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Meet Katherin from North Jersey!

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Let’s give a warm welcome to Katherin! Hi mama, how are you feeling?

I’m feeling better than I have the last couple of weeks! I want to say I’m feeling more hopeful than I have because I soon will be able to see my baby girl, after having to stay quarantined and away from her for about 3 weeks now since the COVID 19 lockdown and this has been the longest I’ve been away from her!

How many children do you have?

I have 1 daughter and she is 6 years old.

How old were you when you had your first child?

I was 20 years old.

Do you remember your initial reaction when you found out you were pregnant?

I couldn’t believe that I was pregnant, I was pretty much in shock for days!

What first comes to mind when you think of mental health?

I think about the fact that not enough people take their Mental health serious and set aside time for it.

Do you suffer from any mental illnesses yourself? 

I suffered from Depression years ago, Around 2011/2012. This was all right before I found out about my pregnancy actually.

How was your mental health before you became a mama?

How has motherhood changed or improved your mental health?* My mental health wasn’t good at all. I didn’t practice it at all… I suffered from Depression before becoming a mother and it felt like a never-ending cycle of sadness for me. I found it very hard to overcome it. Around that time I didn’t find much to motivate me to do better for myself and improve my mental state!

Becoming a mother, on the other hand, saved me. My daughter saved my life and I know we hear that quite a lot from some parents but before motherhood; I wasn’t HALF the woman I was after that. I became so much stronger… my daughter gave me strength, she gave me Faith and hope. She gave me my life back, the one I knew I could have and she made me into the woman that I would be proud to be!! A woman I couldn’t see before her, it was incredible. I found myself and saw things within me that I didn’t know were there and that’s what motherhood does; it makes us these incredible, invincible, hard-working and loving human beings that can do everything, especially for their babies. My daughter gave me a sense of direction and a whole new meaning to life and nonetheless got rid of my depression and I swore I’d never go that low and not take care of my mental health ever again!! I did it for me but more importantly for her, and I couldn’t be more blessed to have been gifted with such an amazing little girl. She is LIFE!

Do you self-care? 

I’d like to think I do, but probably not enough 😦 I go away into another room or outside; I literally have conversations with myself, kind of to take a breather and talk myself down… when I am feeling anxious or overwhelmed. I breathe in and out very slowly (this all takes about 5 minutes or so) and go back to whatever I was doing.

I also like to take a long shower (if I can) with steaming hot water and just think things over.

Taking a walk outside for 10 to 20 minutes also helps.

I also used to LOVE to exercise and just let all the stress go during those workouts but I’m not doing much of it lately 😦

Any advice for other mamas?

My advice for Mamas is to remember to not beat yourself up if you find yourself not being this perfect parent because that doesn’t exist! Remember that you try your hardest every day and we are learning as we go, just like our children are learning every day. We learn more and more about them as well as the days go by and it is incredible… parenthood is BY FAR the hardest job I know but there is nothing more rewarding and amazing and unconditional! So learn to enjoy every minute of it, love your babies as much as you can, and not to be so hard on yourselves; we are ALL trying to figure this thing called LIFE out and you are kicking ass!!!!!

Do you have anything else to add?

YOU are doing amazing and Isaiah is so lucky to have you.

Thank you so much! -Tiani ❤

Let’s lighten it up!

What’s your drink of choice? 

I like a nice wine, Some Cabernet Sauvignon?! 🙂 I also do like to try different types of beer… yep I’m a beer girl lol

Do you have a favorite book, movie, or TV show?

The Office is my all-time Fave Show. & this is super sappy but The Notebook is a movie I could never get tired of. I LOVE IT

What’s the cutest thing your kid has done?

The cutest thing my daughter does, is this thing where she could just be drawing or watching a show or something and will randomly come over to me and tells me she loves me. The BEST thing everrrrr. Nothing else tops that.

Do you have a favorite restaurant or snack?

CAVA (a Mediterranean style restaurant)

Tell us your go-to song at the moment!

One by Lewis Capaldi

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Pet check!!!!

My Pittie!!!! DALLAS!!!

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Interested in being interviewed for Mothers & Mental Health?

Your voice and your story matter. Send me an email at tianiangelax@gmail.com with the subject INTERVIEW and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

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As always, thanks so much for reading! Questions, comments, and feedback are always welcome. If you enjoyed this post, please comment, like and share! Make sure to check out my Instagram; @T_scorner 💋