Inspire Us B’ham

Have you seen the social media movement that is sweeping Birmingham? It’s simply called #InspireUsBham. Two local business women asked other women to share their story. Women sent in email after email and the @inspireusbham Instagram account is sharing some of the most powerful and funny/crazy/inspiring stories that were submitted. Oh, and all the women are dared to bare their face…with no makeup, to be raw and real. And, guess what? It’s powerful, y’all.

As soon as I heard about #InspireUsBham, I knew I wanted to get involved somehow because the goal to inspire other women is at the core of why I created My Life Well Loved. I’m happily sponsoring a donation in the gift bags for the 30 women whose stories were selected to be shared. And since I’m joining forces with them, it seems only appropriate that I share my story.

I think one of the hardest things about being a mom, a lifestyle blogger, a Pure Barre instructor and a woman period, is that the world expects us to have it together. To be fit. To be pretty. To be loving. To be perfect. And in a few words, I am not. I am the messier of our husband/wife duo as Eric can attest. I am clumsy. I like to sleep a little too long on a Saturday morning and as I learned recently I have idols I didn’t even realize I struggle with.

While I loved Leyton more than I could ever imagine, I did start to experience some baby blues. (5 months ago…you can read his birth story here.) For those of you who know me, you realize how odd that may sound. I’m usually happy-go-lucky, and exude the fact that I LOVE to be around people. It takes a lot to make me upset. So, after I had the baby and realized I felt “off,” I simply didn’t know what to do with that. My body was different, hurting, unable to do much more than walk to the mailbox and back, my mind felt “unlike me” and my spirit was just down.

I am not much of a crier and don’t feel moody usually but I was bursting into tears multiple times per day at the slightest thing. So much so, that I literally started laughing at myself at one point through the tears because I realized how crazy it was that I was crying about something so small. I felt out of control and wondered if I’d ever feel “normal” again.

I was also frustrated because typically the way that I deal with stress is by exercising. However, my doctor had forbid me from even walking the block for 6-7 weeks. As I sat in the ever-tightening 4 walls of our house for that long, I kept wondering when I would snap out of it. Eric was such a rock for me during this time. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have a husband like him who listened to me talk about all these things.

I know without a shadow of a doubt that God placed me there for a reason. I believe He stripped away all the things that I typically try to fill myself up with (extrovert, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) tendencies over here, y’all!) to let me sit and stew in just Heather and God. I realized that even though working out and time with friends and being active are all good things in and of themselves, I don’t NEED them. The only things I need are God and Heather to be solid.

Eventually the baby blues started to subside. I’m so glad God brought me out on the other side closer to Him and helped me learn more about who I am in my new role as mom. My life will never look the same now that I have Leyton in it and he is now one of my biggest joys.

I’m grateful for a God who helped sustain me, a God who listened to my broken cries and who kept assuring me over and over again that He had me in His hand and that was enough. I am enough. You are enough. And God is most certainly ENOUGH.

That’s my story. And, now I’d love to hear yours! Feel free to leave a comment or email me if that’s better for you. AND, please JOIN US for the Inspire Us Bham Party (FREE!) next Monday night. If you struggle with postpartum depression, baby blues or want to learn more about it please visit Jenny’s Light.