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For anyone who has seen Mythbusters on television, this may seem a familiar path. I was reflecting the other day about all of the things that people told me before I became a Mom and I suddenly burst out laughing. My husband was a little surprised when I shared my thoughts and he began to recount some of his own pre-Fatherhood stories. If I only knew then what I know now, was all we could think about as we had some really good laughs at our individual struggles over the last few years.

That is the basic story of how this series of articles was born. For the next few months my intention is to “debunk” the myths of modern motherhood. My hope is that you will find some wisdom here and within yourself for those moments when you just need a break and a reminder of the woman you really can be in the world.

Myth #1: Taking all of those pre-birth classes on babaies and what to expect will have you be fully prepared when the baby arrives.

NOT! It helps, and don’t be surprised and don’t feel bad about yourself or your partner if you forget everything you learned the minute you see your newborn for the very first time.

My husband and I attended every class our hospital offerred including the labor and delivery, taking care of baby and feeding baby classes. We were so calm and thought we had everything all figured out. We had our notes and our class booklets to follow. We had my hospital bag packed two weeks prior to my due date - good thing because right after we packed the bag I went into the beginning stages of labor. Lesson number one is planning may not always work and planning is a good thing.

There is my husband as I am being wheeled into the labor room, with his hands in my face, counting and trying to explain to me how to breathe the way they taught us in class. All I can say is that we are both lucky we love each other as my mind was on other things at that moment and breathing was not one of them. We had a fairly easy experience with lovely hospital staff who really took charge and made this new Mom feel calm and take care of for the whole experience.

Then they handed me our son and as I looked into the eyes of this little miracle all of my training and planning slipped out of my mind. In that moment I was totally amazed at what we had created and I knew I had passed through that portal to a different realm of my life and I would never be the same again. The truth is I didn’t want to go back to being who I was before. Being a Mom is all sense of the word was an amazing adrenaline rush that had me marvel at the beautiful little boy in my arms.

Then reality set in a few hours later. The adrenaline wore off a bit and my brain began to search for the knowledge from my pre-birth classes as it was nowhwere to be found. My son was crying at the top of his lungs and I wasn’t sure what to do so I did the new Mommy thing and tried to nurse. Strike one for the new Mom. He wasn’t hungry - he was in need of a new diaper. My husband bravely took over and as we stared at this tiny little bundle of arms and legs flailing all over we looked at each other and said we need the nurse. The nurse calmly led me back to bed and proceeded to give my husband instructions on diapering our son. To this day my husband is the better diaper/pull-up changer.

The first time I was alone with my son at home and he needed a diaper change I thought to myself, “where is there a nurse when you need one”. I breathed and calmly and slowly changed my son’s diaper and I have to say that I felt truly as successful then as on the day I delivered my son. It is amazing what we can do if we only calm down and put our minds to the task.

This week, I challenge you to think about your own experience as a Mom, as a Woman, as a Career Woman and find a personal story about overcoming your own personal myths.

I would love to hear your stories and wisdom so please feel free to send in your comments.

Until next week,

Cheryl