I’ve never felt more strong than when I was in labor with my first daughter.

It wasn’t when I was defending my Master’s thesis, or when I ran cross-country in high school. It wasn’t when I battled through LA heat and traffic as young woman just starting out, or when I hopped a plane to live abroad for a year.

Nope. It was when I was giving birth.

Now, that’s not to say that I wasn’t also scared spitless. Because I was.

But the way my body kind of took over from this deep, visceral place, the way I (almost) made it through to the end without an epidural (come on, let’s be real.) – that, to me, was the strongest I’d ever felt. “Women have been having babies since the beginning of time” they say. And I felt a part of a long line of women that day. I felt so strong it almost took my breath away. When the midwife who delivered my precious girl told me,

“For your first one, laboring mostly at home, you get an A+, girl!”

But, that strength of giving birth didn’t end with my labor and delivery.

The hard part is definitely loving them with a fierce love that would go all Mama-Bear If anyone tried to hurt them, or when they themselves make bad choices and I have to discipline them. They say that having kids is like having pieces of your heart walking around outside your body. I can relate to that. That’s the hardest part, when I have to find a daily strength to continue to love these little people.

But it’s oh-so-worth it, y’all. Spit-up and all.

If you don’t feel like you’re in a place to become a mama, or weren’t planning on it anytime soon, call Clarity. We have free medical services and resources to help with your options, no matter what you choose. We see you, see yourself strong.

-submitted by Clarity Solutions CEO, Laura Dickinson