Motherhood unraveled me in ways I didn’t expect. It forced me to confront unresolved wounds I thought I’d already healed, or was in the process of healing. But suddenly, there was a fierce urgency to do the work, because it was no longer just about me. To become the mother I longed to be, I first had to become the parent I had needed. Mothering became about more than just my baby, it became about re-parenting myself. The word matrescence gave language to what I was living. I wasn’t lost or broken, I was becoming someone new. That discovery helped me settle into the chaos with a new sense of acceptance and understanding. I stopped judging myself and began offering compassion and patience instead. None of this was instant. It took therapy, periods of medication, and a deep dive into a lot of self development; which is never easy. I started paying attention to the patterns in how I related to others, and how I carried myself in the world. I looked at boundaries, limiting beliefs, attachment, values, childhood, relationships, my nervous system, self-abandonment, my inner child, identity, inherited stories, people-pleasing; all while learning how to care for my daughter and discovering the importance of practical postpartum support. It was messy, emotional, and often overwhelming.