Hey friends! Welcome to Girls Night! Our guest for today’s episode is Christen Reed. Christen works as a licensed marriage and family therapist at Ready Nest Counseling here in Nashville. And not only is she an amazing therapist, she’s MY therapist.  Christen has been there with me every step of the way as I’ve gone through the most gigantic transition of my entire life — becoming a mom.  And that’s what we’re talking about today.  We’re talking about becoming a mom — why it’s such a big transition, what you can do to prepare for it, and some really practical pieces of advice and wisdom to help you through it. (Especially in those first few months). Now, I have a few disclaimers to share with you before we dive in:  First: I mentioned this last week, but it is a tad unconventional for you to be meeting my therapist. (She and I had tons of talks and signed lots of papers having to do with boundaries and confidentiality and making sure that we keep our therapist/client relationship as safe and sacred as it’s always been!)  So I just wanted to let y’all know that. Second: I wanted to let you know that this is a pretty messy, vulnerable topic for me. In this episode, you’ll hear why I had such a hard time in the first few months of being a mom — why I say that it’s the hardest transition I’ve ever gone through.  And the reason I want to be so honest about this is not to be discouraging (that’s the LAST thing I would want to be), but it’s because I don’t ever want you to have to go through any of this alone. I was actually talking to my sister about this a few weeks ago. Maybe your first few months of mom life won’t be that hard, and if that’s the case, AMAZING! I’m so so happy for you. But if this is really hard for you — I want you to know that you’re not alone in that. You’re not weak, you’re not a bad mom. This is hard. And you’re not alone in feeling that way.  One last thing I wanted to say: Christen and I had so much to talk about in this episode that we actually had to split it into two parts. But trust me, it’s so worth it. So today you’ll be hearing part one of our conversation, and next week we’ll air part two.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices