Motherhood: #MujheSabNahiPata

“I am a WOMAN. I am a MOTHER.”

I am not the perfect 10. I am not a size 0. I have stretch marks. Sometimes my house is a mess. I make mistakes. I stress. I cry. I laugh. I smile. But at the end of the day, I am happy about my kids. That is indeed the best feeling in life.

The smile on the faces of my children is true BEAUTY and HAPPINESS for me.

But it is wrong to assume that Motherhood is all rosy, in reality, Motherhood is a messy, challenging, crazy and sleepless journey yet it is unbelievably beautiful.

Every journey has its ups and downs and so does motherhood. But the pressure the world puts on motherhood takes the fun out of it dan makes it stressful. From the very day you announce your first steps into this journey with your pregnancy, people start by offering unwanted advice. Whether or not your body is fit for those things is the least of their concerns, but whether or not you are following a particular diet, a particular exercise regime, etc is of great concern to them. And of course, the worst part is if and when anything goes wrong you are the first one to be blamed or asked upon... Didn't you know this? How could this have happened under your watch? Where did you hear about doing such stupid things? etc. And the most commonly heard phrase is 'You are a mother now, didn't you know this?'

When I watched the #MujheSabNahiPata film at All Out India's panel discussion with fellow mom bloggers and renowned experts including Paediatrician Dr Samir Dadhlani, Child Psychologist Dr Rupal Patel and actress Sonali Bendre, it was like I was watching myself, a mother of a little girl who suffered from jaundice in the first few months of her life.

My second pregnancy was a difficult one as compared to the first and my son was born prematurely. He was so tiny, could literally fit in the palm of my hand and it was extremely difficult to do anything even breastfeed him. But I took it in my stride and my little fighter helped me along all the way. Today both my kids are doing well, and I couldn't be a more proud mother.

Without realising the pressure such a situation puts on a new first-time mother, people were judgemental. I was shocked ... I was scared... I kept crying and blaming myself as the level of jaundice kept rising initially. At this time instead of reassuring me the Why, How, When, Where questions started pouring in... But after the initial confrontations, I preferred to stay aloof from all the negativity and focus all my attention on my precious little one. I followed all the advice the doctors gave me and quickly nursed her back to the pink of health, later learning that jaundice affects 3 out of 10 children across the world and is a common underlying problem for 9 out of 10 children.

While I believe mothers should know everything about making her child comfortable, I am not ashamed to say #IDidntKnow and am willing to ask the right people for guidance.

Just asDr. Samir Dalvani takes us through how a small insect like a mosquito can cause severe with dengue, as a mother I can be vigilant about the symptoms and seek timely intervention.

So I urge all mothers to drop their inhibitions and share their stories and help all moms to overcome tense situations. Come share your stories with us in the comments below.