last couple of years. Motherhood and therapy have taught me to be more emotionally resilient. But I’m learning that crying is sometimes very helpful.
It used to be that crying was not cathartic. It was just something that often happened when I was upset, and I often felt out of control when it did. Now, though, it feels more like an emotional release, and I always feel better afterward.
Last night, I had a bit of a meltdown after my daughter went to bed. I realized that while I’m not struggling with time management, I’m struggling with energy management. I have plenty of time to do everything I need (and even want, most days) to do. But I don’t always have plenty of energy.
My husband hugged me as I cried. I finished by laughing at myself, because while the frustrations I was crying over started serious, the pregnancy hormones took over, and I ended up crying over the idea that our tomato plants might die from lack of water.
I felt so much better afterward. I went to bed happy and hopeful and woke up that way, too. So, I guess my message to you is that sometimes, you should just go ahead and have the meltdown.
What else I’ve been up to:
I did an at-home blood test at the start of my pregnancy to find out the gender of the baby. We were told that if the result said boy, there was a chance the blood had been contaminated by my husband’s DNA. Turns out that’s what happened, because we had our anatomy scan ultrasound last week, and the ultrasound tech was very, very positive that we’re having another girl! I was thrilled to have a boy, but I’m so excited to have two little girls.
Catholic Women in Business released the latest episode of Catholic Women Lead this week. Elise and I talk about Easter joy and share some exciting announcements about our book and a new CWIB offering. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
I reviewed the picture book Alphabet by Heart: Kindness A to Z (forthcoming from 4U2B Books & Media, an imprint of Loyola Press) for CatholicMom.com.
Content I’ve Liked:
Earth Day was this week. Check out this FemCatholic article about microplastics and their impact on women and unborn children as well as this Motherly podcast episode about the small steps busy moms can take to have a more sustainable home. I also appreciated this Catholic Women in Business article by our writer Savanna Polasek, specifically geared toward Catholic businesswomen.
I appreciated this Elle essay about the benefits of positive motherhood content on Instagram. (Lots of surprises in that sentence!) I will caution you not to read the book the writer recommends (Momfluencers by Sara Petersen), which I read last year and found to be shockingly poorly researched and mean-spirited.
No surprise to me, since band was a huge part of my life in high school, but musicians develop skills that make them good employees, according to new research.
This new report from Early Learning Nation was a depressing read that made me grateful we’ve never had to choose between mediocre child care and putting food on the table. Our culture is in need of two major changes: better support for moms (and dads) choosing part-time or no paid work to care for their children full or part time and improvements to child care quality and affordability.
Books I’ve Enjoyed:
I loved Brya Hanan’s new book Befriending Your Inner Child: A Catholic Approach to Healing and Wholeness. I’ll be reviewing it for Catholic Women in Business and Catholic Mom, so stay tuned!
I started The Ghost Keeper by Natalie Morrill, our next Well-Read Mom book, a little early to make sure I had time to finish it before our meeting. It was an unnecessary precaution; the plot and characters kept me riveted, and I finished it in two days. I’d like to go back and reread it to savor the language, though. What a beautiful book—and what an important time for Well-Read Mom to have brought it back into print (OK, HarperCollins did that, but only because WRM picked it as a book for this year!).
I also finished Female Founders’ Playbook: Insights from the Superwomen Who Have Made It, by Anne Boden. While I don’t have “create a startup that gets venture capital and becomes a unicorn” on my goals (at least not now, though who knows what God will call me to), it was a good read, and I recommend it for women who do. Very pragmatic but also encouraging.
My daughter picked out Queen of Halloween by Mary Engelbreit at the library, and I wish I’d checked it out last Halloween. It’s colorful and has a great story, and it would have helped my daughter prepare for her first trick-or-treating! We’ll definitely be looking for other Ann Estelle books.